Tag Archives: Chase Ultimate Rewards Points

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Watch Netflix at Marriott; New Plenti Online Shopping Portal and Partner/Household Offers

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(Hat Tip to Paul for the email)

Good morning everyone, happy TGI Friday.  I have 2 short pieces of news to share.  A few days ago, Marriott announced their new partnership with Netflix via this press release:

Bethesda, Md., June 10, 2015 – Marriott Hotels, the flagship brand of Marriott International Inc., and Netflix announced a groundbreaking partnership to revolutionize the guest room entertainment experience. Guests staying at select Marriott Hotels will be able to subscribe to Netflix or sign into their existing accounts simply by using the Netflix app on the hotel’s internet-connected guest room televisions.

Don’t get too excited just yet, only 6 Marriott properties will be available at the beginning, but more will be added throughout the year:

With this agreement, Marriott Hotels is the first hotel brand authorized to offer guests direct access to their Netflix accounts as part of its guest room entertainment offering. Netflix is currently available at six properties, with six more launching this summer. The brand plans to expand Netflix to 100 of its properties by the end of 2015, and to nearly all of its more than 300 properties in the U.S. by the end of 2016.

This feature will be built into the TV and not dependent on the WiFi speed in your hotel room.  I don’t have a Netflix account or watch any of the “amazing” Netflix programs, but I am sure this is good news for some of you.

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Staples Easy Rebate: Purchase $300 in Visa Gift Cards and Receive $20 Visa Gift Card (May 24-30)

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Good morning everyone, Staples has another Visa Gift Card Easy Rebate offer starting this Sunday.  After spending $300 or more in Visa Gift Cards, you will receive a $20 Visa Gift Card as a rebate.  Only one rebate per household, so get creative.

a close-up of a gift card

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British Airways Avios Off-Peak Pricing is a Pleasant Surprise

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Good afternoon everyone!  Yesterday, I spent a few hours planning my 2 week Eurotrip (more details later) and got to experience the new British Airways Avios off-peak award pricing.  I found a good flight from London (LHR) to Paris (CDG) on British Airways for $111.  Since this flight is operated by British Airways, I checked to see what the award price would be.

ITA BA LHR-CDG Price

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Redbird Credit Card Reloads Dead: “Able to Load $0.00 with this Payment Method”

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Good morning everyone, I just got back from Target in San Francisco and I have some bad news to share.  I brought my Chase Freedom (Visa), Citi Double Cash (MC), Bank of America Virgin Atlantic (MC), and AMEX Old Blue Cash to Target to see if any of those credit cards could load my Redbird Card.

Target San Francisco

During the loading process, I spoke with a cashier and the store manager.  Neither of them mentioned any memo or said anything out of the ordinary.  Both had loaded Redbird Cards before and knew the process.  This is how the transaction went:

  • Please load $987.00 to my Target Redcard
  • They swiped my Redbird Card and entered the amount on the cash register
  • I swipe my credit card on the POS credit card terminal and the screen shows $987.00 and the signature box
  • Before I even sign the screen, the cash register prints out a receipt and shows an error message on the cash register’s screen, “Able to Load $0.00 with this Payment Method”
  • We repeat the process a few times with different credit cards and at different registers
  • Every time the result is the same, “Able to Load $0.00 with this Payment Method”

Some ideas and thoughts:

  • AMEX for Target (AFT) credit card loads are probably dead as well, but I didn’t have my AFT card with me to try
  • Gift cards and debit cards might work, but I didn’t have either with me to try
  • Cash reloads probably still work, but I didn’t have any cash to try

Where do we stand now?:

  • Do gift cards with PINs (Visa and MasterCard) still work?
  • Which gift cards still work (Vanilla Visa, Bancorp, Metabank, etc.)?
  • How long will gift card reloads work before Target starts blocking those (like Walmart did)?
  • Will there be any online loading options similar to AMEX Serve?

If you have any data points, specifically related to gift cards, please let me know below.  Have a good day everyone.

P.S. NoonRadar has a great summary of what is currently working for Redbird reloads here.

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Staples and Smart & Final Gift Card Results (and Fraud Alerts)

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Good morning everyone, I had a fun-filled evening last night.  After work, I drove to my local Staples and Smart & Final store (which happen to be next to each other) and did a bit of shopping.  My first stop was at Staples to buy some gift cards…

Staples Next to Smart Final

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