TRIP - Booking travel for 2018/2019

3 months in Taiwan, I am itching to travel/get out :P

2018
September - 淡水 北投 陽明山
October - 金山 淺水灣
November - 台南
December - 沖繩, 樂桃廉價航空 $9040 for 4 祝我們好運

2019
January - Bangkok, Thailand 曼谷 $17000 for 4

April - 東京, BA Avios on JAL, total 80K Avios + $500 CAD for 4 (20K + $125/person)

TRIP - Los Angeles, Las Vegas

Another long weekend = another trip, this time to the hot California and Las Vegas
I am still not sure why I chose Summer to go, probably only because I saw Avios availability for YYZ-LAX and forced a trip out of it

LA/Las Vegas 2014.08 - Google Maps
http://goo.gl/maps/LkFlw

Day 1 8/30

• YYZ-LAX on AA 737. I saw so many airplanes at LAX/E-Z (A380 from Korean, SQ, Emirates, AF, Asiana), NZ all-black 777
• Pick up Volvo XC60 (Premium) after 1 hour wait (arrived 1 pm for 2 pm pick-up and was told too early, and at 2 pm they still had no Compact SUV for me so they gave me Volvo for "only" $10/day extra instead of free upgrade, whatever)
• Lunch - Skipped
• The Getty Villa
• Dinner - Gushi Korean BBQ take-out $32
• The Getty
• Hotel - Relative's house

Day 2 8/31

• Target & 85C Bakery
• Lunch - Ten Ren's Tea Time, Diamond Plaza, Rowland Heights
• California Science Center - Space Shuttle Endeavor!!!
• Olvera Street & Union Station
• Dinner - Curry House Little Tokyo
• Hotel - Friend's house

Day 3 9/1

• Breakfast - JJ Bakery
• Tzu Chi USA Headquarter @ San Dimas
• Lunch - In-N-Out Burger
• Fashion Outlet @ Primm - didn't buy anything
• Dinner - 
• Hotel - Vdara. Free upgrade to Lakeview room, facing the Bellagio fountain
• Fremont Street Experience

Day 4 9/2

• Premium Outlet North - bought 1 bag
• Lunch - Takeout from Vdara's Market Cafe ($50 F&B credit)
• Luxor - disappointing
• Premium Outlet South - bought Gap Outlet $50
• Dinner - AMEX Centurion Lounge @ LAS
• LAS-YYZ via WestJet

Expenses

• Flights - YYZ-LAX 19K Avios + $190; LAS-YYZ WestJet $625 for 3
• Hotel - $130 + $30 resort fee - $50 F&B credit - 7000 Aeroplan miles
• Car Rental - $200 for 4 days LAX-LAS one-way in Volvo XC60 SUV
• Gas - $100
• Credit Card (Food and misc.) - $500
• Total = ~$1800 CAD out of pocket (excluding miles used or credits earned)

Conclusion

It was a good trip to see things we have yet to see in LA and Vegas, but we both feel like it was way too hot and no need to visit anytime soon, and in future maybe just stopover in LA on our trip back to Taiwan is enough

Credit Cards in My Wallet - American Express, VISA, Master Card

I decided to review and clean up my wallet of Credit Cards. I only applied for some of them due to the signup bonuses and some turned out to be much better than I expected

My favorite card - AMEX Platinum charge card, due to the 15K referral bonus

Cards to Keep

AMEX Gold Rewards Card

• 20,000 Bonus Points after $500 spending within 3 months
• No annual fee for the first year. $150/year after (I may cancel after 1st year)
• 2 points per dollar for travel/grocery/drugstore/gas purchases
• BEST USE - Gas, Grocery, Travel - including some gift card purchases. e.g. I buy GC at SDM/Sobeys to double dip

The AMEX Platinum Card

• 60,000 AMEX Membership Rewards Points after $1,000 spending within 3 months. This is 10000 points more than the regular 50K MR after $1000 spending offer, and can be worth more during transfer bonus like 20-25% for Aeroplan, or 50% to British Airways Avios
• $699 Annual Fee ($499 effectively if you deduct the $200 credit) << Luckily I still only pay $399/year, for now
• 2 x $200 Annual Travel Credit (for first year only). Use $200 credit before end of this year and then again starting Jan 1, 2014. It's $200/year after the first year
• Access to AMEX lounges in Canadian airports, and Priority pass VIP for unlimited access to 600+ lounges when traveling
• Hotel: Starwood Gold, Club Carlson Gold
• Cathay Pacific Marco Polo Club Gold membership = OneWorld Sapphire elite
• 15000 AMEX MR Points PER REFERRAL <- I've earned way more than I could ever spend
• BEST USE - I use it where AMEX Personal Gold don't earn 2X points, as I get 1.25X point on this card

Capital One Aspire Travel World Master Card

• 2% return on Travel and 1.5% on cash back. I signed up with $350 worth of points.
• $120/year fee, effectively $20/year with 10000 anniversary points
• I use it where AMEX is not accepted

TD First Class Travel Infinite VISA

• $120/year fee, waived due to holding TD Select Service account
• I keep it only for the Expedia For TD service, where I can earn 4.5% return on bookings

TD Gold Elite VISA

• $99/year fee, waived due to holding TD Select Service account
• I keep it only for the free Deluxe TD Auto Club. I used it in 2011 to tow my car (200 km allowance) and several battery boosts!

Cards I plan to cancel upon renewal

I would cancel below cards, wait 3~6 months and re-apply for the welcome bonuses (churning)

AMEX Gold Rewards Card - Oct 2013

• Even earning 2X the points is not enough to justify the $150 fee.

Chase Marriott Premier VISA - Nov 2013

• I applied for the limited promotion of 50K Marriott points + 1 free night at Cat 1-4 hotels, 1st year fee waived.
• Anniversary bonus of 1 free night at a Cat 1 - 4 hotel <- this has lost its value since Marriott increased categories 5/16/2013
• You become Marriott Silver, but it doesn't have much benefits
• $120/year, waived for first year
• I redeemed the free night at $150/night hotel and used 30K points for NYC Manhattan hotel ($360/night)
• This card has NO Forex fee, so it does save you ~2.5% which is only significant if you spend a lot to recover the $120 fee
• BEST USE - 5X at Marriott hotels, 2X at Restaurants, and USA/International due to no Forex fee

CIBC Aerogold Infinite VISA - Cancelled

• I only got it for the 15000 Aeroplan bonus with no 1st year fee in Dec 2012
• $120/year

MBNA Smart Cash Master Card - Cancelled

• I only got it for the $100 gift card bonus
• No annual fee