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My 1 Year Wedding Anniversary Trip to Carmel, Monterey, and Big Sur

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Good afternoon everyone, I hope your week is going well.  Yesterday (July 27) was my 1 year wedding anniversary – what a crazy year it has been!  If you are unfamiliar with our love story, please read Quick Update Regarding the Old 150x British Airways Avios & Match.com Promo.  Long story short, I joined Match.com because British Airways was running a huge promo and offering thousands of British Airways Avios.  In the end, I didn’t get the Avios, but I did get the girl and we got married in Sonoma, CA on July 27, 2019.  Last weekend, we drove down to Carmel / Monterey / Big Sur for our anniversary.  Here is where we stayed and ate during our trip…

a man and woman in wedding attire standing in front of a trolley

Grant & Laura’s Wedding Day – July 27, 2019

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Contact American Express via Chat Regarding Missing $10 Dining Credit on AMEX Gold Card

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Good morning everyone.  Long story short, I contacted American Express via chat because I had an issue with the monthly $10 dining credit on my American Express Gold Card.  I was a procrastinator in June and used my AMEX Gold Card to make a Grubhub purchase on June 30 (to trigger the June $10 dining credit).  The purchase posted the following day on July 1 and the $10 dining credit posted to my account on July 4.  The next day on July 5, I made another Grubhub purchase (to trigger the July $10 dining credit).  I immediately received the “Great news! You just used your Amex Offer” email from American Express.  Fast forward to today and I was still waiting for the $10 dining credit to post to my account.  I reached out to American Express via their chat feature.  Here is my conversation with the AMEX Rep and my thoughts…

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The Story of My Wife’s New Chase Credit Card

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Good morning everyone, I hope your weekend is off to a great start.  My wife and I have a few large expenses coming up in the next few months, so we decided to get a new credit card.  Since Laura is under 5/24, we decided that she should apply for a new Chase credit card.  She currently has a Chase World of Hyatt Credit Card, a Chase Southwest Airlines Priority Credit Card, and a Chase Freedom Credit Card (converted from a Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card last year).

Laura doesn’t have a business, so we didn’t look at any business credit cards.  It’s too soon to apply for a Chase Sapphire Reserve, she didn’t want any more Southwest Airlines credit cards, she didn’t want an international airline credit card (Aer Lingus, British Airways, or Iberia), and she wanted a decent sign up bonus.  After whittling down the list of possible Chase credit cards, we were left with 4 options.

After calculating the value of the sign up bonus and subtracting the first year annual fee, the Chase IHG Premier Credit Card had the highest net value.  Coincidentally, I wanted Laura to get this credit card because I also have a Chase IHG Premier Credit Card.  My annual fee will post next month, so I wanted to have 2 credit cards that would renew around the same time so that the free night certificates would be valid for the same date range.

a table with numbers and a few points

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My Wife’s Super Easy Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card Retention Call

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Good morning everyone.  A few days ago, the $59 annual fee posted on my wife’s Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card.  Laura has been a loyal Capital One cardmember since before she met me and uses this card as her go-to 2% back everywhere card.  I told her she should call Capital One and ask them to waive the annual fee.  She looked at me strangely wondering why she should ask to waive the annual fee.  I told her that my Citi Double Cash Credit Card earns 2% cash back with no annual fee and we aren’t travelling, so we haven’t put any eligible travel purchases on the card that could be reimbursed.  Plus, she has never transferred Capital One “Miles” into frequent flyer miles.  She called the number on the back of her card and talked to a friendly Capital One rep.

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Overpaid Chase Credit Card? Receive Credit Balance Refund via ACH Bank Transfer Instead of Check

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Good morning everyone.  A few days ago, my Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card statement closed and I ended up with a credit balance of $349.34 because I redeemed 1/3 of my Chase Ultimate Rewards Points for several Pay Yourself Back transactions.  I called Chase to see if I could move the credit balance from my Chase Sapphire Reserve to another Chase credit card (to act as a payment), but the rep said that the Pay Yourself Back transactions were not eligible to be moved to another Chase credit card.  She then asked if I would like to receive a check in the mail for the credit balance.  Before I said yes, I asked if it were possible to get a bank transfer instead.  She said yes – Chase recently started offering bank transfers for credit balances.  She told me I would receive an email from Chase in the next day with instructions on how to set up my Chase Payments account and receive a bank transfer.  I thanked her for her help and waited for the email to arrive.

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