Credit Cards

Category Archives for Credit Cards.

Taking another look at MasterCard World Elite Benefits

by Harlan 3 Comments

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a credit card with text and images

A new World Elite

I’d already decided last month to keep the Barclaycard Arrival for another year. This weekend, I logged in to see if some points had posted for the gifts cards I purchased on a recent spree of manufactured spend.

I was asked to verify my address and contact info – no biggie, didn’t think too much of it. And then, I noticed the logo of the Arrival card looked a little different. It was now a Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite Mastercard.

Surely enough, the entire blogosphere exploded with this news. I’m not one to parrot news, so I’d recommend reading this post by Million Mile Secrets that outlines all the new changes. I already have a World Elite Mastercard (the Ink Plus from Chase), but having two of a nice product never hurts. Read More

Canceled the PRG card and Amex let me switch credit allocations

by Harlan Leave A Comment

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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.

Smell ya later, PRG

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“Secret” Benefit of Amex Premier Rewards Gold Card is Gone

by Harlan Leave A Comment

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 In introducing this new category bonus transparency, Amex revealed two things: 1) the unpublished 3x bonus was long-lived and 2) it is now gone.

Screenshot 2014-04-28 12.19.08

3 points per dollar for Amazon Payments? Yes, please!

 

Screenshot 2014-04-28 12.23.29

 

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.

Bottom line

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.

Explosions! The earth is moving! (I got an Amex signup bonus.)

by Harlan Leave A Comment

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Background

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).

Screenshot 2014-04-28 15.05.36

 

Sure enough, this was reflected on my Amex account:

Screenshot 2014-04-28 12.21.38

 

Notes/Observations

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.

Bottom line

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.

Now you can see Amex bonus transactions online

by Harlan 1 Comment

prg-bonus-activity

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.

Screenshot 2014-04-28 12.17.01

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.

Bottom line

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?

Switching credit lines / allocations with American Express

by Harlan Leave A Comment

Activation notification via email from American Express

Activation notification via email from American Express

I got my new Amex EveryDay Preferred card the other day. Instead of being really excited about, like usual, I was sorta like, “Hrmph.” My credit limit was not… where I wanted it to be. I wasn’t satisfied by how low it was. Not to worry, I can just switch around lines of credit, right?

Denied again

I have two consumer lines of credit with Amex that are not charge cards: the Delta Skymiles Platinum card and now, the EveryDay Preferred card.

On the Delta card, let’s say I have a $10,000 credit limit, and on the EveryDay, let’s say they gave me $2,000. I have $12,000 in total to switch around however I want, in theory. $6,000 for each, for example. No problem, I thought, I’ll give Amex a call. Read More

Amex Premier Rewards Gold Vs. EveryDay Preferred

by Harlan 1 Comment

I find myself in the dilemma of whether or not to keep the American Express Premier Rewards Gold card or not now that I have the EveryDay Preferred card.

premier-rewards-gold amex

VS

amex-everyday

Premier Rewards Gold

This one is strong for big spenders, as spending over $30K triggers a bonus 15K Membership Rewards points. The earning structure for this one is:

  • 3x on airfare
  • 2x on gas and groceries
  • 1x everywhere else

And the annual fee is $175.

EveryDay Preferred

This one is good for smaller spenders or those that make a lot of “everyday” transactions. I’m definitely in this category. Living in NYC, it’s easy to acquire the 30 transactions a month needed to trigger the 50% bonus this card gives. The earning structure on this one is:

  • 3x at grocery stores
  • 2x at gas stations
  • 1x everywhere else

And the annual fee is $95.

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My Experience Getting the Amex EveryDay Preferred Card

by Harlan 10 Comments

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This was my first Amex experience where I was NOT instantly approved. In fact, I was straight up DENIED for the Amex EveryDay Preferred card.

I didn’t take a screen shot of the “denied” decision page because I was kind of shocked and didn’t think to do it. But yes, it said I would receive a letter in the mail… and all that yada yada.

This was to be my sixth Amex card, and the fourth issued directly from Amex (I have the Platinum Card, the Premier Rewards Gold, and Delta Platinum SkyMiles cards). Recently, I’ve been thinking of closing the PRG and/or Delta card because I really don’t use them all that much. I’d need to spend at least $30K on the PRG to make it worthwhile, and you all know how I feel about Delta by now.

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Just got the American Express EveryDay Preferred Card

by Harlan 9 Comments

Yes, another one (following the recent Kohl’s card).

The Amex EveryDay cards weren’t supposed to be live until April 2nd, but for whatever reason, they went ahead and released them early. I’ve been considering dumping one (or two) of my Amex cards after getting screwed out of Membership Rewards bonuses multiple times which caused me to wish Amex to DIAF.

I’ve decided to give them another chance due to this long overdue and solid entry into the premium card market, which pits them directly against my beloved Chase Sapphire Preferred and the Barclaycard Arrival Plus, which I just decided to keep for another year.

About the Amex EveryDay Preferred card

This card is truly set up to be an “everyday” card for daily spend. Their marketing people are geniuses. The card earns full Membership Rewards point which are fully transferable to 17 air and hotel partners. The signup bonus is a modest 15,000 Amex Membership points at the time of writing, which, who knows, maybe I’ll actually get this time.

I’m not using the Premier Rewards Gold card as much as I thought I would. Yes, it earns 3 points/dollar for airfare, but the other categories really aren’t much to write home about. The card is truly only worth keeping if you spend $30K in a year, which earns you a bonus 15,000 points.

So I’m glad they’ve put out a new card with a new new points earning structure:

  • 3x at grocery stores
  • 2x at gas stations
  • 1x everywhere else

That’s all fine and good. The kicker is that you get 50% more points if you use the card 30 times or more in a month. And you can track your progress on the mobile app and website. This forces you to constantly interact with the product to make sure you get the bonus each month. How smart is that?! I know I will be checking to make sure I get that bonus. It brings the spend categories to:

  • 4.5x at grocery stores
  • 3x at gas stations
  • 1.5 everywhere else

That is a wonderful earning structure.

By following our axiom of getting 2 cents of value out of every point or mile, we will effectively get this rate of return:

  • 9% back at grocery stores
  • 6% back at gas stations
  • 3% back everywhere else

That gives this card the best rate of return for travel in the industry. And yet, I don’t see it, personally, as a competitor to the Chase Sapphire Preferred. The CSP’s big categories are 2x points (4% cash back) at restaurants and on travel purchases, which makes these two cards unlikely complements of each other. Between the new Amex EveryDay Preferred and the Chase Sapphire Preferred, I’ve got a solid earning strategy for daily spend. But, the Barclay Arrival card is STILL valid thanks to its ease of earning, great shopping portal, free TripIt Pro, and really cool online community.

Bottom line

Overall, this is a very, very good thing and a welcome addition to the credit card market. The more, the merrier in this case.

I will be sure to post more thoughts as I begin to use and interact with the card and the app. But for now, very glad I got this one. It holds a lot of potential.

The BEST cashback card now has a signup bonus

by Harlan Leave A Comment

Fidelity_investment_card

A+

I’ve written at length about the Fidelity Investment Rewards American Express card.

Two choice quotes (yes, I am quoting myself):

“The unsung hero of cashback cards.” 

“The best cashback card on the market.” 

This card is good for:

  • Unbonused spending categories since it offers a flat 2% back on every single purchase
  • Keeping forever to boost credit history since it has no annual fee
  • Everyday spenders that don’t need/want to meet exorbitant spend requirements
  • Those who want to invest in the long-term instead of short term travel ventures

I have this card and find myself using it quite a lot. I keep it in my wallet and use it when I’m somewhere that is not in a bonus spend category (hardware stores, big box stores, random services) which happens more than I thought it would. It’s a nice way to “give myself” a bonus since I like to earn 2 points on every dollar I spend.

I also LOVE their shopping portal. It regularly offers larger payouts than other portals, including the already generous Chase Ultimate Rewards shopping portal. Except these points go right into your brokerage/IRA/college savings account for you to invest however you want, which is pretty cool. I always check this portal and am sometimes blown away by how large their payouts are. They also have more online stores than the other portals.

This card is quite the anomaly in the points and miles world: it’s an American Express card issued by a Bank of America subsidy that plugs directly into your account at Fidelity… what? How did those partnerships produce this card? 

But what about the Barclaycard Arrival?

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