Your Gaijin Guide to Cheap Travel in Japan

I happened to start reading a blog called derpreport just before PCSing over to Okinawa, and I’m glad I did. The author (who wants to remain anonymous) lives here and blogs about travel- and life-hacking from Japan. I was fortunate enough to have dinner with him and his wife, and we had a great time. Check…

Last Chance to Show Your Support to Support Vets with Charlie and I

For those of you who like running, I gave you ample warning to get ready a couple of months ago.  However, Charlie (from Running with Miles)and I will appreciate your support even if you do not decide to shed a little sweat with us.  Of course Charlie is the real crazy one – six marathons in…

Little Known World Elite MasterCard Benefits

I wrote back in February about Visa Signature benefits that are well known such as free wine tasting in Sonoma Valley.  Well there are similar benefits for holders of World Elite MasterCard accounts.  That term may not be familiar to you, but if I name some of the credits cards that are World Elite MasterCards,…

Further update on Citi and US Bank Annual Fee Waivers

So I received my SCRA letter from US Bank regarding my two cards, both my Club Carlson Visa Signature card and my REI card. The letter said that all fees such as foreign transaction are waived, and that APR was a max 6%. It did not mention annual fees though. I called their military support…

Make sure to check your USAA offers!

Hey gang, sorry for the paucity of articles from me, I’m currently PCSing to Okinawa, so things have been rather hectic. Fortunately, our astute readers have been sending us article ideas.   One reader, who wishes to remain anonymous, but might be a senior chief, sent me an example from his USAA account of a…

DoD Launches New Lodging Program, Part 2

Continuing on from yesterday’s post about changes to DoD lodging and DTS.  Here are the new options for commercial lodging: Commercial Lodging DoD Preferred – As of June 15, 2015 , the JTR requires all travelers TDY to an metro area at an Integrated Lodging Program Pilot site to book DoD preferred commercial lodging before…

DoD Launches New Lodging Program, Part 1

On 15 June 2015, DoD quietly launched a new program in lodging as a pilot venture.  Called the Integrated Lodging Program Pilot (ILPP – got to have an acronym, it’s the military, right?), this program is an attempt to seamlessly combine the traditional military lodging facilities with local commercial facilities when booking through DTS.  Theoretically,…

A couple updates on Citi and US Bank annual fee waivers

Hey all, I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted about getting annual fees waived using SCRA (Servicemember’s Civil Relief Act) benefits. I found out that fortunately, both Citi and US Bank now have email addresses to which you can email your orders instead of faxing, a technology that was responsible for the end…

Tech Discounts Using Your Veterans Advantage Card

This is a follow on post to the post that I made last week about the new 20% discount card members can get at Office Depot/ Office Max.  One person inquired asking if tech items were included.  I had to respond that tech items are not included.  That’s understandable to me since they are high…

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The Great Military Frequent Flyer Meet-up

Andy and I hosted a great meet-up of our readers plus a couple of our fellow bloggers from Boarding Area. We were privileged to have Keri from HeelsFirst Travel and Jeanne for LeChicGeek, fellow BoardingArea.com bloggers show up for the festivities.  We really appreciated the other readers who showed and had a great time talking…