Milenomics² Podcast Episode 256: News, Updates, and Trip Reports…

0:20 New: Redeem JetBlue Points for Award Flights on JAL

• Direct Link

• Dans Deals

• Miles required on some routes isn’t so bad, and it’s nice to have a high value redemption with JetBlue miles, but…

• Beware of fuel surcharges (you need to have enough points in your JetBlue account to see what they charge)

• Tip: If you search and use the calendar view you can see the taxes without enough points in your account!

• SFO - TYO Business 59,000 + $205.40 for example

• First (LAX-TYO) 165,000 + 205.40:

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07:14 Amex Business Platinum Dell Credit Changes

• Was: $200 Jan - June, $200 July - Dec

• Now: $150/yr

• $200 through June 2025, $150 July - Dec 2025

• $150/yr going forward

• Not quite free from this burden 

11:20 US Bank $500/$900 Business Checking Bonus (link)

• US Bank is becoming a bigger and bigger part of my life

• Apply now through Jun 30 (Will likely get extended again) 

• Must do 5 transcations as well as deposit:

• $500 for $5,000 deposit held for 60 days (10%)

• $900 for $25,000 deposit for 60 days. 

• Must be new money to US Bank. 

• Remember to use your SSN for Sole Prop.

• They ‘got me’ on one of these in the past when I didn’t deposit all new money

16:01 Amex Co-Branded Application Update

• Letter Arrived, and it mentioned duplicate application

• Patron mentioned a new set of Delta NLL links mentioned on MtM

• Applied, no popup and….approved! 

• Worth checking out

• Seems targeted so not everyone will be successful  (Slack link)

17:46 Reminder: Turkish Miles & Smiles can be a good option still for Hawaii Flights

• Seeing some days with 9+ seats in economy bookable by Turkish 

• 10k one way

• TYP partner, so a nice use of those points for good value 

• Misspoke in the episode, Basic Economy was $189, the flight I booked was $235 one way on the date I booked. (2+cpp!)

• ‘$100’ one way to Hawaii, incredible value, big headaches including login issues and an initial block on any bookings for more than 1 person, the account holder. 

• Can call to get around these. 

• Not great cancellation terms 

• TYP transfer Instant which is nice. 

23:18 Discussion: How Much 50% off Airfare would you stockpile?

• WF card, 3.2% to earn 5x and 1.5x uplift—about half price.

• Discussion around how we would handle this

• Shutdown issues are a real limiting reactant 

• “Lifetime” of travel. Who’s lifetime? Ours? The Airline? The human Race?

• True of so many currencies–how much is ‘enough’?

26:45 BOS - RSW (RSW)

• JetBlue outbound

• Booked with travel credit that was just about to expire (barely caught it in time)

• Upgraded 3 seats to More Room with Mosaic status

• Totally square, on-time flight. No complaints.

• Delta return

• Booked two seats in Main Cabin w/Delta miles then upgraded to Comfort+ while I still had Platinum status

• Booked another seat directly into Comfort+ with Delta miles

• Again, totally square, right on time. No complaints.

• Upshot: It’s easier to detect (and complain) when something goes wrong, than it is to notice when everything going well. It’s hard to fly metal tubes around without issues. Makes moving around the country pleasant and I like that.

• Discuss: Chasing piddly status match opportunities (ex: Qatar Gold from Cardless, should I take the time to match it to ITA Volare status? Ha ha)

35:41 Visa Infinite Golf Benefit

• T&Cs say: $99 rates at 20 select higher end daily fee courses, for up to 4 players, up to twice a year at each of the 20 courses

• Start here to verify your Visa Infinite and sign up -or- upgrade your Troon Rewards account to Platinum: https://www.troongolfrewards.com/visainfinite

• There are a bunch of courses that have 20% discounts, but the thing to focus on is the 20 or so $99 courses if the locations work for you

• For this trial, we played Tiburon in Naples, FL which has two courses associated with the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort and hosts a few tournaments

• You start the process by subitting a form with the course, date, and time you want to play.

• Within a few minutes of submitting the form, on Easter Sunday, I got an email back from the assistant pro with availability

• I highly suspect each course is going to handle this differently because I ended up playing twice and each day was handled differently

• The pro said the $99 rate could be booked up to 5 days in advance, and the 20% off rate could be booked up to 30 days in advance

• I enquired about a 9a tee-time for 2 on Tuesday (2 days later) and was told we could play at 11a Monday and/or 2p on Tuesday, but there was a mandatory forecaddie Nov - Apr which costs an additional $35 pp

• That was fine by me because the 18 holes was going for $400+ in the morning and around $350 at the times we played

• It all sounded almost too good to be true, but since I was getting quick responses I booked for 11a Monday and additionally for 3 players Tuesday afternoon

• When we arrived Monday the pro shop had no record of our reservation, and the course was completely full!

• I thought at first that I'd made a reservation at some other course, or I'd gotten the day wrong, so I showed the confirmation email and mentioned that "I booked it through Charlie."

• She goes and finds Charlie and he couldn't be a nicer guy. He apologizes for the confusion saying that when I asked to book Tuesday he thought I meant instead of Monday rather than both days.

• He patches it up by somehow shaking loose a tee time at our original requested time Monday and offers to charge us $160pp and comps a rental set (they charge $79) so I felt that was fair relative to $330 pp

• We played the Gold course first (more reserved for members). The Black course is the "resort course" and more friendly to play. Both courses are used for tournaments so you can't go wrong.

• The next day we played the resort course and...somehow the request for a forecaddie wasn't in the system.

• We didn't really need (or want) a forecaddie but the guy at the pro shop made up that the Visa Infinite rate was $99 + $35 even though there was no forecaddie available.

• Still, $134 for a $330 course was fine by me, even if the whole thing felt a bit shaky (shady?)

• The T&Cs say you have to pay with a Visa Infinite but I used an Amex Business Platinum both times no problem

• They say you can only play each of the 20 courses twice a year, but I get the feeling I could do it again this year within reason.

• I say this because once the connection was made after submitting the form it was just a matter of the course manually attaching the rate to the reservation.

• So although there wasn't strict adherence to the supposed "rules" of the Visa Infinite benefit I think the lax implementation could be useful for repeat play.

• Tiburon is an outstanding course. Interestingly designed holes, challenging but fair, fantastic condition especially the greens. Will definitely play again.

• Should be available through Sapphire Reserve, BofA Elite, and Chase Ritz-Carlton (or any other Visa Infinite you can dig up).

• I originally enrolled w/Troon when I had a BofA Elite, and have since closed that card. I think you just need to confirm any active Visa Infinite to submit booking requests online.

• Would be very interested to hear what others experience when trying this $99 rate!

46:17 Kauai Trip Report 

• These reports have started getting pretty predictable, Southwest from LGB or LAX, Budget with the Deel code, vacasa in Princeville/Kapaa. 

• Not this time! Changing flight options have made it harder (well, more expensive, not harder) to get to LIH from LA for me.  Declining Rental car prices are putting downward pressure on all companies meaning competition is back. 

Almost nothing the same as in the past: 

47:26 Outbound: Hawaiian First class with an overnight in HNL

• Booked: 40,000 Alaska (from Hawaiin/Membership Rewards) per person one way.

• STILL serving LAX from remote Tom Bradley gates (moving terminals April 23)

• 28 minutes from Security to the gate. Ridiculous. 

• These are a321Neo, pretty standard and I’ve flown it in row 1 and row 21. 

• Of course the flight left about 45 minutes late due to ‘catering’ 

• I have never gone out on time on long Hawaiian flights

  • Zero sense of urgency and and

• Front cabin 16 seats, went out 2 empty

• Non Rev attempted to get into one, FA shut it down stating they would have to offer it to passengers before him, even as he offered to pay up into it. 

• Meal was very good.  The food was clearly prepped in the gally, hot food had cold elements on top of it along with fresh bright herbs. 

• The ot her option was good as well, my kids both enjoyed the standard meal.

• Takeoff at 9:20pm, dinner quickly and then I slept for a few hours. Flight felt Fast. 

Overnight in HNL

• Really debated staying in Waikiki or right at the airport hotel. 

• Decided since we’re getting in so late and have to get back in the morning to stay at the airport hotel

• This was a bad idea. At this time of night an Uber would have been quick, and in the morning we all woke up early enough to easily catch our outbound. 

• Maybe I’d feel differently if I sat waiting for an Uber or they passed on the pickup. 

• Robert: We took an old-school taxi to Waikiki 

HNL-LIH Hawaiian 

• Night and day vs. Southwest intra-island. 

• Beverage Service was offered

• Flights are on older 717 but the cabin is so quiet. 

55:03 LIH Rental Cars: Hertz blows it

• Unsure why, but my name was NOT on the big board. 

• Two employees check their clipboards and see nothing, “Oh you’ll just have to wait in line”

• There’s one line, and a dedicated Gold Club desk. So you just skip past the non-gold members in line, cutting them as the gold desk keeps asking “Is anyone gold?” 

• This led the person in the front of the line to get pretty upset 

• I’m upset because I could have booked a cheaper prepaid rate and saved about $100 (but didn’t because I thought it might mean standing in line)

• Budget and National both have a dedicated desk and dedicated line. I’m either booking the lowest cost option somewhere and budgeting time for a line or sticking with Budget/National.

• Robert: You booked directly w/Hertz? No Priceline or Autoslash in the mix?

Kauai: Not standing still

• Change even from the last time here

• Different operating hours for old favorites

• Plenty of new food to try (keep trying new places)

• Changing schedules and locals out more than during Holiday weeks

• New food: Lotus Ramen and Hibichi and  da Booze Shop. Both were excellent. 

What’s the Same

• Need for a 2nd or 3rd backup spot

• Plenty of great hikes and beaches

• Activities and tours book up quickly (and have friendly cancellation terms)

• Favorite places still great: Anina Hou, Lydgate Park, Waipoliu Deli, Puakea Grill, Wialua Drive in. 

Lanikai Vacasa options: Plentiful except for a Milenomics Market moving event

• I really enjoy this complex. The pool is small, but never crowded.  ½ of it is under 4 feet so the kids can play alone. 

• The beach the complex fronts is special, kid friendly (baby friendly area even), with a cool ‘lazy river’ cross current and a sandbar. Sand is poor for sandcastles however.  

• Waves are good. On the weekend locals abound. On weekdays pretty empty.

• Andrew C and I both kept eyes on the same units for the week. Ended up booking out from under each other. 

• There are at least 3 units in Vacasa’s portfolio, 2 of which sometimes go for <$250 per bedroom per night. A great value for the week for <200,000 Wyndham. 

What we did this trip: 

• Rented Bikes and rode from Kapaa to Donkey Beach. (About 2 hr r/t). 

• Hiked Sleeping Giant from the west trailhead. Steeper and a bit tougher than the east trailhead, but also quicker. Kids easily made it. Strawberry guava in season and plentiful to forage. 

• Farmer’s Market every 2 days or so to reload on fruits

• Mini Golf up in Kilauea at Anina Hou. Great fun. 

• Beaches: Fuji, Kalihiwai, Lea Kia Beach, Salt Pond Park

• Pool days. Poke from Konohiki and lunch out at the pool. 

• Waimea Canyon Drive

• Japanese Grandma

• Wailua River Kayak / Waterfall Hike (cancelled again due to weather)

• And of course Shave ice for the kids. 

01:08:07 Return flight Hawaiian first LIH-LAX

• I’m convinced Hawaiian cannot get out on time. They’re just too casual about everything to do so.  On time arrival is due to pilot make up. 

• Day flight is so much better. I won't be taking red-eye or night flights to Kauai again. 

• I would consider it if at as a nonstop option to another island. 

• Food was again great. Kids enjoyed the adult meal which is very very rare for my kids. 

• Separate Row for the kids. Very Nice. 

• Walked from TBIT to the Uber LAeXit lot (horrible)

• Also 40k Alaska per person. Really really like this flight, especially now that Hawaiian has moved to Alaska’s Terminal so the walk is shorter. 

01:11:09 Tip of the week: Real ID - Mandatory May 7

• We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention this. 

• Looks real at this point, so get that passport/Real ID ready for all flights. 

• This will be messy for sure around the deadline. Example: TSA Agent in LIH told me a Global Entry ID card would NOT work as a real ID (that’s not true!).

• List of what is acceptable: https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/identification

01:13:47 Tip of the week: fluz boosts are working. 

• Small discussion of 250k spend to gain GC load (bigger discussion coming next show)

• $2.50 back on $10.  (25%, capped at $10 in spend)

• Seems insignificant but….most of us have something like 50-100+ of these

• That's tedious, but for Starbucks or something regularly used represents some real money. 

• Can find boosts in the power portal, or in the app, Discover ->Boosts ->Scroll down. 

• Make sure these are set to be used on your next purchase. 

• MAY be expiring SOON. Use them or Lose them! 

• Amazon is a great one because they can be loaded into one BIG GC.

• Careful of issues with loading too many GC too fast into accounts, or the spend limit in GC split tender with retailers. 

• More discussion here on slack.