If You Don’t Want to Live Near an Airport, Don’t Move Next to One

Aug 26 2016

Santa Monica is a lovely city, home to Shutters on the Beach and Casa Del Mar and of course the famous Santa Monica Pier. And Three’s Company.

Santa Monica Municipal Airport (“SMO”) is a general aviation airport six miles north of LAX. It was home to the Douglas Aircraft Company, and their DC-1 through DC-7 aircraft were built there. The airport was where the first plane to circumnavigate the world took off and landed in 1924. During World War II it was disguised as a fake town to throw off enemies who might wish to bomb it.

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This Credit Card Signup Bonus Requires $130,000 in Spend Within 3 Months

Aug 26 2016

American’s small business ‘double dip program’ has its own credit card. American Airlines actually has a co-brand card issued by American Express.

I use the program and have redeemed points to gift Gold elite status in AAdvantage and Admirals Club memberships, and I usually keep a stash of (paper) upgrade certificates on hand.

I mentioned the program’s credit card several years ago. I don’t recall it ever having a signup bonus. But it does now.

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What Do You Do When Someone is Invading Your Space on a Plane?

Aug 26 2016

The Chicago Tribune asked me how to deal with someone invading your space on a plane. They wanted to know, “Should you say something to the person or to the flight attendant?”

I thought this was actually a hard question. With planes generally full there aren’t very many options, and I don’t think I had a silver bullet solution to offer so I’d love thoughts on the best way to handle it when the passenger next to you is encroaching your space?

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PROMO: Discount Earning Miles Paying Your Rent or Mortgage With a Credit Card

Aug 25 2016

Bill payment service Plastiq lets you pay people by check and they charge your credit card. You earn miles, and if you use you a BankDirect checking account then it’s a good way to also earn American Airlines miles ‘on the float’ because the money stays in your checking account longer.

Plastiq has a promotion where instead of their normal 2.5% fee for processing payments, they’ll charge you just 1.75% for rent or mortgage payments.

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