Category Archives for Credit Cards.
Y’all know I love a good opportunity to stack!
Well shiver me timbers and ’tis the season, but I’ve been putting most of my spending these days on… Amex cards?! Yup, even though I recently product changed to the precious Chase Sapphire Reserve.
For regular spending, I’m meeting the minimum requirement on the Hilton Amex (no fee version). And for everything else, I’ve been using my Starwood Amex business card to run payments through Plastiq. It’s just too good of a deal right now.
Here’s why.
Also see:
It’s no secret I’m a Hilton fanboy. I lurve them because they make earning points a breeze. And they actually give you a healthy amount of points for staying at their hotels, unlike Hyatt and Starwood (!).
Are Hilton points inflated? Hell yeah. But so are the earning rates.
I loved using my Hilton points at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Honolulu last month
I’ve found good deals with Hilton points, and not because I looked a long time. They’re out there – as with any type of hotel points.
I love the 5th night free perk on award stays when you have any type of status.
And 75,000 Hilton points can be worth over $1,000, as we’ve seen before.
At a bare minimum, there’s no reason why you can’t get $400+ of value from 75,000 Hilton points. Considering the card has no annual fee (and is therefore free to keep), that’s a great deal – and a decent sign-up bonus.
A handy little card with a decent sign-up bonus, if you have a Hilton stay in mind.
Oh, Citi Prestige. How prestigious you once made me feel. You’re probably still my favorite card overall, but your shine has tarnished since I fell for you in November 2015.
Since then, you’ve returned well over $2,000 in value for me. And you’re still giving.
My lagan love, Citi Prestige
But, cruel winter awaits. As of July 23rd, 2017, you can’t have my heart any more. I’ll have to take it back. You’re going to change.
Like a trojan horse, Chase unleashed the Chase Sapphire Reserve which now blows you out of the water.
Citi, you were competing so well. What happened? (My guess is they were losing too much dinero.)
A once-great card that’s now only worth it if you have a lot of paid hotel stays of 4+ nights.
I caved. And called Chase. Asked if they’d let me change my Chase Sapphire Preferred to the Chase Sapphire Reserve. And thankfully, they did.
I’m happy to report I’m now the owner of a shiny new Chase Sapphire Reserve card.
Got itttt
Here’s why I did it.
Update 10/4/16: It looks like Kohl’s gift card purchases from the MPX app are NOT coding as department store as expected. Peeps in the comments say it didn’t work with their Chase Freedom cards.
No dice here, either 🙁
I haven’t heard of this happening before now, so I will gather new data points before I recommend this moving forward. Thanks to all who let me know!
I’m bummed about this, but at least we got the 1,500 United miles (worth ~$30) as consolation. Though I would’ve preferred the cashback.
Update 10/3/16: This deal has expired. I plan on writing about my experience with it – here’s how to keep up with the blog so you’ll get the updates!
Need a little rush this weekend? How about buying $600+ worth of appliances at Kohl’s?
Last year they had a similar appliance deal I didn’t take part in. But this year I did.
Now before you think I’m crazy (although it may be waaay too late for that), let me explain.
This is a moneymaker if you do it right!
Hat tip to Jill Cataldo for blogging about this and my friend Jas for turning me on to this deal!
I feel like I say this every time I write about Kohl’s, but… it’s no secret I freaking love Kohl’s.
Right now, they have a lot of appliances on sale for $17, including:
Lots of appliances for $17
In total, there are 8 kitchen appliances at the $17 price.
All of the items have a $12 Visa gift card rebate
And, all of the items linked above are eligible for a $12 mail-in rebate. You get a Visa gift card with a limit of 5 per product.
That means if you buy 5 of all 8 items, you can get 40 X $12 back, or $480.
Right now, there’s also a 15% promo code: SMS1871. And it does work for these items.
When you add all of them to your cart and add the promotion code, the total is ~$625. You also get $110 in Kohl’s cash to spend next week.
I paid ~$625 for all 40 appliances
Note that taxes in your state might be different than mine! In Texas, the taxes came to ~$48.
And, you must purchase the items by tomorrow, October 2nd, 2016, to qualify for the rebate (here’s the rebate form). Cheers to the weekend!
Update: One or more card offers below are NO LONGER AVAILABLE. Please check here for the latest deals!
Well color me surprised. I wasn’t expecting to see any type of limited-time offer on the Amex Starwood cards again. But now we have one, although it’s only on the business version of the card.
And, it’s dumb. Geez, Amex, it’s like you’re on the Titanic, and about halfway across the Atlantic right now…
The most restrictive offer ever on an otherwise so-so card. Either Amex is desperate or thinks we’re stupid… or both. Not worth it for most.
Also see:
Interesting offer from Barclaycard.
They’ve had a so-so year with their cards, with a limited-time increase to 50,000 miles on the Miles & More card, the release of 2 decent JetBlue cards, and now this.
The typical sign-up bonus on the Barclaycard Arrival Plus is 40,000 Arrival miles, so this offer adds an extra $100+ of incentive.
Perhaps Barclaycard is rethinking their strategy with this card, as they should. It used to have a lot more features and benefits – but those have been cut, leaving behind a product that’s unremarkably ordinary.
The new limited-time 50,000 mile offer on the Barclaycard Arrival Plus
With a ~$500+ sign-up bonus, it might be worth a look.
Update: This offer is no longer available. Check here for the most current card offers.
For my first Honest Review, I’ll come to a card I haven’t written about yet: the Chase Sapphire Reserve. Make that THE Chase Sapphire Reserve.
I’ve avoided mentioning it because, well, most of us can’t get it because of Chase’s prohibitive 5/24 rule. But, if you’re new to the points & miles world, wow. What a great place to start.
Or, if you can manage to get yourself a pre-approval in-branch (no dice here!), definitely pick it up.
You can tell if you’re really pre-approved is if Chase gives you a definite APR. If they give you a range, you’re pre-qualified, not pre-approved. You want that definite number.
The Chase Sapphire Reserve is in here, or at least you’d think judging from the publicity
Another strategy would be to say screw it and apply anyway. If you’re denied, have another Chase card waiting in the wings that isn’t covered by 5/24, which are at the time of writing:
That way the inquiries will hopefully combine and hey, at least you’ll have something.
Hidey ho from gorgeous and sunny Honolulu, Hawaii, where I’ve spent the last week doing absolutely nothing!
Well, not entirely nothing. I worked on a new column for Out and Out and wanted to introduce it.
I like applying for new credit cards to boost my points and miles balances (as I’m sure most of us do). And I already write about various offers from time to time.
So I thought it would be a fun exercise to make a format out of it that’s easier to read and follow – and one that’s standardized. So here’s Honest Reviews – my honest take on credit card offers.
Also see:
I’ll go ahead and tell you the moral of this story: tend to your reservations.
After booking 4 flights to Honolulu, then adding my little brother into the mix, the final piece of the puzzle was to book the hotel rooms.
Update: Wow, instant response! Chuck from Doctor of Credit let me know this may or may not work. So for now, I think the best thing to do is start slow at your local Staples (like try $5 and see if it works) and go from there, should you decide to try this. Thanks all for any info you want to add!
I was poking around as I am wont to do and assembled an 8X combination that I think will work.
Now, I haven’t done this myself, but it seems totally do-able.
What you’ll need to get started is:
Such as:
You can also get 5X on top of what you’ll earn from any other card with the exception of a couple of Amex cards.
Or, if you’re trying to meet a minimum spending requirement and want to get an extra 3X at office supply stores, this should work nicely.
So here’s an idea I’ve been tossing around.
It absolutely burns me up that I’m still dealing with student loan debt. And it should. Mr. Money Mustache said it best:
YOUR DEBT IS NOT SOMETHING YOU “WORK ON”. IT IS A HUGE, FLAMING EMERGENCY!!!
I’ve put off paying down this debt because there have been other opportunities to earn more: I bought a house, maxed out my IRA, started Airbnbs, and now I’m looking at buying a duplex in the DFW area.
All of these things either appreciate or earn more than the interest I pay on my student loans.
But I’ll be damned if carrying that balance doesn’t give me a red rump.
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.