Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Excited For FinCon!

I am psyched to be attending FinCon, the Financial Bloggers conference, in New Orleans this week. As in year's past, I am not just attending this conference, but really trying to be a part of it. This week, you can see me:
Here's to a great weekend in The Big Easy!




Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Vote Steele For The Plutus Awards

This year, I am returning to the FinCon Financial Bloggers conference with my eyes on the prize once again. The Plutus Awards are kind of like the Oscars, but for personal finance bloggers, and I am hoping to win for Best Freelance Contributor. 

In fact, you can help by taking a few seconds to vote for me, as every vote counts!


Voting Instructions:
2 Go to bottom of page
3 Count up categories from the bottom to find Best Contributor/Freelancer for Personal Finance
4 Copy and paste   Jason Steele
5 Make sure to click on orange box at bottom of page to cast ballot.

The last year has been a spectacular one for me as a freelance writer. I regularly contribute to the following sites:
In addition, my work is regularly picked up by mainstream outlets such as:
  • MSN Money
  • Yahoo! Finance
  • Huffington Post
  • ABCNews.com.
  • CBSNews.com
  • FoxBusiness.com
  • Business Insider
  • Any many others... 
And most importantly, I have become a recognized expert in on the subject of credit cards and travel rewards.

So please take a moment to go to www.PlutusAwards.com and voter for me for Best Contributor/Freelancer for Personal Finance. Like the Oscars, the most important categories, such as this, are towards the end!

Voting ends August 25, 2014, so vote now!

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

I'll Be Speaking At Family Travel For Real Life, Aug. 23d @ Wash/Dulles

Amazing what you can get on Fiverr!
Among my greatest passions are my family, and travel.Mixing the two can be a challenge, especially for an award travel enthusiast/travel hacker like myself.

You see, airlines are incredibly stingy about releasing award seats at their lowest mileage levels. Its not too hard to get lucky finding one seat, but two can be a challenge. Airlines tend to laugh at me when I look for four award seats on one flight, but it is possible.

So join me at the Hyatt House Dulles Airport on Saturday, August 23d, and I'll show you how to use your points for family award travel. My friend Dia Adams of The Deal Mommy is presenting the "Family Travel for Real Life" seminar which will include myself and a bunch of other great speakers.

See you there!

Saturday, June 14, 2014

Denver Travel Hackers Mini-Do - July 2d

My travel hacking friends have repeatedly expressed desire to get together and meet each other, so I am finally going to make it happen.

It will probably be just a handful of us the first time, but feel free to invite your friends who are fellow travel rewards enthusiasts. I'll be sure to post this on FlyerTalk,  MilePoint as well.
If we get a good turn out, perhaps we can grow this thing in the future and be hosted by one of the many travel industry businesses in Denver or at the airport.

Let's meet on Wednesday, July 2d at 6pm at:

Lala's Wine Bar and Pizzeria
410 E 7th Ave
Denver, CO 80203

It's centrally located, has great food and drinks, and free parking on the street and in back.

RSVP not required, but please reply and let me know if you can make it. jasondsteele (at) gmail.com

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

New Post For On Your Own

Smart About Money
On Your Own is a site for your adults produced by NEFE, National Endowment for Financial Education. As they are based in Denver, I met some of their staff at our regular FinCon local events that I organized (FinCon is the national financial bloggers conference).

I am proud to be featured on their web site recently with an article Ask the Expert: 4 First-Time Credit Card Mistakes. While technically, I no longer can call myself a "young adult," I still feel like I can identify with the financial challenges facing those who are just started out. By the time that changes, I will probably helping my own children as they go out on their own.

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Steele At Brad's Deals


Brad's Deals


Brad's Deals is one of the leading web sites dedicated to finding the best discounts on the Internet. That is why I am proud to contribute to their blog as an expert on credit cards and travel. Brad is a fellow travel rewards enthusiast that I met at a frequent flier conference a few years ago, and I have been impressed by the professional staff he has running his site.

My first article for them is how to Save Hundreds On Award Flights By Avoiding Fuel Surcharges. Sure, this is a topic that hard-core points and mileage junkies might already be familiar with, but Brad's Deals is read by those among the vast majority of travelers and credit card users who might otherwise be stuck paying outrageous fuel charges on their award tickets.

Monday, March 31, 2014

Steele In The USA Today


While the vast majority of my work appears online, I still love reading print outlets such as books, newspapers, and magazines. It's easy to read long content, and I just enjoy the tactile feel of the written page.

That is why I was excited to be quoted in the USA Today newspaper, which is the most widely circulated print newspaper in the United States.
The article is about why business travelers should use credit cards for their purchases, and you can read the entire, online version here.


Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Steele In Time

I had an interesting correspondence with a reporter from Time magazine's online edition yesterday, and I ended up being quoted in this story, "These Credit Cards Are Desperate to Give You $400".

Personally, I think the story is even bigger than that. For example, my wife and I both signed up for the American Airlines AAdvantage Executive card from Citi  that offers 100,000 miles. We are planning to use the miles for business class tickets to Italy this summer, worth $5,000 or more. Just yesterday, she also received a targeted offer for 100,000 Membership Rewards points from the American Airlines, again, enough for 4 domestic round trips in economy, 2 in first, or one business class ticket to Europe.

Either way, it is nice to be an expert source in such a mainstream outlet, especially considering the distinguished colleagues of mine who were also quoted.

Monday, March 3, 2014

What Bloggers Are Missing About American Express EveryDay





American Express just released some new products, Amex EveryDay and EveryDay Preferred. These are interesting products and they have received some good coverage throughout the travel blogosphere.

Nevertheless, there are few interesting details everyone seems to have left out.

1. The standard EveryDay card is the first no-fee Amex to earn real Membership Rewards points that can be transferred to airline miles. In fact, it is the only no-fee card on the market that offers flexible point transfers. This makes it a great place to park your points if you have a nice balance, but are unable to justify paying an annual fee.

2. These are the first Amex cards to offer an EMV smart chip from day one. In addition, Amex informed me that all of their cards can be ordered with an EMV chip by mid-summer. This feature provides greater security and is compatible with the next generation of card readers being used already in Canada, Europe, and elsewhere.

3. This is a cool looking card. You can't tell from the picture, but it is a clear, see-through card with a hologram in the middle. I don't know yet if it was made by my friends over at CPI Card Group, but it wouldn't surprise me.

You can read my coverage over at Yahoo! Finance

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

How Credit Cards Are Made: A Visit To CPI Card Group In Denver

A credit card sandwich before it reaches the oven
George Lucas once said that he made Star Wars because he really wanted to see a movie like that, but no one else had filmed it.

As a credit card expert, I really wanted to read how credit cards were made and learn about the latest technology directly from the experts. So when I couldn't find any articles on the subject, I decided to research which companies did so and reach out to them. It turns out that I didn't have to go very far, as CPI Card Group one of the largest credit card manufacturers in the United States is right in my backyard, just outside of Denver.

You can read what I found out in this article of mine, just published on Yahoo Finance!

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Flying Lufthansa First Class With My Six Year Old Daughter


In 2013, my family and I consumed about $80-$100,000 worth of award travel. That's a lot, but that number is calculated based on the retail price of several business class tickets and luxury hotels that we used our points and miles for.

Of course, I also write about this stuff for a living, which is not nearly as much fun as the traveling. So it worked out very nicely when my daughter and I had the chance to enjoy a special treat, a flight in Lufthansa's First Class together. Not only did we have an incredibly fun experience on the ground and in the air, but I also had fun writing about it for The Points Guy.

Monday, January 13, 2014

Contributing to Compare Wallet

I am excited to be a contributor to Compare Wallet. I met their team at FinCon in St. Louis and was impressed by their in-depth coverage of the industry.

My first posts for them have been on How Points and Miles Work, as well as reviews of the Citi ThankYou Premier Visa Signature Card, and the Barclay Arrival World MasterCard Review. Look for more of my work soon on their blog.

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Check Out My Holiday Travel Tips At CouponPal


One of the great things about attending an event like FinCon, is all of the contacts I made with my fellow bloggers. And the one thing that most cannot resist is my offer of a guest post for their site.

So this week, I have a guest post being featured at CouponPal one of the top money saving sites on the Internet. My post is on 4 Easy Tips to Save Money on Holiday Travel, and I tried to offer some advice that really helps  me and my family when we take to the road.

Enjoy!

Guest Post With Jean Chatzky

Jean Chatzky is the personal finance expert for the Today show, and was the keynote speaker at the FinCon financial bloggers convention in 2013. Today, my guest post has been featured at her site.

As a big fan of credit card sign up bonuses, I wanted to answer the question, Will Credit Card Sign-Up Bonuses Hurt Your Credit Score? Short answer is no, but it makes for an interesting discussion.

Enjoy!