Chime is one of the fastest-growing mobile banking apps in the US, and you can get $50 when you sign up and receive at least $200 in direct deposits within the first 45 days of opening your account. Technically, the direct deposit has to be from your employer and ACH transfers are not supposed to count, but in the past, I have had success with ACH transfers counting as direct deposit. 
Good afternoon everyone. I was working on my Buy Miles & Points Page and found a few offers ending soon. Always check the math to make sure that buying miles & points makes sense for you. Do not buy miles & points speculatively unless you have a use in mind. With that said, here are 4 offers that end in the next 10 days. Up first, Southwest Airlines is offering a 40% discount, when you purchase at least 5,000 Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Points. This offer expires tomorrow – August 14.
Good morning everyone. Last Saturday, Laura and I did a mini San Francisco honeymoon. We stayed at the InterContinental Mark Hopkins a few months ago, so we wanted to check out the Kimpton Sir Francis Drake hotel near San Francisco’s Union Square. As part of IHG’s current Accelerate Promo, I needed to book a Points and Cash reservation to complete part of the promo. The Kimpton Sir Francis Drake is normally 55,000 IHG Points, but I did a booking for 50,000 IHG Points + $28 cash. Here is what the hotel lobby looked like when we arrived (with a few more guests and people working):
Image source: https://www.booking.com/hotel/us/sir-francis-drake.html
Good morning everyone, I hope you had a great weekend. As part of my “Keep, Cancel or Convert?” series, I like to evaluate and reevaluate credit cards to make sure they still deserve a spot in my wallet (or credit card drawer). For today’s post, I will review my US Bank Radisson Rewards Business Credit Card (no longer available to new cardholders) which just charged me the $60 annual fee. The only reason I keep this credit card year after year is the 40,000 anniversary Radisson Rewards Points. I am basically buying 40,000 Radisson Rewards Points for $60, which is 0.15 cents per point (CPP). I probably value Radisson Rewards Points at 0.4-0.5 CPP, so I have no problem paying the annual fee every year.
Even though I planned on keeping this credit card, I called US Bank to ask if there were any retention offers available. After reviewing my account, the rep first said she could cut my interest rate in half. I politely declined that offer and said last year I was offered Radisson Rewards Points to keep the credit card open – was that offer still available? The rep said yes, but it was only for 2,500 Radisson Rewards Points. I told her that was better than nothing and accepted the offer. The rep said I should see the 2,500 Radisson Rewards Points on my next statement.
Good morning everyone, happy Friday! Last week, I was checking my Chase IHG Rewards Premier Credit Card (currently offering a sign up bonus of 125,000 IHG Rewards Points after spending $3,000 in 3 months) statement and saw that the $89 annual fee posted to my account. As part of my “Keep, Cancel or Convert?” series, I like to evaluate and reevaluate credit cards to make sure they still deserve a spot in my wallet (or credit card drawer). There are 3 main reasons to keep this credit card: 1 free night certificate good for any IHG property up to 40,000 IHG Rewards Points, 4th night free when you pay for your entire stay with IHG Rewards Points, and 10x IHG Rewards Points when paying for IHG hotels (if you are a new credit card holder, you will get 25x at IHG Hotels for the first 12 months).
This card is a keeper for me, but I decided to call Chase and see if they had any retention offers available. I mentioned to the Chase rep that I also have the Chase IHG Rewards Select Credit Card and was hoping they would waive the annual fee on this credit card. The rep looked at my account and said there were no retention offers available. At that time, I thanked her for looking and told her I would keep the credit card open.
