Tag Archives: American Express

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March App-O-Rama: Which 7 Credit Cards am I Considering?

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Good morning everyone, happy Saturday! Thanks for the comments on yesterday’s post regarding which non-5/24 Chase credit cards I should get. I think I have narrowed down my App-O-Rama (AOR) credit card list to these 7 credit cards. I plan on applying for these credit cards sometime next week. Please let me know if you agree or disagree with any of the credit cards on this list. If there are any credit cards that you think are worth applying for, please share them in the comments and I will check them out.

Based on yesterday’s post, I will apply for these 2 Chase credit cards:

  • Chase Marriott Business Credit Card: This is the only non-5/24 Chase business credit card and who couldn’t use more Marriott points? The current sign up bonus is 75,000 Marriott points after spending $3,000 in 3 months. The $99 annual fee is waived the first year. I already have the Chase Marriott Rewards Credit Card, so the annual category 1-5 Marriott free night certificates will pair nicely with each other. I don’t plan on spending much on this credit card after meeting the minimum spend requirement. As long as I can redeem the Marriott free night certificate for more than an $99 hotel night, this is a decent credit card to hold on to for a long time. *snarky comment alert* If Marriott keeps devaluing their program, by the year 2029, there will not be any Marriott category 1-5 hotels left…
  • Chase Iberia Credit Card: Since you can get 1 personal and 1 business credit card from Chase on the same day, I have decided to go for this personal credit card. The current sign up bonus is 50,000 Avios after spending $3,000 in 3 months and an additional 25,000 Avios after spending $10,000 in 12 months. The annual fee is $95. I don’t plan on booking any Iberia flights in the near future, so I won’t be able to take advantage of the 10% discount on Iberia flights. I don’t plan on spending much on this credit card after meeting the minimum spend requirement and will close the credit card when the annual fee comes due the following year.

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I’m in a Miles & Points Funk Part 1: Hotels

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Good morning everyone, I apologize for my lack of blog posts recently, but I’ve found myself in somewhat of a miles and points funk. Usually, I’m in an upbeat, positive mood, but lately, I’ve found it hard to get excited about the miles and points game. It seems that everything that I once loved has changed for the worse (that might be a tad dramatic). Let me share what’s on my mind so you can see where I’m coming from. Let’s start with hotels first.

I recently spent 100,000 Radisson Rewards points for 2 nights at the Radisson Blu Crete, and I’m not impressed by the new Radisson Rewards program. Since the free night certificates for spending $10,000 (and $20,000 and $30,000) on the US Bank Club Carlson credit cards are only valid at hotels in the US, it’s not worth spending money on those credit cards. I tried to rally my fellow readers and travel blogger friends by sharing my dissa-point-ment with US Bank and Radisson Rewards on Twitter, but I got no response from either company. I plan on keeping both of my Club Carlson credit cards just for the 40,000 points on my cardmember anniversary.

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Image source: https://www.fantasiescometrue.com/product/winnie_the_pooh_with_eeyore_under_rain_cloud_pin/

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PSA: Follow up on Missing AMEX Offer Statement Credits (Especially MGM Offer)

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Good morning everyone, I hope you had a great weekend.  A few months ago, my girlfriend and I went to Lost Wages Las Vegas and stayed at the beautiful Bellagio hotel.  We even upgraded to a fountain view room with amazing views of the Bellagio fountains.  I booked this specific hotel because Bellagio is part of MGM, and there was an AMEX Offer for $50 off $250 at MGM properties.  That AMEX Offer expired on January 8, but there are similar MGM AMEX Offers currently running (see the 2 AMEX Offers at the bottom of this post).  Long story short, I paid for the stay before the AMEX Offer expired, but the $50 statement credit never posted.  After waiting for more than 2 months, I called AMEX and they were able to manually add the $50 statement credit to my account.  Here is the MGM AMEX Offer that I was enrolled in:

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American Express Small Business OPEN Savings Program Ending June 1, 2018

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Good evening everyone, the hits keep coming from American Express.  Earlier today, I reported that American Express is no longer awarding Membership Rewards points for cash equivalents & person-to-person payments.  And just now, I looked at my American Express Business Platinum Charge Card and saw that the OPEN Savings Program is ending June 1, 2018.  I’m not why the program is ending, but I guess the program costs American Express more money than the program brings in.

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AMEX Membership Rewards Changes: No Points for Cash Equivalents (Gift Cards) & Person-to-Person Payments (Venmo)

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Good morning everyone, I was looking through my recent American Express statement and saw an ominous message on my American Express EveryDay Credit Card.  The message said, “See page 5 for a Notice of Change to the Membership Rewards Program Terms & Conditions.”  Uh oh, that sounded pretty bad.  I cautiously scrolled down to page 5 expecting the worst.  What did American Express do?

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