Random News: CSP Poll Results, Back 2 School Blogger Report Card, Staples Free After Rebate Paper, Korean Kit Kat Bar, and New AMEX Offers for AMEX Hotels, Paperless Post, and Cole Haan
Good evening everyone, here are the poll results for “Is the Chase Sapphire Preferred worth the $95 annual fee?” (link). Your votes have been tallied and it looks like 60% of you agree with me that the $95 annual fee is not worth it. Looking at the comments, I agree that the Chase Ink Bold/Plus/Cash Business Credit Card is superior to the Chase Sapphire Preferred.
For the record, if you downgrade or convert your Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card, you will keep the same credit line, that will not change.
Since almost everyone is back in school (except UC students who start October 2), I wanted to do a Blogger Report Card where you get to rate me and I get to see where I do well and where I need improvement as a blogger. Feel free to leave any feedback/suggestions in the last box. Thank you!
Question 1:
Question 2:
Question 3:
Question 4: If you could change one thing about Travel with Grant, what would it be?
- Leave your comment/feedback in the comments below. Thank you.
Need any more paper? Bueller? Bueller? The first offer is free after rebate and coupon. The second offer is $9.99 after rebate and coupon, but you get 10 reams, worth approximately $20 at my garage sale (your garage sale prices may vary (GSPMV) – a new acronym).
A friend of mine has been travelling around the world and sent me a Korean bookmark and Korean(?) Kit Kat Bars. Anyone know what flavor this is? Green Tea or Wasabi?
Last but not least, here are some of the new AMEX offers I stumbled upon in my AMEX account. Your offers may be better/worse/different than those shown below.
Here is the AMEX Hotel offer link.
If you have any questions, please leave a comment below. Good night!
That’s definitely green tea Kit Kat, That’s my favorite, but cannot buy in the US.
I see. I’ve only had the standard chocolate flavored kit kat bars. I hope the green tea one tastes pretty good.
I’ve seen green tea Kit Kats and other flavors at Korean/Asian supermarkets and random Japanese toy stores…but they’re quite expensive for my frugal self. Probably a good thing though.
Haha, pricey but delicious candy is my favorite :)
The green tea Kit Kat triggered a craving so I looked online and, what do you know, Amazon sells it! Unfortunately not cost efficient tho’, oh well. Anyway, enjoy your blog and particularly appreciate the random deals (MS and otherwise) you share. But, since you asked, just wanted to offer a piece of feedback. I always feel uneasy listening to your recon call recordings…I feel like it somehow violates the other party’s privacy (maybe “violates” is too strong a word, but isn’t there a law against recording people without their knowledge, at least in some jurisdictions?). Would it be just as valuable if you just wrote about the recon strategies/advice in summary form without playing the actual recording?
Good morning Claire, thank you for the feedback. I have heard from a few other readers who do not think it is a good idea to record the audio calls. I will stop recording the audio calls going forward. Do you think I should remove the calls that I already posted?
Well, it’s your blog so you should do what you feel is best :-). My 2 cents is that IF it is indeed illegal (or otherwise ill advised) to record people without consent, then I would rather not have the recordings hanging around on my blog in case somebody decides to come after me later.
That’s good advice. I need to ask a lawyer what he thinks. Thanks Claire.
Please also remember that every time you call the bank’s recon or customer service phone number, there is always a automated message that tells everybody that the call maybe recorded, so I think since one of the both parties already announce that the call maybe recorded then I think it’s ok to record.
That’s what I thought too, but I’m going to play it safe any remove the audio calls and summarize calls in the future.
Yes, it’s green tea kit kat from Japan.
Thank you GymRat!
Japanese green tea kitkat. It’s seasonal. You can buy it all over San Francisco. :)
Good to know, thank you Cindy, I assume in the China Town / Little Tokyo neighborhoods in SF?
You can buy those green tea kit kats in many Japanese markets (Mitsuwa, Marukai, etc) in orange country.
Oh, even better. I still haven’t tried it yet. I’ll eat it tonight after work. I promise!
Green tea kit kats CAN be bought in the US, at least in Japanese markets in the Bay Area. :) They’re EXTREMELY popular…people beg for them and pay premiums for them here! [they’re not Korean btw, though your friend probably bought it in Korea if they also got you a Korean bookmark. I believe the green tea kit kat was originated in Japan, and your box is in Japanese too]
Enjoy!!! :D
Thank you Star, I was mistaken about the language on the outside of the packaging. Apparently all my blog readers have had a Green Tea Kit Kat Bar!
P.S. there are also tons of other flavors of Kit Kats in Asia! My personal favorite is the passion fruit one. :) I currently have a pack of orange/lemon/lime (in one flavor), strawberry, green tea, cinnamon cookie, purple sweet potato, and roasted tea that I’m making my way through! If you like your green tea one, you could venture out to other flavors. It looks like this: http://shiokjapan.com/store/kitkat-regional-western-japan-assort/
Thank you for the link, I had no idea there were so many flavors of Kit Kat Bars in Asia. I need to go to Asia one of these days…
Hey Grant – a note about the recordings. I don’t believe it varies by state but under law, if you record someone, you have to make sure they’re aware of it. Start recording, let them know you’re recording for future reference (say you have a bad memory or something), and proceed as normal.
Thank you Leigh, I will remember to do that for the next call, if I decide to record future calls.
I haven’t read every comment but that’s Japanese, not Korean, even if it came from a Korean store. The writing is definitely Japanese. I’ve bought these at Narita airport and yum… they’re so good.
Yes you are right. They did come from Japan and they are indeed delicious :)
I believe it the matcha kit kat, first time trying did not really like it. But my two girls and wife love them. Got introduction to matcha kit kat was from Kimochnox – japanese snack box (http://www.kimochbox.com). Paid $15 for a box of snacks and sweets which includes the matcha kit kat