Tag Archives: American Express

Updated List of my 23 Open Credit Cards

Updated 3/25/2014 @ 10PM: New cards added and old cards updated.

Which Credit Card

Grant’s Credit Cards

Keeping track of your credit card numbers, expiration dates, customer service numbers, sign up bonuses, annual fees, and more is important.  If you want to keep track of all your credit cards, feel free to download and use my Credit Card Organizer Template.xlsx file.

Chase:

  1. Ink Bold MasterCard Business – opened in April 2012, paid $95 annual fee after reconsideration call offered statement credit
  2. United Airlines – opened in May 2012, paid $95 annual fee after reconsideration call offered miles
  3. Marriott Premier – opened in August 2012, paid $85 annual fee for free night certificate
  4. Hyatt Hotel – opened in November 2012, paid $75 annual fee for free night certificate
  5. Southwest Premier – opened in August 2013, received Companion Pass
  6. IHG Hotel – opened in November 2013, moved credit from Marriott Premier card
  7. Freedom – converted from Sapphire (Basic) in December 2013 (read post)
  8. Ink Bold Visa Business – opened in March 2014, planning on closing my Ink Bold MasterCard before the annual fee posts
  1. Amazon – closed November 2012, moved credit line around
  2. British Airways – closed November 2012, moved credit line around
  3. Sapphire Preferred – downgraded in August 2013 to Chase Sapphire (Basic)
  4. Sapphire Basic – converted in December 2013 to Chase Freedom credit card

See the entire list here.

$100 American Express Platinum Travel Fee Reimbursement Credit, AMEX Everyday Cards, and a PetCo AMEX Offer

AMEX Plat Card

$100 American Express Platinum Travel Fee Reimbursement Credit, AMEX Everyday Cards, and a PetCo AMEX Offer

As you probably already know, American Airlines and US Airways lounges are no longer accessible with the American Express Platinum Charge Cards.  I was able to call American Express tonight and have them credit my account $100 towards travel fee reimbursements – like bag fees, changes fees, airline lounge access, day passes, etc. for any American Airlines charge.

I had previously selected Southwest Airlines as my reimbursement airline back in early January, but was still able to get the $100 travel fee reimbursements.  The representative said that my card was ready to go, but that I should wait a day or so before making any reimbursable charges to the card.  For the best results, it is recommended that you call the number on the back of the card, go through the phone tree, and get to the account closure department.  Once there, I mentioned that the American Airlines lounges were a big draw of the card and after a few minutes chatting, he offered the $100 travel fee reimbursement.  Besides the Delta lounges and Centurion lounges (which I have yet to visit), you also get free access to Priority Pass lounges which are great for when you travel, especially internationally.  I have a few international trips coming up in the next few months, so I didn’t want to lose the Priority Pass lounge access.

Side note, Amol from Hack My Trip (link) posted that he is trying to purchase a $100 American Airlines gift card with his American Express Platinum card to see if the purchase qualifies for the travel fee refund.

While on the phone, I asked the representative if the AMEX Everyday and AMEX Everyday Preferred credit cards were active.  He said that he just signed someone up 10 minutes ago, so that sounds like the sign up links are working.   Continue reading

Friday Rundown: Free Lounge Access for Chase Ink Bold/Plus, New IHG MasterCard, 2 New AMEX Offers, Bluebird Reloads at Walmart, and More

UPDATE 3/27/2014 at 10PM PST: Chase has started converting IHG Visa Credit Cards into IHG MasterCard Credit Cards (see pics below).

Lounge Club Logo

Friday Rundown: Free Lounge Access for Chase Ink Bold/Plus, New IHG MasterCard, 2 New AMEX Offers, Bluebird Reloads at Walmart, and More

TGI Friday!  Here are some random travel-related news from today…

I just created a tutorial about how to sign up for a free Lounge Club membership if you have a Chase Ink Bold/Plus Credit Card.  You can read it here.

Lounge Club Card

I got this letter from Chase alerting me that my Chase IHG Rewards Club Visa will soon be replaced by a Chase IHG Rewards Club World MasterCard.  Technically, if you cancel the Visa card, you can sign up and receive the sign up bonus on the MasterCard.  It appears that you have to close your Visa before April 1, otherwise you will automatically be issued the MasterCard and miss out on getting another sign up bonus.

Here is the corresponding FlyerTalk thread (link).

New IHG Card Letter Front

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Travel with Grant Meet Up Next Saturday Night (March 29) at In-N-Out (Tustin District)

In-N-Out Logo

Travel with Grant Meet Up Next Saturday Night (March 29) at In-N-Out (Tustin District)

For those of you free next Saturday night (and located in Orange County / LA County / San Diego County), come join me and a few of my travel-hacking friends for a “meat meet and eat” at In-N-Out.  Myself and Travel Summary hosted our first meet up at this In-N-Out a few months ago (link) and I have been getting requests for another one ever since.  I haven’t talked to Travel Summary about this, but I was planning on meeting there from 6-8pm, but the last one lasted until close to 10pm since we had so much to talk about.

In-N-Out Address

If you are interested in attending, please leave a comment below so I can see how many people are interested. Continue reading

Deja Vu: 11 More Reams of Free Printer Paper from Staples and $10 in Free Coffee

Staples Logo

Deja Vu: 11 More Reams of Free Printer Paper from Staples and $10 in Free Coffee

I promise you, this is not a joke.  Staples has the same FAR (Free After Rebate) deal as last week.  Take a look at the coupon expiration dates if you don’t believe me.  Each FAR deal has a different rebate number, so they are technically different rebates.  Therefore, if you got 11 reams of free paper last week, you can do the same this week.

Staples Paper

Here are the 2 coupons you need (Staples Paper Deals 3-16-2014.pdf):

Staples Paper FAR Deals 3-16-2014

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