Tag Archives: Credit Cards

a blue and red credit card

Quirky US Bank Cash Plus Credit Card Rewards Activity (Different Amounts Before & After Statement Closes)

Good evening everyone.  I spend a lot of time with my credit cards and banking apps (probably more time than most normal people should), but I wanted to share a quirk I noticed with the US Bank Cash+ Credit Card.  I love this credit card so much (I have 2 of them), because of the ability to select 2 different 5% cash back categories each quarter, and you can select the same 2 categories each quarter.

The 2 categories that I have picked lately are Home Utilities (which covers water, gas, electricity, trash, etc.) and TV / Internet / Streaming Services (which covers all the well known and niche streaming services I have tried).  Now, this is where the quirkiness comes in…

a screenshot of a computer

Continue reading

a woman with blonde hair and a green shirt

2 Recent Credit Card Retention Offers: $150 Statement Credit & 4,000 Customer Appreciation Points

Good afternoon everyone.  Part of my credit card strategy is to call and ask for a retention offers every time a credit card annual fee posts to my account.  I am not successful 100% of the time, but I always find it worthwhile when I receive a retention offer for $50, $100, $150 or even $695 with a single call.  Today’s post is a friendly reminder to call and ask for retention offers.  The worse thing that can happen is that the rep screams at you relentlessly says they have no offers available.  You can then decide to keep the card open, downgrade to a no annual fee credit card, or cancel the card.  Here are my 2 recent examples.

The $450 annual fee posted to Laura’s JPMorgan Chase Ritz Carlton Credit Card on January 1.  She called the customer service number on the back of the card and received a $150 statement credit to keep her credit card open.  The $150 statement credit posted at the end of January and then she paid off the remaining credit card balance.  $150 for a 5-7 minute phone call is a great hourly rate :)

Continue reading

a black text on a white background

Starbucks 15% Off Chase Offer (Gift Card Balance Reloads Worked)

Good afternoon everyone, I hope your week is going well.  A few days ago, I wrote Peets Coffee & Tea $10 Off $25 AMEX Offer (Gift Card Balance Reloads Worked).  If you are a fan of Starbucks, you won’t want to miss this deal.  There is a new Starbucks Chase Offer available where you can earn 15% cash back, up to a $4.50 statement credit on a $30 purchase.  I added the offer to all my eligible Chase credit cards and made a $30 Starbucks gift card balance reload and that triggered the Chase Offer.  You can repeat that process with each Chase credit card that has the Starbucks offer.  Here are the details:

Continue reading

a blue rectangular sign with white text

Peets Coffee & Tea $10 Off $25 AMEX Offer (Gift Card Balance Reloads Worked)

Updated 3/6/24 at 8:30am PT: I successfully used this AMEX Offer 3 times and all 3 statement credits posted quickly.  Please scroll to the bottom of this post for more details.


Good morning everyone, happy Saturday!  If you are a fan of Peets Coffee & Tea, you won’t want to miss this AMEX Offer.  There is a new Peets Coffee & Tea $10 Off $25 AMEX Offer available and I immediately loaded the offer to my AMEX CC to see if reloading my Peets gift card balance would work.  Yes, it did! This AMEX Offer can be done up to 3 times for a total of $30 statement credit  After you load the offer to your AMEX CC, open the Peets app, go to the Wallet tab, and click Add Funds.

Continue reading

a black credit card with white text

How to Submit Primary Rental Car CDW Insurance Claim with eClaimsLine / Card Benefit Services (US Bank Altitude Reserve Credit Card)

Good afternoon everyone, happy Friday.  A few months ago, I was in Southern California and driving my Hertz rental car to Disneyland when a small rock struct my windshield, causing a long crack on the driver’s side of the windshield. I’ve never had to file an in insurance claim for a rental car before, so this was a new experience for me.  In this post, I will share details of the claims process and what I learned along the way, so if you are ever in a similar situation, you know what to expect.

a sign and a pole with a sign in the background

Continue reading