Monthly Archives for April 2014.
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I just reviewed my latest post and I’ve written about Amex a LOT recently. This is neither a good thing nor a bad thing. Chase’s products are functioning smoothly and as they should; I still love the Arrival card; still jammin’ on my Club Carlson Visa. The only anomaly recently has been with Amex.
I was a bad boy for both flights and showed up at the airport in time to hop into the boarding lane and sit down at my seat. The events leading up to both points were harried. Teeth were knashed, hands were wrung, but I made it. I didn’t have time to make a visit to the new SkyClub at T4, though I was very close it. I’ve been there before and wasn’t overly impressed. If anything, I would’ve liked to’ve seen if the recent Amex Platinum Card changes have thinned the ranks somewhat, because last time was a crowded, near-hellish experience. And at SEA, I didn’t want to miss any of FTU so left as late as possible.
I do have to give it to Delta. They’ve got things figured out. Their operations are great, they’re profitable, and the flights I were on were damn near full. Good for them.
I wish Delta’s SkyMiles program was different. I wish they treated their partners like partners and not bastard stepchildren (American, by contrast, treats their partners very well). I wish they’d step off of this revenue kick they’ve been on lately and keep things like how they were before. But that’s all “wishful” thinking.
I wrote yesterday about the new ability to see category bonuses on the Amex website. I also wrote previously about a secret/hidden benefit of the PRG card – that online transactions were posting at 3 points per dollar. In introducing this new category bonus transparency, Amex revealed two things: 1) the unpublished 3x bonus was long-lived and 2) it is now gone.
3 points per dollar for Amazon Payments? Yes, please!
In the first photo, from May 2013, you can see that I had luck getting 3 Membership Rewards per dollar for all online transactions, including Amazon Payments. As you can imagine, this was a boon for my manufactured spending. I also got the 3x bonus for Birchbox, an online subscription service.
In the second photo, from March 2014, I got the standard 1 point per dollar – but it is coded as an internet purchase, NOT a cash advance, which is good to know – and it did earn me Membership Rewards points.
I was hanging on to the PRG card for this unpublished benefit. Now that it’s gone, and I have the EveryDay Preferred card, I have no use for this card any mre. And at $175 per year, it screams “cancel me.”
Going forward, I recommend the EveryDay Preferred card unless you know you’ll meet the $30,000 spending threshold to get the 15K Membership Rewards bonus. In all other cases, default to the EveryDay Preferred. You can read more of my analysis of these two cards in this post.
Having that bonus for online transactions was a good benefit. Now that category bonuses are visible on the website, it seems that this benefit has been removed.
Dear readers, I have two things hanging around that I know I won’t use. You all know how much I love Kohl’s, and I have $10 in Kohl’s cash that I’d like to give away to someone who’ll use it, as well as a promo code for shoes.com
It’s only $10, but I’d hate to see it go to waste. It’s good until May 3rd. Leave a comment here on this post with your email, and I’ll send it over on Thursday, May 1st. Be sure to specify whether you’d like the Kohl’s Cash or shoes.com code.
I bought some Chucks and got a promo code included for $15 off any order over $75. If you hit it right at about $75, this equates to ~20% off. This one’s good until May 31st. Leave a comment here on this post with your email, and I’ll send it over on Thursday, May 8th. Be sure to specify whether you’d like the Kohl’s Cash or shoes.com code.
And that’s it. I know it’s not a lot, but I’d rather give these away that let them expire.
Thanks for reading Out & Out!
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It’s no secret that Amex LOVES to screw me out of signup bonuses due to incompetent phone agents, and (admittedly) my own love of drunken app-o-ramas whereby I don’t properly read the T&Cs.
But, I am happy to report, I HAVE RECEIVED AN AMEX SIGNUP BONUS for the EveryDay Preferred card.
Interesting to note: the bonus posted when the statement closed, which is unusual for Amex. The bonus usually posts about two months later after being tantalizingly viewable in the “Pending points” section of Amex for over a month.
In fact, I was SO not expecting that I only found out about it via an email from AwardWallet (which everyone should have if you don’t already).
Sure enough, this was reflected on my Amex account:
My rewards accounts are always low. That’s because I earn and BURN. Don’t trust any program for too long. They can and WILL devalue.
15K Membership Rewards is enough for a round-trip ticket to Toronto or Montreal from NYC, or any other short-haul flight on American or US Airways via British Airways Avios. It is also enough to fly to the Caribbean one-way from NYC. It is also enough for a domestic one-way with lots of other programs (Aeroplan and JetBlue come to mind) . Be sure to review the full list of Amex partners and keep all your options open as they have 17 airline partners.
This bonus isn’t hefty or anything, but the earning potential sure is. Now, if they’d only increase my credit limit, I’d be a total happy camper.
Yay for Amex! And bonus points (not the kind that you can use for travel) if you immediately knew the title of this post is a quote from Romy and Michele. 🙂
Amex is the company I hate to love and love to hate. Finally, after over two years, I have received an Amex bonus. The earth is moving.
While poking around the Amex website today, I headed over to the Membership Rewards section and saw something I’ve never seen before. They’ve added a super helpful new feature that shows you an exact breakdown of every points-eligible transaction for each statement period. Chase has had this functionality for a few of their cards for a while, so kudos to Amex for adding this.
Here’s an example of activity from my Premier Rewards Gold account. I paid $7.50 for taxes on my recent award ticket to Seattle for FTU when I burned all my SkyMiles. Airfare earns 3 points per dollar, and sure enough, that earning structure is reflected in this transaction.
It also shows activity for gas, grocery, and other bonus category purchases (depending on the card). Also interesting is that it worked for all of my Amex accounts. I have four at this point: Delta Platinum SkyMiles, the Platinum Card, the EveryDay Preferred, and the PRG (as in the pic above).
To view your activity, click the “Rewards” tab, then “Activity Detail.” Your recent statements will appear with a note that says “See Card Bonus Detail” if you had eligible purchases in that statement period.
While not earth-shattering, this is a nice perk that helps you to track benefits more efficiently. It has also lead me to plan a rewrite for a previous post about a possible hidden benefit of the PRG card.
Curious if this works for ALL of their cards or just some of them. Does anyone else see this new bonus category breakdown when they log into their Amex accounts?
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Is this a game changer? Or just a game enhancer as per the comments on this post from Travel With Grant?
Typing this on a Delta plane on the way back to NYC. Feeling overwhelmed in the best way possible by the experience I’ve had in Seattle.
FTU Seattle was a great experience. I was able to attend 7 out of the 10 sessions – had to leave early to get back to NYC. The flight selection was limited since I burned all my SkyMiles for this trip, so had to take what I could get.
I have a lot to catch up on and a lot of new observations I’d like to share. Going to gouge myself with Girl Scout cookies (thanks, Jasmin!) and make a few new posts.
Oh, and here are the states I have left to visit:
By the time this is up, I’ll already be in Seattle.
However, right now, I am on a Delta plane burning the last of my SkyMiles.
To lament briefly, it’s a shame. I love Delta’s brand, operations, flight attendants, and route network. They are a huge presence here in NYC, both at LGA and JFK. It would be so easy to pledge my loyalty to Delta. But all the other stuff makes me not want to have anything to do with them – the gutting of SkyMiles, the way they treat their “partners”, the unannounced changes, and all the rest.
In any regard, I am enjoying the flight and service, and am excited about getting to Seattle. It will be my first time there, and my first FTU.
Will definitely report back about my stays at Hyatt Place and the airport Marriott in Seattle, impressions of Delta First Class, and of course all the things I learned at FTU.
If you happen to be there, totally say hello. There’s a pic of me on the About page (and in various trip reports).
Happy travels!
Always a good feeling to wake up to an extra $50 when you don’t expect it. Last week, I talked about my experience getting the Amex Serve card after ditching Bluebird. I’m currently testing out different banks to see if they charge cash advance fees + give me points for using credit cards. So far, I’ve confirmed US Bank does not charge any fees and they already posted my Club Carlson points.
Right now and until the end of June, Serve is running a promo that gives $50 for two direct deposits of $250 or more. The questions in mind when I saw this were:
Bluebird generates a monthly statement like any other bank account. I thought maybe Serve would do the same thing and post the bonus at the end of a statement cycle, that is, if Amazon Payments counted at all.
I can confirm that Amazon Payments does indeed work as direct deposit AND that the bonus posts as soon as the second direct deposit clears.
All in a day’s work
I loaded $1,000 to Amazon Payments after getting in on the recent (and current!) 6.6% cashback at the Arrival portal. It’s a great way to generate some points and liquidate Amex gift cards. In fact, I just ordered a second round.
From there, I sent over two direct deposits of $250 to my Serve account simultaneously.
This morning, all the cash was in the account with the bonus $50. Can’t beat that!
If you’re at all interested in getting a Serve account, I highly recommend signing up using this promo link and scoring an extra $50 for doing so.
Serve is a great complement to the points and miles world if you’re far from a Walmart and can’t load up Bluebird at CVS any more. Or if Walmart stops accepting gift cards for Bluebird reloads. (There have been reports that this might be starting to happen.) $1,000 a month is the credit card load limit (on the non-Isis version) for Serve accounts. It isn’t much, but it’s enough to pay a few bills and still get some points rolling in. Every little bit helps. It really does! – I did some quick math on this post.
I had the opportunity to go down to Charlotte, NC on US Airways earlier this week. Even though my Amex Platinum Card doesn’t get me into American’s Admirals Clubs or US Airways Clubs any more, I was still able to get in thanks to a recent award redemption with American’s Business Extra program.
I flew JFK-CLT and had high hopes for the US Airways Club at CLT since it is one of their hub airports. I was not disappointed.
I checked into the Club at around 8:20am. It was pretty empty. I really only had time to grab a to-go coffee and slap on a tie. But I returned at around 3pm and got to hang out for a couple of hours and snap some photos. Both times, check-in was a breeze and the agents couldn’t have been more friendly.
Update 3/3/15: US Bank credit cards are no good with Serve. It is coding as a cash advance.
Update 11/2/14: I tried to load up Serve with my Chase British Airways and it is coding as a cash advance! I have also read reports that the Sapphire and Freedom are starting to code as CA, too – so with Chase, beware.
I also loaded up $5 with my US Bank Club Carlson Visa. It is still on my account as a pending transaction – will post with an update soon.
For now, I am using my FIA Fidelity Amex. I couldn’t get the Serve website to accept my Barclaycard Arrival no matter how many times I tried. No idea why. But it took my Fidelity Amex on the first try, so not sure if the website is glitching out or what. Just keep an eye on Serve. I think it’s starting to go the way of Vanilla Reloads, unfortunately.
Update 10/12/14: There is some speculation that US Bank (and possibly other banks) are starting to code Serve reloads as cash advances. These fees destroy any value you get from a points-earning credit card. I have already loaded my $1,000 this month so can’t personally test until November. I’d recommend loading up $5 and giving it a few days – let the transaction post. If you are charged a fee, avoid any other cards issued by that bank. The next step in manufactured spend is hopefully just around the corner!
As you guys know, I just ditched Bluebird and got a Serve card to help manufacture some spend post-Vanilla Reloads at CVS.
From what I understand, you can still purchase Vanilla Visa cards with a credit card at CVS, assign it a PIN with the first purchase, and use a service like Evolve Money to make bill payments. I may employ this method soon to pay student loans and electricity bills (HT: Neil). Just make sure your payee is in their system before you get started.
Hello and welcome to Out and Out! My name is Harlan – I’m a points and miles enthusiast who loves to travel. I am interested in personal finance, the power of positive thinking, and the extraordinary journeys that make life worth living.