The effects of Hurricane Harvey over the last week have been devastating. Luckily, there are lots of great organizations out there, doing their best to alleviate the situation. If you want to donate to one of these organizations, you’ll be glad to know that several airlines are offering bonus miles for donations to the Hurricane … Read more
One of the most frequent questions that came up during my manufactured spending webinar was where to buy Visa gift cards with a credit card. Buying and liquidating PIN-enabled Visa gift cards is an essential part of manufactured spending. It’s pretty much the only thing I do to earn miles these days, outside of the occasional credit … Read more
Hyatt just announced a special status challenge for Hyatt Visa cardholders: Between September 1 – December 30, 2017 registered cardholders can earn Explorist and Globalist status by completing a third of the normal required nights: Explorist status: Complete 10 nights (normally 30 nights) Globalist status: Complete 20 nights (normally 60 nights) Normally, Hyatt Explorist status … Read more
A lot of you have been asking me lately about The Plastic Merchant and where to buy merchant gift cards you can resell to them. If you get approved as a member, The Plastic Merchant is a great resource for manufactured spending. The company was founded by fellow points and miles enthusiasts who wanted to … Read more
Well that went by fast! September 3 will mark exactly 5 years since I launched this blog with my very first post, What’s the Point?. The post went live at 4:01 PM and got probably zero traffic. I knew nothing about SEO, content marketing, or anything related to blogging. Really, I just wanted to share my … Read more
The Nizuc Resort and Spa in Cancun has a lot going for it: Gorgeous location, exceptional service, and some pretty incredible rooms. One of these rooms is the Master Suite, a 1,030 sqft suite with 600 sqft of outdoor space and a massive infinity pool right on the large terrace. The room does not come cheap. … Read more
During last week’s webinars, I got a lot of similar questions related to manufactured spending. Many of these questions were addressed in ms-related posts over the last four years. But thanks to the results of a recent survey, I’ve realized a large portion of my readership consists of newbies who have missed my earlier posts. … Read more
Back in May I spent three nights at the Nizuc Resort and Spa in Cancun. I was starting a new job the following week, it was Mother’s Day and I found an insanely good deal on the Master Suite through Club1 Hotels. How did I hear about this place? I was following Bethenny Frankel on … Read more
Whether you’ve been in this game for a while or are fairly new, you’ve probably heard of the Chicago Seminars. It’s an annual points and miles conference organized by Rick Ingersoll (founder of Frugal Travel Guy) and Howie Rappaport. This year’s event takes place the weekend of October 20, 2017, at the Holiday Inn Elk … Read more
Have you ever traveled somewhere and found the hotel gym to be lacking? Or perhaps the 7 A.M. yoga class at your resort is just too damn early (we’re on vacation, for crying out loud!). If you have a ClassPass membership, you don’t have to do either of those things. What is ClassPass? ClassPass is … Read more