Category Archives: Credit Cards
New American Express App Feature: Get Your AMEX Pass to Access 25 Venues + 10% Cash Back on Qualifying Concessions
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Good afternoon everyone. I was clicking around the American Express app and stumbled on some new features that are being rolled out. If you sign into the app and click the Account tab in the bottom right corner, then click Try New Features, you will see 3 new features: New Wallets & Merchants, Amex Inspire, and Amex Pass. This post is dedicated to the AMEX Pass feature, but I cover the other 2 features at the bottom of the post. The AMEX Pass creates a special QR code that you can use to access select AMEX venues (25 as of 1/8/25) and you can earn 10% cash back on qualifying concessions by using your enrolled card. Here is the process to set up your AMEX Pass.
3 Upcoming American Express Endings: Redeeming Membership Rewards Points at Newegg & Staples, ShopRunner Benefit & AMEX Auto Purchasing Program
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Good afternoon everyone, I hope you had a great weekend. Yesterday, I was reviewing my recent American Express statements and saw a few upcoming changes that I wanted you to be aware of. Thankfully, none of these changes are huge. Without further ado, here are the 3 changes.
Bye bye AMEX MR Redemptions at Newegg.com and Staples.com
Effective March 31, 2025, Card Members will no longer be able to redeem Membership Rewards points on www.newegg.com and www.staples.com.
I have made several purchases at Newegg.com and Staples.com over the years, but have never used my AMEX MR Points to pay for my orders since I assumed it was a bad deal. My assumption was correct! On both websites, you can redeem 14,286 AMEX MR Points to offset $100, which is a terrible redemption at 0.7 CPP. Good riddance to this redemption option!
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Upcoming Changes to Charitable Matches, Gift Card Redemptions, and Rewards Expirations for US Bank Altitude Go, Altitude Connect, Cash+ & Shopper Cash Credit Cards (Effective April 14)
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Good afternoon everyone, happy Friday! I was reviewing my US Bank credit cards and noticed a few upcoming changes to these 4 cards: Altitude Go, Altitude Connect, Cash+, and Shopper Cash. All of these changes go into effect on April 14, 2025.
US Bank Altitude Go Credit Card
Here are the major changes, but click here to see the full details:
- Discount on purchased gift cards: Coming in early 2025! Receive discounts of up to 5% on dozens of name brand gift cards.
- Updated rewards earning: 4X points on dining, takeout and restaurant delivery on your first $2,000 each quarter (then 1X point). You will continue to earn 2X points at grocery stores, at gas stations/EV charging stations and on streaming services and 1X point on all other eligible purchases. Plus, $15 credit for annual streaming service purchases. Excludes discount stores/supercenters and wholesale clubs.
- Reward redemption and expiration changes: Points will not expire as long as you keep your account active. To keep your account active, simply make a purchase, maintain a balance or redeem rewards. Points will expire if there is no activity for 12 consecutive billing cycles. You’ll get the most value when you redeem points as a deposit to an eligible U.S. Bank account, at $0.01 per point—where 10,000 points are equal to $100. And, you can redeem points for a monetary charity contribution to a variety of nonprofits, and U.S. Bank will match your contribution at 100%. When redeeming points for a statement credit, travel, gift cards, merchandise, Real-Time Rewards and U.S. Bank Rewards Card, the point values and redemption minimums may vary over time, and will be disclosed upon redemption.
5% discounts on gift cards is not very exciting. The $2,000 quarterly cap on the 4x categories is new, since there is currently no cap on those categories. US Bank might change the redemption minimums for Real-Time Rewards.
2024’s Must-Reads: Have You Read My Most Popular Posts Yet?
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Good afternoon everyone, happy New Year’s Eve! As we wrap up 2024, it’s time to take a look at my top 10 most popular blog posts of the year. Barring any crazy last minute spikes in blog readership today, these are the top 10 blog posts written in 2024 and top 10 blog posts written in previous years. If you are curious, here were the most popular posts from 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023.
2024’s Most Popular Blog Posts (Written in 2024)
- PSA: Bank of America Won’t Automatically Send a Replacement Debit Card when your Card Expires (2/20/24) – I realized my Bank of America debit card had expired in July 2022, and I never received a replacement debit card until I requested one in February 2024, despite having it stored in ApplePay. My frustration grew from the lack of notifications and outdated PIN change process. Judging by the number of pageviews this post received, I guess I wasn’t the only one with this problem.
- My 2023 Peloton Bike Rental Year End Review (Total Cost of Ownership & Workout Class Stats) (1/21/24) – In 2023, I rented a Peloton bike instead of buying one, opting for the flexibility of a monthly rental with the option to pause or return it. Although I didn’t meet my fitness goals, I appreciated the variety of classes, the ability to create multiple profiles, and the affordability of the rental option, especially with my employer’s fitness reimbursement. I wasn’t planning on writing a 2024 Peloton year end review, but since this post was so popular, I will work on a 2024 update in the coming days.
- Attention Coinstar Users: Not All Kiosks Offer Amazon eGift Cards (1/19/24) – During a recent trip to SoCal, I used a Coinstar kiosk to convert a bag of change into an eGC, only to find that Amazon was missing as a redemption option. After researching, I discovered that not all kiosks offer Amazon eGCs, with availability varying by location and grocery store chain. I wish all Coinstar kiosks had the same redemption offers so this issue would be avoided.
How Much Money Did I Make from Bank Account Bonuses in 2024?
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Good afternoon everyone, I hope your week is going well. Doctor of Credit has a Best Bank Account Bonuses page that he keeps up to date with the best offers each month. In that master post, he links to individual bank account bonuses with helpful information regarding the bonus details, how to avoid monthly fees, when to close the account, how often you can open a new account, and much more. For the last 10 years, I have been opening new checking accounts, savings accounts, brokerage accounts, and cash management accounts for the new member bonuses. At the end of each year, I share my results on the blog.
Over the last 10 years, I have made $26,775 in bank account bonuses. You will receive 1099-INT / 1099-MISC tax forms every year, so you have to pay taxes on the bank account bonuses, but sometimes you can fund the opening deposit with a credit card and earn miles, points, or cash back. If you are lucky, you can meet a minimum spending requirement by funding a new checking account or reach a spending threshold / milestone to earn more rewards. Here are my results from the last 10 years with links to corresponding yearly summaries:
- 2015: $1,175 (no post)
- 2016: $2,850 (summary)
- 2017: $3,700 (summary)
- 2018: $2,725 (summary)
- 2019: $1,000 (summary)
- 2020: $800 (summary)
- 2021: $3,600 (summary)
- 2022: $4,485 (summary)
- 2023: $3,685 (summary)
- 2024: $2,755 (this post)
Drum roll please… Here are the 12 new accounts Laura and I opened in 2024 that paid out $2,755 in bonuses:
| Bank Account Name | Opened | Closed | Bonus | Notes |
| WeBull Brokerage (Laura) | 01/01/24 | 02/21/24 | $180 | 30 free stocks (worth $180) |
| Citi Access Checking | 01/01/24 | 04/26/24 | $200 | |
| PSECU Checking | 01/04/24 | 05/31/24 | $300 | $100 credit card funding |
| PenFed Credit Union Checking | 01/04/24 | 11/08/24 | $250 | |
| M1 Finance | 01/06/24 | 02/20/24 | $250 | |
| NASA Federal Credit Union Checking | 01/09/24 | 04/26/24 | $300 | $400 credit card funding |
| Redwood Credit Union Checking | 01/26/24 | 04/26/24 | $250 | $500 credit card funding |
| Raisin Account @ Grand Bank | 01/26/24 | 08/15/24 | $150 | Rakuten cash back: 10,000 AMEX MR Points ($150 value) |
| Upgrade Rewards Checking Plus | 03/05/24 | 05/11/24 | $150 | |
| Upgrade Premier Savings | 03/07/24 | 08/15/24 | $200 | |
| One Finance Savings | 11/08/24 | 12/28/24 | $225 | Rakuten cash back: 15,000 AMEX MR Points ($225 value) |
| Chase Total Checking (Laura) | 11/11/24 | Open | $300 | |
| $2,755 |