Tag Archives: Free Stuff

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My AMEX Offer, Chase Offer, and BofA BankAmeriDeals Loading Strategy & Thoughts

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Good afternoon everyone.  I’m a big fan of good AMEX Offers and Chase Offers, but I have received a ton of bad offers lately, so I wanted to share my loading strategy and thoughts.  I will also briefly cover Bank of America BankAmeriDeals at the end of this post.  Let’s get started with AMEX Offers.  I created this chart to divide up AMEX Offers into 4 separate buckets:

  • Good offers on all cards
  • Good offers on 1 card
  • Bad offers on all cards
  • Bad offers on 1 card

Unfortunately, most of the recent AMEX Offers fall into the “Bad offers on all cards” and “Bad offers on 1 card” buckets.  You will have to decide for yourself what you consider a good AMEX Offer vs. a bad AMEX Offer.  A good AMEX Offer is an offer that I don’t need to go out of my way to research or use.  A bad AMEX Offer requires a lot of research to look up the store or service, see what they sell, and figure out if it is worth the price.  I don’t spend much time with bad AMEX Offers.

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How I Messed up the $20 Dining Credit on my AMEX Hilton Aspire

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Good morning everyone, I hope your week is going well.  One of the current card benefits of the American Express Hilton Honors Aspire Credit Card is the $20 monthly dining credit.  Unfortunately I ran into an issue using this card benefit in April on 2 restaurant purchases (In N Out Burger and Panera Bread).  As you can see, I never received the $20 dining credit for my April purchases, but I did receive the credit automatically in May, June, and July.  Based on my transactions, the $20 dining credit posts ~3 days after the restaurant charge posts to your account.  I contacted AMEX on May 1 and again on July 13 to check on the status of the dining credit and received conflicting answers.  Here is what I was told and what I learned…

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20% Off Lowe’s Gift Cards with Citi ThankYou Points (1.25 CPP) (Promo Expires on 7/13)

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Good afternoon everyone, happy Friday.  I just received an email from Citi regarding my Citi Double Cash Credit Card, but the promo is really about getting 20% off Lowe’s Gift Cards (both physical and digital).  From today (Friday, July 9) through Tuesday, July 13, you can get Lowe’s GCs for 20% off when you pay with Citi ThankYou Points.  For example, a $100 Lowe’s GC normally costs 10,000 Citi ThankYou Points, but during this promo, it only costs 8,000 Citi ThankYou Points.  This comes out to a value of 1.25 cents per point (CPP) or 1.375 CPP if you have a Citi Rewards+ Credit Card.

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Track Down Missing $200 Statement Credit on Bank of America Alaska Airlines Credit Card (6 Month Saga)

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Good morning everyone, I hope your week is going well.  As part of my October 2020 App-O-Rama, I applied for the Bank of America Alaska Airlines Business Credit Card on October 25, 2020.  At the time, the credit card was offering 40,000 Alaska Airlines Miles, a $99 Companion Fare, and a $200 statement credit after spending $2,000 in 3 months.  Long story short, I completed the $2,000 minimum spend requirement on December 14, 2020, and received the 40,000 Alaska Airlines Miles and $99 Companion Fare on January 6, 2021, but the $200 statement credit was nowhere to be seen (or spent).  I then spent the next 6 months waiting and following up with Bank of America regarding the $200 statement credit.  This post documents the timeline of events.

As part of my application process for any new credit card or bank account, I take screenshots of the offer and terms & conditions just in case I do not receive the bonus as promised.  Here is the screenshot of the Alaska Airlines Business Credit Card that I applied for on October 25, 2020.

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Last Day to Register! FTU Virtual Seminar on Saturday June 26 ($25) or Free with Online Annual Membership

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Good afternoon everyone, happy Friday!  If you have no plans tomorrow (Saturday, June 26), I highly recommend attending the FTU Virtual Seminar (tickets available for $25) or free if you have the FTU Online Annual Membership.  The seminar starts on Saturday at 8am PT / 11am ET.  I have attended all of the FTU Virtual Seminars over the last several months and they are always well done, educational, and entertaining – and I am sure this seminar will be no exception!  Here is the schedule and lineup of speakers.

If you register for the seminar on Saturday, but are unable to watch the live stream, you can access the recording of the seminar and watch later on.  This is also a great way to re-watch your favorite presentations and catch any details that you originally missed.

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