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Turnaround Time for 5x Shipping AMEX Offer on American Express Business Platinum (Slow or Very Fast?)

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Good afternoon everyone.  2 weeks ago, American Express rolled out a bunch of new AMEX Offers on their American Express Business Platinum Card.  Those AMEX Offers included earning 5x Membership Rewards Points on Wireless, Shipping, Advertising, Gas and Office Supply purchases.  I added / activated those AMEX Offers and was especially excited about the 5x shipping AMEX Offer since I sell stuff on eBay and ship a few packages every month (mainly USPS and UPS).  When my Chase Ink Plus Business Credit Card was offering 5x on shipping last year, I racked up a ton of Chase Ultimate Rewards Points.  Since that deal ended a few months ago, I was excited to start using my AMEX Business Platinum to earn 5x Membership Rewards Points on shipping purchases.

AMEX handles these AMEX Business Platinum AMEX Offers slightly differently where you earn the base rate (1x on shipping) and then earn the 4x bonus points later.  According to the 5x shipping AMEX Offer terms, eligible purchases are “made in the U.S. for courier, postal, and freight shipping services” and the additional bonus points “will be credited to your Membership Rewards program account within 90 days after 6/30/2021.”  With that info in mind, I wanted to share the turnaround time for the 5x shipping AMEX Offer.

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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!