Monthly Archives for July 2015.
Like it or not, in this country you need good credit. It’s as avoidable as death or taxes. As in, not at all.
Starting out with credit cards, you’ll encounter a catch-22: you need good credit to get a credit card, but you need a credit card to build good credit.
No annual fee cards are NOT boring. In fact, they have some innovative rewards!
A good place to start is no annual fee cards.
I’m just read through an old scrapbook from 1991 to 1993. Yup, I still have some things from nearly 25 years ago.
My little brother hadn’t been born yet, and I wrote a lot of letters to my family. Once I learned how to address envelopes and send letters, I sat down and wrote all the time. And when I got a letter in the mail, I’d get so excited. I thought it was the best thing in the world – to get a letter in the mail.
I was lucky to have a supportive family while growing up in rural Mississippi. My Mom was always there to take care of me, and I still talk to her on the phone constantly.
This letter from my Gramma is over 23 years old by now, and I still think about it
My grandmother taught me about positive thinking early on. I’ll never forget a phrase I read in one of her letters.
“You can do anything you set your mind to.”
It was the first piece of advice that really stuck with me, and it was a good one. The letter came on June 4th, 1992. I was seven years old at the time.
Random thought of the evening.
I’m going through my cards and want to dump:
And replace them with:
The hitch is that you have to wait ~8 days between applications with Citi, so I’m not sure which of their cards to get first. But I’m warming up to the idea of Category 1 and 2 Hilton hotels – there’s a ton of value to be had there.
Anyway.
Via The Points Guy, tomorrow is the last day to sign up for the Hyatt Diamond Challenge (something that’s always tempted me). You’ll have 60 days to complete it when you sign up (so until September 30th).
And via View From the Wing, the Citi Prestige card’s 4th night free benefit is “too good” to last. (I agree.)
Hyatt hotels are easily bookable with the Citi Prestige travel program. (Here’s the link to Carlson Wagonlit to search.)
A quick search in Dallas turned up 6 Hyatts, most under $100 a night
If you book a 4-night stay for $100 a night, you’d pay $300 (after the Citi Prestige statement credit).
Do this 3 times in 60 days, pay $900, get Hyatt Diamond status. Any many hotels are available for under $100.
If you have Hyatt stays coming up anyway, this might be something to mix-and-match with cash + points stays.
And hotels booked with the Citi Prestige card do earn elite credit.
Also see:
I’ve written lots about the AMEX Fidelity card. It’s such a great addition to any wallet. (Too bad they’ve lost the WorldPoints mall, though.)
Now that the Barclaycard Arrival Plus is a Barclaycard Arrival Minus, I recommend the Fidelity AMEX as a card to take its place.
BUT, before you sign up, remember you can get an easy $600 with the Discover It card – and the double cash back promotion has been extended until September 30th! (I’m signing up this weekend, on August 1st. And it’s available via my links!)
For non-bonused spend – think oil changes, dentist, post office – the AMEX Fidelity card is great. That’s because when you hit 5,000 points, you can redeem for a $50 statement credit to your Roth IRA (which is tax-fee forever!), college savings account… or cash management account.
Also see:
Activated charcoal FTW
After reading an article by fellow Brooklynite Jenny on Healthy Crush about activated charcoal, I had to try it.
Activated charcoal is made by burning something carbon-based, like wood or coconut shells to remove all of the oxygen. What’s left is a highly absorbent material filled with millions of tiny pores that trap and bind gas and toxins and can carry thousands of times its weight.
That’s really cool.
It comes in capsules and looks like this:
Activated charcoal capsules
UPDATE: One or more of these offers are no longer available. Click here to see the latest deals!
Spoiler alert. On this list, I find the FIA Fidelity AMEX to be the most valuable. I just love that card so much.
Thank you for being a friend – and for NOT being issued by American Express
And this post is gonna be focused on Serve.
Note: It is possible to send money between Serve and REDbird, or Serve and Bluebird.
So if you’re managing multiple cards, you can get a Serve card, load it up for $1,000 each month, and send it to Bluebird or REDbird to pay bills that normally don’t accept credit cards. Like student loans, utilities, mortgage payments, or anyone else.
Also see:
Correct me if I’m being thick because I definitely have my “forest for the trees” moments.
Meaning of value… are you in there? Oh, there you are.
I read an article on Point Me to the Plane about a flight that got 2.5 cents per Delta mile.
Then the comments read: if you wouldn’t pay cash for the flights, that’s not how much the points/miles are worth.
But… I use points and miles for flights and hotels specifically because I won’t pay cash for them.
In fact, I’ve planned entire trips (like Hawaii, Paris, RTW/Australia, and Eurotrip 2014 in Lufthansa First Class) that I would’ve never paid for if it weren’t for points and miles.
I did NOT pay $7,243 for this flight… but I did pay 40,000 Avios + $453 in fuel surcharges. So what are the points worth?
I thought… that was the “point” of points and miles?
Also see:
The Points Guy posted about a couple of offers that came up on Cardmatch today:
And the commenters mentioned a couple of other offers.
So I headed to Cardmatch on CreditCards.com to see what came up… cuz I would’ve totally gone for the 100K Platinum biz offer.
I was targeted for the 100K Platinum personal offer, but I already have that card.
Then I scrolled down and noticed:
30K Points for the AMEX EveryDay Preferred
That’s a good deal!
I’ve written about the AMEX EveryDay Preferred card before.
I got the card with a 15K bonus over a year ago. Just paid the $95 annual fee on it and can say this one’s definitely a keeper (unlike the US Bank Club Carlson Visa Signature, Chase British Airways Visa Signature, and Barclaycard Arrival Plus).
I use the card as intended, mostly at grocery stores and Costco (for now), with a couple of other purchases here and there. (I use Amazon Allowance to help me meet 30 transactions per month to trigger 1.5 AMEX Membership Rewards points per $1 spent.)
I also wrote about my experience getting the card. It’s the only card I’ve ever been straight-up denied for. Until I called AMEX and asked WTF? and then they approved me anyway.
Along with the stellar offers for 100K points for AMEX Platinum and 50K points for AMEX PRG, add this one to the pool.
It’s double the usual sign-up bonus and is a very worthwhile card to have.
Check Cardmatch on CreditCards.com to see if you were targeted (under “Free Interactive Tools” on the right).
I’ve had the card for a year now and really recommend it. It has 0% interest for 15 months to start out, and you can always downgrade it to the no annual fee version after 11 months if you don’t like it.
Were you targeted for anything good on Cardmatch? Was your offer different?
Did you hear about the new travel jacket that’s blowing Kickstarter out of the water?
They only wanted to raise $20,000, but as of today, they’ve blown past the $1M mark.
…And I think I want one.
They start at $109 and go up from there.
The Baubax Travel Jacket is loaded with features
It comes in 4 styles (and multiple colors) for men and women:
I’m partial to the blue hoodie myself 😉
All of the styles look functional and comfortable. And the company is based in Chicago. Holla!
I think it’s interesting how they’ve chosen multiple types of fabric and recommend a style based on the temperature where it’s worn.
Different fabrics for each style
And each one is best worn at a certain temp
Of all the features, I think my favorites are the neck pillow and built-in gloves.
And with all the pockets, I could definitely bring along my coconut oil and apple cider vinegar. 🙂
Thought this was cool and wanted to share.
A little over $100… not a bad price, considering all the features.
But it seems like time’s running out if you wanna get one. And I can’t make up my mind!
On the fence.
Have you guys seen this jacket? Did you (or will you) get one?
Also see:
Out and Out is starting a partnership with AirHelp.
AirHelp is an app for filing claims when you’re involuntarily bumped from a flight
I’ll be doing a few posts for their blog where I’ll talk about travel tips and experiences beyond the usual points and miles stuff.
Check out my first post!: Travel Insiders: Travel on the Cheap with “Out and Out”
Also see:
I was excited to explore this dark alleyway of the internet, because there are so few rewards debit cards left.
No bueno
This one, through SmarterBucks and Radius Bank seemed like it was gonna be a doozy. But, unfortunately, it’s pretty worthless, for me at least. I’m gonna have to DTMFA.
I’ll explain.
The Cambria Hotel & Suites in Manhattan celebrated its grand opening on July 14, 2015.
Cambria is part of Choice Hotels, and the Chelsea location is the first in New York!
Out and Out was excited to attend the grand opening celebration, and to talk with key members of the Choice Hotel senior management team about the hotel and Choice Privileges, the hotel chain’s loyalty program.
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.