Milenomics² Podcast Episode 208: News & Listener Questions Part 2

0:25 Hilton Surpass and Aspire Changes (FM)

• Surpass
• $150 AF (up from $95)
• $50 Hilton credit per quarter (any Hilton, not just resorts)
• 6x on restaurants/gas/grocery
• Free night cert at $15k/yr
• Aspire
• $550 AF (up from $450)
• $200 per 6 month Hilton resort credit (Late 2023 anniversary cards can double dip $250 Dec/ $200 Jan)
• $50 per quarter flight credit (not just incidentals, Live now for a double dip in 2023)
• 7x at restaurants
• Free night certs at $30k and $60k
• We’ll see if this change enables them to get $95 AF freeloaders off the books
• NLL Links for the Surpass (link) and NOAF (link) card are available (here) and (here).
• Consider the business card instead, still working bare metal, head on.

09:14 Status Watch

• Delta: Rolls back threatened changes
• Alaska: Matches posting
• JetBlue: Matches have posted

12:34 Bank of America Elite: Better Than Expected

• Card comes with a 20% savings on airfare through the BofA portal
• Was having trouble finding flights in the portal, so I called the Travel Concierge number on the back of the card
• Was going to give up on the call, since the rep said they couldn’t find them either
• But the rep said they’ve started a new policy whereby you can book the flights directly with the airline or online travel agency directly to your credit card, they’ll deduct points at 1 cpp to offset the charge, and credit your account a 20% point rebate a couple days later
• I tried it, and…it works!
• While on the phone with the concierge, I booked the tickets and told her the amount charged
• The next day I saw a “CONCIERGE CREDIT” for the amount of the tickets, and my point balance was deducted by the same value at 1cpp
• A couple days later my point balance increased by 20% of the points deducted, plus I earned 3.5x for the purchase for a net value of ~1.3x uplift (plus I’ll earn miles on the flights). This is pretty tremendous for a card that earns 2.625% back everywhere with Platinum Honors.
• Math quiz: Which would you rather have? 1.2x uplift, 20% savings, or a 20% rebate?
• A: 20% savings is the best, because you get 1.25 cpp of value and you don’t need the additional points to support a rebate
• Example:
• 1.2x uplift means that a $100 flight costs 8,333 points
• 20% savings means a $100 flight costs 8,000 points
• So a 20% rebate here becomes 1.25x uplift, similar as how a 35% rebate on Amex Business Platinum becomes 1.54x uplift
• Tip: You can transfer BofA Premium Rewards points to BofA Premium Rewards Elite card. You can also transfer them to family and friends. Which means you can effectively transfer P2’s points over to your account and have one bucket to book airfare from. Can also be good if you want to close out accounts while keeping only one until you redeem points. Or keep the points housed at a lower-fee Premium Rewards card until you get another Elite card in the future for more airfare uplift.
• But wait there’s more! Welcome bonus up to 75,000. Was 50,000 last year when we went for it:
  Direct Link
• $550 AF not waived but $300 calendar year air incidental credit and $150 lifestyle credit per calendar year.
• Discuss: This is a great little angle for this card that a lot of us got into last year, but how nice would it be if other programs allow similar when their portal is inflated/doesn’t have the inventory/etc? Very unexpected from BofA, but much appreciated.

26:13 Dell Order Updates/Woes

• New developments: pro: Xbox GC backCould not seem to use 3 cards on my most recent order
• Asked to fill out a consent form Due to FTC requirements for an order delayed Otherwise the order would be canceled?  Bizarre.
• 
• Some positive news: Nintendo Switches are back.  Loved by contributors and hosts of this podcast, the system is getting up there in age.
• Buyers groups seem to consistently have a dell order on their page. If nothing else this tells you what cheap laptop is a ‘deal’ right now.
• Was able to use one of my 4 (!) accounts to buy a laptop for resale to buyinggroup.com plus a switch game. Without the game the order was being canceled.
• I’m a believer that Dell has a ‘minimum profit’ per order and will cancel below that. (zero evidence)
• Will end up with about 75% cash out after tax and shipping to BG.com.

29:45 Business Gold Applications: Trending Up

• Mostly writing about this so I can try to get one!
• Bouncing between 70,000 and 150,000
• Went for it head-on at 125,000
• Fluz datapoints for $20/mo Office Supply credits (for transactions Oct 20, 2023)
• Working:
• OFFICE SUPPLY - FWORK
• STK OFFICE SUPPLY
• NOT working:
• FLUZ WORK
• WKP AMAZON BUSINESS

33:34 [Targeted] Amex Blue Business Plus 75,000

• $15,000 minimum spend in 12 months
• As much as I dislike this card, had to go for it
• It’s like the lowest hassle version of the Business Gold/Platinum possible
• Now I have 2 of them. Gah!
• Employee link working?
• https://www.americanexpress.com/en-us/business/campaigns/employee-cards/blue-business-plus/incentive/

34:39 Listener Questions (Part 2)

34:55 Miked asks for:

• A one day snapshot of how you use fluz.

42:47 I Can See for Miles asks:

• What techniques effectively break correlation to game AMEX credits?

47:05 jason m follows up asking:

• I'll follow up on @I Can See For Miles a quick discussion of the ethics of breaking the correlation to get refunded more money than you originally used (or value if you want to call points value instead of money).  To me, breaking the correlation is darker than the buy/return method that many call grey.

48:27 pillow 25 asks about:

• Things that you have your eye on at Dell / Saks!

52:17 Justin TI:

• Maybe your take on the value of staying under 5/24.  I've managed to do so for several years by mostly focusing on business cards, but I'm thinking of going for LOL/24 and loading up on a lot of the personal options I've missed out on. On the other hand, Chase keeps giving out these massive business offers that combine with 5x spend and a 40k referral in 2 player mode.  I just can't seem to let it go.

56:03 Sideshowbob233:

• Review of guidelines to avoid shutdowns at various issuers - avoiding Chase/Citi deposit accounts while doing MS, cycling at Barclays, Synchrony, things like that? (Bust out Risk)

1:05:00 brian:

• Would you rather: concentrate on low cost acquisition of points/miles and just book what you want when it is available (or something very close) OR accumulate points/miles at varying costs and target high value redemptions while gardening reservations to reduce total outlay.

1:14:00Jake Briskett asks:

• Long winded philosophical question.
• The late novelist Kurt Vonnegut informed his pal, Joseph Heller, that their host, a hedge fund manager, had made more money in a single day than Heller had earned from his wildly popular novel Catch-22 over its whole history. Heller responded – “Yes, but I have something he will never have . . . enough.”
• Love that  quote from your recommended book “ The Psychology of Money “.
• So when is enough in this hobby?   I know we’ll always need to keep earning points but at what pace?   When to slow down?  When to pause? When to be the hedge fund manager and when to be the contented author?  I’m curious about your own experiences with this and how you know when it’s time to slow down.

1:18:58 PointsCentric:

• How do you guys avoid “hitting the wall” so to speak and avoid burnout? I’ve been doing this game for 10+ years and I’m finally starting to feel the fatigue setting in and struggling with my motivation to keep on top of all the new angles/plays/cards etc.

1:21:41 Justin V wonders:

• Quit traditional job and go mostly miles and points?

Recommended Listening:

• Sahil Bloom’s keys to a happy life

1:26:21 T asks:

• How do you keep your personal and churning financial life separate? Especially with P2 who may be involved (or not involved) at various degrees? Do you give up certain deals or issuers?
• Do your wives get jealous of how much you spend time with each other? (ha ha)