Milenomics² Podcast Episode 206: Status Matches, Card Approvals & Denials

0:21 Status Match Opportunities

• JetBlue (Direct Link)
• Capped at 30,000 applicants with Delta Medallion status
• Matched status last [only] through end of 2023 *unless* you have Barclays JetBlue card -or- accrue enough pro-rated Tiles to requalify
• Detailed info on Mosaic nuances are hard to discern from JetBlue (Mosaic info page) and the latest iteration of the program is so new it seems not many people have really kicked the tires on it. So I asked them some questions on Twitter.
• Companions: Up to 8 people on an itinerary can get free same day changes and complimentary Even More Space seats at check-in (Mosaic Level 2) or booking (Mosaic Level 3). 8 is better than 2 with Delta!
• Move to Mint upgrade certs: Can only use 2 per itinerary. If you have more than 2 people on the itinerary, nobody gets upgraded, even if you have adequate certs. Processes at check-in if Mint seats are open. Kinda lame if you ask me.
• Mosaic 3 includes…wait for it..Founders Card Blue! I thought the idea with Founders card is that it provides perks for travel programs, but this is the other way around? These programs are starting to circle back on themselves. Get this: If FoundersCard identifies you as a prior member they deny the membership and try to sell you a renewal. What an operation.
• Move to Mint certs expire earned through this expire Dec 2023.
• Can’t get Barclays credit card so I’d need 24 Tiles by the end of 2023 to requalify. That’s $2,400 spent on JetBlue flights, vacations, or Paisly (ugh).
• Alaska (Direct Link)
• Pretty generous mapping and all you have to do to keep status through 2024 is have a BofA Alaska Visa
• Far out upgrades, certs, reciprocal benefits with AA/OneWorld - I’m interested.
• “A member may only receive one status match for the lifetime of their account.” Will they enforce this? Is it time to allow them to create a new Alaska account for me when I apply for a BoA business card? Hmm…
• 

21:59 Amex Business Gold Changes

• AF goes from $295 to $375 starting Feb 1, 2024
• Gain $20/mo “Flexible Business Credit” that can used at FedEx, GrubHub and…office supply stores!
• Also gains monthly Walmart+ subscription credit (but you probably already have that from Amex Platinum)

24:51 Amex Morgan Stanley Platinum Back to 125,000

• Direct Link
• 125,000 for $6,000 in 6 months
• Up from 80k
• Still churnable
• Free authorized user card a nice perk
• Is there a need for a Schwab card with no bonus?

29:17 [Targeted] Amex Blue Business Plus 75,000

• Link to check
• $15k in 12 months.
• No lifetime language if targeted.
• Saw this in my Amex Offers page for a Business Gold card.
• Neither Sam nor his P2 were targeted

30:33 Still Working: Delta Business cards “Bare Metal”

• After last week’s show I went in and applied head on for one of the gold Business cards
• No annual fee makes the card one of the best in the portfolio
• No popup for p2 who gets penalty box popups and who also has had this card 2 times already.
• 80,000 miles for $6,000 in spend

31:57 Fluz News

• Some issues with power portal over the week
• MUVC are still not here, for those in the early beta pool there’s no good path to liquidate GC Balance.
• Form can be filled out and exceptions are being made to move GC Balance to cash balance.
• Busines gold working on restaurants and fuel.

35:37 BMO Bank Bonus

• Direct Link
• $400/$600 with only requirement DD ($4000 or $7500 total)
• Brokerage bonuses up to $3500
• Probably region dependant, BMO bought out bank of the West in CA and is making a big push.
• Wonder what BMO stands for. Just don't wonder enough to look it up.

36:57 Denied: Eastern Bank Credit Card

• Took them 3 weeks to tell me via USPS that I was denied
• Reason: “Too many tradelines opened in the last 12 months”
• Harbor One Bank has a card that is a clone of this
• Lame. Makes me appreciate bigger banks.

38:04 Denied: CapitalOne Venture X Business

• Transferred the cashback from my Spark Cash Plus to my Personal Venture X miles
• Closed my Spark Cash Plus card (because it is said to be a disqualifying disposition for a Venture X Business
• Shortly thereafter applied for a Venture X Business online
• Denied after 3 hard pulls

40:35 Disney World Trip Report

• Theme here is: Does your company have empathetic employees?
• JetBlue outbound was [miraculously]..on time! Made it from school to Disney World in record time.
• Sat next to a JetBlue call center rep who works in escalations. Really knows her stuff, tons of empathy. Had an interesting conversation about how bookings are so often complicated, the website doesn’t work, and customers are afraid they’re going to be charged for speaking to a representative.
• Since we were arriving a little early I booked Topolino’s Terrace for dinner on arrival. Signature dining experience atop the new Riviera Resort, and accessible via the Disney Skyliner. Dinner was very good and the Skyliner is an awesome form of transportation around the parks which serves the Riviera (Deluxe/DVC), Caribbean Beach (Moderate), Art of Animation, and Pop Century (Value).
• I’d never stayed at a Value resort but really liked Pop Century. Room was super functional, clean, fun (desk converts to bed) and worked great for our situation. About $230/nt. A knock on Value resorts is that they’re huge which means long walks to the room. This one is indeed big, but it wasn’t so bad. We accrued fewer steps overall here than at the Swan Reserve, because the Swan Reserve is a long walk to transportation options/parks. Would definitely stay here again.
• An advantage of staying at a Disney Resort is the ability to start booking things at 7a rather than at park open. Unfortunately, the Disney App is very glitchy. Went to book at 7a (when every minute counts) and…nothing worked. Really frustrating because there’s nothing that can be done other than keep trying, and you don’t know whether it’s “just me” or everyone is having the same trouble. Ultimately it’s just an annoying waste of time. They got their act together at 7:45a but by then plans were a bit suboptimal and we were busy getting ready/out the door/tired of futzing with the app. IT failures of one sort or another has been a consistent source of annoyance on all our Disney trips and shows no signs of improving.
• New ride: Tron at Magic Kingdom. Pretty fantastic new coaster. Tomorrowland finally feels futuristic! Booked an Individual Lightning Land -and- a virtual queue. When our time came for the virtual queue the line looked very long and conflicted with our lunch dining reservation. Chose to ask for forgiveness rather than waiting around trying to patch things up so we enjoyed lunch then went back over there. We asked at an empty Guest Experience tent near our lunch spot whether he could change our time based on lunch; he said he couldn’t but it would be fine if we presented our receipt. On the way there, the afternoon virtual queue window opened up and we thought maybe we should book that so as to avoid friction. That turned out to be a mistake because when we got to the checkpoint they said we were too early. We explained that we missed our earlier time due to a conflicting dining reservation but they weren’t having it. Asked another sympathetic nearby castmember but he too wouldn’t budge. Stopped at a nearby empty Guest Experience tent and he gave us the good ‘ol “one time exception” - just because of your lunch receipt. But don’t do this again! <eyeroll> It’s really hard to know the pecking order of who to appeal to when things don’t go well at Disney, and ultimately we never stand in a customer complaint line. But overall, we kept our cool and enjoyed “exploring the space.”
• Disney ride reliability continues to be an issue. At one point at Hollywood Studios, 4 of their biggest attractions suffered downtime within a 2 hour window. This too creates stress because you don’t know whether to stay or bail to another park. Especially with a move to fewer large attractions this can really kill momentum.
• New dining: Roundup Rodeo BBQ in Toy Story Land at Hollywood Studios. Highly recommended. Table service family style. 90% of the sides were really good. The brisket was so so good. Cool to be in the park an hour+ after it closed with a late reservation.
• First time doing Disney Golf. Enjoyed it. They hosted PGA tournaments here from 1971 - 2012. 3 18 hole courses and a 9 hole. The 18 hole courses are pretty high end/a serious golf experience. We were flying back Monday afternoon and “Disney” was helpful coordinating it all for us. Called the “front desk” (routes to central resort rep) to decide how to best handle our luggage storage, transportation to the course etc. They really helped out. Checked bags at hotel for the day, Disney provided taxi vouchers to/from the course and even extended that to lunch at the Poly after golf. Other than a rogue clueless taxi driver who was new to the area and seemingly didn’t know how to use turn by turn directions on his phone it was great!
• Delta return. I noticed when I checked in that we weren’t on the upgrade list. I thought it was hopeless with only 2 seats in First but I called because I’ve seen this before. I felt the Delta rep was smug in how she interacted with me. Told me I probably opted out of upgrades (as if!), “fixed it” and asked me to check in again. I’m like, “You can fix it but you can’t check me back in?” Whatever. Really bothers me when there’s something systematic wrong with their program (seems to be companion related) and the rep not only has no curiosity if something is wrong on their end, but goes so far as to suggest I’m doing something wrong. But somehow with 14 people on the upgrade list me and my son cleared when we arrived to the airport, and they somehow moved seats around so we were sitting together. Score!
• Overall: Another great trip and really felt like we got a square vacation in with 1 day off work.

56:08 10 Years Ago This Week

• FAA rule change being voted on this week in 2013 means we can now use our small portable devices like smartphones, tablets and e-readers during takeoff and landing in airplane mode
• My issue is power – I hope in the next years everyone has power outlets on their flights since we’ll be using more battery.