Tag Archives: Bank of America

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Quick & Easy Status Match to Sonesta Travel Pass Platinum Status

Good afternoon everyone, I hope you had a great Fourth of July weekend.  A few days ago, I was reading Frequent Miler’s post Complete Guide to Sonesta Travel Pass and read in the comments by McGeoffroy that Sonesta was offering a status match to their top tier Sonesta Platinum Status.  McGeoffroy was able to match Hyatt Globalist Status to Sonesta Platinum Status.  I don’t have Hyatt Globalist Status, so I was curious what other hotel program and elite tiers Sonesta would match.  Here is what I learned about the status match process.

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Targeted Spending Offer: Uncapped 4.5% Cash Back on Bank of America Business Advantage Unlimited Cash Rewards Credit Card

Good evening everyone.  I just received an interesting spending offer in the mail on my Bank of America Business Advantage Unlimited Cash Rewards Credit Card (direct link).  From July 1 through September 30, I can get an extra 3% cash back on top of the standard 1.5% cash back on all purchases, for a combined total of 4.5% cash back (any category with no cap in spending or earning).  Unfortunately, this is a targeted offer with a unique QR code and registration code.  The offer also states that you will not earn addition rewards if you are enrolled in Preferred Rewards for Business.

For background context, I received this credit card in October 2022 when there was a $500 sign up bonus.  After receiving the sign up bonus, I didn’t use the credit card at all, so I decided to close this credit card in November 2023.  During the call, the rep offered me a $50 statement credit if I kept the credit card open.  I accepted the retention offer and that was the last activity on this credit card since November 2023.  This offer might be targeted to cardholders who have not spent on this credit card in the last 6+ months.

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PSA: Bank of America Won’t Automatically Send a Replacement Debit Card when your Card Expires

Good evening everyone, I hope you had a great Presidents’ Day Weekend.  Long story short, I realized my Bank of America checking account debit card expired in July 2022 and Bank of America never sent me a replacement debit card (until I requested a new debit card in February 2024).  Let me provide more background info, in case you are curious.

I opened the Bank of America checking account in July 2018 when Bank of America was offering a $150 new account bonus.  Bank of America is not my primary bank, but I kept the checking account opened for several years because I had 2 Bank of America Better Balance Rewards Credit Cards (RIP old friends) that provided a quarterly bonus for having a Bank of America checking account.  After Bank of America discontinued the Better Balance Rewards cards and product changed them to Unlimited Cash Rewards cards in May / June 2023, there was less of a reason to keep my Bank of America checking account.

I had my Bank of America debit card in my ApplePay Wallet all of those years and took my Bank of America debit card internationally when I travelled, in case I needed to get cash.  For the last 1.5 years, I had no idea that my debit card was expired and I never received any notice from Bank of America or in my ApplePay Wallet.

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My Overly Ambitious 2024 Airline, Hotel & Credit Card Predictions

Good morning everyone, I hope your holiday season is going well.  Yesterday, I wrote The Results Are In! My Wild & Crazy 2023 Airline, Hotel & Credit Card Predictions.  In that post, I shared how my 2023 predictions did (spoiler: not great).  But I am not deterred because 2024 is a new year and I have several new predictions that are surely to come true.  Without further ado, here are my predictions for 2024:

My 2024 Airline Predictions

  • Alaska Airlines or Southwest Airlines will introduce a “family pooling” benefit for miles or travel credit.
  • American Airlines will allow Web Special awards to be changed online (currently, they can only be cancelled).
  • British Airways will add another airline (besides Finnair) to the Avios family.
  • Delta will change their 15% SkyMiles discount for Delta credit cards holders.
  • United will allow you to combine multiple travel bank funds and future flight credits for the same reservation.

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The Results Are In! My Wild & Crazy 2023 Airline, Hotel & Credit Card Predictions

Updated at 7am PT on 12/28/23: 1 correction made to the UA “Miles & Money” prediction.  I am now up to 4 / 31 :)


Good morning everyone, I hope you are having a great holiday season so far!  Now that we are approaching the end of 2023, it’s time to review my 2023 predictions and see how (badly) I did.  Correct predictions are in green and incorrect predictions are in red.

My 2023 Airline Predictions (1 / 4)

  • American Airlines or Alaska Airlines will be added as a transfer partner from a transferable points currency. – No, AA and AS were not added as a transfer partner in 2023, but AA is still a transfer partner of Bilt.
  • British Airways will change their award chart to calculate the number of Avios needed on a combined distance flown, not on a segment by segment basis. – No, BA has not changed their award chart to calculate combined distance flown.
  • Delta Airlines or United Airlines will introduce a “Miles and Cash” payment option for award tickets (pay 10,000 miles or pay 8,000 miles + $40). – Yes, UA does have a “Miles & Money” payment method that offers between 0.75 CPP – 1.0 CPP (Frequent Miler article).
  • Southwest Airlines will work very hard to make up for their December 2022 travel nightmare by offering a transfer bonus from Chase and spending offers on their credit cards in January 2023. – No, SWA did not introduce any transfer bonuses in 2023.

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