Tag Archives: American Express

a blue card with white text and numbers

How to Order an American Express Bluebird Card Online

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To order your free Bluebird Card, please click here and then click the Register Now button.

Order BB Card

If you purchased a temporary Bluebird Card at Walmart, select yes and enter your temporary card number.  This will transfer your temporary Bluebird balance to your permanent Bluebird card when it arrives.

Temp BB

If you did not purchase a temporary Bluebird Card at Walmart, select no and enter your name and mailing address.

Temp BB No Card

Scroll to the bottom and check all three boxes, then click the Agree and Continue button.

Agree boxes BB

Create a username, enter your date of birth, social security number (not a hard pull, just a soft pull to verify your identity), create a password, a PIN, and a security question.  Enter the captcha code and click the Submit button.

Set Up BB Account

Congratulations on creating a Bluebird account.  Please check your email for an email form Bluebird.  You will need to click the link in the email to verify your email address.

Verify Email BB

After that, you will see a welcome email from Bluebird.  Here are some of the wonderful features that Bluebird offers.

BB Welcome Email

Now you can go to the Bluebird home page and log into your Bluebird account.

BB Website

If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.

Credit Card App-O-Rama Preparation: Freezing your ARS and IDA Credit Reports

Ice Block Frozen Credit Report

Credit Card App-O-Rama Preparation: Freezing your ARS and IDA Credit Reports

Why would you want to freeze these credit reports?  Good question.  US Bank uses these two credit bureaus to check your credit score if you apply for any of their credit cards.  The only credit card that might interest you is the Club Carlson Personal Credit Card from US Bank.  In order to freeze both of your credit reports, you will need to contact each bureau.

To read the entire post, please click here.

I am planning a massive (7 card) App-O-Rama on Monday morning and this Club Carlson Personal Credit Card is at the top of my list.  The other 6 cards on my list include:

  • US Airways Personal (this will be my first Barclays card, hopefully they like me this time)
  • Alaska Airlines Personal (30,000 Alaska Airlines miles for $89 annual fee)
  • Platinum Mercedes Benz (50,000 Membership Rewards Points and Airline credits)
  • Citi Dividend (rotating 5x / 5% categories – I don’t need any more AA or HH cards)
  • IHG Hotel Personal (80,000 IHG points please, bye bye Marriott Card)
  • Hilton HH Surpass (free upgrade from Amex Hilton HHonors card)

If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.

Calling Bluebird to Verify Debit Card and Bank Account Information

BB Card

Calling Bluebird to Verify Debit Card and Bank Account Information

If you have tried to load your Bluebird Card with a debit card online (see this post), you may have seen the following error messages.

BB Message

Recently I have started seeing this error message show up in my Bluebird account when I try to load my Bluebird Card with my PayPal Debit Card.  I called Bluebird customer service last night and they needed to verify some of my personal information and accounts.  They needed proof that my PayPal Debit Card was registered in my name and to my mailing address and some information with about my bank account.

When I called last night, they informed me that they would need to conference in PayPal and my bank (OC Credit Union).  Since PayPal is open 24/7 but my bank is open at 8am PST, they told me to call back in the morning.

This morning, I called the direct Bluebird account verification department (1-800-660-2454).  You do not get a friendly Bluebird customer service agent, but an agent that sounded similar to the American Express Financial Review department.  They speak very strictly, so you have to be on your game with all your accounts and numbers in order.

Anyways, after I called Bluebird this morning, the agent called PayPal and after a 10 minute hold, I was finally able to speak with the PayPal representative.  The PayPal representative was unable to find my PayPal Debit Card in PayPal’s system, even after giving her the entire 16 digit card number.  At that point, I could sense that the Bluebird agent was very skeptical of me.  I pushed the PayPal representative to double check and to log into my PayPal account and look at my current PayPal Debit Cards.  At that point, that PayPal representative was able to find my PayPal Debit Card and verify my name and mailing address.

One down and one to go.

Next, the Bluebird agent called my bank.  After a few minutes on hold, the Bluebird agent stated that she was able to verify my bank account information and she restored full access to my Bluebird account, including online debit card funding.  I attempted to load my Bluebird account with a $100 online reload and it worked perfectly.

BB Load

If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.

Should Chase Update it’s Chase Ink Business Credit Card Commercial?

Ink Cards

Should Chase Update it’s Chase Ink Business Credit Card Commercial?

This post is not related to travel, but every time I watch the Chase Ink Bold Business Credit Card commercial about the Paper Cottage, I think Chase needs to do another commercial about what really happens to its Chase Ink Business Credit Cards.  For those unfamiliar with the commercial:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaMnsFM95Eg

If they made a commercial about me and my Ink Bold Business Credit Card, it might sound something like this:

Hi everyone, I use my Ink Bold card to buy $200 gift cards at Staples.  Staples is an office supply store and earns 5 Chase Ultimate Reward Points per dollar.  Factoring in the $6.95 activation fee and subtracting the $3.00 in Plink Points, I am able to get 1,035 Chase Ultimate Reward Points for $3.95, or 0.0038 cents per point.  I then transfer those points to United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, British Airways, Hyatt Hotels, or Marriott Hotels and travel the world in style for only a few bucks.

I then take my $200 gift cards to Walmart and load to my Bluebird Card.  Bluebird is a prepaid reloadable debit card and comes from American Express.  I really like Chase and American Express.  After convincing the cashier to load my Bluebird Card with a gift card, I then log into my Bluebird account, and pay off my Chase Ink Bold card.

What could be simpler?

Thanks Chase Ink, I love you!

Now that is a commercial I want to see!  P.S. this is a #TBBApproved post with no affiliate links :)

A Bunch of Random Credit Card News

CCs

A Bunch of Random Credit Card News

On Thursday, Chase started issuing new Chase Sapphire Preferred credit cards with the new EMV (chip and signature).  To request your new card, call the number on the back of your current Chase Sapphire Preferred (no chip and signature for the Sapphire basic card).  They will UPS Next Day Air the card to you.  The account number, expiration date, and 3 digit CVV code on the back all stay the same.  Chip and Signature is slightly better than a regular magnetic strip card, but not nearly as good as true Chip and Pin.  Because the Chip does not contain a PIN, you will need to sign for every purchase with a signature, hence the name Chip and Signature.  In some cases, like train stations in Europe, the Chip and Signature card actually works when a normal credit card would not.  For example, in Amsterdam, my Chase Hyatt Credit Card (with Chip and Signature) worked in the train ticket machine when my Chase Sapphire Preferred card (pre Chip and Signature card) did not.  Also, since I recently downgraded to the Sapphire basic card, I am literally the only one in my house that doesn’t have the new Chip and Signature card :(

CSP Chip Sig

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