- 			$5 Free Starbucks from Visa CheckoutUpdate: This offer has been extended to August 29, 2016. To me, one of the only things better than Startucks coffee is FREE Starbucks coffee. That’s why I’m excited about the current promotion from Visa Checkout. Be one of the first 200,000 to buy an eGift Card (min. $10) on Starbucks.com and pay using Visa Checkout between 8/4/16 – 8/18/16 and get a Bonus Load of $5. This offer isn’t quite as lucrative as the last Starbucks/Visa Checkout promotion back in May. That one gave you a $10 Bonus Load for purchasing a $10 eGift card. It’s important to note, this doesn’t mean you simply checkout by paying with a Visa card. You… 
- 			Rundown of all the New Amex OffersMany new Amex Offers have been released over the last few days. If you have travel plans, the Sheraton Hotels and Ritz-Carlton deals are particularly lucrative and might influence your hotel choice. In addition, the 10% back on gas and tolls offers can provide you with a savings on money you’re probably spending anyway. For newcomers to these deals, check out my primer: Amex Offers = Too Good To Miss Out!. I wrote about how to connect your American Express card to your social media account and how to add offers to your card via Twitter, Facebook, or your americanexpress.com account. Twitter is the easiest method, but some offers are targeted, so you should be logging on to your… 
- 			More Negative Changes to Citi Prestige ComingIn an earlier post, I wrote about Citi’s plans to discontinue complimentary American Airlines Admirals Club lounge access for Prestige cardmembers. Unfortunately, that was only the beginning. More Citi Prestige changes have been announced and they’re all bad. In addition to the loss of Admirals Club access, Citi is reducing the value of ThankYou points redeemed for flights, discontinuing the Complimentary Golf benefit, and reducing the value (in some cases substantially) of the 4th Night Free hotel benefit. All these changes are to take effect July 23, 2017. Citi Prestige Changes Access to American Airlines Admirals Club lounges will no longer be offered. After July 23, 2017, current cardmembers will… 
- 			Citi Prestige Card to Discontinue AA Lounge BenefitThe Citi Prestige Card, one of Citi’s most expensive credit cards, is dropping a major benefit–complimentary access to American Airlines Admirals Club airport lounges. According to their website, Admiral’s Club access is due to expire on July 23, 2017. Citi Prestige has a $450 annual fee which is not waived the first year, so losing a benefit like this is certainly a blow. There’s no doubt that this is still a valuable card for travelers–particularly those that didn’t frequently use the lounge benefit. It remains to be seen how Citi will adjust other benefits or the annual fee to compensate cardmembers for the change. Card Benefits $250 Annual Air Travel Credit Each calendar year,… 
- 			Should I Cancel a Credit Card I No Longer Use?There are times when it makes sense to cancel a credit card, but it’s oftentimes better not to. In “Before You Cancel That Credit Card, Read This!“, I wrote about the effects that canceling a card have on your credit score–it can never help, only hurt your score. In this article, I’ll go through some of the more common reasons I see given for wanting to cancel a card and discuss the validity of each reason. I have too much available credit This is a common misconception in consumer finance. Banks actually prefer if you have a large and varied amount of available credit. Risk is reduced by spreading it out… 
- 			Amex Blue Cash Preferred Raising Annual FeeBeginning August 3, 2016, the Annual Fee for the American Express Blue Cash Preferred credit card is increasing from $75 to $95. There’s been no announcement other than the notation on the web-based application. There is also no indication of any enhancement to the card’s benefits. The rest of this post is an update of Amex Blue Cash Everyday of Preferred. Which is Right For You? There are those who would never apply for a cash back credit card that charges an annual fee. Does it make sense to pay a fee to get your own cash back? The answer lies in your own spending habits and as you’ll see, those fees could… 
- 			United Credit Card Offering 50k-70k Bonus MilesFor 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. This offer expires on June 30, 2016. 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. This product is not available to either (i)… 
- 			Hot: Amex Personal Platinum Card 100k BonusUPDATE: This offer is no longer available. Thanks to ChetHazelEyes over at Reddit Churning for the alert about this fantastic offer. Apply now for the Personal Platinum Card from American Express and get 100,000 Membership Rewards points after spending $3000 with the card in the first 3 months. This offer is not available to applicants who have or have had this product in the past. The link to this offer can be found here. It takes you to the landing page with all the offer terms spelled out. Note that, as usual, the $450 annual fee is not waived the first year. Main Platinum Card Benefits I consider the Platinum Card to be… 
- 			Celebrate Ebates’ Birthday With 15% Cash BackTo celebrate its birthday, Ebates is having a 15% Cash Back Party, featuring over 250 stores. The celebration begins on May 9 and will last one week. Doing your online shopping through a portal is a great way to earn extra cashback in addition to rewards earned with your credit card. I’ve always found the popular Ebates to be very competitive and reliable. What is a shopping portal? In short, a shopping portal is a website that provide links to various internet retailers. In return for directing customers to their site, those retailers pay a commission to the portal for each customer that makes a qualifying purchase. The portal then allots a portion of… 
- 			$20 Starbucks E-gift Card for $10 with Visa CheckoutTo me, one of the only things better than coffee is FREE coffee. That’s why I’m excited about the current promotion from Starbucks and Visa Checkout. Be one of the first 325,000 to buy a Starbucks eGift Card (min $10) using Visa Checkout between 5/3/16 – 5/17/16 and Starbucks will add an additional $10, courtesy of Visa Checkout. It’s important to note, this doesn’t mean you simply checkout by paying with a Visa card. You need to sign up for a Visa Checkout account and add at least one payment method to it. Visa Checkout is a digital wallet service similar to paypal. According to their website: It’s simple to sign… 
RECENT POSTS
	 
				 
				 
				 
				 
				 
				 
				 
				