[DEAD] Up to 5,000 Free Alaskan Airlines Miles for Using Online Self Tag Option

Unfortunately this deal is no longer available
Alaska Airlines is offering 1,000 miles for every time you use the Self Tag Online option and print your baggage tags off online. You can do this up to five different times for a total of 5,000 miles. This only works for Alaska/Horizon operated flights. Looks like most Alaska Airlines destinations are eligible. Check here for eligible cities.  The offer is good through October 20, 2015 so we still have lots of time.  My wife and I already have one round trip each planed for May. This will be an easy 2,000 Alaska Airlines miles each. Before October I will likely have another flight. These days I rarely check a bag when I fly, but I will just for this offer.

[DEAD] Improved Offer for AMEX Platinum Credit Card - 25,000 Points, $450 Fee Waived

Unfortunately this deal is no longer available. The best offer for teh Ameriprise Amex Platinum Card is a waived annual fee for the first year with no bonus points.
Last week I wrote about the available offers for the The American Express Platinum Card. The current publicly available offer gives 40,000 membership rewards points, but does not waive the $450 annual fee. At the time there was an offer for Ameriprise customers, but reports show that anyone can get the deal that waives the $450 fee, but does not come with any membership rewards points.

Now the Ameriprise offer has improved and now gives 25,000 Membership Rewards Points as well as waives the $450 fee for the first year. One of the greatest parts about the offer is that you can add up to three authorized users and they get the same benefits with exception of the $200 yearly airline rebate. I originally reported that this benefit cost a $175 fee for up to three additional users. The Ameriprise offer waives the $175 fee for adding authorized users. This means four people can get free Centurion Lounge access, Delta Lounge access, and Priority Pass Select which comes with United Club Lounge access as well. This really makes this a no brainer.

American Express Platinum Card Benefits:

$200 Airline Rebate - Every calendar year (Jan - Dec) you get a $200 airline rebate. You chose which airline you want to receive the credit for when you sign up. Officially, this is for things like baggage fees, upgrades, beverages, etc... Although, many people have had success purchasing airline gift cards directly from the airline and receiving the rebate.  So this benefit actually comes out to $400 total. If you get the card in December you can get a $200 rebate in December and another $200 in January.

Airport Lounge Access - One of the most touted benefits of the Platinum card is the access to airport lounges including Delta SkyClubs. This lounge access also includes Priority Pass Selects which grants access to over 600 airport lounges in 100 countries. This benefit only applies to the card holder and guests cost an additional $27 fee. Amex also has its own Centurion Lounges, with locations in Las Vegas, Dallas, San Francisco , and New York with new lounges coming to Miami and Seattle in 2015. Centurion Lounges are consider the crem della crem of airport lounges. 

Global Entry or TSA Pre-Check Application Reimbursement - Card holders can get reimbursed for the $85 cost of TSA Pre-Check or $100 cost of Global Entry.

Starwood Gold Status: When you have the card you can call Starwood and request free Starwood Gold Status. Read about the benefits here.

As a disclosure, I received no commissions from any of the links in this blog post.

$1 Per Day RV Relocation Rentals Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Sanfransico, Iowa, Australia, New Zealand

Apollo RV is offering special $1 per day RV relocation rentals when you pick up the RV in one location and drop it off at a different location.

Some of these deals even include a free tank of fuel. I look at the regular cost of renting and the cost averages more than $200 per day.  There are some really awesome deals like:

USA

Las Vegas - San Francisco $1/day plus $250 free fuel
Los Angeles - Las Vegas  $1/day plus $250 free fuel
Iowa to  Las Vegas, Los Angeles,SFO, or Denver $1/day for up to 12 days

Australia 

Perth to Brisbane  $1/day
Melbourne to Perth  $1/day
Cairns to Darwin  $1/day plus $100 free fuel

New Zealand

Aukland to Christchurch  $1/day plus $250 free fuel.

These deals are awesome! Especially in countries like Australia and New Zealand where rentals are very expensive. Just another way to travel very cheaply if you have the flexibility!

How to Stay for Free at Amazing Places with House Sitting Sites

There are a few great sites out there for getting hooked up with an awesome house sitting gig. TrustedHouseSitters is one of the more popular sites out there. There are some really amazing spots. Some places are like mansions.

I originally stumbled upon this site by taking a look at fellow travel hacker/blogger Travis at Extra Pack of Peanuts. Travis has more experience with using sites like these.

House Carers is another house sitting site to consider if you are thinking about trying to do some housesitting.

There are some barriers to this idea. The first is the membership cost. TrustedHouseSitters charges $71.97 for a three month membership. House Carers is cheaper at $50 for a one year membership. Also just because you sign up for the sites doesn't mean you will get a gig house sitting. It is very important to have a well developed profile and a compelling story.

If you are willing to put in the effort this could make an awesome adventure and a great way to significantly reduced the cost of travel.

3 Months Plan

$23.99 / month*

• Create profile
• View sits 24 hours in advance
• Daily & real time email alerts
• Message homeowners

* In a single payment of $71.97

Saving 80%

Annual Plan

$7.99 / month*

• Create profile
• View sits 24 hours in advance
• Daily & real time email alerts
• Message homeowners
• More unlimited opportunities

* In a single payment of $95.88

Best value

Combined Plan

$7.99 / month*

• Annual Homeowner & House Sitter membership
• Create profile
• View sits 24 hours in advance
• Daily & real time email alerts
• Message homeowners
• More unlimited opportunities
• Free homeowner membership

* In a single payment of $95.88

40,000 Point American Express Platinum Card - A Realistic Review from a Budget Traveler

The American Express Platinum Card is one of the premium credit cards that I have not applied for. Recently there has been a lot of talk about this credit card. The publicly available offer is for 40,000 Membership Rewards points after $3,000 in purchase in the first three months. The $450 fee is not waived.

What is lessor know is that there is a version that waives the $450 fee for the first year. Yes that is right, no $450 fee for the first year. This offer does not award any Membership Rewards points for signing up, but it does offer all of the other benefits which are quite lucrative.

American Express Platinum Card Benefits:

$200 Airline Rebate - Every calendar year (Jan - Dec) you get a $200 airline rebate. You chose which airline you want to receive the credit for when you sign up. Officially, this is for things like baggage fees, upgrades, beverages, etc... Although, many people have had success purchasing airline gift cards directly from the airline and receiving the rebate.  So this benefit actually comes out to $400 total. If you get the card in December you can get a $200 rebate in December and another $200 in January.

Airport Lounge Access - One of the most touted benefits of the Platinum card is the access to airport lounges including Delta SkyClubs. This lounge access also includes Priority Pass Selects which grants access to over 600 airport lounges in 100 countries. This benefit only applies to the card holder and guests cost an additional $27 fee. Amex also has its own Centurion Lounges, with locations in Las Vegas, Dallas, San Francisco , and New York with new lounges coming to Miami and Seattle in 2015. Centurion Lounges are consider the crem della crem of airport lounges. 

Global Entry or TSA Pre-Check Application Reimbursement - Card holders can get reimbursed for the $85 cost of TSA Pre-Check or $100 cost of Global Entry.

Starwood Gold Status: When you have the card you can call Starwood and request free Starwood Gold Status. Read about the benefits here.

The most immediate benefit of this offer is the up to $400 in airline gift cards that you can receive. Every budget traveler will be able to utilize this part of the offer. If you are a frequent traveler you will also be able to get value out of the Global Entry/ TSA Pre-Check reimbursement for another $100.

The Airport lounge access can be another great benefit for frequent travelers. This has even greater value if you frequent one of the airports with a Centurion Lounge. 

All of this equals a really decent value proposition for a budget traveler, but this alone does not make it a top choice for me as budget traveler. Here is where the final benefit puts it over the edge for me.

The 40,000 point version charges an additional $175 for adding up to 3 authorized users. These 3 authorized users receive all of the same benefits except for the $200 airline rebate. The Ameriprise $0 fee version waives the $175 fee for adding up to 3 authorized users. This means you can get yourself plus three other people lounge access for absolutely free and the additional card holders can also get the Global Entry/ TSA Pre-Check reimbursement.

My strategy for maximizes this deal would be to have a group of 4 people. Each year a different person signs up for the card and adds the other three as additional cardholders. Cancel after one year to avoid the $450 fee, then the next person signs up for the card and repeat. 

Whether or not you sign up for the 40,000 point version depends on whether or not you are willing to pay $450 for those points alone. Most people would say that purchasing Membership Rewards for 1.1 cents each is a good deal. I generally don't like paying for anything I don't have to so I would probably not take the points for $450.  What do you think?

Earn Thousands of Miles and Get Wine for $6.99 Per Bottle

Most of us in the miles and points community hear about Vinesse Wine Club frequently. This internet based company offers tempting points bonuses for signing up for the wine club. The standard offer is to give you your first 6 bottles for $6.99 per bottle and wave the shipping charges. You get a varying amount of points depending on the program us sign up with. Most of the offers give you a certain amount of points for your first shipment, and more points after your second or third shipment. So your cost is $41.94 for 6 bottles of red, white, or mixed wine with free shipping.

These are the points programs that currently have lucrative offers:

United Mileage Plus - 2,000 miles after 1st shipment, 4,500 miles after your 3rd Shipment

Aadvantage American Airlines - 2,000 miles after 1st shipment, 3,000 miles after your 2nd shipment

Alaska Airlines - 2,250 miles after 1st shipment

Delta Airlines - 1,500 points after 1st shipment

Spirit Airlines - 5,000 points after 1st shipment

Hilton Honors - 3,333 points after 1st shipment

Club Carlson - 5,000 points after 1st shipment, 7,500 points after your 2nd shipment

Priority Club - 4,000 point after 1st shipment, 5,000 points after your 2nd shipment

I live in a state where wine is quite expensive. I cannot buy even the cheapest wine on the bottom shelf for $6.99 a bottle. So for me get a variety of wines for $6.99 a bottle is a great deal on its own. As for the overall quality of the wines included in the initial shipment, my opinion is that it is hit or miss. Some wines are decent and quite drinkable, others aren't so good. I frequently bring these along for various parties or as simple gifts.

In my opinion the wine is not good enough to wait for the 2nd shipment at full price plus shipping. The second shipment comes in at around $108+$20 shipping = $128 for 6 bottles or over $21 per bottle. I can find some pretty nice wines on my own for $21 a bottle. Even with the added points for the second shipment given with several of the offers it is not worth it for me.

I am currently in the process of testing this, but I think it is possible to get multiple offers from Vinesse. I have been succesful in signing up for a Club Carlson and an Alaska Airlines in less than one week. I received 2 boxes of wine and my credit cards were charged $41.94 each for 6 bottles of wine.

If you want to sign up for multiple offers you will need to use a different email address. If you don't have several email address and if you have a gMail account you can simply add a period in your email address and it will still arrive at the same inbox. So if your email address is johndoe@gmail.com you can use john.doe@gmail.com.

Make sure to enter different rewards account numbers. I have not confirmed this yet. It may be possible to get multiple for example Delta Airlines bonuses for the same frequent flier number.

For now use different rewards accounts. You can use your own account the first time, perhaps a spouse's account the second time. I have multiple Club Carlson numbers for personal and business use so I could sign up for two Club Carlson bonuses.

I also use a slightly different name for each account. My first name is Timothy so I use Timothy on the first signup and Tim on the second signup.

There is a lot of information out there about how Vinesse is pretty shiesty when it comes to quickly sending out a second shipment or making it difficult to cancel your membership. Here are some tips to getting around that.

As soon as you receive your first shipment, log into your account using your email and the temporary password provided to you in an email. On the right side up the page you will see a link that allows you to delay your next shipment. You can delay shipment for at least two months out. This gives you time to make sure points from the first shipment post to your account. Once the points have posted call and cancel your account.

Let me know your experiences with Vinesse. Post any questions in the comments.