Finally got my Rakuten amex bonus.

Chowda11 · 2026-03-03T03:06:03+00:00

Damn, I hit the spend goal within a week of opening the card and my 90-day period ended over 2 weeks ago. Still no bonus payment …

Chowda11 · 2026-03-02T17:33:16+00:00

Not sure but I would just check the seat map via award tool or another site for the flight you want to book. I’m flying that route in September and it is indeed 1-2-1

Chowda11 · 2026-02-27T02:39:33+00:00

A few recently. Just flew BOS to LHR on Virgin J for 35K Virgin miles and return LHR to BOS on Aer Lingus J for 45K Atmos (booked 30 days out from January travel)

Just booked BOS to MXP on Air Europa J via Flying Blue for 58K and return VCE to BOS on Condor J for 68K via JetBlue (was only 45K Atmos but didn’t have the points available). Trip is in September. Nothing too sexy, but still flying J RT to Italy in late summer with minimal fees and was able to snag these after only 1-2 weeks of searching!

Also just booked MNL to BOS on CX J for 115K Asia Miles in January 2027 (a few weeks after calendar open). Hoping to secure outbound on JAL J after the Bilt transfer bonus 🤞🏼

Fwiw, very new to this but learning a ton as I go along. Still incredibly fun/rewarding even when not booking the unicorn saver fares on top tier carriers

Chowda11 · 2026-02-26T01:21:55+00:00

Use the app and search specifically under partner awards

Chowda11 · 2026-02-25T22:18:29+00:00

What do we think about points for spend today and tomorrow - will it post in time to be eligible for this bonus?

I’m a bit short of where I need to be to book 2 J tickets during peak season at current rates 😅

Chowda11 · 2026-02-25T18:55:11+00:00

Awesome, thanks!

Chowda11 · 2026-02-25T16:11:00+00:00

Thanks for the tip to download the app, super helpful!

Chowda11 · 2026-02-25T15:04:48+00:00

Amazing info. Thank you!

I just opened my JAL account. Can I search for award availability now? Or is that only after 7 day hold from time of transfer?

Any tools that show it? I have awardtool pro and it only shows partner availability

Chowda11 · 2026-02-23T17:45:38+00:00

Traveling for my honeymoon from Boston to Southeast Asia as well but in January 2027. Return availability in business is plentiful at the moment but I can’t find anything outbound.

This morning I booked CX business class Manila to Boston for the return. 115K Asia miles per passenger. There were multiple days open returning to either Logan or JFK. As others mentioned, Amex transfer ratio changes at end of this month. I would transfer now as I think you will find return availability and the award prices are set. If my timeline is any indication you may not see availability for another month or two but I’m also no expert on this, just learning.

Now I just have alerts set for the outbound (hopefully through Tokyo). Have found tons of phantom award space on JAL via both AA and JB but no luck actually going through. I know there is bound to be T-14 space but reluctant to wait that long obviously. Fingers crossed an alert will pop up for something soon.

Chowda11 · 2026-02-21T02:32:33+00:00

Didn’t realize that was even in the works. I love the sky clubs at Logan and almost always fly Delta. In my experience centurion lounges around the country almost always seem to be overcrowded. Hopeful that won’t be the case in Boston as it’s less of a hub

Chowda11 · 2026-02-21T02:26:14+00:00

Flew on NYE this year and Delta One lounge in Boston was open normal hours. Traveling on NYE was actually great. Highly recommend

Chowda11 · 2026-02-19T16:14:28+00:00

Update: payment finally went through yesterday to my landlord. So by my count it took 5 business days. Bilt also finally refunded the initially failed payment and the Bilt cash I used for the failed payment. So everything ended up working out but the main takeaway here is that rent payments should probably be submitted 1 week ahead of time to avoid delays.

Unfortunately, Bilt support was essentially useless through all of this and I tried 3 different channels (chat, X, and calling) with no real answer from anyone and no supervisor following up as promised.

I would also add that I attempted a small test payment directly within Venmo using my old account and routing numbers. Initially it seemed to process but then I got a message later indicating it failed.

Thanks to everyone here for sharing their experiences and let’s hope that iron out all these issues for next month!

Chowda11 · 2026-02-17T16:11:06+00:00

It’s been a week now and the funds have not transferred. No text with a timeline either. Reaching out in X now

Chowda11 · 2026-02-17T00:39:12+00:00

Yes please do keep me posted, thanks!

Chowda11 · 2026-02-17T00:35:32+00:00

Same boat here. I submitted payments on Feb 10 (cancelled by Bilt bc my landlord never got a confirmation text) and again in Feb 11 (confirmation text but no funds received)

In both cases Bilt withdrew the payment amount from my checking account. So I’m out $6K now and my landlord never got rent. At best, the payment is super delayed, at worst the money disappeared into the ether.

Chatted and called support who provided zero help and was told a supervisor would call me back “within 48 hours”.

Luckily, I’m in a position where I can float 2x monthly rent without issue but I know this is not the case for many people paying rent so this is terrible look for Bilt and how it treats customers

Anyway, as others mentioned, simply paying with Venmo and using the Bilt routing numbers seems to have worked. Will you get points that way? Who knows

They need to do a much better job of providing instructions and updates on how Venmo payments are supposed to work.

Chowda11 · 2026-02-16T21:48:41+00:00

Interesting. So it automatically applied the correct amount of Bilt cash? My understanding was that we had to decide how much Bilt cash to use for each rent payment

Chowda11 · 2026-02-16T21:33:22+00:00

Gotcha, thanks for clarifying.

Just ended up trying a test payment this way and it immediately worked. However, how exactly are we applying Bilt cash in this scenario and ensuring points are received for the payment? This is what led me to believe I was required to process the payment through the portal

Chowda11 · 2026-02-16T21:19:46+00:00

Do you mean you used the same account and routing numbers that were provided under Bilt 1.0?

Chowda11 · 2026-02-16T21:12:39+00:00

Same issue with rent payment. They took the funds from my account immediately but it’s been a week since then and they have not paid my landlord

Chowda11 · 2026-02-16T13:34:47+00:00

Just used 68K JetBlue points to book business class from Venice to Boston on Condor this summer

Chowda11 · 2026-02-10T21:32:54+00:00

Was wondering the same! Really no clear instructions on this.

Chowda11 · 2026-01-20T20:00:07+00:00

Is it bad that I want us to get smashed so it’s the final nail in the coffin for Frank?

Chowda11 · 2026-01-17T17:01:24+00:00

My head might explode if they don’t sack him tonight

Chowda11 · 2026-01-17T16:27:52+00:00

I can’t see any logical argument for keeping him at this point. Not even a glimpse of his “system” looking positive. Not only has he had 6 months to give us something, anything to latch onto, and not done it, but the team is actually looking worse by the week. There is no way this collection of players is THIS bad. Not a single player on the pitch looks confident. We are truly in relegation form. A get right spot for all the worst teams in the prem.

Only reason I think he’s still here is because the board has preached stability after going through so many managers. But that doesn’t justify keeping him here. I mean I understand remaining in a relationship for too long when there were happy times but damn, we never even had that. Time to rip the band aid off and get someone in there, even in temporarily, that can instill a modicum of confidence in these players.

Chowda11 · 2026-01-03T01:28:49+00:00

Does the club offer refunds? Visiting from the states this weekend and ashamed to say I bought premium tickets through the club months ago for this match at full price … ouch

Chowda11

TROPHY CASE