The Milenomics Podcast Network

Milenomics² Podcast Episode 247: Getting Going on 2025, and a Kauai Trip Report

Added 2025-01-10 16:33:49 +0000 UTC

0:24 2025 Incidental Eradication Ramp Up

Hilton GC Site: Not taking orders for now
Dell: Not seeing buyers groups deals yet
Saks: In-store for GC purchases for now
BofA Elite: Tracker didn’t update last year for a couple weeks, credits posted Jan 17

10:27 Q1 2025 5x Categories

Chase Freedom
Grocery Stores, Gyms, Hair/Nail/Spa Services, Norwegian Cruises
Discover
Restaurants, Home Improvement Stores, Select Streaming
Don’t forget BofA Customized Cash/US Bank Cash+

14:05 Cardless Qatar Update

Account remained frozen for a month
Emailed them to ask what was going on, they asked for a selfie with ID
Two weeks later emailed them again and they unfroze the account…with one day remaining in the year and therefore not much time to take advantage of the 6x Dining that only lasted through the end of 2024. Louses!
Avios still haven’t been conveyed - we’ll see…

16:53 Applied: US Bank “Triple Cash Rewards Card” (link)

Closed one of my 2 Leverage Cards
Good reminder to cancel and reapply for something
This Triple Cash card has the same Sign up bonus as a Leverage ($750)
The card has no annual fee and some interesting 3% categories
$100 a year for “software service purchases” (Fluz?)
0% purchase APR for 12 months, could make 4% on the float?
Applied and….pending Likely an identity Verifcation issue

19:39 Discuss: US Bank Smartly Visa Signature 4% Card

Overview: https://thefinancebuff.com/us-bank-smartly-visa-review-setup.html
4% if you Have Smartly Checking, Savings and $100k in assets.
In reality, real spend does not move the needle and at 4% US Bank probably will but jumpy about MS on the card.
Brokerage requirement is onerous and time consuming.
Alternate: 2% card + Pay by phone

23:20 Approved: Amex Hilton Aspire (NLL Link Thanks to Milesearnandburn.com)

Why an Aspire?
175,000 Hilton
$200 Semi Annual Hilton Credits
Diamond Status
$550/yr
$50 Quarter Airline incidentals (any airline)
Free Night on renewal

28:59 Applied x2 Barclays Hawaiian Airlines MasterCard

70k on first spend
Link: https://www.getmyhawaiiancard.com/ (use 012292 or any 6 digit code)
Throwaway card. Hawaiian disappearing
This is like a 70k Alaska sub
Or 70k MR if you think of it that way
Either way I appreciate it more than an aviator application
Me: pending. Nervous this could affect my Wyndham card
Spouse: instant approval

33:31 Outbound: LAX-LIH A Case Study in the declining value of partner awards

Nonstop flight on Sunday was either:
17,500 Alaska
20,000 Avios (!!)
Or 20,000 AA
This is really an example of the strength of AA over their partners I think.
While this could be booked for 17,500 MR/Alaska – I’d rather cash those out and book with AA
If AA miles really are .7cents per for me (and they are) I can buy my way out of any devaluation and really could use AA for almost anything.
But beyond this – I don’t want to fly this day, I want to fly the day before.
I can get that easily from AA, with Alsaka or BA I’m at the mercy of their partner liaison.

39:25 Transferred MR to Hawaiian to Alaska to book LIH-LAX in first

40k Award in first LIH-LAX (recliners)
To me this is more ideal than a $199 + 25k upgrade because it is fully refundable
Almost never see these awards on my preferred dates
Helps this was Easter sunday maybe?
Transfer from MR to Hawaiian (previously linked) was instant
Transfer from Hawaiian to Alaska was instant.
Alternate: 64k Jetblue. These seem like true saver seats
It just worked.

—

44:18 Kauai Trip Report

LAX-LIH

LAX very busy
The illusion of choice/exclusive access is stronger than ever:

Main Cabin Extra seats
Priority lines for check in
Clear/precheck (actually save me time in LAX)
People not sitting together all over the plane.
Worst example was someone in row 1 of economy (More space) and their family member in the last row.
It's all a distraction. Found seats together and just sat in them.

44:48 Rental Car Patterns

For users DEEL has been my best code for car rentals
Close in prices have fallen
This time auto slash beat it (barely) and I wanted a sure thing
Even cheaper would have been prepaid auto slash, but from quick searching I couldn't tell if a prepaid would let me skip the line.
Lines in Hawaii are bad. I personally know that budget and Hertz allow skipping.

51:13 Does anyone actually like Kauai? Should anyone go there?

Kauai has unique weather issues and is not exactly ‘tropical’
Lack of ‘wow beaches is either a feature or a bug
The weather is dynamic, examples:
This trup there was huge surf on north shore beaches (30+ feet).
Pivot to east or south shore. Protected Bay's also seemed ok even if they technically were closed.
Vog from the volcano on the big island
Got me thinking….so much of your experience in a place is dependent on certain things going ‘just’ right.
If you came to Kauai to snorkel the surf has you sitting it out
If you're thinking you'll have crisp clear air and picturesque landscapes…. it didn't happen this time
Hawaii is a tough destination and Kauai is even tougher if you want a “hawaiian vacation”
But great if you want to slow down and get away, be in the middle of nowhere. The day ends in Kauai!

Kauai Backcountry Sugar Cane Tube Tour (link)

Fun!
Great for kids, very easy floating.
Access to a part of the island not usually accessible
Well run tour company. They also run a zipline tour.
Not really something to do more than once but a relaxing half day tour
Mostly cruise ship passengers.

1:02:05 New Food!

JO2 tasting menu (good, but really for locals:
Leong's Meat House (surprisingly mostly fish)
Harley’s Tropical BBQ
Saenz ohana breakfast
Keoki’s (not to be confused with Keoki’s Paradise)
Wailua Shave ice (FANTASTIC):
All are good but unsure they’ll supplant my favorites
Generally follow places on IG and they'll post if they're open or not
Island time, so always try to have a backup, especially with kids.
Portions are crazy, so splitting meals is important.
Short hours for many places (8:45am-1pm 4 days a week for example!)
Still great: Waipouli Delicatessen, Wailua Drive in, Japanese Grandma’s, Kilauea Fish, Konohiki
Updated my Food Post on Milenmics as well.

1:10:40 Giving Hawaii Coffee a New Look

I think the issue is that commercially produced Hawaiian coffee dominates
Grocery store coffe is BAD, and is more expensive now.
Over the years I’ve started to find good local coffee roasters
Imau Roasters, Collab Cafe are two in the kapaa area that roast in house.
Ha, Sunrise, Mokihana, Imau, Collab, Java Kai all have great coffee on the island.
Some of the issue is the method to brew I’m sure. I’ve started packing my aeropress and buying beans from one of these places.

1:12:42 Vacasa bookings:

First in Priceville, loved the sleepy community. (link)
Moved to Lihue at the Kauai Beach Villas, this was a <$500/nt 2 bedroom (link)
Was short on points but this KBV booking allowed use of the pool at the Outrigger Kauai Beach resort https://www.outrigger.com/hawaii/kauai/outrigger-kauai-beach-resort-spa
Kauai Beach Villas are in a spiral with their HOA and Wyndham working to possibly foreclose on the property due to unpaid HOA dues.
None of that really matters but long term who knows what will happen with this place.
Wyndham a minority owner of time share weeks–but this was a privately owned unit via Vacasa. There are also timeshare units put out on the secondary market/VRBO. A VERY complicated place!

1:18:15 Personal Reminder: Don’t buy a Kauai Timeshare

HOA dues at condos float between $1200-$1900 a month
Maitnance is always an issue, and can’t be kept up with
2 100 year floods in the last 10 years
Cause: Flood related Damage. The island is TOUGH on properties.
Vacasa Near BK, going private and changing focus. What will this bring? No one knows.

Vacasa Paid late checkout

Never used this before
Smart on their part–when the unit isn’t booked for the same day check out / in they open up late checkout.
Wonder if you could leverage this by booking an extra day and lopping it off a >30 days to ensure the place is empty.
Have previously booked extra nights but this time didn’t do that
Price is fixed: $79 for 4 hrs (2pm checkout)
4pm check in at second vacasa so still not seamless but…at least it worked!

1:21:10 Insane idea? Trying to get a Hawaii ID?