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Messages - ChodoCat

Pages: [1]
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Essentially Flyertalk / Re: How Many Credit Cards Do You Have?
« on: August 09, 2013, 06:50:57 PM »
yeah, you won't be able to get those SW cards again in a couple years. prolly, like, 6 years or so if they still exist. or if they change the card in a major way and it becomes a "new" product.

SD, you sure about this? I cancelled my wifes sapphire preferred account in January, and applied her for a new sapphire preferred early May. I called when I applied to verify she was eligible for the 40k bonus and they said yes. I just called again b/c we met the $3k spend and wanted to verify the 40k points would be applied. They confirmed the 40k points will hit her account July 5th.

Are you saying Chase in general doesn't allow you to churn the same cards or just the SW cards? B/c I was going to do the exact same thing with my sapphire preferred account and rack up another 40k.

also, are you sure you just didn't get some great bonus on the regular sapphire and not two sapphire preferreds? fwiw everyone, when I say sapphire I am talking about the sapphire preferred. the UR cards are kinda confusing.

there is a visa and a mastercard sapphire preferred. my guess is he applied for the visa first and then (maybe unknowingly) applied for the mastercard the second time. that would get you the bonus twice.

I think they will make you cancel the first one before getting the other one which would fit this.

Good question about the master card. There is actually no way to apply for the sapphire preferred mastercard online now. It was removed from mastercards website, around late April.

http://milecards.com/6077/it-still-exists-mastercard-chase-sapphire-preferred/.

When I applied (my wife) early May I was not aware that you could not apply online for the mastercard sapphire preferred so I googled sapphire preferred MC and found a link. Applied, called to make sure I would get the 40k bonus. I had in fact applied for the visa card and they said I was eligble for the 40k bonus (even though my wife had received this bonus less than a year ago). Since I thought I was applying for the mastercard and wanted the mastercard, I asked them to switch the account. They sent me the visa card next day (b/c I told them I needed it for a big purchase), then they sent the new master card a few days later, I called and the switched everything over. So maybe that all had something to do with being able to get the bonus, but initially when it was a visa card, the 40k bonus was still in play.

Yesterday, sapphire preferred told me that currently there is no way to apply for the sapphire preferred mastercard. You have to apply for the visa, then request it to be switched to the mastercard, like the mess I had to go through.

So just to be straight with this. My wife had a sapphire preferred visa account and received the 40k bonus. In January 2013 I downgraded to the "non-preferred" subsequent to the 7% annual dividend and annual $95 fee (but within 30 days of the annual fee charge). So I received the 7% annual dividend, downgraded the card to non-preferred, had the $95 fee reversed since I called withinn 30 days of the charge and kept the dividend. This is a great trick by the way! I think a month or so later, I cancelled her non-preferred account. Then early May, I unknowingly applied my wife for the visa sapphire preferred (thinking I was applying for the mastercard sapphire preferred) and was approved with the bonus in tact.

I just downgraded my sapphire preferred visa to "non-preferred" and will try the exact same thing in 3 months. I just applied for the Ink Plus business and was approved. So between the 2 sapphire preferreds (cancel then reapply bonuses), 2 freedoms (5X categories), and 1 Ink plus bonus, I should get 178k UR bonus points this year, 80k sapphire preferred, 48k freedom (24k X 2), 50k Ink Plus. Might apply the wife for the Ink Plus business, once I get the $5k spend satisfied for my Ink Plus and get another 50k.

Wanted to follow up with this. Mrs. Chodo’s 40k UR bonus posted without a problem. That’s her 2nd round of 40k bonuses for the sapphire preferred. I did this with my Dad as well, but didn’t screw around with changing to a MC and his 2nd 40k bonus just posted as well. I waited around 3-6 months to reapply after downgrading for both, can’t really remember exact timing. I promptly moved Mrs. Chodo’s 40k bonus to my UR account and moved my Dad’s bonus to my Mom’s UR account, just in case the figured it out and tried to reverse it.

I’m currently churning the banana card and wanted to share this. Initially I was pissed that my wife got the banana card without consulting me. However, for the last 4 months and effective until 9/30 it offers 3X the points on purchases outside of their stores. Typically $1,000 spend is equal to $10 banana rewards, now it’s equal to $30. So I am maxing out each of our bluebird accounts at $5k, $10k total per month resulting in $300 BR rewards, less $79 in fees netting to $221 per month, $442 total for August and September (((60,000/1,000)*$10)less $158 fees = $442). Comparatively, sapphire preferred at 1X points is only equal to $92 net of fees (20,000/80=$250UR less $158 fees = $92). $442 BR rewards net of fees versus $92 UR net of fees for the same 2 month period. Great deal, just pissed I didn’t max out the full $10k each of the last 4 months although I’m not sure what I’d do with over $1,000 in free banana clothes. Rewards are available in printable sheets in increments of $10, max $50 so they can be gifted for xmas, etc and can be used at old navy, gap, and banana.

Lastly, this may have been discussed already, but the CVS in my hood allows $5k to be uploaded per day! Bluebird only allows $5k per month so that doesn’t really help on a monthly volume basis, but better than having to go 5 different days to get $5k in vanilla at the previous $1k limit.

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Essentially Flyertalk / Re: How Many Credit Cards Do You Have?
« on: June 14, 2013, 09:32:04 AM »
If you haven't applied for the Chase INK business card yet and want to, hold off until Sunday, June 16th for additional bonus offers. So greater than 50k UR?!?!?!

http://millionmilesecrets.com/2013/06/14/chase-national-small-business-week-special-offers/

Glad I rough ridin' applied and was approved YESTERDAY! I'm calling.

check back about 100 pages in this thread and you will find my greatest success in card applications: 100k UR bonus for initial sapphire preferred card   :cool:

Right, those were the days. I think my first preferred was 60k back in 2011.

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Essentially Flyertalk / Re: How Many Credit Cards Do You Have?
« on: June 14, 2013, 09:11:57 AM »
If you haven't applied for the Chase INK business card yet and want to, hold off until Sunday, June 16th for additional bonus offers. So greater than 50k UR?!?!?!

http://millionmilesecrets.com/2013/06/14/chase-national-small-business-week-special-offers/

Glad I rough ridin' applied and was approved YESTERDAY! I'm calling.

4
Essentially Flyertalk / Re: How Many Credit Cards Do You Have?
« on: June 13, 2013, 01:18:33 PM »
I am going to refer to that chodo post for the train I am going to run on UR next year

I'm also going to try the ink plus cancel reapply, X2 next year. If everything works, you are talking 228k UR points per year. Assuming you can meet the 5X max on Freedom each Q and then reapplying continues to work for Preferred and Ink.

Best part is our credit is fantastic (bought a car in May), so my wife just lets me run rough shot with her SSN. It's like having 2 me's to play with.

The CVS>Vanilla>Bluebird changed the game for me. Paying mortgage, car, student loan, house cleaning, lawn care, etc via credit card. No problem meeting the minimums. Also just being  :kstategrad: is significant.

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Essentially Flyertalk / Re: How Many Credit Cards Do You Have?
« on: June 13, 2013, 11:58:04 AM »
yeah, you won't be able to get those SW cards again in a couple years. prolly, like, 6 years or so if they still exist. or if they change the card in a major way and it becomes a "new" product.

SD, you sure about this? I cancelled my wifes sapphire preferred account in January, and applied her for a new sapphire preferred early May. I called when I applied to verify she was eligible for the 40k bonus and they said yes. I just called again b/c we met the $3k spend and wanted to verify the 40k points would be applied. They confirmed the 40k points will hit her account July 5th.

Are you saying Chase in general doesn't allow you to churn the same cards or just the SW cards? B/c I was going to do the exact same thing with my sapphire preferred account and rack up another 40k.

also, are you sure you just didn't get some great bonus on the regular sapphire and not two sapphire preferreds? fwiw everyone, when I say sapphire I am talking about the sapphire preferred. the UR cards are kinda confusing.

there is a visa and a mastercard sapphire preferred. my guess is he applied for the visa first and then (maybe unknowingly) applied for the mastercard the second time. that would get you the bonus twice.

I think they will make you cancel the first one before getting the other one which would fit this.

Good question about the master card. There is actually no way to apply for the sapphire preferred mastercard online now. It was removed from mastercards website, around late April.

http://milecards.com/6077/it-still-exists-mastercard-chase-sapphire-preferred/.

When I applied (my wife) early May I was not aware that you could not apply online for the mastercard sapphire preferred so I googled sapphire preferred MC and found a link. Applied, called to make sure I would get the 40k bonus. I had in fact applied for the visa card and they said I was eligble for the 40k bonus (even though my wife had received this bonus less than a year ago). Since I thought I was applying for the mastercard and wanted the mastercard, I asked them to switch the account. They sent me the visa card next day (b/c I told them I needed it for a big purchase), then they sent the new master card a few days later, I called and the switched everything over. So maybe that all had something to do with being able to get the bonus, but initially when it was a visa card, the 40k bonus was still in play.

Yesterday, sapphire preferred told me that currently there is no way to apply for the sapphire preferred mastercard. You have to apply for the visa, then request it to be switched to the mastercard, like the mess I had to go through.

So just to be straight with this. My wife had a sapphire preferred visa account and received the 40k bonus. In January 2013 I downgraded to the "non-preferred" subsequent to the 7% annual dividend and annual $95 fee (but within 30 days of the annual fee charge). So I received the 7% annual dividend, downgraded the card to non-preferred, had the $95 fee reversed since I called withinn 30 days of the charge and kept the dividend. This is a great trick by the way! I think a month or so later, I cancelled her non-preferred account. Then early May, I unknowingly applied my wife for the visa sapphire preferred (thinking I was applying for the mastercard sapphire preferred) and was approved with the bonus in tact.

I just downgraded my sapphire preferred visa to "non-preferred" and will try the exact same thing in 3 months. I just applied for the Ink Plus business and was approved. So between the 2 sapphire preferreds (cancel then reapply bonuses), 2 freedoms (5X categories), and 1 Ink plus bonus, I should get 178k UR bonus points this year, 80k sapphire preferred, 48k freedom (24k X 2), 50k Ink Plus. Might apply the wife for the Ink Plus business, once I get the $5k spend satisfied for my Ink Plus and get another 50k.

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Essentially Flyertalk / Re: How Many Credit Cards Do You Have?
« on: June 12, 2013, 04:59:27 PM »
yeah, you won't be able to get those SW cards again in a couple years. prolly, like, 6 years or so if they still exist. or if they change the card in a major way and it becomes a "new" product.

SD, you sure about this? I cancelled my wifes sapphire preferred account in January, and applied her for a new sapphire preferred early May. I called when I applied to verify she was eligible for the 40k bonus and they said yes. I just called again b/c we met the $3k spend and wanted to verify the 40k points would be applied. They confirmed the 40k points will hit her account July 5th.

Are you saying Chase in general doesn't allow you to churn the same cards or just the SW cards? B/c I was going to do the exact same thing with my sapphire preferred account and rack up another 40k.


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Essentially Flyertalk / Re: summer cocktails
« on: May 25, 2012, 09:30:52 AM »
Pineapple-Sage Caipirinha

Ingredients:
2 pineapple chunks
4 sage leaves
½ lime, quartered
2 teaspoons sugar
2 ounces Cabana cachaça (or just any white rum)
 
Directions:
1. Muddle the pineapple, sage, lime, and sugar in a glass. 
2. Add the cachaça (or white rum), then fill with crushed ice. Stir gently to combine.

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Essentially Flyertalk / Re: travel thread
« on: May 23, 2012, 10:05:46 AM »
If you want the west coast, why are you ignoring Galway? Galway is great. Also obviously the cliffs of Moher.

Didn't have enough days basically and we're flying out of Shannon, so we didn't want to have to go that far north then back track down to Shannon. I'm considering that we skip the dip down south to Kenmare (from Kilkenny about 3 hour drive) and go westerly from Kilkenny to Ballyvaghan (which is walking distance from the Cliffs of Moher maybe?). Maybe stay a night in Ballyvaghan or Doolin or Lisdoonvarna, a night in Galway, then head back down for a night in Shannon before we fly out, since our flight is at 7:00am.

I built the itinerary loosely around this: http://irishfireside.com/2009/10/20/a-beginners-guide-to-planning-an-ireland-itinerary/

What would you recommend in Galway specifically?

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Essentially Flyertalk / Re: travel thread
« on: May 22, 2012, 03:44:56 PM »
Wife and I are headed to Ireland for a week, this September. With that amount of time, I've found most travel sites suggest to travel the southern/western part of Ireland with a rental car. This will give you a good introduction to the island with a variety of scenery and towns. My tentative schedule is to spend 2 nights in Dublin, 1 night in Kilkenny, 1 night in Kenmare, 1 night in Ballyvaughan, and 1 night in Shannon, in that order.

We're flying into Manchester (UK) on Friday (Sept 7th) for a friends wedding that weekend, but then taking a ferry to Dublin on Monday, then going from there. Flying back to the states from Shannon, on the west side of Ireland on Sunday.

There are a shitload of B&B's at all of these towns, most less than $100/night and nice choices (it seems). We'd like to stay in a castle one night, but most are 5* and cost more than $1,000/night, or only have weekly rates. We'd maybe spend up to $300 for a night in a castle, but it would have to be really sweet. There are tons of things to stop and see along the way between all towns; castles, caves, cliffs, parks, etc.

Anyone been to this area that could provide some guidance? Things to do and places to see in Dublin? B&B's to stay/avoid at any of these towns? Castles to see or possibly stay at? Other scenery along the way to see/avoid? Pubs to drink at, restuarants to go to, etc? We'd like to get as much as the local feel as possible and we both enjoy drinking heavily.

Any help would be appreciated. My research has been overwhelming so far.

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Kansas State Basketball is hard / Re: Frank watch 2012:
« on: March 23, 2012, 01:44:37 PM »
does anyone know if pearl recruits players who can make basketball shots
tucks would hate the players he recruits, but oh man

can they make basketball shots like crazy

what would tucks say about him being president/ceo of the jewish coaches association?

http://jewishcoaches.com/index.php/membership/

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Essentially Flyertalk / Re: How Many Credit Cards Do You Have?
« on: February 08, 2012, 04:44:53 PM »


i would do the sapphire and yes you can combine accounts. while you are signing up for one that requires a minimum spend i'd probably go ahead and sign up for another card on the same day that doesn't require a minimum spend like the usairways cards. they aren't chase which the sapphire is, so you won't have to call chase and explain why you want two chase cards. you'll just get the usairways card, use it once and get 40kusairways. usairways is a member of the star alliance so you can even use the miles to book something on united, etc.
[/quote]

That is amazing advice. I just did both as suggested. Had no idea you could transfer Sapphire (UR) points between UR accounts, that card is the bomb yo.

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Essentially Flyertalk / Re: How Many Credit Cards Do You Have?
« on: February 08, 2012, 11:18:00 AM »
we are here to help at goEMAW though Rams.  keep the questions coming.

Well, since you asked for more questions. I need some advice. I currently have the Sapphire card under my name and put all living expenses on this card. I signed up Mrs. Chodo this fall for the AA citi amex card, to get the 50k AA bonus and for her to use only on Costco purchases (since costco only allows amex). I tried the double browser thing to apply for the AA Amex and AA Visa to get 100k total AA for Mrs. Chodo, but it didn't work for me for some reason. The AA citi visa was denied.

We are going to book at trip to Cabo soon and will put the all-inclusive resort cost on a CC. I want to maximize my opportunity here b/c I'd like that big Cabo spend to go towards a spending requirement (either for the Sapphire or for the AA citi visa). The way I see it, I have 3 options:
 1) Sign up for a Sapphire card for Mrs. Chodo to get the 50k bonus and earn points on that cabo trip while eating approx 50% of the spending requirement. Then we would each have 50k UR points, just under different accounts.
 2) Sign myself up for the AA citi Visa to get the 50k bonus and eat approx 50% of the spending requirement. I can't sign up Mrs. Chodo b/c I have to wait 18 months from when I sign up. So again, we will each have 50k points, just under different accounts.
3) Just pay for the Cabo trip on my current Sapphire card to earn the 2X points.

Seems like option #1 is probably the best since I can get an extra 50k points while also getting 2X the points on travel costs while also eating away at spending requirement with one large purchase.

Thoughts? Just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something with this. Fairly LCCCIQ here, but can we combine accounts either at Sapphire or AA since we are in the same household and each will potentiallly have an account? Please be easy on me.  :ohno:

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"you know"

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Essentially Flyertalk / Re: How Many Credit Cards Do You Have?
« on: October 21, 2011, 04:08:58 PM »
We have a friends wedding in May 2012 that will either be in Jamaica or Cabo. I want both of us to fly for free. What should I do? I'm willing for both of us to get a new card to make this happen. Both of us have great credit and neither has been rejected by an application. Although, I don't care about our credit score right now b/c we refinanced and we don't plan to purhcase a new vehicle for a few years.

Also, is there something else I should be using daily other than my SW card? I'm happy with it b/c I've probably gotten 4-6 free round trip flights out of it over the course of the year of owning it and we like to fly SW and travel often.

Lastly, should we have a different AMEX card for Costco purchases to rake in some better point action?

Wouldn't worry about a different card for Costco.  Does SW not fly to Jamaica or Cabo?  I have no idea what their route map is outside of the US (if any).  You and the wife could each sign up for an AA Citi 50k card or the 50k Sapphire card to get there and back.  You will want to get on this asap as reward flights to vacation destinations are hard to come by.  Check for availability of award seats on AA for your dates before getting the cards and cross your fingers you get the points before they sell out.  May be too late for May 2012 on some carriers.  The good thing about the Sapphire card is 50k points will also get you about $650 towards a flight if you book through Chase.  Probably your best option at this point.  Also a great card.  double miles on dinining and travel and the points transfer to many different carriers.

Thanks SD. I did look at AA flights in May using rewards and it was around 50-60k for one roundtrip flight, depending on which airport in Jamaica. As of now you can get tickets so hopefully that will still be the case in a few months. I went ahead and applied for 2 AA cards, one being a Visa and one being AMEX under my wifes name. I found a website that said if you apply for both on the same day, it won't recognize you as a previous account holder and will allow you to get 100k points in total, 50k for each. She was approved for both. Each card requires $2,500 to be spent in 4 months. I'll sub the AA Amex for the costco Amex that she currently has, and then switch all of my auto drafts to the visa and both spending requirements should be met by January. We'll probably only be able to use the points on one of our roundtrip flights but it's better than nothing. I figured if I also got 2 cards under my name to get the 100k, I probably wouldn't be able to meet the spending requirements on all 4. Once hers is met, I'll either apply for the Sapphire or do the exact same AA application, getting 2 cards on the same day.

Regardless, if I can't use her 100k points in May, we'll find use for them later and possibly get 4 roundtrip domestic flights out of it.

the southwest cards would give you a shot at it as well because southwest is acquiring airtran and airtran flies to montego bay. the question is will they be able to roll airtran into southwest by may of next year? maybe. maybe not.

I've already exhausted the introductory points with SW, both of us have a card. We also just stripped our account of the remaining points, booking a trip to Vegas for March Madness. The only way I'd be able to get points on SW would be the points awarded for monthly spending, which won't get us to where we need to be by May. I think AA is about my only option for getting at least one of us to Jamaica for free (which is the likely destination for the wedding).

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Essentially Flyertalk / Re: How Many Credit Cards Do You Have?
« on: October 21, 2011, 03:01:28 PM »
We have a friends wedding in May 2012 that will either be in Jamaica or Cabo. I want both of us to fly for free. What should I do? I'm willing for both of us to get a new card to make this happen. Both of us have great credit and neither has been rejected by an application. Although, I don't care about our credit score right now b/c we refinanced and we don't plan to purhcase a new vehicle for a few years.

Also, is there something else I should be using daily other than my SW card? I'm happy with it b/c I've probably gotten 4-6 free round trip flights out of it over the course of the year of owning it and we like to fly SW and travel often.

Lastly, should we have a different AMEX card for Costco purchases to rake in some better point action?

Wouldn't worry about a different card for Costco.  Does SW not fly to Jamaica or Cabo?  I have no idea what their route map is outside of the US (if any).  You and the wife could each sign up for an AA Citi 50k card or the 50k Sapphire card to get there and back.  You will want to get on this asap as reward flights to vacation destinations are hard to come by.  Check for availability of award seats on AA for your dates before getting the cards and cross your fingers you get the points before they sell out.  May be too late for May 2012 on some carriers.  The good thing about the Sapphire card is 50k points will also get you about $650 towards a flight if you book through Chase.  Probably your best option at this point.  Also a great card.  double miles on dinining and travel and the points transfer to many different carriers.

Thanks SD. I did look at AA flights in May using rewards and it was around 50-60k for one roundtrip flight, depending on which airport in Jamaica. As of now you can get tickets so hopefully that will still be the case in a few months. I went ahead and applied for 2 AA cards, one being a Visa and one being AMEX under my wifes name. I found a website that said if you apply for both on the same day, it won't recognize you as a previous account holder and will allow you to get 100k points in total, 50k for each. She was approved for both. Each card requires $2,500 to be spent in 4 months. I'll sub the AA Amex for the costco Amex that she currently has, and then switch all of my auto drafts to the visa and both spending requirements should be met by January. We'll probably only be able to use the points on one of our roundtrip flights but it's better than nothing. I figured if I also got 2 cards under my name to get the 100k, I probably wouldn't be able to meet the spending requirements on all 4. Once hers is met, I'll either apply for the Sapphire or do the exact same AA application, getting 2 cards on the same day.

Regardless, if I can't use her 100k points in May, we'll find use for them later and possibly get 4 roundtrip domestic flights out of it.

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Essentially Flyertalk / Re: How Many Credit Cards Do You Have?
« on: October 20, 2011, 03:51:22 PM »
Fairly new to the CC's, but here is what I have and what I've done over the last 3 months. I'm ready to take this to the next level.

 - Myself - SW Chase card (have had for a year), Priority Club Card (received 80k bonus points for signing up :drool:). I use my SW card for literally everything and it shells out about 3,000 to 6,000 points a month. I have Mrs. Chodo use the priority club card for gas and groceries b/c that provides double points.
 - Mrs. Chodo - SW Chase Card (received 20k points when shen signed up in July, which greatly pisses me off since it is now at 50k for signing up) that is never used and I will cancel before the next annual fee is charged. She also has an AMEX card for Costco shopping. I don't think she gets any points on that. It has "Costco" on the card if that helps.

We have a friends wedding in May 2012 that will either be in Jamaica or Cabo. I want both of us to fly for free. What should I do? I'm willing for both of us to get a new card to make this happen. Both of us have great credit and neither has been rejected by an application. Although, I don't care about our credit score right now b/c we refinanced and we don't plan to purhcase a new vehicle for a few years.

Also, is there something else I should be using daily other than my SW card? I'm happy with it b/c I've probably gotten 4-6 free round trip flights out of it over the course of the year of owning it and we like to fly SW and travel often.

Lastly, should we have a different AMEX card for Costco purchases to rake in some better point action?

Any help would be appreciated. TIA.

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Could definitely make a worst hits every year.  Just need jmlynch to come up with some more good ideas I can steal. :emawkid:

P. S.  Still don't know what the actual story is on the proposal.  Will need some details from someone who was there.  tia.


She/he/it was proposed to on the mismatch turf, by an army guy or something near the NEZ. Seems like 3 or 4 k-state0's in one? Could probably incorporate into the "mismatch turf" reference?

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Essentially Flyertalk / Re: best cartoon
« on: August 24, 2011, 02:04:01 PM »
Brak

[attachment deleted by admin]

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