When BankDirect instituted their monthly fee back in January, I was annoyed. Not annoyed enough to close my account, but close. Still, I couldn’t close the account right away. I had only opened the account a couple of months prior and I was still waiting for the 10,000 point direct deposit bonus. That was certainly worth waiting an extra month or two to get. So, I waited.
It’s been a few months now and I never got my bonus. I don’t like paying the $12 monthly fee and I finally found a few minutes to investigate the payment of my bonus. After a phone call and a visit to BankDirect’s website, I was able to confirm the very frustrating news that I didn’t qualify for the bonus I expected to get. I really should have read the fine print a little more carefully:
In order to receive the one-time 10,000 mileage credit for direct deposit, you must deposit your FULL payroll direct deposit from ALL income sources to a BankDirect Mileage Checking Account.
What a ridiculous policy! I had been contributing a nominal amount to my account: enough to cover the monthly HOA payment that I had set up with the Bill Pay service. I mistakenly figured that would be enough. Who would have thought Bank Direct would want to capture ALL of my income from EVERY source? And why?
A moderately courteous CSR informed me that I would have to submit my pay stubs for a review to confirm that I had met all of the requirements. Seriously? Does that include all of my tax records, too? This isn’t just a fantastic way to annoy customers, this is a bad business practice. The cost to the bank to complete this review is probably higher than the cost of the points. Just as important, BankDirect simply doesn’t offer the products, services, and accessibility of a large national or even regional bank. I can’t imagine very many people would be willing to make it their primary bank. I suspect this would be a far more successful promotion if they loosened the terms so that more people found it worthwhile. Although, if the implementation of monthly fees is any indication, BankDirect doesn’t seem to be anxious to grow its deposit base. I don’t think this is an organization that is earning my business.
This post may be helpful to anyone who currently has the Continental OnePass card and is wondering whether or not they can still get the United MileagePlus Explorer card and sign up bonus. Last August, Melissa received a targeted offer for the Continental OnePass card. It was a great offer so I suggested she jump on it. I knew that the card would soon be phased out and this was the best offer she was ever going to get. Even though the MileagePlus Explorer card offer had become available, it wasn’t at the top of the priority list; we didn’t get back to considering it until sometime in February. In fact, after getting the OnePass card, Melissa needed some time off from Chase applications.
By February of this year, Melissa’s account statements for her OnePass card and her online account summary were showing logos for United, not Continental. It appeared that Chase had already converted her OnePass card to the MP Explorer card; although, a new card has not been issued. I was worried that she might have missed out on her opportunity to get the sign-up bonus for the MP Explorer card. Adding to the discouragement, the 60,000 point sign-up offer (really only 50K unless you hit an outrageous minimum spend level), which is usually available for all MileagePlus members with a non-zero balance, couldn’t be accessed when logging into her account. It looked like Chase and United had worked together to identify her as a cardholder and eliminate the offer.
Not content to leave a good stone unturned, I had Melissa apply for the card anyway. I figured the downside risk was a wasted inquiry for applying for a card she already had and the upside reward would be a sign-up bonus that would almost certainly be unavailable is she waited much longer. No matter how many tricks I tried, I simply couldn’t get a link for her that showed the 60,000 point offer. She ended up applying for the standard 40,000 point offer (really only 25,000 points unless you add an authorized user and hit the spending requirement).
The result of her application: approved! Shortly after she received the card, I asked her to send a secure message to Chase, which read as follows:
I was recently approved for the Chase United Mileage Plus Explorer Card. Shortly after, I found a widely available offer with a 60,000 point sign up promotion: http://www.theexplorercard.com/60bonus
Will you please remind me what my promotional offer is? If it is not the 60K point offer, can you match this better offer?
Thank you!
Chase responded as follows:
Thank you for your recent inquiry regarding your MileagePlus Explorer credit card account.
I have reviewed the application that you completed and the enrollment offer attached to that application states you will receive 25,000 enrollment miles, 5,000 bonus miles for adding an authorized user and the first year annual fee waiver. In addition, you can earn 10,000 bonus miles if you spend $25,000 in purchases in any calendar year (January through December). Once all of the above have been met you will have received a total of 40,000 miles.
Please be advised the offer you are requesting includes 50,000 enrollment miles and the first year annual fee waiver. In addition, you can earn 10,000 bonus miles if you spend $25,000 in purchases in any calendar year (January through December). Once all of the above have been met you will have received a total of 60,000 miles.
We will be happy to match the newest offer you received and add 20,000 miles to your account once you receive the initial enrollment bonus. If you decide you do not want to add the authorized user to the account we can add the remaining 5,000 miles after the account has been opened for 62 days.
If you have any further questions, please reply using the
Secure Message Center.
Thank you.
The key takeaways from this are:
If you have/had the Continental OnePass card, it may not be too late to get the sing-up bonus for the MileagePlus Explorer Card.
If you are unable to get the 60,000 point offer to work for you, a secure message ought to remedy the problem.
You lose out on 100% of the miles you don’t ask for.
Chase has once again proven themselves to be a very customer focused organization and our household is very grateful for that.
A bit over two years ago our lives changed when The Girl of a Thousand Places arrived and stole our hearts. Before she arrived, we unavoidably had given some thought to how our trajectory through the globe might be altered. Without question, the presence of a little one has made a difference. All the same, we have been fortunate to take her on several trips many of which are far more memorable for having her with us.
Sand is bad.
We’ll laugh for years about the trip we took to Grand Cayman when The Girl feared for her life when we tried to get her to walk in the sand. Certain it would be her demise, she insisted that sand not touch her skin for the duration of the trip. Any infraction of that rule had to be quickly remedied by a dip in the pool or ocean. I’m not sure anyone has been so uptight in a beach chair. By contrast, our fearless little explorer didn’t hesitate to open her mouth wide to kiss a stingray. We didn’t even have time to explain that it was good luck. I’m not sure she’ll ever be allowed to start dating.
I also won’t soon forget our recent trip to Disneyland where The Girl stood awe-struck before Mickey and Minnie as they waved and posed for pictures. Torrential rains through much of the day added to the fun; equipped with her rain boots, splashing through puddles between Small World and the Carousel was heaven on earth. She kept calling the Dumbo ride the “airplanes” (a term with which she has been familiar from a very early age) and as we rode it she mustered all the grammar a two-year old can manage shouting, “Higher! Up to the clouds!” This seems to be her mantra. Hardly a day goes by that she doesn’t ask to go somewhere on an airplane (usually to visit her grandma).
Thus far, we have loved travelling with our child. Sure, it’s harder: naps get interrupted, airplane seats sometimes get kicked (sorry about that), diapers leak mid-flight (ugh!). Yes, it’s also more expensive, hence, the importance of learning the tricks of the trade. But how can you place a value on the thrill of discovery? Great travel memories have been and will continue to be an important part of our family’s shared experiences.
Loving the Adventure
With that as a preface, I’m excited to say that more changes are coming to our travel trajectory and I suspect getting through the airport is going to get a bit tricky. The biggest question I have is this: How early is too early to get a passport and will this photo work?
Oh, Los Angeles! The beaches, the climate, the celebrities, the entertainment, and the nearly endless list of sights and foods are incomparable. After all, can 4 million Angelenos be wrong? On the other hand, 4 million people, or twelve million if you look at the entire metropolitan statistical area, equates to a lot of gridlock! It doesn’t take long to figure out why the sunniest place in America can start to look like the angriest place in America.
A couple of days ago, I tried to outsmart the crowds by getting out of town. Brian, my father-in-law, and I decided to rent a couple of motorcycles and decided to head up the Pacific Coast Highway to Santa Barbara. On the return, we took an extraordinary detour through the Santa Monica Mountains, crisscrossing some delightfully treacherous roads. We had discovered EagleRider, a motorcycle and off-road vehicle rental company, last summer during our National Park Tour and have been anxiously awaiting an opportunity to try out some of the other bikes they have on offer. For this ride I selected a BMW R1200RT, an impossibly sleek bike that has been engineered within an inch of absurdity. Brian chose a Honda Goldwing 1800, which has all the comforts of your favorite lazy boy and the performance of an innertube rushing down a waterslide. Sure, you’ll get to the bottom of the hill, but you won’t win many points for style. More on the bikes in a minute.
We wanted to get an early start (about 7am) in order to beat the Sunday traffic. As expected, we sailed up the coast without any delays and had the roads to ourselves for the better part of the morning. The air was brisk frigid, dipping below 50 degrees. As we sped up the PCH towards Santa Barbara, cool, salty ocean mists brought a chill to any exposed skin. April might be a bit early for an early morning ride. Elsewhere, pockets of warm(er) air drenched with the smell of eucalyptus filled our path. Despite wide sweeping curves and picture perfect ocean views, the 1200RT never really settled in to a comfortable rhythm. It seemed to fidget and squirm, like an athlete in botany class. I could almost hear it mutter, “C’mon! Let’s get to physics lab!” All in good time.
Along the Pacific Coast Highway, north of Los Angeles.
By the time we reached Santa Barbara, the air had warmed noticeably. Warm and sunny always feels inviting, so I felt a tinge of regret that we weren’t able to stay longer in Santa Barbara. The town seems to benefit from the same climatological blessings as Los Angeles, without all the crowds. Throw in a dash of history and smart zoning and you may have the perfect place to call home. Still, the gravitational pull of the Santa Monica Mountains grew stronger by the minute and today just wasn’t a day for dawdling. After a quick snack and rest stop, we were back on the road heading south.
State Street in Santa Barbara, the main drag.
About 12 miles south of Santa Barbara is the turnoff to Ojai and Lake Casitas. As soon as we made the turn, I knew we were about to have some fun. The presence of wildflowers bursting through the mountain valleys heightened the invigoration of the immediate and relentless winding mountain roads. Here, the 1200RT would be happy. Heading east on Highway 150, we found some of the prettiest and most enjoyable roads of the day. After turning south on Highway 33 (just before Ojai) and passing through Ventura/Oxnard, we hurried down a short stretch of the PCH until we reached the turn for Mulholland Highway. The timing seemed about right. The PCH was starting to feel like a parking lot and the mountain roads felt like a deserted race course. For the rest of the afternoon, we hardly left the mountains and we didn’t regret the decision for a moment.
Heading towards Lake Casitas in the Santa Monica Mountains.
Brian and I each rode stretches on both bikes. I have to admit, every time I got on the Goldwing, I counted the seconds before getting back on the 1200RT. Despite the sensitive throttle and the high level of torque, the bike seemed instantly familiar and easy to manage. It’s no small feat that a bike of this size can be made to feel as responsive as a Vespa, but somehow those clever Germans have done it. If nothing else, this was an excellent opportunity to ride a couple of bikes that I might not otherwise have a chance to experience. The combination of performance and comfort offered by the 1200RT will be difficult to match. And what of the Goldwing? Well, let’s just say that it’s exactly the kind of ride you’d expect from a 900 pound gorilla bike.
I managed to mount a camera to the front of the bike to capture some of the driving joy. A quick note on the footage: the video has been sped up to remove some of the shakiness and give a better sense of the driving experience. The first minute or so is the most shaky and it becomes smoother after that. Due to technical limitations, I was only able to capture a small fraction of the driving experience, and not even the most thrilling turns, at that. If you have even a miniscule amount of interest in riding this route, I recommend you get there post haste. You’ll thank yourself later.
The Santa Monica Mountains are a great escape from the crowds and chaos of the world’s third largest economic center. Tall and rugged, extending for miles, these mountains offer clean air, panoramic views, a bit of wildlife, and lots of recreational activities. Some of the roads feel almost deserted. The Mulholland Highway (not the Drive), is a particularly special piece of roadway. Once the destination of choice for Steve McQueen and his riding buddies, still visited by Jay Leno and the Governator, and visited by the Tour of California stage races (see pic #22), the Mulholland Highway is in a class of its own. It’s would be hard to find a bad road in the Santa Monica Mountains, but if you’re looking for suggestions, start with Mulholland and branch out to include some of the other roads mapped out below.
Santa Monica Mountains - Suggested driving route.
Need a bite to eat along the way? Neptune’s Net, along the PCH, can be nearly overrun by the weekend biker crowd, but that’s part of the fun. In the heart of the mountains, The Rock Store is a veritable pilgrimage site, especially since the passing of Ed Savko, its founder and longtime owner, a few weeks ago. The Rock Store is also a favorite spot for celebrity sightings. I can’t say how the food is at either location, we were having so much fun riding we never stopped to eat.
We traveled a large portion of the highlighted route (though in different directions) and loved every mile of it. I’m not a daredevil rider; I like to keep the bike neatly between the lines. Although there are some very tight turns and somewhat technical stretches, riding within your limits will make this ride a very memorable outing.
Somewhere in the Santa Monica Mountains.
I have to compliment EagleRider for their extraordinary service and the quality of the bikes they have available. We chose a BMW and a Honda for this trip and they were nothing short of fantastic! As soon as this ride ended, I was eyeing a Triumph Bonneville and a Harley Road King in the parking lot. I’m looking forward to many more road trips around the world. I’ve been thrilled to learn that EagleRider’s footprint is expanding globally and many of its locations are conveniently found close to some particularly interesting driving destinations. French Riviera? New Zealand? Here I come!
If you are a motorcycle enthusiast, or even just a casual rider, I suggest you look into the EagleRider options. And remember, AAA members enjoy discounts on vehicle rentals. For example, the Texas AAA club offers the following discounts: 20% on motorcycle rentals, 15% on apparel and accessories, and $250 on pre-owned motorcycles.
As a travel enthusiast, I love to roam all over this earth in search of panoramic vistas, elusive wildlife, interesting cultures, unique foods, etc. Unfortunately, all that travel requires the consumption of a great deal of energy (read: carbon output). Regardless of where you stand on the global warming debate, Earth Day is a good opportunity to think about how we are caring for the earth. If you don’t already have plans, I would encourage you to do something a bit out of the ordinary to preserve our planet’s remaining natural treasures. Allow me to suggest a couple of options:
Donate to the Arbor Day Foundation
Take a trash bag to a local park and help clean the trails
Find an alternative to driving your car (walk, bike, rollerblade)
Like any holiday with traditions, everyone is likely to have a unique approach to observing Earth Day. Do you have a good idea? I’d love to hear your suggestions in the comments.
