EDITOR’S NOTE: I’m on an annual blogging vacation for the last two weeks of the year. To make sure you still have content, some of the smartest members of the community have stepped up with guest posts in my absence. Special thanks to today’s author, the most genuine person I know, @nutella, for writing this post while I’m on vacation. I’ll see you on January 1!

Let’s break down the nuances of United’s TravelBank, future flight credits, and electronic travel certificates.

TravelBank (“TB”)

  • Funds are attached to a MileagePlus account, and likely courtesy of airline incidentals
  • Expiry = “book by”; funds must be used to book a flight within 5 years from the date of the load
  • Not name-locked (i.e. not restricted to a specific traveler)
  • You cannot mix TB funds with ETC or FFC on the same ticket purchase
  • Cannot be directly used for United partner flights 

Electronic travel certificates (“ETC”)

  • Funds are likely the result of service recovery, or if you volunteered to take a later flight 
  • Expiry = “book by”; funds must be used to book a flight within 1 year from the date of issuance
  • Not name-locked (i.e. not restricted to a specific traveler) 
  • You cannot mix ETC funds with FFC or TB on the same ticket purchase
  • Can be directly used for United partner flights

Future flight credits (“FFC”)

  • Funds are likely the result of a flight that was canceled 
  • Expiry = “begin travel by”; funds must be used on a flight that begins travel within 1 year of the date of the original ticket that was purchased
  • Name-locked  (i.e. restricted to a specific traveler)
  • You cannot mix FFC funds with ETC or TB on the same ticket purchase
  • Can be directly used for United partner flights

Simple, right? Now, let’s cover two common questions:

Q: How can I combine TravelBank / electronic travel certificates / future flight credits on the same ticket purchase?

A: Convert your TB and/or ETC into FFC, and apply FFC’s to pay for your ticket. While United does not allow more than one type of these currencies to be used on a single purchase, they do allow uses of multiple instances of the same currency. 

For example, let’s say you wanted to book a $269 flight, wanted to burn some of your TravelBank balance, and currently hold a $99 future flight credit. You can first book a ~$170 dummy flight with TravelBank, and after ~24 hours – cancel this flight (the refund will be in the form of a future flight credit). Now, book your $269 flight and apply the two future flight credits.

Beware: if you cancel your dummy flight online within 24 hours of booking, the refund will be returned to the original payment method. If you can’t wait for 24 hours to pass, call United and they may be able to cancel the flight and immediately issue the refund as a FFC.

Q: How can I use TravelBank to book United partner flights?
A: Convert your TravelBank to a future flight credit, then use the future flight credit to book your United partner flight.

For example, let’s say you wanted to book a $420 flight operated by Air Canada and wanted to burn some of your TravelBank balance. Follow the same method as above, just be sure to find a dummy flight on United metal.

nutella

A wise man once said, “you can use your TravelBank to book a dummy flight on United metal from DEN or IAH to LBB (Lubbock, TX), but be sure to cancel it for a future flight credit to fly literally anywhere else”

EDITOR’S NOTE: I’m on an annual blogging vacation for the last two weeks of the year. To make sure you still have content, some of the smartest members of the community have stepped up with guest posts in my absence. Special thanks to today’s author, the always helpful and funny SideShowBob233, for writing this post while I’m on vacation. I’ll see you on January 1!

Chase has some of the best checking and savings accounts bonuses, often $500 or $900, and people often jump at the chance to churn these every 2 years.  It sounds great, but when mixed with MS this can be a recipe for a Chase shutdown. 

Chase got in trouble with the feds over their lack of anti-money laundering (AML) compliance a few years ago and as a result has enhanced their AML analysis to a ridiculous level to avoid getting slammed again.  As a result innocent churners and MSers who use Chase are at risk of shutdown by this team.  I know what you’re saying “But SideShowBob233 (you’re saying the 233 part too) I won’t get shutdown I’m not stupid enough to do something to get on their radar” and you’re right – you’re not that stupid but it doesn’t mean you’re safe either.

Many things can get you on their radar that you have no control over:

  • Fraud on a debit card linked to the account
  • Another financial institution having a glitch and pulling a payment multiple times (looking at you Barclays)
  • A fraudulent ACH
  • SideShowBob233 going in your local branch and stepping on a rake while filling out a deposit form and accidentally putting your account number on the deposit slip
  • Some other thing happens that neither of us (and not even your mom!) warned you about

Once one of these things happens, your account will be flagged for review by the AML team, and once they see your activity on your credit cards (and potentially pull your EWS report – more on that later) they will decide you are not worth the risk and shut you down.  OK, so my cards are closed, not the end of the world – but it won’t be just your cards.  It will be the cards of anyone who was an AU on your account, possibly anyone who lives at your address, and also possibly anyone who was ever linked to you via an AU or employee.  And those people will be banned from Chase for at least 7 years, maybe longer although getting back into Chase is YMMV. 

So how do you avoid this?  Simple, don’t have a deposit account (personal checking, biz checking, savings, CD, etc.) at Chase.  Without funds on deposit their AML team doesn’t get to look over your profile.  Their credit card team can still shut you down for rewards abuse or other reasons, but those shutdown for those reasons tend to be whales (although you never know). 

Yes, you are missing out on the potential for multiple checking bonuses but is your Chase relationship worth it (the answer is NO!).  Don’t be like SideShowBob233 (you read the 233 part aloud again because that’s how you roll) and get shutdown because you think it won’t happen to you.  I was in the it won’t happen to me boat, I barely used it other than a direct deposit to keep it free, then I accidentally over-drafted it on a Saturday night paying my credit card after a rake party. 

And finally, if you are going to do it anyway, please tag me when you do get shutdown so I can say I told you so.  But seriously if you do want to get the checking because you are cool enough to avoid the AML team, at least slow your Chase MS when the account is open. 

Stay tuned for my next rant sometime soon on the bane of churning existence (your EWS report). 

Even Canada is listening to SideShowBob233, going as far as naming bills after him.

NOTE: I’ll be going on a blogging vacation between Monday and December 31, during which there will be at least some guest posts. I’ve already gotten a few queued up from readers smarter than me, and I’m soliciting for more to complete the holiday. Posts should be non-sponsored, non-promotional, non-political, and at least travel hacking or churning adjacent. Please reach out to me if you’re interested, it’ll be the third easiest gig you’ve ever gotten!

Introduction

Between 2011 and 2013, it was possible to earn miles for any Amazon purchase through the US Airways and Hawaiian shopping portals. In 2011 I was relatively new to the game and I made a common mistake: I had earned a chunk of US Airways miles through promotions and a credit card bonus, so I decided that I’d earn Hawaiian miles instead whenever I shopped at Amazon, even though had exactly no clear use case. I was sure that at some point I’d use them, just like Southwest CEO Bob Jordan is (incorrectly) sure that Southwest will never have a holiday meltdown again.

Piles of Miles

Now, please join me in 2023 and let’s peek at my current Hawaiian Airlines balance, keeping in mind that I’ve redeemed exactly as many Hawaiian miles as the number of good menu items at Chik-Fil-A, or the number of times that Southwest CEO Bob Jordan has correctly predicted the meltdown future [drumroll]:

Zero (0)

By 2013 I’d earned 40,000 Hawaiian miles through the Amazon shopping portal, but eventually they expired – partially because I was inexperienced and partially because I didn’t ever have a redemption plan in mind. This is a common mistake, especially when you’re stating out. In the last couple of weeks for example, I’ve heard from churners who:

  • Have mid-six figures of IHG points and have never stayed in an IHG hotel
  • Signed up for two Southwest credit cards without even having a Rapid Rewards number
  • Lost 500,000 ThankYou Points after a Citi shutdown, never having used a single point

Obviously some of these are more catastrophic than others, but they all illustrate a common theme: A point isn’t worth anything if it’s never redeemed, and if you have no loose plan, there’s a good chance you’ll never redeem.

MEAB, Get to the Point!

Before you earn any loyalty currency, have at least a rough idea of how you’ll use that currency. Otherwise, you’re almost certainly better off earning cash because at least that doesn’t expire and can be used effectively anywhere, for any travel, as long as your airline isn’t melting down.

Happy Holidays friends!

The easiest gig you’ve ever gotten.

NOTE: I’ll be going on a blogging vacation between December 18 and 31, during which there may or may not be any posts. But, we’ll ring in the new year on January 1, 2024 with the 2023 version of Travel Hacking as Told by GIFs though, so no need to be up in arms. What’s this “may”, you ask? I’m soliciting for guest posts and I’ll use those during the regularly scheduled newsletter. They should be non-sponsored, non-promotional, non-political, and at least travel hacking or churning adjacent. Please reach out to me if you’re interested, it’ll be the third easiest gig you’ve ever gotten!

  1. The American Express Delta co-branded cards have increased sign-up bonus via referral or at deltaamexcard.com:

    – Personal Gold: 70,000 miles after $2,000 spend in six months, annual fee waived the first year
    – Personal Platinum: 80,000 miles after $3,000 spend in six months
    – Personal Reserve: 90,000 miles after $5,000 spend in six months

    There are a couple of ways to play this: (1) Just think of a SkyMile as worth 1.0 cents toward Delta airfare and churn the card, (2) get the Platinum and/or Reserve card and hit big spend in the next couple of weeks to earn elite status before the program changes in 2024, noting that MQMs will post in the year you hit spend and not in the year that the statement closes, and that you can get business cards too. (Thanks to TheSultan1)
  2. Safeway / Albertsons stores have a digital coupon for 5x rewards points on third party gift cards running through December 19, but only for J4U chains that run weekly promotions starting on a Wednesday, not for those starting on a Friday. No, I’m not making this up.

    Occasionally when there’s a coupon like this, 5x actually means 6x, but that’s not the case this time based on my testing.
  3. Southwest is opening up its schedule through October 2, 2024 this morning. This extension includes Labor Day and end-of-summer travel. (Thanks to the unstoppable Brian M)
  4. Do this now (if you hold a Hyatt credit card): Register for 5,000 bonus points per stay of three nights or longer at Inclusive Collection hotels between January 8 and March 3, 2024, limit 10,000 bonus points.
  5. The Alaska Business card has a heightened bonus of 75,000 bonus miles after $4,000 spend in three months. This link is from an in-flight promotion, and you can use a referral code of 000000. UPDATE: This link is now dead.

    If you’re going to go for one Alaska Business card, why not a few? Also, don’t forget that the personal card still has a 70,000 bonus mile offer if you VPN to Southern California. (Thanks to DDG)
  6. Alaska’s elite program is changing for 2024. The major points:

    – Status is earned only via elite qualifying miles, or EQMs
    – Credit cards earn 4,000 EQMs per $10,000 spend, up to five times
    – Top tier members will have excess EQMs rolled over from year to year

    Unfortunately credit card spend alone will only earn you MVP status, which practically speaking means a few free checked bags on Alaska and other oneworld airlines but not a lot else.

Happy Thursday!

The tenth easiest gig you’ve ever gotten.

Historically American Express takes just a couple of days to post sign-up bonuses on Membership Rewards earning cards, statement credits, card-linked offer awards, retention bonuses, and employee spending bonuses after the terms are met. Perhaps due to cold weather, or maybe due to the launch of a new Membership Rewards program in India without enough infrastructure to handle it, those credits and bonuses that used to post in a few business days are taking longer and longer to post. Typical posting timeframes:

  • August: 1 – 3 business days
  • September: 2 – 4 business days
  • October: 3 – 5 business days
  • November: 5 – 7 business days
  • December: 7 – 12 business days

Beyond the obvious delayed dopamine hit, why should we care? Easy. For some statement credits tied to the calendar, your credit often counts in the month that it posts even if the charge was in the prior month (though even that’s not completely consistent).

So, I’d consider this week your last week to use your airline credits, wireless credits, garbage credits (Dell, Adobe, Clear, etc), food credits, and other coupons to guarantee that they post before the month’s and the year’s end. Don’t be #bonvoyed!

Good luck, and happy Tuesday!

Pictured: American Express’s messaging system between the charge department and credit department.

NOTE: I’ll be going on a blogging vacation between December 18 and 31, during which there may or may not be any posts. But, we’ll ring in the new year on January 1, 2024 with the 2023 version of Travel Hacking as Told by GIFs though, so no need to be up in arms. What’s this “may”, you ask? I’m soliciting for guest posts and I’ll use those during the regularly scheduled newsletter. They should be non-sponsored, non-promotional, non-political, and at least travel hacking or churning adjacent. Please reach out to me if you’re interested, it’ll be the third easiest gig you’ve ever gotten!

It’s short and sweet Tuesday!

  1. Rakuten’s in-store program has a card linked offer for 5%-10% cash back or 5x-10x Membership Rewards points on up to $300 in purchases at Staples, good up to four times for spend through December 24.

    This pairs nicely with fee-free Visa $200 gift cards running through Saturday, and with monthly American Express Business Gold credits. (Thanks to Doug)
  2. Giftcards.com has 10% off of electronic Visa gift cards using promo code VISACHEER or HOLIDAYVISA10, limit three per transaction, and $2,000 per rolling 48 hours.

    Don’t forget go through a shopping portal, but lately portals haven’t been paying cash back at giftcards.com when using a promo code.

Have a nice Tuesday friends!

The fifth easiest gig you’ve ever gotten.

NOTE: I’ll be going on a blogging vacation between December 18 and 31, during which there may or may not be any posts. But, we’ll ring in the new year on January 1, 2024 with the 2023 version of Travel Hacking as Told by GIFs though, so no need to be up in arms. What’s this “may”, you ask? I’m soliciting for guest posts and I’ll use those during the regularly scheduled newsletter. They should be non-sponsored, non-promotional, non-political, and at least travel hacking or churning adjacent. Please reach out to me if you’re interested, it’ll be the third easiest gig you’ve ever gotten!

  1. Meijer MPerks has a digital coupon for $10 off of $150 or more in Mastercard gift cards through Saturday, limit one per account. Scale with multiple MPerks accounts.

    Meijer sells both Sunrise and Pathward gift cards.
  2. DDG reports that Discover is sending a targeted 5x promotion at Walmart for January and February via email, activation required.
  3. Capital One Shopping has $150 to $200 referral bonuses for both the referrer and referred after the referred installs a browser extension and spends $10 through the portal, limit $500 in referral bonuses per account. You don’t need a Capital One card or a social security number to have a Capital One Shopping account.

    It’s good practice to cycle to a new Capital One Shopping account after $1,000 or so cash back, and now there’s slightly more incentive. If you don’t already have a Capital One Shopping account, be sure to reach out to a friend for a link.
  4. VanillaGift.com has no fees on $150 or more in electronic Visa gift cards through Wednesday night with code VGHOLIDAY23.

    VanillaGift.com is an Incomm website, and American Express has blocked points earning on Incomm websites.

The ninth easiest gig you ever got. (Thanks to Carl for sharing)

NOTE: I’ll be going on a blogging vacation between December 18 and 31, during which there may or may not be any posts. But, we’ll ring in the new year on January 1, 2024 with the 2023 version of Travel Hacking as Told by GIFs though, so no need to be up in arms. What’s this “may”, you ask? I’m soliciting for guest posts and I’ll use those during the regularly scheduled newsletter. They should be non-sponsored, non-promotional, non-political, and at least travel hacking or churning adjacent. Please reach out to me if you’re interested, it’ll be the third easiest gig you’ve ever gotten!

  1. Do this now: Register for Hilton’s Q1 promotion for 2,000 bonus points per stay, or 2,500 points if you request a digital key on the stay. Valid for stays between January 1, 2024 and May 1, 2024.
  2. Do this now (if you hold an American Express Bonvoy Brilliant card): Register for a targeted 85,000 point free night certificate after $4,000 in spend by March 15, 2024. (Thanks to The_Sultan1)
  3. Staples in-store has fee free Visa $200 gift cards starting Sunday and running through the following Saturday, limit five per transaction according to the current ad.

    These are Pathward gift cards. Yes, there are still working in-person liquidation methods and there are still pajama liquidation methods too, but on average fees are going up, either directly or because the opportunity cost of locking up funds for a few months is increasing with interest rates.
  4. American Express offers has $150 back on $1,000 or more in Air Canada airfare through. (Thanks to Parts_Unknown-)
  5. Holding the Chase Aeroplan card gives you a 10% transfer bonus when converting Ultimate Rewards to Aeroplan miles. That bonus was supposed to be temporary for this year’s launch of the card, but FM reports that it’s now apparently permanent. This bonus stacks with occasional temporary transfer bonuses too.

    The permanent transfer bonus combined with Aeroplan’s partner availability and the ability to earn 3x at grocery stores makes me ready to kick a 5/24 slot in the teeth to get this card.
  6. The Chase Marriott Boundless card has a new link with a heightened sign-up bonus for five 50,000 point free night certificates after $5,000 spend in three months. The $95 annual fee is not waived for the first year.

    It’s no secret that I’m a Bonvoy hater, but this offer is almost good enough for me to care — but not quite enough because it would also kick a 5/24 slot in the teeth, and the Aeroplan card holds more long term value for my use case so that’s a tooth two far. (Thanks to DDG)

The sixth easiest gig you’ve ever gotten.