Milenomics² Podcast Episode 211: Airline Mergers, Hotel Program Changes, Risky Business & More

0:22 Alaska and Hawaiian To Combine (Direct Link)

• Expected to take 12-18 months, subject to regulatory approval
• Hawaiian would get folded into OneWorld but both brands would supposedly remain?
• Single loyalty program and co-branded credit cards, and you’d have to think that will be 100% Alaska’s scheme. Which means Barclays is out and BofA is the sole issuer of the combined entity’s credit cards?
• Some see an opportunity to transfer MRs to Hawaiian in hopes of them being converted at a favorable rate (1:1) to Alaska
• We’ve seen how this will likely go with Alaska’s prior acquisition of Virgin America: They say they’ll take the best of both airlines and route maps but they didn’t do that.
• Fun to think about the possibilities, but it might not get approved and will take time even if approved. Then they’ll probably disappoint in terms of cabins, award availability, and certificate usage.

8:44 Hyatt Changes

• Milestone rewards change, mostly for the better.
• Good news: You can book Guest of Honor stays online!
• Bad news: You now have to earn the right to Guest of Honor
• Doesn’t this just encourage people to go back to janky “additional guest” ways?
• Might actually be better off booking guest stays as “additional guest” if you’re up for the friction because I truly believe hotels treat Guest of Honor guests worse than they do proper Globalists in terms of upgrades.
• Subtle annoyance: Booking additional rooms as Guest of Honor for your own stays to ensure breakfast benefits across all rooms now becomes problematic. But the lack of breakfast benefits conveying across all rooms is a Hyatt-created problem in the first place.
• Coming soon: Ability to apply suite upgrade awards yourself online
• No word on manual point transfer form (still not possible online) which often coincides with Guest of Honor bookings.
• Really feels like so much of this should be possible online already, and bizarre that they cap Guest of Honor right when they’re making it self-bookable and thus relieving the manual intervention required for these stays.
• Overall, feels very much to me like Hyatt invents their own problems, solves them (“for their loyal guests!”), and invents new problems along the way. It’s like when you’re talking to BofA on the phone to simply close a card and the rep is seeking affirmation for doing inside baseball things to your account that you don’t even think should be necessary in the first place.

14:47 Amex Transfer Bonuses

• [Targeted] Singapore 20%
• Virgin Atlantic 30%

17:17 Amex Blue Business Plus 15k/$4k 5x Employee Online Offers

• A couple different variants here…
• https://www.americanexpress.com/en-us/business/campaigns/employee-cards/business-plus/offer-incentive/?sourcecode=A0000H9MNM
• Resolves to:
• https://www.americanexpress.com/us/credit-cards/card-application/apply/stand-alone-supps/63386-9-0
• K4IY:9950
• https://www.americanexpress.com/en-us/business/campaigns/employee-cards/business-plus/offer-incentive/
• Resolves to:
• https://www.americanexpress.com/us/credit-cards/card-application/apply/stand-alone-supps/63385-9-0/
• K4IY:9958
• Very nice to see these on Blue Business Plus cards (previously we’ve seen $50 per $1k)
• Should be able to get both due to unique offer IDs
• Thanks to Sam D and Larry for these

21:19 Amex Approvals Getting..Stranger?

• We’ve talked about the prospect of getting Business Platinum/Gold approvals by submitting within 90 days of prior card to get application considered a duplication, such that you can call after 90 day window and get it reconsidered
• Called to get a Business Gold reconsidered at 91 days, rep refused to put it through since it was “too long” since I applied (just over 30 days prior) and she felt the application would be kicked back for sure
• Called again later, rep asked if it was for different business/ein and put it through
• Reports of applications being reviewed by “high risk/fraud” team
• I’m not liking where this is all heading

25:30 What We’ve Been Up To

25:38 US Bank Leverage App (again)

• Back in September I closed a Leverage and applied right away.
• Denied “Number of recently opened trade lines”
• Let it sit and reapplied in Mid November.
• “Unable to verify identity” letter arrived.
• Thought maybe I messed up some information (Used SSN only which I had used in the past with success). Threw a new app in. Denied. Duplicate application.
• Called the number on the verification letter. A few quick questions and I was approved!
• Rep said: The person who looked at your application was new to the job and didn’t realize a home address and business address could be the same thing.
• So: 2-3 months after close I churned the Leverage. I now hold 2.

31:42 Bank of America Elite Visa Infinite App

• Wife applied, was declined
• Which was strange because I applied with similar profile and got pending decision
• I’d given up hope but a week later a letter arrives saying they need more information to continue reviewing the application. Said to call them between 8a - 5p eastern.
• Called at 8:01a and waited on hold for 15 minutes.
• Rep was from fraud team and took his job very seriously. “Credit card fraud is a serious matter.” Okay then!
• First texted a number to my phone, which she was calling from, because it’s the number I have listed on her profile so as to get fraud alerts and such.
• Then asked what email address was used on the application. We both look at each other with uncertainty. I can practically hear the “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” music in my head. A: We logged in when applying so it’s the email address on file - mine. Yes!
• What occupation did you enter on the application? Yikes. BofA has so many bizarre categories. Took a guess and it was good enough to pass to the next round.
• Final question: What income did you state on the application? I have a pat answer for that and it checked out. Success! He put the application on to the next round.
• What fun!
• Card was quietly approved the next day as confirmed
• Discuss: Time is running out on triple dipping this card. Takes work to spin it up and liquidate incidentals before year end. Exit strategy after first year: Word is they don’t pro-rate AF refund on downgrade? Wow. That’s something. We’ll see how they behave in MA on closure.

38:42 Amex Business Checking

• 50k for $5k plus 5 activities.
• Peak Bonus Tracker
• Auto Approved.
• Throw away? Or not?

41:11 High risk amex gold card maneuver

• Annual Fee Due on this card Dec 10
• All set to cancel, but I decided instead to:
• Upgrade to a Business Platinum
• Double dip Dell and Airlines on either side of Jan 1.
• Close it early January for an annual fee refund

45:42 Booked: Hawaiian Airlines First BOS-HNL

• Was recently saying that I’ve never had an award alert trigger and find something useful for me
• So much so that I cancelled my “Expert”Flyer subscription because, well, I just don’t enjoy interacting with it
• Then while my subscription was in a near-dead state I got an email telling me that there was award availability on the outbound nonstop from Boston to Honolulu
• There are a few different Hawaiian awards that EF searches for:

47:57 Louse of the Week: United Airlines

• They’ve abandoned the Newark-Honolulu route as of April 13, 2024 (will operate it seasonally)
• They rebooked me on an awful 2-stop routing and when I’d try to go select a different 1-stop routing their site wanted to charge me the mile difference even though they said I should be eligible for a free change
• They patched it up via Twitter DM but then a few days later, cancelled my next favorite routing
• Now I have to wrestling with them again if I want a half-way decent option that they’ll probably cancel once again. So much wasted energy. Just fly the routes you’ve scheduled!
• Final kick in the pants: Tried to use Elite incidentals on seat upgrades and their site fails to take my money in multiple unique ways.
• Robert: I really don’t like this airline.