Tag Archives: American Express

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Does Citi Really Know Where and When I am Traveling?

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Looks like all the credit card companies are jumping on the bandwagon. A while ago, American Express told me I don’t need to alert them when I travel. Now I’m getting similar notices from Citi. The weird thing about this notice is that it says it’s based on my airline ticket purchases, but I don’t put airlines tickets on this card. I do put hotel charges on this card and save a big bundle each year  using the Citi Prestige 4th night free benefit. But I also cancel those and sometimes rearrange the dates on my hotel stays.

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35% Off SPG Points – Maybe for the Last Time?

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Starwood Preferred Guest is back with their offer to buy SPG points for a 35% discount now through May 31, 2018. Recently, I told you about some of the new benefits that will come to those of us who hold SPG cards now that Marriott’s plans for the SPG program start in August. And one thing I think we’ve all learned from the blending of the programs is to maximize our opportunities before they disappear. Though for now the programs do remain independent, buying SPG Starpoints could be one of those fading opportunities.

But there is still time to enjoy a 35% savings on Starpoints right now! Over the years I’ve been a buyer of Starpoints and have always, whether using them for hotels or transferring them to airlines to book award flights, gotten greater value out of the points than the cost to purchase them. If you are looking to make some Starwood reservations and need to top off your account, or if you have a paid stay coming up, check out this opportunity to purchase Starpoints at 35% off.

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When Will I Get my Free Night Certificate on my SPG Credit Card?

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I called American Express because I was confused about something. Maybe it’s just me, but I always think my anniversary date with an AmEx card is the same as the expiration date ON my card. Ain’t so. We’re all getting these emails with the changes and updates spelled out for us. I paid particular attention to the Annual Free Night part. The benefit begins with renewal on or after August 1.

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PSA: American Express Hilton Honors Credit Card Now Has No Foreign Transaction Fees!

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It’s obvious that we would rather have credit cards with NO foreign transaction fees, right? After all, we travel a lot and don’t want to spend more than we have to, especially when it comes to pesky fees. Over the last few years we’ve seen more and more banks and credit card issuers either change their cards with these fees to no fee cards, or from the start offer us cards with no foreign transaction fees. I got this reminder email recently and in case you’ve forgotten, the no annual fee American Express Hilton Honors Credit Card now has NO foreign transaction fees! Have you started using it more overseas since they dropped the fees?  If you want to apply for the American Express Hilton Honors Credit Card, please use my referral link.  Thank you!

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Three Weeks in New Zealand – Without A Car!

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Buenos dias everyone! Back in November, I was able to snag two economy tickets from San Francisco to Auckland, New Zealand for a jaw-dropping $395 per person roundtrip, nonstop on Air New Zealand. (My understanding is tickets twice that price would still be a good deal – right now, the lowest price I see for these flights through the end of 2018 is $1,150). I used Citi Thank You Points from my Citi Prestige Credit Card to book these tickets at a value of 1.25 cents per point (so a little over 63,000 points total).

At first, I avoided making any further plans because I thought the tickets might get canceled – but after a couple of months, I was pretty confident that they would stick. I eventually booked tickets from Mexico City to San Francisco (using American Express Membership Rewards points with the 35% AMEX Platinum Card rebate), and a few days before our trip, I finally started sketching out our plan.

A map of Tonei's route in New Zealand, as described in the article

Map created on Travellerspoint.com

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