Today we're releasing an episode of "Checking In with Robert Dwyer" that's normally reserved for subscribers of the Milenomics Podcast Network. Robert chats with Joe Cheung about what it's like to visit Disney Parks these days, and what's coming in the near future to Disney World.

0:22 What Joe has been up to since Saverocity Observation Deck

Producing Miles to Memories Podcast. Disney Deciphered Podcast. Disney Travel Agent.

1:30 What's Disney like now, what's it going to be in this "living with Covid" phase we seem to be in now. 

Use my trip report to reflect of what you're hearing and experiencing with people you talk with. Planning changes (no Fastpass, but Genie+ coming). Dining reservation challenges, dining experience at this time. In-park experience.

• No doubt: Masks in Orlando in 90F can be uncomfortable. But we managed. Current policy is masks indoors and on transportation. Outdoor option, but wore then when crowds were dense.
• No Fastpass seemed to make most wait-times shorter than posted, especially in the morning and evening.
• No Fastpass was also pretty relaxing.
• Flight of Passage was pretty great (rope dropped that w/family this time).
• Mickey & Minney’s Runaway Railway is surprisingly good too (seemed to debut at the worst possible time).

• Ohana

Four great credit card welcome bonuses to consider from Bank of America. Let’s discuss them, how we’d prioritize them, and also navigating the complicated and ever-changing approval standards over at Bank of America.

0:54 BofA Amtrak 50,000 + $100 Statement Credit (DoC)

• Do a dummy booking to see offer
• $79 AF not waived
• $2,500 min spend in 90 days
• Amtrak points are worth 2.9 cpp towards non-Acela, 2.56 cpp towards Acela
• So this welcome bonus is worth $1,450 + $100 - $79 = $1,471 for non-Acela
• Or $1,250 + $100 - $79 = $1,271 towards Acela
• That’s crazy value for people who want to ride Amtrak
• See also: How to redeem bank points for up to 1.64 cpp towards Amtrak

03:55 BofA Alaska Business 60,000 (HT Commenter Matt on DoC)

• Direct Link
• $3,000 min spend
• $75 AF not waived
• 65,000 for the Personal Alaska card still available
• Not subject to BofA personal churning restrictions
• Don’t forget BofA Business Cash Rewards $750 (Direct Link)

06:19 Getting Approved

• BofA 2/3/4: 2 BofA cards per rolling 2 months, 3 per rolling 12, 4 per rolling 24
• BofA is said to not approve new BofA card if you have more than 2 new credit cards on your credit report (across all banks) in the past 12 months -or- 6 in the past 12 if you’ve got a checking account with BofA
• HT DoC
• Overall exposure with BofA to consider too (lower CL before closing BofA cards)
• Limits to the number of active credit cards BofA will let you hold?

08:47 Discuss: Is it a mistake to ignore BofA at this point?

Robert: “Thanks for joining us for this week. For a more in-depth discussion about points miles visit us at patreon.com/milenomics There you’ll get a special link to listen to additional content, right in your mobile podcast app or on your computer, where we speak more freely about topics like these.

Sam: You can reach us on Twitter @Milenomics and @RobertDwyer - we’d love to hear from you. Until then we’ll see you on the site...”

On today's No Annual Fee show we discuss:

0:30 Q3 2021 5x Categories

• Chase Freedom
• Grocery Stores
• Select Streaming Services
• Discover
• Restaurants
• PayPal
• Citi Dividend
• Gas Stations
• Home Improvement

3:50 New Citi Custom Cash Card (HT DoC)

• Direct Link
• 20,000 TYP for spending $750 in first 3 months
• No AF
• 5x TYP on up to $500 spend each month in biggest category, 1x after that
• Don’t have to activate (that’s nice)
• Low cap, but that’s the same as Freedom/Discover/Dividend 5x cards
• Would be a great card to product change a bunch of cards into but: “Our policy is to offer only one Citi Custom Cash℠ Card account per customer.”
• Worth getting one?
• Citi IT being what it is, will they actually allow multiple cards per customer?

9:30 Staples Fee-Free $200 VGCs

• Sunday 6/13 - Saturday 6/19/2021

10:10 BofA Alaska 67,000 Mile Offer (DoC)

• Direct Link
• 42,000 after $2,000 in first 3 months
• Additional 25,000 after total of $8,000 in spend in 6 months
• $75 AF not waived first year
• Can’t have had a Personal Alaska card in the prior 24 months
• Discuss
• Better targeted offer
• “Famous” Companion Fares
• Whether Alaska miles are what they once were, especially with travel to Asia still not open

If you enjoyed this free show considering subscribing to the Milenomics Podcast Network where you'll gain access to lengthier and more in depth shows. You'll then also be able to join a lively Slack community where points & miles ideas are discussed real-time.

Thanks for listening and thank you to our existing Patrons. We've recently hit a record number of subscribers, which is amazing for a travel podcast during a global pandemic. More great content to come as we return to traveling.

A Hot news week has us sitting down to discuss the following:

• Direct Link 
• Subject to 5/24
• $95 AF (not waived first year)
• Try generating a referral if you/your spouse have one (chase.com/referafriend)
• “Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.*
• That's $1,250 toward travel when redeemed through Chase Ultimate Rewards®.
• This product is available to you if you do not have any Sapphire card and have not received a new cardmember bonus for any Sapphire card in the past 48 months.
• 100,000 bonus points is the best offer that Sapphire Preferred has ever had.”

5:54 Rumor: 1.25 cpp Amex Schwab Cashout Going Away (TheFinanceHobbyist on Reddit)

• Cashout option still mentioned on application but not on landing page
• Who knows, but…
• How big of a hit would this be?
• How would it affect your perception of the Amex MR value proposition?
• If you knew for certain it was going away tomorrow would you clean house today?
• Does the rumor cause you to cash out some MRs?

10:59 Chase Sapphire Lounges Coming (TPG)

• First location: Boston?
• Location: Terminal B to C Connector
• Anticipated opening: Q1 2022
• Out-maneuvered Amex Centurion and CapOne for the space

15:40 Amex 25% Transfer Bonus to Hawaiian

• In the spirit of always considering a deal...
• 130,000 Boston to Honolulu becomes 108,000 MRs pp one-way in lie-flat
• Flight is very expensive: They’re asking $7,000 pp roundtrip
• Expires 6/30/2021
• Last call for 40% bonus to Marriott, ends 6/15/2021

18:32 Stop & Shop/Giant: 3x VGCs

• Friday 6/4 - Thursday 6/10/2021

If you enjoyed this show consider joining our Patreon where you'll find hundreds of hours of unique, in-depth content and a thriving slack community. Enjoy!

0:30 JetBlue New York - London Now Bookable

• Direct Link
• Website was down when they released these (classic JetBlue)
• Starts August 12, 2021
• Economy “from” $595 roundtrip
• Mint “from” $1,979 roundtrip

4:55 New Airlines: Avelo and Breeze

• Avelo is a new West coast airline that has set up from BUR (Link for more details )
• Routes are somewhat unique, to about a dozen western destinations.  In most cases using much more off the beaten path airports than mainline carriers. Ogden Utah, Pasco WA, Grand Junction, CO. 
• Flights seem very aggressively priced. One example to Santa Rosa is interesting me. $60 round trip versus $244 on the only other carrier who flies it nonstop from the LA area. 
• BUR is far for me (50 minutes with no traffic) and I don’t like that. But I’d do the drive if one of these destinations really was on my demand schedule (versus a stop at an airport for example) 
• Breeze seems to be moving closer to launching--livery was posted and they’re setting up their network.
• Route network now posted on their site
• That makes quite a few ‘regional’ players by my count:
  • Suncountry
  • Frontier
  • Avelo
  • Spirit
  • Allegiant
  • Breeze
• While these are not ideal for many reasons--they’re here and they exist. Reminds me of a really short hop flight I took on Spanish LCC Vueling in Italy--it was like $20 per person, we paid for a couple of bags, and it was the only point-to-point option. It was fine. 

12:40 Amex Offer: +1x at Lowe’s (HT Garth on Slack)

• Stack with a card that has +4x Spring 4ward promo for a total of 6x at Lowe’s
• 6x MRs + 3x JetBlue card linked

14:00 $750 Chase Business Checking (DoC)

• Deposit $10,000 in new money within 30 days of coupon enrollment & maintain that balance for 60 days
• + 25 transactions
• Early account termination fee: Six months, bonus forfeit
• “You can receive only one new business checking account opening related bonus every two years from the last enrollment date and only one bonus per account.”

16:45 US Bank Altitude Connect Visa (DoC)

• 50,000 points (worth $500) after spending $3,000 in first 120 days
• $95 Annual Fee waived first year
• 4x on Travel and Gas Stations
• 2x on Dining, Takeout, Groceries, and Streaming Services
• 1x everywhere else

That's the news for this week. For more content subscribe to the Milenomics Podcast Network where we've been discussing:

• The highs and lows of Amex
• Booking travel coming out of Covid
• And more...

0:23 Earn Singapore Status Through Bank Point Transfer (link)

• Get 1 elite qualifying mile for every 5 bank points transferred
• Transfer 250,000 bank points between April 7, 2021 and February 28, 2022
• Get Star Alliance Gold for 12 months
• Gets you UA lounge access when travelling domestically and other Star Alliance Gold benefits
• Singapore miles expire 3 years after they’re earned even with activity
• I do like the potential of status through spend, hope to see other airlines/hotels follow this

06:42 Jetblue Announces BOS-LHR and JFK-LHR Service (Link) 

• Sounds good but hard to get excited about at the moment (can’t travel there, launch date unclear)
• Longer term how useful is this development?

13:52 IHG Devaluation (Loyalty Lobby)

• Evidently they’re going to a scheme where the number of points required is more tied to the cash price
• What does it mean to you when [arguably] the 4th most important loyalty hotel chain does something with their award chart?

17:47 Alaska Officially Joins OneWorld (Link)

21:40 ANA One-Way Awards Bookable with Virgin Atlantic Miles (OMAAT)

Many of you reading this might not even know there is a podcast called The Milenomics Second Podcast (MSP). We're celebrating on the blog today the ending of season 1 of the Milenomics Second Podcast, hosted by our very own Garth Grawburg.

On the Saverocity Observation deck Festivus Episodes Joe and Trevor often cover of feats of strength. Garth's first season on MSP is, in fact, a true feat of strength.

Garth is well known to many Milenomics slack members, and has always added so much to the discussion on slack. When Robert and I were first talking about launching a second podcast, expanding the idea of the Pateron into a full network, Garth was the first person we thought of for this task. Had he ever podcast before? I don't think so. But we invited him on a show, our first guest ever actually, and realized his personality on Slack and on the mic were nearly identical.

Garth is witty, funny, and with a booming laugh that makes me want to laugh more, Garth is a natural at what many of us struggle with: Content Creation.

Over 18 episodes he explored the space, introducing us to beloved radio ideas like "Defend the Indefensible," and taking deep dives into cards, products and airlines.

Garth brought a feeling to that first season of the podcast that two weathered battle axes like Robert and myself couldn't bring. He's not jaded by a game that's changed 6 ways in the last decade.

The show has been incredibly informative. Two plays Garth dedicated entire episodes to I hadn't even considered before. And I'm better off because of those shows, and I know other patrons are as well.

And so the audience for this post is really just one person: Garth himself. Garth:

Thank you for jumping in feet first when we asked you to start a travel, points and miles podcast during a worldwide pandemic.

For sharing parts of your travel, your love of all things Shop Your Way, Target, Southwest, and more.

In celebration of the end of season one we're releasing podcast here on the No Annual Fee feed.

We've got a full show today. Let's get right into it...

0:25 Q2 2021 5x Categories

• Chase Freedom
• Gas Stations
• Home Improvement Stores
• Discover
• Gas Stations
• Wholesale Clubs
• Select Streaming Services
• Citi Dividend
• Supermarkets
• Drugstores

3:15 Amex 40% Transfer Bonuses to Hilton/Marriott

• 1,000 MRs become 2,800 Hilton
• 1,000 MRs become 1,400 Marriott
• One use model: Marriott to “high value” foreign carrier programs
• More on that in the paid show

7:10 Amex Bonvoy Heightened Offers

• Amex Bonvoy Business 100k
• $5,000 min spend in 3 months
• $125 AF
• $150 statement credit
• Available through referral
• 35k cert on renewal
• Amex Bonvoy Brilliant 125k
• $5,000 in 3 months
• $450 AF
• $200 back at restaurants
• $300 Marriott credit
• Not seeing it available through referral as of yet (affiliate and public only)
• 50k cert on renewal

21:10 Amex Delta Gold 90,000 Offer (HT Brian at FM)

• Seen while making a booking on Delta.com
• Referral a better option if you have 30k + 70,000 + $200 credit
• But… (see next item)

11:45 Amex Removing Referral Capability for Some (DoC)

• Seems to be some new kind of penalty box
• Used to be that certain cards were unable to refer from, but other cards (especially new ones) were able to
• Now it seems to apply to all cards if affected
• Even squirreled away links don’t work any more saying: Sorry this referral link is no longer valid and you will not receive the referral bonus.
• Thought to be related to self-referral but I really don’t think that’s the case
• Same household referral for sure, but I really don’t think I self-referred
• A troubling shot over the bow for sure...

15:30 Buy Aeroplan Miles for as Little as 1.2 cpp (Direct Link)

• Through April 2, 2021
• A good example of how cashing out bank points isn’t giving up on travel

If you want to hear more, subscribe at patreon.com/milenomics. This week we go deeper into a few of the topics we discussed here as well as:

• Waiting on Amex
• Citi Shenanigans
• Retention Offers and more...

Last year year we launched a podcast network, adding the Manifesto hosted by Gideon the Free-quent Flyer to the Patreon Feed.

In this episode Gideon sits down with Kelly de Schaun, Chief Executive Officer of the Galveston Park Board.

Enjoy this special episode, and if you're interested in even more great podcast content, check us out on Patreon.

Hello, and welcome to The Manifesto with Gideon, the Free-quent Flyer, on the Milenomics Podcast Network. I’m Gideon, the Free-quent Flyer, and I’m joined today from the Running with Miles blog, Charlie Barkowski. Charlie, welcome to the Manifesto.

• Blog: https://runningwithmiles.boardingarea.com/
• Twitter: @runwithmiles 
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/runningwithmiles/ 

• Were you a runner or a travel hacker first? Did one lead into the other?
• “6 solo marathons on 6 continents in under 5 days.” How is that physically/temporally/geographically/mentally possible? How’d you do it?

• When did the blog start? Has it always been on Boarding Area? What was the process of joining Boarding Area like?
• Did the blog start as a passion project, a side hustle, a full-time job?
• How long did it take before you earned enough to take it seriously? Did you ever get discouraged or was it a rocket ship from the start?
• Has the absence of running events affected your traffic/content/kind of visitors?

• When did you end up in Greece? Where in Greece? Was it always meant to be a permanent move?
• What has most surprised you about living abroad/living in Greece/living in the EU? What should people know if they want to move permanently/temporarily to the EU?
  • Visas, health insurance (IM Global), retirement savings, schools?
• What kinds of pandemic restrictions has Greece gone through? How has the vaccine rollout been handled?
• How are you staying in shape, training, conditioning? Do you have a sense of when the first marathons will resume? Will you be ready? Any sense of whether your times will improve, get worse, stay roughly the same?

• You cover all the usual credit card deals — are you able to participate? Will credit card companies mail new cards internationally? Do you have a US address to receive new cards?
• Easier or harder to meet minimum spend requirements internationally?
• Do you take advantage of online MS opportunities (Serve loads, etc.)?
• Are there travel hacking opportunities that are only available internationally? Sweet spots for mileage runs, unusual award availability, etc? Bank accounts or credit cards only available overseas? Loyalty programs that require residency?

• When you’re outside the United States for a long time, what craving is absolutely impossible to satisfy, or, what’s the first thing you d

Robert:

Amex has been ratcheting up the complexity on their offers and benefits. Partially due to covid, wanting to retain customers, and wanting to maintain and build engagement. The gamification of Amex is in full swing.

Sam:

These credits are not free money, and they’re definitely not always easy as we’ll discuss today...

For each of these let’s discuss:

• The Promise
• The Problems
• Possible solutions

1:39 Amex Offers: Slow Posting

• Early February credits, across the board/on a number of fronts, were very slow to post
• TPG: “Here’s why you shouldn’t worry” (link)
• Response: Here’s why slow posting credits are worrisome…
• The T&Cs are convoluted, lengthy and full of gotchas. Ex: Home Depot off that was only online (who normally shops at Home Depot online?) and GCs are processed through a 3rd party
• When credits don’t post quickly (when they otherwise have tended to historically) it creates confusion whether fine print was missed.
• All this said: Things seem to have improved more recently across the board after a miserable early Feb stretch.

8:40 PayPal $30/mo on Amex Personal Platinum Through June 2021

• T&Cs
• Early Feb Hiccup-- What to do when credits don’t post? 
• P2P vs merchants
• GC reselling angle?
• Potential Clawbacks for returns
• Seems stackable with things like Saks

13:00 Uber Credits

• T&Cs
• $15/mo for Personal Platinum
• $10/mo credit for Personal Gold
• Combining credits from multiple cards (spousal/friends as well)
• Velocity limits when adding cards
• Moving cards from one Uber account to another

18:31 [Targeted] $200 Amex Travel Platinum Offer Exploration

• We’ve been talking about this a lot lately
• Robert posted the T&C last week (Which don’t show anywhere online) 
• The pages describing this online make it sound like it is offered to all--and not targeted. 
• I set out to test that this week. 
• So I booked a $210 ticket on Amex Travel with my recently renewed Platinum.
• Nothing happened.  (Smoke)
• So I chatted and pointed Amex to the TPG article (link which points to a DoC article that refers back to a rumor article from DoC)
• The missing T&Cs (only visible to those targeted)

24:29 Ongoing Credits

• Keep in mind this all is on top of…
• Dell Credits on Biz Plat
• Saks Credits on Personal Plat
• Airline Travel Credits
• Dining credits on co-branded personal cards
• Wireless credits on co-branded business cards
• Discuss: Do we work for Amex?

Robert: “Thanks for joining us for this week. For a more in-depth discussion about points miles visit us at patreon.com/milenomics. There you’ll get a specia