A Little Fame Never Hurt

An impromptu television appearance capped my early morning drive to the beach on the Friday of Memorial weekend. I was getting an early start (read 4 AM) to beat the colossal traffic jam certain to occur in a few hours.  I basically rolled out of bed and jumped in the car.  I made great time.  Once over the bay bridge I decided to stop for gas, its now 5AM and I swear no one was around, I'm fumbling with the gas pump when out of nowhere comes super perky TV anchor and camera man wanting to ask me about my "get on the road early drive to the beach strategy", before I could digest what was happening, it was lights, camera action....   

Thanks, Dad

I have been patiently waiting for two months for my father to receive an email.  Let me explain, I dragged my father’s good credit into my quest for points.  He likes local travel here and there so I “pay” him with hotel stays.  He’s not interested in flying to exotic locales, or even flying to Florida does not happen to be on his wish list of travel destinations.  He likes getting in his car and driving to whatever festival or seminar interests him at the time.  Like everyone of us reading this post he has recurring expenses and if I can direct those required monthly spends to earn a maximum number of points that eventually will transfer to me “why not?”.  Of course it doesn’t hurt to add “don’t you want your grandkids to have this travel opportunity?”  When US Airways was running their sign-up for the Barclays US Airways MasterCard minus the annual fee, I had him apply. 

With my Asia trip all mapped out and the points turned into ticketed travel my thoughts turn to the next upcoming destination, South Africa.  I already have enough hotel points to stay 15 nights but I’m short about 90K on the airline miles.  All my efforts have now been concentrated on how to quickly acquire those miles without additional expense.  I already own two Barclay’s US MasterCard’s and I am using those cards for all my expenses but still needed dad’s help.  He signed up for the card, was approved and instructed, by me, to put one small charge (as in a cup of coffee) on the card.  After the purchase was complete I had him put the card in a drawer and told him not to touch it for anything.  He continued using his Club Carlson card for his everyday purchases.  Two months to the day after that one charge was complete I asked my dad to check his inbox for an email from Barclays and sure enough it was there…..

15,000 bonus miles are waiting for you Dear xxxx, You can already earn miles for every purchase with your new US Airways Dividend Miles® MasterCard®. And with this special offer, your card is now more rewarding than ever. Earn 15,000 bonus miles when you spend over $750 in new purchases each month in May, June and July.¹ Getting away is easier than you think. Every purchase gets you closer to getting away. Filling up your gas tank. Dining out. Booking your next vacation. Even monthly expenses, like cell phone and utility bills, will earn miles when you pay with your card. Best of all, for a limited time, all these new purchases can also add up to 15,000 bonus miles! Start racking up the miles! Just use your card every time you make a purchase to take advantage of this great offer. Remember, you need to spend over $750 in new purchases each month from May through July to qualify. You'll be redeeming your bonus miles for award travel in no time at all!

Soon as he read it to me I told him to dig out the card and start using it and if he had any problem meeting the monthly minimum spend to call me and I’d help him out.  So how did I did I know to expect the email?  The information has been reported in several blogs and I decided to try it out with him and it worked.  He’ll retire the Club Carlson card for the next 3 months to concentrate his spends for acquiring the 15K bonus, after all isn't that what dad's with good credit are for?

     

        

Important Update to "Time to Get off the Pot" post of 4/26/13

Today’s post is a prime example of how quickly things change in this hobby.  The information provided is meant as an update to my post dated 4/26/13 where I recommended the Club Carlson credit card for beginners.  There have been significant changes to the benefits of this card more commonly refered to as a devaluation.  I’ve been up front from the beginning that collected points should not be saved and this would qualify as reason #1; at any given time the rules change.  Club Carlson rather suddenly re-evaluated their reward program resulting with some hotels changing award categories. This change was not widely made known.  Those enrolled in their loyalty programs were not given much notice, less than 48 hrs to book properties taking advantage of the reward chart before changes.  While the devaluation increases the reward category (requiring more points for a free stay) on several properties it does downgrade hotel categories as well.  When these instances occur it is best to act quickly if you want to secure a particular property that has been affected.  Fortunately, none of my destinations planned for 2013/2014 have been impacted by the change.  My Bangkok reservation did increase in category  from a 2 to a 3 meaning the points for a free night went from 15K to 28K, an increase of 13K points per night. However, since my reservations were made in March and the devaluation takes effect today, May 1, 2013 my previously made reservations are being honored at the old category.  Club Carlson has 6 hotel reward categories starting at 9K points and rising to 50K.  Do I still believe this is a good value card, yes.  Mainly because Club Carlson members are still given a free award night when booking reward nights.  For my travel needs in the immediate future I can leverage the card to receive maximum benefits. Will I renew the card and repay the annual fee when it comes do, probably not.  

This link will take you to a detailed reward chart listing all properties affected by the change and only you can decide if the value is still worth the cost of the credit card fee.