Tag Archives: Best Buy

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Maximize Instacart Savings with $10 / $20 Chase Credits & Discounted Gift Cards

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Good afternoon everyone, I hope your weekend is going well. I’ve been a big fan of Instacart ever since Chase added $10 and $20 Instacart credits to many of their cobranded credit cards in May 2025. Before then, I had never used Instacart because I assumed the grocery prices were significantly higher than shopping in-store and I actually enjoyed going to my local grocery stores.  Between my wife and I, we currently have 8 qualifying Chase cobranded credit cards, which provide $80 – $100 in Instacart credits each month. When you combine those credits with discounted Instacart gift cards, it becomes possible to have groceries delivered to your front door for a fraction of the normal cost.

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A Tale of Two Citi Strata Elite Credit Card Applications

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Good afternoon everyone, I hope your week is going well. First, a quick nod to the bookworms and literary buffs who caught the reference to A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.  Now let’s fast forward to this century.  In mid-December, Laura and I both applied for the Citi Strata Elite Credit Card because we were hoping to triple dip the annual benefits ($300 Hotel Credit and $200 Splurge Credit) in December 2025, January 2026, and again in January 2027 before the $595 annual fee was due. Unfortunately, “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times” in terms of instant approvals.

The Results

My application: instant denial.  Laura’s application: pending.

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How Fast Does the Citi Strata Elite $200 Splurge Credit Post for Best Buy Purchases?

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Good afternoon everyone, I hope your week is going well.  Last month, both Laura and I applied for the Citi Strata Elite Credit Card because we had a property tax payment due by December 31 (and we were hoping to triple-dip the $300 Annual Hotel Benefit and $200 Splurge Credit). Long story short (and a situation deserving of its own blog post), Citi declined my application but approved Laura’s application.

If you already have the Citi Strata Elite, the $200 Splurge Credit should be very easy to use. I wanted to share our experience and show how quickly you can expect the credit to post.  Laura selected Best Buy as her “Selected Brand” and spent $200 on Best Buy’s website (they offer a wide variety of gift cards available). The purchase posted on December 29 and the $200 statement credit posted 2 days later on December 31.

Since the Splurge Credit resets each calendar year, she was able to use it again in 2026. Laura kept Best Buy as her “Selected Brand” and made another $200 purchase on January 3. Once again, the credit posted quickly, just 2 days later on January 5. We were both pleasantly surprised that the credits posted automatically and without any need to contact Citi.

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