In October 2015, I was interviewed by the One Mile at a Time blog as part of a series on points and miles bloggers. In the comment section of that article, reader Maria asked if I had a template of the spreadsheet I use to track my credit cards. I replied that I did not have a template per se, but that I would try to post an article about my tracker. Unfortunately, I never got around to that, but since I am about to write a few articles evaluating my current credit card portfolio, I thought now would be a good time to talk about how I keep track of all my cards, their payment dates, sign-up bonus progress, and spending category bonuses.

Approved for the Chase Ink Business Preferred card!

Until recently I was not eligible for most Chase credit cards due to the bank's 5/24 rule. Being back in compliance, I was recently approved for a Chase Ink Business Preferred card. The sign-up bonus of 80,000 Ultimate Rewards points after spending $5,000 in the first three months of card membership is very lucrative. On top of that, the travel and telecom spending categories ensure that this will be a card I will actually use in the future.

I earned over 11,800 AAdvantage miles in 2017 via the AA shopping portal!

If you actively collect travel points and miles, you want to leave no stone unturned when looking for ways to earn these rewards. Making as many of your purchases as possible through online shopping portals is one of the best methods for accomplishing this. A portal I frequently use is the American Airlines AAdvantage eShopping site, where last year I earned 11,827 miles by starting shopping "trips" on the site.

Why I closed my Citi Hilton Honors Reserve Card

Last June, Hilton announced it had entered into an exclusive agreement with American Express to issue co-branded Hilton Honors credit cards. Previously, Hilton had a dual agreement with both American Express and Citibank. Until last week I held a Hilton card from Citibank, but I called and closed the account. In today’s post I want to discuss my reasoning behind this decision.

Developing my Hedgehog Concept

Last week, I debuted the new look of Debrian Travels and discussed why I would say I am not relaunching the blog but rather tightening its brand. Part of that process was defining my Hedgehog Concept, a framework developed by renowned business author Jim Collins in his book Good to Great. While the business analysis of my blog does not fall within the branding I outlined in my previous post, I think a deeper dive into that thought process could be useful to better understand the focus I will have with the updated Debrian Travels. An ancillary benefit is that it can serve as an example for other small businesses or bloggers.

Derek CookJanuary 9, 2018Hedgehog Concept, blog, points and miles, business analysis, travel planning

A tweak, not a relaunch

Earlier this week, I debuted the new look of Debrian Travels. While I would not deem this a relaunch, the update is part of a tightening of my blog's brand. Unfortunately, given my status as a hobby blogger, over the last month, the effort took most of the time that I can devote to Debrian Travels. However, before I return to travel posts, I want to touch on why I decided to undertake this update, then get into a little detail of my thought process as I worked on the rebranding and, finally, what that will mean for future content.

Derek CookJanuary 6, 2018blog, branding, mission statement

The new look of Debrian Travels is live!

The new look of Debrian Travels is now live. This is a few days later than i had hoped - I wanted to relaunch before the end of 2017, but I missed it by a few days! This refreshening is in conjunction with a tweaked approach to the content you will find here. I will speak to change in a couple of posts over the coming days. In the meantime, I think I have worked out all the kinks on the new site, but if you encounter any bugs, please drop me a note and let me know! Enjoy!

Derek CookJanuary 3, 2018

Updates on the way!

Things are a little slow here at Debrian Travels. Well, more correctly, things are a little slow with new content but there is a lot going on behind the scenes. I will have more to say on this soon, but in a nutshell, the staff (yours truly) is busy working on the blog's brand including a tweak of of its focus. Also, the look is being freshened.

Derek CookDecember 4, 2017blog

Bonus miles with American and Delta shopping portals

I love shopping portals and have written about them frequently. As we head into the Christmas shopping season, both AAdvantage eShopping and Delta Air Lines's SkyMiles Shopping are offering bonus miles by achieving certain spend thresholds.

Singapore Airlines new A380 suites: WOW!

Last week, Singapore Airlines held a media event to unveil new premium cabin products and services for new Airbus A380 aircraft that will be delivered later this year. To put it mildly, I am blown away by the new Suites class! I am determined to find a way to fly that in the coming years!