Random News: PayPal to Serve Direct Deposit, Global Entry is Awesome, $25 Costco AMEX Offer, Barclays Arrival Plus 0% APR, and San Diego FlyerTalk Meet Up

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Random News: PayPal to Serve Direct Deposit, Global Entry is Awesome, $25 Costco AMEX Offer, Barclays Arrival Plus 0% APR, and San Diego FlyerTalk Meet Up

Good morning everyone, here is your random news of the day!

A few days ago (link), I talked about the $50 statement credit for 2 qualifying direct deposits to your AMEX Serve account.

Serve Direct Deposit Promo 2

I tested to see if a $250 PayPal withdrawal to my AMEX Serve “bank account” would count as a direct deposit… 

PayPal Email Withdraw Process

Apparently Serve things so.  I am doing another $250 PayPal to Serve withdrawal now and hopefully that shows up as a direct deposit as well and I receive the $50 statement credit soon.  I will keep you posted.

Serve Email PayPal Direct Deposit Posted Serve Direct Deposit Posted

Let me ask you a question.  When you come back to the US from a long international flight, what’s the last thing you want to do?  Hopefully you said stand in line to go through U.S. Customs.  Luckily, there is an easy way to get through U.S. Customs in under 2 minutes.  Get Global Entry!

I did my Global Entry interview at the end of April (up in Seattle before FTU Seattle).  This past weekend was my first chance (more like privilege) to try out Global Entry.  Your Global Entry membership is tied to your US passport and your fingerprints.  When you get to the U.S. Customs area, look for the large group of Global Entry kiosks.  Take out your passport, put it face down onto the passport scanner, place your right hand on the fingerprint scanner, answer all the security questions ($10,000+ cash = no, touched livestock = no, etc.), stand still as they take your pic (see below #instagram #globalentryselfie), and take your receipt to the counter.  The gentleman barely looked at the receipt and told me to head downstairs to baggage claim.  After getting my suitcase, I walked to the final part of U.S. Customs and handed the receipt to the gentleman.  He barely looked at it and said that I was good to go.  That’s how easy the entire process is!

Global Entry Ticket

I checked my AMEX accounts this morning and noticed this AMEX Offer.  I’m not sure if it is new, but it is new to me.  I’m sure most of you shop at Costco, so hopefully this offer can be useful for you.  It says you must shop in-store, so no online orders allowed.

Costco AMEX Offer

My friend who told me about the Barclays 0% APR trick (link) sent me some screenshots from his account to show me that the 0% APR on new purchases and 0% APR on balance transfers (balance transfer fee still applies).

Barclays Arrival Plus 0 APR Screenshot

Barclays Arrival Plus 0 APR on Balance Transfer Screenshot

Last but not least, my friend Chris is organizing a FlyerTalk Miles and Points Meet Up in San Diego on Sunday, July 27th, 6pm.  They will be meeting at the same Sammy’s Pizza in La Jolla that I had for my recent San Diego Meet Up.  If you are interested, please leave a comment on the FlyerTalk thread.  We will probably meet up before in front of Starbucks again.

Our first stop is Starbucks (Google Map link): 244, 8750 Genesee Ave, San Diego, CA 92122

Starbucks Location

If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.  Have a great day everyone.  One more day until the 4th of July 3 day weekend!


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22 thoughts on “Random News: PayPal to Serve Direct Deposit, Global Entry is Awesome, $25 Costco AMEX Offer, Barclays Arrival Plus 0% APR, and San Diego FlyerTalk Meet Up

  1. Mike

    Believe it or not, no Costco offer up here in Seattle.

    I saw on another site that Serve IS confirmed to load over $1K via gift cards at Walmart.

    Reply
  2. Ryan

    Any word on the Amex Costco Offer? Didn’t show up in my offers for my Hilton Amex. AmexSync Twitter claiming it isn’t a real offer. Thanks!

    Reply
  3. Santosh Purohit

    SO You transferred from Paypal to Serve using Debit/checking card , right ? No Credit or Gifat Card . I am seeing Amex Centurion in your screen shot ..How many times we can do it by July 31st.

    Reply
  4. Laura

    I didn’t get the Amex Costco offer. I go to Costco all the time and use my one (and only) Amex card there, which is the SPG. What a bummer. I’ll keep checking… maybe because it’s the long weekend they’re rolling it out slowly.

    Reply
    1. Grant

      I double checked my cards and the Costco offer is available on my Blue Cash Preferred and my Hilton HHonors AMEX. Keep checking, maybe you will get lucky!

      Reply
  5. Paul Chang

    Hey Grant, so did you get the $50 reward for the 2 Paypal direct deposits to Serve? I received a flyer for the same offer but to my BB card instead. Would the same method work, you think?

    Reply
    1. Grant

      Yes, I did 2 $250 PayPal withdrawals to my Serve account and both counted as direct deposits and I earned the $50 cash back bonus. I believe Bluebird would also work similarly, but I would see what the transaction is coded as for the first deposit. I am using my online brokerage to link to my Mom’s Serve and Dad’s Serve cards and seeing if that will work as well. I will report my findings next week.

      Reply

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