Category Archives: Promotions + Deals

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Listen to Grant & Nick (from Frequent Miler) on the Risk of Ruin Podcast

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Good morning everyone, I hope you had an enjoyable MLK Jr. Weekend.  I am a big fan of miles & points podcasts and I recently had the pleasure to join Nick from Frequent Miler on the latest episode of the Risk of Ruin Podcast (hosted by John Reeder).  John is a great story teller and expertly wove our experiences and stories together into a great podcast.  I highly recommend listening to this podcast on your favorite podcasting platform:

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If you love the sound of my voice, check out my other podcast guest appearances on my Podcasts & Interviews page.  If you have any questions about this podcast, please leave a comment below.  Have a great day everyone!

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Get 0.7% APY + $100 Bonus by Stacking 2 Marcus Savings Account Deals (Expires February 12)

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Updated 12/1/22 at 4pm PT: Marcus is currently offering 3.00% APY and if you sign up with a referral link, like mine (https://www.marcus.com/share/GRA-IT7-LURK), you will get an extra 1.00% APY boost for the first 3 months, bring you to 4.00% APY for the first 3 months.

Good morning everyone, I hope your MLK Jr. Weekend is off to a great start.  In my post How Much Money Did I Make from Bank Account Bonuses in 2020?, I made a measly $800 from bank account bonuses in 2020.  I decided to hit the ground running in 2021 and have opened a few new savings, checking, and brokerage accounts in January (worth around $1,500).  My interest was piqued yesterday when I read Doctor of Credit’s post Marcus $100 Bonus for New & Existing Savings Customers with $10,000 Deposit (.50% APY).

My brother, who is a big fan of bank account bonuses, told me to use his referral link to join Marcus first (I would get a 0.2% APY boost for the first 3 months) and then to enroll in the $100 Marcus savings account bonus which is available for new and existing customers.  By stacking both deals, I will get 0.7% APY and the $100 bonus all at the same time.  As you can see, my Marcus account shows 0.7% APY and has 2 active offers applied.  Continue reading this post for step by step instructions on how to stack both of these deals.

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US Bank Cash+ Launching Real-Time Rewards for $10 Purchases & More News (Beginning February 19)

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Good afternoon everyone, happy Friday!  I just received an email from US Bank regarding my US Bank Cash+ Credit Card.  There are several changes that go into effect, beginning on February 19.  The most exciting change is the introduction of Real-Time Rewards for the US Bank Cash+, which I have used a few times on my US Bank Altitude Reserve Credit Card.  You will also be able to use your cash rewards through PayPal.  There are also some negative changes to when cash rewards expires and redemption options.  Read on to see all the details.

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Ask Me (Almost) Anything Friday

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Good morning everyone, happy Friday!  I am looking forward to my MLK Jr. 3 day weekend and hope you are too.  Travel with Grant has always been about writing blog posts that interest me and I write blog posts that I would want to read (hopefully readers want to read those posts too).  My inspiration to write comes from first hand experiences with travel and rewards credit cards, in addition to reading other miles & points blogs and listening to miles & points podcasts.  I don’t have any blog posts at the forefront of my mind right now, so I am looking to my readers for some inspiration.  What are you interested in right now?  Do you have any questions about traveling, miles and points, or credit card rewards?

If you do, please leave a comment below and I will do my best to answer them all.  I should be able to answer some of them in the comments section, but others may lead to full on blog posts of their own.  My only request is that you do not ask me any complicated award booking questions like, “I want to get 25 people to Australia for Christmas in first class.”  Trust me, I’m not sitting on the greatest award booking secrets ever known, so my short answer will be to reach out to an award booking service and pray that they can help you out.  That is my one and only request, but I welcome all other questions.

Thanks for reading, thanks for commenting, and enjoy your long weekend!

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I Paid $3,820 in Credit Card Annual Fees in 2020 – Was it Worth it?

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Good morning everyone, happy Friday!  After I published How Much Did I Pay in Credit Card Annual Fees in 2020?, several readers asked if I could share how much value I received from each credit card in 2020.  Today’s post is also a sequel to my 2019 post (I Paid $4,588 in Credit Card Annual Fees in 2019 – Was it Worth it?).  All 24 of these credit cards were opened before January 1, 2020, and no sign up bonus is included.  For simplicity, I did not include the value of miles or points earned from credit card spend, since that is somewhat subjective (and most of the miles and points were not spent in 2020).  I counted all credits, reimbursements, retention offers, and referral bonuses at dollar face value.  For hotel free night certificates, I have several from 2020 that expire in 2021 and 2022, so I am using a standard value of $100 for each hotel free night certificate.

I went through all of my credit card statements and online accounts to see which Credit Card Benefits I used in 2020 and those values are summed up in the CCB $ column.  If I received a retention offer, that is listed in the RO $ column.  I listed the credit card annual fee in the AF $ column.  Lastly, I used this formula to calculate the Profit or Loss (P / L column) for each credit card: CCB $ + RO $ – AF $ = P / L

I sorted the credit cards alphabetically and split them up into 3 smaller groups.  Here are some thoughts from the first group:

  • The first 3 AMEX cards were big money makers due to the standard card benefit credits and the temporary pandemic benefits.  It will be hard to beat these numbers in 2021.
  • I never planned on keeping the American Express Platinum Delta SkyMiles Credit Card long term and only signed up for the 70,000 Delta SkyMiles sign up bonus in 2019.
  • In most years, we are easily able to use the $99 Alaska Airlines Companion Fare, but due to the pandemic and very cheap Alaska Airlines flight, we did not use the Companion Fare in 2020.  I am hoping to use the Companion Fare this year.
  • I’m glad Laura (LT) was able to get a $59 retention offer on her Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card and a $100 referral bonus.
Credit Card Name Credit Card Benefits CCB $ RO $ AF $ P / L
AMEX Business Platinum $400 Dell credit; $198 airline reimbursement; $160 wireless phone credit; $158 shipping credit; $96 AMEX Offers for Dell & AT&T $1,012 $200 $595 $617
AMEX Gold $120 dining credit; $100 airline reimbursement; $60 AMEX Offer for Shop Small $280 $0 $250 $30
AMEX Hilton Honors Aspire $250 airline reimbursement; $250 resort credit (used at restaurants); 1 Free Night Certificate (expires 7/2/22) (worth $100) $600 $0 $450 $150
AMEX Platinum Delta SkyMiles Downgraded to no annual fee American Express Blue Delta SkyMiles Credit Card to avoid paying annual fee $0 $0 $250 $0
Bank of America Alaska Airlines (LT) Alaska Airlines $99 Companion Fare expired in 2020 $0 $0 $75 -$75
Capital One Venture Rewards (LT) $100 referral bonus $100 $59 $59 $100

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