Archive for the 'Credit Cards' Category
Friday, May 20th, 2011
Previously, I posted about the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, which is currently offering 50,000 bonus points after you spend $3,000 in purchases within the first 3 months. This is quite a good deal, as 50,000 points can be redeemed for $500 cash or two airplane tickets worth up to $312.50 each (you can buy a more expensive ticket from any website and simply pay the difference). The Preferred card has no annual fee for the first year, but is $95 in future years. See the original post for more details.
If you don’t want to deal having to remember to cancel your card, the regular non-Preferred Chase Sapphire Card is now offering 25,000 points worth $250 cash after you spend $3,000 in purchases within the first 3 months, and there is no annual fee in the first year or subsequent years. The non-preferred used to give out their bonus with no minimum purchase requirement, so personally I’d rather take the extra $250 via the Preferred.
Ideas for reaching the purchase limit without spending more money that you would otherwise include: prepaying any monthly bills like utilities and let the credit go down over time, pay your 6-month auto insurance or home insurance bills via lump sum, buy American Express gift cards that don’t expire and then spend them gradually, purchase gift cards at a discount from places you will shop at eventually through PlasticJungle or similar (Home Depot, Target, etc.), buying $1 coins from the US Mint (you’re basically buying cash), or buying grocery store gift cards (Safeway cards at Safeway). Basically just shift your usual expenses.
Posted in Credit Cards, Deals & Offers | 12 Comments »
Monday, May 16th, 2011
The credit card bonus wars are on, so grab your good credit score and cash in. The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card is a rewards credit card that has upped their sign-up bonus to new cardholders to 50,000 bonus points after you spend $3,000 in purchases within the first 3 months.
This is quite a good deal, as 50,000 points can be redeemed for $500 cash (real money, via statement credit or check) or two airplane tickets worth up to $312.50 each ($625 total value). You can buy a more expensive ticket and simply pay the difference. No annual fee for the first year, $95 in future years.
Rewards Program Summary
Points under the Chase Sapphire program are pretty flexible. There are also no earning caps or expiration dates. You also earn a 7% “dividend” on your earned points each year, even if you already redeemed them. I guess this is their way of encouraging you to keep your card, so you don’t waste the “interest”.
Simple cash back. As a rewards card, the Sapphire offers 1 point for every dollar in purchases (100 points = $1, or the usual 1% back). Earn 2 points per dollar spent on dining! Cash redemptions are easy – you can redeem in $1 increments as long as above $20, so you could cash out $27 or $253 without anything left over.
Points redeemed towards travel are worth 25% more. As noted above, hotel room or airplane ticket redemptions can also be maximized because you can book wherever you want and simply pay the difference. For example, 25,000 points can be used for any ticket up to $312.50, but if say you wanted a $325 ticket you could just pay the $12.50 difference. You can buy your travel from any vendor or website (Expedia, Orbitz, etc.), not just theirs. On other cards, you would have to go up another tier and spend an extra 10,000 points or similar.
Transfer to certain airlines. If you prefer, you can also transfer to British Airways, Continental Airlines (United), Hyatt Hotels, Marriott Hotels, and Amtrak. 1 Sapphire point = 1 mile/hotel point for these transfers.
More Details
In addition, this card has no foreign transaction fees, making it handy for travel. Sapphire cards also promote a “premium, dedicated service line that gives you access to a live person anytime, 24/7.” I tested this out and it really works! A real person picks up after a couple rings, no phone trees or typing those darn 16 digits over and over. You can use this feature to redeem cash rewards over the phone for free, although booking rewards tickets over the phone costs $20 (doing so online is free).
If you have any issues with approval, call the Chase credit reconsideration line at 1-888-245-0625. Ask them politely for the exact reason why you were denied, and offer to cancel and/or lower your existing credit lines in order to get the new card you want. You should be offered some way to get approved, I have heard many success stories. They want your business.
Posted in Credit Cards, Deals & Offers | 48 Comments »
Sunday, May 8th, 2011
American Express is again promoting their newest flavor – the American Express Premier Rewards Gold Card, which is slightly different from their other Gold/Zync/Platinum cards. This is a charge card, so it is intended for folks that pay off their balance in full each month (as all of you should do anyway). If you are not a current AMEX*charge* cardholder, then you are eligible for their current sign-up incentive:
* Earn 15,000 Membership Rewards bonus points when you spend $1,000 in your first 3 months of Card membership. MR points are very versatile, and can be converted to 15,000 frequent flier miles in a number of programs (or 10 Southwest credits), or you can simply get $150 in gift cards at several stores like Home Depot, Crate & Barrel, or Macy’s. You can use the mileage feature to top off your miles in a specific airline to reach an award tier, or just to keep some miles from expiring.
Historically, there have also been varying promotions for specific airlines, for example a 20% bonus for transfer to British Airways last year, and currently 50% additional miles (expired) for transfer to Delta Skymiles. This means you can be getting more than 1 mile per dollar spent.
* No annual fee for your first year. This means you can get the sign-up bonus and also try out this card for free for a year. After the first year, the annual fee is a hefty $175. Mark your calendars, but if you do miss it, they do refund a pro-rated portion of any paid annual fees.
* Offers 3X points on airfare, 2X points on gas and groceries, and 1X points on everything else. The traditional versions only offer 1 point per $ spent, so the double points on gas and groceries are an extra perk. The card gets much more interesting for those that charge a lot of airfare on their cards, since those can be some big bucks. It’d be perfect you get to charge airfare for business or family, and then get reimbursed for it.
* Earn 15,000 Membership Rewards bonus points when you spend $30,000 per calendar year. This means that if you spend $30,000 in a year ($2,500 per month) that you’ll get at least 15,000 for sign-up + 30,000 on spending + 15,000 bonus = 60,000 points total, plus any extra for gas/groceries/airfare. That’s enough for 60,000 frequent flier miles (ignoring any promos) or 2.5 free flights on Southwest (40 credits).
* Extended warranties and roadside assistance. As with all such “premium” AMEX charge cards, everything you buy with the cards comes with a free automatic extended warranty. AMEX will double the length of the original U.S. manufacturer’s warranty for up to one additional year on eligible purchases with warranties of 5 years or less. This can be very handy for electronics like home theater equipment and laptops. Read more at their official FAQ and at this Consumerist article about a guy who got a new laptop.
In summary, this card has some new features and a nice sign-up incentive, but the target demographic seems to be higher-income cardholders that are big spenders, especially on airfare.
(Update: If you don’t see the 15k offer, you may need to clear you web browser cookies or use the Private/Incognito mode.)
American Express Mandated Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned by American Express. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of American Express, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by American Express. This site may be compensated through American Express Affiliate Program.
Posted in Credit Cards | 8 Comments »
Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011
Update: This card offer is now expired.
A final reminder that this offer is scheduled to end on Friday actually more specifically on Thursday night 5/5/11 at 11:59PM EST. It is not being extended.
This is the highest credit card mileage bonus I have ever seen. The Chase British Airways Visa Signature card (expired) is offering 50,000 British Airways (BA) Executive Club miles for new cardmembers with first purchase, and another 50,000 BA miles after spending $2,500 within 3 months of opening, for a total of 100,000 miles. There is an annual fee of $95, but you should be able to easily get $1,000 worth of value from this deal, if not more. We took advantage of the last time this deal was around, and ended up flying to Europe in business class with fully lie-flat seats across the Atlantic Ocean, on tickets that retailed for over $8,000 each.
To quickly recap, for those of you that primarily travel within the US, you can redeem British Airlines miles on American Airlines. You can get 4 roundtrip coach tickets within the continental US for 100,000 miles, or 3 round-trips to Hawaii for 105,000 miles. For those of you that like to travel internationally, in addition to British Airways destinations in Europe, you can redeem your miles on Cathay Pacific to Asia, or redeem on LAN to South America. 100,000 BA miles could get you a roundtrip, business class ticket to these destinations. More details in previous post here.
Posted in Credit Cards, Deals & Offers | 44 Comments »
Saturday, April 23rd, 2011
Update 5/6/11: The 100k mile card promotion is now expired. The information on using British Airways miles should still be accurate.
First, a quick reminder that the British Airways 100,000 mile promotion mentioned previously is scheduled to expire in less than two weeks on May 6th. To recap, the Chase British Airways Visa Signature card (expired) is offering 50,000 British Airways (BA) Executive Club miles for new cardmembers with first purchase, and another 50,000 BA miles after spending $2,500 within 3 months of opening, for a total of 100,000 miles.
There are many options on how to spend these points, for example we spent them on business class tickets to London and Rome. But to show the basic value of this offer, I looked into how to use British Airways miles to book award travel on American Airlines, their partner in the US. If American Airlines has a domestic award seat available in their “MileSAAver” category, then in general you can book it with British Air miles. A flight within the continental US costs 25,000 BA miles plus $5, with no fuel surcharges. (Other combinations of less miles and more cash are available, see below.)
If your flight is a direct flight with no stopovers, you can search and book an award online at BritishAirways.com. On the site, go to “Spending BA Miles” and then “Book with partner airlines” and then “Make a reward booking”. They always try to find BA flights first, but once you search for domestic flights, you’ll see this option to include partner airlines.
Here is a screenshot of an award I found from Los Angeles to Dallas/Ft. Worth for 25,000 miles + $5:
(click to enlarge)
Note that I can see the availability even if I don’t have enough miles to actually book it yet. Alternatively, you can book an American Airlines flight from the continental US to Hawaii for 35,000 + $5. Here is an award I found from Los Angeles to Honolulu during the summer for that amount:
(click to enlarge)
Of course, it’s better if you can book ahead of time for the best availability. If your flight has a stopover, you might want to look for award availability on the American Airlines website first and then call British Airways to book the award flight. Since you can’t find the airfare online through their search system, you can try asking them to waive their phone booking fee. Thus, with the 100,000 miles from this offer (plus $20 in fees), you could by four domestic round-trip tickets in the lower 48, or nearly three round trip tickets to Hawaii.
Posted in Credit Cards, Deals & Offers, Travel | 31 Comments »
Wednesday, April 6th, 2011
Update 5/6/11: The 100k mile card promotion is now expired. The information on using British Airways miles should still be accurate.
Here’s a resurrection of a great credit card offer for those interested in some free travel. The Chase British Airways Visa Signature card (expired) is offering 50,000 British Airways (BA) Executive Club miles for new cardmembers with first purchase, and another 50,000 BA miles after spending $2,500 within 3 months of opening, for a total of 100,000 miles. I took advantage of the last time this deal was around, and ended up flying around Europe completely in business class with fully lie-flat seats across the Atlantic Ocean. Here’s some of what you can do with those 100,000 miles.
They advertise 50,000 British Airways miles as enough for an economy class transatlantic flight from USA to their “Europe Zone 1″, which includes the United Kingdom, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands and Switzerland. But note that “all reward flights are subject to taxes, fees, charges and surcharges, including airline surcharges.” I did a quick search and for a random San Francisco (SFO) to London (LHR) flight in March last year that cost $807, the taxes and fees alone were $387. This is a nice discount, but probably not the most efficient use of the miles.
For me, the two best ways to redeem these 100,000 miles are either domestically on their US partner American Airlines, or through a business class trip to Europe or other international destination. First, the simple way avoid those taxes is to redeem your BA miles on American. This ended up being easier than I thought it would be. For example, a ticket from the continental US to Hawaii is 35,000 miles + a $5 fee. Spend $4k on the card and with 105k points you’d have three of them. Or you can basically get a entire family of 4 the usual 25,000 mile tickets within the US. If you price either of those out for your needs, that’s a pretty nice potential savings of over $1,000.
100,000 miles is also good for a single business class ticket from USA to Europe Zone 1 on British Airways. You’ll still have to pay the taxes, but the trip will be so much more comfortable and truly an experience. A business class flight from San Francisco to Paris in the same period would have cost around $4,700 in cash, but the fees/taxes were only about $400 as well. You can also use partner airlines to get from the US to both Asia and South America on business class for 100,000 miles or less.
Therefore I figured, why not use this card as an excuse to go to Europe in style, because I would never have done so otherwise. When booking my trip, I ended up calling in and getting a really nice customer service rep that used her tricks to nab me a combination of American and British Airways flights from my city to both London and Rome and back, all for under 100,000 miles. It ended up being a $8,000 roundtrip ticket, for which I paid $360 in taxes. I was happy to pay the $40 phone-booking fee, but she said “you’d never be able to find this online” (which was true) and waived it for me. The flight was a first-time experience for me… priority check-in and boarding, first class lounges with showers and buffets, multi-course inflight meals, actually sleeping on seats that were fully flat, etc. Tip: If you’re having trouble booking online, definitely try calling in first.
The card does have an annual fee of $95, which is not waived the first year. The card always earns 1.25 BA miles per dollar spent on all purchases. This card no longer carries any foreign transaction fees, handy when traveling. 100,000 miles is a limited-time offer that’s at least double their standard deal, so decide soon as I think the last time it lasted a few weeks.
Finally, if you can manage to spend $30,000 a year on the card, you can even earn a 2-for-1 companion voucher. This means whenever you buy one ticket, the companion travels for free. It’s valid on award tickets and in any class (on British Airways only), so you can easily double the use of your miles if planning lots of transatlantic travel. Another family tip is that you are allowed to pool miles between multiple people in a “household account” to make redemptions easier.
(This was actually done x2 for Mrs. MMB and we traveled together. We householded accounts and that way I could redeem flights for both of us. We decided not to go for the companion ticket since it was unknown if we were going to do any more transatlantic flights in the next year.)
Posted in Credit Cards, Deals & Offers | 51 Comments »
Tuesday, April 5th, 2011
Via a specific banner ad, the Chase AARP Visa has a introductory promo of 5% cash back on all purchases for the first 6 months (specifically, 6 billing cycles). There appears to be no limit to their cashback awards and their reported credit limits are about the same as other Chase cards, so if you have the ability to charge a lot of money on your card within the next 6 months, this card is for you. Selected fine print:
For the first 6 billing cycles from your enrollment date in the program, you will earn 4 bonus points in addition to your 1 base point (total 5 points) for each $1 of net purchases. You do not earn points on balance transfers, cash advances, cash-like charges such as travelers checks, foreign currency, and money orders, any checks that are used to access your account, overdraft advances, interest, unauthorized or fraudulent charges, or fees of any kind, including fees for products that protect or insure the balances of your account. There is no maximum number of points that you can accumulate in the program.
Doing the math, if you can charge $2,000 total, you’ll get $100 back. Up that to $20,000, and you’ll get $1,000 back. The usual ideas include charging any medical bills, homeowners/car/life insurance, travel expenses, or large home improvement purchases. Some people even prepay their utility bills. If you haven’t already, you could also pay any income taxes owed on the card, and you’d still come out slightly ahead after their usual ~2.5% fees.
Catches? Well, you’ll have to be a member of AARP first. That costs $16 a year and is actually open to those under 50, and although you won’t get full benefits, reportedly it will let you get this card. Otherwise, just avoid doing any funny business that will close your card before you cash out your rewards.
Posted in Credit Cards, Deals & Offers | 12 Comments »
Friday, April 1st, 2011
When you charge something on your credit card, the merchant usually pays about 2-3% in transaction fees for the convenience and benefit of accepting these cards. To get your business, issuers often rebate part of these fees in the form of % cashback rewards or frequent flier miles. Credit cards also offer handy conveniences like easily tracking spending, fraud chargeback protection, and extended warranties, but who doesn’t like cash? Extreme users treat them like Swiss army knives to maximize rewards. New customers also get incentives of up to $100.
Here’s an update for the offers during the second quarter of 2011. It’s spring! So it’s all about home improvement stores. Be sure to spread your purchases around if you have multiple cards. For Home Depot and Lowe’s, you can often find a 10% off coupon online if you’ve moved recently or in the moving packets at the post office. (They also match each others coupons.) Stack ‘em! You can usually also see the rewards for the rest of the year on the applications.
Chase Freedom Visa – $100 Bonus Cash Back
Reward categories change quarterly.
From January 1 to March 31, you can earn 5% cash back on up to $1,500 spent in the following categories:
From October 1 to December 31, you can earn 5% cash back on up to $1,500 spent in the following categories:
- Dining
- Department Stores
- Movie Theaters
- Charitable Organizations
You must enroll at ChaseBonus.com. All other purchases do earn a standard 1%, with no tiers or expiration of rewards. Currently, the Chase Freedom Visa – $100 Bonus Cash Back has a promotion offering a $100 check if you sign up and make $799 in purchases in your first three months.
Citi® Dividend Platinum Select® Visa® Card – $100 Cash Back
Reward categories change quarterly. From October 1st to December 31st, you can earn 5% cash back on
- Department Stores
- Clothing Stores
- Electronics Stores
- Toy Stores
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 annually. All other purchases do earn a standard 1% with no tiers, and rewards do not expire as long as you have activity once every 12 months. Also, 0% APR on balance transfers for 12 months with 3% fee and on purchases for 12 months.
Discover More Card
Reward categories change quarterly. From April 1 to June 30, you can earn 5% cash back on up to $400 spent in the following categories:
- Home Improvement
- Department stores
- Clothing stores
In addition, throughout June, cardmembers get 5% cash back on up to $200 in purchases at grocery stores and drug stores.
You must enroll online to activate the rewards each quarter. Discover card has a tiered cashback rate (1% unlimited Cashback Bonus on purchases after your total annual purchases exceed $3000; purchases that are part of your first $3000 earn .25%.).
PenFed Platinum Cashback Rewards Card
Bonus categories appear and change regularly for this card, but not on a set schedule. Currently I don’t see anything available. However, the best feature remains – the year-round rewards structure of 5% cash back on gas purchases (must pay at pump), and 1% cash back on everything else. Rewards are credited monthly on your next statement.
Note: To get this card, you must also have membership to the Pentagon Federal Credit Union (you can apply for both at the same time). In general, membership is open to the military, US government employees, or the family or household of existing members. However, anyone can become eligible by joining the Voices for America’s Troops for a $15 one-time fee or by being a Red Cross donor.
Posted in Credit Cards, Deals & Offers | 18 Comments »
Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011
The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card is a rewards credit card offering new cardholders 50,000 bonus points after you spend $3,000 in purchases within the first 3 months. 50,000 points can be redeemed for $500 cash or two airplane tickets worth up to $312.50 each since they offer a 25% boost towards airfare and hotels. No annual fee for the first year, $95 in future years. Additional details here.
New: Earn 2 points per dollar spent on dining & 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases.
(This card is the “big brother” of the regular Chase Sapphire Card, where you can get 25,000 points ($250 cash) after you spend $3,000 in purchases within the first 3 months, and there is no annual fee in the first year or subsequent years.
Posted in Credit Cards, Deals & Offers | 7 Comments »
Wednesday, March 9th, 2011
The Citi® Dividend Platinum Select® Visa® Card – $100 Cash Back has a new offer that has some nice potential:
- $100 cash back after $500 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening.
- 0% Intro APR on balance transfers and purchases for 12 months. Balance transfer fee is 3% with $5 minimum.
- 5% cash back on rotating categories each quarter.From 1/1/12 to 3/31/12 the categories are Fitness clubs, health care and utilities.
- 1% cash back on other purchases. No annual fee.
I say this offer has potential for a few reasons. First, has a good upfront incentive of $100. The balance transfer and purchase period is also relatively long at 12 months. If you view the $100 bonus as offsetting the balance transfer fee, the offer is the same as getting a $3,333 balance transfer with no fee, or a $10,000 balance transfer with a 2% fee, and then no interest for 12 months.
Finally, the card has rotating 5% cash back on categories with no spending limit except for the $300 annual earned cashback limit, which means I actually still find my Citi® Dividend Platinum Select® Visa® Card useful on an ongoing basis. A couple of months ago I got 5% back at Home Depot and Lowe’s… and I needed it!
Posted in Credit Cards, Deals & Offers | 6 Comments »
Monday, March 7th, 2011
Get 100 free Starpoints from the hotel reward program Starwood Preferred Guest for joining Earth Hour:
Pledge to switch off your lights for one full hour on Saturday, March 26, 2011, from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. local time, and receive 100 bonus Starpoints. Join the more than 500 Starwood hotels and resorts around the world that will be observing Earth Hour this year.
Starwood hotels include Sheraton, Westin, and W hotels. You can also get up to 25,000 Starpoints through the Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express:
Receive 10,000 Starpoints after your first purchase and an additional 15,000 Starpoints when you spend $5,000 in 6 months-enough for two free nights at the Westin St. Francis in San Francisco, the W Boston or any other category 5 hotel.
Therefore, if you spend $5,000 on the card within the first six months you would acquire 5,000 bonus Starpoints on top of the 25,000 earned normally, for a total of 30,000 Starpoints. Trade that for for 6 nights at any category 1-2 hotel, 40,000 airline miles (details), or $300 in Amazon.com gift certificates. This card is the only way I’ve stayed at such nice hotels.
Posted in Credit Cards, Deals & Offers | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011
Oh alright, here’s another net worth update. My last snapshot was about 9 months ago. I know people like the voyeurism, but hopefully my commentary will also provide some helpful insights as to achieving our goals.
Credit Card Debt
I used to take money from credit cards at 0% APR and place it into online savings accounts, bank CDs, or savings bonds that earned 4-5% interest (yes I know, much less recently), keeping the difference as profit while taking minimal risk. (Minimal in regards that the risk was only dependent on my behavior and not outside factors.) However, given the current lack of great no fee 0% APR balance transfer offers, I am currently not playing this “game”.
Most credit cards don’t require you to pay the charges built up during a monthly cycle until after a grace period of about 14 days. This theoretically provides enough time for you to receive your statement in the mail and send back a check. As this is simply a snapshot of my finances, my credit card debt consists of just these charges. I don’t carry any balances or pay any interest charges.
Retirement and Brokerage accounts
Since my last update, the broad stock indexes have risen significantly, about 25% including dividends according to Vanguard Total World Stock Index ETF (VT) that I use as a general benchmark. Although these high valuations make me nervous, I am still a believer in stocks for the (very) long run and rebalancing your asset allocation regularly. Don’t buy high and sell low.
Here is our target asset allocation. Being heavy in stocks, our portfolio bounced back significantly as well.
Our total retirement portfolio is about $360k or on an estimated after-tax basis, $318,000. At a theoretical 4% withdrawal rate, this would provide $1,060 per month in retirement income, which brings me to 42% of my long-term goal of generating $2,500 per month. These are all really rough numbers, but helpful to measure progress and visualize living off your portfolio.
Cash Savings and Emergency Funds
We are happy to hold a year’s worth of expenses (conservatively estimated at $60,000) in our emergency fund. According to my emergency fund poll, many of you readers also have substantial savings set aside, with most having at least 4 months of expenses. Very nice.
Recently I wrote about how I maximize interest in my emergency fund, including the specific banks and institutions I use.
Home Equity
I would like my house paid off in 15-20 years at most, so I’ve been putting some extra money towards the mortgage. Note that this is only after maxing out both our 401k plans, fully funding IRAs every year, and creating a one-year emergency fund. I’d like our mortgage pay-down progress to parallel our portfolio growth so that both are ready for at least partial retirement in about 10 years.
So there you have it. Mrs. MMB and I both earned a six-figure salary again last year, which combined is in the top 5% of households. We try to save a lot of it while it stays this way. 
The future is hard to see, but we’re getting there a lot faster than we thought we could.
Posted in Banking, Credit Cards, Goals, Investing, Retirement | 23 Comments »
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