Tag Archives: American Express

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Before Closing Wells Fargo Propel World AMEX Credit Card, Get $100 Airline Reimbursement

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Good afternoon everyone.  During last week’s rundown of credit cards who charged me an annual fee in March, I wrote about my Wells Fargo Propel World American Express Credit Card.  In that post, I mentioned that this credit card has a $175 annual fee and I could not figure out how Wells Fargo could justify charging $175 for this credit card.  I also reminded myself that this credit card offers a $100 airline reimbursement credit each cardmember year.  And since the annual fee posted on April 2, I figured I was in a new cardmember year.  I then used this credit card to buy a $100 Southwest Airlines egift card.  A few days later, I received the following email regarding the $100 airline reimbursement.

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How Quickly Does Hilton Diamond Elite Status Appear After Getting Approved for AMEX Hilton Honors Aspire Credit Card?

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Good morning everyone, I hope you had a great weekend.  Last week, I did a credit card App-O-Rama and applied for the American Express Hilton Honors Aspire Credit Card.  The credit card has a $450 annual fee, but comes with a 100,000 Hilton points sign up bonus ($4,000 spend in 3 months), Hilton Diamond Elite Status, $250 airline travel credit, $250 Hilton resort credit, 1 free weekend night certificate and a few other benefits (read Doctor of Credit’s full review).  It sounds like a great deal, at least for the first year, so I applied for the credit card.

Unfortunately, my application went pending and I decided to wait for a call or letter in the mail from American Express.  I felt pretty confident that I could get approved for this credit card because I had an existing American Express SPG Business Credit Card and an American Express Hilton Honors Ascend Credit Card that I could use for leverage to get approved for the American Express Hilton Honors Aspire Credit Card.  Luckily, I didn’t have to wait long to hear from 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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