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We try to keep politics outside of this channel. What I stated are facts in the aviation world.

Yea, Intra-European business class really isn't that great. I would only argue that the ground experience is elevated, but the flight experience leaves a lot of room for improvement. However, many Europeans also travel by train and this is slightly more comfortable than some train rides.

@ Great review, even though the flight itself was underwhelming imo. This is why I am a Turkish Airlines loyalist.

@@silentsword4104 Turkish Airlines has one of the best catering, though their older 777 config in business do need some updating.

No worries, I'm glad I can answer anyone's question in a video. It's also a great way to build up the community. Thanks for all the support by the way.

You can either purchase them or starting today, you can actually transfer points from Hawaiian. Amex allows you to transfer to Hawaiian, which means you can now transfer to Alaska from Amex.

This past July I flew from FRA-JFK on Singapore Airlines for 50k points plus $200 each for 2 people on a flight that would cost over $4k and I went through Aeroplan

That's great redemption value!

Yes it is!

Yes, it’s automatic. You just have to spend it on the correct category, which is travel.

Maybe they don’t see enough demand for Charlotte and Phoenix. I believe Atlanta and Houston are much bigger markets.

@@upgradedtravels ATL and IAH must have a lot of terminating traffic (or at least more than CLT and PHX can provide in terminating AND connecting traffic combined).

I think for economy, it’s often more advantageous to just booking through the Chase portal where you can use the added 25% or 50% bonus depending on which card you have. Part of the reason is because KLM uses dynamic pricing so economy award prices could get pricey.

Thanks!

I wouldn’t do it if you have to transfer these points from a credit card. But if you already earned them from your stays, you can make an argument to use points especially during peak travel times when room rates are high.

Only worth staying her if you are using FNC's.. it is not worth 85k points.

@@MH_6160 really? well Resorts world hilton is 60K. Waldorf is about $600 night with taxes and fees. 85K seems about right considering a hotel around $150-200 a night is 30K points. I don't have FNC unfortunately.

Thanks for watching!

Probably not anymore since it’s been a while

Can I get there hr e mail id or contact no.🙏

Thanks for the support!

Yes, there are a lot of data points online saying resort fee is waived

Is waived resort fee only for globalist? This strategy only works for current globalist?

Transfer bonus was part of the monthly rent day promotion. AA was never part of it, which I talked about in the video. But I think it’s still a loss for users since this is the only card that can transfer points to AA. The fact that they replace it with Alaska is good tho.

😭

Thank you for supporting the channel! The $300 is already free for you to use. You don't need to spend $4000 to get it. The qualifying $4000 spend is for your 75k sign up bonus. You will receive the points after you meet that requirement. Hope this helps. Feel free to reach out with more questions!

It really is!

Generally speaking, some loyalty programs allow you to “pay” for the points difference with cash and some don’t. However, it is almost never a good deal to pay cash for the difference because they will charge you at a much higher rate. Therefore, the best thing to do is still have enough points for the entire redemption.

@@upgradedtravelsyou can often buy points as well. Also, Avios can be transferred in from all major credit cards

The going rate at the time was $800, but you can use points or free night awards to bring the cost down.

Great! still a good price!

LOL, we don't want that

Priceless 😎

Thank you for pointing that out. Yes, you can pay using a combination of points and cash on the travel portal to qualify for the $100. Although, personally, I don't like to use points on the travel portal because I can get better return per point by transferring to travel partners.

@@upgradedtravels Yes, me too. But throwing in $100 worth of points to meet them halfway is the least I can do.

It’s definitely an option to lower out of pocket cost.

Oh I never tried to use the one at the lounge. Never had time to sit in the lounge.

Thanks for watching! It was closed when I was there in February, but it could be open now. It seemed like Twist is getting some major work done tho.

If you received a sign up within 48 months then you might not be eligible if Citi considers the Strata Premier to be same card as the current Premier. I wish Citi would give us a clearer guidance but I guess not. I’ll do an update video once they release more details. Thanks for watching!

@@upgradedtravels My Citi Premier shows up as Citi Strata Premier on my profile now. 🤷🏻‍♂️

WOW, thanks for leaving a message. I just checked mine and it's now Strata Premier too. So that confirms it's not going to be a new line up or even a refresh, it's more like just a product change. I'm curious to see now if the rumored Strata Elite is even going to be released at all or maybe just change all the existing Citi Prestige into the Strata Elite. Not sure what Citi management decides to spend money to basically accomplish nothing. haha

Awesome! It's a great way to use the credit on bookings that you can't redeem with points. Enjoy your trip~!

That's a valid argument. The way I see it is you don't have to necessarily use it on travel categories, just the supermarket, restaurants, and gas station/EV charging alone can make this a great everyday household card. There's a slight chance that Citi might add travel insurance to the Strata card when we know the full detail on 5/16, but then again, it's Citi so I'm not holding my breath. haha

It's on the Citi website: trip delay protection, Common Carrier Trip Cancellation and Interruption Protection, Lost or Damaged Luggage, and MasterRental Coverage (car rental insurance).

yea, I think the strata premier is now live. the citi website is taking applications already.

Thank you! Yes, resort fees are indeed waived.

Testing out the new camera

Not sure if this video is about the Maldives 😅

Great question on “what is worth it.” I’ll address it in a video soon.

That’s awesome! Love hearing these upgrade stories!

Yea, you can get some amazing deals on flights. However, hotels are generally easier to find award availability

It’s the same priority pass program, however the Chase one gets you into restaurants as well. Unfortunately, Chase announced a few weeks ago that they are ending the restaurant credits as well starting in July.

Yes! Call up Chase and say you just missed the higher bonus by a few days. I’ve heard from other people that it has worked before. You might have to huaca a few times tho.

yes, i went to the local branch and they did it for me. Edit: i think you get 80k when signup on your local branch. so you get 20k more

Nice!

@@upgradedtravelsI called Chase and they told me that if you signed up after March 29th you are eligible for the 75k SUB. I got a referral link from my wife, so that’s 90k for the family!

Even better 👍

At the current discount, 1 point costs $0.0128. So 60k x $0.0128 = $768

@@upgradedtravels so it’s at that price because you are getting a 100% bonus? Otherwise it would cost $1536

Correct, it only costs $0.0128 when you are getting the bonus. That’s why it’s a much better deal to wait for a bonus.

While it is true that you might get better availability booking 1 year in advance or 14 days before to departing, there are still a lot of opportunities to get redemption in between. For example, some airlines will release a lot of award seats randomly and many points player will take advantage of those. In my opinion, availability is a part of the game and having a flexible schedule definitely helps, but it shouldn't be the ultimate thing that deter anyone from playing it. Even if you only travel once a year, you can still look for award seats and have a better experience while saving lots of money. Cheers!

Unfortunately there’s no executive lounge at this hotel. Thanks for watching!

Glad you liked it!

I understand. I never sat in business until well into my 30s, but once I learned about how to use points for flights, it was able to open a lot of doors. Happy to help if you want to start.

@@upgradedtravels Thank you, I only travel every couple years overseas, but to Greece, Germany, France, Luxembourg etc. Personal so I don't have the Perks and I typically fly American and British as they are cheaper in Coach. Let me know

You can consider opening a chase sapphire preferred card, current with elevated sign up bonus of 75k points. With those, you can transfer to air Canada aeroplan to redeem for Lufthansa business class from Chicago to Frankfurt in business for about 70k points.

I’ll make a video about it and post it tomorrow. You can stay tuned.

Thank you very much for watching! Expect more to come!

Thank you!!

Yes! There are a lot of points and miles player based in the UK. I believe you can earn points via credit cards from the UK or buy points. Most people who are into it would use both strategies.

Yes, the points you transfer from credit cards are valued at $0.02 per point, which is still a very good deal

Ok so you think the best place to start is with credit cards if in the UK? Do you think it is worth capitalising on the Aeroplan deal if from the uk?

You can start with credit cards and capitalize on this deal depending on where you want to travel to. If you can find award availability to your destination then you can take advantage of this Aeroplan deal

Thanks for watching and glad the video helped! Enjoy your trip.

Glad it was helpful!

Yea, unfortunately the points required for this flight increased a lot. Enjoy your trip!