Four premium cards dominate the space right now: Amex Platinum, Chase Sapphire Reserve, Capital One Venture X, and Citi Strata Elite. Let’s break down lounges, credits, earn rates, and transfer partners—then show which card (or pair) actually makes sense for how you travel and spend.
The Capital One Venture X card just relaunched its 100,000-mile bonus — worth $1,000 in travel or transfer miles to partners. With six months to earn it and premium perks like lounge access, travel credits, and transferable points, it’s easily one of the best card offers of the year.
A former hotel manager turned flight attendant says there are two things she’ll never touch in any hotel room: the in-room coffee maker and those refillable shower dispensers. Here’s why — and what you should do instead.
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
Video from San Francisco’s N-Judah line shows a Muni driver nodding off as the train hit 50 mph — five times its normal speed — before blowing through a stop and throwing passengers off balance. Investigators later blamed fatigue, not mechanical failure.
An American Airlines flight from Phoenix to Washington, D.C., carrying several members of Congress, diverted to Kansas City after a passenger shouting “we live in a fascist state” was removed by police. Lawmakers were en route to vote on reopening the government — and ended up experiencing a flight disruption of their own.
United CEO Scott Kirby marked Veterans Day by declaring his airline “the best in the history of aviation.” But is that claim even close? From Pan Am’s glory days to Singapore Airlines’ long reign at the top, here’s who really deserves the title.
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
The Citi Strata Elite SM Card just got a major boost — a 100,000-point welcome offer after $6,000 spend in three months, plus earning rates up to 12X and the only transferable link to American AAdvantage. Add credits that can be double dipped in the first cardmember year, Admirals Club passes, and full travel protections, and Citi’s new flagship card is suddenly a must-watch player in the premium rewards space.
Marriott abruptly ended its partnership with Sonder, forcing guests with confirmed reservations to leave their rooms the same day. Some customers have received 40,000 Marriott points as a goodwill gesture — a small consolation after being evicted from stays Marriott had confirmed.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
