The Milenomics Podcast Network

Milenomics² Episode 198: Ever-Changing Fluz 3.0, What We've Been Up to & Kauai Trip Report

Added 2023-07-01 16:22:01 +0000 UTC

0:20 Fluz: Absurd Edition

When things couldn't get more complicated…they do
Rolling 72 business hour $2k cap. No more instant access to $2k per day.
Annoying because this money ‘rolls’ in, so your GC balance changes slowly.
Open Loop cards showing promise for $250-$1000 balances.
$1k MCGC would be a win over MC1TC
MC 1TC reportedly not coming back soon (bank issues)
Cash balance sticking around (and even higher cash out amounts) but MCC categories no longer allowed to be set.
Amex grocery seems to be working about 75% of the time.
After Recording: lower GC Balance load rates went up by 1% to match cash loads
Cash load MCC is dead, Cash balance is not rolling over

13:55 Amex Membership Rewards Clawbacks

Seeing widespread reports of this
Small amounts for the most part
The card they email you about is not necessarily the one they're clawing back on.
Sam: nothing yet
Robert: Small clawback

21:37 Dell credits: How Are We Doing

These represent the single biggest opportunity to recoup costs on a high annual fee business platinum
More valuable? Less valuable? When you scale up in business platinum cards?
Especially important straddling July/Dec for a triple dip.
How are we getting orders in? (Are we?)

31:51 Alaska LAX - NAS nonstop (link)

37:52 Kauai Trip Report

38:01 Overview:

Short 7 day trip
Chose princeville as our base. Wanted peace and quiet.
Hanalei is [still] great.
Hawaii observation: prices are consistent or lower from last December. Felt like a lot of value to me.
New options on the north shore made food easier to come by.
Traffic is still horrible if you try to traverse the whole island. If possible split stays to limit driving.

42:00 Clear: Useless

43:27 Delta SkyClub LAX

Traveling as a family of 4 with platinum cards in our profiles.
Terminal 3 skyclub had a line at entrance.
Upset customers turned away ahead of me. Agent outside the doors with a mobile device to triage
Front line rep using mobile phone just didn't want us in the lounge. Plain and simple. Initially scanned my BP, said the computer didn’t see any access. Showed my Platinum. “You’ll be allowed in but everyone else is $50 apiece.” spent 30 seconds trying to get my point across and then decided to leave.
She just wouldn't play ball, especially with the kids.
Left, quickly.
Moved to the smaller terminal 2 skyclub where I could get to the front desk without any issue.
Agent at the computer scanned BP for us each and saw access for the kids and myself.
This aligns with what I saw in December, the kiosk/front line reps don’t see the wallet information.

51:10 Hawaii Rental Cars: How far we've come

Far out best I could do was $450 or so per week
Avis/budget code we've been using got me to $295
But RCT12345 shared that close in prices were cratering
Indeed autoslash served up a rate of $230 (Costco) one day out.
Lots in Kauai were full but national was saying sold out when I did a quick search after landing.
Big takeaway: rental cars are competitive across the Hawaiian islands again and rates are low!

North Shore Overview: Open for Business

Spending more and more time in Kiliuea. I’ve enjoyed watching this small area spring up and find a footing.
Now a good spot to stop for food and coffee in the area.
Made the difference this trip, with enough variety to save us from a drive down to Kapaa or dealing with getting into/out of Hanalei for lunch.
Proximity to three of our favorite beaches makes it convenient for grab and go.
Lighthouse, good beaches and numerous food options (including a market with grab and go) make it a great place to spend a day. In the past we’ve skipped it.

West Side: Hanapepe art walk

We've seen this disappear with COVID and come back finally. Visited it combined with dinner at Japanese grandma's
The town of hanapepe is more interesting to me when empty than during art walk.
The galleries in the town are worth a look.
Too many people.

Beaches Visited this trip: