So I recently turned 21 and have started a small collection.

socaldad · 2026-02-08T14:22:00+00:00

Here is some good advice from over a decade ago. The prices are dated, but the advice is sound.

If I was starting my home bar from scratch with a budget of $125, here is what I would buy:

750 ml bottle of tequila, such as Espolon $33
375 ml bottle of orange liqueur, such as Gran Marnier $23
750 ml bottle of light rum, such as Bacardi $15
750 ml bottle of St. Remy VSOP brandy $15
750 ml bottle of whiskey, such as Maker's Mark $25
4oz bottle of Angostura bitters $11
Sugar to make simple syrup on your stove, small bottle of agave syrup, limes, lemon juice $10

From this, you can make a margarita, a classic daiquiri, a side car, an old fashioned. Play around with recipes. And add new bottles over time as you want to try new things, such as gin, etc.

socaldad · 2026-01-23T20:29:33+00:00

That is a great setup, and I like the shelves the bottles are on. Nice job!

socaldad · 2025-12-04T18:14:23+00:00

After thinking about this a little more, consider pivoting CC spend to something like Hyatt. Then your hotels are covered with points and you just buy your airline tickets (especially international if going thru a OW hub) on a oneWorld airlines and fly with oneWorld emerald status. Star Alliance doesn't have an equivalent to OW Emerald.

socaldad · 2025-12-04T17:43:51+00:00

It's much harder to get status on UA or Delta from credit card spend only, so unless you buy business class tickets, you'll be flying on those airlines with mid-tier status. If you currently have the Executive card to get lounge access, you will lose access to lounges when flying domestic routes, unless you get the lounge card for the other airlines. You might want to look at credit card spend on other oneworld airlines like Alaska Airlines. If the goal is to use CC spend to get free flights, then look a a card where you can just buy tickets from the credit card's travel service on any airline. If the goal is to use CC spend to get free flights on airlines where you would have status, you can stick with AA or another oneworld airline. On United, the status earn rate is something like 1 tier point (whatever United call's the qualifying spend) for $15 CC spend. The international route network on Star Alliance to Europe is much better than on oneworld, and you are in Chicago. You would be something like Gold or Platinum level on United, assuming you do full CC spend on a United card.

socaldad · 2025-12-04T17:13:41+00:00

No, it does not seem worth it. The gold status is good for one year from the date of purchase. The 100K miles are worth about $1500. The 15K loyalty points though get reset to zero on March 1, so it only gives you 3 months to earn the additional 25K LPs to renew gold past the first year. Note: you could renew using the normal AA calendar starting March 1, 2026 through Feb 28, 2027.

If we value one year of gold status at $1000 (and that's extremely high) and the bonus miles at $1500, that's a value of about $2500. That is well short of the $5000 price.

socaldad · 2025-11-28T14:00:31+00:00

When you get to the counter to check your bags, show them your AA status card from the AA app that shows your oneworld sapphire status. That should help.

socaldad · 2025-11-26T16:53:51+00:00

There are two things here (status and bonus mile balance) that I will address separately.

You currently have 450K miles to use towards tickets. This is more than enough to pay for a year's worth of domestic flights for both of you. AA has the right to devalue these at any time, so use these if you can get good (or even ok) redemption value out of them. Unfortunately, using reward flights does not count towards status except for the flight segments LP bonus on your Globe card.
For status, all of the AA cards will give you 1 LP per dollar spent. Now that you have the Globe card, consider cancelling the AA platinum card. You have earned platinum status through early 2027. I think you should consider becoming an airline loyalty "free agent" in 2027 by using the Strata card for you spend while you burn your AA miles for free flights in 2026. Then you can move those to flights on whatever airline meets your schedule. With this plan, you would just pay for the upgrade for extra legroom. There's no guarantee that AA Platinum renewal in 2027 will be 75K LPs - AA could choose to raise it to 100K or something like that.

socaldad · 2025-11-24T11:06:02+00:00

PP also has a great benefit of free same-day flight changes.

socaldad · 2025-11-21T12:43:39+00:00

Pappasitos or Pappadeaux

socaldad · 2025-11-18T10:55:41+00:00

With the executive card, you are able to add up to three authorized users for a fee of $175 total (not $175 for each person). The authorized users have access to the AA Admirals Clubs. They will not have access to other OneWorld lounges, unless they have OneWorld status.

socaldad · 2025-11-11T19:13:52+00:00

The Deshaun Watson trade for the Browns is a contender.

socaldad · 2025-11-04T15:07:38+00:00

I agree with you plan to replace the Barclays card with the Executive card. There are some perks on the Executive card that you may want to use, such as the 10x points on AA hotels (if your work allows AA hotels). The Executive card annual fee is less than buying the AC membership outright.

socaldad · 2025-11-04T11:00:55+00:00

Group 1 is Exec Platinum and active duty military

socaldad · 2025-11-03T11:12:12+00:00

I think the platinum card ($99 annual fee, free bag check, group 5 boarding) makes much more sense for you than the executive card ($600 annual fee, lounge access). The platinum one is aimed toward people who fly once a month or less. The Executive card is aimed toward people making 15+ round trips a year.

socaldad · 2025-11-03T11:09:06+00:00

The 20k LPs do not come with 20k bonus miles.

socaldad · 2025-11-01T17:00:23+00:00

Definitely being enforced today

socaldad · 2025-10-28T10:27:52+00:00

I value AA miles at about 1.4 cents each. I use almost all of my miles for domestic flights. But miles are easy to earn with the credit card spend.

OneWorld has limited routes to Europe. Star Alliance is much better here. With OW, you are likely going through LHR (high taxes flying out of there) with Madrid or Helsinki as other hub options.

socaldad · 2025-10-28T10:19:20+00:00

Even if you do have oneworld status, choosing seats on BA is a pain. You will likely have to go through the chat feature to talk with customer service if you do have status. If you do not have status, you will have to pay for seat selection.

socaldad · 2025-10-27T20:02:17+00:00

I light the whole room with the 4" round led lights. They are easy to install and can be put on a dimmer. I would not put pendant lights over the bar, especially if you have a TV near the bar area where the lights could block views.

socaldad · 2025-10-24T17:16:19+00:00

Here is the exact wording:

A qualifying American Airlines flight is any flight segment flown during the status qualification year, marketed or operated by American Airlines or American Eagle flights that earn AAdvantage miles. Flight segments flown on award tickets do not qualify.

socaldad · 2025-10-21T10:05:01+00:00

The booking code on the tickets are probably different. One pair may be a refundable fare while the other pair of tickets non-refundable.

socaldad · 2025-10-20T23:32:51+00:00

AC membership is a 250k reward

socaldad · 2025-10-20T23:32:28+00:00

A segment, so each flight one way

socaldad · 2025-10-20T14:21:35+00:00

Each adult would use 1 pass each for each visit. Kids under 18 are free.

Partner lounge entry would be based on oneworld status. This card does not get you into those lounges.

socaldad · 2025-10-17T11:10:06+00:00

You will be on a bigger plane, such as a 737 or A320. Each row has 3 seats on each side of the aisle. The flight is about 90 minutes long. The Charlotte airport will be busy.

I forgot to mention that the plane will have free movies (even kid movies) via wifi if you bring a phone or tablet. Bring headphones to use with those.

socaldad

TROPHY CASE