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The Story of Monkey Miles
From time to time I get readers asking me about Miles. They’re confused. Where did Miles comes from? Why is there a monkey everywhere? They find it funny. Stupid. LOVE Miles. HATE miles. Love the pics. So on and so forth. It’s all over the board, but I think most people enjoy Miles, and as for the negative comments, I’ve always thought you’re probably on the right track if you have some haters 😉 .
I thought I’d take the time to explain a little bit more about how this blog came to be and why I write it – This is the story of Monkey Miles.
Zachary Abel. Author.
It’s never really been a secret who writes MonkeyMiles, as it’s listed in the About Miles section, but I think a lot of people miss it. It has a hyperlink to me, Zachary Abel, and my wikipedia page which briefly describes my education and a bit of my career as an actor. The broad strokes: I’m from the midwest and got a degree in finance, but caught the acting bug and ended up in Los Angeles. I’ve been fortunate to be a working actor. My big “break” was the ABC Family show: ‘Make it or Break it’ where I had a regular role for a few years. Since then I’ve recurred on shows, shot commercials, guest stars, the lead of a JJ Abrams pilot, and traveled uhhhhhhhhh lot.
Since I can remember, I’ve preferred hotels to museums.
I’ve always LOVED hotels. My faves are old, luxurious and historic hotels: Those that helped define a city or area. BUT, I appreciate all designs and concepts. I think ‘normal’ people want to visit museums when they’re touring a city to understand history, art, culture, etc NOT I FINE SIR. I could spend days going from hotel to hotel. I don’t need to stay in them, I just want to walk through them. Feel the walls, have a drink at the bar, sip coffee and watch patrons go by. You learn a lot about a city from its hotels. I’m an 80s baby and my favorite part of Home Alone 2 was the fact that he was at the Plaza – D-R-E-A-M! I’ve wanted to live in a hotel for as long as I can remember.
Why did I start Monkey Miles?
Before the surgery I’d been helping friends and family plan trips with points, but I don’t think I went deep, deep, deeeeeep down the rabbit hole until I was forced out of commission at the end of 2014. I had to have lower back surgery and the recovery was 3 months of bed rest: No bending, lifting or twisting. I’m pretty good now, but it was over a year before I felt like I could audition without thinking I may fall to my knees in agony.
I have a lot of faith that we’re here for a reason and that most things in life that are difficult or a struggle are meaningfully preparing us for something later in life.
The down time gave me a lot of time to read and read and read and read. I felt like I was in college without the fake IDs and beer pong. In fact, I had fancied myself pretty good at the whole points schtick. I went from having a pre-surgery points GED to post surgery Masters. The more I read, the more obsessed I became. I spent hours and hours everyday on blogs and threads. That was the great thing about having the injury…I couldn’t do anything else.
I also talked about it a lot. People started egging me to take my passion to page and publish a blog. In hindsight, they probably did this so I’d just shut up and talk about something else. Regardless it got me thinking…how would my voice be different? I’m a monkey according to the Chinese Zodiac, and my mom had given me Miles years ago as a gift. One night I was looking at Miles sitting on a shelf and the idea hit me: Miles the Monkey. A voice that was clever, fun, light, and started a lot of conversations.
MonkeyMiles first blogged trip was the feature picture: a $20k+ trip for a wedding in England that only set me back $400.
It was roughly 6 months after my surgery that I began writing with Miles and haven’t looked back since. It’s created a whole new aspect to my life, provided unbelievable adventures, a new business, excuses to meet up with friends, and introduced me to an entire group of people at BoardingArea that couldn’t be nicer or more supportive. My life is undeniably fuller and without a bad back, surgery, pain, and my acting career taking a hit, I would never be here.
So I thank YOU for coming along with me on this journey. Through trials come triumph.
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
60k Points after $4k spend in 3 months
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 60k points after $4k spend in 3 months
- Worth $750 in Chase Travel℠ and way more if you maximize transfer partners
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2024
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex℠and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
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