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AutoSlash Saved Me Another $500 on 2 Rental Car Reservations

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Good afternoon everyone, I hope you all had a great Father’s Day Weekend.  2 weeks ago, I wrote AutoSlash Already Saved Me $400 on 2 Rental Car Reservations.  Over the weekend, AutoSlash found even cheaper rates for my 2 upcoming Hawaii car rentals for Lihue and Kona, saving me an extra $500 (actually $536.52 total).  I was talking about AutoSlash over the weekend at a family gathering and did not run out of good things to say about the service, and here is why…

For my first rental in Lihue, here is the timeline of events:

  • 5/27 – Initially booked an Enterprise rental for $1,018.59
  • 5/28 – AutoSlash found me a cheaper Alamo rental for $899.95 (savings of $118.64)
  • 6/20 – AutoSlash found me a cheaper Hertz rental for $397.87 (savings of $502.08)

I almost missed the email since it came in late at 9:51pm, but as soon as I saw the email, I immediately clicked the link to book my new rental.

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Rafting / Floating Down Rivers at Lake Tahoe, CA and Boise, ID

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Good morning everyone, happy Father’s Day!  Over the last few weeks, I spent time with my family in Lake Tahoe staying at the Marriott Grand Residence Club, Lake Tahoe (located in South Lake Tahoe right next to the Nevada state line) and at my parent’s new home in Idaho, just outside Boise.  On both trips, we spent time on the water rafting / floating down the rivers and I wanted to share some details of this fun family activity.

In Lake Tahoe, there are 2 rafting companies that operate on the Truckee River (which is connected to Lake Tahoe).  We used Truckee River Rafting (yellow paddles), but if that is full, you can also use the Truckee River Raft Company (orange paddles).  Prices are $55-$60 per person, depending on which company you use.  For Truckee River Rafting, you park at the top, raft / float down the river, and then you take their bus back to the top to get your car.  The whole operation is very smooth.  The river is a bit cold, but relaxing.  There are barely any rapids, so the majority of the trip is just a relaxing float down the river and you can use the paddles to stay away from the edge of the river.

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My family floating down the Truckee River at Lake Tahoe, CA

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Wells Fargo Changes: New Statement Ending Dates, TTY/TDD Numbers Retired & More

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Good morning everyone, I hope your Father’s Day Weekend is going well.  A few months ago, I wrote Wells Fargo Discontinues Temporary Debit Cards & ATM Access Code Feature (Effective April 1).  And last year, I wrote Wells Fargo Discontinues Instant Issue Debit Cards Effective November 30.  In today’s post, I have a few more Wells Fargo changes to cover (some old and some new), including TTY/TDD phone numbers being retired, document copy fee, ATM balance inquiry fee / ATM transfer fee, and updated statement and fee period ending dates.

Effective March 5, 2021, 3 dedicated telephone / telecommunication phone numbers (800-877-4833, 800-419-2265, and 800-600-4833) for the deaf (TTY / TDD) are now retired.  This sounds like bad news for customers who rely on those 3 phone numbers to communicate with Wells Fargo.  It says that Wells Fargo does accept relay-assisted calls, but I am not sure if that is a suitable alternative option to the retired TTY / TDD options.

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AutoSlash Already Saved Me $400 on 2 Rental Car Reservations

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Good afternoon everyone, I hope your week is going well.  A few weeks ago, I wrote PSA: Rental Car Rates are Sky High, Book ASAP where I talked about the crazy high rental car rates and how I use AutoSlash to find cheaper car rentals.  On May 27, I booked 2 rental cars in Lihue and Kona, Hawaii and AutoSlash has already found me rates that are $400 cheaper (after only 2 weeks of searching).  In this post, I will show you my rental car savings and share my best practices.  For my first rental in Lihue, I booked with Enterprise and the rate was $1,018.59.

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My Surprisingly Simple Experience with AMEX Business Platinum 35% Membership Rewards Point Rebate

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Good afternoon everyone, I hope your week is going well.  2 years ago, I wrote My Disappointing Experience with AMEX Business Platinum 35% Membership Rewards Point Rebate.  In that post, I shared my negative experience using the 35% Airline Bonus benefit that is available on the American Express Business Platinum Charge Card.  Long story short, the automatic 35% rebate never showed up, so I contacted AMEX to resolve the issue and the AMEX rep gave me the wrong rebate amount (fewer points than I was supposed to receive).  I then contacted AMEX via Twitter to resolve the issue.  Since that negative experience, I did not trust / use the 35% Airline Bonus benefit until April 2021.  Thankfully, I had a much better experience that was surprising simple and straightforward.  If you have the AMEX Biz Plat and haven’t used this benefit in a while, I think it is time to give it another shot.

As a reminder, the 35% Airline Bonus benefit allows you to get a 35% rebate on the number of American Express Membership Rewards Points you redeem toward any flight on your selected airline or any business / first class flight on any airline.  You can receive up to 500,000 rebated points per calendar year (maxed out when you redeem 1.43 million points).

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