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Barclays vs. Bank of America: Which Offers the Best Atmos Rewards Companion Fare or Discount Code?

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Good afternoon everyone, I hope you had a great weekend.  I just read Frequent Miler’s article Alaska tanks utility of its “Famous Companion Fare” and learned that you can no longer use Alaska Airlines wallet funds to pay for Companion Fare tickets. That’s a major disappointment, since wallet funds and discounted Alaska Airlines gift cards from Costco used to pair beautifully with the Companion Fare.

Naturally, that got me wondering: Does Atmos Rewards also block wallet funds when using Barclays discount codes? (Short answer: yes.) What started as a quick check turned into a full comparison of Barclays vs. Bank of America and how their Discount Codes and Companion Fares stack up.  You can find your discount codes and companion fares in your Atmos Rewards account under the Discounts and Companion Fares section.

Background

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote Maybe the Barclays Hawaiian Airlines Credit Card is a Keeper – Here’s Why and wanted to take a closer look at how the Barclays 50% Off Companion Fare and the Barclays $100 Off Companion Fare compare to the Alaska Airlines Companion Fare from the Bank of America Credit Card. Here’s what I found.

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How to Use MCC Codes to Find Which US Bank Smartly Purchases Don’t Earn 4% Cash Back

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Good afternoon everyone, I hope your weekend is going well.  Last month, US Bank made some significant changes to the Smartly Earning Bonus on their US Bank Smartly Credit Cards. In short, some purchases no longer qualify for the 4% cash back rate – instead, they only earn the base rate of 2% cash back.  When my October statement closed, I noticed one of my transactions fell into an excluded category. In this post, I’ll walk you through exactly how to identify which transactions don’t earn 4% cash back on your Smartly Credit Card.

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“Reflecting” on My New Mirrored AMEX Business Platinum Card

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Good afternoon everyone, and happy Friday!  A few weeks ago, American Express unveiled their new mirrored-finish Platinum Card lineup, and as a longtime card enthusiast, I knew I had to add this shiny collectible to my collection. Instead of applying for a new card, I logged into my American Express online account and ordered a replacement American Express Business Platinum Card.

While waiting for the replacement card to arrive, I discovered something interesting: you can’t add your old AMEX Business Platinum Card to your Apple Wallet once you’ve requested a replacement. Every attempt I made to add it resulted in an error until the new mirrored card arrived and was activated.

This post walks you through ordering a replacement AMEX Business Platinum Card, the delivery timeline, design changes, activation process, and adding your new card to your Apple Wallet.

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Alaska Airlines / Atmos Rewards Summit Cardholders: How to Share Points with up to 10 Accounts for Free

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Good afternoon everyone! I hope you had an enjoyable Indigenous Peoples’ Day or a festive Canadian Thanksgiving (both celebrated on October 13 this year).  Speaking of giving thanks, I want to thank the Atmos Rewards team for adding one of my favorite perks (free point sharing) to the Bank of America Atmos Rewards Summit Credit Card. This was one of the best features on the Barclays Hawaiian Airlines Credit Card, and I’m thrilled to see it available on the new Summit credit card.

Laura generously offered to share her Atmos Rewards points with me, so I’ll walk you through the step-by-step process of sharing points with another account.

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Maybe the Barclays Hawaiian Airlines Credit Card is a Keeper – Here’s Why

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Good afternoon everyone, happy Friday!  Remember when I wrote Should I Keep or Cancel the Barclays Hawaiian Airlines Credit Card? about three weeks ago? In that post, I mentioned:

“Laura’s Barclays Hawaiian Airlines Credit Card statement just closed and the $99 annual fee posted. As of today, we are 99% sure she will close this card, but I wanted to get a second opinion from readers to make sure we’re not missing an obvious reason to keep the card open for another year.”

Well… a lot can change in three weeks! There have been a few positive developments that turned our decision from a 99% closure into a 100% keeper.

1. The $99 Retention Offer That Changed Everything

When Laura called Barclays to close her credit card, she mentioned that we’d just had a baby and didn’t have any Hawaii trips planned. The rep was incredibly kind (congratulated her on the new baby!) and then offered to waive the $99 annual fee for this year.

The next business day, the $99 credit was backdated to offset the posted annual fee, making the card free for another year. We were both surprised (and grateful) for the generous gesture.  Well done, Barclays!

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