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Points
Travel Horror Stories
31 Oct. 2023
Travel Horror Stories
I was listening to a recent podcast about travel horror stories.  Anyone who has traveled for any length of time probably has their own stories too.  Here’s a few of my own: 1. Booking the wrong flight Shortly into my first year of the points and miles hobby, I was excited to attend the Chicago
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Volunteering in Europe for Ukraine – Part 2
28 Oct. 2022
Volunteering in Europe for Ukraine – Part 2
Second Verse, Same as the First I recently wrote about volunteering for refugees fleeing from the war on the border of Ukraine and Poland.  Even though I’ve volunteered a good amount in the U.S., it was my first look at war related humanitarian relief on the ground.  In a nutshell, Ukrainians who seek shelter in
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Volunteering in Europe for Ukraine
7 Oct. 2022
Volunteering in Europe for Ukraine
Putka I don’t know what percent of the world knows that Russia invaded Ukraine, but I’d guess it’s pretty high.  I’m fortunate in that I’ve traveled through Europe extensively, as there was a period in my 20’s that I backpacked Europe for a year and have been back many times since then.  During those travels,
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A Points Blog You Should Be Reading
18 Jun. 2022
A Points Blog You Should Be Reading
David vs. Goliath The covid pandemic was tough on small business.  The path the government chose crushed so many small businesses and favored big business like Home Depot, Amazon, Walmart, and others.  During, and even before the pandemic, it seems like the points and miles loyalty game tracked down a similar path – with smaller,
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Moving, Manufactured Spend, and The Police?
18 Jun. 2022
Moving, Manufactured Spend, and The Police?
Movin-On Out I recently left Minnesota and moved out of state.  There were several factors involved in the move including better weather, the ability to work remotely, and the left-wing violence that engulfed the Twin Cities metro, which I wrote about previously.  Minnesota is a nice state, and I do love miss a lot of
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Walmart Western Union Money Order Changes
4 Jan. 2022
Walmart Western Union Money Order Changes
In With The New Out With The Old? Manufactured spend (MS) that involves Walmart money orders has definitely gone out of fashion for most people looking to accrue points en masse with limited cost (and risk).  A combination of a lower number of pin based gift card debits that actually work at Walmart for MS,
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Amex Revival
11 Dec. 2021
Amex Revival
Alive….Again A few months ago, and shortly after after trying to make a gas purchase with one of my American Express cards, I found out my accounts were closed.  Myself, along with hundreds of others (possibly more), had their credit cards shutdown.  I wrote about the issue before and won’t rehash it all here, but
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My Podcast is Taken Down….For Now
10 Oct. 2021
My Podcast is Taken Down….For Now
Tune-Out I’ve decided to take my podcast, The Travel Points, down for now.  This past week I was finishing up a new podcast related to a recent trip to Utah and its five gorgeous National Parks that completed recently. Before finishing the show and posting it, I decided that pressing pause is a wiser move,
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