Category Archives: Credit Cards

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How Much Did I Pay in Credit Card Annual Fees in 2021?

Good morning everyone, I hope your week is going well.  Last year, I wrote How Much Did I Pay in Credit Card Annual Fees in 2020?  I wanted to create a similar post for 2021, so I listed all of our credit cards that have annual fees and sorted them by when the annual fee posted.  Whenever I see an annual fee post, I always call the credit card company to see if there are any retention offers available.  At the bottom of this post, I will also share what retention offers I received this year, which credit cards I closed, and which credit cards I converted.  As a starting point, if I kept every single credit card with an annual fee this year, I would have 26 credit cards and paid a total of $4,468 in annual fees.  Here are our credit cards and annual fees (LT = Laura’s cards):

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How Much Money Did I Make from Bank Account Bonuses in 2021?

Good afternoon everyone, I hope you had a great weekend.  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 7 years, I have been opening new checking accounts, savings accounts, brokerage accounts, and cash management accounts for the new member bonuses.  Tt the end of each year, I share my results on the blog.  Over the last 7 years, I have made $15,850 in bank account bonuses.  You will receive 1099-INT 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 high spending target to earn more rewards.  Here are my results from the last 7 years with links to corresponding blog post summaries:

Drum roll please… Here are the 13 new accounts I opened in 2021:

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Bank of America Alaska Airlines Credit Card 20% Rebate for In-Flight Purchases Works Great

Good morning everyone.  A few weeks ago, I flew Alaska Airlines from San Francisco to New York and took advantage of the 20% rebate for in-flight purchases for paying with my Bank of America Alaska Airlines Credit Card (works on both the personal and business credit card).  A 20% rebate is a great benefit and you actually earn 3x Alaska Airlines miles on the original price (before the rebate).  I wanted to share my experience since I haven’t seen this benefit written about extensively.

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Wyndham Timeshare Vacation Package: 4 Nights + 30K Points for $199 in Las Vegas, Orlando, Oceanside & More

Good evening everyone.  I just received an email from Club Wyndham for a 4 night stay in Las Vegas, Orlando, Oceanside and 7 other cities + 30,000 Wyndham Rewards Points for $199.  There are also some options for a 3 night stay + 15,000 Wyndham Rewards Points for $149.  These are some of the highest bonuses I have ever seen for Wyndham vacation packages.  These vacation packages require attending a 2 hour timeshare presentation (please see the terms and conditions before booking).  You may be able to get an even better deal if you call the Club Wyndham phone number (1-855-895-3640).  The phone reps really want people to attend the timeshare presentation and have the power to give you more incentives, like more free points or a prepaid gift card.  I also saw some offers that came with SeaWorld tickets, AMEX gift cards, Caesars Rewards gift cards, and more.

I’m not sure if this matters, but I am in California, I have Wyndham Rewards Diamond Elite Status and I have the Barclays Wyndham Rewards Earner Business Credit Card.  I didn’t see a book by date on the email, so I am not sure how long this promotion will last.  Here is the email I received from Club Wyndham:

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My 2021 Year in Review: PFS Buyers Club $15K in Spend & $1,200 in Profit

Good afternoon everyone, I hope your week is going well.  Since we are now in December, I wanted to review how I did this year in terms of bank account bonuses, credit card annual fees, yearly predictions, and coin reselling with PFS Buyers Club (my referral link).  I will write separate blog posts about those first 3 topics later this month, but for today, I wanted to share how I did with coin reselling this year with PFS.  This was my best year ever with PFS and I was able to participate in 10 different deals.  Long story short, I had $15,128.55 in credit card spend and made $1,246.45 profit (8% return) in 2021.

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