Tag Archives: Free Stuff

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Deep Dive into Citi Strata Premier Credit Card Earning Categories & Travel Protections (Rental Car, Trip Interruptions & Lost Luggage)

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Good afternoon everyone, I hope your weekend is going well.  Much has already been written about the new-ish Citi Strata Premier Credit Card, but I wanted to do a deep dive into the earning categories and travel protections on this credit card, mostly so I could compare this credit card to the US Bank Altitude Reserve Credit Card.

This post has many links to the various pages on the Citi card benefits website, but you will need to sign into your Citi account first before clicking any of the links below.  Let’s get started by covering the various travel-related earning categories on the Citi Strata Premier.

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Earn 4x Bonus Citi ThankYou Points at Restaurants with Citi Double Cash Credit Card (Targeted Email Offer)

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Good afternoon everyone, I hope your week is going well.  Earlier today, I received an email from Citi regarding my Citi Double Cash Credit Card.  The subject line sounded generic: “Grant, Activate your offer today and start earning now” and didn’t look very enticing until I read further down the email.  After activating the offer, I can “Earn an additional 4 points per $1 spent, up to 2,500 ThankYou® Points, through 07/31/2024” when I “Spend on eligible purchases at restaurants.”

4x Bonus Citi ThankYou Points on top of the 2x the Citi Double Cash already earns = 6x at restaurants on the first $625 spent.  That is better than the 4x on the American Express Gold Card, and a little better than 5x on the Citi Custom Cash Credit Card and the old Citi Prestige Credit Card, but not as great as the 7x on the Chase Freedom Flex Credit Card.  If you have a Citi Double Cash, check you email for this targeted email offer from Citi.

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My Underwhelming Experience with MaxMyPoint, Awayz & StayWithPoints Hotel Award Alerts

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Good evening everyone, I hope you all had a great Mother’s Day Weekend.  Last week, I wrote about my Summer plans to Europe, including stops in Dublin, Helsinki, and Stockholm.  We are starting in Dublin and wanted to stay 4 nights at the Hyatt Centric The Liberties Dublin.  The Hyatt Centric is centrally located and costs 18,000 Hyatt Points per night.  Unfortunately, there was a small issue… the 4th night of our stay was completely sold out on points and cash.

We booked the first 3 nights of the stay using a combination of Laura’s Hyatt Free Night Certificate and 36,000 Hyatt Points for the next 2 nights. I then set up hotel alerts for the last night of our stay in the hope that award availability would open up before our trip.  Here is my underwhelming experience with MaxMyPoint, Awayz & StayWithPoints hotel award alerts.

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Image source: https://www.hyatt.com/hyatt-centric/dubct-hyatt-centric-the-liberties-dublin/gallery

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4 Buy Miles / Points Promos Ending Soon: Air Canada (85%), Hilton (100%), Southwest Airlines (50%) & Choice Hotels (30%)

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Good afternoon everyone, happy Friday!  I was working on my Buy Miles & Points Page and found 4 offers that end this week.  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 the 4 offers that end soon.

Up first, Air Canada is offering up to a 85% bonus, depending on the number of Air Canada Aeroplan Miles you purchase. This offer expires tomorrow – May 11.

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My Scandinavian Summer: Helsinki & Stockholm Recommendations Needed

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Good afternoon everyone, I hope your weekend is going well.  A few days ago, I wrote Comparing Alaska Airlines, British Airways & Qatar Airways Award Prices for 2 Finnair Flights (DUB-HEL & HEL-ARN).  At the end of that post, I hinted that I needed some recommendations for things to see and do in Helsinki, Finland and Stockholm, Sweden.  That is where this post comes in.  I have never been to either city and wanted to reach out to my readers to see if they had any recommendations.  Here is what I have in mind, but I am open to your suggestions as well.  Thank you!

Helsinki, Finland for 2 Days in the Summer

Laura and I love going on canal tours (we did 4 river / canal tours last summer in Prague, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, and Giethoorn, which is about an hour outside Amsterdam).  I was excited when I came across the Helsinki Canal Cruise on Viator.  I love booking activities on Viator because you can often get 10-15% cash back by going through an online shopping portal and most activities have the “Reserve Now & Pay Later” feature where you can cancel for free up to 24 hours in advance.  Viator also occasionally has card linked offers like AMEX Offers, Chase Offers, and Citi Merchant Deals, so I am hoping one of those deals pops up before my trip.

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