Tag Archives: Free Stuff

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I’m Back from Hawaii and a Preview of Upcoming Blog Posts

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Good morning everyone, I hope your week is going well.  I just returned home from a relaxing trip to Hawaii with Laura for our 2 year wedding anniversary.  We spent 4 nights on the Big Island in Kona at the Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa using 4 50K Free Night Certificates and then 6 nights on Kauai; 4 nights in Princeville and 2 nights in Poipu at 2 different Vacasa vacation rentals that cost 13,500 Wyndham Rewards Points per night (thanks to the 10% discount for Barclays Wyndham Rewards Earner Business Credit Card holders).

a pool with palm trees and a sunset

Sunset view overlooking the pool and ocean at the Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort and Spa

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New USPS Informed Delivery Feature: Electronic Signature Online (eSOL) & Set Up Guide

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Good afternoon everyone.  A few years ago, the USPS introduced Informed Delivery, a service that will scan the outside of your envelopes and send you an email every day with a preview of what mail will get delivered that day.  If you are not familiar with the service, please read USPS Informed Delivery – A Step By Step Guide.  In yesterday’s Informed Delivery email, I saw a new service called USPS Electronic Signature Online (eSOL).  With eSOL, you can provide a digital signature that will be used to virtually sign for all packages that normally require a signature (Priority Mail Express packages, packages that require a Signature Confirmation, and packages insured for $500 or more).  Once your digital signature is provided, it will be used to virtually sign for packages, and those packages will be left at your mailbox.  To learn more about the service and set up your eSOL, click here.

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Wyndham Timeshare Vacation Packages: 3 Nights + 15K Points for $199 (Book by August 22)

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Good morning everyone, I hope your week is going well.  Yesterday, I received an email from Wyndham Vacation Resorts for a 3 night stay in Orlando, Myrtle Beach, Branson, Smoky Mountains, Las Vegas, San Antonio, or Destin + 15,000 Wyndham Rewards Points for $199.  These vacation packages require attending a 2 hour timeshare presentation (please see the terms and conditions before booking).  I’m not sure if this matters, but I am in California, I have Wyndham Rewards Diamond Elite Status and have the Barclays Wyndham Rewards Earner Business Credit Card.  You need to book your reservation by August 22 and you must complete your stay within 12 months.  Here is the email I received from Wyndham Vacation Resorts.

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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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