Author Archives: Grant

About Grant

Grant is an expert in frequent flyer miles, hotel loyalty points, credit card rewards, and cash back deals. He also has a pretty cool travel blog. Find him on Twitter @travelwithgrant.

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3 Buy Miles / Points Promos Ending Soon: Spirit Airlines (40%), Hilton (100%) & Alaska Airlines (70%)

Good afternoon everyone, happy Friday!  I was working on my Buy Miles & Points Page and found 3 offers that end in the next week.  Always check the math to make sure that buying miles & points makes sense for you.  Do not buy miles & points speculatively unless you have a use in mind.  With that said, here are 3 offers that end soon.

Up first, Spirit Airlines is offering up to a 40% discount, depending on the number of Spirit Airlines Free Spirit Miles you purchase.  This offer expires today – March 8.

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Quirky US Bank Cash Plus Credit Card Rewards Activity (Different Amounts Before & After Statement Closes)

Good evening everyone.  I spend a lot of time with my credit cards and banking apps (probably more time than most normal people should), but I wanted to share a quirk I noticed with the US Bank Cash+ Credit Card.  I love this credit card so much (I have 2 of them), because of the ability to select 2 different 5% cash back categories each quarter, and you can select the same 2 categories each quarter.

The 2 categories that I have picked lately are Home Utilities (which covers water, gas, electricity, trash, etc.) and TV / Internet / Streaming Services (which covers all the well known and niche streaming services I have tried).  Now, this is where the quirkiness comes in…

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2 Recent Credit Card Retention Offers: $150 Statement Credit & 4,000 Customer Appreciation Points

Good afternoon everyone.  Part of my credit card strategy is to call and ask for a retention offers every time a credit card annual fee posts to my account.  I am not successful 100% of the time, but I always find it worthwhile when I receive a retention offer for $50, $100, $150 or even $695 with a single call.  Today’s post is a friendly reminder to call and ask for retention offers.  The worse thing that can happen is that the rep screams at you relentlessly says they have no offers available.  You can then decide to keep the card open, downgrade to a no annual fee credit card, or cancel the card.  Here are my 2 recent examples.

The $450 annual fee posted to Laura’s JPMorgan Chase Ritz Carlton Credit Card on January 1.  She called the customer service number on the back of the card and received a $150 statement credit to keep her credit card open.  The $150 statement credit posted at the end of January and then she paid off the remaining credit card balance.  $150 for a 5-7 minute phone call is a great hourly rate :)

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Starbucks 15% Off Chase Offer (Gift Card Balance Reloads Worked)

Good afternoon everyone, I hope your week is going well.  A few days ago, I wrote Peets Coffee & Tea $10 Off $25 AMEX Offer (Gift Card Balance Reloads Worked).  If you are a fan of Starbucks, you won’t want to miss this deal.  There is a new Starbucks Chase Offer available where you can earn 15% cash back, up to a $4.50 statement credit on a $30 purchase.  I added the offer to all my eligible Chase credit cards and made a $30 Starbucks gift card balance reload and that triggered the Chase Offer.  You can repeat that process with each Chase credit card that has the Starbucks offer.  Here are the details:

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4 Buy Miles / Points Promos Ending Soon: Choice Hotels (25%), IHG (80%), Spirit Airlines (40%) & Hilton (100%)

Good afternoon everyone, I hope you had a great weekend.  I was working on my Buy Miles & Points Page and found 4 offers that end in the next week.  Always check the math to make sure that buying miles & points makes sense for you.  Do not buy miles & points speculatively unless you have a use in mind.  With that said, here are 4 offers that end soon.

Up next, Choice Hotels is offering up to a 25% discount, depending on the number of Choice Hotels Privileges Points you purchase.  This offer expires today – March 4.

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