Introduction Our recent Manufactured Spend Data Points (MS DP) series proved to be very popular. As regular readers will recall, we started off as total rookies on the subject of MS with Visa Gift Cards (VGCs) and Mastercard Gift Cards…
Introduction Amex has a terrific lineup of Hilton co-branded credit cards with some terrific sign-up/upgrade offers and benefits. Back in late May/early June, we posted two articles about using two of these cards – the premium Aspire card and the…
Introduction While I’ve been on vacation in Switzerland & France and catching up after that trip, I’ve given a lot of thought to the question posed by this case study – Should I execute on a 15-month plan to get…
Introduction Middle Age Miles is in the midst of Going for Globalist in 2019 with Hyatt. Globalist status requires 60 elite qualifying nights with Hyatt (55 if you’re renewing the status this year), and the opportunities to manufacture elite nights…
Introduction Last week, we published an article about Hilton Free Weekend Night Certificates earned through $15k spend in a calendar year on the mid-tier Amex Hilton Ascend card. Middle Age Miles: How Fast Does an Amex Hilton Ascend $15k Free…
Introduction Last Saturday evening (5/18/2019), Middle Age Miles was scheduled to fly from Denver (DEN) to DFW on American Airlines. Severe thunderstorms in the Dallas-Fort Worth area earlier in the day caused ripple-effect delays and cancellations impacting AA’s operations far…
The Choice Privileges program doesn’t get a lot of attention in the points-and-miles blogger world. Yet, Choice is a huge hotel chain, with more than 6,800 hotels globally, 12 brands, a vacation rentals group, a Resorts partnership with Bluegreen Vacations,…
Introduction More often than not, Middle Age Miles stays in hotels and uses hotel loyalty programs to score nice perks when we travel. Recently, though, we ran into a situation on our trip to Italy where booking an Airbnb apartment…
Introduction Back in January, we wrote an article sharply criticizing the state of the Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts (FHR) program – Amex FHR Is a Hot Mess These Days. That post has been one of our more widely-read articles,…
Yesterday, we published a lengthy article analyzing pros and cons of whether we should go for top-tier Hyatt Globalist elite status in 2019. One of the concepts we touched on was the potential to “manufacture” elite night credits to get…