Milenomics² Podcast Episode 263: Good News / Bad News, Living the Mesa Lifestyle & Award Trends to Europe

0:22 Good news: 

0:31 Citi Threatens to Finally Launch “Strata Elite” Card

• Bloomberg

• FM

• Coming Soon (this weekend?)

• Rumors:

• $495 - $650 AF

• AA lounge access

• Friday and Saturday night earn 6x points  from 6p - 6a ET (per supposed Citi employee comment on DoC)

• “Citi Taps Sapphire Reserve Mastermind to Lead Cards Business”:

• 

10:29 Breeze Swoops in on West Coast Routes Avelo Abandoned (OMAAT)

• Taking over BUR slots from Avelo

• Difficult to fly, point to point, expensive, thin 2x weekly routes 

• How can Breeze gain traction with the points/miles community?

• Quick Bermudair Discussion (link)

14:27 Bad News: 

14:34 US Bank Update

• Tried real-time rewards (Fluz Taxi) as a way to cash out for 1 cpp

• No luck! Points are only worth .75 cents a piece this way.

• Have a targeted offer for $400 or $1,000 for opening a business checking account

• I really don’t want to do that

16:54 Changes in Paying BofA Personal Cards

• DoC

• Said to be coming August 23, 2025

• Convoluted old system where you pay BofA credit cards through BofA’s crazy/separate billpay going away

• Hopefully going to something more normal, but they say they’re going to cancel all Autopay so it raises concerns about scheduled debit payments

• It’s truly such a terrible system, we’ll keep an eye on it…

22:51 Current State of Amex Churning

• I’ve got several Business Platinums due for closure

• Retention offers have been weak

• More open slots than I’ve seen in a long time

• Targeted for 125k Business Gold but can’t get link to work

• Haven’t seen great offers on Business Platinum lately

• Is 90 day and/or BBT/NTT getting harder?

25:48 New Segment: Living the Mesa Lifestyle (Livin la Vida Mesa?)

26:29 SAS: What A Program!

• 50,000 per person From LAX in Business.

• Connections all throughout Europe and Scandanavia

• Children are HALF PRICE!  (For an award seat!) 

• Low taxes and fees

• I’m seeing dates with 5 seats in Business

• What’s the catch? Close in only, like <2 weeks. 

• So it’s really tough to put a trip together on that ‘what if’ But if you can–my goodness! 

• Living the Mesa Lifestyle 

31:44 Thumbtack Experience

• Benefit is stated as $25 off of a Thumbtack payment up to $200 per year. 

• What is Thumbtack? 

• Did not work. 

• The top few benefits like Lowes and Costco ‘just work’ The lower you go down the benefits list the harder they get to use. 

• Still good to find a professional, but not a savings based on living the mesa lifestyle. 

• Still can’t sign up for the card! Need to get on that waitlist. 

Main Show Topic: 

38:50 Close-in Award Availability Trends LA to Europe

• Looking for flights to Italy, and specifically smaller airports in Italy

• My current flight avoids Rome but has 2 stops.  I wanted to pivot to 1 stop. 

• Can’t just “Get over the pond”

• There are plenty of options to Europe from LAX: ZRH, WAW, LHR, CDG, MUC, FRA, FCO, AMS, CPH….

• But if there’s space on these there’s no onward flight to Florence. 

• “The flight has to exist for you to take it” 

• If there’s space to Florence the long haul doesn’t have 4 seats. 

• Closer in I’m seeing drops of MANY seats (6-9) in Business class

• Great for larger families, but not for planners

• Seat Alerts are a scam

• Points Yeah, Seats.aero and Award Tool discussion: Free is fine because routing logic isn’t perfect. 

• Stopping use of these services close in, just not worth it. 

• Ultimately, your anchor has to be a flight you can take

• Not seeing tons of space next summer, but suspect closer in things will change just as they did here.