Written by Ariana Arghandewal @ PointChaser
By now, you’ve probably heard more than you can stomach about the Spirit/Frontier merger. You’ve read through the numbers, legalities and the PR bullet points about how great this will be for consumers. You’ve heard that this merger w…
Author: Ariana Arghandewal
My month in manufactured spending: leveraging buying clubs to earn over 250,000 in welcome bonuses
Written by Ariana Arghandewal @ PointChaser
Warning: This isn’t going to be my typical manufactured spending report. The months when I’d earn over 100,000 points are going to be few and far in between. At least for now. Visa gift card churning isn’t viable in my area anymore and I’m mostly stick…
I’m back – join me for a virtual meet-up/fundraiser!
Written by Ariana Arghandewal @ PointChaser
You know those annoying posts from the early days of blogging where the author would apologize for not blogging for a long time? This kind of feels like that. It’s been a year and a half since I announced my abandonment of this blog to join The Points …
A New Chapter
Written by Ariana Arghandewal @ PointChaser
It’s been an intense few weeks, both in terms of work and life. As some of you know, I left my full time job back in August and decided to freelance for a bit while deciding my next step. I got to travel a bit (to the Maldives and most […]
The po…
Citi Prestige Card: Keep or Cancel?
Written by Ariana Arghandewal @ PointChaser
The annual fee on my Citi Prestige Card is due pretty soon and like some of you, I’m wrestling with whether to keep or cancel the card. As you know, Citi increased the annual fee to $495 and removed all of its valuable purchase protections. For a lot o…
My Week in Manufactured Spending: The Dreaded Shutdown
Written by Ariana Arghandewal @ PointChaser
After a 10-day trip to Turkey, I was happy to be home and getting back into my manufactured spending routine. Before I left, I liquidated most of my $1,000 Simon Mall Visa gift cards and scheduled all of my credit card payments through the first week o…
Best Dining Rewards Programs Ranked
Written by Ariana Arghandewal @ PointChaser
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Gilmore Girls Fan Fest Unionville: The Ultimate Superfan Experience
Written by Ariana Arghandewal @ PointChaser
Back in October, I attended the Gilmore Girls Fan Fest in Unionville, Ontario. If you read this blog regularly, you may have picked up on my obsession with Gilmore Girls. I’ve seen every episode countless times and I still can̵…
What no one tells you about noise cancelling headphones
Written by Ariana Arghandewal @ PointChaser
Did you know that noise cancelling headphones can cause severe ear pain, jaw pain, headaches, and disorientation? I’ve considered buying noise cancelling headphones for a while now. I asked for feedback on Twitter and I learned the Bose…
My Week in Manufactured Spending: 10,039 points at $48.30
Written by Ariana Arghandewal @ PointChaser
This is going to be boring and predictable. I’ve taken a break from manufactured spending (and blogging) the last couple of weeks. I got back into it last week with a single trip to Simon Mall. That’s mainly because I’m going to Turkey today and genera…
CSR Fee Increase + $120 DoorDash Credit: Time to Drop the Card?
Written by Ariana Arghandewal @ PointChaser
Well, that came out of left field. Chase just announced an annual fee increase for the Chase Sapphire Reserve, to the tune of $100. Starting January 12, the annual fee on the card will be a whopping $550. To soften the blow, Chase is also introducing a…
My Week in Manufactured Spending: Slow Start to a New Year
Written by Ariana Arghandewal @ PointChaser
I love these weekly posts because they really keep me accountable. I sat down to write it on Sunday night and realized I had only managed $1,500 in manufactured spending. I’m trying to do better than I did last year, when I earned just 247,631 poi…
How I Booked a $21,200 Maldives Trip for $1,686
Written by Ariana Arghandewal @ PointChaser
I’ve been rolling out my Maldives trip report series and thought I’d share how I actually paid for it using points and miles. As you can tell from the title of this post, it wasn’t all “free.” Even with the hotel and airfare booked using points and mil…
My Year in Manufactured Spending: How I earned Points, Miles + Cash Back in 2019
Written by Ariana Arghandewal @ PointChaser
I’ve been getting requests from people asking me to do a year-end tally of my manufactured spending activity. I’ve been sharing weekly manufactured spending reports for a few years now, though I haven’t been super consistent in 2019. In fact, I counted…
Waldorf Astoria Maldives Overwater Villa Review
Written by Ariana Arghandewal @ PointChaser
While I stayed in a beach villa during my stay at the Waldorf Astoria Maldives, I did get a chance to tour an overwater villa. These are located at opposite ends of the island and are pretty much identical to the beach villas in terms of layout. The di…
Waldorf Astoria Maldives Beach Villa Review
Written by Ariana Arghandewal @ PointChaser
The Waldorf Astoria Maldives beach villa is considered a standard room. It’s anything but “standard”: This beach-front room has 2,518 sqft of space, a private pool, two cabanas and tons of outdoor seating. You can book it for 120,…
The ethics of traveling to countries with human rights violations
Written by Ariana Arghandewal @ PointChaser
Is it ok to travel to countries with dubious human rights records? In an increasingly unstable world, travelers often find themselves asking this question. It always comes up when I mention traveling to Turkey or Saudi Arabia. Between the ethnic cleans…
Waldorf Astoria Maldives Boat Transfer
Written by Ariana Arghandewal @ PointChaser
The Waldorf Astoria Maldives boat transfer cost a whopping $862.40 when I stayed at the resort, which is more than what most resorts charge for a seaplane transfer. That being said, the resort will be dropping the fee to $600 per adult and $300 per chi…
My Week in Manufactured Spending: 38,615 points and $87.30
Written by Ariana Arghandewal @ PointChaser
It’s been a while since I’ve shared one of these manufactured spending reports. I’ve slowed down a bit with both blogging and MS, so the posts have been on hiatus. But I’ve got some 2020 travel plans I need to save up for. Also, I work from home now, w…
Holiday Gift Ideas for Frequent Travelers
Written by Ariana Arghandewal @ PointChaser
We’re two weeks away from Christmas (and my birthday, for those who know me and are reading this). I’m surprised at how many people I’ve talked to still haven’t finished their holiday shopping. If you’re looking for holida…