Category Archives: Promotions + Deals

My AMEX Offer, Chase Offer, and BofA BankAmeriDeals Loading Strategy & Thoughts

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Good afternoon everyone.  I’m a big fan of good AMEX Offers and Chase Offers, but I have received a ton of bad offers lately, so I wanted to share my loading strategy and thoughts.  I will also briefly cover Bank of America BankAmeriDeals at the end of this post.  Let’s get started with AMEX Offers.  I created this chart to divide up AMEX Offers into 4 separate buckets:

  • Good offers on all cards
  • Good offers on 1 card
  • Bad offers on all cards
  • Bad offers on 1 card

Unfortunately, most of the recent AMEX Offers fall into the “Bad offers on all cards” and “Bad offers on 1 card” buckets.  You will have to decide for yourself what you consider a good AMEX Offer vs. a bad AMEX Offer.  A good AMEX Offer is an offer that I don’t need to go out of my way to research or use.  A bad AMEX Offer requires a lot of research to look up the store or service, see what they sell, and figure out if it is worth the price.  I don’t spend much time with bad AMEX Offers.

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How I Messed up the $20 Dining Credit on my AMEX Hilton Aspire

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Good morning everyone, I hope your week is going well.  One of the current card benefits of the American Express Hilton Honors Aspire Credit Card is the $20 monthly dining credit.  Unfortunately I ran into an issue using this card benefit in April on 2 restaurant purchases (In N Out Burger and Panera Bread).  As you can see, I never received the $20 dining credit for my April purchases, but I did receive the credit automatically in May, June, and July.  Based on my transactions, the $20 dining credit posts ~3 days after the restaurant charge posts to your account.  I contacted AMEX on May 1 and again on July 13 to check on the status of the dining credit and received conflicting answers.  Here is what I was told and what I learned…

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20% Off Lowe’s Gift Cards with Citi ThankYou Points (1.25 CPP) (Promo Expires on 7/13)

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Good afternoon everyone, happy Friday.  I just received an email from Citi regarding my Citi Double Cash Credit Card, but the promo is really about getting 20% off Lowe’s Gift Cards (both physical and digital).  From today (Friday, July 9) through Tuesday, July 13, you can get Lowe’s GCs for 20% off when you pay with Citi ThankYou Points.  For example, a $100 Lowe’s GC normally costs 10,000 Citi ThankYou Points, but during this promo, it only costs 8,000 Citi ThankYou Points.  This comes out to a value of 1.25 cents per point (CPP) or 1.375 CPP if you have a Citi Rewards+ Credit Card.

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US Bank Cash Plus Credit Card Changes to Foreign Transaction Fees (Effective October 1, 2021)

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Good afternoon everyone, I hope your Fourth of July Weekend is going well.  I was reviewing my recent statement from my US Bank Cash Plus Credit Card when I spotted this “IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT” about foreign transaction fees.  The statement doesn’t tell you anything about the change, so you need to look at the insert that comes with your paper statement or download the digital insert online to find out what is changing.

The digital insert says that effective October 1, 2021, the foreign transaction fee will be:

  • 3% of each foreign purchase transaction or foreign ATM advance transaction in U.S. Dollars
  • 3% of each foreign purchase transaction or foreign ATM advance transaction in Foreign Currency

Here is the backside of the digital insert that says you can reject the change by contacting US Bank, but that will result in US Bank closing your Cash Plus Credit Card.

I found the current terms for the Cash Plus Credit Card and it currently says “2% of each foreign purchase transaction or foreign ATM advance transaction in U.S. Dollars.”  It looks like effective October 1, 2021, that will increase from 2% to 3%.

The Cash Plus Credit Card is not a good card to use internationally or to make purchases at international websites.  If you plan to make international purchases, use a credit card that has no foreign transaction fees, like the US Bank Altitude Reserve Credit Card.  If you have any questions about this change, please leave a comment below.  Have a great Fourth of July everyone!

American Express Business Platinum Card Changes: $179 CLEAR Credit & Centurion Lounge Guest Access Policy

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Good morning everyone, I hope your Fourth of July weekend is going well.  I know there has been a lot of news this week about the American Express Platinum Cards, but I still wanted to share the details of the changes that were posted to my American Express Business Platinum Card.  I don’t have any other varieties or flavors of Platinum Cards, so I am not sure if these changes apply to all Platinum Cards or only to the Business Platinum Card.  To start, American Express is revising / clarifying the language regarding additional card members and how refunds are handled if you cancel an authorized user / employee card.  These changes mention the Cardmember Agreement which can be found here, then click on Small Business Cards, and then click on the Business Platinum Card.

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