The Milenomics Podcast Network

M² Episode 104: At Home Liquidation Down, but Not Out, WInterization and Thanksgiving Trip Reports

Added 2020-12-05 17:53:40 +0000 UTC

News

0:25 PayPal Key

Plastiq Dead
Died for many 11/25 sometime after around 3:30pm eastern
Debrief?
What is still working with PPK?
Lots of things coding as 4x on Amex Personal Gold as “Global Restaurants” (Plastiq HELOC, BMW Financial Services, everything?)

07:13 Bravo 2% Deathwatch

Reports of nastygrams sent for using old version of app at 2%
Not entirely clear this is 100% dead but…
Can Bravo still make sense at 2.9%?
It’s somewhat surprising they’re objecting to use at 2% vs 2.9% rather that scrutinizing repeated large transactions from/to the same person (which would seem to be even more alarming)

10:38 Best Buy GC Resale Market Floundering

14:07 Thoughts on prior 3 items...

In-store liquidation took its lumps a couple weeks ago
Online methods took major hits this past week
Bright side: These were soft landings in most cases. Could have ended a lot worse.
Did they save us from ourselves?

16:28 Hyatt Relaxes Globalist Status Requirements (FM)

30 nights needed for Gloablist in 2021 (rather than 60)
“Bonus Journeys” promo: Through Feb 28, 2021 each night earns double elite nights (registration required)
“Free Nights on Sale” promo: Through Feb 28, 2021 get 15% points back on award stays, 25% back if you have the Chase Hyatt card (registration required)
So stay 15 nights (paid or award) get Globalist through Feb 2023
Idea: Walk into your local Hyatt, regardless of room rate, and explain to them what you want (15 nights) and how much it will cost
Is it a deal now?

24:27 Citi Expedia Devalues VIP Hotel Redemptions

Previously points were worth twice as much towards “VIP” hotels (1.4 cpp vs 0.7 cpp)
After 1/31/2021 VIP hotels will also be worth 0.7 cpp
Starting 2/1/2021 VIP hotel bookings will earn 3x rewards
They make it sound like they’re giving 3x (on the earning side) and only taking away 2x (on the redemption side) but clearly this is a huge nerfing of the value of rewards earned through signup
Upshot: Book provisionally by 1/31/2021 to capture value

30:01 Staples Fee-Free MCGCs/VGCs

30:30 Stop & Shop/Giant 3x VGCs?

Follow Up

32:01BofA Business Cash Reward $500 SUB posted (link)

32:41 FoundersCard

Went to cancel and they offered me a full membership (ie, including Stripe/other stuff not available in trial) for a year for $95
Cancelled any way and they immediately offered another trial year for $0
Good solution for my use model

33:18 Winterization: Think now about wrapping up 2020

45:35 Thanksgiving travel during Covid

Each of our Thoughts on Air Travel during Covid?

Sam: Flying with two little ones--I’m mostly concerned with surfaces. Airlines say they’re cleaning and disinfecting--but there’s no way they clean tray tables for example, and kids want to touch everything.
Masks: Usage has been good--but I’ve heard FA asking people to put their masks back on. Possibly not near me because I am flying as far back as possible
This time around my plan to be the last on the plane didn’t result in the bubble I wanted--Southwest was load balancing. 50 pax on a 737-800, they only wanted us in the first 21 rows (84 seats available in those rows).
Meant we had some people in front of us, but no one behind us at least.

Thoughts:

Somewhat useless to be at a ski area with kids this young (for skiing).

Covid affects on skiing (Article)

Breckenridge not even open to walk ups.
Pass holders only and reservations required
Limits on skiers (this could be good if you can get a reservation).
Epic passes offer a lot of options if you’re looking to travel for skiing. Plenty of options in CA/CO (and beyond) on one pass.

Altitude issues