Tag Archives: Gift Cards

a close up of stamps

2024’s Must-Reads: Have You Read My Most Popular Posts Yet?

Posted on by . Leave a reply

Good afternoon everyone, happy New Year’s Eve!  As we wrap up 2024, it’s time to take a look at my top 10 most popular blog posts of the year. Barring any crazy last minute spikes in blog readership today, these are the top 10 blog posts written in 2024 and top 10 blog posts written in previous years. If you are curious, here were the most popular posts from 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023.

2024’s Most Popular Blog Posts (Written in 2024)

  • PSA: Bank of America Won’t Automatically Send a Replacement Debit Card when your Card Expires (2/20/24) – I realized my Bank of America debit card had expired in July 2022, and I never received a replacement debit card until I requested one in February 2024, despite having it stored in ApplePay. My frustration grew from the lack of notifications and outdated PIN change process. Judging by the number of pageviews this post received, I guess I wasn’t the only one with this problem.
  • My 2023 Peloton Bike Rental Year End Review (Total Cost of Ownership & Workout Class Stats) (1/21/24) – In 2023, I rented a Peloton bike instead of buying one, opting for the flexibility of a monthly rental with the option to pause or return it. Although I didn’t meet my fitness goals, I appreciated the variety of classes, the ability to create multiple profiles, and the affordability of the rental option, especially with my employer’s fitness reimbursement.  I wasn’t planning on writing a 2024 Peloton year end review, but since this post was so popular, I will work on a 2024 update in the coming days.
  • Attention Coinstar Users: Not All Kiosks Offer Amazon eGift Cards (1/19/24) – During a recent trip to SoCal, I used a Coinstar kiosk to convert a bag of change into an eGC, only to find that Amazon was missing as a redemption option. After researching, I discovered that not all kiosks offer Amazon eGCs, with availability varying by location and grocery store chain.  I wish all Coinstar kiosks had the same redemption offers so this issue would be avoided.

Continue reading →

a woman with blonde hair and a green shirt

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

Posted on by . 2 Replies

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 →

a yellow and blue logo

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

Posted on by . 2 Replies

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.

a screenshot of a website

Continue reading →

a blue and green gift card

Costco In-Store: 10% Off Alaska Airlines Gift Cards ($500 GC for $449.99) (YMMV)

Posted on by . 7 Replies

Good morning everyone, I hope your weekend is going well.  Christmas came early for me!  Laura and I were walking around Costco yesterday and we saw this deal right by the entrance: $500 Alaska Airlines gift cards for $449.99 (10% off).  I can always use more Alaska Airlines gift cards / travel funds, so I purchased 1 pack.  I checked online to see if anyone else saw this deal and came across this SlickDeals post.  Based on the comments so far, these gift cards are available at select Costco warehouses, but none near Seattle.  Keep reading to find out if this item is available in your local Costco warehouse.

Continue reading →

a yellow and white text

My Frustrating Experience with Etihad Guest Customer Service and the Virtual Visa Reward Card App #rant

Posted on by . 8 Replies

Good morning everyone, I hope your week is going well.  I have a rant to get off my chest about Etihad Guest customer service and the Etihad Reward Card app.  Long story short, 2,500 Etihad Miles expired while my account was suspended and I wasted 907 Etihad Miles on a $5 Amazon gift card balance reload.  I understand that the previous sentence makes no sense, but if you will indulge me, here is the complete story…

I received an email from AwardWallet on September 23, that my 2,500 Etihad Miles were going to expire in 7 days on September 30.  I received a reminder email from AwardWallet a month earlier about these expiring miles, so I transferred 1,000 American Express Membership Rewards Points to my Etihad account because I *assumed* that receiving more miles would keep my current stash of Etihad Miles from expiring.  Wrong!

a screenshot of a email

Continue reading →