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How to Activate Free Grubhub+ Membership using Lyft Pink Membership

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Good afternoon everyone.  Today, Lyft announced that Lyft Pink members now have access to a free Grubhub+ membership.  If you have a Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card, you already have access to a free membership of DashPass from DoorDash (not to be confused with Grubhub+ from Grubhub) and a free Lyft Pink membership.  In this post, I will walk you through the steps to activate your free Grubhub+ membership by using your Lyft Pink membership.  To get started, sign into your Lyft app, click the 3 bars in the upper left corner and then click the Lyft Pink button.

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Changes to American Express Credit Card Terms (AMEX Send Account, Cash Advances, AU AF Refunds, Bye El Al & More)

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Updated 10/7/2020 at 12pm PT: El Al Israel Airlines just sent out this email to their members letting them know that their American Express Membership Rewards partnership is ending on December 31, 2020.  A screenshot of the email is included below.

Good morning everyone, I hope your weekend is going well.  2 months ago, I wrote Changes to American Express Credit Card Terms (Bye Ameriprise, Third Party Purchases, Foreign Currency & Cash Advances).  Like clockwork, American Express likes to make regular monthly updates to their credit card terms.  I was reviewing my recent American Express credit card statements this morning and spotted a few changes that I thought you might like to know about.  Some of these changes raise some questions or do not provide exact answers, but I will do my best to decipher and interpret the changes.  If you have differing thoughts / opinions about how to interpret these changes, please let me know in the comments section.

To get started, I reviewed all the recent credit card statements on all my AMEX cards and decided to use screenshots from my American Express Gold Card since it covered all the changes.  Most of these changes affect several other AMEX cards.  Here is a brief overview of the upcoming changes (AMEX Send Account, cash advances & additional card annual membership fees), but I will go into more detail on subsequent screenshots.

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How to Use Pay Yourself Back for Shipping Purchases with Chase Ink Plus Credit Card (1.25 CPP)

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Good afternoon everyone, I hope your Friday is going well.  4 months ago, I wrote How to Redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards Points via Pay Yourself Back (1.5 Cents Per Point for Restaurants, Grocery Stores & Home Improvement).  In that post, I showed how to redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards Points for 1.5 cents per point (CPP) on your Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card toward qualifying purchases.  Over the last few months, Chase recently added support for other Chase Ultimate Rewards earning credit cards like the Chase Freedom Flex Credit Card and Chase Ink Plus Credit Card.

The Chase Ink Plus is no longer available for new applications, but for existing cardholders, Chase targeted some cardholders with the ability to earn 5x points on qualifying shipping and advertising purchases from August 1 through October 31, up to $10,000 in qualifying purchases.  You can see if you are targeted by navigating to the Featured Benefits section of the Chase Ultimate Rewards Portal.  In today’s post, I will show you how to redeem eligible shipping purchases made on your Chase Ink Plus for 1.25 CPP with the Pay Yourself Back feature.

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Work from Home Diary: 7 Months Later

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Good morning everyone, welcome to October and the start of Q4 (aka the Holiday Season).  7 months ago, I started sharing my thoughts regarding working from home in a series of Work from Home Diary posts.  It’s been more than 3 months since my last diary post (Work from Home Diary: Eating in Restaurants & Sunburns at the Beach (SoCal Update)), but I thought it would be fun to share what working from home is like, 7 months later.

First off, Laura and I are very fortunate that our families have stayed healthy and safe throughout the Coronavirus Pandemic and that we are both still employed (*knock on wood*).  Even before I first became aware of COVID-19, I worked from home 2-3 days a week.  Since March 1, I transitioned to working from home 5 days a week.  The transition process was pretty easy since my home office was already set up.  As long as a I have an internet connection and power to charge my laptop, I can work literally anywhere in the world.  Thunder and lightning storms, power outages, and smoke from multiple nearby fires has made me feel a little uneasy the last few months.  Every time I think to myself, “Oh 2020, how can things get worse?” something undoubtedly new pops up to remind me that life is truly unpredictable.

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Keep, Cancel, or Convert: Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card ($450 Annual Fee)

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Buenos días everyone! I know it’s been a long time since you’ve heard from me – I’ve got a couple of things in the works, but for now, I thought I’d hop on to Grant’s Keep, Cancel, or Convert? Series with my thoughts on the Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card.

The CSR has had a spot in my wallet since it was first released, but over time, it’s been losing its luster for me as other cards have caught up with it. When Chase announced that the annual fee would be rising to $550, I knew its days in my wallet were numbered. Here’s why:

  • I opened the JPMorgan Chase Ritz Carlton Credit Card right before Chase stopped offering the card to new applicants, which offers the same travel protections as the CSR and a better Priority Pass membership.
  • Late last year, I opened a Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit Card, which earns 3x on travel and allows me to transfer my Chase Ultimate Rewards Points to airline and hotel partners.
  • Earlier this year, I opened a Citi Premier Credit Card, which earns 3x Citi ThankYou Points on restaurants and most travel purchases.
  • My Chase Freedom Credit Card and Chase Freedom Unlimited Credit Card now earn 3x Chase Ultimate Rewards Points at restaurants (though both cards have foreign transaction fees, so I won’t be using them in Mexico).

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