Category Archives: Credit Cards

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Delta TakeOff 15 Benefit (15% Award Travel Discount) Available within 24 Hours of New Credit Card, But Cannot Use on Existing Award Ticket Reservations

Good morning everyone, I hope your week is going well.  On Tuesday, I applied for the American Express Platinum Delta SkyMiles Business Credit Card through a targeted Delta mailer and was instantly approved.  The reason I applied for this credit card is because it comes with the new Delta TakeOff 15 card member benefit that provides a 15% discount on Delta award travel and I haven’t received the sign up bonus on this credit card before.  I have an upcoming Delta flight from San Francisco to Atlanta to Jacksonville (SFO-ATL-JAX) for an upcoming “free” Carnival Cruise and I wanted to save some miles on that award ticket (and future Delta award tickets I will book).

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Stacking Carnival Cruise Line Fun Match “Free” Cruise with 2x $35 Off $100 Chase Offer & BankAmeriDeal

Good morning everyone, I hope your week is going well.  A few weeks ago, I followed Nick’s advice from Frequent Miler and got a “free” cruise from Carnival Cruise Line.  Nick also got me a “free” Holland America Cruise, so if I ever see Nick on the High Seas, I will be sure to buy him a refreshing drink (or two).  Technically, these “free” cruises aren’t really free, I still had to pay a few hundred dollars in taxes, fees, port expenses, and gratuities, but I’m excited to go on my first cruise since my 2002 cruise to Alaska (scroll to the bottom to see some old school photos).

With the Carnival Fun Match promo, I received an offer for a “free” room (up to a balcony room), $50 in FunPlay credit, free drinks in the casino, and $100 OnBoard Credit per person. To reduce the cost, I split the $200 deposit and paid with 2 credit cards to trigger 2x $35 statement credits.

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My 2 Unsuccessful Retention Offer Calls for Chase Marriott Bonvoy Premier Plus Business & AMEX Gold

Good morning everyone, I hope your week is going well. Yesterday, I called Chase and American Express about 2 credit cards that had annual fees that just posted. When I called Chase about my Chase Marriott Bonvoy Premier Plus Business Credit Card (no longer available for sign up or product change), I told the rep that the $99 annual fee just posted to my account and that I wasn’t using this credit card very much since I use my JPMorgan Chase Ritz Carlton Credit Card (no longer available for sign up, but can be product changed into) for my Marriott purchases.  I asked the rep if they were able to waive the annual fee. The rep looked for retention offers and said there were no offers available.  For reference, in past years, I have received retention offers of $50 or $100.

Generally, I prefer to keep credit cards that are no longer available, unless there is a very good reason to close or product change them to another credit card, so I decided to keep the card open.  With that said, I can easily get more than $99 of value with the 35K Marriott Free Night Certificate that comes with this credit card each year. In fact, I already redeemed my 35K FNC for a stay later this month that costs more than $200.

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15K Referral Points Posting for Referring Friends to 75K Barclays Wyndham Rewards Earner Plus Credit Card

Good morning everyone, happy Saturday!  Last month, I wrote Refer Friends to the 75K Barclays Wyndham Rewards Earner Plus Credit Card & Earn 15K Points (45K Yearly Cap).  In that post, I shared how you could find your referral link and refer friends to the 75K sign up offer for the Barclays Wyndham Rewards Earner Plus Credit Card.  The terms and conditions of the referral offer said the bonus points “can take up to 6-8 weeks from June 30, 2023 to appear on your statement.”  I’m happy to report that the referral bonus points posted on my May credit card statement even though I had no other activity.

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Travel with Grant Turns 10 Years Old + 10 x $10 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway

Good afternoon everyone, I hope your week is going well.  Travel with Grant just turned 10 years old!  Yup, I started this blog on May 1, 2013 and I can’t believe I’ve had a travel blog for 10 years (I really can’t believe I have done anything for 10 years, let alone blogging). To celebrate this special occasion, I wanted to give away 10 x $10 Amazon Gift Cards to my readers.

To enter the giveaway…

Leave a comment on this post by 11:59pm PT on May 3 telling me about your favorite article / topic covered on Travel with Grant.  I will select 10 winners by Friday, May 5 and email them a $10 Amazon Gift Card.

Good luck to everyone who enters the giveaway and here’s to 10 more years!

P.S. In case you were wondering, here are the 9 other blogiversary posts I wrote throughout the years: