Tag Archives: American Express

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Keep, Cancel or Convert? US Bank FlexPerks Gold ($85 Annual Fee) & Wells Fargo Propel World Elite ($175 Annual Fee)

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Good morning everyone, I hope you enjoyed reading about my credit card decisions surrounding keeping, closing, or converting my credit cards after the annual fees post.  Check out my thoughts on my Chase Sapphire Reserve and Chase Ink Plus Business credit cards; my American Express Hilton Ascend and SPG Business credit cards; my Bank of America Alaska Airlines Business and Citi AT&T Access More credit cards.  As a reminder, here are all the credit cards and their annual fees.  In today’s post, I am going to cover both the US Bank FlexPerks Gold American Express Credit Card and the Wells Fargo Propel World Elite American Express Credit Card.  Are they worth keeping, should I close them, or should I convert them to another credit card?

  • Chase Sapphire Reserve – $450 (posted 4/1)
  • Chase Ink Plus Business – $95 (posted 4/1)
  • American Express Hilton Ascend – $95 (posted 4/3)
  • American Express SPG Business – $95 (posted 4/6)
  • Bank of America Alaska Airlines Business – $75 (posted 4/2)
  • Citi AT&T Access More – $95 (posted 4/4)
  • US Bank FlexPerks Gold – $85 (posted 4/3)
  • Wells Fargo Propel World – $175 (posted 3/31)

US Bank FlexPerks Gold American Express Credit Card

The $85 annual fee just posted and I have seriously lost interest in FlexPoints over the years.  The death nail came on December 31, 2017, when FlexPoints changed to a fixed 1.5 cents per point (CPP) value for all travel redemptions.  This credit card earns 3x on airfare, 2x on gas, and 2x on restaurants.  I currently use my Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card for travel, restaurants, and gas since I get 3x Chase Ultimate Reward Points on those purchases.  I can also redeem Chase Ultimate Reward Points for travel at 1.5 CPP, so the Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card is as good or better in every way compared to the US Bank FlexPerks Gold American Express Credit Card.  I redeemed almost all of my FlexPoints before December 31, 2017, and have a few hundred FlexPoints leftover in my account.  Not to worry, I have a no annual fee US Bank FlexPerks Select+ American Express Credit Card that will keep my few hundred FlexPoints alive.

Decision: US Bank FlexPerks Gold American Express Credit Card will be converted to a no annual fee US Bank Cash 365 American Express Credit Card.  That card earns 1.5% cash back on all purchases, so it will never be used.

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Keep, Cancel or Convert? American Express Hilton Ascend ($95 Annual Fee) & SPG Business ($95 Annual Fee)

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Good morning everyone.  I hope you enjoyed my post from yesterday: Keep, Cancel or Convert? Chase Sapphire Reserve & Chase Ink Plus.  All this week, I am going to review my credit cards that had annual fees post in March.  As a reminder, here are all the credit cards and their annual fees.  In today’s post, I am going to cover both the American Express Hilton Honors Ascend Credit Card and the American Express SPG Business Credit Card.  Are they worth keeping, should I close them, or should I convert them to another credit card?

  • Chase Sapphire Reserve – $450 (posted 4/1)
  • Chase Ink Plus Business – $95 (posted 4/1)
  • American Express Hilton Ascend – $95 (posted 4/3)
  • American Express SPG Business – $95 (posted 4/6)
  • Bank of America Alaska Airlines Business – $75 (posted 4/2)
  • Citi AT&T Access More – $95 (posted 4/4)
  • US Bank FlexPerks Gold – $85 (posted 4/3)
  • Wells Fargo Propel World – $175 (posted 3/31)

American Express Hilton Honors Ascend Credit Card

I’ve only had this credit card since January, before then, it was a Citi Hilton Honors Reserve Credit Card.  I received the annual free weekend night certificate for spending $10,000 on the credit card when it was a Citi credit card.  MSing on the Citi credit card was much easier than MSing on the new AMEX credit card.  I also dropped from a Hilton Honors Diamond Elite Member on April 2 when the new Hilton Honors program changes went live, which was terrible timing since I checked into the Hilton Garden Inn on Kauai on April 2 as a Hilton Honors Gold Elite Member.  Should I pay $95 to keep this credit card?  Having this credit card gives you Hilton Honors Gold Elite Status, but I can already get that for free with my American Express Platinum Business Charge Card.  I don’t pay for Hilton stays very often, so if I no longer had this credit card, I would miss out on earning extra bonus points for Hilton stays.

I have had my eyes on the new American Express Hilton Honors Aspire Credit Card that comes with 100,000 Hilton points, Hilton Honors Diamond Elite Status, a free weekend night certificate, and $250 Hilton resort credit.  The $450 annual fee is steep, but I think the card is wroth it for the first year.  I have a credit card App-O-Rama coming up, so I plan on applying for the new American Express Hilton Honors Aspire Credit Card.  If I do not get instantly approved, I plan on calling American Express and asking them to move my credit line from the American Express Hilton Honors Ascend Credit Card to the new card.  If that is not possible, I will downgrade to the no annual fee American Express Hilton Honors Credit Card and use that card for the occasional AMEX Offer.

Decision: American Express Hilton Honors Ascend Credit Card will be a sacrificial lamb when I apply for the American Express Hilton Honors Aspire Credit Card.  Plan B is to downgrade to the no annual fee American Express Hilton Honors Credit Card.

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New Program Benefits Available for Hilton Honors Members

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Hilton Honors program updates went live last week. They say, as you can see from this email, that the new program elements and perks are based on feedback and will give Hilton travelers more of what they want. Maybe, maybe not. I don’t have any Hilton stays booked right now and Hilton is only my third most used hotel chain, but I am a Hilton Gold Elite Member, and I do have a stash of Hilton Honors points which I intend to keep from expiring, so I figured I should take a look at these changes.

Changes like these usually reward the more loyal customers who stay more often and spend more money. If you’re an infrequent customer and spend less with Hilton, you’ll receive even less in the way of benefits. I fall into the second category. Hilton’s confusing award chart as well as its point award devaluations have kept me away from the program these past few years. Hilton Diamond Elite Members likely see some of these changes as positive, though I get the sense more and more travelers are looking closely at Marriott/SPG since the merger.

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Goodbye Citi Double Cash Gift Card Redemption; Hello American Express Plan It (Pay-Over-Time Payment Option)

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Good morning everyone, happy Saturday.  I have 2 small credit card topics to cover in this post.  The first topic is regarding the Citi Double Cash Credit Card and the second topic is about a new American Express card benefit that is being introduced to the American Express Hilton Ascend Credit Card (and other American Express charge and credit cards).  According to my recent Citi Double Cash Credit Card statement, the option to redeem cash back for gift cards is ending July 20, 2018.  After that date, you will only be able to redeem your cash back for check, statement credit, and direct deposit (to your bank).

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How to Prevent your Hilton Points from Expiring

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A friend of mine recently asked me if her Hilton points will expire. That got me thinking that sometimes people don’t even realize that points do in fact expire. Also, keeping track of hotel points expiration dates can be tricky. It’s true that there are multiple ways of doing this and you’ve likely found one that works best for you. We often think of points as a currency and since currency doesn’t expire, we forget that points do! So the first answer I gave her was that YES, Hilton points do expire.

Hilton Hotels loyalty program is called Hilton Honors and the points expire when the account has had no eligible activity in a 12-month period. Of course, after telling this to my friend, I knew her next logical question would be, HOW do I keep my points from expiring? Good thing there are many ways to do this, so let’s refresh your memory on this topic, too. Here’s what I told her:

Eligible activity that will keep your Hilton Honors points from expiring include some obvious and some less obvious options, such as:

  • Staying at a Hilton property on a points-earning eligible rate
  • Putting spend on a co-branded Hilton credit card to earn points
  • Participating in the Hilton Dining Program and have a qualifying dining expense
  • Shopping online through the Hilton Honors Shopping Portal
  • Transferring points to a Hilton Honors account from an external program, such as American Express Membership Rewards
  • Purchasing points
  • Earning points using programs such as e-Rewards or eMiles
  • Using Hilton Honors points to shop at Amazon

Let’s take a closer look at some of these options. Continue reading →