Category Archives: Weekly Updates

Semi-Monthly Update (December 08, 2016)

Hello there, VT readers! I skipped the last update and I have some semi-decent excuses: deer hunting, Thanksgiving, and home remodeling. But enough excuses; there are some exciting things to report!

How I spent the 3rd weekend in November. Welcome to Minnesota.

Credit Card News

General News
There is still time to get the Chase Ink Plus business card with a 60,000 Ultimate Reward point bonus ($5k in 3 mo. spend). This card will be replaced soon with a new Ultimate Rewards earning business card from Chase. The new card is rumored to come with an 80,000 bonus. You can get the bonus on both cards, but not if you wait too long! Apparently sometime before the end of the month, you will no longer be able to get a new Ink Plus account.

Personal News
Nicoleen recently cancelled her Citi Hilton Reserve card. This was the card that got us 2 free nights at the Grand Wailea in Hawaii this last fall. The card’s $95 annual fee was due and the benefits we would get from the card for the next year wouldn’t be worth $95, so she called to cancel. According to reports on Flyertalk, there is rarely a worthwhile retention offer for this card.

Household October Points and Miles Activity

We had a decent month for earning points and miles. Here’s the breakdown:

earned 522 airline miles
earned 4,112 Chase Ultimate Rewards
earned 4,082 hotel points
earned 114 “other” points
transferred 5,000 Ultimate Rewards to Hyatt Gold Passport points
redeemed 15,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points for a one-night stay at Andaz Papagayo (valued at $546.92)
redeemed 114 “other” points (Capital One cash back) for $1.14 cash
redeemed 40,728 Citi Thank-You points for airfare worth $509.10
redeemed 35,000 United Airlines miles for airfare worth $901.40

As you may have guessed from this activity, we have some travel news! Keep reading for the details. . .

Travel News

Big news in the travel department! Those of you who follow me on Facebook have already heard the announcement. After paying the $75 annual fee on our Chase Hyatt cards, Nicoleen and I each had a free night at any category 1-4 Hyatt in the world. However, we really had nothing in mind for these free nights. As inconvenient as it was, we decided we would have to cram in another free vacation before the next summer. This would definitely qualify as a zeroth world problem.

After only an hour of looking up flight and hotel availability, we settled on the fantastic Andaz Papagayo in Costa Rica! Besides our two free nights, we booked an additional night with points to make it a 4 day weekend. Here’s a sample of what our Valentine’s Day will look like!

A refreshing beverage at one of the Andaz Papagayo’s infinity pools. Photo courtesy of VT reader Derek, a return (free) visitor.

New ValueTactics Blog Posts

– Zeroth World Problems is a look at the kinds of “problems” using value tactics can bring you. Examples are deciding where to take your free vacation, or not having your favorite beer available in the free selection during your free airport lounge visit.

Now you’re updated. Go employ some Value Tactics!

Semi-Monthly Update (November 7th, 2016)

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In this update: a 60,000 point card bonus is expiring soon, Nicoleen’s failed retention effort for a usually generous credit card, a trip report preview, and our monthly points and miles activity for October.

CARD NEWS ALERT :

The Chase Ink Plus business credit card will be discontinued by the end of 2016. Your last chance to get the card and it’s 60,000 Ultimate Reward bonus will end shortly. A new card called the Chase Ink Business Reserve will be taking its place but since they are different products, you can get the bonus on both! (The purported bonus on the new card is 80,000 UR points). If you have been on the fence about this card, don’t delay any longer!
(News source and more details about the new card offer at Milevalue)

Click here to read my review of the Ink Plus, and to see how a year with the card could easily earn you over 75,000 UR points. Or, if you’re ready to apply now, please click through my referral bonus link to help support the site.

Household October Points and Miles Activity

In addition to saving $5.27 in gas between two fill-ups, here’s Nicoleen’s and my activity for October:

earned 217 airline miles
earned 13,330 Chase Ultimate Rewards
earned 2,261 hotel points

Travel News

The new Park Hyatt on Mallorca, two nights free for our Derek and Danie.

VT readers Derek and Danie have returned from their value-packed trip to Mallorca, Spain. Their round trip flights and 6 nights of hotel stays were paid for with points and miles, making the airfare and lodging virtually free! Stay tuned for a trip overview, along with details on how they got these luxury accommodations with a few credit card bonuses.

Personal Credit Card News

When U.S. Airways merged with American Airlines in 2014, the U.S. Airways credit card from Barclay was transmuted into the American Airlines Aviator card. Until now, this card had always been a pushover when it came to retention offers. When calling to cancel the card because of the annual fee, Nicoleen and I were routinely greeted by a cheerful rep who was willing to waive the $89 annual fee and usually throw in some additional points. Not so this time around. Nicoleen called three times to try for an annual fee waiver, but was thrice shot down. In the end she decided to cancel the card and have the AF refunded. To see a history of Barclay’s generous track record with retention offers for this card, and the recent drop-off of those offers, see the Flyertalk wiki here.

New ValueTactics Blog Posts

– Small Business Saturday 2016 . . . Another Year, Another Disappointment is my report on the second year in a row without a good deal for Amex’s Small Business Saturday. There is some strategy in this post about how to capture value before it’s gone!
– ValueTactics 100th Blog Post was our milestone hundredth post! It’s a big THANK YOU to my readers, and links to some highlights from the last two years.
– Geographically Specific Deals and Offers talks about what you can do if certain value tactics are not available in your country, region or state.

Now you’re updated. Go employ some Value Tactics!

Semi-Monthly Update (October 21, 2016)

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Welcome to the first ever ValueTactics semi-monthly update! Ok, so it’s just like the old Bi-Weekly Update, but this one is more accurately named. I try to write 2 updates every month, which doesn’t always work out to one every two weeks.

These updates are meant to give you an idea of how much and what kind of credit card, points, and free stuff activity goes on in our household. It should provide you with a realistic picture of how much effort is involved when using value tactics to get free stuff, like free travel!

ValueTactics News

VT reader Danie sent in this cryptic photo this afternoon, from an undisclosed location:

I happen to know that Danie and her husband (pictured) left today for a value filled, nearly free vacation to Mallorca. But last I heard, their flight was cancelled and they were rerouted. Derek had previously told me they had no good airport lounge access on this trip, but I also happen to know he always carries a pair of free United Club passes (earned with the Chase United Mileage Plus card) with him.

Using my fabulous internet powers (and some luck) I think I figured out where the picture was taken. If I’m right, it’s the freshly-remodeled United Club in Terminal 1 at Chicago O’Hare (ORD), opened just 2 days ago! If that’s the case, then consider this the internet’s first preview of a review for this lounge!

Leave a comment below and tell me if you think I got it right! Here’s my primary evidence, from the Chicago Tribune.

New ValueTactics Blog Posts

– Hotel Review – Grand Wailea: A Waldorf Astoria Resort is my review of the second main hotel from our recent Hawaii trip. Check it out to see how we got $870 worth of luxury lodging for $60!

Travel News

I have some plans in the works for upcoming travel. Proper timing is helpful to get the best travel deals, flight award seat availability, and hotel stay reward night availability. Sometimes last minute availability opens up, but I prefer to play it safe and book far in advance. For example, I’m about to start planning for a trip in early October 2017! I don’t want to let every cat out of the bag, but I’ll say this: one upcoming trip will require a passport, but not a fat wallet!

Now you’re updated. Go employ some Value Tactics!

Bi-Weekly Update (October 3, 2016)

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From my site’s analytics I know that the Andaz review was a very popular post. If some of you are wondering if free luxury travel is something you can attain too, take a look at Nicoleen’s and my monthly points totals. I give the breakdown every month so you can see what an average household (I think our income and spending is close to average) can expect to earn as far as points and miles go.

Here are our totals for September:

earned 23,094 airline miles
earned 102 “other” points
earned 4,013 Chase Ultimate Rewards
earned 658 Citi Thank-You points
earned 3,164 hotel points (accidentally omitted from June update)
redeemed 5,937 “other” points for $59.37 cash

New ValueTactics Blog Posts

– Hotel Review – BUILDING 7-73 is a bit of a joke, since the “hotel” is actually a lodging complex on an Army National Guard base. Reading this review and the following one highlights the vast range of accommodations available on this planet.
– Hotel Review – Andaz Maui at Wailea is the first of several posts reporting on our recent trip to Hawaii. If you haven’t read this post, please check it out- the photos alone are worth a look!

Credit Card News

Nicoleen called for a retention offer on her AAdvantage Aviator Red from Barclaycard just before the annual fee posted. The agent said he had no offers for her but she was “likely to have some available on the account after the annual fee hits.” He told her to call back after the AF posts and try again. Helpful agent!

I can’t get away from American Airlines AAdvantage miles bonus offers! This offer came by mail and e-mail within the last few days:

I’ll definitely take them up on it, especially for the grocery store bonus. I’ve been using my Chase IHG Platinum Rewards card for the 3x it earns on groceries. But 3x AAdvantage miles are worth more in my book.

Website Update

I promise I’ll revamp and update the left column (for you desktop users) “results tracker” sidebar by the next bi-weekly update post. I should also probably change the name to the “Semi-Monthly Update” since it’s really been twice a month rather than once every two weeks. We do strive for accuracy here at ValueTactics 😉

As always, keep track of the VT FB page for updates! Expect to see some more trip reviews from the Hawaii trip online soon!

Now you’re updated. Go employ some Value Tactics!

Bi-Weekly Update (September 21, 2016)

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Coming home from our Hawaiian vacation was as painful as I thought it would be. The daily grind of work, chores, and assisting the kids with homework is back in full swing. In this update I will highlight recent blog posts and touch a bit on what’s going on in the credit card world.

New ValueTactics Blog Posts
– British Airways Galleries Lounge – London Heathrow (LHR) is a review of the lounge we used during our London layover on our anniversary trip to Europe last summer.
– British Airways A380 Club Europe LHR – BSL/MLH/EAP is a flight review of the pleasantly surprising short hop that rounded out our 4-leg booking for the aforementioned Europe trip.
– Maui Vacation Field Report #1 was posted on day 4 of our recent Hawaiian get-away.
– Maui Vacation Field Report #2 was posted on day 6 of our recent Hawaiian get-away.

Credit Card News
Due to the Hawaiian trip I haven’t had time to write about the new Chase Sapphire Reserve as I promised I would. More and more bloggers and forum users are openly proclaiming this as the best credit card offer to ever come around. I tend to agree with them. A quick google search will show you why. The 100,000 Ultimate Rewards bonus alone is worth at least 3-4x the $450 upfront annual fee, not to mention the other valuable perks this card offers. Like many other points enthusiasts, I am anxiously waiting for Nicoleen or me to qualify under Chase’s 5/24 rule so we can apply for this bad boy.

Travel News

Back home to Minnesota 🙁 It’s a lovely state and it’s home. Even so, we’re experiencing quite the vacation hangover. And the best cure for that ailment is to start planning the next trip! Some plans are in the works… Stay tuned to the ValueTactics Facebook page for more on our future plans. Trip reports and hotel reviews for the Hawaiian get-away are also forthcoming.

Around the Web
One of my favorite go-to resources, MileValue, recently had a great post outlining the order in which you should apply for credit cards. The order makes a huge difference in the speed and total lifetime potential of earning points and miles. Check out the post here. Feel free to consult me personally or via Facebook if you would like personalized advice on which card(s) to get!

Now you’re updated. Go employ some Value Tactics!

Bi-Weekly Update (September 5, 2016)

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Happy Labor Day! This update is a few days late because I was enjoying the long weekend with my family. Thank you for bearing with me; I know you were all anxiously checking the site for updates throughout the weekend. 🙂

Enjoying a beautiful day at the MN State Fair

Camping with the extended family on Labor Day weekend. You can’t measure the value on that!

I recently came across this flyertalk thread by someone just starting out in this hobby. He wanted to know what kind of results can realistically be expected by using the credit card and points & miles tactics. There’s a general sentiment on flyertalk that bloggers “sell a fantasy” when it comes to this hobby. One thing I’ve always tried to do with ValueTactics is present my raw data so you can get a realistic picture of how this all works. I am thinking about doing a whole post on this topic, but in the mean time…

Here is our points activity (transparent and unfiltered) for August:

earned 5,580 airline miles
earned 121 “other” points
earned 1,017 Citi Thank-You points
earned 632 Chase Ultimate Rewards

Free Gas Update
As you will see in the new blog posts below, it was a big few weeks for the free gas tactic. Super America’s announced the discontinuation of Double Coupon Tuesday, I discovered a new points earning tactic for My SA Rewards, and I redeemed my last ever $25.00 value gas coupon.

Since I started tracking my free gas results in January 2014, I have pumped $1,365.57 in free gas, largely by leveraging the double coupon redemption on Tuesdays. My total discount on gas purchases in 2016 has been 20.6%! These numbers will decrease in the future, but I will continue to use the tactics and maximize the value of whatever opportunities are around.

New ValueTactics Blog Posts
– The Man Who Earned 1.25 Million Miles . . . with Pudding is a tale of a legendary hero of points and miles. If ValueTactics had a patron saint, the Pudding Guy would be him.
– The Free Cheese Stick Loophole is a bittersweet discovery I made that could have gotten me 56 free cheese sticks a week. But I made the discovery just in time for the deal to become far less valuable. Read the post to take a trip into my points-calculating mind. . . if you dare!
– Last Chance for Double Coupon Tuesday was last Tuesday, August 30th. I really hope some of you with My SA Rewards points in your accounts heeded my warning and redeemed them in time to earn maximum value.

Website News
I updated the Free Gas tactical page to reflect the loss of Super America’s Double Coupon Tuesdays. I also moved around some of the sidebar elements on the site (affects mainly desktop users) to be more convenient and helpful.

Travel News
One week until our get-away to Hawaii!! Nicoleen and I couldn’t be more excited for this trip. It’s the culmination of 3 strategic credit card applications, some tactical flight and hotel bookings, and a masterpiece of child care planning (that last part all attributable to Nicoleen). It’s an interesting fall to travel to Hawaii, as the island chain recently had two rare near misses with hurricanes.

The leftovers of Hurricane Lester, seen northwest of Hawaii

Credit Card News
No big news on the personal front, but if you follow these things at all, you’ve read some of the hubbub surrounding the Chase Sapphire Reserve, the honey badger of credit cards, which was just released in the end of August. I won’t even try to delve into the details of this card in this update, but I’ll do a post on it shortly. In the meantime, you can just google it to see what the fuss is about.

Now you’re updated. Go employ some Value Tactics!

Bi-Weekly Update (August 15, 2016)

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In this update: new blog posts, some heavy hitting credit card news, our July points activity report, and a bit of travel news. . .

In the last update I mentioned having almost a million points and miles stored up. In July I offloaded a nice chunk of those. Here’s our monthly activity for July:

earned 2,439 airline miles
earned 2,088 “other” points
earned 274 Chase Ultimate Rewards
redeemed 60,175 “other” points (Capital One cash back) for $601.75 cash

July free gas report: $21.49 in free gas, with an 18% discount running average for the year!

New ValueTactics Blog Posts
– Don’t Hoard Points discusses why it’s a liability to carry huge points and miles balances.
– SuperAmerica Stops Double Coupon Tuesdays analyzes the news that Double Coupon Tuesdays are being discontinued at the end of the month. This development is a perfect example of why you shouldn’t hoard points!
– Card Review: Chase Ink Plus takes a look at one of the heavy hitting cards from Chase. It’s a business card, but you may still be eligible for it. Read the review to find out more! The current 60,000 point bonus is well worth your consideration.

Website News
I added a pretty new page featuring current credit card offers. I also updated a few posts to reflect the current state of bonus promotions for credit cards. Looks like the free gas tactics page will also need some tweaking after this recent news hit.

Credit Card News
All the buzz right now is about a rumored new card from Chase, the Sapphire Reserve. The card will supposedly come with a hefty $450 annual fee but if the rumors are even mostly true, the benefits will be well worth the fee. Several bloggers have done posts on this card, but the most recently updated one is from Milevalue. Click here to read that post.

Travel News
Nicoleen and I are getting more and more excited for our upcoming trip to Maui! We got the car rental squared away and we’re crossing our fingers that Delta doesn’t totally melt down again and ruin our trip! We’ve also started preliminary plans for another warm weather trip for October 2017. More on that later. . .

ValueTactics reader Derek recently booked a trip with points and miles for him and his wife to stay at the Park Hyatt on Mallorca for a week in October.
It should be a pretty exciting trip, especially considering it’s almost free! We’ll get the full report from Derek after the vacation, including how he flew and stayed for free using value tactics!

Now you’re updated. Go employ some Value Tactics!

Bi-Weekly Update (July 31, 2016)

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While recently updating my big credit card spreadsheet, I realized that Nicoleen and I have almost a million points and miles built up! This is probably not a good thing, and I’ll explain why in an upcoming post.

We’ve gained a lot of points lately, mainly through sign-up bonuses, but some will be offloaded soon in a cash redemption. Here’s a breakdown of our activity in June:

earned 1,405 airline miles
earned 82,430 hotel points
earned 56,563 “other” points
earned 9,928 Chase Ultimate Rewards

New ValueTactics Blog Posts
– Hotel Review – Holiday Inn Rushmore Plaza, Rapid City SD is a review of the free night we enjoyed to kick off our recent family vacation.
– South Dakota Road Trip is a complete review of the trip, including a cost summary and lots of pics.

Travel News
Nicoleen and are starting to get excited about our upcoming Hawaiian get-away in September. We are exploring car rental choices this week, which is the only major trip expense we will have to pay for. The airfare and hotel stays are largely free, thanks to our use of the points and miles tactic.

We also have teamed up with some friends to start the preliminary planning phase of a very special trip with some of our kids. It probably won’t come to fruition until fall of 2017, but you’re sure to read about it here as the plans develop…

Around the Web
A few recent posts caught my eye this week. This post by MileValue presents and intriguing new tactic for timing credit card applications. And as The Points Guy reports here, the Chase 5/24 rule (click here for my post on the subject) has finally made it’s way (all but officially) to all relevant Chase cards. How sad.

Now you’re updated. Go employ some Value Tactics!