I hope that you’ve enjoyed the past week of travel information – here’s a recap of what you may have missed from Points With a Crew over the past week or so
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The big news this past week has been the Chase Sapphire Reserve card.  The online application is live, though Chase Sapphire Reserve 5/24 data points aren’t looking good.  Some people were able to get their Chase Sapphire Reserve card last week.  Then again, who should fill out a Chase Sapphire Reserve application?  Plus comparing the Chase Sapphire Reserve vs Amex Platinum and Citi Prestige, why The Sapphire Reserve card might make redeeming Southwest Rapid Rewards obsolete, and comparing the Chase Sapphire Reserve vs Chase Sapphire Preferred card.
I keep a travel bucket list for places I want to go and things I want to do
Since I started a year or two ago, I’ve crossed off 12 things off my list
So now it’s time to add some more things to my travel bucket list!
Earlier this year, my wife and I used airline miles to take a round the world trip in first class
We flew Japan Airlines first class from Chicago to Tokyo
Then Emirates First Class from Singapore to Dubai and Emirates First Class from Dubai to New York.
For some reason, many people feel the need to comment on my (and others’) travel choices
While I can take it, I believe you can travel how you want to travel, and I’ll travel how I want to travel
So maybe you could stop telling me (and others!) how they “should” travel?
Part of going on any trip is packing
My wife shares 6 big packing mistakes (and how to avoid them)
This has been a lifesaver several times over for our family
Even though the Chase Sapphire Reserve is the new hotness, the Chase Sapphire Preferred is still a pretty good card.
Here are 5 reasons I keep recommending the Chase Sapphire Preferred card for people starting out
And a comparison of the Chase Sapphire Preferred vs Chase Sapphire Reserve card.
A few months ago, The Platinum Card® from American Express had a signup bonus for 100,000 Membership Rewards points (it’s dead now)
Most folks have already made their spend and gotten their points, but reports are coming out that American Express is clawing back some people’s 100,000 point bonus – did that happen to you?
Family travel
- Miles and points won’t make your travel “free”, but it does let you go to Paris on a Poughkeepsie budget.
- Reader Glenn wrote in wanting to know how to use miles to fly business class from the west coast of the US to Europe.
- Tickets are now on sale for my favorite family travel conference – it’s in November and under $100!
Miles, points and credit cards
- IHG is having a 50% off award sale on several of their hotels in Latin America – including 4 all-inclusive resorts!
- Join the Points With a Crew miles and points Slack channel – over 600 people talking miles and points in real time.
- SPG Nights and Flights are a way to get an ADDITIONAL bonus on using your SPG points
- You can get up to 18% off award tickets to Europe on Delta for a limited time.
- The new IHG Accelerate Fall 2016 promotional offers are out – here are my offers – what are yours?
- How you can get 13,000 bonus US FlexPerks (thanks to the Olympics)
- Free money at Office Depot and Office Max this week
News and notes
- 5 things to remember in an airplane evacuation…. your carryon is not one of them
- Did you know that Google Flights will send you email alerts about flight prices?
- Even if you’re Bruce Wayne, the TSA is still going to confiscate …
- We are building an open source hotel database and looking for volunteers.  Here’s how you can help
- 1 way you can (try to) avoid taxi scams in foreign countries
If you’re still up for more travel reading, here’s last week’s recap: $18,030 in gift cards, cards I’ll pay the annual fee on, and people taking their bags in an airplane evacuation
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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 
Amex took back their points and I immediately closed the account and got back most of the fee. I told them I’m going to get a real premium card from chase that is worth the $450 fee.