Tag Archives: Cash Back

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And the Winner is… My Top 10 Most Popular Blog Posts of 2023

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Good evening everyone, I hope your weekend is off to a great start.  As we wrap up 2023, it’s time to take a look at my top 10 most popular blog posts of the year. Barring any crazy last minute spikes in blog readership, these are the top 10 blog posts written in 2023 and top 10 blog posts written in previous years. If you are curious, here were the most popular posts from 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022.

2023’s Most Popular Blog Posts (Written in 2023)

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I Paid $4,807 in Credit Card Annual Fees in 2023 – Was it Worth it?

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Good evening everyone, I hope your holiday season is going well.  With the end of the year right around the corner, I decided to publish my 2023 version of credit card annual fees I paid this year.  For comparison, here are my previous credit card annual fee posts:

For this year’s post, I decided to break up the list of credit cards into 5 sections:

  • New credit cards with sign up bonuses
  • Credit cards with retention offers
  • Credit cards that have been upgraded / downgraded / product changed
  • Annual fees saved on closed credit cards
  • All other credit cards

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How Much Money Did I Make from Bank Account Bonuses in 2023?

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Good morning everyone, I hope your week is going well.  Doctor of Credit has a Best Bank Account Bonuses page that he keeps up to date with the best offers each month.  In that master post, he links to individual bank account bonuses with helpful information regarding the bonus details, how to avoid monthly fees, when to close the account, how often you can open a new account, and much more.  For the last 9 years, I have been opening new checking accounts, savings accounts, brokerage accounts, and cash management accounts for the new member bonuses.  At the end of each year, I share my results on the blog.

Over the last 9 years, I have made over $24,000 in bank account bonuses.  You will receive 1099-INT / 1099-MISC tax forms every year, so you have to pay taxes on the bank account bonuses, but sometimes you can fund the opening deposit with a credit card and earn miles, points, or cash back.  If you are lucky, you can meet a minimum spending requirement by funding a new checking account or reach a high spending target to earn more rewards.  Here are my results from the last 9 years with links to corresponding yearly summaries:

Drum roll please… Here are the 13 new accounts I opened in 2023 that paid out $3,685 in bonuses:

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Tracking Down a Missing $50 Bank of America Business Credit Card Retention Offer

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Good morning everyone, I hope your weekend is going well.  On October 31, I called Bank of America about my Bank of America Business Advantage Unlimited Cash Rewards (UCR) Credit Card and told the rep I wanted to close the credit card because I wasn’t using it anymore.  The rep offered me a $50 retention offer with no spend if I kept the credit card open and I said yes.  Fast forward to December 7, I still had not seen the $50 retention offer, which I assumed would show up as a $50 statement credit.  As part of my daily routine, I check my Bank of America app and did not see any credits show up on my UCR.  When I called Bank of America to inquire about the status of my $50 retention offer, the rep put me on hold for a few minutes to read the notes and see what happened.  When the rep returned, I was told that the $50 retention offer was put into my Cash Rewards.  I never thought to check there.  In this post, I will show you where to go to find the retention offer in the Cash Rewards and the various redemption options.

To get started, sign into your Bank of America account (either online or via the app), select your business credit card account, and then select the corporate account.

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How Fast do the $50 Hilton Credits Post on the American Express Hilton Honors Surpass Credit Card?

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Good morning everyone, I hope your week is going well.  A few weeks ago, I wrote about My 6 Credit Card App-O-Rama: Results & Reconsideration Calls.  In that post, I shared that I was approved for the American Express Hilton Honors Surpass Credit Card (referral link) that currently offers a 170,000 Hilton Honors Points sign up bonus after spending $3,000 in 6 months and a $200 Hilton Credit ($50 credit per quarter).  If you have had the Surpass card before, here is the No Lifetime Language offer for the Hilton Surpass (this is the link I used since I had the Surpass a few years ago).  In this post, I wanted to discuss the $200 Hilton Credit and share my experience with the credit.

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