Tag Archives: Chase Ultimate Rewards Points

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Gift Card Mall Activation Website Down, Must Call 1-877-426-2551 to Activate VGCs

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Good morning everyone, as of 8am PT 7/23/2015, the Gift Card Mall activation website is down and is not allowing any Visa Gift Cards to be activated.  I purchased a few $200 VGCs last week from Staples.com and was trying to activate the gift cards online last night.  I got the below error message that says “We cannot process your request at this time.  Please try again or call 1-877-426-2551.”  After calling the below number (open from 8am-12am CT), the nice rep confirmed that their activation website has been down for a few days and that she could activate them all over the phone.

Gift Card Mall Activation Error

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My Thoughts on my Younger Brother’s First App-O-Rama (2 out of 3 Credit Cards Approved)

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Good morning everyone, my younger brother (a recent UCLA graduate with a masters in engineering) had no credit cards 2 weeks ago.  I would often get text messages from him late at night asking me to buy something for him on Amazon or to pay for his apartment’s electricity bill.  He would then Venmo money to me for the exact amount that I paid.  He would argue that he was helping me earn “points” and would guilt trip me into helping him.  From a profit point of view, the “points” I would earn would be less profitable than 1 $500 VGC, therefore not a big deal to me.  Graduation Throwing Caps and Credit Cards

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Transfer Times to Singapore Airlines from Chase Ultimate Rewards, AMEX Membership Rewards, Citi Thank You Points, and SPG Starpoints

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Good morning everyone, I hope your weekend is going well.  A few weeks ago, I learned about all the cool things you can do with Singapore Airlines miles (@ the SF Travel Hackers Meetup) and I am tempted to book my first award flight using Singapore Airlines miles.  I also heard that point transfers to Singapore Airlines were not instant, so I decided to run a few tests to see how long each transferable points program took to post to Singapore Airlines.

If you were to look at the below screenshot from my Singapore Airlines account, it would look like all the transfers took the same amount of time.  Not true.  The dates listed below are the dates that I initiated the transfer, not the actual dates when the miles posted.  I will go into more detail in the post, but here is the summary of transfer times:

  • Chase Ultimate Rewards Points: within 12 hours
  • AMEX Membership Rewards Points: within 24 hours
  • Citi Thank You Points: within 24 hours
  • SPG Starpoints: 6 days

Singapore Miles from Transferable Points Programs

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Upcoming Meetups and Travel Conferences (July 23 through December 6)

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Good morning everyone, happy Amazon Prime Day!  I couldn’t sleep last night, so I bought a new AmazonBasics 12-Sheet High-Security Micro-Cut Shredder at 3am and then I read Doctor of Credit’s post about Amazon eGift Cards on sale and bought those too.  If you do purchase anything today, please consider using my Amazon affiliate link.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!  Happy 20th birthday Amazon!

Anyway, with the recent news about FTU Advanced Newport Beach, I thought I would list all the meetups and travel conferences that I will be attending throughout the end of the year.  These are in chronological order and there may/may not be tickets left to purchase.

Let’s start with a local meetup in San Francisco.  This group is relative new, but the turnout of 30-50 people is impressive.  They have formal presentations once a month and then breakout discussions afterwards.  The organizers of this meetup are very passionate and knowledgeable.

  • Where: San Francisco, California (Meetup page)
  • When: Thursday, July 23 @ 7PM

SF Travel Hacker Meetup 7-23-2015

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July 2015: My 8 Credit Card App-O-Rama Game Plan

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Disclosure: if you are just starting out with credit cards, do not follow in my footsteps.  I have years of experience with credit card applications, reconsideration calls, and managing my finances.  You are responsible for your credit score and finances.  You have been warned.

Good evening everyone, I hope you had a great weekend.  I got sunburned Saturday sitting at Faction Brewery in Alameda and got another sunburn Sunday on a hike.  After doing my Sunday chores, I decided to plan my upcoming App-O-Rama.  Here is my current App-O-Rama plan.  Please let me know if you have any thoughts on the credit cards I am applying for.

a table with numbers and a few points

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