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Upgraded to Economy
Upgraded to Economy
Trusted Traveler Programs

My experience getting an APEC Business Travel Card (ABTC) as a U.S. citizen (and how you can get one too)

Upgraded to Economy, July 8, 2023July 14, 2023

The APEC Business Travel Card (ABTC) is designed to expedite entry of businesspeople between different APEC economies. I recently obtained one for myself in case I make any future business trips to Asia. Benefits APEC is an organization of 20+ countries bordering the Pacific Ocean to promote trade between each…

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Easy credit wins: Asking for credit limit increases for existing credit cards without hard inquiries

Upgraded to Economy, July 7, 2023July 9, 2023

The fastest way to get more credit is to apply for an entirely new credit card. You’ll be a lot more likely to receive a larger chunk of credit this way, especially if you have a stellar payment history and a high income. But I wouldn’t call this the easiest…

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Trusted Traveler Programs

There’s three ways to check your NEXUS application status, and only one of them is superior

Upgraded to Economy, July 6, 2023July 8, 2023

Due to the lasting effects of the pandemic, processing times for new NEXUS applications currently exceed one year. This is particularly frustrating to people who live on the border and have been waiting for such a long time to get access to this wonderful program. I’ve currently waited for 14…

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Lounges

Review: Capital One Lounge at Dallas–Fort Worth (DFW)

Upgraded to Economy, July 6, 2023July 13, 2023

The Capital One Lounge at DFW is currently the only Capital One lounge available. With continuing delays at Denver and Dulles and with more expected, it looks like this will be the only lounge in their own network for a while. When Capital One opened their lounge for Venture X…

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Lounges

Review: New Centurion Lounge in Seattle (SEA)

Upgraded to Economy, July 5, 2023July 9, 2023

The Centurion Lounge at Seattle–Tacoma International Airport was long the bane of American Express Platinum and Centurion cardholders. Its compact footprint in Concourse B left it as a cramped, overcrowded lounge that one would almost always have to wait in line for 30 minutes or more to access. Thankfully, this…

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Redistributing your credit line from one Chase card to another

Upgraded to Economy, July 5, 2023

PSA: if you have multiple Chase accounts, you can move around your credit line from one card to another. This allows you to lower utilization percentages for cards that you spend more on, which is good for your credit score. For some reason, my Amazon Prime Card had a $16,000…

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Flights

Trip review: Delta A220 domestic first class (Denver to Seattle) [DEN to SEA]

Upgraded to Economy, July 5, 2023July 9, 2023

In a previous post, I talked about my redemption deal for only 14,000 miles (roundtrip) on Delta plus a $95 upgrade fee to fly in domestic first class. That post contains my outbound flight from Seattle to Denver. For my return flight, I flew in an Airbus A220 from Denver…

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Lounges

Review: Showers at the Delta Sky Club in Seattle (SEA)

Upgraded to Economy, July 4, 2023July 5, 2023

The first time I visited the Delta Sky Club in Seattle was back in October 2022. Things were very different back then. How to use the showers The showers are located on the first floor of the lounge in the back. You sign in with your name, phone number, and…

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Flights

Trip review (Instagram stories): American Airlines domestic first class (Seattle to Dallas) [SEA to DFW]

Upgraded to Economy, July 4, 2023July 5, 2023

Here’s a flight review from my Instagram!

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Flights

Trip review: Flying Delta domestic first class for $95 + 7,000 SkyMiles

Upgraded to Economy, July 4, 2023July 6, 2023

In late April 2023, I found cheap award availability between Seattle and Denver on Delta Air Lines. With the end of ski season, I guess the demand for visiting such a beautiful city (and the beautiful state of Colorado) died down, which is a shame for the people missing out…

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Flights

Trip review: Delta One suites (Seattle to Amsterdam) [SEA to AMS]

Upgraded to Economy, July 4, 2023July 13, 2023

In October 2022, I had a business trip to Amsterdam. I booked a direct flight from Seattle to Amsterdam on Delta. For my outbound flight, I had the opportunity to upgrade to Delta One suites for only $699. Considering the upgrade was $4,000 before this massive price drop, I immediately…

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Credit Cards

How I was able to earn 11,000 AAdvantage miles and Loyalty Points by buying an iPad on AAdvantage eShopping

Upgraded to Economy, July 4, 2023July 13, 2023

On June 26, for one day only, the AAdvantage eShopping Mall offered a wonderful deal of 10x miles on iPads purchased that day from Apple.com. It just so happened that I needed a new iPad Pro. I had been eyeing one for quite a while now. Plus, I already made…

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