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US Bank Credit Cards Renewal Notification Explains 60 Day “Renewal Period”

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Good morning everyone.  If you have been to Santa Cruz recently, please check out this post: I Need Restaurant / Activity Recommendations for Santa Cruz.  Yesterday, I was reviewing my credit card statements and spotted this Renewal Notification message on my US Bank Radisson Rewards Premier Visa Signature Credit Card.  I keep this credit card and pay the $75 annual fee just for the 40,000 Radisson Rewards anniversary points every year.  In the Renewal Notification section, it says the following (I kept the important stuff and removed everything else):

You have a “renewal period” of 60 days from the date we mailed this notification. During the renewal period, you may terminate your Account and avoid paying the Annual Membership Fee. You may terminate your Account by calling or by writing us at the Cardmember Service telephone or address shown below. During the renewal period and before you terminate your Account, you may continue to use your card without having to pay the fee. If, however, you do not terminate your Account by the end of the renewal period, you will have to pay the fee.

Each year, the Account will be subject to your payment in advance of an Annual Membership Fee of $75.00, which will compensate us for maintaining and servicing the Account for the following year.

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I Need Restaurant / Activity Recommendations for Santa Cruz

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Good afternoon everyone.  This coming Monday is Columbus Day and I am taking my girlfriend to Santa Cruz for the long weekend.  I’ve been to Santa Cruz a handful of times, but not in the last couple of years, and not with my girlfriend. I did some research on hotel options in Santa Cruz, but there are not a ton of great options.  There are a handful of Marriott properties charging 35K Marriott points / night, but I decided to stay at the Hyatt Place Santa Cruz instead. Paid rates are $300+ as of today (they were a little cheaper a week ago), but the points rate is a bargain, by comparison.

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Got Citi Thank You Points? Here’s How to Book Flights!

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Turns out I’ve accumulated a rather large stash of Citi Thank You Points, and have recently decided to start spending them on flights. I don’t put much spend on my Citi Prestige Credit Card EXCEPT for using the card at hotels for the 4th night free hotel benefit. Since I’ve been using that perk for a few years now, I was pleasantly surprised when I logged into my Citi Thank You account and saw my accumulated total of Citi Thank You Points.

Citi Thank You Points are earned through credit cards issued by Citibank and can be redeemed for a variety of rewards. I’ve looked at using points at hotels, but I’ve decided that redeeming them for flights makes more sense. This meant I had to learn to use the site to book flights. When I learn something new, I like to share it with you all too, so this post focuses on redeeming Citi Thank You Points for flights.

I consider Citi Thank You Points to be almost the same as cash. I say almost because, on some occasions, tickets might cost slightly less on sites like Kayak, Expedia, or Travelocity. It’s always good to check the other OTAs to compare prices. And remember, using your Citi Thank You Points does earn you frequent flyer miles for the tickets you book, so I’ll show you below how to filter for specific airlines.

How much are Citi Thank You Points worth?

The value of Citi Thank You Points toward flights depends on which Citi credit cards you have:

  • Citi Thank You Credit Card & Citi Thank You Preferred Credit Card: 1 cent per point
  • Citi Thank You Premier Credit Card: 1.25 cents per point
  • Citi Prestige Credit Card: 1.25 cents per point

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Buy Miles/Points Promos Ending Soon: Alaska Airlines 50% Bonus, American 10% Discount & United 70% Bonus

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Good afternoon everyone.  I was working on my Buy Miles & Points Page and found a few offers that are ending in the next few days.  Always check the math to make sure that buying miles & points makes sense for you.  Do not buy miles & points speculatively unless you have a use in mind.  With that said, here are the 3 promos that are ending soon. First up, Alaska Airlines has a tiered bonus where you can get up to a 50% bonus on Alaska Airlines miles.  This offer expires on October 4.

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Here are the complete terms & conditions of the Alaska Airlines promo:

  • Transactions must be completed between ​6:00 AM PST August 20, 2018 and 11:59 PM PST October 4, 2018 to be eligible for bonus miles
  • Only Mileage Plan™ members who receive this offer directly from Alaska Airlines via email are qualified to participate.​​ ​This is an exclusive, non-transferable​ ​offer for​ the​ intended recipient only and may not be forwarded.
  • Miles are purchased from Points.com Inc. for a cost of $27.50 per 1,000 miles, plus a 7.5% Federal Excise Tax*, and GST/HST for Canadian residents.
  • Miles are non-refundable and do not count toward MVP and MVP/Gold status.
  • Offer is subject to change and all terms and conditions of the Mileage Plan Program apply.
  • Points.com Inc. is collecting Federal Excise Tax on behalf of Alaska Airlines Inc.
  • Alaska Airlines Inc. has the obligation to collect Federal Excise Tax and remit the tax to the appropriate government agency.

Up next, American Airlines is offering a 10% discount plus bonus miles, based on the number of American Airlines miles you purchase.  This offer expires on October 8.

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Here are the complete terms & conditions of the American Airlines promo:

To be eligible for a the bonus miles AAdvantage members must purchase 20,000 AAdvantage miles or more in a single transaction from the Buy or Gift Miles program beginning 12:00:00am CT on October 1, 2018 to 11:59:59pm CT on November 2, 2018. To be eligible to earn an extra 10% discount AAdvantage members must purchase by 11:59:59pm CT on October 8, 2018. The prices shown will include an applicable discount. The applicable discount applies to the AAdvantage miles purchased and does not apply towards taxes or the $35 transaction processing fee. The bonus miles earned are calculated based on each individual purchase amount and the corresponding bonus award. Bonus miles earned do not count toward the annual purchase limits. The applicable bonus miles are awarded to the recipient for Gift Miles transactions.

The miles purchased with the Buy Miles program and received with the Gift Miles program do not count towards AAdvantage Gold, AAdvantage Platinum, AAdvantage Platinum Pro, AAdvantage Executive Platinum or AAdvantage Million MilerSM status qualification. Transactions are nonrefundable and nonreversible. The miles successfully purchased or transferred usually post to the designated account right away, but please allow up to 8 hours for processing. Each AAdvantage member is limited to purchasing or receiving in a calendar year, a combined total of no more than 150,000 AAdvantage miles. Miles purchased through the Buy Miles program or received as a gift through the Gift Miles program count against this total. A confirmation email will be sent to the primary buyer/gifter and/or recipient, using the email address(es) associated with the AAdvantage account(s) and any additional email address provided. AAdvantage accounts less than 30 days old are not permitted to Buy or Gift Miles. Prices are in U.S. dollars and do not include applicable taxes or $35 per transaction processing charge. The promotion, pricing and/or fee to Buy, Gift or Share Miles is subject to change without notice. Your credit card company may add a currency conversion fee.

Lastly, United Airlines has a tiered bonus where you can get up to a 70% bonus on United Airlines miles.  This offer expires on October 16.

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Here are the complete terms & conditions of the United Airlines promo:

  • Promotional offer valid until 11:59 p.m. CT on October 16, 2018
  • Miles are available in increments of 1,000 up to a maximum of 88,000 miles.
  • Bonuses will be calculated on a per transaction basis only. The bonus amount applicable to a transaction is shown in the chart. Transactions may not be aggregated to calculate the bonus.
  • Bonus Miles will generally be credited to the recipient’s MileagePlus account when the transaction is complete; provided that certain transactions may take up to 48 hours.
  • Bonus miles count towards the 150,000 mile annual limit per account.
  • Purchase up to 150,000 miles per account per calendar year.
  • Credit card will be billed immediately upon purchase.
  • Mileage rates and other fees and offer terms are subject to change.
  • Pricing is only available for purchases made through buymiles.mileageplus.com
  • Miles are nonrefundable.
  • Purchased miles do not count toward MileagePlus Premier® status.
  • All MileagePlus Program Rules and terms and conditions apply.
  • GST/HST is charged to Canadian residents.
  • Powered by Points to purchase United MileagePlus miles. Transaction will appear as ‘Points United Miles’.

If you are looking for any other buy miles & points promos, check out this page for all of the current offers.  If you have any questions about any of these promos, please leave a comment below.  Have a great day everyone!

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Best Options for Keeping American Airlines Miles From Expiring

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My cousin called me yesterday afternoon to ask a question about her American Airlines miles expiring. She has a stash of miles expiring in a few months and didn’t even know that miles expire. I gave her a short answer because I was heading home from the mall to get ready for dinner. But it got me thinking, that maybe I hadn’t given her the best advice or even all the options, so I did some research and here’s what I’d tell her now.

Yup, your miles will expire if you don’t have activity in your account every 18 months. If you have no plans to fly to keep your account active, there are plenty of options. My cousin could:

  1. Apply for a Citibank credit card linked to American Airlines miles.
  2. Make a hotel reservation or car rental with an AAdvantage hotel or car rental partner. As long as her American Airlines frequent flyer number is linked to the reservation, she’ll get activity in her account and keep her miles alive.
  3. Link a credit card to the American Airlines dining program.  She can link American Airlines and then get miles when she eats at select restaurants.
  4. Shop online using the AAdvantage shopping portal.
  5. Buy or gift miles, redeem for a magazine subscription, or donate miles to any of American Airline’s partner charities.

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