Citibank just rolled out their new Citi Strata Elite credit card, joining Chase and Amex in the premium (over $500/yr) category with a range of benefits focused on frequent travelers. While each bank brags that its card more than pays for itself, the true value… Read More »Comparing the premium-priced travel cards
When is the best time to book a flight? Months in advance or a couple of weeks before the flight? Only the airlines know, and it varies by flight, capacity, carrier, and other variables that only the airlines know. But now it doesn’t matter and… Read More »Paiback: The AI Travel Assistant That Gets You Money Back on Flights — Automatically
Hertz tries AI Artificial intelligence has become the business world’s favorite new tool, promising cost savings, faster decisions, and even new revenue streams. But the story unfolding at the car rental company Hertz offers a cautionary look at how quickly AI can veer from helpful… Read More »How AI Can Be Used—and Abused: The Cautionary Tale of Hertz’s Automated Damage Billing
One of the biggest challenges with premium credit cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve and the Amex Platinum is making sure you actually take advantage of their perks and benefits to justify those steep annual fees. The responsibility is entirely on us as cardholders to… Read More »CardPointers – The ultimate app for managing your credit card benefits
IntroductionSince reviewing the new Chase Sapphire Reserve card a few weeks ago, I thought it would be worthwhile to compare it with the Amex Platinum, the other premium credit card, and see which is a better deal. I looked at sites like The Point Guy… Read More »Chase Sapphire Reserve vs. American Express Platinum – Which is better?
Using our cell phones while traveling internationally has always been a pain, at least for those without T-Mobile. As a long time customer of Verizon, I remember the crazy surcharges when traveling to Asia and Europe. After much outcry Verizon instituted daily travel passes in… Read More »Verizon brings sanity to international calling and data
I’ve spent more than five decades designing, building, and writing about consumer technology. In that time, I’ve watched countless waves of hype promising to reshape our lives. Some actually did — the personal computer, the smartphone, the internet itself. Many promised but never came close… Read More »Why Are We Taking These AI CEOs So Seriously?
Chase just announced a massive annual fee hike for their popular Sapphire Reserve card—from $550 to $795/year, a 45% increase. A second card on the account jumps from $75 to $195. That makes it $990 for a card for both my wife and myself. With this jump, the card now carries the highest… Read More »Is the new Sapphire Platinum card worth $795/yr?
If you’ve ever searched online for the “best laptop under $1,000” or “top travel gadgets,” you’ve probably run into one of those awful review sites full of long, useless introductions, vague recommendations, and more ads than useful information. Their real goal isn’t to help you,… Read More »AI Is Sounding the Death Knell for Junky Review Sites
I was back on the road this week traveling to Massachusetts from San Diego to visit old friends and take my wife to her college reunion. While we’ve traveled internationally a few time last year, this was the first cross-country trip within the U.S. San… Read More »Notes from my travels