a blue text on a white background

Contact AMEX if Alaska Airlines Seat Assignment / Upgrade Purchases Do Not Trigger Airline Fee Reimbursement Credit

Good afternoon everyone, I hope your week is going well.  Recently, I noticed that my Alaska Airlines seat assignment purchases on my American Express Business Platinum Card were not triggering the $200 Airline Fee Reimbursement Credit.  I paid for 4 premium economy seat assignments on Alaska Airlines in January and the credits had not posted in the following 2 months.  I went to Frequent Miler’s Amex Airline Fee Reimbursements. What still works? post and scrolled down to the Alaska Airlines section.  There was a note that said:

“Since 2022, there have been many reports of Alaska charges not being reimbursed automatically. It seems that many have had success getting charges for premium seat selection and things that ordinarily should be included (like lounge access, onboard purchases, etc) manually credited via the chat function, but only after 2 weeks has passed since the transaction date. Historical Alaska data included below, but beware that you may need to chat and hope for a friendly agent. See more data in this Flyertalk thread.”

I decided to reach out to American Express for help.

a screenshot of a computer

Continue reading

a logo of a hotel

My Dilemma: Buy 97K Choice Hotels Points from Daily Getaways for $505 or Transfer 49K Citi ThankYou Points to Choice?

Good afternoon everyone, I hope you had a great weekend.  Laura and I are planning our Summer vacation to a few Scandinavian / Nordic countries and I have identified 2 Ascend Hotel Collection properties (part of Choice Hotels) that are bookable for 20,000 Choice Hotels Points per night.  We would spend 5 nights in these properties, so 5 x 20,000 points = 100,000 points.  I currently have 3,000 points in my Choice account, so I need 97,000 more points.  Currently, there are 3 possible options, and I am having a hard time figuring out which path to take, so this is where I need your help.  Please read through this post and let me know what you would do if you were in my situation.

a screenshot of a travel card

Continue reading

a yellow and blue logo

My 2 Favorite Restaurant & Food Apps for New York City: InKind & Too Good To Go

Good afternoon everyone, I hope your week is going well.  2 weeks ago, I was in New York City with Laura for her Spring Break.  We had a great time seeing musicals, walking around Manhattan, and eating out at fancy restaurants.  During our time in NYC, we used 2 apps for restaurants and food that I wanted to share: InKind and Too Good To Go.  If you have never heard of InKind before, it is an app that you can use to pay at participating restaurants.  Several times throughout the year, InKind runs various promotions with Chase Offers, Citi Merchant Offers, and AMEX Offers that you can use to buy discounted InKind credits.  If you are new to InKind, you can use my referral link which will give you a $25 reward bonus after you spend $50 or more with InKind.

I’ve written about InKind many times, but I don’t think there is a city in the country with more InKind restaurants than New York City.  Just look at this map of participating InKind restaurants!  I’m not sure the total number, but I would guess somewhere in the 150-250 restaurant range, with multiple options in every area of the city.

Continue reading

a red text on a white background

4 Buy Miles / Points Promos Ending Soon: Air Canada (80%), Choice Hotels (50%), Hyatt (20%) & Southwest Airlines (35%)

Good afternoon everyone, happy Friday!  I was working on my Buy Miles & Points Page and found 4 offers that end in the next week.  Always check the math to make sure that buying miles & points makes sense for you.  Do not buy miles & points speculatively unless you have a use in mind.  With that said, here are 4 offers that end soon.

Up first, Air Canada is offering up to an 80% bonus, depending on the number of Air Canada Aeroplan Miles you purchase.  This offer expires today – April 5.

a screenshot of a gift card

Continue reading

a close-up of a logo

My IHG Hotel Strategy: Points, Free Night Certificates & Multiple Rebookings

Good afternoon everyone.  Last week, Laura and I were in New York City for her Spring Break.  I had 2 IHG Free Night Certificates (40K capped FNC from my old Chase IHG Select Credit Card and a 40K uncapped FNC from my Chase IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card) that were expiring soon that I wanted to use.  We were staying for 4 nights, so I could have used the IHG 4th Night Free Benefit, but I wanted to use up those 2 IHG FNCs instead.  We decided to stay at the Crowne Plaza Times Square because the hotel is 1-2 blocks away from Times Square, surrounded by many musical theaters, very close to many subway lines (including the subway that goes from Manhattan to JFK (via the Jamaica Station), and walking distance to Central Park / Cruise Terminal / Rockefeller Center, etc.

I didn’t take screenshots during the booking process, but here is the booking strategy I used which I will explain below.  To get started, I searched for 4 nights to ensure that there was availability every night using points.  I clicked the Select Hotel button to view more details.

a screenshot of a hotel

Continue reading