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5 Buy Miles / Points Promos Ending Soon: Southwest (50%), Alaska (40%), Air Canada (110%), Wyndham (25%) & Frontier (100%)

Good afternoon everyone, happy Friday!  I was working on my Buy Miles & Points Page and found 5 offers that end in the next week.  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 5 offers that end soon.

Up first, Southwest Airlines is offering up to a 50% discount, depending on the number of Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Points you purchase. This offer expires today – May 19.

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Targeted: $200 Bonus for Bank of America Better Balance Rewards Credit Cards Converting to Unlimited Cash Rewards

Good afternoon everyone, happy Friday!  Doctor of Credit is reporting that some members who have a Bank of America Better Balance Rewards Credit Card are seeing a targeted offer for a $200 bonus after spending $1,000 in 4 months once their card converts to the Bank of America Unlimited Cash Rewards Credit Card.  I currently have 2 BBR CCs and saw this offer when I signed into my Bank of America app this morning.  I took screenshots to remind myself of this promo since I haven’t received an email about this offer or see it mentioned anywhere else in the app.  If you have a BBR, sign into the app and see if you are targeted for this bonus.

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Delta TakeOff 15 Benefit (15% Award Travel Discount) Available within 24 Hours of New Credit Card, But Cannot Use on Existing Award Ticket Reservations

Good morning everyone, I hope your week is going well.  On Tuesday, I applied for the American Express Platinum Delta SkyMiles Business Credit Card through a targeted Delta mailer and was instantly approved.  The reason I applied for this credit card is because it comes with the new Delta TakeOff 15 card member benefit that provides a 15% discount on Delta award travel and I haven’t received the sign up bonus on this credit card before.  I have an upcoming Delta flight from San Francisco to Atlanta to Jacksonville (SFO-ATL-JAX) for an upcoming “free” Carnival Cruise and I wanted to save some miles on that award ticket (and future Delta award tickets I will book).

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Stacking Carnival Cruise Line Fun Match “Free” Cruise with 2x $35 Off $100 Chase Offer & BankAmeriDeal

Good morning everyone, I hope your week is going well.  A few weeks ago, I followed Nick’s advice from Frequent Miler and got a “free” cruise from Carnival Cruise Line.  Nick also got me a “free” Holland America Cruise, so if I ever see Nick on the High Seas, I will be sure to buy him a refreshing drink (or two).  Technically, these “free” cruises aren’t really free, I still had to pay a few hundred dollars in taxes, fees, port expenses, and gratuities, but I’m excited to go on my first cruise since my 2002 cruise to Alaska (scroll to the bottom to see some old school photos).

With the Carnival Fun Match promo, I received an offer for a “free” room (up to a balcony room), $50 in FunPlay credit, free drinks in the casino, and $100 OnBoard Credit per person. To reduce the cost, I split the $200 deposit and paid with 2 credit cards to trigger 2x $35 statement credits.

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My 2 Unsuccessful Retention Offer Calls for Chase Marriott Bonvoy Premier Plus Business & AMEX Gold

Good morning everyone, I hope your week is going well. Yesterday, I called Chase and American Express about 2 credit cards that had annual fees that just posted. When I called Chase about my Chase Marriott Bonvoy Premier Plus Business Credit Card (no longer available for sign up or product change), I told the rep that the $99 annual fee just posted to my account and that I wasn’t using this credit card very much since I use my JPMorgan Chase Ritz Carlton Credit Card (no longer available for sign up, but can be product changed into) for my Marriott purchases.  I asked the rep if they were able to waive the annual fee. The rep looked for retention offers and said there were no offers available.  For reference, in past years, I have received retention offers of $50 or $100.

Generally, I prefer to keep credit cards that are no longer available, unless there is a very good reason to close or product change them to another credit card, so I decided to keep the card open.  With that said, I can easily get more than $99 of value with the 35K Marriott Free Night Certificate that comes with this credit card each year. In fact, I already redeemed my 35K FNC for a stay later this month that costs more than $200.

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