Category Archives: Miles

What My Local CVS (Brooklyn,NY) Told Me About Vanilla Reloads

a group of cards on a green surfaceOver the weekend the big story in the miles & points world focused on doomsday aka the end of purchasing Vanilla Reloads at CVS with credit cards.

After buying quite a few Vanillas during the week, I am practically done putting the $10,000 spend on my second Citi Executive AAdvantage card which will give me another 100,000 AA miles.

Lucas likes Vanilla too and has enjoyed coming on VR scavenger hunts with me over the past year + so I figured I’d take him on one last shopping spree on Saturday. On the way to CVS he fell asleep but I successfully bought a bunch of cards. Too bad he missed out on the fun.

Continue reading What My Local CVS (Brooklyn,NY) Told Me About Vanilla Reloads

Turning Down An AA Biz Card Retention Offer

AAdvantage CitiBusiness VisaDisclosure: I receive a commission if you apply & get approved for the credit card mentioned at the bottom of this post. Thank you for supporting Michael W Travels.

It seems like every month I have another Citi American Airlines credit card’s annual fee come up. I’m not complaining, I consider myself lucky to have been approved for so many AA cards over the years!

For 2014, I’ve already received two Citi Executive AAdvantage cards which come with an amazing 100,000 bonus miles each. If you haven’t already taken advantage of this offer, you can still do so by applying here. (The card comes with a pricey $450 annual fee but after a $200 statement credit you are really only paying $250.)

Back in January I received $10 Profit + Up To 16,000 Bonus Miles to keep my Citi AA American Express card open. Then in February I was offered a couple of options to keep my Citi AA Visa card open.

Continue reading Turning Down An AA Biz Card Retention Offer

Another Citi AA Retention Offer: What Were My Options?

Citi AA Visa

Disclosure: I receive a commission if you apply & get approved for the credit card mentioned at the bottom of this post. Thank you for supporting Michael W Travels.

In recent months I’ve written about retention offers that I’ve received for a couple of credit cards.

Back in January I received $10 Profit + Up to 16,000 Bonus Miles to keep my Citi AA American Express card. Earlier this month I called up American Express regarding the annual fee on my Platinum Card. Find out what I was offered here and also check out the update here.

So now the fee has come up on yet another one of my Citi AA credit cards- the Visa variety.

I decided to call in to see if there was any retention offers available to me.

Continue reading Another Citi AA Retention Offer: What Were My Options?

Is It Worth Buying US Airways Miles With 100% Bonus

Screen Shot 2014-02-23 at 9.48.52 AMI’ve been receiving occasional e-mails from US Airways with an interesting offer. Due to being a US Airways credit card member, I have been given an exclusive offer– to buy or gift miles with a 100% bonus.

Now, I’ve never actually flown US Airways from what I could recall, but I have been building up my Dividend Miles account for a while. I originally planned to increase my account to have more options for flights in the future.

Continue reading Is It Worth Buying US Airways Miles With 100% Bonus

My Citi AA Retention Offer: $10 Profit + Up To 16,000 Bonus Miles

New AADisclosure: I receive a commission if you apply & get approved for the credit card mentioned in this post. Thank you for supporting Michael W Travels.

Last week I posted about miles & points earned from credit card sign up bonuses in 2013. While it was a very productive year, I did quite a bit better in 2012.

Over the past couple of years I’ve gotten approved for 5 Citi American Airlines credit cards, earning me 240,000 AAdvantage miles from sign up bonuses.

One of my Citi AA cards from 2012 came up for a fee this month ($85 for the year). I decided to call in and try to get a retention bonus. I was curious to  see if Citi would tempt me with a fair offer to keep this card.

Continue reading My Citi AA Retention Offer: $10 Profit + Up To 16,000 Bonus Miles

Miles & Points Earned from Credit Cards in 2013

a pile of credit cards
image found in google search

Now that 2013 has come to a close, it’s time to tally up the miles and points that I’ve earned from credit card sign-up bonuses for the year.

While I’d consider 2013 to be a successful year once again, I ended up earning fewer miles & points from credit card sign up bonuses than I did during the previous two years. However, I supplemented my earnings by doing a little extra work. I took advantage of the 5X points bonus at office supply stores with my Chase Ink card, buying lots of gift cards. I also did a bit of manufactured spend, visiting CVS countless times to buy pre-paid cards.

Here is what I earned the previous 2 years:

  • 2011: 775,000 miles & points
  • 2012: 753,150 miles & points

Continue reading Miles & Points Earned from Credit Cards in 2013

Reminder: Earn Up to 2,500 United Miles From MileagePlus Shopping

Screen Shot 2013-11-12 at 9.20.24 PMWe’re down to the last few days of 2013 and a United MileagePlus Shopping bonus offer is also coming to an end.

Earn up to 2,500 bonus miles with United MileagePlus Shopping.

With the holidays over, many stores should be having their online clearance sales. If you haven’t taken advantage of this bonus you should do so now.

Continue reading Reminder: Earn Up to 2,500 United Miles From MileagePlus Shopping

Start the Year Off With Bonus Miles- US Airways Mastercard

Screen Shot 2013-12-20 at 10.30.16 PMDisclosure: I receive a commission if you apply & get approved for the credit card mentioned in this post. Thank you for supporting Michael W Travels.

Yesterday I received a new bonus offer for my US Airways Mastercard.

Earlier in the year I received a bonus offer in the mail while this time it came via e-mail. However, this time around the offer is much less lucrative.

Back in April, Kim and I were each offered 15,000 bonus miles for spending $750 per month for May, June & July.  This was an incredible deal and not to be missed. Find out more about it here.

This time around, I can earn a maximum bonus of 2,500 Dividend Miles. For every $1 that I spend in select categories, I will earn 2 bonus miles.

Continue reading Start the Year Off With Bonus Miles- US Airways Mastercard

Sign Up For DirecTV, MileagePlus Cardmembers Get 30,000 Bonus Miles

Screen Shot 2013-12-18 at 6.16.26 PM

United MileagePlus Cardmembers can now get 30,000 bonus miles by signing up for DirecTV.

That’s more than enough miles for a roundtrip Saver Award ticket within the continental U.S., Alaska and Canada.

While I have no interest in switching to DirecTV, this sounds like a pretty solid offer if you planned to or considered changing your cable provider.

Continue reading Sign Up For DirecTV, MileagePlus Cardmembers Get 30,000 Bonus Miles