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Chase United MileagePlus Explorer Card 50k Bonus
For a limited time, the Chase United MileagePlus Explorer card is offering an increased signup bonus. You can get 50,000 Bonus Miles after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open. If your United MileagePlus account is targeted, that bonus might be 70,000 instead. The signup bonus is normally 30,000 miles after spending $1,000 in the first 3 months with the $95 annual fee waived for the first year. It’s important to note that with these limited time offers, the annual fee is not waived and will appear on your first statement. Use this link to apply for the card with the increased bonus: https://www.theexplorercard.com/50k3k This product is…
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Track Your Miles and Points with AwardWallet
AwardWallet is a tool that helps you manage your reward balances in airline, hotel, car rental, credit card programs, shopping portals and others. I’ve been using the service for a couple months and highly recommend it. It’s great to have all my data in one spot. The online service is particularly useful in that it allows me to track rewards for my entire family. Minding account numbers, passwords, awards balances and expiration dates for multiple people would be far more difficult without it. Here’s a sample screenshot: AwardWallet has a Free tier and a paid tier called AwardWallet Plus. The chart below details the features of each tier: On February…
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TSA Adds 11 Airlines to Pre Check
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced the expansion of TSA Pre✓ to 11 new airlines, bringing the total number of airlines participating in TSA Pre✓ to 30. Eligible passengers traveling on Aruba Airlines, Avianca, Boutique Airlines, Emirates, Key Lime Air, Miami Air International, Southern Airways Express, Spirit Airlines, Sunwing, Virgin Atlantic, and Xtra Airways will now have the opportunity to experience expedited screening. What is TSA Pre✓ TSA Pre✓ is an expedited security screening program for known and trusted travelers departing from airports within the United States. On dedicated TSA Pre✓ lines, there is no need to remove your shoes, belts, or light jackets. In addition, laptops and 3-1-1 liquids can remain packed…
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New Amazon Prime Rewards Credit Card
Update: Amazon has extended its 5%/3% cash back rewards structure to include purchases at Whole Foods Market. Amazon acquired Whole Foods for $13.7 billion last year. Chase has launched a new credit card exclusively for Amazon Prime members – the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card. The new card offers 5% back on purchases at Amazon.com. Prime members who currently hold the Amazon Rewards card will automatically be upgraded to the new version with enhanced benefits. You can use your % Back points to redeem for eligible purchases at Amazon.com. You can also use your points to redeem for cash, through an account statement credit or electronic deposit into an eligible…
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Double-Dipping the Chase Sapphire Reserve Travel Credit
NOTE: For applications after May 21, 2017, Chase has changed the date that the Reserve’s annual travel credit resets from each December to the first statement after your account anniversary. If you applied prior to May 21, 2017, the information in this post still applies. For those who applied more recently, please refer to the double-dipping information in this updated post. One of the most generous benefits of the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card is its $300 annual travel credit. Even better, during the first year you have the card, you can receive the full travel credit twice–that’s $600–while paying only one annual fee of $450. You will have more…
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I’ve Finally Been Approved for Chase Sapphire Reserve
At long last, after my first ever credit card denial for this card back in August, I’ve been approved for the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card. Despite being quite above the limit from Chase’s 5/24 rule (5 new credit cards in the last 24 months), I was instantly (ok, it took over 4 months) approved at my local branch. My motivation for visiting my local branch today was the recent news that Chase would be reducing the signup bonus for Sapphire Reserve from 100,000 UR points to 50,000. If I wasn’t pre-approved (see below) at the bank, I would not have applied again as that attempt would have surely been fruitless. I would…
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Southwest Delays Companion Pass Change
On January 1 with no notice given, Southwest made qualifying for its Companion Pass a more difficult. After much negative feedback from customers, Southwest has temporarily delayed the change until March 31, 2017. As a reminder, the Companion Pass lets you choose one person to fly free with you every time you purchase or redeem points for a flight. To qualify for the pass, you need to earn 110,000 Qualifying Points in a calendar year. You could do that by transferring points from a hotel loyalty program like Marriott Rewards. Southwest decided to immediately disqualify points from hotel transfers. This change with no notice angered Southwest’s most loyal customers. Many had…
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Chase Sapphire Reserve 100k Bonus Ending Soon
According to the Chase website, the 100,000 signup bonus offer for the Sapphire Reserve credit card will end on January 11, 2017. The Points Guy is reporting that the bonus will be dropping by half, to 50,000 points. It’s not clear if in-branch applications will also have bonus offers reduced. I suspect they will at some point also. You can read about all the great benefits of Sapphire Reserve here. If you were waiting for one last good reason to apply, your time has come. Don’t forget that the Sapphire Reserve is subject to Chase’s 5/24 rule. Good luck! If you like the information in this article, please consider supporting this…
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Plan Your Credit Card Travel Reimbursements for 2017
Premium travel credit cards with annual fees of over $450 or more may seem incredibly expensive at first glance, but when you factor in the annual travel credits they offer, the final cost is much easier to swallow. Each card’s travel credit benefit has its own nuances. It’s important to know the up-to-date rules, so there’s no surprises when it comes time to cash in on your reimbursement. There are two frequent questions I am asked about each card’s credits: What does it cover and When exactly does it reset? This post will cover each benefit’s individual rules. Since all of these travel credit benefits reset annually each calendar year (not on the…
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Southwest Companion Pass Now Tougher to Get
The Companion Pass is a great perk for Southwest Airlines flyers. It lets you choose one person to fly free with you every time you purchase or redeem points for a flight. Southwest has made qualifying for the pass a little more difficult. The basic rule hasn’t changed: earn 110,000 Qualifying Points in a calendar year, and you’ll earn Companion Pass for the following full calendar year, plus the remainder of the year in which you earned it. So what’s changed? The definition of Qualifying Points. Southwest defines Qualifying Points as follows (I’ve highlighted the change in bold): Companion Pass Qualifying Points are earned from your revenue flights booked through…
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