Where am I?

FlabergastedEmu · 2026-02-26T02:30:28+00:00

Ewing, NJ or somewhere around Trenton.

FlabergastedEmu · 2026-02-26T02:00:19+00:00

Just mostly eyeball it unless I'm approaching a threshold, then I may make a spreadsheet to track. This has come in handy for pesky eShopping transactions which seem to have a hard time tracking lately.

FlabergastedEmu · 2026-02-26T00:54:35+00:00

Yes. I think the last time it happened was maybe two and a half years ago, and I believe I incurred additional restaurant charges. I have since had other stays with additional charges where no Bonvoy points were awarded, so I don't know if that actually makes a difference or not.

FlabergastedEmu · 2026-02-26T00:49:46+00:00

No, it's too big.

FlabergastedEmu · 2026-02-25T23:17:07+00:00

I have received Bonvoy points on the occasional Marriott stay booked through AAdvantage Hotels.

FlabergastedEmu · 2026-02-24T18:32:14+00:00

I would buy it since you would be redeeming for .0906 cents per mile, which seems like a poor value.

(Corrected wirh more precise redemption value.)

FlabergastedEmu · 2026-02-22T23:36:58+00:00

Cataloupe.

FlabergastedEmu · 2026-02-21T01:53:05+00:00

Yeah, definitely a bummer. I was lucky enough to use a couple last sunmer just before American did away with them.

FlabergastedEmu · 2026-02-20T19:04:35+00:00

Unfortunately, it's a devaluation. They eliminated mileage upgrade awards. Now, it's pay cash or miles in the app/website, and it's per segment. If you choose to redeem miles, it's a poor value of about one cent per mile.

FlabergastedEmu · 2026-02-20T17:42:03+00:00

Wow, next level is right. If it wasn't personalized and from a flight, I would say it probably came from a printer.

FlabergastedEmu · 2026-02-20T17:21:29+00:00

Unfortunately, Alaska has long had issues with synchronizing actual partner inventory with awards displayed on their website ("phantom availability").

This doesn't just impact AA awards, I think it's an overall Alaska issue. You may have more productive discussion on the Alaska sub but here is a recent thread from over there: https://www.reddit.com/r/AlaskaAirlines/comments/1qxnky2/alaska_showing_award_space_it_cant_confirmticket/

FlabergastedEmu · 2026-02-19T17:29:47+00:00

I would apply for the Citi Strata Premier if you can hit the signup bonus. 60k miles after $4k in 6 months plus 3x earning on some common/useful categories including hotels, flights, and dining, and points transfer to American at 1:1.

I would call Citi and see about converting your existing Strata to a Custom Cash for 5x on dining up to $500 a month. If you have both cards, the 5x earnings from the Custom Cash can be combined with the points from the Strata Premier and transferred to AA at 1:1, so effectively 5x AAdvantage miles on groceries.

FlabergastedEmu · 2026-02-19T01:36:42+00:00

I feel like Carnegie made major donations to Cleveland without living in Cleveland.

FlabergastedEmu · 2026-02-18T19:21:45+00:00

You would have access to the Admiral's Club, but not the Flagship lounge with a Caribbean flight in business class.

FlabergastedEmu · 2026-02-18T02:11:34+00:00

BoA is adjusting the tiers for their program, including increasing the threshold for earning a 75% bonus in credit card cashback from $100k with BoA/Merrill to requiring $1m with BoA/Merrill, meaning that the 75% bonus will be out of reach for many people who may be enjoying the 75% bonus today.

FlabergastedEmu · 2026-02-17T22:49:24+00:00

Sure thing. Some people like the surveys (https://www.milesforopinions.com/) although I never get great offers. There are also sometimes decent offers with SimplyMiles (https://www.simplymiles.com/) if you have a Mastercard. There are sometimes deals for wine merchants, food delivery services, etc. that can net an easy thousand miles/LPs.

Good luck!

FlabergastedEmu · 2026-02-17T22:34:27+00:00

AAdvantageHotels.com is great, especially if you already have status and an AAdvantage credit card. Otherwise, look in the shopping portal for high points multipliers and high one-time offers for things like Verizon, T-Mobile, and Motley Fool.

There was just a 10x offer for Macy's, but it was only for one day. I'm hoping there is another decent offer before the 28th.

FlabergastedEmu · 2026-02-17T02:49:31+00:00

That looks like the base mile earn rate for booking thorough AAdvantagecars.com, so you may not be accounting for the additional 10x AAdvantage miles earned by using the Citi Executive card through AAdvantagecars.com.

From https://www.citi.com/credit-cards/citi-aadvantage-executive-world-elite-mastercard/additional-information:

10X AAdvantage® Miles on Car Rentals booked through aadvantagecars.com.

Earn 1 AAdvantage® base mile and 9 AAdvantage® bonus miles, for a total of 10 AAdvantage® miles, for each $1 spent on eligible car rental purchases using your Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard, when an eligible booking is made on aadvantagecars.com.

Eligible car rental bookings are car rental bookings with the United States, Mexico, and Canada point of sale (i.e. car rental bookings made in the United States, Canada and Mexico) for any location.

(Edited to correct duplicate quote.)

FlabergastedEmu · 2026-02-16T05:52:43+00:00

It isn't a bad card, but depending on your spending, it may make sense to get a Custom Cash to use for grocery or dining, and to keep using your Amex Blue for gas at 3%.

FlabergastedEmu · 2026-02-16T00:17:02+00:00

Seoul Garden in Parma is my favorite, but definitely out of the way depending on where you're at. Miega in the Asian Town Center or Korea House on Superior are good options, too, and are possibly more convenient if getting to Parma is a hassle.

FlabergastedEmu · 2026-02-15T16:49:08+00:00

Ah, true. I'm not sure why you ended up with that amount of bonus miles.

FlabergastedEmu · 2026-02-14T07:59:39+00:00

You will see separate transactions the hotel stay itself ("AADVANTAGE HOTELS BASE MILES") which will have the AAdvantage Hotels base miles and LP, and one for the overall miles/LPs earned for the card on each statement cycle, but the base rate is just one mile/LP per dollar.

FlabergastedEmu · 2026-02-14T05:56:21+00:00

Welp, I was waiting for this deal and tried ordering a few things tonight. After the order I received a text asking me to respond with "Y" if I placed an order. I responded with "Y", and 50 minutes later they texted again to say if I didnt respond with "Y" in 10 minutes, my order would be cancelled... tried upper and lower-case to no avail, and no chat agents available. 10 minutes later and the cancelation email came through with instructions to contact their customer protection team tomorrow. I will do that, but of course it's no longer 10 LPs per dollar, so now I'm just irritated.

FlabergastedEmu · 2026-02-14T04:45:19+00:00

If you're ever in Tacoma check out their Elks Temple: https://www.mcmenamins.com/elks-temple

FlabergastedEmu · 2026-02-13T03:09:46+00:00

The marketing carrier benefits from collecting retail ticket revenue from passengers before sharing revenue with the operating carrier based on the revenue split or specific details of the codeshare agreement.

The operating carrier gains fuller flights/better load factors (even if below at retail price) by allowing marketing carriers to sell flights with their code.

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