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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Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Plus Upgrade Bonus & Courtesy Adjustment Points Posted (30K Instead of 20K)

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Good morning everyone.  A few weeks ago, I upgraded my Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Credit Card to the Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Plus Credit Card.  I upgraded to the new credit card since I was offered 20,000 bonus Marriott Rewards Points.  However, when I confirmed the upgrade offer with Chase, I was told I would only get 10,000 bonus Marriott Rewards Points for upgrading.  I then sent screenshots of the 20,000 bonus Marriott Rewards Points upgrade offer to Chase via Secure Message (SM) and the Chase rep honored the 20,000 bonus Marriott Rewards Points upgrade offer.

Fast forward to yesterday when my Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Plus Credit Card statement closed.  On the statement, it showed that I received 20,000 bonus Marriott Rewards Points from “Bonus on Premier Plus Upgrade” and an additional 10,000 bonus Marriott Rewards Points as a “Courtesy Adjustment.”  I also earned 20,000 Marriott Rewards Points from a referral (thank you whoever you are), but let’s ignore that in this post.

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Step by Step Guide for Wyndham Rewards to/from La Quinta Returns Status Matches & Points Transfers

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Good afternoon everyone.  Yesterday, it was announced that Wyndham Rewards and La Quinta Returns were allowing status matches and points transfers between both programs.  This is great news if you have status or points in one program and want to get status or move points over to the other program.

Since I recently signed up for the Barclays Wyndham Rewards Visa Credit Card and received the 45,000 point sign up bonus, I have a lot of Wyndham Rewards points.  I do have a few La Quinta points that I would like to transfer over to my Wyndham Rewards account.  In this post, I will show you how to move points between Wyndham Rewards and La Quinta Returns and how to status match from one program to the other.

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How to Combine Citi Thank You Points Accounts (Spoiler: Just Call Citi)

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Good morning everyone.  Long story short, I have a Citi Premier Credit Card and 3 Citi AT&T Access More Credit Cards (I’m trying to spend $10,000 on each credit card every year to get the bonus 10,000 Citi Thank You Points every year).  I only applied directly for one of these Citi AT&T Access More Credit Cards (thanks for the $650 AT&T phone credit) and converted my old Citi Forward Credit Card and Citi Prestige Credit Card into additional Citi AT&T Access More Credit Cards.

But somehow one of my Citi AT&T Access More Credit Cards had a separate Citi Thank You Points account.  Why is this a problem?  Citi AT&T Access More Credit Cards do not have the same transfer partners as my Citi Premier Credit Card.  I will show you what I mean below.  In this post, I will show you why it is better to have all of your Thank You Point earning credit cards linked to the same Citi Thank You Points account and show you how easy it is to combine your accounts (spoiler: just call Citi).

To demonstrate why having 2 Citi Thank You Points accounts is not better than 1, I clicked the blue Select button at the top of the page that only had 1,480 Citi Thank You Points.

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AMEX Cash Back & Membership Rewards Changes: SPG Transfers, Extended Warranties & More

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Good morning everyone, I hope you all had a great weekend.  Over the weekend, I reviewed my recent American Express credit card statements and spotted some major and minor changes to the terms.  A few months ago, I wrote about other changes: AMEX Membership Rewards Changes: No Points for Cash Equivalents (Gift Cards) & Person-to-Person Payments (Venmo).  Usually, whenever American Express makes a change to their program, it usually benefits American Express more than their cardholders.

In this month’s updates, there are some major and minor changes.  I reviewed the changes to my American Express Blue Cash Everyday Credit Card and there are some changes that affect cash back credit cards.  I also reviewed the changes to my American Express EveryDay Credit Card that earns Membership Rewards Points, and there are some changes there too.  Lastly, some changes affect all types of credit cards.  There is a lot to cover, so I will try to bold the most important stuff.

  • American Express will look at your credit report and may use the info for marketing purposes, to evaluate your account, and more.
  • American Express (and their affiliates and partners) may contact you at any phone number or email address to service your account or collect past due amounts.
  • American Express will specify when and how frequent you can use the Plan It feature.

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Buy Miles/Points Promos Ending May 31 to June 7: American, Frontier, Spirit, Southwest, Choice, Hilton, IHG & SPG

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Good afternoon everyone.  I recently updated my Buy Miles/Points Page and I wanted to let everyone know that there are several buy miles/points promos ending in the next few days (May 31 through June 7).  If you are short on miles and points for your next award, now might be the best time to buy some miles and points.  Here are the deals, sorted by the end date of the promo:

If you need any other miles and points, check out the Buy Miles/Points Page.  If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.  Have a great day everyone!