Tag Archives: Citi Bank

a close-up of a credit card

Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve Credit Card Annual Fee Notification Oversight

Posted on by . 8 Replies

Good morning everyone.  I just got an email from Citi regarding my Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve Credit Card.  Apparently, on my last statement that closed a few days ago, Citi forgot to mention that the annual fee will be billed the following month.  I’m not sure if this is a regulation that credit card companies have to follow whereby they have to inform you 1 month prior to having the annual fee billed to your account or if that is just a courtesy most credit card companies follow.  Either way, if you had planned to cancel your Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve Credit Card before the annual fee posts to you account, you can call the number listed below.  If you call, your credit card will be canceled.

Citi Hilton HHonors Annual Fee Email

Continue reading →

a woman holding her hands up with a man in front of him

Q4 Credit Card Category Strategy: Do Way Better than 5% Cash Back at Amazon

Posted on by . 31 Replies

Good afternoon everyone, Q4 is among us.  With that, comes new cash back categories for Chase Freedom, Citi Dividend, and Discover It credit card holders.  Let’s go through the list of categories really quickly, starting with the Citi Dividend Credit Card: 5% cash back at Best Buy and department stores.  Most people will probably buy Visa Gift Cards at Best Buy.  I would also like to mention that you can often buy department store gift cards for much more than a 5% discount by shopping on Gift Card Granny.  Macy’s gift cards are 10%+ discounted, Sears gift cards are 6%+ discounted, and Kmart gift cards are 7%+ discounted.

Citi Dividend Q4 Calendar

Continue reading →

a woman holding her hands up with a man in front of him

Chase Ink Plus $95 Statement Credit and Other Retention Offer Tips and Tricks

Posted on by . 16 Replies

(Hat Tip to Kenny @ Saverocity for the inspiration)

Good evening everyone, I am writing this blog post from The Hall, a bar/restaurant in SF as I wait for a few travel hackers to join me.  This morning on BART, I read Kenny’s post about his recent Citi retention offers and I thought I would share my retention offer strategy and a few tips and tricks.  I’ve probably mentioned these tips and tricks a few times on this blog, but a refresher is always welcome.

Let me recap my recent retention offer call to Chase regarding my Chase Ink Plus Business Credit Card.  The $95 annual fee was going to post at the end of this month and I haven’t used this credit card in 6+ months (my Chase Ink Bold Business Credit Card get’s all my love).

Chase Ink Plus Business Credit Card

Continue reading →

a blue and yellow logo

My First Experience Booking an Award Ticket with Singapore Airlines Miles (Flying on United Airlines)

Posted on by . 34 Replies

Good morning everyone, a few weeks ago, I wrote Transfer Times to Singapore Airlines from Chase Ultimate Rewards, AMEX Membership Rewards, Citi Thank You Points, and SPG Starpoints.  In that post, I learned that transfers to Singapore Airlines were not instant and vary by transferable points program.  Nothing is worse that transferring points to miles and waiting for the miles to post.  It can be extremely nerve racking and frustrating to keep refreshing your Singapore Airlines account and seeing no change.

Long story short, I needed to book a very short notice award ticket for my friend from Germany back to the US.  And by short notice, I mean less than 24 hours between request and flight departure.  I did not have enough Singapore Airlines miles to book a one way from Europe to the US (which costs 27,500 Singapore Airlines miles), so I initiated a transfer from Citi Thank You Points around 8am PT.  I was hoping the Singapore Airlines miles would post within a few hours, but that did not happen.  I checked every few hours after that, but still no luck.  Right before I went to bed (around 11pm PT), I checked one more time, but still no luck.  I went to bed and set my alarm for 5:30am PT.  Luckily I heard my alarm go off and saw that the miles posted to my account (almost 24 hours after after initiating the transfer).

27,500 Singapore Airlines Miles

Continue reading →

a red logo with a white background

Transfer Times to Virgin America from AMEX Membership Rewards and Citi Thank You Points

Posted on by . 6 Replies

Update: 9/24/2015 at 10am: summary of transfer times:

  • AMEX Membership Reward Points to Virgin America are instant.
  • Citi Thank You Points to Virgin America take 24-48 hours to post. 

Good morning everyone, I needed to book a Virgin America flight from SFO to SAN and luckily there are 2 transfer bonuses currently running for Virgin America.  Through October 8, American Express has a 25% transfer bonus when transferring Membership Reward Points to Virgin America miles (Doctor of Credit).

Unfortunately, I have 2 complaints about AMEX Membership Reward Point transfers.  To complete a transfer, you must enter the 4-digit (front) and 3-digit (back) security code on your Membership Reward earning credit/charge card (I selected my AMEX Platinum Charge Card).  If you do not have your Membership Reward earning credit/charge card available, you will not be able to go past this screen and complete your transfer.  This is incredibly annoying when you need to make a transfer and do not have the card in front of you.  I much prefer using Chase Ultimate Reward Points and Citi Thank You Points which can be transferred much faster/easier since you do not need to enter any card information to complete the transfer.

Verify AMEX Platinum Security Numbers

Continue reading →