Tag Archives: American Express

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How to Fix a Rejected Hilton Honors Gold Elite Status Enrollment (AMEX Platinum Card Benefit)

Good morning everyone, I hope your week is going well.  I have a strange edge case that I wanted to share, in case anyone else is in this situation.  Long story short, I downgraded my American Express Hilton Honors Aspire Credit Card to the no annual fee American Express Hilton Honors Credit Card in May 2022 but my Hilton Diamond Elite Status remained for almost a year.  A few weeks after my Hilton elite status dropped to Hilton Silver Elite Status, I went to my American Express Business Platinum Card and navigated to the Hilton Honors Gold Status Enrollment benefit.

I entered my Hilton Honors number and submitted the request.  A few weeks later (I forgot to check after submitting the request), I went back to the benefit and saw that it said “Enrollment Rejected.”

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Unboxing American Express Delta Platinum Business Credit Card: Card Art, Welcome Letter & Benefit Inserts

Good morning everyone, happy Friday! A few weeks ago, I was approved for the American Express Delta Platinum Business Credit Card and wrote Delta TakeOff 15 Benefit (15% Award Travel Discount) Available within 24 Hours of New Credit Card, But Cannot Use on Existing Award Ticket Reservations. The credit card was sent to me via UPS Next Day Air and came in a well-designed box with the welcome letter and benefit inserts.  I wanted to do an unboxing to show you what to expect when you receive your new credit card.

Here is the front and back of the credit card.  It has the same feel as an American Express Business Platinum Card, but the front is a dark purple-grayish color.

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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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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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My Experience Using the InKind App at 3 Restaurants in Seattle

Good morning everyone.  A few days ago, I spent a long weekend with my brother and dad in Seattle.  We went to a few Seattle Kraken hockey games, a few Seattle Mariners baseball games, went on a locks cruise to Lake Union, took off in a sea plane from Lake Union, and wandered around Woodland Park Zoo.  With all of those activities, we worked up big appetites.  Luckily, I had some InKind credit to use and there were many excellent restaurants in Seattle that worked with InKind.  If you are unfamiliar with InKind, please read My Experience with the InKind App to Pay Restaurant Bill, $25 Referral Credit, & $50 AMEX Offer.

In today’s post, I will highlight the restaurants I went to, the issue I encountered with splitting an InKind bill with my brother, and the $24 March Madness bonus I unlocked.  Since I tend to eat early and I like good deals, we did happy hour at Bourbon Steak, Tavolata, and The Victor Tavern.  There are many restaurants throughout Seattle that partner with InKind.  To see the whole list, go to the Explore tab, type in the city name, and then click the up arrow at the bottom of the screen.

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