Camouflage has been part of military strategy for millennia. It allows soldiers to hide in plain sight and attack without being seen. But a little over 20 years ago, the U.S. changed its military camouflage and everyone realized pretty quickly that it was a big mistake.
A travel money mistake way too many people make
I’m going to Japan in March and have looked up flights on a few different sites. Roundtrip prices vary as much as $900 depending on where you look. Oof!
Here’s the twist
One place I checked was my credit card rewards site. I get points and perks, so total no-brainer, right? Not so fast. Do a little digging and you may find that it’s not the bigger, better deal.
Lots of credit card companies offer fancy booking tools as a perk to justify the hefty annual fee, but they’re not always as … perky as you’d think.
The long and short of it: Prices through your credit card company are often higher than booking directly. Airlines and hotels want to drive customers to book through them, so you’re way more likely to snag a deal through their sites.
Nope, it’s not ‘free’
You probably spent a ton of money to get those points in the first place. When you put it that way, it doesn’t seem so free. And if you don’t have enough points to cover the entire trip, you’ll still have to shell out some cash to settle the bill.
Pro tip: I often cash in credit card points for gift cards to places where I’m already shopping or want to buy someone a gift.
Pricing predicament
Your credit card company doesn’t set hotel room or plane ticket prices through their portals. Most don’t even manage the travel booking features at all.
- Expedia is behind the American Express travel site.
- The popular Hopper tool manages Capital One’s offering.
Keep in mind, too, that hotel and flight prices fluctuate, and websites don’t update their pricing at the same time. If you don’t check around, you could wind up paying the older, more expensive rate.
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The first episode of “Star Trek” debuted. Since then, Captain Kirk and his crew have starred in 850 TV episodes and 13 movies. I used to confuse “Star Wars” with “Star Trek.” What a wookie mistake.
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Samsung shortcut: You make a mistake typing. Instead of hitting the backspace over and over, use two fingers to swipe left. That’s “Undo.” Want to “Redo”? Swipe two fingers to the right and your text will come back.
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Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices