Tag Archives: American Express Membership Rewards Points

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American Express Gold Card Approval & Instant Card Number Available (Save to Apple Wallet)

Good afternoon everyone.  Earlier today, I wrote Dilemma: Spend $15,000 on Chase World of Hyatt Credit Card to Earn Extra Free Night Certificate?  In that post, I mentioned that I did a mini App-O-Rama.  I applied for 4 cards and was instantly approved for 1: the American Express Gold Card (my referral link).  Hopefully the 3 other pending credit card applications come back as approved.  I will keep you posted on those results in the next few weeks.  Anyway, I liked the American Express Gold Card for the juicy sign up bonus (spend $2,000 in 3 months and get 50,000 Membership Rewards Points), 4x Membership Rewards Points on restaurants & grocery, $100 airline fee credit, and $10 monthly dining credit (which I plan to use at Grubhub to pickup lunch once a month).  Unfortunately, I am not very excited about the $250 annual fee.

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New AwardWallet Plus Feature: Receive Alerts for Incoming Miles & Points with Balance Watch [Winners Selected]

Updated 8pm PT on 3/15/19: Thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway.  I wish I could give everyone codes, but I only have so many codes available.  Here are the winners: Mike Saint, Bill Pisor, LAURAPDX, Brandon, Priscilla Ennis, Seth, Will, Stephanie Woods, iwantmoremiles, and Jim F.  I will email the winners the codes.  Thank you.


Good afternoon everyone.  A year ago, I wrote AwardWallet Feature I Wish Existed: Keep Checking for Account Balance Changes.  In that post, I wished there was a way for AwardWallet to constantly check a specific airline / hotel account to see when miles or points posted.  This is super important if you transfer points from a transferable points currency (Chase Ultimate Rewards, American Express Membership Rewards, Citi Thank You Points, Capital One Points, or Marriott Bonvoy) in the hopes of booking an award flight before the award space disappears.  Some transfers are instant, while others may take several hours or several days.

I am happy to report that AwardWallet took my idea and added the feature to AwardWallet.  Here is a blog post describing Balance Watch and how the feature works:

“Balance Watch will monitor a loyalty account to let you know as soon as your points arrive. Once activated, AwardWallet will check your balance up to twenty-four times per day and send you a desktop, mobile, and email notification as soon as a change is detected.”

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Image source: https://awardwallet.com/blog/balance-watch/

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Statement Credits Post Fast for $100 Shop with Dell Benefit + Dell 10% Cash Back AMEX Offer

Good afternoon everyone.  Last week, I wrote American Express Business Platinum Stack: $100 Shop with Dell Benefit + Dell 10% Cash Back AMEX Offer.  Fast forward to yesterday, I received my Dell order and my $100 Shop with Dell statement credit, along with the $10.74 cash back earned from the Dell 10% cash back AMEX Offer.  When the dust had all settled, my American Express Business Platinum Charge Card has a credit balance of $3.32 (the closer your order came to exactly $100, the greater your credit balance will be).

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Is Amex’s Platinum Business Card Worth $12 Extra A Month?

No denying this has been a big year for change in the credit card landscape. Hyatt changed its policy on how cash and points nights are determined, the Citi Prestige 4th night free benefit is fading into the sunset, and Amex updated the Gold card benefits. Just when you’re catching your breath, ouch, American Express strikes yet again with an annual fee increase on the Business Platinum credit card.

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Could We Replicate the Netflix / “Friends” Revolt with the AMEX Business Platinum Changes?

Updated at 10:50am PT on 12/5: According to the New York Times, Netflix paid $100 million to keep “Friends” for 1 more year.  That is the power that “Friends” fans have over Netflix.


Good morning everyone.  I am not sure if you heard the 2 big stories that broke Monday morning: Netflix was planning on removing the TV show “Friends” from their service beginning January 1 and American Express announced BIG changes to the American Express Business Platinum Charge Card.  Not surprising, Netflix users freaked out and started complaining on Facebook and Twitter.  Here are a few complaints from this USA Today article.  After a few hours, Netflix reversed course and granted users’ wishes: “Friends” would be on Netflix through 2019.  That’s one win for the little guys!  But what about the second big story from Monday?

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