Tag Archives: Gift Cards

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Expecting an Ebates/Rakuten Quarterly Payment? Choose an eGift Card with up to a 15% Boost [Updated with Redemption Process]

Updated 7:45pm on 5/1/19: I decided to redeem my cash back for a Nike eGift Card.  Scroll to the bottom of the post to see the redemption process.


Good afternoon.  Last year, I wrote a similar post: Expecting an Ebates Big Fat Check? Get up to a 20% Bonus with an eGift Card Instead! I decided to do an updated post with May’s quarterly payments.  I just got the following email from Ebates / Rakuten with an option to select an eGift Card with a boost of up to 15% vs. waiting for my Big Fat Check to arrive in the mail.  Let’s see if those eGift Cards are good deals and which merchants are offered.  I clicked the See All E-Gift Cards button in the email.

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eBay MC999 Account Warning Notice: Did I Buy Too Many GCs & eGCs During eBay Deals?

Good afternoon everyone, I hope you had a great Easter or Passover Weekend.  Earlier this morning, I received this email from eBay telling me that my purchasing behavior is violating eBay’s Site Interference Policy.  Basically, eBay is accusing me of buying items via eBay Deals for the purpose of reselling.  I have been known to buy a few discounted GCs/eGCs from eBay, but I didn’t think it warranted a warning letter.  It’s not like I have 10 different eBay accounts and buy as many discounted GCs/eGCs as possible.  Here are the main parts of the email:

Listings promoted on the eBay Deals have a limit on the amount of items you can purchase, primarily to maintain an equal marketplace for all members and allow other eBay members the opportunity to take part in the eBay Deals.

The activity involved with these purchases appears to be related to the procurement of inventory for re-sale by a separate entity. If there is another reason for the volume purchased during this sale, please bring this to our attention.

Here is the complete email:

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Keep, Cancel or Convert? American Express Hilton Aspire Credit Card ($450 Annual Fee)

Good morning everyone.  As part of my “Keep, Cancel or Convert?” series, I like to evaluate and reevaluate credit cards to make sure they still deserve a spot in my wallet (or credit card drawer).  In today’s post, I will share my thoughts regarding my American Express Hilton Aspire Credit Card.  I was reviewing my recent credit card statement and spotted a reference to the annual fee (it was very subtle and is probably overlooked by most people).  I decided to check out page 4…

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$25 Off Frequent Traveler University (FTU) Seattle Tickets (Book By Jan 31)

Updated at 7:00am PT on 2/7: Use promo code LOTSALOVE to save $25 on FTU tickets (code expires February 17, 2019).  Hope to see you there!


Updated at 9:30am PT on 1/13: Use promo code TRAVELMORE to save $25 on FTU tickets (code expires January 31, 2019).  Hope to see you there!


Updated at 7pm PT on 12/28: Use promo code NEWYEAR to save $30 on FTU tickets (code expires January 2, 2019).  Hope to see you there!


Good evening everyone.  Earlier today, I purchased my ticket to the next Frequent Traveler University (FTU) travel conference that will be held in Seattle the weekend of March 9-10.  I have attended many travel conferences over the years (Frequent Travel University, Chicago Seminars, TravelCons, etc.) and I always enjoy listening to the speakers and meeting blog readers.  If you are free the weekend of March 9-10 and don’t mind talking about miles & points for hours on end, come to FTU Seattle!

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Gift Cards Trigger $75 Annual Travel Credit for Chase Southwest Airlines Priority Credit Card

Good afternoon everyone, greetings from Macedonia!  I’ve been traveling around Eastern Europe this week, but I noticed that the Chase Southwest Airlines credit cards have changed their sign up bonuses and some cards are now offering the Southwest Airlines Companion Pass.   Even though the Southwest Airlines Companion Pass is awesome, I want to talk about the Chase Southwest Airlines Priority Credit Card.  My girlfriend recently converted her Chase Southwest Airlines Plus Credit Card to the Chase Southwest Airlines Priority Credit Card, and part of the card benefits is a $75 annual travel credit.  Much like the airline reimbursements on the American Express Hilton Aspire Credit Card and the American Express Platinum Charge Cards, I assumed airline gift cards would trigger the $75 statement credit, but I had to find out for myself.

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