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Here is some of the best travel news and notes from around the Internet:
- I was interested in the discussion over at Travel Codex, talking about the value of Chase Ultimate Rewards “dying”. I have long held that Chase Ultimate Rewards are the best miles out there, but the recent changes to the credit card rules and best practices mean that anyone who signs up for a lot of cards is unlikely to be approved for any of the Chase premium cards, which really does damper their value.
- Mommy Points reminds us that starting Tuesday 9/1, you’ll no longer be able to use American AAdvantage miles to fly Hawaiian Airlines from the mainland to Hawaii (you can still use them intra-island on Hawaii. Travel from East Coast destinations to Hawaii is sometimes tricky to find, which is why one reader is considering using 1,000,000 miles for a Hawaii trip!
- An interesting conversation over at the travelblawg about who’s to blame for a man with Alzheimer’s who ended up “lost” for several hours.
- Mile Value compiled a great list of “undervalued awards” – travel between regions for a smaller than expected amount of miles. If you like that list, you’ll want to make sure and check out the Mile Matrix, which is a list of the number of airline miles that it takes to go from any country, to any other country, on any airline.
“Old Faithful”? One Star
- Hilarious article linking to several 1-star National Park reviews. One of my favorites, about Yellowstone (where we didn’t spend $9,144.92 this summer):
… I hated Yellowstone. I took my kids and I want to tell you that I am not some nature hating guy. I take my kids hiking. I rock climb. The problem with [Yellowstone] is that it is dull…. The last thing is once you see water come out of the ground once [you’re] good. But it’s all the same.
🙂
Up for more travel news? Here’s the previous installment: Do all miles go to heaven? Plus wi-fi blocking, lost Amazon shipments, and is Chase worth it?
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
I think I will step in here and be a real “devil”s advocate” because I don’t agree with you or the others who state that Chase UR are dying, or that their value has gone down.
On the contrary, the tightening of the rules has made it more difficult to accumulate UR points and therefore, obtaining same, as well as being approved for the card has made those UR points MORE VALUABLE than before simply because they are now more difficult to hold onto and/or obtain.
Sorry to rain on your parade, churners, but all things are relative, and Chase’s tightening of the rules by preventing multiple sign-ups of these cards has made their currency more valuable, not less.
Of course, you are free to play whack a mole and ditch the cards, but it seems to me that this is simply a case of mass hysteria “sour grapes.”
I will allow one thing, however, and that is that Citi has stepped up its game and now has made the TY points cards competitive.
For those who wish to mainly redeem US based awards, Chase most definitely has the edge, but for sheer bonuses — sign-up as well as incentive — Citi has Chase beat — but that is because they wish to expand their market share and are doing the right things to attract interest.
Chase’s tightening of its rules — and Citi also has done the same — is an effort to weed out those who simply wish to pump and dump credit cards.
Those, like myself, who wish to play the long game, have nothing to fear with these new rules, and actually should welcome them, as my UR points are not being watered down by an endless litany of offers to those others who simply churn the cards.
I agree….They are more difficult to come by through tightening down the credit card rules…certainly makes them more valuable. Since I did all my churning back a while back…glad to hear this(but sorry for others).