• 50,000 point sign up bonus
• 7% annual dividend
• 2 points per dollar on travel
• 2 points per dollar on dining
• Transfer 1:1 with United, British Airways and more
• Made of Metal.  It feels beautiful

I definitely recommend this card.

Also, I’m working on a site called Adamfly for great airfare deals from your city to anywhere.  Sign up for updates here and would love any feedback

I discuss the card in more depth here in NYC

Came across these guys here in NYC. I have bought several from Black Lapel and have been very happy with the experience. The fit, fabric and customization is excellent. And the prices are right, most suits are around $500.  Most importantly: they really seem to care

I was thinking about it.

When you fly, you get frequent flier miles.

What about for countries you’ve visited?   You don’t get “credit” for visiting more countries, its just a tally you keep.

What if you could get credit for countries you visited.  For example: If you visit 10 countries, you get silver status.  Visit 25 countries, get gold. Visit all of Southeast Asia, get credit for it.

Two things I’m curious about:

1. Do you wish when you returned home from traveling, you got “credit” for where you’ve been?
2. Would you travel more, if you knew there were milestones to hit?

I’ve been to 32 countries, but will anything special happen if I hit 40 countries, what about 50?

Given that only a handful of branches in the US offers those accounts, the Chinatown New York branch was open yesterday, and I happen to live in Manhattan, I had to go and check it out.

When I arrived on Sunday afternoon, I found a branch packed with 6 Bank of China employees racing to open RMB accounts for a waiting crowd of almost entirely Chinese customers. Opening these accounts is definitely the hot thing!

I recap my experience in the following video:

The details are as follows (I know the list is long, but I had alot of questions!):

• You must open two accounts, one USD account and one RMB account
• Each account must have a $500 minimum balance
• You must deposit USD funds into your USD bank account, then request a RMB conversion
• To request the conversion, you must either visit the branch or physically mail in an exchange request form
• It takes 1-2 business days to convert the money to RMB
• The RMB savings account currently pays .17% interest (in China they are currently paying ~2.75%!)
• To exchange the RMB back to USD, you must also submit a request personally or through the mail
• You cannot bring physical Yuan notes to the bank and deposit them nor may you withdraw Yuan notes
• To make a USD deposit, you must visit the branch and see the teller
• You do not get an ATM card with the account
• Online banking is available for both the USD and RMB accounts to view your funds

To open the account you need:

• Drivers license
• A second form of ID. They suggested either a credit card or your passport
• Social Security card

Those are the basic details of the account. There are two branches currently in Manhattan, one in Midtown and one in Chinatown.  I went to the branch in Chinatown and dealt with Miss Sylvia Chan. Give her a call at 212-925-2355 x821 if you have questions

Conclusion:

Given you have to physically submit a form to convert from USD -> RMB and back, plus it only pays .17% interest, its defiintely an interesting option, but not quite ready for prime time yet.

If you have any other experiences with opening RMB accounts, please leave a comment below, I’d love to hear from you!

Sign up for a new Fidelity brokerage account and get a whole slew of miles depending on how much you deposit.  This offer is good for United Mileage Plus members, but many other airlines offer something similar. The schedule is as follows:

Deposit

    * $2,500  -> Get 5,000 miles
    * $10,000 -> Get 15,000 miles
    * $50,000 -> Get 25,000 miles

After I signed up, I got the miles deposited almost immediately (took ~1 week).  The only major catch I found was relatively minor. You must keep the account open and funded with the original amount for 6 months.  During that 6 month time period, you can keep it in cash, buy stocks, CDs, or anything else Fidelity offers.

Definitely seemed like a good deal and worked out quite well.

More details on the Fidelity offer

If you’re looking for a new travel credit card, I highly recommend the United Mileage Plus Select Visa.  I previously discussed this card in April 2010 during their last signup promotion.

A quick review of the features:

    * 50,000 mile signup bonus (i.e. 55,000 gets you a free trip to Europe)
    * 3 miles per dollar spent on United purchases
    * 2 miles per dollar on gas, dining, groceries, and home improvement
    * 1 mile per dollar on everything else
    * 5,000 bonus miles each year on your anniversary of signing up
    * annual fee waived for the first year (normally $95/year)

I personally use a United card and love it. Take a look at my About Me page.  I’ve traveled to quite a few countries (and still counting), and redeeming miles has paid for many trips.

Its slightly tricky signing up, so make sure to follow these exact steps:

   1. Go to www.thatsaplus.com (the website United is using for this promotion)
   2. Click on the “Get Your Special Offer” tab
   3. Click on the green “Log In”
   4. Type in your United Mileage Plus frequent flier number (if you don’t have an account, sign up for free)
   5. At this point, you can now apply for the offer (Update: This is a screenshot of the offer that I receive)

The United Visa card is excellent.  I highly recommend this card to anyone looking to travel.

1. worthwhile luxury that gives a chance to relax and socialize
2. or a waste of money that accumulates over time, money that could be much better saved

At the end of the day, does it really matter?

There are a few important variables to saving money on Amtrak:

1. Purchase your ticket far in advance.  The prices increase linearly as you get closer to the travel date.
2. Use a AAA or Student Discount to get 10% off (keep in mind, you must book 3 days in advance to get these discounts!)
3. Search Google and other discount sites (retailmenot.com is one of my favorites) for coupon/discount codes
4. Sign up for their frequent traveler program and check their site amtrakguestrewards.com for double miles and other current promotions

Had I book my Thanksgiving trip on the day of travel, it would have cost $71.  By following the above tips, I saved over $25 and it costs me just $42.  If anyone has other good tips for saving on Amtrak, please leave a note.

P.S. I love some of the people in the background that showed up during my filming at Penn Station!

I’ve been looking for some new suits and saw a bunch of commercials for this company MySuit NY owned by a large Korean clothing company.

The prices seemed reasonable for a custom tailored suit, so I went to check it out.  I almost bought one…but got lucky and checked the reviews right before I went! This sounds like one that should be avoided.

(P.S. If you know of any good, reasonably priced tailors in the city or abroad let me know!)

Update 2/29/12 - I recently came across Black Lapel tailors here in New York.  I highly recommend it, I ordered my first suit a few months back and love it and recently ordered my 3rd.   Definitely made for younger, slim men.  They take extreme pride in their work.

Thanks to Jay Yoo from Koyono, the maker of the Slimmy Wallet, for getting involved with the contest and contributing the winning prize.

I appreciate everyone entering the contest.  For those that didn’t win, I highly recommend trying the Slimmy, its certainly helped simplify my life!