Tag Archives: Gift Cards

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My 2025 Plans for US Bank Smartly & Altitude Reserve Credit Cards

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Good afternoon everyone, I hope your week is going well.  There have been lots of new credit card launches and major credit card changes in the month of July, but in this post, I am going to focus on the changes to the US Bank Smartly Credit Card and US Bank Altitude Reserve Credit Card (no longer available for new applicants).  Doctor of Credit wrote about the various changes to the Smartly cards here: [Varies By Cardholder] U.S. Bank To Nerf Existing Smartly Cardholders On September 15.

US Bank Smartly Credit Card – Changes coming September 15, 2025

I have 2 Smartly credit cards from product changes in January 2025 from a US Bank Cash+ and a US Bank Altitude Connect.  Luckily, I received the “better version” letter for both of my Smartly cards so that I can keep earning 4% with $100K in investment / retirement accounts with US Bank.  Effective September 15, 2025, my credit card rewards will be capped at $10K spend / month and will not work on education, school, gift cards, insurance, tax, business-to-business transactions, and third party bill payment services.

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InKind $50 Referral Bonus + 25% Discount on Gift Cards at Costco

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Good morning everyone, happy Mother’s Day! I just noticed that InKind has doubled the referral bonus from $25 to $50 if your referral signs up and spends $50 with InKind by June 30, 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.  If you are a Costco member, you can buy a $100 InKind eGift Card for just $74.99.  See the details below for more info.

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Buy eGift Cards on DoorDash & Stack with 10% DashPass Discount

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Good afternoon everyone, I hope you had a great weekend.  A few days ago, Laura received her new Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card and added it to our shared DoorDash account.  Moments later, there was a message that popped up asking if we would like to enroll in a free DoorDash DashPass membership.  I am looking forward to taking advantage of the $10 monthly discount on groceries and retail, along with the other benefits of the membership.

Surprisingly or unsurprisingly, DoorDash forgot to mention that you can buy eGift Cards (eGCs) through DoorDash and get a discount.  Let me show you how.

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Marriott Vacation Club Shadow Ridge Timeshare Vacation Package: $249 for 4 Nights + 15,000 Marriott Bonvoy Points (Targeted)

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Good afternoon everyone, I hope your weekend is going well.  Today, I received a targeted timeshare vacation package offer via mail for the Marriott Shadow Ridge in Palm Desert, CA (near Palm Springs).  The cost is $249 for a 4 night / 5 day stay, plus you have your choice of 15,000 Marriott Bonvoy Points or a $75 Marriott gift card.  If you value 15,000 Marriott points at $150, that brings the cost down to $100 for 4 nights or $25 / night.  You need to attend a 90 minute timeshare sales presentation, but that seems like a pretty good deal.  I have experience with timeshare sales presentations and they are not too bad.  I will go through the booking process to show you what it is like, what is included, and how much it costs.

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Image source: https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/ctdsr-marriotts-shadow-ridge-i-the-villages/overview/

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Upcoming Changes to Charitable Matches, Gift Card Redemptions, and Rewards Expirations for US Bank Altitude Go, Altitude Connect, Cash+ & Shopper Cash Credit Cards (Effective April 14)

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Good afternoon everyone, happy Friday!  I was reviewing my US Bank credit cards and noticed a few upcoming changes to these 4 cards: Altitude Go, Altitude Connect, Cash+, and Shopper Cash.  All of these changes go into effect on April 14, 2025.

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US Bank Altitude Go Credit Card

Here are the major changes, but click here to see the full details:

  • Discount on purchased gift cards: Coming in early 2025! Receive discounts of up to 5% on dozens of name brand gift cards.
  • Updated rewards earning: 4X points on dining, takeout and restaurant delivery on your first $2,000 each quarter (then 1X point).  You will continue to earn 2X points at grocery stores, at gas stations/EV charging stations and on streaming services and 1X point on all other eligible purchases. Plus, $15 credit for annual streaming service purchases. Excludes discount stores/supercenters and wholesale clubs.
  • Reward redemption and expiration changes: Points will not expire as long as you keep your account active. To keep your account active, simply make a purchase, maintain a balance or redeem rewards. Points will expire if there is no activity for 12 consecutive billing cycles. You’ll get the most value when you redeem points as a deposit to an eligible U.S. Bank account, at $0.01 per point—where 10,000 points are equal to $100. And, you can redeem points for a monetary charity contribution to a variety of nonprofits, and U.S. Bank will match your contribution at 100%. When redeeming points for a statement credit, travel, gift cards, merchandise, Real-Time Rewards and U.S. Bank Rewards Card, the point values and redemption minimums may vary over time, and will be disclosed upon redemption.

5% discounts on gift cards is not very exciting.  The $2,000 quarterly cap on the 4x categories is new, since there is currently no cap on those categories. US Bank might change the redemption minimums for Real-Time Rewards.

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