Today’s article will resume the discussion of booking the initial hotel stays for our 2019 Euro Trip. I will address the value of points and miles and why I prefer award nights for this trip. I use Milan as a detailed example and will close with the hotels selected for each city on our itinerary.
Read MoreLast week I spent a lot of time researching and eventually booking flights for this year’s trip to Europe. This will be our first visit outside the peak summer travel season I expected to have my pick of plentiful award flight and hotel options. I was partially right: there were far more choices than I typically find during the summer. I was miserably wrong, however, when I searched American Airlines in hopes of using my stash of American AAdvantage miles. But I found no saver-level business class space for the days we are traveling. For me, this was the last straw.
Read MoreI have been actively collecting points and miles via new credit card signup bonuses for four years. In that time, I have opened and closed nearly two dozen accounts. That may not sound like many compared to other bloggers, but I never open cards when I can’t meet the spending requirement for the bonus with my normal purchases. However, I have reached the point where I currently hold or have recently closed most of the cards that interest me. The solution: begin applying for cards in my wife’s name! And, this week, I have an “opportunity” to earn the signup bonus on her latest card with a single purchase!
Read MoreEarlier this year, I opened an American Express Hilton Honors Business Card and spent $4,000 to earn the welcome bonus. This gives me a head start on meeting the $15,000 annual threshold for a free weekend stay at a Hilton property. But is this a good use of $10,000 of spending? I take a look in this article.
Read MoreSince my pursuit of points and miles has resulted in many open credit card accounts, I recently began a top-to-bottom review of my overall credit card portfolio. In today's final entry in the series covering this review, I will consider the lone Barclays card products I hold.
Read MoreLast week, I reviewed my American Express credit card portfolio. My primary takeaway was to close my consumer Amex Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card. Ironically, yesterday, I received a spend promotion from American Express for that very card.
Read MoreSince my pursuit of points and miles has resulted in many open credit card accounts, I recently began a top-to-bottom review of my overall credit card portfolio. In today's entry in the series covering this review, I will consider the American Express card products I hold.
Read MoreIf you actively collect travel points and miles, you want to leave no stone unturned when looking for ways to earn these rewards. Making as many of your purchases as possible through online shopping portals is one of the best methods for accomplishing this. A portal I frequently use is the American Airlines AAdvantage eShopping site, where last year I earned 11,827 miles by starting shopping "trips" on the site.
Read MoreLast week, I debuted the new look of Debrian Travels and discussed why I would say I am not relaunching the blog but rather tightening its brand. Part of that process was defining my Hedgehog Concept, a framework developed by renowned business author Jim Collins in his book Good to Great. While the business analysis of my blog does not fall within the branding I outlined in my previous post, I think a deeper dive into that thought process could be useful to better understand the focus I will have with the updated Debrian Travels. An ancillary benefit is that it can serve as an example for other small businesses or bloggers.
Read MoreI love shopping portals and have written about them frequently. As we head into the Christmas shopping season, both AAdvantage eShopping and Delta Air Lines's SkyMiles Shopping are offering bonus miles by achieving certain spend thresholds.
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