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2009-11-14 - 8:13 a.m. Peachfront's Note: Check out my October 2009 Bolivia "Bird of Prey" trek: To start with Part 1, please click right here. If you missed any previous installments, well, here's Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, and the thrilling conclusion, Part 6. Or check out my bird trip list with over 50 new life species. I'd noticed that it was difficult if not impossible to get into the flyertalk forums for the last couple of days. I checked frugaltravelguy last night, and I'm pretty sure I know what the kerfuffle is all about. The day, the very same day, that I get my shiny new American Airlines credit card, there's a rumor flying that the U.S. Mint is going to stop selling coins as purchases and instead put them through as cash advances -- which means, of course, that you can't buy coins any more, unless for some sick reason you love to pay huge unnecessary fees. What a bummer. I'd planned to place an order for the George Washington $1 coins and use them instead of bills for my $1 tipping needs. I would have preferred to do the same with a $2 or $5 coin but I didn't see them on offer. This program was particularly sweet because the Mint waived all shipping fees. One fucktard complained to his Congresscritter that flyertalkers were buying coins from the mint simply to increase their "spend" on their credit card, so that they could earn extra frequent flyer miles. Now, if you or I heard such a complaint, we'd probably be thinking, so what? Who is it hurting? The credit card company gets some kickback from the mint, the mint gets the otherwise unpopular $1 coins in circulation, and the flyertalkers get some miles. It's a win-win for everybody. So apparently one shitheel and one idiot Congresscritter have to kill it for everyone. That's OK. With prices as they are, I can get my required $750 "spend" on my AA card just making sure that I buy everything on my card, instead of on DH's card. But some people have cards with $15,000 required "spends," and I don't know how many normal sane people charge $15,000 just here and there going to the grocery store.
All Rights Reserved, Copyright 2002-2017 by Elaine Radford
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