Tag Archives for amex.
As I look out onto the barren fields where credit card crops once grew, I mourn the loss of Chase (with the 5/24 rule). Of Citi (when they shut down so many peeps’ accounts). And definitely of AMEX (1 bonus per lifetime? Um, OK). Barclays and Bank of America are both one-card wonders (Arrival for sign-up bonus and Alaska Visa, respectively).
I don’t know about you, but I’ve received a lot of terrible offers lately. Here are the best of the worst.
The credit card landscape is shifting fast:
Card offers come and go. Benefits change. Mergers happen and shake things up. Revenue-based elite status throws a wrench into points-earning calculations.
Could ThankYou become the go-to?
Lately, I’ve been using my Citi cards for most of big purchases. And my trusty Chase Sapphire Preferred for dining.
Non-bonused spend goes on the Fidelity AMEX (I still have the AMEX version). And that’s pretty much it. All the other cards I have are for niche benefits or very specific spending (Chase Hyatt Visa, for example).
Recently, I went ahead and canceled the Chase British Airways Visa.
Bye, you useless thing
And downgraded my US Bank Club Carlson Visa Signature to the no annual fee version just to keep the credit line and history intact (here’s my recent offer to increase my credit line in exchange for 250 Club Carlson Gold points).
Citi’s been hit-or-miss with peeps calling in about various website errors recently.
Doctor of Credit shared an experience about getting a 5,000 bonus Citi ThankYou points because the Citi Prestige application site showed an error on earning 3X ThankYou points on all travel purchases including gas.
Error alert!
It actually earns 3X points on airfare and hotel purchases, not travel broadly defined – probably my only complaint on this otherwise incredible card. (Here’s how much I’ve saved I picked up the card in November 2015. And it’s available via my links if you decide to apply.)
Happy New Year! I thought I’d hop on the bandwagon with the predictions. So here’s my effort.
“Everyone else is doing it, so why can’t we?”
A portrait of the Fidelity AMEX card
There’s a great AMEX offer for a $20 statement credit when you spend $50+ at Jet.com. Play it right and that’s ~40% off your purchase! (Check your accounts online, or sync via Twitter with #AmexJet.)
But here’s something I noticed.
The language is a bit different than usual AMEX Offers
There’s no mention of having to spend $50 in 1 transaction.
Another AMEX Offer with the typical conditions
There are several other AMEX Offers that do say you have to spend the required amount all in 1 go, like the one for Delivery.com.
The other day, when I wrote about my experience booking a hotel room in Martinique, I pulled up the Mercez app to see what exchange rate I’d get on $1,118 Euros with the Citi Prestige card.
Lots of cards advertise “no foreign transaction fees” which means they don’t add extra fees to the amount they convert.
Mercez tells you the real rate for each of your cards
But what’s interesting is not all banks convert cash at the same rate.
The amounts can add up, especially if you spend a lot (or live) abroad.
Also see:
And, bye EveryDay Preferred, hello ThankYou Premier?
Recently, I’ve seriously been pondering why it is I hang on to my AMEX cards.
I’ve had at least 2 since 2012, and haven’t accumulated enough points to actually do much.
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.
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:
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?
<3
Sorry for the hyperbole slash clickbait-y title. I thought I was being on trend.
But seriously, I love this card. I’m close to being obsessed with it:
We all love our points and miles. But I’ve been reading about straight cashback cards for a sec now, and the poor Fidelity Amex always gets swept under the rug.
Well no longer. This card is a gem. It has so much going for it. And it might just be the ace in the back pocket of cashback cards, which by default makes it the best cashback card in the universe.
Also see:
Since I’m without REDbird and just have Serve as an option here in NYC, I’ve been thinking a lot about how to best use Serve following its move to Amex-only cards after April 16th.
They’re really not leaving consumers with a whole lot of options, but there are a few ways to get some great value and/or handy uses out of Serve using just American Express cards.
In this post, I produced a list of all the Amex cards that are not issued by American Express.
Why?
Credit cards issued by American Express will not earn points and will not count toward minimum spend when used to load Serve. Which is so lame. I’d love to be able to use the Amex EveryDay Preferred to load this puppy up.
But alas, we take what we can get.
Why don’t other bloggers talk about this card more? This is my number one use of this card following April 16th. I’ve written about this card in detail many times before.
The transactions post flawlessly and are coded as purchases and earn free money.
I loaded up my Serve this month with my Barclays AAdvantage Aviator Red MasterCard for $990 to take AAdvantage of the 50% bonus that I was targeted for a few weeks ago to earn some extra free miles.
But then I loaded up the remaining $10 to my FIA Fidelity Amex to see how it would post.
Serve reloads code as purchases with FIA
And points post without any issue
What does this mean?
You can earn an extra completely, totally 100% free $240 to credit toward an IRA, brokerage account, or checking account for 1 minute of “work” each month. I use the Serve iPhone app to blearily load up my Serve account from bed the first 5 days of each month. It takes me literally seconds. This is the easiest money I’ve ever earned in my life, I think. I consider this, by far, the best use of the Serve card after April 16th.
Why?
The FIA Fidelity Amex has no annual fee and earns an unlimited 2% cash back on every purchase… including Serve reloads.
Say you get the FIA Fidelity Amex, which is free, and the Serve card, which is also free, and load up $1,000 each month and then pay it off.
You’d be stashing away a free $240 annually into a retirement account with very little effort.
I plugged in my own numbers into Bloomberg’s retirement calculator, and, assuming I contribute nothing but the $240 each year (and it grows at 7% annually) between now and when I’m 68, I’d have a totally free $40,000+ waiting for me on the other side.
My $240 a year would grow to over $40,000 for my retirement
This whole Serve reload thing probably won’t last for the next 38 years, but take the free money while you can. I like to stash away at least $200-$400 per month into my IRA, and the extra $20 isn’t much but with compound interest on your side, a little truly goes a long way. And this is completely free money. Which is awesome, and there is no reason not to take advantage of this if you can.
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.