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luke duke

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Posts posted by luke duke

  1. Says the guy that sought out my post on another message board and took the time to copy/paste it over here.

     

    Which sounds more likely?

     

    1. You’re right. I scoured the internet to see if you were seeking advice elsewhere. Right clicking the link in my browser and pasting it here is a complicated task which took me a couple of hours to figure out, but I was determined to show you that I’m on to you.

     

    2. You’re a retard. I read both forums regularly, recognized both posts and thought it might be helpful to have the entire discussion in the same place.

  2. maybe the most depressing thing I've read in a while.  geez

    My most depressing restaurant experience was going to either ihop or Denny’s shortly after midnight on NYE with a couple of friends. The place was dead except for one 300lb waitress and a guy sitting by himself crying.
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  3. I had a friend who worked at a movie theater in high school who found out that winning game pieces in the theater's promotion had a specific tiny number printed on the back.  He took out many of those game pieces for himself.  Prizes included free popcorn and such.  


    The Wendy’s game pieces in the late ‘90s had a tell as well. I could win with every piece. I ate a lot of Wendy’s in the Union that semester.
  4. One of the problems with the "date funds," that's pretty clear here, is that they have relatively high fees because they are more actively managed than an index fund.


    You think that a 0.15% ER is excessive for a set it and forget it fund? Also, stating that the fund is “actively managed” is a bit dishonest. It consists of 4 index funds that are automatically rebalanced.

    They aren't a horrible choice, but as young as you are, I think you could/should go higher risk and put at least some of your money in the SP500 index fund.


    The funds he is in are 89.8% equities and 10.2% bonds.

    The two funds are currently identical so there is no benefit to holding both. The equity portion of the fund is 60/40 domestic/international which is on the high side of most recommendations. If you wish to be weighted more domestic then put a little more in the S&P 500 fund.

  5. 40% Vanguard S&P 500
    20% Vanguard Mid
    20% international??
    10% Vanguard Small cap value
    10% Vanguard Small cap growth


    This would be a fairly aggressive allocation that most people would not recommend. There is no bond allocation and there is a large tilt to mid/small caps.
  6. Well, it’s called “work”. 
    When I posted, we didn’t have a barometer for a rate. Now we do of $150.00 per night. Let’s put the theory to the test...
    First, the obvious. He needs to create a Hilton account. Then, he needs to sign up for the Double Points promo (NOTE: This promo has extended twice already and is confirmed to extend again until early Nov): http://hiltonhonors3.hilton.com/en/offers/100112297.htm
    Then he needs to Fast Track to Gold. There are a few ways to do this, but the shortest is here, which he is on his own to figure out how to bypass the targeted email: https://www.hiltonhonors.com/en_US/HHCM/20170921-winback-gold But, let’s leave any Challenge aside to start with.
    Now, we need an arbitrary baseline for his status. He mentioned 17 nights and a few different destinations. We’ll use your $150.00 per night.
    Then, it’s just a matter of doing the math. As you stated, it’s 10 points per $1 spent when he is a Blue member. So the base would be roughly 1,200 points at $150.00 per night. (I’m assuming the rate is $120.00 + taxes since you don’t earn points on taxes paid) But if he books the double points rate, which doubles the amount of base points he earns, it’s 2,400 points per night. Then you stack the Double Points promo and it’s 3,600 per night. 
    On this baseline, the math would be 3,600 X 17 nights = 61,200
    But, he will qualify for Silver Status the natural way when he hits 4 stays or 10 nights. (12 points earned per $1) So, we’ll go conservative not knowing his travel schedule and say he’ll meet it with the nights options rather than stays:
    10 nights at 3,600/night = 36,000 points
    7 nights at 4,320 per night ($120.00 X 12 X 3)= 30,240 points 
    His baseline, absolutely minimum earned, would be 66,240 points
    Now, if he wants to do some work...
    Hilton will grant you provisional status with their Status Match program. If he doesn’t have any status, he could do something as simple as calling up Radisson and having them match a faux status over the phone to get upgraded to Gold, which is worthless at that chain. Then he signs up for the Status Challenge with Hilton, which requires 4 stays in 90 days to maintain through March 2020. (Which he may or may not hit depending on his travel schedule) But, during the provisional period of 90 days, he will automatically get Gold status. (18 points per $1 spent) Or, he can bypass all this and get the AMEX Ascend Card for automatic Gold status even though he has to use his Corporate card to pay for the rooms. The Executive Lounge, gourmet breakfast and free premium internet is a nice touch though.
    Now, we can re-do the math and add on to it:
    $150.00 X 18 points = 2,700 points. 2,700 X 3 (Base, DP Rate, DP Promo) = 8,100 Points. As a Gold member, he also gets a Myway benefit of 1,000 points to bump that up to 9,100 points per night. 9,100 points X 17 nights = 154,700 points
    So, he would earn anywhere from 66,240 points - 154,700 points on a rate of $150.00 per night depending on how aggressive he wants to get. (And retain Gold status depending on the Challenge offer he did) Then you just pick your poison. If I wanted to go to Oktoberfest in Munich on September 28, I could get as many as 2 nights at the Hilton Munich City Center using points. Or, I could pay the €474 + tax rate per night...or use my $150.00 Hotels.com coupon to save about €120 for only 1 night. Or, I could get 1-3 nights at the Hilton Barcelona using points or use my $150.00 Hotels.com coupon to save on 1 night of the €250.00 per night average rate. If I wanted to go to Branson fucking Missouri I could book at 30,000 points per night for up to 6 nights or get 1 free night at the $150.00 Hotels.com rate for the good old Hampton Inn on the Strip. (Hilton Members get their 5th night free using points)
     
    That’s how.


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