(Hat Tip to my friend Bill for the Barclays credit card update and Target gift card update)
Good evening everyone, I have a few random news items to share with you. First off, it looks like Barclays is sending out new Chip and PIN cards to Barclays American Airlines Aviator Red Credit Card holders. When you activate your new credit card online, you are given the option to set up a 4 digit PIN (please don’t pick 1234). This is the first time I have heard of this feature and I wonder if Barclays will send out other replacement credit cards with Chip and PIN technology. To request the new credit card technology, call up Barclays and ask them to send you a new card. If they refuse or tell you to wait patiently, you can tell them your current card is damaged and ask for a replacement card.
A few weeks ago, Target offered a $20 Target Gift Card to anyone (presumably college students) who made a college registry (It’s Back Again! Free $20 Target Gift Card for Creating a $500+ College Registry). Apparently they are sending out the $20 Target Gift Cards and you should receive yours in the next few days. There is some confusion as to whether this is related to the first round or second round of the offer. I participated in both and have yet to receive my Target Gift Card yet, so I am not sure.
Last but not least, Best Western has a new promotion where you can earn 1,000 Best Western Points for every paid stay between now and September 7. To sign up, click here.
After entering your Best Western account number or email, you are ready to start earning Best Western points.
1,000 Best Western points is equal to:
- $4.17 in Best Western travel credit
- 200 Alaska / American / US Airways miles
- 240 Southwest Rapid Reward points
If you have any questions, please leave a comment below. Have a great evening everyone.
Are you sure the Aviator Red is not simply chip & signature by default and chip & pin only if the signature is not accepted? I did set a PIN on all of my chip cards. None of my US issued credit cards work in Europe on chip & pin :( as the terminals still accept signatures. The only way to smoothly process payments is using Apple Pay instead as this works great in Europe and is the closest to chip & pin feeling :)
Thank you for the data point. I believe the credit card POS reader has to set the priority in which it tries to process the credit card. It may use mag strip as the first option, chip and signature and the second option, and chip and PIN as thew third option. I believe if the POS system is updated to process chip and PIN first, then you will be able to use the US cards like true chip and PIN, until then, it will just be mag strip or chip and sig.
I got my Target cards yesterday. They were from the 2nd round. I missed the first round.
Good to hear, I’m not sure if my college registry qualified since I just added another iPad from the first round and the second round. I hope I get lucky though :)
Received my target card yesterday. I believe it is from the second round.
Thanks John. Looks like everyone reports the second round. I hope my Target GC arrives soon.
Do you think you are going to switch to Aviator Silver?
@Ig8302ch: Oooo didn’t know Apple Pay was in Europe already! I thought they had just announced partnerships in Europe, or maybe that was just London, or maybe I didn’t read the news thoroughly enough. Haha all the recent news is getting jumbled in my head.
Bill,are you planning on keeping your Barclays AA Aviator Red or switching/converting to Aviator Silver? I don’t have either card or know what the difference between the cards is.
Grant, the Aviator Silver has a $195 AF, but gives 3x miles on AA/US airfare, 2x on hotel and rental cars, and has several spend bonuses: 5k EQM at $20k, a domestic companion pass at $30k, and another 5k EQM at $40k.
I called Barclays to switch from the Red to the Silver, but they wouldn’t do it. :/ Everybody else seems to be having luck, though.
Thanks for sharing the bonus categories and spending targets. Seems like a great card for high spenders.
At this point I am not going to attempt to upgrade to the Silver. I just don’t fly AA enough to make the extra $100 worth my while to earn the extra points or EQMs.
Grant is correct on the ‘Chip and PIN’, it defaults to Signature and only requires a PIN, when the Signature is not available. There is no way to prioritize the PIN over the signature.
I got my target gift card a few days ago and it is from the second round.
Thanks for the update Elena.
Citi AA Exec is chip & pin with pick your own pin; worked at automated subway machines in Vienna last summer; rest of places signature was OK.
Here in the US you need to insert the card into a spot on the reader instead of sliding it (sorry, I don’t know how to post a picture, but it is usually on the bottom; Walmart has them) in order for it to use the chip; but I haven’t found anyone who asks for the PIN yet.
Thanks Bill. I’m not sure how safe a credit card is if the chip and PIN (any 4 digit combination) works.
Just because they have you set up a PIN doesn’t mean the card will work as a chip & PIN for purchases. I hope it does but likely it’s just so you can do cash advances at ATM’s
There was no mention of cash advances on that screen so I would be surprised to see cash advance fees post on purchases using the chip and PIN.
Grant – using your 4 digit birth year as the pin would be almost as bad as 1234.
That’s true, but that would still be harder to guess.
Hi grant,
Sorrry for being off topic
What do u think about the nba Amex card? Is it worth to get it? Annual fee is waived for life if apply by 6/30
https://www.bbvacompass.com/nbacard/
I have no opinion on the card. It’s probably too late to get the card and take advantage of the 5x.
I only participated in the 2nd round of the Target Registry and received my gift card yesterday… So yeah, it looks like they’re from round numba 2!
Thank you, I hope I get my Target GC soon.
This reminds me, I never did get the Target giftcard from the first time this came up.
Same here, I think we are never getting the first Target GC.
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