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 Unite

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

Robert chats with Robin Hutson from Luxe Recess about luxury family travel trends, blending points & miles with a trip booked through a full-service travel agency, and where families are going in Florida in addition to Disney.

0:30 Travel Planning Picking Up

1:15 Luxe Recess

16:50 Points & Miles

24:40 Disney and Florida

38:30 Discuss: The points & miles crowd seems to be a lot more men than women. But it’s the opposite in the family travel space. I wonder why that is when the goals are similarly aligned. What are your thoughts on that?

Where can listeners find Luxe Recess?

Our thanks to Robin for coming on the show.

Looking for more points & miles discussion? Visit us at patreon.com/milenomics to subscribe to the entire Milenomics Podcast Network with hours of new c

I received an offer via email the other day for a wine-focused rewards credit card I've been monitoring for a while, the Grand Reserve World Mastercard.

They've temporarily bumped the welcome bonus on the card to 75,000 points (worth around $450 towards wine and accesories) so I reached out to Grand Reserve Founder and CEO Matthew Goldman for a chat on the podcast.

Besides the points & miles stuff we talk about here on Milenomics, I've written a wine blog since 2008. So it feels like this program is right in my wheelhouse.

Grand Reserve World Mastercard

• Heightened Welcome Offer: 75,000 points for spending $3,000 in 90 days [expires at midnight 1/27/2021, not an affiliate link]
• Standard Welcome Offer: 50,000 points for spending $3,000 in 90 days
• Annual Fee: $0 for the first year, then $149
• 5x at more than 400 wineries, wine clubs, and other Grand Reserve Partners
• 3x at any winery, wine club, wine or liquor store
• 3x at any restaurant or bar, take-out & delivery included
• 2x points per dollar everywhere else
• Points are worth about 0.6 cents each through their Rewards Catalog or when redeemed for wine

The card is issued by Utah-chartered Celtic Bank. They pull Experian. For what it's worth, I lobbed in an application this morning and was instantly approved.

0:30 Grand Reserve Overview

• Tell us about your background, the program, the credit card and the idea behind Grand Reserve
• What does it take to launch a credit card?

9:55 Psychology of Rewards

• Travel seems to have an irrationally strong appeal to [some] people
• Even if some would be better off with cash back the idea of rewards being “free” seems to absolve some people of the guilt associated with splurging on themselves
• Additionally we talk a lot about the “co-branded paradox” whereby people think “I like , I should get their co-branded credit card!”
• Are similar forces in play here? People like to splurge on wine but don’t want to feel guilty about it? So it has a similar draw as travel?

20:30 Point Valuation

• So many credit card rewards programs have points, and it’s hard to discern what they’re worth until after you’ve signed up for the card
• What considerations went into determining the value of rewards on the redemption side?
• What are points actually worth and how do redemptions work?

Thanks to Matthew for coming on the show.

The #wine channel on Milenomics Slack is surprisingly active sharing deals and recommendations. Check it out if you're not already subscribed...

We're back today with a show we've talked about recording for some time now. The topic of booking travel in 2021 is a unique one because this is a very unique time in travel, miles and points. Spurred on by cancellations last year by both of us, large travel bank balances, and plenty of want for travel we talk about our best practices for booking in 2021. Feel free to comment below with your best practices, and thanks for listening.

For more great podcast content check our Patreon page out.

0:28 Amex Business Platinum 110,000 Available Through Referral

• Long-time credit card enthusiasts have likely had this already but if you’re newer to the game this is a pretty terrific offer
• $15,000 spend in 3 months
• Contains lifetime language
• Amex hinting at enhancements to the business cards still to come

4:00 Staples: Fee-Free $200 VGCs Sunday 1/17 - Saturday 1/23/2021 (HT GC Galore)

4:51 AA/JetBlue Partnership (Press Release)

• “book a single itinerary on either website”
• “American will upgauge aircraft and by the end of 2021 will operate all service out of New York with first class.”
• “JetBlue plans to significantly expand its service at New York LaGuardia Airport (LGA), as well as further expand in other NYC airports and in Boston.”
• “Flights touching New York or Boston from either JetBlue, American or connecting combinations of both will be bookable on jetblue.com and aa.com in the coming weeks.”
• Reciprocal loyalty benefits

8:56 Main Topic: Booking Flights in 2021

• Seeing some really affordable airfare in 1H2021
• Airlines always price empty planes lower as the date draws nearer, and with business travel still largely suspended routes are still being jockeyed around to cater to the only travel still occurring.
• Airline pricing models seem to be stressed by this. You’ll see $19 one day, $900 the next for the same flight.
• Tempting to book on the off chance it might be advisable to travel, but cancellation fatigue is setting in
• That said, cancellation terms have never been more favorable
• Avoid booking with difficult to cancel currencies
• Be familiar with the restrictions of various airline travel banks, and be mindful of tying too much in a program with narrow

We're back with a packed No Annual Fee episode of the podcast. Let's get right into it...

0:22 2021 Amex Perks/Offers (Summary from Amex)

• Personal
• $30 PayPal Credit Per Month (no activation required)
• [Targeted] $50 back on $50 at Best Buy (use twice, activation required)
• [Targeted] $50 back on $50 at Home Depot (use twice, activation required)
• Business
• Additional 4x on Gas, Office Supply, Wireless, Advertising, Shipping (capped at $20,000 in spend through 6/31/2021, activation required)
• Other
• Hints of 20% discount on airfare through May
• Hints of co-branded card enhancements
• Never has so much thought been put into limited time enhancements to credit cards. They’re keeping busy over there.
• All About Amex in 10 Minutes

14:22 Virgin Atlantic Devalues for Delta Award Redemptions (Thrifty Traveler)

• Used to be a nice way to pay for Delta First on domestic routes
• Ex: Was 22,500 now 40,000
• Similarly negative for Delta international premium cabins

18:45 Things to do in the New Year

• Q1 2020 5x Categories
• Chase Freedom
• Wholesale Clubs
• Internet, Cable, & Phone Services
• Select Streaming Services
• Citi Dividend
• Amazon
• Streaming
• Discover
• Grocery
• Walgreens, CVS
• Don't Compare Your Earn Rate to Others
• Get to work on 5x categories and BofA Cash Rewards
• Air Incidentals
• Amex Credits

If you like the No Annual Fee show you'll love a subsiption to the Milenomics Podcast Network. Patreon accepts PayPal so you can use the $30/mo Amex Personal Platinum PayPal benefit discussed in this show towards a subscription to the full Milenomics Podcast Network (including Slack access and more):

patreon.com/milenomics

On today's podcast I chat with Bram Berkowitz to discuss investing in mutual savings banks. I first became familiar with the topic from an excellent article he wrote:

See: How The Average Person Can Make A Lot Of Money Investing In Mutual Savings Banks

0:00 Background and intro

2:10 The basic pattern of mutual banks offering pre-IPO shares to account holders, a potential run up and second bump 3 years later

Recent example: $EBC

10:10 How to identify future candidate banks?

12:45 Is this opportunity nationwide? Or more prevalent in MA?

Links mentioned:

• FDIC Mutual Institutions
• America's Mutual Banks
• BankInvestor.com
• The Zen of Thrift Conversions: How To Turn Hidden Bank Stocks Into Big Gains

You can find Bram's work on The Motley Fool and follow Bram on Twitter @BramBerko

My thanks to Bram for appearing on the show

On this week's "No Annual Fee" podcast we discuss...

0:25 Amex Personal Gold/Platinum Offers through Resy (HT DDG)

• Direct Link to offers
• Personal Gold has standard characteristics (60k welcome bonus, $4k min spend, $250 fee) plus
• 20% back at restaurants first year up to $250 back
• Personal Platinum has standard characteristics (75k welcome bonus, $5k min spend, $550 fee) plus
• 20% back at restaurants first year up to $300 back
• 10x on Gas and Supermarkets up to $15,000 spend for 6 months
• Offers do contain lifetime language
• Platinum offer is even better than even a 25k referral, right?
• But maybe not as good as a +3x referral
• Worth a shot to see if you get the pop-up?
• See also: Episode 44 All About Amex

4:25 Chase Ink 75,000 Ultimate Reward Offers

• Ink Cash 5x at office supply capped at $25k/yr (HT DoC)
• Ink Unlimited 1.5x everywhere (HT DoC)
• $7,500 min spend in 4 months
• $0 AF cards

6:10 Chase United MileagePlus Explorer 70,000 Offer

• Direct Link
• 60,000 for $3,000 in first 3 months
• +10,000 for for additional $6,000 within first 6 months
• $95 AF waived first year

7:45 Chase UR: 30% Transfer Bonus to Avios

• Expires 12/9/2020
• HT MilesTalk
• Is this enough to give you pause over cashing out at 1.5 cpp?

9:45 Stop & Shop: $25 Grocery Voucher for $150+ 3rd Party GC Purchase

• Works for Best Buy, probably anything that’s not a VGC/MCGC
• Purchase 11/6-11/26/2020
• Coupons expire 12/2/2020
• Limit 1 $25 voucher per transaction (both on the purchase and the redemption)
• Sometimes these are capped at 10 uses per S&S account, other times not capped
• At sister store Giant, it’s 5x on 3rd party GCs (which I think I’d actually like more since the rewards are easier to use)

12:10 New Annual Subscription Option

• 10% off for a new yearly subscription
• Good option for those currently subscribed at $14.95
• Visit patreon.com/milenomics and select the "or save 10% if you pay annually" option

If you like these free shows, we think you'll love the paid shows. They're longer and much more in-depth. We recently released Episode 100 where we discuss the origin story of Milenomics the blog, our