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Friday night 12 readers and I met at Guelaguetza Restaurant near downtown Los Angeles for the first ever MileValue dinner. Eating, drinking, and socializing lasted the better part of three hours.
Before, during, and after the dinner I had a chance to talk with everyone about their upcoming trips, miles-redemption strategy, and miles-earning tricks.
Amazing tips were circulated by readers. One person brought a pen and paper to take notes, and I think we all wished we had. Two tips in particular stood out to me. One that I’ll blog later this week, and one which is not suitable for blogging because it’s a mistake that would be fixed upon being identified.
Because of how fun and informative the dinner was, I will definitely be hosting more in the future. (I’m looking at December 1 for the next one in LA.)
I encourage everyone to try to meet other travelers in person. Beyond the fun, the interchange of information is fantastic and qualitatively different than what you get in a forum or blog.
And if you’re a blogger like many of my readers are, why not host your own meet up in your city? You’ll be glad you did.
Here are a few pictures of the evening. I’m not much of a photographer.
The most popular dish was the restaurant’s famous chicken mole, and the most popular drink was the house margarita made with mezcal instead of tequila.
We were at a Mexican restaurant during the Mexico-Costa Rica World Cup qualifying game, and a Spanish-speaking LA-based TV station was filming the patrons watching the game. Presumably it was for a piece on the game, and they wanted reaction shots of Mexico’s goals.
Later a reporter interviewed some of the diners, but I had no luck being interviewed. It’s a shame because I would love to add an “As Featured on Telemundo” to this blog’s header.
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It was good meeting you and the others as well! I’m looking forward to the next dinner (although December 1 is the same day as the Frequent Traveler University near LAX)
And Corona + Margarita = Mexican Bulldog! I didn’t realize they had ’em there …
Agreed, I’ll be at the FTU as well…
Same here. Would be great meet up and will be attending the FTU on Dec 1.
I forgot about the FTU date when I came up with Dec 1. I’ll have to check the FTU schedule, and maybe do something near LAX that fits in with a break in the FTU schedule.
Perfect, let us know what you decide.
The opportunity to meet the man behind Milevalue.com and other miles and points junkies is priceless. Thanks guys. We will see you again in Dec.
I thought it was called a ‘beergarita’. Great idea Scott! This was a really fun event. I’ll definitely try to make the next one.
“ne which is not suitable for blogging because it’s a mistake that would be fixed upon being identified.” Seriously?? Why do you have to even announce that. Not fair. Maybe you can email it to your subscribers instead of posting it on your site.
I mention it to motivate people to attend meet ups with other travelers like the Chicago Seminars, Frequent Traveler University, or MileValue dinners.
I was excited when I saw the title, “What I Learned at the First MileValue Dinner” but then disappointed when I read, “Two tips in particular stood out to me. One that I’ll blog later this week, and one which is not suitable for blogging because it’s a mistake that would be fixed upon being identified.”
Oh, you tease . . .
Agree with Michael. Or, if you had a dinner in my hometown instead of LA I’d go and then know the secret, right?
Looks awesome!! I tried super hard to make it.
I, too, get annoyed when bloggers mention secrets that they can’t share. But I hope you’ll get around to sharing the second tip soon.
Chase Sapphire? Amateurs!!! 🙂
I kinda agree with James. I don’t understand the big fuss about the Sapphire. I have about 14 cards open right now the Sapphire is not one of them.
I pulled out a Sapphire. I don’t have a Freedom because the sign up bonus has always been weak, and sign up bonuses are my primary source of miles. When the Sapphire earned 50k for $3k spending, it was a great card to get, not so much now.
Chase Freedom was 30K UR for $500 spending last year, so if you value UR above 1.67cpp, you got more value than the spending. And I average about 8 UR/$ on normal everyday spend. I use it way more than my Sapphire 😀
How do you “average about 8 UR/$ on normal everyday spend”?
At no point was it the best Chase card out there, so I didn’t get it. It’s very possible I’ll get it in the future.
You need to do a roving Diner meetup. Pick ATL and I’ll be there.
I love ATL. I’ll make it there at some point.
I had a great time!
[…] had such a fun time at last month’s dinner that I am organizing another one for next Saturday, October 27 at 7 […]