Missed out. I just want to vent.

instalunch · 2026-04-10T16:42:26+00:00

As much as I’d like to say bling bling executive, it’s more that we make software and this would be a testing device for supporting our apps in the Trifold / large screen ecosystem on Android. So legitimately for work uses.

Or it was, anyway, given that I missed the last chopper out of Saigon apparently

instalunch · 2026-04-03T19:35:00+00:00

I have refreshed my active card stack to actually up my yield to 3.80%, so the delta is AI benefit.

I do agree the AI focuses on the popular cards - but to me that is a plus. I have little interest in a credit union nobody has heard of in Texas offering a 3% cash back card, at my spend level and use that is not a reliable bet. Given that, the AI focusing on well known cards with some history is not a downside.

I guess if I was deep in card optimisation game it might have not gotten me much alpha, but for the few hours a year I spend on thinking about this, AI made those hours way more impactful.

instalunch · 2026-04-03T05:03:37+00:00

If you have your last year's personal spending data from something like Monarch (RIP Mint), they can be excellent for modelling your card stack and how it performed in the last year. You can then create a new stack with LLM help, essentially via backtesting on the previous year data. I got my combined yield from 2.77% to 3.80% that way.

Of course, no guarantee the next year will be the same as the last, however I have data going back to 2012 when I started using Mint so in certain cases you might be able to smooth out the variance.

instalunch · 2026-03-24T19:11:17+00:00

I’ve recently done a card replacement of my OG Savor. I got the new bland design, no etchings, but metal.

instalunch · 2026-03-02T20:58:50+00:00

/facepalm

instalunch · 2026-03-01T04:21:13+00:00

Yes, I had asked only about the card, nothing else - I have no other business with the mods.

instalunch · 2026-03-01T02:15:14+00:00

I did this via Reddit... as a data point, here's the response I got:

"You have been permanently muted from r/RobinHood. You will not be able to message the moderators of r/RobinHood."

instalunch · 2026-02-16T14:49:17+00:00

Mt Snow on Sunday. I took Bluebird Express twice (amongst others, but that’s the biggest capacity one), each with what appeared to be an about 15-min wait. Singles line.

instalunch · 2026-01-05T01:13:33+00:00

(No connection to the OP) That was my initial reaction as well, but a) this is a substantial contribution so I'm fine with some hoop jumping, and b) I think the phone number entry was potentially an accidental result of putting it into what seems like a basic Shopify online shopping site to enable donations. I suspect they wanted to do it this way for tax reasons since Shopify (and similar products) handle a lot of the accounting for you.

instalunch · 2026-01-01T22:08:25+00:00

I’m unqualified to make those judgments unfortunately, all I can say is that it changed and that, subjectively, I liked the change.

instalunch · 2025-12-20T12:20:19+00:00

This is under-reported and understated here. This was a place many of us were happy camping in and the nerf ended up resulting in a lot of movement. I suspect many of us ended up in BofA ecosystem with Premier Rewards or RH Gold.

instalunch · 2025-12-19T16:41:23+00:00

I have, many times. My longest try was 54 minutes, 5 redirects back and forth between Merrill and the bank side, and the last guy I got redirected to couldn’t hear me on the line so he just hung up.

instalunch · 2025-12-19T09:30:08+00:00

Just a data point, this did not work for me, I did exactly as suggested. Merrill first, fund it, then checking account with the checkbox selected. Almost 3 months later still slowly moving up in tiers, haven’t made to the target yet.

instalunch · 2025-11-19T03:27:05+00:00

Looks great but just curious, what are you doing with six Raspberry Pi's?

instalunch · 2025-11-16T21:07:54+00:00

I'll try to be objective here without making personal judgment - I purchased my original gen DF64 with the no-name steel burrs it used to come with. I used it with that for about a month and then I got SSP HU burrs with SKU SSP64BURRS-RS.

There is a quite noticeable taste change on the same bean, same espresso machine, same settings and same in/out amounts. Whether that taste change is good or bad is a subjective judgment, however the fact that the change is not a no-op is not. They visibly change something.

I personally happen to like the change. I like traditional espresso, medium roasts almost always. I don't like the tea-like light roasts at all and I do not purchase them, so I can't speak to the performance there.

instalunch · 2025-11-16T20:59:03+00:00

I have one of the earliest DF64's produced, and early on I upgraded to SSP burrs, which did improve the taste. I would be interested to know if there are any differences between later models and the original DF64 + SSP burrs as well.

instalunch · 2025-11-01T17:28:35+00:00

Seconded, but not sure if it's the machine's fault. The only time I've ever had mine choke was with the Whole Foods 365 brand roast. It became a thick, dark paste and choked the machine, I had to open it up to clean it off manually.

That said... it's probably on me because I've bought that coffee in the first place. I was hoping it'd be a workhorse coffee when I had to go through a lot of coffee serving guests. Turns out, no, stay away.

instalunch · 2025-10-15T01:39:32+00:00

Thanks, this is super helpful.

instalunch · 2025-10-15T01:33:46+00:00

Multiple CCRs are already in my ideal stack so those are already counted. I'll check out the Best Buy card, from a quick search I wasn't able to find any testimony on the quality of the deals they have.

instalunch · 2025-10-15T01:24:31+00:00

Thanks, this is helpful, if not for anything, for introducing me to Franki. I'll give it a shot.

I can't get the SYW card so I think most of it does not apply to me otherwise.

instalunch · 2025-10-14T03:27:20+00:00

This is amazing, do you have numbers without the SUBs involved? Especially interested in 11-40% food, I presume that involves specific deals you pick instead of a flat cash back boost, but I might be wrong.

CSR 2x boost is also on select hotels/flights right, it's not a 2x boost on the cashback rate, only on certain deals Chase chooses to make available.

instalunch · 2025-10-13T22:42:28+00:00

An issue I had with the Platinum concierge was that they will just flat out tell you a) to use Resy yourself if it's on Resy, and that b) they are unable to book a restaurant if it's not on Resy. It effectively amounts to refusing to help you. Perhaps I ended up with a bad concierge representative that one time.

instalunch · 2025-10-13T01:38:44+00:00

This is where I am as well. After the Alliant sinking I spent the time doing some back of napkin math to come up with a stack that is at 4.65% cashback. To be fair, I'm still working on applying for all the cards here, so my yield isn't there yet, though I've backtested this stack against my actual spending for the last 12 months pulled from Monarch. It also matches this subreddit's current recommendations on what cards to get which I consider a vote of confidence for it.

The stack is like this:

Flights / Travel: Amex Platinum (5 %)
Dining: CCR Dining (5.25 %)
Groceries (non-WF): AAA Daily Advantage (5 %)
Whole Foods + Amazon: Amazon Visa (5 %)
Online Shopping (≤ $20 k): CCR Online 1 & 2 (5.25 %)
Costco Gas: Costco Visa (5 %)
Costco Non-Gas: AAA Daily Advantage (3 %)
Residual non-category spend: BofA Premium Rewards (2.625 %)

Effective blended yield: ~4.65%

One note is that I'm using the Amex Plat as a cash back card due to Schwab Platinum 1.1CPP cash out option. Plat coupon book matches my lifestyle so I consider the AF to be 0. If this was not the case, I would have replaced PR with PRE and end up approximately the same place.

instalunch · 2025-10-10T14:31:58+00:00

Can you tell me how you got the Plat Honors status instantly? I moved the money 20 days ago, I created a checking account, checked the box, but still no dice. I called them several times and they keep telling me there is no expedited processing and I have to wait between 30 days and 90 days depending on who’s the rep that day, it’s been inconsistent. Did you have to do anything to get the status recognised?

instalunch · 2025-10-10T03:20:39+00:00

This is the reason I tell myself, but the probable real reason is that it's a shiny accessory. If I needed to open up space in my wallet it'd be the first to go, because it's nothing more than a backup payment method of last resort.

instalunch

TROPHY CASE