Archive for the 'Credit Cards' Category
Tuesday, October 11th, 2011
Another credit card has upped their usual sign-up bonus given all the competition recently – this time it is the Marriott Rewards® Premier Credit Card from Chase. The offer for new Marriott cardholder includes
- 50,000 Marriott points after first purchase (see below for value)
- 1 Free Night Stay Certificate (Category 1-4)
- No foreign transaction fees.
- Free Silver elite status
- No annual fee the first year. Future years are $85, which also includes another free hotel night, up to Category 5.
I’m trying to work out if this card is worth it. Marriott points don’t appear to be convertible to gift certificates, so if you can’t use free hotel nights then this card isn’t for you. However, I’m trying to plan a Europe trip next year using mostly points and miles. I’m already counting on two free “expensive” nights from the Hyatt credit card, but given how expensive hotels are I want to see if I could stretch this card out for multiple free nights. Marriott properties include Renaissance Hotels, Courtyard, Residence Inn, and Fairfield Inn & Suites.
How far can 50,000 points take me? The redemption chart is below (click to enlarge). Pointsavers offer better redemption rates, but it doesn’t look like the high demand locations are often on that list. With 4 nights, you get the 5th night free. On a Category 2 hotel, it looks like I could theoretically get 7 nights out of this credit card deal (5 nights + 1 free + the 1 night free certificate).
Marriott Point Value Experiment – San Francisco
I’m not very familiar with Marriott points, so let’s test them out in San Francisco, California on a random weekday night in November.
San Francisco Marriott Union Square (Cat 6) = $400 a night = 30,000 points
Courtyard Oakland Emeryville (Cat 3) = $200 = 15,000 points
Residence Inn San Francisco Airport (Cat 4) = $240 a night = 20,000 points
Union Square is prime location, while the other two hotels would still place me near San Francisco and accessible via public transportation (BART). With this card, 50k points would be worth around $600, and I still have the 1 free night certificate. I could get 4 nights at the Courtyard Emeryville for 45k points + the certificate.
Marriott Point Value Experiment – Paris
Renaissance Paris Vendome Hotel (Cat 8.) = 40,000 points = 309 Euros = $420
Courtyard Paris Saint Denis (Cat 5) = 25,000 points = 199 Euros = $270
Again, the Vendome would be fancy and great location, while the St. Denis would be in an outer neighborhood but on the Metro line. The value of $50k points here is about $525, again excluding the separate Cat 4 free night certificate.
I would mentally reduce the calculated values a bit, since otherwise I’d probably use Priceline or Hotwire or similar to book a hotel. This may not be $700 value card, but should be safely a $400+ value for those with travel plans coming up. For my needs, if I can get at least 3 nights in Europe taken care of with this card, especially given the EUR/USD exchange rate, that should be a good value for us.
As before, compare with the other $500+ Bonus credit card promotions currently available.
Posted in Credit Cards, Deals & Offers | 10 Comments »
Thursday, October 6th, 2011
If you’ve been sitting on some ThankYou points, you should know that Citi likes to put certain redemption options on “sale” from time to time. Right now, you can get a $50 Amazon.com gift certificate for 4,900 points.* That’s even better than the 1 cent per point you’d get on a student loan or mortgage check. Search for “Amazon” under the gift cards category. Here’s a link and a screenshot. It may go in and out of stock, so check back later if you don’t see it right away.
This is actually a great fit for me, as the primary way I earn ThankYou points these days is with the Citi Forward Card, which earns 5 points for every $1 you spend on restaurants, book stores including Amazon.com, video rental stores, and movie theaters. I have confirmed that all Amazon.com purchases count as a bookstore under their categorization system.
I simply have this card as my default card on my Amazon.com account for the 5x points. You also get 1,000 points for signing up for paperless statements, and 100 points each month just for paying your bill on time and not going over your credit limit. No annual fee. Here are some other good ways to rack up ThankYou points:
* I must note that Citi has apparently decided to vary their redemption ratios depending on what kind of credit card that you use to earn your ThankYou points with. I have a few cards linked to mine, all with no annual fee, so I don’t know what is fancy enough or not. If you see a different value, list your card in the comments. I don’t like this solution at all, if anything they should just offer less points if they want to promote one card over another. Don’t mess with the actual value of a point.
Posted in Credit Cards, Deals & Offers | 26 Comments »
Friday, September 30th, 2011
The
Hyatt Credit Card by Chase with two free hotel nights anywhere promotion offers you one Free Night Award after your first purchase, and an additional Free Night Award after spending $1,000 in the first three months of account opening. The free nights are valid for a standard room at any Hyatt hotel worldwide, with no blackout dates, within one year of issuance. Award nights have no resort fees, no internet fees, and no redemption fees.
You get Hyatt Platinum member status with the credit card, but if you are already Platinum, the two free nights come with two suite upgrades. I’m happy this card is back because I don’t have it yet, and I was afraid they would dilute the bonus a lot more. My sister signed up for the card and already used it for a two-night stay at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress Orlando (Cat 5, $250 a night). I think I can do better. 
I just need to see if I can travel somewhere I can take advantage of this within the next year. There are also no foreign transaction fees for international purchases.
There is a $75 annual fee that is not waived, so keep that in mind… Now for the fun part. By cross-referencing Condé Nast Traveler’s Top Hotels and Travel+Leisure’s Top 500 Hotels with their highest level Category 5 & 6 listings, I found these spots with sample rates from from $500-$900 a night. These also tend to be in prime locations for sightseeing.
Also new: Upon renewing the card (for another $75) you will get another reward night at designated as Category 1 through 4. There are some nice Category 4 options for the renewal as well. These hotels definitely normally charge more than $75 a night, but only worth it if you would get the value out of it. Some of them charge up to $300 a night and are the poshest hotels in the area, like the Park Hyatt Saigon.
- Hyatt Regency Boston
- Hyatt Regency Chicago
- Hyatt Regency Orlando
- Hyatt Regency San Francisco
- Hyatt Regency Washington DC
- Park Hyatt Melbourne
- Grand Hyatt Beijing
- Grand Hyatt Shanghai
- Grand Hyatt Bangkok
- Park Hyatt Saigon
Ease of Award Redemption?
My sister was able to book her hotel with no issues, and most other experiences I have read about are positive. However, there was an issue with the Maui Hyatt which can be summarized from this InsideFlyer interview with a Hyatt representative:
Garrido (Inside Flyer):In a recent Flyertalk discussion, members said that some hotels (e.g. Hyatt Maui) are setting aside standard room inventory as part of package deals, thereby making rooms unavailable for free nights in a stealthy move around no blackout dates. Any comment?
Zidell (Hyatt): When we relaunched the Hyatt Gold Passport program last year, we removed all blackout dates and/or capacity controls on award inventory for standard rooms. As long as the hotel is selling standard rooms then these rooms are available for award redemption. Occasionally, award inventory will not be available because all standard rooms are sold or the hotel is only selling packages, which cannot currently be booked with Hyatt Gold Passport points. Overall, we have received very positive feedback regarding the availability of our award inventory.
I’ve haven’t heard of any other specific hotels doing this, but there are sometimes glitches with their online booking. I would use the phone to book your award nights, and if you have any problems, use the power of social media. Hyatt has Gold Passport “Concierges” all around the internet, and you can contact them easily via @hyattconcierge on Twitter. They seem very vigilant and have done a good job of solving any issues that do come up.
Posted in Credit Cards, Deals & Offers | 6 Comments »
Friday, September 30th, 2011
Southwest Airlines is offering 500 Rapid Rewards points if you sign up for their e-mail subscriptions for a monthly statement and deals newsletters. Relatively easy, and if you’re already signed up, try unsubscribing for a day or two and then signing up again at the link.
If you have a Southwest Airlines-affiliated credit card, you can get another 1,000 points by visiting this page and watching a 2-minute video. You’ll need to enter your RR number and the last 4 digits of your credit card at the end. Thanks for reader Brian for the tip. (Update: May be targeted to specific cardholders.)
Posted in Credit Cards, Deals & Offers | 9 Comments »
Thursday, September 29th, 2011
I was paying some bills online and noticed that my electricity bill had a new option for paying via a credit card through something called Western Union Speedpay. I’m not sure if this is universal, but for my utility company it accepted MasterCard, Visa, or Discover with a $4.95 convenience fee per payment for residential accounts. The maximum payment allowed is $1,000 per month.
I decided to charge the full $1,000, because that makes the fee only 0.5%. Even if I pay with a card that gets 1% back, I’d end up ahead over my usual online banking billpay. Of course, you can do better than that with one of these best rewards credit cards. Actually, I put it instead on my wife’s Chase Sapphire Preferred Card to quickly reach the $3,000 spending required in order to qualify for the 50,000 point bonus ($500 value!). I don’t mind paying extra because I never have any problems with my electricity bill, and future bills will just reduce the credit over time.
Anyway, the take-away here is to check if your existing bills have such a similar option. I remember checking before and the only option charged some sort of onerous 5% fee. There are mortgage companies, insurance companies, and more listed on the Speedpay site. For some reason, my company is not listed online (so I suspect many other aren’t either), and I had to call into a telephone bot to pay my bill.
Posted in Credit Cards, Frugal Living | 22 Comments »
Wednesday, September 21st, 2011
CreditSesame just launched a “credit badge” that is intended for random folks on the internet to show how big their… I mean how high their credit score is. Instead of wearing Armani or driving a Porsche, I can show off my CreditSesame badge. It’s supposed to help me find a job, find a mate, and find an apartment to rent. Really? I thought I was the only one who thought paying bills on time was hot.
Why should I share my badge?
The Credit Sesame Credit Badge™ program is designed to give you a competitive edge in life and helps you to develop your personal brand by promoting your financial responsibility and showcasing your good or excellent credit. You’ve worked hard to maintain your good or excellent credit and your shared badge allows you to stand out from the crowd as a creditworthy and financially responsible individual.
The Good badge requires a 640+ credit score. An Excellent badge requires 740+. The Guru badge requires 740+ and you must “maintain an optimized level of debt so that Credit Sesame cannot find you more ways to save.” Basically you have to sign up for one of their offers. Well, I decline since it also requires you to reveal your last name, first initial, and city of residence. However, I’ll take the free monthly score updates.
All jokes aside, consider this a reminder that you can get a free FAKO credit score estimates from each of the three major credit bureaus. There is CreditSesame for Experian, CreditKarma for TransUnion, and Equifax Score Card for Equifax. All free, but obviously you do have to provide your Social Security Number.
This is all in addition to the government-mandated free credit report available from AnnualCreditReport.com. As of July 2011, lenders are required to provide a free credit score to anyone who is denied or given worse terms because of their credit. I see no reason to pay $100+ a year for credit monitoring or other credit score products.
Posted in Credit Cards, Deals & Offers | 11 Comments »
Tuesday, September 20th, 2011
Starwood Preferred Guest American Express Card has upped their sign-up promotion to 10,000 bonus Starpoints with your first purchase and another 15,000 points when you spend $5,000 within 6 months. The required spending used to be $15,000, which was much less easy to reach. This means after spending $5,000 that earns 1 Starpoint per dollar, with the bonuses you’d get a total of 10,000 + 15,000 + 5,000 = 30,000 Starpoints. Introductory annual fee of $0 the first year, then $65 a year after that.
Starwood is a collection of mid scale to very-upscale hotels, and these points tend to be most valuable if you can use them for free hotel stays. Starwood is unique in that there are no blackout dates, so if there is a room, you can have it for points. I’ve used them in a pinch, for example 3,000 points for a $120 a night room at the Vancouver Airport Four Points (Category 2). Along these lines, you could grab 10 free hotel nights at Category 1 hotels or Category 2 hotels on weekends (Fri/Sat night).
I’ve also planned ahead and used 10,000 points for a $450/night room at the majestic Westin Madrid in Spain (now Category 5). If you redeem for 4 nights in a row in a Category 3 or higher hotel, the 5th night is free. There are also several “cash and points” opportunities, for example you can get a $400 room at the Westin Rome in Italy or W Hotel New York Times Square for 8,000 points + $150 a night. Run the numbers, and no matter what hotel you pick, the value of 30,000 points can be easily greater than $500.
Starpoints are also convertible to frequent flier miles at various airlines on a 1:1 basis, which is handy to top off a single account to reach an award. Also, if you convert 20k at a time, 20,000 Starpoints = 25,000 miles. I’ve had this card for years now and actually paid the annual fee. This is because instead of an airline-specific card that earns 1 mile per dollar spent, I can use this and get 1.25 miles per dollar spent and have much more flexibility. (I do admit that the addition of “free checked bags” on some cards (ex. United, Delta) has changed the balance a bit.) Finally, as a baseline 9,500 Starpoints = $100 gift card at Amazon.com. For you freelancers, also check out the small business card version.
Compare with the other $500+ Bonus credit card promotions currently available.
Posted in Credit Cards, Deals & Offers | 16 Comments »
Friday, September 9th, 2011
I’ve mentioned American Express Gift Cards are being useful for shifting your purchases forward, in case you’re still working on satisfying spending requirements for big bonuses like the $500 cash bonus from the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card or $500 in gift cards from the Citi ThankYou Preferred Card. This way you get the purchases counted and out of the way first, and then you spend them down gradually.
I just got another e-mail from American Express that they now have an electronic version called eGift cards, which can only be used online at websites that take AMEX, but you don’t have to pay any shipping fees. There is a $2.95 purchase fee, but you can get it waived with the promotional code EMGIFTWL, valid through 10/31/2011. Useful if you regularly buy stuff online anyway.
You can try to use a cashback shopping portals like eBates (1% back) or BigCrumbs (1.6% back), but the e-mail they sent me says that you have to go through the provided link above to get the fee waived. When buying larger amounts, it may simply be better just to pay the fee and go for the 1.6% cash back.
Posted in Credit Cards, Deals & Offers | 12 Comments »
Thursday, September 8th, 2011
School is back is session and lots of people are buying new computers. I’m thinking of one myself, to replace my aging 2007 refurbished Mac Mini that cost $400. As an example, the manufacturer’s warranty on a new* Apple Macbook is only one year, unless you pay an extra $250 for AppleCare. (*Still 1-year if you buy refurbished.) A much more economical option is simply to buy it with an American Express credit card. The “Extended Warranty” feature on their consumer cards is pretty generous, with details from their FAQ page:
When you charge the cost of a covered product with your American Express® Card, the Extended Warranty1 will extend the terms of the original manufacturer’s warranty for a period of time equal to the duration of the original manufacturer’s warranty, up to one additional year on warranties of five years or less that are eligible in the U.S.
This means your Apple warranty will have been doubled to 2 years if bought with your AMEX. Be sure to keep as much supporting paperwork as possible, including your original receipt and the warranty information. Some versions of Visa and MasterCard also have an extended warranty feature, but in my experience AMEX is the best at actually paying out when called for. Even the consumer advocate site Consumerist has a tale of AMEX refunding the entire cost of a laptop as part of their extended warranty. I’ve also written before on the AMEX warranty covering a Roomba vacuum. AMEX has some other additional features as well, but I’ll save those for later.
Don’t have an American Express? Everyone has their favorites, but here are the two that I still keep. One has no annual fee, and the other one is actually the only card I’m willing to pay an annual fee for.
True Earnings Costco Card from American Express
Almost a must-have if you’re a Costco member since it doubles as a membership card in your wallet anyway. 3% cash back on gasoline, including Costco gas (up to $3,000 a year), 2% cash back at all restaurants, 2% cash back on travel, and 1% cash back on everything else. No annual fee.
Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express
My default rewards card. You get 1 point per $1 spent, and 20,000 Starwood points = 25,000 airline miles (free ticket). Essentially up to 1.25 miles per dollar spent, and you can convert to a variety of airlines or free hotel rooms. Top off an account, or convert a big lump sum. Currently, the sign-up bonus is 10,000 points (worth $100 gift certificate at Amazon.com) after first purchase. On top of that, you can also get an additional 15,000 points by spending $5,000 on the card within the first 6 months. Annual fee is waived for the first year, and is $65 the second year if you keep it.
Posted in Credit Cards, Frugal Living | 13 Comments »
Tuesday, September 6th, 2011
If you signed up for the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card recently (most likely for their $500 cash or $625 in airfare bonus offer, like me), here’s how to get another $25 out of the deal. As cardholders, log into the Chase Ultimate Rewards shopping mall, which is one of those shopping portals where you get rebated points for buying stuff at online merchants. Right now, you can get 2,500 points (worth $25 or 2500 miles) and $5 in free printable postage just for signing up for a free 4-week trial at Stamps.com.
This comes via Infamousdx via Flyertalk. Not bad for a few minutes and one phone call. I still have a Stamps.com weight scale from way back when they were giving away $50+ in printed postage with a free membership trial. (Although don’t order the scale with this offer, as they charge shipping.) I don’t remember any hassles and printed the postage on my old inkjet with no issues.
Posted in Credit Cards, Deals & Offers | 20 Comments »
Tuesday, August 30th, 2011
The battle to be the credit card inside your wallet or purse heats up again! Citibank has a new offer for the Citi Dividend Platinum Select Visa Card with an a sign-up bonus of $100 cash after making $500 in purchases within the first 3 months of the account opening. In addition, there is a good rewards program to keep you interested, offering 5% back on different rotating categories every 3 months.
From 1/1/12 to 3/31/12, you’ll get 5% cash back on Fitness clubs, health care and utilities. On all other purchases, you get 1% cash back with no tiers. After you get your card, you must enroll by logging into your account online or calling 1-800-231-0891. There is no cap on the 5% back, except for the $300 overall cap on all dividend rewards earned annually (sign-up bonus doesn’t count). This card has no annual fee, so I can still keep it around specifically as a 5% cash back card.
Chase has their similar Chase Freedom Visa – $200 Bonus Cash Back, which is recently increased their promo offer to a $200 cash bonus (coincidence?) and offers 5% cashback on up to $1,500 spent at Gas Stations and Amazon.com from 1/1/12 – 3/31/12. Must spend $500 in 3 months. No annual fee. While there is often overlap, having cards from different issuers allows higher spending limits and different categories at times.
Compare with other $500+ credit card bonuses available, but remember that this card has an ongoing benefit as well as no annual fee.
Posted in Credit Cards, Deals & Offers | 10 Comments »
Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011
(Update: The 50,000 points offer is no longer available. Please check out these current $500+ credit card bonuses that are still available!)
The New Business Gold Rewards Card from OPEN, which is one of their upscale-oriented charge cards for small businesses where you must pay off the balance each month but you get the famous AMEX perks like purchase price protection, extended product return protection, and AMEX extended warranty. Here are the highlights:
- The annual fee is $0 for the first year of card membership, and $175 thereafter. This way you can try out the card for a year for free. Get unlimited Additional Gold Cards for an additional annual fee of $50 but this fee is also waived for the first year.
- Triple points on airfare. What makes this card “new” is that you can now earn triple points on airfare as well as double points on advertising, shipping, and gas purchases on the first $100,000 of eligible purchases in each category each calendar year. Everything else earns 1 point per dollar spent.
Business Credit Card Eligibility
Many people aren’t aware of the fact that they can apply for business credit cards, even if they are not a corporation or LLC. Why? Because any individual can be a business as well. The business type is called a sole proprietorship. Perhaps you sell items on eBay, Craiglist, or Etsy. Maybe you do some freelancing and/or consulting. If you earned more than $600 from a single client, you probably got a 1099-MISC tax form and filled out a Schedule C. Boom! You’re a sole proprietorship. This is the simplest business entity, but it is fully legit and recognized by the IRS. On a business credit card application, you should use your own legal name as the business name, and your Social Security Number as the Tax ID.
Specifically, this card will require you to personally guarantee that you’ll pay them back what you charge on the card, which means they’ll check your personal credit score like any other consumer card. However, the card itself is a business card so it won’t show up on your personal credit report, so it won’t change things like your credit limits, average account age, or credit utilization ratio.
Meeting Minimum Spend Requirements
I acknowledge that the spending requirement amounts to $2,000 per month, which can be tough. Here are some tips readers have suggested. You can try to buy AMEX gift cards to help spread out the purchases over time, buy gas or grocery or Costco gift cards, prepay utility bills or insurance premiums, use the personal version of Amazon Webpay to send money to your spouse, and I’ve even bought some Forever postage stamps to put me over the top.
Another offer out there is the American Express Platinum Card affiliated with Mercedes-Benz, which offers 50,000 MR points with $1,000 minimum spending but in conjunction with a hefty $475 annual fee which basically cancels each other out. However, you do get airline lounge access for a year and $200 in airline credit towards baggage fees and such.
As usual, compare this card with other current $500+ credit card bonuses that you can also apply for.
Posted in Credit Cards, Deals & Offers | 6 Comments »
