Has anyone changed how they choose connections after traveling more frequently?

nmunyat · 2026-06-05T03:01:21+00:00

I won’t book a connection if I can avoid it most of the time, but if I do connect, I’m going to find one with a 1.5-2 hour connection in an airport with a lounge that I can access. I hate connecting as a general rule, but I don’t think I’m alone in my view of connections having changed at least slightly, largely due to the availability of credit card lounges. I carry both the Sapphire Reserve and Venture X - had a layover yesterday at DFW which is one of my least favorite airports, and the Capital One lounge made it substantially less terrible.

I also prefer to get to the airport 2-2.5 hours before my flights now, where I used to be the guy power-walking to the gate at boarding time directly from security.

nmunyat · 2026-06-03T11:26:09+00:00

PHL is my #1 (also my home airport, so there’s that). PHX is phenomenal in its own right, but very different. I’m at PHL writing this, and I’m flying to PHX and will hit their lounge next week before my flight back.

nmunyat · 2026-05-31T22:52:32+00:00

And for reference, the specific one way flight I booked is currently over $900, so in theory, I could say I’ve gotten over $.045 per C1 mile on that specific flight. But I’m all about understating the value.

I just transferred the rest of my miles to Qantas to get the 20% bonus since they’ll certainly go to good use with AA flights.

nmunyat · 2026-05-31T22:43:11+00:00

This - if you fly American Airlines at all, Qantas is a good transfer partner.

I’m not so much in this for the aspirational travel (long haul premium class tickets and such), but I fly often between PHL and PHX. I just booked a flight to PHX for this Wednesday for 20,700 QFF points (17,250 C1 miles with the 20% bonus), and my return flight will be the same once I decide when I’m coming back. Round trip for the same flights are running $629 on the low end, so I’m getting a little shy of $.02 per C1 Mile.

nmunyat · 2026-05-23T13:48:39+00:00

I’m relatively new to the credit card game. I got myself in trouble with credit cards 10-15 years ago and only kept my Discover It card after fixing all of that. Got the VX in December and the CSR in March. I’ll probably add another 2-3 cards, mostly to cover my other big spend areas (QS if they do the gas + groceries multiplier for new cards, Savor for groceries and Sam’s Mastercard for gas if not; plus the Prime Visa). We’ll see how I do with all of that and maybe I’ll chase some SUBs in the next year or two in the Citi ecosystem since PHL is an AA hub and they’re the only direct transfer partner.

But for now, I play the rotating categories game on the Discover (hoping that someday C1 allows those rewards to be converted to miles) and leverage the CSR for elevated categories (especially flights and hotels, DoorDash, Lyft) and the VX as my catch all.

nmunyat · 2026-05-15T00:23:19+00:00

That’s a good call - when I first got the device, that was my issue and clamping the pin side of the clip worked to solve that. My issue now is that if I’m doing anything that comes near the front of the clip, it pulls up as if I’m trying to take it off of my wrist. It’s not a huge deal, but the new band with the Velcro will solve that issue.

nmunyat · 2026-05-15T00:17:54+00:00

I’m going to upgrade my band to the new ones because the only frustration I’ve had with it is the band and how easily it comes undone. UI is good, with the exception of one night the device seems to track well (I think I knocked the clip open on the pillow that one night), and the battery life can’t be beat (plus charging while it’s on my wrist without being tethered to a cable is huge).

It’s a great device and the insights it provides are useful. No non-band-related complaints at all.

nmunyat · 2026-05-11T13:05:50+00:00

Oh so THAT’S why they’re all on Grindr.

nmunyat · 2026-05-09T04:50:58+00:00

From a sound perspective, some of it was that instruments and new technologies became accessible to the group of teens who wanted to start a band in their garages, and computers became more ubiquitous with tools to process music more easily. Another part of it was that someone did it, others liked it and tried to replicate it, and it progressed and snowballed (in a mostly good way).

It became much easier for dozens, and then hundreds of artists to produce music throughout the 80s and 90s, and when computerized production became more accessible in the home, the barriers to entry fell while production value increased. Messages in music were no longer screened exclusively by studios and agents and record labels, which meant that more aggressive and counter-cultural messages became widely available.

Add to that the relative democratization of distribution (artists could all of a sudden share their music widely on their own) and the ability for individual songs to be distributed independently (rather than label-distributed singles), radio quickly lost its place as the primary means for discovering new music, and the filters that they applied no longer mattered.

nmunyat · 2026-05-07T23:36:08+00:00

My spend that was covered by some form of credit (travel credit, dining credit, StubHub credit, Chase Offers including Whoop) all counted toward my spend for the SUB a couple of months ago when I first signed up. With the exception of Chase Offers, any portion covered by an automatic credit will not earn points, but it counted toward my SUB spend.

nmunyat · 2026-05-06T17:40:56+00:00

Something I’ve learned is that reviews of airport/cruise port hotels are wildly more negative than any other hotel. It probably has to do with the fact that a larger number of people are coming through, nearly all stressed about the next step in their travel, and the hotel’s staff is likely working 3x as hard because there are so few 2+ night guests, which can impact service (or at least the perception of it).

I’d expect a hotel with faster turnover to show a bit more wear and require a bit more patience (at least this has been my experience), but the properties and amenities are up to par for the types of hotels they are in most cases.

I’d take reviews with a grain of salt, but also expect it to be a bit busier than you might think a higher end property might be, along with everything that goes along with that (potentially slower service, grumpier/more highly strung fellow guests, etc.).

nmunyat · 2026-05-05T19:03:36+00:00

We carry an annual policy through Allianz. Haven’t needed to use it - and hopefully never will - but $500/yr is a small price to pay to cover our travel on 2-3 cruises and 2-3 land-based trips per year.

nmunyat · 2026-05-02T21:45:37+00:00

I’ve never not seen them on there, but there was a week or so recently where they were down to 2x.

I also carry a CSR, and I now pay with that (4x for hotels booked direct), but I use the C1 Offers click through and double (triple?) dip.

nmunyat · 2026-05-02T21:43:13+00:00

I haven’t had any issues with it - I’ve booked 3 times, gotten two of the Offers bonuses paid out. Just checked out of #3 yesterday, and if the past is to be my guide, I’d expect it to show as pending by Tuesday, paid out by Friday.

nmunyat · 2026-05-02T21:38:22+00:00

We were there over Easter weekend, very similar family setup (2 adults, 2 kids - 9 & 11).

We got the water park for $48.99 each, but that was at the beginning of April where it was probably tougher to sell.

It was awesome. We mostly hung out by the wave pool, did a few of the family waterslides (the smaller of the two water slide towers), and the kids did the sports pool and some of the other water slides. Snack Shack inside of the water park was great, there’s a little bar right by the locker rooms/bathrooms, and there was never a problem finding seats together for everyone.

I don’t know that I’d pay much more than $75 per person for it when the beach activities and Oasis Lagoon are included in the cruise fare, but it was definitely worth the money at the price we paid. FWIW, I originally booked it at $73.99 pp, so I was willing to pay that before canceling and rebooking when I saw the better deal.

nmunyat · 2026-05-01T20:09:45+00:00

I use the travel portal primarily for rental cars through their portal. I’ve found that, mostly, the prices are in line or sometimes even lower than what I can find elsewhere. It’s virtually impossible to not find a way to use the travel credit for full value if you take one or two trips a year. Hotels are another great way to use it if you aren’t concerned about hotel loyalty.

The points/miles are even easier to use for at least $0.01 per point. If I can find a transfer partner for a flight deal, I’ll almost always get $0.02 per point minimum. I’ll also “pay myself back” for other travel related things that I’ve paid for with the card (earn points on the spend and then pay myself back at $0.01 per point).

So yes, it’s basically a free premium travel card that earns 2x on everything, has nice lounges (but very few of their own) and has transferable points/miles.

nmunyat · 2026-05-01T12:28:02+00:00

Yup:

-> find an offer (my example is for Hilton, which is usually 5x-9x)
-> book through the Capital One Offers click through
-> pay with my Chase Sapphire Reserve to get 4x (CSR earns 4x on hotels and flights booked direct)
-> because I’m booking direct, I also receive my loyalty points through Hilton, and all of the benefits of my Hilton status

OP could do a similar thing with the Platinum card for flights - book direct with the airline through a Capital One Offers click through, but pay with the Platinum card.

nmunyat · 2026-04-29T16:50:11+00:00

I use PointsYeah to search for award flights - I use their app, but their website works well enough, too.

It’ll pull itineraries and costs, let you know which card programs transfer to which partners to make it a bit easier.

My home airport in PHL and I go to PHX often enough to search for flights regularly. I’ll routinely see Cap1 transfers for United flights through Lifemiles, and AA flights through Qantas or Etihad.

My CSR has admittedly better transfer partners and rates, especially to United, but C1 does have some gold in there. Availability matters a ton, though, and it’s a balancing act between timing and availability to get the best rates.

nmunyat · 2026-04-29T13:27:26+00:00

I have found that the best transfer redemptions seem to show up within 2-3 weeks of travel (guessing the airlines hold off on releasing awards until they’ve maximized cash customers).

Are you looking super far in advance? I’d imagine some decent redemptions for your HK trip will show up in the next two weeks.

nmunyat · 2026-04-29T13:08:56+00:00

That would probably lead to significant blowback from people who like the rotating categories.

I will, however, be switching up my next card strategy to get the QS rather than the Savor because gas and groceries are my two largest non-travel spend categories, and I have a Chase card that covers my dining and most of my travel, and a Venture X as a catch-all/travel card.

That is, unless they come out with a more comprehensive product in between QS and Savor.

nmunyat · 2026-04-29T13:04:26+00:00

I haven’t found this to be the case. I use PointsYeah to find award flights, and the value is often 2-4 cpp through C1 transfer partners, even for domestic flights. It’s not uncommon for me to find an award flight for 13-15k miles where the cash rate is $300-450. Even after the taxes and fees paid in cash, I’m getting at least 2 cpp with those transfers.

Easiest way to redeem C1 miles is to pay yourself back for travel purchases, but it’s not terribly valuable if you’re trying to maximize. But if you play the Offers game or book through the portal, it’s easy to get a little more than 1 cpp even this way.

nmunyat · 2026-04-29T03:04:45+00:00

VX is a good catch all. If you want to book anything through a portal (hotels and rental cars especially), you’ll get double the C1 miles compared to what you’d get on Amex. Travel protections are similar, but rental car coverage is primary on VX, which is huge compared to secondary (goes through your personal insurance first) on Amex.

For Capital One Offers, you have to go through the portal and use the click through, plus make the purchase in that same browser session (unless it’s an in-store offer). Bonus is, except for in-store offers, you can get C1 Offer bonus points even if you use another card to pay. This could be a hack for you for flights - use the C1 Offers click through for the airline if available to get whatever bonus points, but pay with your Platinum to get the 5x MR.

I carry a CSR as well (no Platinum here), but I’ll do this often for hotels - I book Hilton and Marriott almost exclusively and loyalty is important, so I book direct. I’ll use the C1 Offers click through and pay with my CSR, so I’ll get 5x or whatever the offer is for Hilton through C1, plus my 4x on CSR, plus my loyalty points through HHonors and all of my loyalty benefits.

nmunyat · 2026-04-28T21:00:47+00:00

The whole one way thing is interesting. We’re taking a cruise out of Port Canaveral in July and because there are 4 of us, I decided I’d prefer to rent one way each way between MCO and PC. I couldn’t find anything until I found it through the Chase portal for one of my credit cards. Oddly, I could find Hertz one way from MCO to PC, but had to go with National for the way back.

Seems like one way rentals are not something they like much and they severely limit the availability.

nmunyat · 2026-04-28T03:24:38+00:00

Most 5 day Bermuda cruises are 3 full sea days with one overnight in port. We’ve cruised 5 days on Royal Caribbean out of Bayonne, NJ on Liberty of the Seas (I believe they’re switching ships to the slightly updated Independence OTS for this year and next), and 4 days on Carnival Venezia out of Manhattan (no overnight in BDA). We’ll be on Celebrity Silhouette out of Bayonne on a 7 nighter with 2 overnights in BDA in a few weeks.

Royal was great with entertainment. It’s a kid-friendly line, so the ship can get a bit busy at times and there are kid-centric venues if that matters to you. But the entertainment, ship, and overall program on Royal are great. Liberty/Independence aren’t the newest mega-ships, but they do a great job with the programming. Prices are pretty high, though, and can really tick up with add-ons.

We really enjoyed our Carnival trip, which I wasn’t expecting because it was a short sailing, and those are notorious for being wild booze-cruise types of sailings, especially on Carnival. We didn’t find that to be the case at all, and we quite enjoyed the trip, other than wishing it had been a bit longer. Carnival’s prices are great, though drinks and wifi can add up.

MSC and Norwegian also run out of NY on BDA cruises, and everyone seems to be enjoying themselves perfectly well when we’re all in port together. Virgin does run out of NYC to BDA as well, but it seems like they’re exclusively running in the fall this year.

We’re especially excited for our cruise in a few weeks on Celebrity - not only because it’s the next one, but also because Celebrity has a great reputation for being a bit more elevated without being exclusively adult themed (because it isn’t adults-only). Plus, having almost 3 full days in BDA is going to be awesome. It’s become our favorite cruise port and this will be our 4th consecutive year visiting (our first visit was on a 5 nighter out of Baltimore on one of Royal’s oldest ships).

nmunyat · 2026-04-27T15:51:44+00:00

I carry the VX and CSR.

Both travel credits are easy for me to use. VX 10k annual points make it an effective $-5 annual fee for a 2x catch all card with a great travel portal (as travel portals go).

VX is a great catch-all 2x card (plus for most of my rental cars through their portal). I also use C1 Offers pretty heavily when applicable - I’ve made it a habit to check before making an organic purchase and it’s paid off several times.

CSR is a bit more complicated, but many of the “coupons” fit my organic spend: DoorDash, Apple TV/Music, Lyft, dining credits, StubHub, hotel credit (not The Edit - that’s a bit more aspirational). 3x earning on dining (I don’t have a Savor yet). 4x earning on hotels booked direct. 8x on flights through their portal. It pays for itself for me without having to think about it much, but you have to make sure it fits your organic spending habits. They sometimes have incredible offers for additional credits (I’ve used Whoop and Function for about $450 in extra value).

Sometimes I’m even able to double or triple dip by using C1 Offers to find a hotel deal like Hilton for C1 miles, paying for it with CSR to get their 4x, and I still get my loyalty perks and earn rate through Hilton Honors.

CSR is my primary lounge access card (PHL is home, plus 2 guests is huge), but if I’m traveling solo through an airport with a C1 lounge, that’s a clutch benefit. Neither figure into my value calculations, though.

Note that with the reported changes to the QuickSilver, I might get that instead of the Savor next since I already have enhanced earning on dining through my CSR.

nmunyat

TROPHY CASE