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Coming Soon: Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit Card
According to an article on Bloomberg, Chase is continuing its recent push to woo credit card users away from its competition–this time focusing on lucrative business owners. The new Ink Business Preferred‘s bonus structure appears to be targeted at a different type of user than Chase’s current line of Ink Business cards. Due to be launched in the 4th quarter, the Chase Ink Business Preferred will offer new applicants an 80,000-point signup bonus after spending $5,000 within the first three months. Card holders will also earn 3 points per $1 for the first $150,000 spent on travel, telecommunications, shipping and advertising on social-media and search engines. The card will carry a $95 annual fee,…
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Amex Shop Small Offer – 2x Rewards at Small Businesses
American Express is once again offering incentives to their cardholders to spend at small businesses during the Shop Small promotion. This year, American Express Card Members can enroll their eligible American Express Card(s) and earn 2X rewards when they Shop Small for the entire holiday season–now through December 31. In past years, Amex has offered statement credits, but only on Small Business Saturday on Thanksgiving weekend. Last year, cardholders were disappointed when they didn’t offer any incentives at all. How it Works First, enroll your eligible American Express Personal or OPEN Small Business Card by going to amex.co/shopsmalloffer. A list of all eligible cards can be found here. Once you’re enrolled, all purchases at qualifying small businesses will earn…
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A Primer on Priority Pass Select Airport Lounge Membership
Since the announcement of the immensely popular Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card, many questions have arisen about one of its benefits–Priority Pass Select membership. The confusion stems from the number of different Priority Pass membership levels and the fees associated with each. Here are answers to some of the more common questions I’ve seen asked lately. What is Priority Pass? Priority Pass is a club that provides frequent travelers with independent airport lounge access worldwide. There are currently over 1000 lounges in 400 cities across 120 countries in the the network. Priority Pass does not own or operate any lounges, instead they contract with independent lounge operators to allow members access during certain hours.…
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Amex Announces New Platinum Card Benefits
After recent buzz about potential new benefits coming to the Platinum Card, today American Express announced the changes. Beginning October 6, consumers with a Platinum Card from American Express will receive 5X Membership Rewards points on airfare booked directly with airlines or through American Express Travel. Also, Business Platinum Card Members will now earn 50% points back (up from 30%) when using Membership Rewards Pay with Points through American Express Travel to book an economy flight with their selected airline or a first or business class ticket with any airline. In addition, Business Platinum Card Members can earn 1.5X Membership Rewards points per dollar spent on any individual purchase of $5,000 or more. “Our new…
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Transfer Points and Status Match Between Marriott and Starwood
Marriott has completed its acquisition of Starwood Hotels & Resorts, giving the combined company 30 hotel brands and over 5700 properties worldwide. Effective immediately, you can now match your highest level status and transfer points in either direction between the programs. The 3:1 ratio for transferring points is fair: 3 Marriott/Ritz Carlton Rewards points = 1 Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) point. The only limitations are a minimum of 1000 points and a maximum of all the points in your account. If you have a Marriott or Ritz Carlton account and an SPG account, you can link them together here. If you are not already a member of one or both of the programs,…
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New Citi Prestige Applicants Losing AA Lounge Benefit Soon
Last month, news broke that Citi Prestige cardholders would be losing access to American Airlines Admirals Clubs. A few days later, Citi confirmed that, and many other negative changes to the card. The only good news was that Citi was giving one year notice of the changes, which are due to take effect July 23, 2017. However, there is one change that will affect new applicants much sooner. According to various reports, new Citi Prestige applicants must be approved by August 31, 2016 to have Admirals Club access through July 23, 2017. If you become a cardholder on September 1 or later, you will not have the AA lounge club benefit…
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Chase Sapphire Reserve – Post Denial Options
After applying for Chase Sapphire Reserve in a bank branch earlier this week, I finally decided to call the reconsideration line to check the status. As I feared, my application was denied due to too many accounts opened in the past 24 months. I asked the representative “How many is too many accounts?” She was polite but would not put a number on it. I had considered waiting to let the decision process play out on its own–some have had more luck being approved that way. I finally considered calling for two reasons: There might be a need to move some credit around which could be causing the delay. I have 3 additional recently…
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Results of my Chase Sapphire Reserve Application…
Yesterday I wrote about the new premium Chase Sapphire Reserve card and all its benefits. I also wrote about how this card, like many other Chase credit cards, is subject to the Chase 5/24 approval rule. Regardless, I decided to apply today and my results are inconclusive, but doubtful. I’ve opened more than 5 new credit cards in the last 24 months, so I knew applying online via the Chase website would be just about futile. After reading countless data points of approvals and denials over the last 2 days, I knew my best hope of circumventing the rule was going into a branch to see if I happened to be pre-approved.…
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The New Chase Sapphire Reserve Card Looks Fantastic!
UPDATE: The 100,000 point signup bonus offer for online applications will be reduced to 50,000 on January 12, 2017. Chase has introduced its new premium travel credit card, Sapphire Reserve, and it looks fantastic! Loaded with benefits, it carries a hefty $450 annual fee. This new addition to its lineup finally gives Chase a direct competitor to The Platinum Card from American Express and Citi Prestige. Sapphire Reserve offers a myriad of travel benefits that more than make up for the annual fee, including an annual $300 travel credit, complimentary Priority Pass airport lounge access, and Global Entry/TSA Pre✓ credit. Unfortunately, this card is subject to Chase’s restrictive 5/24 rule. Last week, I wrote…
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New Chase Sapphire Reserve: Now You See It, Now You Don’t
Update: Chase has clarified that the Visa Infinite $100 credit towards 2-5 domestic flights will not be included as a benefit of the Chase Sapphire Reserve. I’ve updated this post accordingly. Yesterday afternoon, Chase prematurely accepted online applications for it’s new, but yet-to-be-announced flagship credit card, Chase Sapphire Reserve. The link to the application page was discovered and posted by a user on reddit. A short time later, another link listing the card’s benefits was posted by a different user. Within a couple hours, the party was over as Chase took down the links. During the time that the links were active, applications to Sapphire Reserve did not appear to be subject to the…
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