Milenomics² Podcast Episode 215: Getting Going in 2024

0:32 Q1 5x Offers

• Chase Freedom: Grocery, Gym, Self Care
  
• Discover: Restaurant and Drugstores (PPBP compatible)
  
• Citi Dividend: Amazon? Select Streaming?
  
• Don’t forget: New year, resetting other cards (BofA Cash Rewards, US Bank Cash+)
  

03:47 Hyatt Changes

• Changes Rolled Out
  
• You can now gift awards online: Free Night, Suite Upgrade, Guest of Honor, Club Access
  
• You can’t yet book Suite Upgrade Awards online (though said to be coming in 2024)
  
• But you can now Guest of Honor a cash stay (previously only possible for award stays)
  
• You still can’t “stack” awards: Which means you can’t stack Guest of Honor with Suite Upgrade Award
  
• What a complicated web they’ve woven. They’ve written entire stanzas into the T&Cs outlining various scenarios of how Legacy Guest of Honor will be treated. It’s quite a thing:
  

• It does make me think: Maybe I shouldn’t requalify for Globalist until 2025 (if at all) because I these Guest of Honor certificates can be used by anybody - including P2 or the Globalist themselves
  
• Test: Can you convert an existing reservation with a Suite Upgrade Award applied to an old school (or new) Guest of Honor reservation?
  
• Suite Upgrade Awards still can’t be applied online, so I tried taking an old school Guest of Honor reservation and calling to apply a Suite Upgrade Award. Agent quickly said it wasn’t possible because you can’t stack awards. 🙁
  
• Test: Can a Cash stay be converted to Guest of Honor without depleting a Guest of Honor Award?
  
• Result: Yes and no.
  
• The first time I did it (via chat on desktop) the chat rep converted the stay to Guest of Honor without attaching the guests’s Hyatt number to the account. No Guest of Honor Award was depleted. This is inconsistent with the T&Cs above which state that you have to deplete the Guest of Honor Awards before tapping in to the Legacy Guest of Honor (unlimited) benefit. 🙂
  
• The second time I did it, the chat rep asked if the guest had a Hyatt number. I said yes, and a Guest of Honor Award was depleted. 🙁
  

11:31 AA Changes (Direct Link)

• Update: not 18 month expiration, no real meaningful change to travel credits. (louses!)

• Earn miles on paid upgrades (they love selling complimentary upgrades out from under elites)
  
• “Upgrade with our partners: You’ll be able to redeem miles for upgrades with select airline partners in 2024.” Hmm…
  
• Discuss: Using Alaska MVP 100K status as a companion on an award ticket booked with AA miles
  

17:25 Fluz Follies

• “Top of the Hour” Event over the weekend allowed for near instant use of funds loaded to GC Balance
  
• This meant that MUVC cards were used heavily as well
  
• Funds in those accounts were replenished a bit (See #fluz-balance-check)
  
• Discussion of what to do the next time there’s an event like this
  
• When MUVC have no funds–the money is STUCK in fluz. That’s not great at a minimum and leads to the discussion of fluz as a ponzi scheme at the other end.
  

23:08 Trip Reports

Kauai

8 nights: 4 in Princeville, 4 in Kapaa

• Becoming a second home. Discussion of retiring here.
  
• Kids know the beaches, know the restaurants.
  Comfortable, but is it too comfortable?
  
• Kauai and Oahu are absorbing Maui tourists. Early estimates have Kauai at 10-30% above last year. And it felt like it, at least until after New years.
  

24:07 Outbound flight: United Booked with Travel Bank

• Was on an AA flight (with avios) until United dropped this fare from $600pp to about $275.
  
• That was enough for me to book with travel bank to get some credits off the books
  
• 8am departure stretching the limits of what we can do, so I booked transportation instead of parking and the stress of that
  
• Kept the avios booking until T-5 days. Not a valid backup because of Avios cancellation policies
  
• Flight had a medical emergency one row in front of me about 2.5 hours out from Kauai. Discussion of diverting to Maui
  
• Flight attendant used the term “were in no man’s land” which was scary.
  
• My job was to make sure my kids didn’t see anything happening. Fortunately kids are more into screens than the real world in situations like this.
  

28:16 Rental Car: Budget with DEEL code

• Christmas-New Years week: VERY busy
  
• $450 for 9 days plus taxes, all in around $640
  
• The standard Rental Car close in discount did not materialize
  
• Booked a Tesla, got a Tesla.
  
• “How much charge should I bring it back with?” Was met with a tired gaze and “as much as you possibly can”
  
• Car was great, options to charge are not great on the island.
  
• Having a house helped, staying at a resort could help too (call ahead and ask).
  
• Coconuts marketplace has 3 brand new level 2 chargers, princeville foodland has 2 beat up ones as well. Other options include paid chargers for about $.50/kwh.
  
• I did make the entire trip (400 miles) without paying to charge or waste time sitting at a charger. This only worked because my vacasa had a garage so I charged level 1.
  

31:51 Princeville Vacasa “Make Good” House

• No compensation would be offered by Vacasa for moving us. I stopped asking.
  
• The house had never been stayed in before our arrival
  
• Confirmed with local Kauai vacasa reps, they put us in this house before it was up for booking
  
• Which means we really got lucky to have the space.
  
• Making the most of it–I was able to charge the EV here, the multiple bedrooms were nice, but not necessary.
  
• No Pool was missed, and after 4 nights I started noticing small things that bugged me (floorboard issue, kitchen needs more lights, etc).
  
• Maybe they’ll fix this as they work for another month. Maybe not.
  
• Family agreed though, we would return to a house without a pool in the future. At least for part of the trip
  
• https://www.vacasa.com/unit/112902
  

37:02 Don’t Buy: Hawaiian Coffee

• Just don’t do it. There are all these nice looking packages of coffee, people love to buy them as gifts
  
• They stink. Don’t buy them.
  
• Note to self: Bring your own coffee beans
  
• Also not a problem if you’re staying at a resort
  
• Fantastic coffee beans: IMUA Roasters (Kapaa)
  

40:15 Kauai During Christmas/New Years

• Local news reports spending up 30% YOY and the assumption is visitor numbers are at all time highs.
  
• Maui trips pivoting to Kauai and Oahu mostly.
  
• Which is strange because Kauai is so unlike either.
  
• Led to some strange situations. Resort captive groups, spending the entire day in the pool. This is a LONG way to fly for that.
  
• But as much as the island is brimming with tourists the local spots are….the same. Kalihiwai, Fuji Mo'oloa and salt pond were empty.
  
• Major beaches were very full, but they always are.
  
• Restaurants were not bad. Expect things to take time. Wishing well shave ice in hanalei has a saying, Slow down. That's the point of Kauai.
  
• Hiking trails apparently very busy.
  
• All in all….if you don't HAVE to come during this time I'd suggest coming a different time. The middle of January is probably ideal.
  

41:18 Second Vacasa: Waipouli Resort

• Pool with slides, on site restaurant but not a hotel
  
• No housekeeping
  
• Unit was sold recently on redfin, so these are individually owned.
  
• Location is great, Kapaa is close to everything.
  
• Unfortunately outside the new $350/nt per bedroom rate.
  
• Other units are under the cap, not as good a view but would probably be bookable. 
  
• https://www.vacasa.com/unit/91911
  

Puakea Grill

• Really doesn't need more popularity but worth bringing it up.
  
• Like a nicer Mark’s place, run by an old employee of Mark’s
  
• Inside the Puakea golf course.
  
• Menu is deep. Salads, poke, saimin, plate lunch, sandwiches, breakfast/brunch(Even a Monte Cristo!)
  
• They're doing really well here, but expect lunch to take an hour and don’t come if you’re in a rush
  

48:13 Strangers on a Plane: Carry-on snagged by another Passenger

• Saw this happen but assumed I would be able to catch her on the jetbridge
  
• Two passengers across the aisle couldn’t move. Froze the whole plane and caused me to miss the person with my bag.
  
• So…I grabbed hers. Hopeful it had her info on it (It didn’t)
  
• My bag had my info. Also put in a lost and found with Hawaiian explaining the situation
  
• Assumed it would work out and… it did!
  
• She contacted Hawaiian and they facilitated a go between and swapped our numbers
  
• Passenger apoligized and drove to me to do the swap.
  

Reminder: don’t fly Hawaiian to LAX

• Lands in Tom Bradley. The walk to baggage is nuts.
  
• With kids it is twice as brutal.
  
• Pickup curbside is hader than any other terminal.
  

53:25 LAX Curbside Pickup

• This is one I've talked about doing and finally did.
  
• We usually park but I'm staring to realize the distances from the lot to the terminal are not fun.
  
• LAeXit moved all the timeshare at the start of the airport. A bus ride or long walk is now mandatory.
  
• But vehicles for hire can still pickup.
  
• LAX curbside Express runs mini van and SUV pickups.
  
• One price for the vehicle. For me it was about 2.25x an Uber ($140)
  
• Pre-booked. They had my flight info. Driver emailed saying he was tracking the delay and would see us curbside
  
• Except: The driver fled the scene before picking us up. He said he was rescheduled to another pickup. I didn’t care to detangle the issue–immediately flanked to LAX-it shuttle and an Uber home.
  

54:43 Chandler, AZ Family Visit

56:37 Flights: Delta First Booked with Amex Business Platinum 35% Rebate

• Can confirm: You can cancel one passenger off an itinerary on Delta’s site without involving Amex Travel
  
• Saw an opportunity to cancel myself off the reservation and rebook for a cheaper fare and capture a difference to travel bank, but couldn’t motivate to do so
  
• So glad Delta is flying this route (historically just AA and maybe 1 or 2 JetBlue flights a day, some of which are redeyes)
  

1:03:22 AirBnB

• Direct Link
  
• *Fantastic* stay. Felt like we were staying in a model home. Scratched the itch of owning a vacation home very nicely.
  
• Owner really runs it the way AirBnB should be in my mind. No management company. Has a few properties in the area. Handles things at a level on par with the value of the home. Garage remote was missing (prior guest accidentally took it). He appears with a new one in 20 minutes himself.
  
• Place was well-stocked with beverages on par with a hotel lounge, which made the place feel more like a resort hotel. Nespresso Vertuo w/capsules, drip coffee (same Braun from Saks as I have at home with coffee and filters), and Keurig w/pods. A case of bottled water. Local beers. A couple bottles of wine. A half bottle of Grey Goose. A small percentage of the price of the place but it feels good to get more than you bargained for.
  
• Pool was heated to 85F for the duration of our stay. Used it all of once or twice. 🙁
  
• Ideal for hosting small gatherings with family. No decluttering to clean up before guests arrive, only good times.
  
• Now, my family is in the area which is 90% of the draw here. If you told me something like this existed in…I dunno…Dallas or Atlanta. I’d be like, “So?”. But nonetheless it will make me look closer at AirBnB in the future when more residential style accommodations are needed at a destination where good hotel options are weak.
  

Discussion Points

• As we were packing up after 5 nights, it felt like just the perfect duration for this destination/time of year. Last time we stayed 7 nights and that felt unnecessarily long - especially at a hotel (Andaz Scottsdale).
  
• Discuss: What are we thinking about duration of trip depending on situation for the year ahead?
  
• Continuing on this thread, if we were headed to a hotel for 2 nights at the end of this trip it would have left us cold. Even if it was the nicest hotel in the world - we were ready to go home.
  
• Discuss: Split stays and ordering of hotel vs residential accommodations. Does it matter depending on locale?
  
• I noticed that the price of the AirBnB dipped the day after we left. And the price of flights did too. Could we have shifted our dates a bit to take advantage of this? Maybe. Maybe not.
  
• Discuss: You pay a premium to travel when you want to travel. Does it matter if it’s cheaper at other times? Or do you just plow forward and get the best pricing you can for what suits you?
  

1:10:25 [Not Our] Tip of the week:

• Jnjustice made an extremely useful map of all Amex FHR/HR hotels.  Fantastic resource as the year clicks over to find and use personal platinum $200 credits. Thank you for this!