Category: Travel

Posted on

Amcrest – 4G LTE GPS Tracker – Product Review

This post contains references to products from one or more of our advertisers. We may receive compensation when you click on links to those products.

I reached out to Amcrest to participate in a product review for some of their products. Actually it was on one of my social media platforms, and I decided to check it out to see what it was all about.

Amcrest reached out to me to test their GPS Tracker (AM-GL300W-4G) and they will reimburse me for the product purchase.

Amazon Listing Information:

COMPACT 4G GPS TRACKER

Perfect for tracking vehicles, loved ones (teens, spouses, children, elderly) or assets. With its sleek and compact design, it easily slips into cars, backpacks, strollers, luggage and is highly concealable. With 2G coverage slowly coming to an end, now is the time to upgrade to 4G.

Monthly subscription required. 

No contracts or activation/cancellation fees.
$19.99 – 60 second updates 
$24.99 – 30 second updates  
$29.99 – 15 second updates 
$34.99 – 5 second updates

REAL-TIME SMARTPHONE & PC TRACKING

With lighting fast 4G LTE this GPS tracker offers real-time tracking with up to 5-second updates through Windows and MAC desktop web-access (Chrome, Safari, Edge, Firefox) or through the Amcrest GPS smartphone app (iOS/Android). The intuitive user interface allows you to easily monitor activity, manage alerts and generate custom reports. Create links and share them with your friends, family and co-workers to keep track of cars, children, seniors and assets.

GEO-FENCING, SMART ALERTS & REPORTS

Create custom geo-fencing zones that alert you anytime the GPS tracker enters or exits a zone. Speed limit, harsh breaking, start/stop and proximity alerts allow you to easily track your vehicles and loved ones. Receive text, push and email notifications directly to your smartphone or PC with the Amcrest GPS app and desktop web-access client. Access your data with intelligent reporting directly from your iPhone, Android, Mac or PC.

BUILT TO LAST – EXTENDED BATTERY

This Amcrest 4G GPS Tracker is built to last with heavy-duty materials including an IPX5 water resistant housing as well as extended 2600mah battery which lasts up to 10-14+ days on a full charge with 60sec updates (7-8 days with 30sec updates, 4-5 days with 15sec updates, and 2-3 days with 5sec updates). Utilizes Google Maps for tracking and mapping.

LIFETIME WARRANTY & SUPPORT – IMPORTANT

This device is configured to work in the US, Canada, and Mexico only. Does Not work in Australia. We stand by our products and offer a lifetime warranty and unlimited support. In the event that your device produces undesirable results, we’ll gladly refund 100% of your hardware and subscription charges.

Additional Cases can be purchased from ASIN’s: B07R8WFTG5 & B081TK15YB (GPS Pouch). GPS Pouch included with the purchase of a 4G GPS Tracker.

Product cost:

GPS Device $49.00 + Tax (If you can find it on Sale for $39.00 at Amazon)

Plus the monthly subscription costs

Product Testing

Unboxing

Setup

There were no actual instruction in the box just a Quick start guide that gave you links to look at on the Amcrest website. This made things a little hard to know what to do the first time, and required me to go get my computer to actually read the instructions as they were nearly impossible to see on my mobile phone.

Setting up the account was fairly easy and straight forward.

Ease of Use

Over all it is fairly easy to use once you know what the blinking lights mean on the front of the device and get the account setup on the Amcrest website. Setting up the alerts and Geo Fencing zones took a little bit of time, but was fairly straight forward.

Battery Life

Battery life is not the greatest, and at the highest setting for polling (1 minute) you can get 10 to 14 days of use before needing a recharge. If you use the highest polling (5 seconds) option the device will last about 2 to 3 days. There are plans to have less polling options, and one that is every 24hrs, I was not able to look at those options for some reason.

For me the device should have a longer lasting batter life, closer to like 30 days for general usage, and maybe a full week for the highest usage.

The charging cable is a USB mini, which is strange and makes me believe they went on the cheap for that. The power adapter is an odd size and does not work well on some power outlets especially if space is limited and stacked side by side. The device does not seem to charge by plugging into a computer USB port which is a bummer, and did not seem to get it to work in a vehicle USB charger as well.

Geo Fencing

This is a nice feature, and will allow you to set up to 12 Geo Fence areas to alert on. I have a couple set up to test the device. It will alert me upon leaving my neighborhood and entering back into my neighborhood.

It uses Google Maps, and allows you to drawl an area to create a Zone.

Zone From One City Park to another City Park

Have noticed that if the cell service is not that great you might get an alert as the device thinks it is out side of the zone. I had to adjust the zone area a little wider to accommodate for that to not get bogus alerts.

Alerts

You can setup alerts based on zone exit or entry as well as speed, power, SOS, and Trip

Device Setting to configure main alerts for the device:

You can adjust the speed alert, if the device is on or off, and the low battery level

Recommendation

PROS:

The device is small and portable and is easily stashed in a glove box or in a small pocket.

The alerts and notifications are decent and you can see trip detail information on an actual map.

Speeding alert notifications, it will show you where the speeding was first detected on a map.

The Geo Fencing features is nice to allow for alerting on specific areas for entry and exit of that area.

CONS:

Battery life is not that great (10 – 14 days)

Charging cable is a very old standard, would have been better with a USB micro which has been a standard cable for many products for years. Maybe look into a USB C connector which is becoming the latest standard cable options.

DECISION:

I would recommend this device to people who want to track things, like a kid using a car, or a worker using a company vehicle. It is a decent price for what your getting, and the $20 monthly fee for the monitoring is comparable to a cellular plan.

Posted on

Who is Ready to Travel Again?

I miss traveling, the fun of going new places, seeing new sights, and eating at new restaurants. I get to travel frequently for work, which has it upsides and downsides at times. I am gone a lot, but many times I do get to visit places i like to see and places I have never been before. As well as the perks you can get when your a frequent traveler with some airlines and hotels.

white airplane
Photo by Soumya Ranjan on Pexels.com

I not sure I want to get on a plane right now due to the current pandemic situations, but I sure do miss the excitement of visiting places. I miss staying at new hotels with different amenities to enjoy, as well as scouting out new places to eat.

I prefer to fly Delta as I have Diamond status with them at this current time and they have always treated me well so far. I do fly AA and United when I have to, as Delta does not always go where I need to travel. I used to be a United person but really began to have issues with them several years back and switched up to Delta, and have not had any major issues since in my travels (besides weather related issues). As for AA, they are not that great out of Knoxville Airport (TYS), not sure if it was from the merger with US Airways a few years back or what, but they seem to have the most delays and cancellations from TYS (In my opinion). I always see them on the status boards with Delayed or Canceled, I am sure some of it is due to TYS being a hub for most airlines, but AA seems to have issues very frequently there.

I also prefer to stay at Hilton Hotels, Marriott Hotels and when possible Hyatt Hotels. I have been loyal to Hilton for several years now, but more and more I am staying with Marriott. I made Lifetime Silver with Marriott and am super close to Lifetime Gold (60 Nights needed). HiltonMarriottHyatt

With Hilton I have several more years (5 years to go) to make Lifetime Diamond as they did not count a couple of years I was Diamond with them before they began the program and getting to 1000 nights will take a few more years. I am over halfway there, but when they do not have decent places to stay or they are too expensive to stay at in some areas, I will pick another brand. With Marriott they have a tier system so you can get to a specific status level sooner. I made their Silver Status late last year, and had been slowly working my way up to Gold Status early this year. However, with not traveling as much lately it has slowed my progress a lot.

For car rental companies I am switching it up to who ever gives me the best options. Have been using Hertz lately as I could do grab and go option similar to National.

HertzNationalAvis

However, with National it seems unless you have their higher tier status you do not get the nicer cars to drive as often lately. That was not the case when I first started using National, but had begin to change over time. It is not a big issue most of the time, but I do prefer to get something that is comfortable to drive and not a piece of crap. I do like how Hertz has gone to using Clear (when it really works), I noticed it goes a little quicker at the gates to check out when it works.

So all in all with the pandemic I might be changing up some of my travel preferences. I have got the Amex Platinum and Amex Gold cards, and will be looking to downgrade the Amex Delta Reserve card to the free Amex Delta Blue card. As I might be changing up my flying strategy with one airline due to lack of travel and ability to keep status. I am also looking to get the Chase Hyatt card to help with keep my Discoverist Status with them, as I might not get to stay at they properties much next year. I already have the Amex Hilton Aspire card and Chase Marriott Bonvoy card to help with earning points during my stays at their properties.

Planning to leverage the Amex Platinum card for booking flights and my Amex Gold card for dinning out and groceries, and my specific hotel branded cards for hotel stays. The Amex Platinum gets me Delta Lounge access when flying with Delta, as well Centurion and Priority Pass lounges where available when flying other carriers. With the Amex points I can transfer to partners to book flights with points and am not tied to one specific airline. I will miss the status from Delta, but not sure I will be getting much past Gold status after next year unless things pick up and we start traveling a lot more. We will see how that goes for 2021, and may switch back to some previous strategies in 2022 if the travel gets back to normal.

Posted on

FoundersCard – Is it really worth it?

I decided to get the FoundersCard, as Award Wallet sent me a discount offer to get the membership. I had looked at them before and was interested in getting a membership, but not at the price they were asking originally. So how and what is FoundersCard? Well it is not a credit card, and they describe them self as a membership community. They also provide a brief statement on who and what they are as well as why you might want to join.

About FoundersCard

What?

We are a first-of-a-kind membership community that provides entrepreneurs with access to exclusive networking opportunities and unprecedented benefits.

Who?

Our members range from first-time entrepreneurs to the world’s best-known innovators. We have members in virtually every major city across the globe.

Why?

As the risk-takers and true value-creators, entrepreneurs are the key drivers of today’s global economy and deserve to be recognized and rewarded for their efforts.

They send you a metal card for signing up.

The signup was fairly simple, and I used a discount from another company I use. The normal annual fee is $495 per year, but with the discount code I got it for $295 per year. They provide some decent perks from first look, but they are not always easy to use and change often. Some are really worthless in my opinion, as they are limited to specific hotels and require you to go their their site to book a room. Wanted to use the American Air status benefit, but it seems that they currently are not running that one, but do still list it as an option.

As for the status with airlines, hotel brands, and rental card companies; the benefits are not that great, and I can get many of them with a decent travel credit card.

Hotels:

  • Hilton Honors™:
    • Complimentary Gold Status (Able to get with a credit card)
  • Marriott Bonvoy™:
    • Platinum Elite Status Challenge (Fairly useless as a benefit)
  • Caesars Rewards:
    • Diamond Caesars Rewards® Status (Useless to me)
  • Omni Select Guest:
    • FC ELITE Members receive complimentary Select Guest Platinum

Rental Cars:

  • Hertz: (Would be decent if I did not already have Presidents Circle. Would not pay the fee to get ELITE to get this benefit as I could just get the Amex Platinum card to get this)
    • Up to 20% off Hertz Daily, Weekend, Weekly, and Monthly Rates
    • Complimentary Hertz Gold Plus Rewards or Five Star® membership
    • Complimentary President’s Circle® Elite Status for FC ELITE Member
  • Avis Rent A Car: (Applied for this benefit, and will see how they compare to Hertz and National)
    • Up to 25% off rentals
    • Complimentary Avis Preferred® Plus Membership
    • Complimentary Avis President’s Club for FC ELITE Members
  • Sixt Rent a Car: (Not sure I will ever use this one)
    • Up to 15% off rental bookings
    • Complimentary Platinum Sixt Card Membership
  • Zipcar: (Might be good if I am someplace were they are available)
    • Up to 20% off standard rates
  • GroundLink Car Service (Might be good if I am someplace were they are available)
    • $30 credit for their first ride
    • 15% off all rides thereafter booked via the GroundLink Mobile App

Airlines:

  • American Airlines Status Challenge AAdvantage®: (Would have used, but no longer available for this year)
    • American Airlines AAdvantage® Platinum Status Offer
      • Enroll in Business Extra
      • Select Status Tier (Platinum/Gold) and Challenge start date on aa.com after enrollment
      • Earn 12,500 EQMs or 16 EQSs AND $2,000 EQDs*
    • American Airlines AAdvantage® Gold Status Offer
      • Enroll in Business Extra
      • Select Status Tier (Platinum/Gold) and Challenge start date on aa.com after enrollment
      • Earn 7,000 EQMs or 8 EQSs AND $1,000 EQDs*
  • United Airlines: (Might be useful when I use them for a flight)
    • Up to 6% off flights (2% to 6% off selected flights)
  • Etihad Airways: (Not a carrier I have ever used)
    • Up to 10% off fares
  • Cathay Pacific Airways: (Not a carrier I have ever used)
    • Up to 15% off fares & Silver Status ($815 Average Savings)
  • British Airways: (Not a carrier I have ever used)
    • 10% off most round trip fares

Business Benefits:

  • Entrepreneur Magazine (I purchase one or two of their magazines per year so worth about $12 value to me)
    • A complimentary one-year (10 issue) subscription
    • Receive 50% off virtual events on entrepreneur.com
  • ShopRunner (I get this free already with American Express)
    • Members enjoy complimentary ShopRunner Membership ($79 annual value)
  • Harry & David (Have purchased gifts at their stores in the past so might use?)
    • Members receive 20% off most orders from Harry & David
  • UPS (This could be useful, do not ship too often but do from time to time)
    • Members receive up to 47% off UPS air, international and ground shipping
  • Tripit Pro (I currently use Tripit Pro, with a rate of $49 per year, so will get $10 per year savings) (Require that I do not have a current Pro paid version so will have to let my current one lapse)
    • Complimentary year of TripIt Pro
    • Preferred rate of $39 annually for three years (20% off standard rate)
  • 1Password (I Use 1Password, but have no need for the Teams version)
    • Members receive 40% off 1Password Teams on an ongoing basis
  • Dell (I might use this one if and when I need something)
    • Members enjoy savings of up to 40% off the everyday price on their purchase of Dell branded products.
  • Lenovo (I might use this one if and when I need something)
    • Members receive up to 40% off select Think and Lenovo products
  • At&t (Not worth anything to me, as a business account was more expensive per line and I already get a 25% Military Discount for all of my lines)
    • Members receive 15% off standard rates on all voice plans and data plans greater than $30 in value, excluding unlimited voice and iPad data plans

Clothing:

  • addias (I might use this one if and when I need something)
    • Members receive an ongoing discount of 30% on adidas.com
  • Reebok (I might use this one if and when I need something)
    • Members receive an ongoing discount of 30% off online purchases
  • PUMA (I might use this one if and when I need something)
    • Members receive an ongoing discount of 20% on puma.com
  • Tommy John (I might use this one if and when I need something)
    • Members receive an ongoing 20% off all orders
  • Faherty Brand (I might use this one if and when I need something)
    • Members receive 25% off online purchases

So, is the FoundersCard worth the $295 I paid for the membership? I know some people will say no, but if I can get at least the amount i paid in value from the membership then I think it will be worth it. I will have to give it the full year to see if I actually get the value from the membership. I know I will use several of the benefits, but without traveling at the current time I might not use some of them at the current time. I can definitely say I would never consider the membership worth it for the listed price of $595 (this may change if they add some better benefits). Also I would never consider getting the ELITE membership for an additional $295 for first year and then $895 annual membership fee.

Will post updates on how I think this Membership card is as the year goes on, I am hoping to get the full benefits from the membership.

Posted on

Allianz Trip/Ticket Insurance – Is it a scam – Yes it is!

Well, had a trip that I had to cancel due to COVID-19. Was planning to go on vacation and on our way back stop in Charlotte to watch a NBA Game with the Horents and La Lakers. The tickets were fairly pricey ($789 for 3 tickets) so I decided to get the Ticket Insurance from Allianz for $53. Thinking that if something happened on our trip and we had to miss the game we would be alright.

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse2.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.15QlOLZ2zcjXfvqpkyiKegHaEk%26pid%3DApi&f=1
Charlotte Hornets

Well I purchased the tickets in December 2019, way before anyone had really heard of the corona-virus issues. Then in early March the NBA decided to postpone the season after several players tested positive to the virus.

Then our vacation was canceled due to other places we were to visit had decided to close as well. So we had no reason to go anywhere for vacation as we could not due anything we had planned. I canceled all the hotels (5 places) I had booked for the trip, with no issues and since I used point to book they were just put back for later use. Hilton, Marriott and Hyatt did not even ask why I was canceling and just said we look forward to you staying at a later date.

Live Nation Sucks
Live Nation Owns Ticketmaster

Tried to call Ticketmaster to check on the tickets, their phones were dialing busy for many days. I decided to wait until closer to the game date to check on a refund. Finally got to someone who basically told me sorry, no refund on postponed events. Also Ticketmaster tried to update their policy to address the pandemic, which was caught and they were called out in the news for shady business practices.

Allianz (Will screw you over in a heart beat)

With TicketMaster looking to screw everyone out of money, It came to me that I had purchased the ticket insurance on the website along with the tickets. Looked up my policy on the Allianz website to see what I needed to do, of course they had a banner mentioning they were busy and stuff about the COVID-19 pandemic. I looked to see that for a postponed event I was covered and could get a refund. However, in their policy they also mention an epidemic and that noting was covered due to that. Well I figured I would give it a try, since I was driving and not flying. Read some twitter posts were they specifically said Allianz was denying anything where the Government canceled travel. Submitted all the information they asked for, and waited the 7-10 business days. on the 10th day, and since I had not heard anything I decided to check on the status. Noticed that it had a simple statement saying they had declined my request. Not stating any specifics to why, but did mention they would send a letter or email me on the reason why.

Decided to send them another request to tell me why they had decided to decline my refund request for a postponed event. Will wait to see if I actually get a real reason, or if they just lump it in to the epidemic clause in the policy, so they can keep my money and not have to pay out anything.

AmEx Premier Rewards Gold (PRG) Card Review (2018.6 Update ...
American Express

I did decided to call American Express to see if the purchase protection would help me, as it was still withing the 120 day window. But, after speaking to the nice gentleman on the line, their policy specifically identifies that any tickets of any kind are not covered. He basically said it covers physical items and not events, unless you purchase their trip insurance. it was a long shot but figured I would check, but no such luck.

Lessons learned from this event. Never purchases tickets through Ticketmaster or go to events that only sell thorough Ticketmaster (this will be hard as there is a Monopoly in ticket sales). Never get the Allianz insurance and always look for alternatives that will be way better if I am worried about an issue with the event.

Only thing I can do now is to see if and when the event will be rescheduled, and hope we can attend the event. If possible may try to resell the tickets once the event is schedule.

Posted on

Pandemic Updates – Staying at home for the greater Good!

So, we are still hanging out at home due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Things have changed only a little for me during this time, I am still working jsut now at home more often. I was used to traveling to clients sites almost every other week, and now I am doing everything remotely for the most part.

Having meetings via Teams, Webex, and even Zoom has been interesting, especially with all the people who are not used to working remotely. With people demanding everyone use their webcams in meetings we get to see some interesting things, like people’s homes, their family members, and even their pets. This was not a normal thing that would happen several weeks ago on a virtual meeting. Several of the platforms are now allowing for virtual backgrounds, which gives people something to show other than their homes (messy or not).

https://i0.wp.com/thebasispoint.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Conference_Call_Bullshit_Bingo_The_Basis_Point_via_INAGFATT.png?w=525&ssl=1

Been reading some articles from several people (not sure what makes them an expert on this subject) twitter and news articles who want to tell me how to work from home and how I should act in my virtual meetings. I think that giving people a list of things that work well for you in your remote job is stupid, as not everyone is the same or wants to do the same things as you. I have no problems with listing out things to try, and let the person decided what works best for them, but stop telling people how to work remotely. Also, telling people to not mute their microphones during meetings so they can have better interactions with their team is ridiculous as no one would ever get anything accomplished. All you would probably hear is people breathing, eating, typing and other background noises. Making the meeting useless and take for ever to get to what the meeting was intended to cover. People will figure out the flow, just let them work on it, as every meeting has a different focus and drive based on the purpose. Plus half of the people are chatting with each other in the background about most of the topics being discussed.

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse1.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.gwjDbIQG4YCrKF37YKlVcQHaE8%26pid%3DApi&f=1
That cozy work environment we all love

Not everyone is geared to do remote work, and many people like to have that little interaction with an actual person in their work day. Some may even take a little more time to find their groove in this process and it will be a trial for several weeks to get it to their grove. Some people need a routine to get through their day, while others will just wing it everyday. Which scenario works for you just keep dealing with it and keep at it. For the people who are like “see now they (their employer) have no reason to not let us work remote going forward”, you may have to keep dreaming, as it is not that easy for every company to make that an easy decision. Be happy you have an option to work remote, not everyone has that as an option.

We have the people who were terminated or furloughed as the business could not continue making payroll. Then there are the people who are currently identified as essential (Medical staff, grocery store staff and food service staff) and then there is everyone else either working remote or sitting idle collecting some paycheck (either a full or partial payment) waiting for things to start moving again.

What is normal?

Will everything go back to normal? Well you need to define what normal is to start that discussion. I do not believe everything will go back to the way it was before the pandemic, I do see some changes that will last for several years if not permanent. People may get to work remote for some time before getting asked to come back into the office. I do not see that everyone will be required to come back all at once, it will be the people who want to or are able to come into the office to work. Some may not want to come back at first but want the comfort of working at the office with their colleagues. Others will stay remote for as long as they are allowed to, some may be told to come back to the office, while others may be allowed to make that a choice to stay a remote worker. Some peoples positions will be eliminated as there will not be a need for them due to less work overall, less money coming in to support the staff, and possibly the business not getting back to pre-pandemic operations.

https://i0.wp.com/images.mentalfloss.com/sites/default/files/styles/mf_image_16x9/public/iStock-650322650.jpg?w=525&ssl=1
Wishing to be heading somewhere nice

Traveling will take a while to get back to any type of normalcy and some airlines may not continue with or may limit some flights to certain cities (less profitable locations). Business travel will change for many, as it will not be justified to fly out to do those meetings onsite. Sales people may not be able to get into meet the people they are trying to sell products to. For many if it can be done remote, then that would be the preferred option, instead of the expense of traveling and the possibility of someone getting sick.

Vacation travel may take a big hit, some will be due to fear of traveling again, and some will be due to financial limitations from layoffs and people having less money. People may just do more driving to nearby areas that are less crowded, and less people flying on crowded planes to large populated areas. Cruising may have some less crowded ships, but not sure if that will be just older people and some families with kids, or if it will be across the board for people. Have read that cruise lines have seen an uptick in people booking trips for 2021, but I think it is people playing the game, and are hoping for a cancellation to get an extra credit fees to book a future trip or are taking the current credits they got for canceled trips to hold their place on the next ship.

Who know what the future will bring, I guess we will find out in the next coming months. One thing I can say is I hope people stop being stupid about this whole situation. Yes it sucks, and maybe could have been handled a lot better by the people in government. But if we all work together we will get through this sooner than later.

New work uniforms if we are not careful
Posted on

The Credit Card Game

Been reading up on several sites and watching some YouTube videos on different schemes with Credit Cards to earn Miles, Points or even Cash back.

Looking at my Credit Cards

Many credit cards offer some type of signup offer, either for Miles, Points of cash back depending on a specific spend in the first few months.

Delta Reserve American Express Card

The New Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card

Earn 80,000 bonus miles and 20,000 MQMs after spending $5,000 in the first 3 months. Earn an additional 20,000 bonus miles upon your first card renewal date. (offer Expires 4/1/2020)

This card has a $550 annual fee, which is justifiable to me if you use the travel benefits.

Travel Benefits:
  • MQD Waiver (Spend 25k to get Delta Platinum if you have MQM/MQS)
  • Complimentary Delta Sky Club® Access (Costs $545 or 54,500 Sky Miles)
  • NEW Complimentary Centurion Lounge® Access (Must be Flying on
  • Delta and the Reserve Card or have the Amex Platinum Card)
  • Upgrade Priority for Medallion Members (No Value as TYS has way too many Diamonds)
  • Companion Pass (Value up to $400+)

I personally have the Delta Reserve card, picked it up in 2015 when I started traveling regularly for work. I use Delta from my regional airport because they were the better carrier flying from their. I usually fly through ATL and use the Sky Club during my layovers usually, but they are generally packed and not a great place to visit during the day mot times.

We have limited flights to larger hubs out of the Knoxville Airport:

Delta AA United Allegiant Frontier
ATL CLT ORD DIA DIA
DTW DFW IAH SFB MCO
MSP ORD DIA PIE
LGA DCA IAD FLL
PHL EWR PBI
MIA LAS
EWR

I used the American Express Centurion lounge in CLT just after it opened, and it was a lavish place with excellent food options. CLT is not a major hub for Delta so they do not have a Sky Club lounge so the Centurion Lounge is nice to have.

Centurion Lounges (as of 3/5/2020)

Current Locations: Comming Soon:
CLT DEN
DFW JFK
HKG LAX
LAS LHR
LGA
MIA
PHL
PHX
SEA
SFO

So the addition of the Centurion Lounge access to my Delta Reserve Card got me to looking at the American Express Platinum card. They both have the $550 annual fee, and have similar features.

American Express Platinum Card

https://i0.wp.com/card.americanexpress.com/assets/desktop/images/card-art-platinum.png?w=525&ssl=1

Earn 60,000 75,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you use your new Card to make $5,000 in purchases in your first 3 months

Travel Benefits:
Lounge Access: (Worth $550 to me as Sky Club is $545 and the others are worth $5+ for sure)
  • Centurion Lounges
  • American Express International Lounges
  • Delta Sky Club lounges (when flying Delta)
  • Priority Pass Select membership (not including restaurants)
  • Escape Lounges
  • Airspace Lounge (SFO)

Up to $200 in Uber credits each year (Might use some of this so $100 value)
Up to $200 airline fee credit (Might be worth $200 value)
Up to $100 in Saks Fifth Avenue credit each year (Not sure I would ever use it)
Marriott Gold and Hilton Gold status (No Value to me currently)

Comparing Amex Platinum vs Delta Reserve (the Points Guy)

The Platinum Card from American Express Delta SkyMiles Reserve American Express Card
Welcome bonus 60,000 points after you spend $5,000 in purchases in your first three months. Terms apply. 80,000 miles and 20,000 Medallion® Qualification Miles (MQMs) after you spend $5,000 in purchases in your first three months

An additional 20,000 bonus miles after your first card membership anniversary. Terms apply.
Earning rates 5x on flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel

5x on prepaid hotels booked on amextravel.com

1x on everything else

 3x on eligible purchases with Delta

1x on everything else
TPG’s valuation of points/miles 2 cents each 1.2 cents each
Annual fee $550 $550
Foreign transaction fees None None
Lounge access Access to many lounges through the American Express Global Lounge Collection including:

  • Centurion Lounges
  • American Express International Lounges
  • Delta Sky Club lounges (when flying Delta)
  • Priority Pass Select membership (not including restaurants)
  • Escape Lounges
  • Airspace Lounge (SFO)
 Access to Delta Sky Club lounges (when flying Delta)

Two, one-time guest passes for the Delta Sky Club (when flying Delta)

Access to Centurion Lounges (when flying Delta)
Other standout benefits Up to $200 in Uber credits each year

Up to $200 airline fee credit

Up to $100 in Saks Fifth Avenue credit each year

Marriott Gold and Hilton Gold status

Access to Amex Fine Hotels and Resorts

Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit every 4-4.5 years

 Domestic First Class, Delta Comfort+ or Domestic Main Cabin round-trip companion certificate each year upon renewal of your card

Status Boost, which allows you to earn MQMs through spending on your card

First checked bag free, priority boarding, inflight savings and access to complimentary upgrades on Delta

Medallion qualification dollar waiver

So looking over the two cards, with the Delta Reserve I am locked into flying with Delta to get the most benefit from the card, but If I switched to the Amex Platinum I could use any airline to get benefits and can transfer my points to any airline I want to use. Amex Platinum could give more lounge access privileges depending on who I fly with and where I am traveling to. As I only get access to lounges at layovers and day of departure locations with either card. I do have Priority Pass Lounge access (10 passes a year) from my Hilton Surpass card.

I guess the biggest drawback from the Amex Platinum is that it will make it harder to gain status on any one airline, being I have been Delta Diamond the past 2 years, and Platinum for about 2 years before that. I think I made United Silver once and that was with Marriott Platinum status before the merger.

I also would not use the Amex Platinum to book hotels as I already have the Hilton Surpass card and Marriott Bonvoy Boundless card (Referral Link). They both get me better points options when booking at the hotels directly. Plus the Marriott gives me 15 night credit towards my status. I am currently lifetime Silver with Marriott and just need about 100 nights to make lifetime Gold. About 2 more years and 300 nights to make Lifetime Platinum as well, Hilton I have about 5 years as they did not credit me some previous years as Diamond status for some reason. I have about 5 years and 500 nights accumulated so in another 5 years and 500 nights I will make Lifetime Diamond with Hilton.

I am torn on switching to the Amex Platinum and downgrading my Delta Reserve to another Delta card, or looking at another card to complement my Delta Reserve. Will do some more research and do a follow up post.

Posted on

Traveling to NC way to often.

Have been traveling to Mooresville, NC for work for about eleven months now (started in Feb 2019), it is getting a little tiring to visit the same place every week. I fly out on Monday and home on Friday almost every week. To me it is just far enough I do not want to drive the four+ hours one way, especially when I have meetings to go to as soon as I get in on Monday.
 
I have visited a large majority of restaurants in Mooresville, Davidson and surrounding areas, since I have been visiting the area. I was surprised to not be able to find a place to get fried chicken though, well except for the chain places.
 

Places in Mooresville NC:
I have tried several barbecue joints, and have been pleasantly surprised at the food. There is a place called Big Tiny’s that is a Texas style barbecue with some great banana pudding and Shiner Bock in bottles. Another place is called Lancaster’s which is an East North Carolina barbecue with plenty of NASCAR memorabilia all over the place, wings are good as well as the BBQ pork and a decent banana pudding as well.

Have tried Epic Chophouse, which I have visited several times and the food is always excellent. They have several menu items I have loved, one being the Smokin’ Hot Couple and the other is the Mixed Grill. Of course the steaks are great and they have a very good bar with many options on wines and beers. They are known for their deserts as well, which having tried a couple I can say they are great, have heard they are from a local bakery in town. This is my usual go to place when some one I know is coming onsite to visit and say lets do dinner.They require everyone to dress reasonably and men’s shirts must have sleeves. Almost every time I have been there it is packed but have not had an issue getting a table of finding a place in the bar area.

 

Places in Cornelius NC: 
131 Main, which I guess technically is a chain, but they only have four locations three in the Charlotte area and one in Asheville NC. Have only been once, but the food looks great, I tried the Southern Shrimp and Grits and had appetizers of Deviled Eggs and Cast Iron Cornbread. Everything was excellent and I was so stuffed I could not try dessert.

Places in Davidson NC:
Kindred is a great place to eat and is usually packed. Have been several time and have never had anything that was not excellent. The menu is seasonally driven and and is different everyday.
Flatiron Kitchen + Taproom, have been about six time here, and the food is always excellent, and the beer and wine selection is great.
Mesitzo is a Contemporary Mexican restaurant, it is fairly small but has a nice outdoor patio with a view of the downtown area.

Posted on

Just Ignore This Post if Your Going on a Cruise

Cruising; plan ahead and ignore the idiots.

I keep seeing people post things like: “Top 10 Cruise Mistakes Only New Cruisers Do”, “Top 10 Worst Mistakes A First-Time Cruiser Makes” while some of these makes sense others are just a vague opinion of the person writing the post.

Opinion Based Items:

What to do on the first day on Board:

This one kind of seem stupid to tell me what you think is best to do on the ship. If people plan ahead they have some idea what is available on the ship and what they might want to do until their room is ready. I usually know what I want to do when boarding the ship, swimming is never one of those things. I do like to walk around checking out the ship, seeing all that is around and orientating myself to where things are. I will window shop at the stores, stop by to where the theaters and restaurants are located.

Bring your swim suite in your carry on to get to the pool early. 

This one I am like no! No one can go to their rooms, so this is the first thing kids will want to do. I always see a packed pool or slide within one hour of people getting on the ship. If that is your thing then do that, I for one will be skipping this.

Eating at the Buffet on the first day is the worst thing to do for some reason or another.

If you want to eat at the buffet then eat the buffet, if you prefer to do a sit down at the one restaurant that is open then go there. Pick the pool side food if that is your thing as well, especially if your at the pool this one is easiest. Everything is packed on the first day as everyone is getting onboard and has nowhere to go. Do what makes the most sense to you and your family for when and where to eat, there is no one thing that works best for everyone.

Things that should be common sense:

Not bringing ID/Passport ETC….

Ok, if your that stupid to not know what is required to have for each person in your party when traveling anywhere then that is your fault. If your leaving the country then you need to verify what will work for each person as a form of ID to get into the country visiting. This is usually validated when arriving to the ship to get checked in for the cruise, but you should have planned by checking on the Ships website to required documentation. Ask if you are not sure, don’t just assume everything will work out.

Plan for the worst when traveling to and from the cruise:

I do agree that you should never plan to travel to port on the same day your leaving on your cruise. If you do anything, plan to travel a day or more before your cruise is scheduled to leave. This will save you a lot bigger headache of missing the cruise if you have travel delays. Have been on several flights with people who are freaking out because the plane is delayed, and they either are not getting to their destination today or will miss their connection all together. Screaming at the flight attendant or customer attendant will not get you much.

Plan to either get a late return flight or stay an extra day, as there is no guarantee the ship will dock at the scheduled time for you to get off the ship and to your flight. Have seen people trying to push their way off the ship to get to the airport to catch a flight. many of the other shipmates have plans just like you but scheduled accordingly to make sure to be able to get home.

Final notes:

Plan ahead, don’t think everything will work out all the time. I have seen even seasoned cruisers make this mistake. No one can make your time terrible except you! Things don’t always work the way it is planned. Take a deep breath and see what will work instead. Having had a shore excursion canceled the exact time we were supposed to leave, there were several people screaming a the ship crew and complaining how terrible they have maid their day, etc… You know these people have nothing to do with the cancellation. Take a minute, regroup and then plan to do something else, like jsut waling around to the shops or taking local transportation to some place.
Posted on

Traveling around the world

I travel a lot for work, and have been reading several travel site blogs as of lately.

Some are down right stupid and a waste of time, while a few are useful with relevant inforamtion.
None of them are 100% accurate, and all have some biased toward one thing or another.

Blogs I do like to read often:
https://thepointsguy.com/
https://www.flyertalk.com/
https://millionmilesecrets.com
https://frequentmiler.boardingarea.com/ 
https://www.frugaltravelguy.com/

I know there are more, but these are the ones I read the most. Most of them have the same content on bonus points/miles and card to use. 

My preferences for travel:
Flight: Delta  (Platinum)
(I travel out of a regional airport and the other carriers have screwed me a time or two)
Hotel: Hilton (Diamond), Marriott (Gold), Hyatt (Discoverist)
(Some have asked my why I have 3 hotel preferences, and I have always told them none of these brands are perfect in all cities or have a good hotel in all cities I have visited.)
Car: Hertz (President Circle), National
(have switched back and forth between these two over the years)

Packing:
It does crack me up on some of the posts on sites telling people what to pack, how to pack and what to bring. There is no one way to travel, one way to pack, and it will depend on the person what they need to bring along with them.

Having traveled extensively for the past 10 years for work and military, I can say I have defined my own plans for packing and what to bring. It does not align to most of the blogs sites, and works well for me, but may not work well for others. I pack in cubes and fold my clothes, many sites recommend rolling your clothes to make more space. I have never been able to make add any extra space, and it makes my clothes more wrinkled then me just folding it neatly.

I have a separate toiletry bag that I keep all my items in, it is just easier to have duplicates, and just fill up the items as I need to after my return home. I do have the same mouthwash bottle that is exactly 3oz in size and I just refill it as needed. I also have a decent supply of small toothpaste tubes, as everyone in the family gets one from the dentist after their teeth cleaning, and never uses them.

I generally take a small 21″ Wegner SwissGear suitcase, that I have had for a many years, it was not expensive (maybe $80 max) and I am in need of a replacement soon. I do not carry on my suitcase, and generally check it (I get checked 3 bags free). Which I have been ridiculed for many times by so called expert travelers. However, having been screwed many times (Primarily by United and AA) on waiting for plane side checked bags (Smaller regional planes), and missing a connection due to them taking forever getting the bags back to me, I have always checked my bag since.

Flights:
I prefer Delta as my main carrier for flights, I like that my miles never expire, and I have had little issues with them compared to AA and United out of TYS. I travel out of a regional airport, so am limited to AA, United, Delta, Frontier, and Allegiant and will usually connect into another airport to get almost anywhere. A majority of the flights I am on are CRJ700/900 and maybe a MD88, which is why I check a bag as I do not like to plane side check a bag, and then wait to get it back at the next airport, and hope to make my next flight.

Hotel:
I prefer Hilton brand hotels, I have a few I like best out of all of them. I would book Embassy Suites hands down if they were available in the area I am needing to be in. They provide a two room suite, and an evening managers reception, as well as a cook to order breakfast. I have usually found them to be better priced (not always) then say a Hampton Inns which is a lower value Hilton Brand for some reason. I do stay at some Marriott properties when I need to, some times it is just to keep my status with them, other times it is there is not much else available at a reasonable price or in the location I need to be. When I am able to I will stay at Hyatt, I do like their hotels but they tend to not be in many locations I need to be in. I used to stay at Holiday Inn hotels, but they have not kept up their hotels and seem to be lacking these days.
 
Rental Car:
Have been using Hertz as it is just easy to book from the Delta web site after booking my flight. Their website and mobile app suck, but I like getting the Delta Points for booking as I never get a rental car when I go on vacation so would not use the points. I used to always book National as I liked the walk up and drive off method. I just pick the car that works for me on the trip and drive to the exit and am on my way. I get the same service with Hertz now that I am President Circle, as long as the location has that option.

So, pick what works best for you and stop listening to all those blogs telling you what you must do when traveling. We all have different styles and opinions so no one thing works for everyone.

Posted on

Starting off 2017 right! (I hope…..)

Well its 2017 already, and I am not sure where 2016 went.

Last year I was extremely busy, traveling about every week and multiple ROC’s due weekly for my previous company. Never had enough time to actually do my job well or even think about fixing the issues that we had. Now that I am at Coalfire, I have plenty of time to do my job, with tons of resources to help me out. I am not traveling as much, which I sort of miss, hope that changes a little starting soon. Working from home is a little weird, not sure it is something I really like, miss the interactions with other people. Not that I do not like my family, its just getting out of the house for a little while and talking to other people with similar interests. Will be trying to get former colleagues to do lunch once in a while to at least try to keep up with whats going on.

This year is starting off fairly decent for me, since I am getting to attend two different training classes. First one is an ISO 27001 Lead Auditor certification course. I will be heading to Colorado for a few days. The class was supposed to be for junior associates that needed a certification to allow them to get their QSA. I asked if their was space I would like to attend, and I guess there was room for me. The second class is PCI P2PE certification, which will be a little harder from my perspective. Most of my cryptography experience is military related and not really geared towards the commercial sector. If I pass this course, I have been asked if I wanted to take the PA-DSS course and then possibly the PA-P2PE course. Since they are in need of people to assist in that area, I said why not. I am always willing to take training classes, certifications never hurt anyone.

So it looks like my first full ROC I am lead on will be a client that they have had for a while. This should be fairly nice to get to learn their methodology, and show my manager, I am able to do the work. I was brought in as a consultant, and not a senior consultant. That was something I had decided to do, I originally had interviewed for a senior security consultant position, but since they were willing to pay me the same for either position, I took the lower level position. I am sure some are going WTF, I would never do that. Well, I am more than capable to be a senior consultant, but If I come in as a junior level person and can show that I am very good at my job, I will more than likely get a promotion or possibly opportunities to do other stuff. Which is sort of what is happening already with the certification courses.

Well 2017, lets hope things keep rolling along smoothly…..