Let\u2019s Go!<\/h4>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/098D6186-9F6E-4F7D-9AA7-DA5B1740D8C4.gif\")
<\/figure>\n\nVirgin Atlantic Devalues its Award Charts and Expects us to Book Anyway<\/p>\n
Partner flights on Delta tripled in price<\/a> in many cases. You know that you\u2019ve gone way too far when Delta SkyMiles award prices to Europe are cheaper than yours.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/tenor.gif\")
<\/figure>\n\nPayPal Key Blocks AmEx on January 4<\/p>\n
Remember how merchant coding didn\u2019t pass properly to AmEx via PayPal and everything was a \u201cglobal restaurant\u201d when you bought with PPK? I do. sniff<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/giphy-2.gif\")
<\/figure>\n\nCiti Pay-By-Phone Accepts New Cards<\/p>\n
When the new year ticked over, a new year\u2019s worth of expiration dates started to sail through, and we celebrate.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/200_d-1.gif\")
<\/figure>\n\nAmerican Express Master Value Injection 2.0<\/p>\n
Personal Platinums get $30 at PayPal. Co-brand business cards got $10-$20 off of wireless services. Co-brand personal cards get $10-$25 off of dining. It all resets every month! Also, business Platinums get +4x in four categories. We\u2019re happy at first\u2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/tenor-6.gif\")
<\/figure>\n\nAmerican Express with Master Value Injection Redux<\/p>\n
By March, we realize we\u2019re working for American Express to cash out a dozen small monthly credits, and it feels like we\u2019re getting nowhere fast while we try and twirl through our credits.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/tenor.gif\")
<\/figure>\n\nBank of America Launches a Spirit Airlines Co-Brand Card<\/p>\n
Someone really thinks we\u2019ll go for this? Also, 40,000 miles<\/a> is stingy, even for Spirit.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/giphy-1677-990000000005143c.gif\")
<\/figure>\n\nFluz Launches power.fluz.app<\/a><\/p>\nIf you know, you know.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/tenor-1.gif\")
<\/figure>\n\n
\nBreeze Airways Takes Flight<\/p>\n
We have a new US based air carrier and we got to see its inaugural takeoff roll.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/giphy-5.gif\")
<\/figure>\n\nCiti Launches the Custom Cash Card<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a no-annual fee card that earns 5x per month on $500 spend<\/a> in whatever category you spent the most on. Bad? Not at all. Amazing? Not really, but we\u2019ll take it. Unfortunately for me I got a $20,000 credit line on a card that will never see more than $500 in monthly spend.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/giphy-1779-990000000005143c.gif\")
<\/figure>\n\nVisible Sends Us Giant Piles of Mastercard Gift Cards<\/p>\n
The Ting to Visible+Rakuten deal<\/a> landed some over 30 $100 gift cards in their inbox. Now if I just knew where my Creedence was<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/tenor-3.gif\")
<\/figure>\n\nThe American Express \u201cThree for All<\/a>\u201d Deal Dies<\/p>\nAmerican Express gave us a bonus three points per dollar, uncapped, for referring someone (like P2) to a new card. Obviously this was abused and became a goldmine.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/tenor-2.gif\")
<\/figure>\n\nThe American Express \u201c4 for Us<\/a>\u201d Deal Surfaces<\/p>\nMaybe the \u201c4 for us deal\u201d isn\u2019t quite as lucrative as \u201c3 for all\u201d for heavy hitters, but it\u2019s a great consolation prize to close out 2021. I got one for me and one for P2, but wish I had tried even harder.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/tenor-7-2.gif\")
<\/figure>\n\nAmerican Airline\u2019s SimplyMiles Roller Coaster<\/p>\n
We\u2019re all going to get 240 miles per dollar. No wait, we\u2019re not. No, it\u2019s going to post! Then it posts! Then it unposts! Then it posts! Then it unposts! <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/giphy-3-5.gif\")
<\/figure>\n\nThe Dust Settles and 240 Miles Per Dollar Actually Shows Up<\/p>\n
Former US Airways management proves that it can still make a deal that puts other deals to shame, even though they can\u2019t make a sandwich<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/giphy-1.gif\")
<\/figure>\n\nFee-Free MS with Point Dies<\/p>\n
You could load cash onto the Point debit card with a credit card using Apple Pay<\/a>, fee-free, up to $12,500 per month, and then spend the money and earn another 1% on top. It even worked with American Express.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/tenor-2-1.gif\")
<\/figure>\n\nWe watch the Marriott Program go from Bad to Worse<\/p>\n
After years of devaluation, Marriott gave us something different<\/s> another devaluation<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/tenor-4.gif\")
<\/figure>\n\nGetting Creative with Rental Cars During Carmageddon<\/a><\/p>\nBob at the local mechanics shop will let you rent a fixer-upper for only $150 per day, unlimited miles. What a steal!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/tenor-2-2.gif\")
<\/figure>\n\nRunning to Meijer for the Sale of the Year<\/p>\n
Meijer announced that they were giving 10% off of third party gift cards<\/a> for two days, and MSers ran to the Midwest for a feeding frenzy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/tenor-3-1.gif\")
<\/figure>\n\nFlight Attendants Get Trained on Unruly Passenger Handling<\/p>\n
Smh, smh<\/a>, welcome to flying in 2021.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/tenor-8.gif\")
<\/figure>\n\nDebauchery With Reddit Mods and Chase Links<\/p>\n
Links were allegedly stolen from source code<\/a>, reddit \/r\/churning<\/a> mods had massive infighting, links were released to the public to hide serious abusers in a crowd, inevitably a bunch of shutdowns occur, and one of the perpetrators walks away unscathed. This could honestly be an HBO mini-series.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/tenor-4-1.gif\")
<\/figure>\n\nFlight Attendants on British Airways Celebrate the Reopening of US Borders<\/p>\n
BA1 marked the return<\/a> of leisure travel to the United States, or at least that was the plan before Virgin Atlantic stole the crown. Fortunately, Miles Earn and Burn<\/a> has obtained exclusive footage from the safety briefing so we can all take part in the early celebration.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/giphy-3.gif\")
<\/figure>\n\nVirgin Atlantic and British Airways Orchestrate Simultaneous Takeoff<\/p>\n
After the safety briefings, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic organized a coordinated takeoff<\/a> at London Heathrow. Later VS decided that it didn\u2019t want a synchronized landing, it wanted to win<\/a>; so, yay teamwork?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/1-sky-sports-reporter-hit-in-head-by-ball.gif\")
<\/figure>\n\nAmerican Express Shuts Down Some Cardholders<\/p>\n
It\u2019s always the ball you don\u2019t see coming, right? American Express shut down accounts<\/a> for cardholders that had opened one or more business cards with the help of a particular employee, and without regard to literally anything else. Imagine opening a single Business Platinum card in 2018 and then having this happen in 2021\u2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/giphy-2-1.gif\")
<\/figure>\n\nAmerican Express Reinstates Shutdown Cardholders<\/p>\n
It turns out that if you\u2019re persistent and if you ask enough times, you\u2019ve got a great shot of AmEx reinstating your accounts<\/a>. Just make sure you wear your Sunday best. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/tenor-2-3.gif\")
<\/figure>\n\nScreenshotting Offer Terms and Conditions<\/p>\n
Sometimes we need to have a picture of what we\u2019re offered to keep a company honest. I prefer using a phone or computer\u2019s built-in tool, but if you\u2019re part of any Slack or WhatsApp groups, you\u2019ll know that not everyone feels the same way.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/tenor-9.gif\")
<\/figure>\n\nYour Friend Asks You What It\u2019s Like to Fly Eleven Hours in Coach<\/p>\n
Uh, we literally have no idea. If it\u2019s not a lie flat, then we haven\u2019t done it. We might look rugged and experienced, but honestly we haven\u2019t been past row 16 or so on a widebody aircraft since, I don\u2019t know, ever.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/200_d.gif\")
<\/figure>\n\nGoBank Discontinues Its Card<\/p>\n
When notice came in mid-August<\/a> that GoBank was shutting down in favor of Go2Bank<\/a>, MSers swiped repeatedly at Walmart to offload gift cards (including Metabank) while they still could. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/tenor-7.gif\")
<\/figure>\n\nBrex Gives us Hundreds of Thousands of Points for Very Little Effort<\/p>\n
It took me under five minutes on the phone<\/a> to link PayPal to Brex for 100,000 points. And then there was the 110,000 point sign-up bonus<\/a> in early February. Oh, and you could do it multiple times with multiple business. In my state, you can register a business for only $70, so there\u2019s that too. (It\u2019s not quite as good, but you can keep the party going in 2022 with the TravelBank 75,000 points after spending $1,000<\/a> offer.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/tenor-10.gif\")
<\/figure>\n\nBestBuy Disables Auto-Checkout Bots During Black Friday<\/p>\n
BestBuy knows that auto-checkout bots exist<\/a>, and has countermeasures to disable them. Why does it turn them on for only a week or two a year? I have no idea.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/tenor-3-2.gif\")
<\/figure>\n\nAmerican Express\u2019s Secret 1,900,000 Membership Rewards Offer<\/a><\/p>\nEmployees that shared your name but with roman numerals were never more exciting! This deal is still scheduled to run well into 2022 on many business cards by the way; you just have to call and ask, because I guess you\u2019re just supposed to know that AmEx has phone only offers and to check periodically?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/tenor-3-3.gif\")
<\/figure>\n\nBravoPay Tries to Fix the 2% Liquidation Loophole<\/p>\n
I literally think every day about how badly BravoPay\u2019s programmers built the app<\/a> and how they tried several times to repair it but kept failing. \u201cIt\u2019ll buff out, right?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/tenor-4-2.gif\")
<\/figure>\n\nAirline Customer Service Teams Try and Keep-up<\/p>\n
Apropos of nothing, do you remember how the CARES act was supposed to keep everyone employed at airlines<\/a>? Anyway, I\u2019m sure that worked out well and nine-hour hold times<\/a> are how it\u2019s always been, right?. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/tenor-5-1.gif\")
<\/figure>\n\nPre-check and Clear Make Us Complacent About Timing<\/p>\n
Leaving your house 26 minutes before your airline\u2019s schedule departure is prolly fine right? <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/tenor-7-1.gif\")
<\/figure>\n\nGetting excited for the Capital One Venture X Card<\/p>\n
\u2026 and then getting denied<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/tenor-2-5.gif\")
<\/figure>\n\nStaples Runs Another $200 Fee Free Gift Card Sale<\/p>\n
It only comes around for two to three weeks a month<\/a>, so the excitement is hard to summon.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/tenor-2-4.gif\")
<\/figure>\n\nThe GivingAssistant Portal Falls Apart<\/p>\n
A few probers out there knew that GivingAssistant was really good at awarding cash back even when other portals wouldn\u2019t, like buying Apple Products on BestBuy.com. Did our experimenting cause it to fall apart<\/a>?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/giphy-4.gif\")
<\/figure>\n\nMiles Earn and Burn Celebrates a One Year Anniversary<\/p>\n
You may have figured out by now that I\u2019m not big on ceremony for the sake of ceremony, so you probably won\u2019t be surprised to learn that I spared you all from another \u201cWE JUST TURNED ONE YEARS YOUNG!!\u201d blog post. But, the anniversary technically did occur.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/giphy-2-2.gif\")
<\/figure>\n\nThe Worst Credit Card Takes a New Tact<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t yet have a formal Unsung Villains series to match the Unsung Heroes<\/a> series, but if and when I do the Mastercard Black Card<\/a> card will be at the top of the villains list. The thing is, they know that their card is bad so their marketing department has to stretch. Recently they\u2019ve started advertising that their card is heavier than the competition<\/a>. Wow, you mean my wallet can get even thicker?!? Sold!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/tenor-3-4.gif\")
<\/figure>\n\nThank You!<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t say it enough, but I appreciate everyone\u2019s support over 2021. Thanks for your emails, your Telegram messages, your Slack and Discord groups, and your Patreon memberships. I\u2019m really here because of you.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Until next year, friends!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Introduction In what has become an annual MEAB tradition for an unbelievable streak of two years in a row (if you include this year), it\u2019s<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":6,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","footnotes":""},"categories":[60,12,64,62,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-airlines","category-ms-hints","category-points","category-shenanigans","category-travel-hacking"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=619"}],"version-history":[{"count":34,"href":"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7129,"href":"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619\/revisions\/7129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/figure>\nVirgin Atlantic Devalues its Award Charts and Expects us to Book Anyway<\/p>\n
Partner flights on Delta tripled in price<\/a> in many cases. You know that you\u2019ve gone way too far when Delta SkyMiles award prices to Europe are cheaper than yours.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n PayPal Key Blocks AmEx on January 4<\/p>\n Remember how merchant coding didn\u2019t pass properly to AmEx via PayPal and everything was a \u201cglobal restaurant\u201d when you bought with PPK? I do. sniff<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Citi Pay-By-Phone Accepts New Cards<\/p>\n When the new year ticked over, a new year\u2019s worth of expiration dates started to sail through, and we celebrate.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n American Express Master Value Injection 2.0<\/p>\n Personal Platinums get $30 at PayPal. Co-brand business cards got $10-$20 off of wireless services. Co-brand personal cards get $10-$25 off of dining. It all resets every month! Also, business Platinums get +4x in four categories. We\u2019re happy at first\u2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n American Express with Master Value Injection Redux<\/p>\n By March, we realize we\u2019re working for American Express to cash out a dozen small monthly credits, and it feels like we\u2019re getting nowhere fast while we try and twirl through our credits.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Bank of America Launches a Spirit Airlines Co-Brand Card<\/p>\n Someone really thinks we\u2019ll go for this? Also, 40,000 miles<\/a> is stingy, even for Spirit.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Fluz Launches power.fluz.app<\/a><\/p>\n If you know, you know.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Breeze Airways Takes Flight<\/p>\n We have a new US based air carrier and we got to see its inaugural takeoff roll.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Citi Launches the Custom Cash Card<\/p>\n It\u2019s a no-annual fee card that earns 5x per month on $500 spend<\/a> in whatever category you spent the most on. Bad? Not at all. Amazing? Not really, but we\u2019ll take it. Unfortunately for me I got a $20,000 credit line on a card that will never see more than $500 in monthly spend.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Visible Sends Us Giant Piles of Mastercard Gift Cards<\/p>\n The Ting to Visible+Rakuten deal<\/a> landed some over 30 $100 gift cards in their inbox. Now if I just knew where my Creedence was<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The American Express \u201cThree for All<\/a>\u201d Deal Dies<\/p>\n American Express gave us a bonus three points per dollar, uncapped, for referring someone (like P2) to a new card. Obviously this was abused and became a goldmine.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The American Express \u201c4 for Us<\/a>\u201d Deal Surfaces<\/p>\n Maybe the \u201c4 for us deal\u201d isn\u2019t quite as lucrative as \u201c3 for all\u201d for heavy hitters, but it\u2019s a great consolation prize to close out 2021. I got one for me and one for P2, but wish I had tried even harder.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n American Airline\u2019s SimplyMiles Roller Coaster<\/p>\n We\u2019re all going to get 240 miles per dollar. No wait, we\u2019re not. No, it\u2019s going to post! Then it posts! Then it unposts! Then it posts! Then it unposts! <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The Dust Settles and 240 Miles Per Dollar Actually Shows Up<\/p>\n Former US Airways management proves that it can still make a deal that puts other deals to shame, even though they can\u2019t make a sandwich<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Fee-Free MS with Point Dies<\/p>\n You could load cash onto the Point debit card with a credit card using Apple Pay<\/a>, fee-free, up to $12,500 per month, and then spend the money and earn another 1% on top. It even worked with American Express.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n We watch the Marriott Program go from Bad to Worse<\/p>\n After years of devaluation, Marriott gave us Getting Creative with Rental Cars During Carmageddon<\/a><\/p>\n Bob at the local mechanics shop will let you rent a fixer-upper for only $150 per day, unlimited miles. What a steal!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Running to Meijer for the Sale of the Year<\/p>\n Meijer announced that they were giving 10% off of third party gift cards<\/a> for two days, and MSers ran to the Midwest for a feeding frenzy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Flight Attendants Get Trained on Unruly Passenger Handling<\/p>\n Smh, smh<\/a>, welcome to flying in 2021.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Debauchery With Reddit Mods and Chase Links<\/p>\n Links were allegedly stolen from source code<\/a>, reddit \/r\/churning<\/a> mods had massive infighting, links were released to the public to hide serious abusers in a crowd, inevitably a bunch of shutdowns occur, and one of the perpetrators walks away unscathed. This could honestly be an HBO mini-series.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Flight Attendants on British Airways Celebrate the Reopening of US Borders<\/p>\n BA1 marked the return<\/a> of leisure travel to the United States, or at least that was the plan before Virgin Atlantic stole the crown. Fortunately, Miles Earn and Burn<\/a> has obtained exclusive footage from the safety briefing so we can all take part in the early celebration.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Virgin Atlantic and British Airways Orchestrate Simultaneous Takeoff<\/p>\n After the safety briefings, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic organized a coordinated takeoff<\/a> at London Heathrow. Later VS decided that it didn\u2019t want a synchronized landing, it wanted to win<\/a>; so, yay teamwork?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n American Express Shuts Down Some Cardholders<\/p>\n It\u2019s always the ball you don\u2019t see coming, right? American Express shut down accounts<\/a> for cardholders that had opened one or more business cards with the help of a particular employee, and without regard to literally anything else. Imagine opening a single Business Platinum card in 2018 and then having this happen in 2021\u2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n American Express Reinstates Shutdown Cardholders<\/p>\n It turns out that if you\u2019re persistent and if you ask enough times, you\u2019ve got a great shot of AmEx reinstating your accounts<\/a>. Just make sure you wear your Sunday best. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Screenshotting Offer Terms and Conditions<\/p>\n Sometimes we need to have a picture of what we\u2019re offered to keep a company honest. I prefer using a phone or computer\u2019s built-in tool, but if you\u2019re part of any Slack or WhatsApp groups, you\u2019ll know that not everyone feels the same way.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Your Friend Asks You What It\u2019s Like to Fly Eleven Hours in Coach<\/p>\n Uh, we literally have no idea. If it\u2019s not a lie flat, then we haven\u2019t done it. We might look rugged and experienced, but honestly we haven\u2019t been past row 16 or so on a widebody aircraft since, I don\u2019t know, ever.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n GoBank Discontinues Its Card<\/p>\n When notice came in mid-August<\/a> that GoBank was shutting down in favor of Go2Bank<\/a>, MSers swiped repeatedly at Walmart to offload gift cards (including Metabank) while they still could. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Brex Gives us Hundreds of Thousands of Points for Very Little Effort<\/p>\n It took me under five minutes on the phone<\/a> to link PayPal to Brex for 100,000 points. And then there was the 110,000 point sign-up bonus<\/a> in early February. Oh, and you could do it multiple times with multiple business. In my state, you can register a business for only $70, so there\u2019s that too. (It\u2019s not quite as good, but you can keep the party going in 2022 with the TravelBank 75,000 points after spending $1,000<\/a> offer.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n BestBuy Disables Auto-Checkout Bots During Black Friday<\/p>\n BestBuy knows that auto-checkout bots exist<\/a>, and has countermeasures to disable them. Why does it turn them on for only a week or two a year? I have no idea.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n American Express\u2019s Secret 1,900,000 Membership Rewards Offer<\/a><\/p>\n Employees that shared your name but with roman numerals were never more exciting! This deal is still scheduled to run well into 2022 on many business cards by the way; you just have to call and ask, because I guess you\u2019re just supposed to know that AmEx has phone only offers and to check periodically?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n BravoPay Tries to Fix the 2% Liquidation Loophole<\/p>\n I literally think every day about how badly BravoPay\u2019s programmers built the app<\/a> and how they tried several times to repair it but kept failing. \u201cIt\u2019ll buff out, right?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Airline Customer Service Teams Try and Keep-up<\/p>\n Apropos of nothing, do you remember how the CARES act was supposed to keep everyone employed at airlines<\/a>? Anyway, I\u2019m sure that worked out well and nine-hour hold times<\/a> are how it\u2019s always been, right?. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Pre-check and Clear Make Us Complacent About Timing<\/p>\n Leaving your house 26 minutes before your airline\u2019s schedule departure is prolly fine right? <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Getting excited for the Capital One Venture X Card<\/p>\n \u2026 and then getting denied<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Staples Runs Another $200 Fee Free Gift Card Sale<\/p>\n It only comes around for two to three weeks a month<\/a>, so the excitement is hard to summon.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The GivingAssistant Portal Falls Apart<\/p>\n A few probers out there knew that GivingAssistant was really good at awarding cash back even when other portals wouldn\u2019t, like buying Apple Products on BestBuy.com. Did our experimenting cause it to fall apart<\/a>?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Miles Earn and Burn Celebrates a One Year Anniversary<\/p>\n You may have figured out by now that I\u2019m not big on ceremony for the sake of ceremony, so you probably won\u2019t be surprised to learn that I spared you all from another \u201cWE JUST TURNED ONE YEARS YOUNG!!\u201d blog post. But, the anniversary technically did occur.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The Worst Credit Card Takes a New Tact<\/p>\n I don\u2019t yet have a formal Unsung Villains series to match the Unsung Heroes<\/a> series, but if and when I do the Mastercard Black Card<\/a> card will be at the top of the villains list. The thing is, they know that their card is bad so their marketing department has to stretch. Recently they\u2019ve started advertising that their card is heavier than the competition<\/a>. Wow, you mean my wallet can get even thicker?!? Sold!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Thank You!<\/p>\n I don\u2019t say it enough, but I appreciate everyone\u2019s support over 2021. Thanks for your emails, your Telegram messages, your Slack and Discord groups, and your Patreon memberships. I\u2019m really here because of you.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Until next year, friends!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Introduction In what has become an annual MEAB tradition for an unbelievable streak of two years in a row (if you include this year), it\u2019s<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":6,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","footnotes":""},"categories":[60,12,64,62,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-airlines","category-ms-hints","category-points","category-shenanigans","category-travel-hacking"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=619"}],"version-history":[{"count":34,"href":"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7129,"href":"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619\/revisions\/7129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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