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New JetBlue Credit Cards: Which One is Best?
You can now apply for three new JetBlue credit cards: the no annual fee JetBlue Card, and the $99 annual fee JetBlue Plus and JetBlue Business cards. I’ll compare the benefits of each card so you can decide which is best for you. JetBlue recently moved their credit card branding partnership from American Express to Barclays. Those customers who had the old American Express version have been automatically transferred to a new Barclays JetBlue Rewards card with fees and benefits that are similar to those that were offered by their old American Express version. You can’t apply for that “replacement” card, however this week, Barclays began to accept applications for…
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Should You Pay the Annual Fee for the Chase Sapphire Preferred?
Chase Sapphire Preferred (CSP) provides a number of additional benefits that the Chase Freedom card doesn’t offer. However, those extras come at a cost. After being waived the first year, the annual fee of $95 will kick in. Is it worth paying? I’ll walk you through the extra benefits and do the math for you with a calculator at the end of this article. The premise behind this exercise is that you are deciding whether to keep your CSP and pay the annual fee or downgrade it to a Freedom card to save the $95 (or simply cancel if you already have a Freedom). To make this determination, my calculator requires only 4 variables:…
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Increased Signup Bonuses for Hilton Credit Cards
A few weeks ago, I wrote about the merits of the various Hilton branded credit cards. That article also describes the Hilton HHonors points program and its benefits, as well as links to each hotel broken down by reward level. Since then, limited time increased signup bonuses are now available for three of the four cards. Here are the new offers and links to get the better bonuses. These are not referral links–I am not compensated in any way when you click through. Citi Hilton HHonors Visa Signature Card Regular Bonus: 40,000 HHonors Points after spending $1,000 in the first 4 months. New Bonus: 75,000 HHonors Points after spending $2,000 in the first…
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Time to Plan Some Late Summer Home Improvement Projects with Discover It Card
The Discover It card’s 5% Cashback Bonus categories for the remainder of 2016 were recently announced, and July through September looks compelling. Use your Discover It card at home improvement stores like Lowe’s and Home Depot in the 3rd Quarter and get 5% cashback on up to $1,500 in purchases. If you’re planning some projects now, it might be worth putting them off until July to capitalize on the bonus–wish me luck explaining that to Mrs. PointsYak. All the 2016 bonus categories are listed in the graphic below. Amazon.com is prominently featured in the entire second half of the year, while “& More” in the 4th Quarter is vague at best.…
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Get a Credit Card Signup Bonus with your Next Big Purchase
Do you have a fairly large purchase requirement on the horizon? Consider applying for a new credit card that offers a generous signup bonus on which you can charge the purchase to soften the blow. If you have excellent credit and don’t plan on shopping for any loans in the next few months, then this might be exactly the right time! The most lucrative benefit a credit card typically offers is its signup bonus. For many consumers, however, the biggest hurdle to earning the bonus is meeting the minimum spend requirement. But if you’re about to buy some new furniture, jewelry or appliance, or you just NEED to have that 70″ flat screen 4k Ultra HD…
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Which Credit Card Should You Get if you Stay at Hilton Hotels
There are well over 4000 Hilton hotels and resorts worldwide, across brands ranging from luxurious (Waldorf Astoria) to moderately priced (Hampton Hotels). With such a large global footprint, travelers will often find a Hilton property to be a convenient and comfortable choice for their lodging. The Hilton HHonors program rewards loyal guests with benefits and the ability to earn points that can be redeemed for free nights and, like most loyalty programs, there’s no cost to sign up. You can also earn HHonors points and elite status from certain affiliated credit cards. We’ll go through the benefits of each one, so you can find the card (or combination of cards) that best…
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Miles and Points Programs Expiration Rules – What You Need to Know
Cash back and rewards points earned in credit card programs like Chase Ultimate Rewards, Amex Membership Rewards and Citi ThankYou Rewards, don’t expire as long as you keep your card open. However, when you transfer those points to your airline frequent flier or hotel loyalty account, they become subject to the terms and conditions of those programs, and may expire if you don’t use them. Flexibility is one thing that makes credit card travel rewards points so valuable–they can be transferred to many different partners at will. As a rule, in order to retain that flexibility, you shouldn’t transfer any more points than you need to book a flight or stay.…
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Do Credit Card Points Expire? Not if You’re Careful
You’ve earned all those credit card rewards points from spending and sign up bonuses, it would be a shame to lose them. The good news is that these points typically don’t expire, but if you’re not careful, you can accidentally forfeit them. Read on to make sure that doesn’t happen. Cash back credit cards are consistent and fairly straightforward: your cash-back credits won’t expire as long as your account is open. If your card has no annual fee, there’s no reason to cancel it… Ever! There is no downside to keeping a free credit card account active–even if you rarely use it–and it will help your credit score at the same…
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A Handy Tool For Using the Right Credit Card for Every Purchase
You’re standing in line at the grocery or office supply store, holding a wallet overflowing with credit cards, and you can’t remember which one you should use to get the most cash back. Sound familiar? Same here, and that’s exactly why I created the PointsYak Cashback Lookup Tool: just follow the link, bookmark it on your mobile phone, and finding the right cashback card for every purchase will always be just a click away! There’s no app to download, no GPS tracking your whereabouts, and no sign-up required. Shopping online is usually the best the way to maximize your savings, and my last article, “Maximize Cashback and Points Using Online Shopping Portals”, showed you how…
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Credit Card Travel Benefits: Worth More Than You Think!
Learning how to leverage your good credit score to obtain multi-benefit credit cards can be daunting, but when it comes to travel, this is where your hard work can really pay off. First-class family travel for free? Yes, it IS possible…here’s my recent example: Last month, my wife, my teenage daughter, and I took a trip to Phoenix for a few days of sun and fun in the desert–at almost NO COST. We also included a day trip to Sedona and the Grand Canyon, both places that we had never been to before. The flights and hotel were paid for using points. This kept the cash outlay for the trip limited to…
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