Tag Archives: Free Stuff

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I Paid $5,341 in Credit Card Annual Fees in 2024 – Was it Worth it?

Good afternoon everyone, I hope your holiday season is going well.  With the end of the year right around the corner, I decided to publish my 2024 version of credit card annual fees I paid this year.  For comparison, here are my previous credit card annual fee posts:

For this year’s post, I decided to break up the list of credit cards into 5 sections:

  • Credit cards with sign up bonuses
  • Credit cards with retention offers
  • Credit cards with product changes
  • Credit cards that were closed this year
  • All other credit cards

For simplicity, I did not include the value of miles or points earned from credit card spend, but I did include the value of miles and points earned from sign up bonuses, referral bonuses, anniversary points, discounted points, and rebated points.  I counted all credits, reimbursements, and retention offers at face value.  I list the value of all tangible and intangible benefits below too.

I went through all of my credit card statements and online accounts to see which Credit Card Benefits I used in 2024 and those values are in the CCB $ column. If I received a retention offer, that is listed in the RO $ column. I listed the credit card annual fees in the AF $ column. Lastly, I used this formula to calculate the Profit or Loss (P/L column) for each credit card: CCB $ + RO $ – AF $ = P/L.  Laura’s card are included as well. Continue reading

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Buy Miles / Points Promos Ending Soon: Alaska Airlines (60%), Marriott Hotels (45%) & Many More in December

Good morning everyone, I hope you’re having a wonderful weekend. While updating my Buy Miles & Points Page, I discovered 2 offers that expire this week and several others that end in December (a complete list can be found at the bottom of this post). Remember to crunch the numbers to ensure purchasing miles and points is beneficial for your needs. It’s best to avoid buying miles and points speculatively unless you have a specific purpose in mind. With that in mind, here are 2 offers that are ending soon.

Up first, Alaska Airlines is offering up to a 60% bonus, depending on the number of Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Miles you purchase. This offer expires on December 23.

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InKind $50 Referral Bonus + 40% Discount on Gift Cards at Costco (Deal Expires 12/25)

Updated 12/20/24 at 9am PT: New Costco deal for InKind gift cards available now through December 25.


Good morning everyone, happy Friday! I just received an email from InKind letting me know that they’ve doubled the referral bonus from $25 to $50 if your referral signs up and spends $50 with InKind by January 31, 2025. If they don’t meet the requirements by the deadline, you’ll still receive the standard $25 referral bonus once they spend $50. There’s no special referral link for this promo, so you can continue using your current referral link. If you’d like to use my InKind referral link, you will get a $25 bonus after you spend $50 or more with InKind.  But wait, there’s more…

If you are a Costco member, you can buy a $100 InKind gift card for just $59.99, but this offer ends on December 25. See the details below for more info.

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Buy Miles / Points Promos Ending Soon: Air Canada (80%), IHG (100%), Leading Hotels of the World (100%), Choice (60%), Spirit (40%) & Many More in December

Good afternoon everyone, I hope you had a great weekend.  I was working on my Buy Miles & Points Page and found 5 offers that end this week and many more end in December (see the list at the bottom of this post).  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 5 offers that end soon.

Up first, Air Canada is offering up to an 80% bonus, depending on the number of Air Canada Aeroplan Miles you purchase. This offer expires tomorrow – December 10.

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Skip TKTS: Get Broadway Show Tickets at the Box Office (No Service Fee) or through Telecharge Lottery / Rush Offers

Good evening everyone, I hope you had a great weekend.  A few weeks ago, Laura and I spent a few days in New York City and saw a few shows on Broadway, Off Broadway, and at Radio City Musical Hall.  I learned a few things about buying show tickets so I wanted to pass along that advice.  This advice works great in NYC, but should also work well in other cities that have Broadway shows and events.  Since we stayed at the Crowne Plaza Times Square (read Track IHG Nightly Award Rates & Rebook When Prices Drop), we were able to see 5 different shows during our 3.5 days in NYC.

A few days before we arrived in NYC, we narrowed down our list of shows to see.  Laura really wanted to see Suffs (“Shaina Taub’s epic new musical telling the story of the suffragists as they fight for the women’s right to vote”); I really wanted to see Water For Elephants (“The new musical based on Sara Gruen’s best-selling novel of the same name arrives on Broadway”; and we both wanted to see the Radio City Rockettes Christmas Spectacular.  We bought these tickets online through the official Broadway website and Ticketmaster.

I’m passionate about live theater, so when I travel all the way to NYC and make my way to the theater, I want good seats in the Orchestra section. Since I may only see each show once, I want to sit close enough to the stage to truly enjoy the performance.  Unfortunately, when you buy tickets online, you’re hit with service fees. For example, 2 tickets to Suffs came with $102 in service fees. If I was already in NYC, I could’ve walked to the box office and purchased the same tickets in person, saving $102 in service fees.

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