Tag Archives: Barclays Bank

Random News: Last Day for AMEX $10 Statement Credit, iPhone 6/Plus Cases, Friday’s App-O-Rama Results, and Hang-Up-Call-Again Success Story

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Random News: Last Day for AMEX $10 Statement Credit, iPhone 6/Plus Cases, Friday’s App-O-Rama Results, and Hang-Up-Call-Again Success Story

Good afternoon everyone, I hope your weekend is off to a great start.  I had the pleasure of meeting a blog reader (and hopefully a future blog reader) for coffee in Oceanside this morning to talk miles and points.

Let’s get to the random news, shall we?

Sorry for the late notice, but today is the last day to take advantage of the $10 AMEX Serve Statement Credit After Making 5 $10+ Purchases.  You must make 5 purchases of $10 or more with your Serve Card between August 15 and today.  The statement credit posts after a few days of making the qualifying purchases.

Serve $10 Statement Credit 5 $10 Purchases

Click here to read the full article.  Continue reading →

How to Book US Airways Off-Peak Award Flights to Europe for 30,000/35,000 Miles Round Trip

All award space and screenshots were taken on September 10.  Award space has likely changed (for better or worse) since this post was originally published.
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How to Book US Airways Off-Peak Award Flights to Europe for 30,000/35,000 Miles Round Trip

US Airways off-peak flights to Europe are amazing.  I went to Europe in January 2013 and visited Amsterdam, Paris, Cologne, Munich, and Brussels.  In January 2014, I went back to Europe and visited Amsterdam, Berlin, Vienna, and Rome.  Of course it is cold in January, but if this SoCal boy can handle a bit of snow, I’m sure you can too.  The weather in southern Europe, specifically Spain and Italy, is usually pretty good year round.  Rome in January was about 50-60 degree each day.  Amsterdam and Vienna were about 30-40 degrees each day.  Berlin was freezing, probably 10-20 degrees each day.

With that said, a winter getaway could be just what you need.  Thanks to US Airways and their off-peak awards to Europe, you only need 35,000 US Airways miles to fly from the US to many cities in Europe.  The rules are:

  • You must travel only on US Airways operated flights (no American Airlines or One World Alliance partners)
  • You must travel in economy class (no business or first class allowed)
  • You must complete your travel between January 15 and February 28

If you want to see the full US Airways award chart and other off-peak dates, please click here.

US Airways Off Peak Schedule

To read the entire post, please click here.

More Info Regarding Chime Card Loads After October 8 and my App-O-Rama Planning

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More Info Regarding Chime Card Loads After October 8 and my App-O-Rama Planning

Literally a few minutes before writing this post, I received the following email from Chime regarding the previously announced changes to debit card loads (link). Starting October 8, you will be able to load up to $200 per day, with a minimum load amount of $25.  If you use a debit card from Chase, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, U.S. Bank, Comerica Bank, or USAA, your debit card loads will remain free.  If you use a different debit card (including the PayPal Business Debit Card), you will *most likely* get hit with a “fee of up to 3%” per load.  We still need to wait and see what Chime does regarding the PayPal Business Debit Card.  If you use a debit card from one of the previously mentioned banks, the October 8 change will benefit you.

Chime Debit Card Updated Terms

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Don’t Close your Credit Card! Downgrade or Convert to these Credit Cards

Which Credit Card

Downgrade or Convert to these Credit Cards

This post is a combination of my recommendations and the recommendations from readers.  Thank you for contributing to this post.  The big question is, why should you downgrade or convert a credit card instead of closing it outright?

Pros of downgrading or converting a credit card:

  • Downgrading/converting your credit card lengthens the average age of your credit card accounts and improves your credit score (learn more about your credit score here).
  • Downgrading/converting your credit card keeps your credit utilization ratio lower, which is good for your credit score (see link above).
  • Downgrading/converting your credit card keeps your miles/points from expiring or being forfeited back to the credit card company.
  • Downgrading/converting your credit card results in no hard pull of your credit report.
  • Downgrading/converting your credit card is sometimes easier than outright applying.
  • Downgrading/converting your credit card makes it possible to get the same credit card multiple times (like 2 Chase Freedom or Bank of America Better Balance Reward cards).
  • Downgrading/converting your credit card may result in a sign up bonus on the new card (sometimes not, see cons below).

Cons of downgrading or converting a credit card:

  • Downgrading/converting your credit card may result in not get a sign up bonus for the new credit card.
  • Downgrading/converting your credit card may take a long time for the conversion process (Citi takes 60+ days).
  • Downgrading/converting your credit card may cause you to have “too much available credit” and may make it harder to be approved for future credit cards (mostly Barclays, but you can do recon calls to reverse their decision).
  • Downgrading/converting your credit card may interfere with the “churnability” of the credit card.

To read the full article, please click here.  Gotta go watch the Little League World Series now.