Tag Archives: Barclays Bank

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Barclays vs. Bank of America: Which Offers the Best Atmos Rewards Companion Fare or Discount Code?

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Good afternoon everyone, I hope you had a great weekend.  I just read Frequent Miler’s article Alaska tanks utility of its “Famous Companion Fare” and learned that you can no longer use Alaska Airlines wallet funds to pay for Companion Fare tickets. That’s a major disappointment, since wallet funds and discounted Alaska Airlines gift cards from Costco used to pair beautifully with the Companion Fare.

Naturally, that got me wondering: Does Atmos Rewards also block wallet funds when using Barclays discount codes? (Short answer: yes.) What started as a quick check turned into a full comparison of Barclays vs. Bank of America and how their Discount Codes and Companion Fares stack up.  You can find your discount codes and companion fares in your Atmos Rewards account under the Discounts and Companion Fares section.

Background

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote Maybe the Barclays Hawaiian Airlines Credit Card is a Keeper – Here’s Why and wanted to take a closer look at how the Barclays 50% Off Companion Fare and the Barclays $100 Off Companion Fare compare to the Alaska Airlines Companion Fare from the Bank of America Credit Card. Here’s what I found.

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Alaska Airlines / Atmos Rewards Summit Cardholders: How to Share Points with up to 10 Accounts for Free

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Good afternoon everyone! I hope you had an enjoyable Indigenous Peoples’ Day or a festive Canadian Thanksgiving (both celebrated on October 13 this year).  Speaking of giving thanks, I want to thank the Atmos Rewards team for adding one of my favorite perks (free point sharing) to the Bank of America Atmos Rewards Summit Credit Card. This was one of the best features on the Barclays Hawaiian Airlines Credit Card, and I’m thrilled to see it available on the new Summit credit card.

Laura generously offered to share her Atmos Rewards points with me, so I’ll walk you through the step-by-step process of sharing points with another account.

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Maybe the Barclays Hawaiian Airlines Credit Card is a Keeper – Here’s Why

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Good afternoon everyone, happy Friday!  Remember when I wrote Should I Keep or Cancel the Barclays Hawaiian Airlines Credit Card? about three weeks ago? In that post, I mentioned:

“Laura’s Barclays Hawaiian Airlines Credit Card statement just closed and the $99 annual fee posted. As of today, we are 99% sure she will close this card, but I wanted to get a second opinion from readers to make sure we’re not missing an obvious reason to keep the card open for another year.”

Well… a lot can change in three weeks! There have been a few positive developments that turned our decision from a 99% closure into a 100% keeper.

1. The $99 Retention Offer That Changed Everything

When Laura called Barclays to close her credit card, she mentioned that we’d just had a baby and didn’t have any Hawaii trips planned. The rep was incredibly kind (congratulated her on the new baby!) and then offered to waive the $99 annual fee for this year.

The next business day, the $99 credit was backdated to offset the posted annual fee, making the card free for another year. We were both surprised (and grateful) for the generous gesture.  Well done, Barclays!

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Triple Play: $500 BofA Checking Bonus, 105K Atmos Rewards Points & 50K AA Miles

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Good afternoon everyone.  First off, thank you for all the kind messages and encouragement you shared with me in my previous post about the birth of my daughter: Attention Passengers: Madison has Joined the Travel with Grant Family.  I’m glad to share the exciting news with TWG readers and I promised I would have some good blog posts in the works.  Here is the first one…

Back in December, I signed up for the waitlist for the new premium Alaska Airlines credit card (now called the Bank of America Atmos Rewards Summit Credit Card).  A few weeks ago, I received a targeted email to apply for the credit card and receive 5,000 bonus Atmos Rewards Points, bringing the total sign up bonus to 105,000 points, but I only had 2 weeks to apply for this offer.

Unfortunately, Bank of America has their “3/12 Rule” (Doctor of Credit post) where BofA will only approve you for a credit card if you have 3 or fewer inquiries from all issuers in the last 12 months.  But… if you have a BofA checking or savings account, the rule changes to the “7/12 Rule” where BofA will only approve you for a credit card if you have 7 or fewer inquiries from all issuers in the last 12 months.  I was slightly over the 3/12 cutoff, but as luck would have it, BofA is currently offering a new checking account bonus up to $500 (Doctor of Credit post), depending on your total direct deposits within the first 90 days.

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Attention Passengers: Madison has Joined the Travel with Grant Family

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Good afternoon everyone, I hope your week is going well.  I’m thrilled to share some wonderful news: Laura and I recently welcomed a beautiful, happy, and healthy baby girl named Madison into our family!  I’ve been meaning to share the news, but I just haven’t had the time, energy, and appropriate amount of sleep until now. In the last few weeks, Madison has already taught me plenty, like how to change diapers at lightning speed, how to cradle her tiny head just right, and how to put her needs above everything else.

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