Tag Archives: Gift Cards

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500 Email Newsletter Subscribers Celebration! 5 x $10 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway [Winners Selected]

Updated at 7:45am PT on 8/19/24: Thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway.  Here are the 5 winners who will each receive a $10 Amazon Gift Card sent to them via email:

  • Rob Tomanek: Enjoy reading the “too good” helpful hints to maximize travel. Thanks. (blog post)
  • t: My Underwhelming Experience with MaxMyPoint, Awayz & StayWithPoints Hotel Award Alerts (blog post)
  • Bill G.: Not really sure I would remember all the posts to pick a favorite. But I do enjoy the no-hype factual stuff, be they reviews or news about a promo. I do scan most of the posts but I read a lot of different blogs and definitely appreciate the factual style (your friendly conversation style is good too.) (blog post)
  • Heath: I enjoyed your trip summary about your trip to Europe with Laura. (blog post)
  • Andrew SHANSBY: I like to read about maxmy point and retention bonuses, keep up great work! (blog post)

Good afternoon everyone, happy Friday!  2 months ago, I wrote Calling All Readers, Help Me Reach 500 Email Newsletter Subscribers!  At the time of that post, I had 476 subscribers and I was slowly inching my way toward the 500 subscriber mark.  I just checked my stats and I am at 504 total subscribers – thank you to all my subscribers!

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My United Airlines Account & MileagePlus X App were Hacked, My Journey to Restore Access

Good afternoon everyone.  A few weeks ago, Laura and I were driving to Lake Tahoe for vacation.  During the drive, I started getting emails from the MileagePlus X app (the app where you can earn United Airlines miles for buying gift cards).  The first confirmation email came in at 12:48pm for a $10 Apple eGC.  Then over the next 5 minutes, I received 4 more confirmation emails for $500 Saks Fifth Avenue eGCs.  Uhh oh, this was bad.  Then I got an email from United Airlines that said:

Your MileagePlus account information has been updated – We wanted to let you know your MileagePlus account information has changed. For your security, we can’t specify exactly what was updated, but it may include your address, phone number, password or other details.

Oh boy, now the hacker had signed into my United Airlines account and changed my email or password.  We exited the freeway and stopped at a gas station.  We changed seats so Laura could drive the car and I could call United Airlines about my hacked account and US Bank to report the credit card fraud.  This was the start of my journey to restore access to my accounts.

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2 Venmo Promos: $5 Cash Back with $25 Starbucks Reload & $5 Cash Back after Sending $50 Gift Card [Both Bonuses Posted]

Updated at 9:00am PT on 5/31/24: I received the $5 cash back this morning (5/31) for the $25 Starbucks reload.  Screenshots added below.

Updated at 7:20am PT on 5/23/24: I received the $5 cash back this morning (5/23) for sending the $50 gift card through Venmo.  I will post another update when I receive the $5 cash back from the $25 Starbucks reload.


Good afternoon everyone, I just received this email from Venmo about 2 promos.  You can get $5 cash back after you spend $25 in the Starbucks app or reload $25 to your Starbucks balance.  You can also earn $5 cash back after sending a $50 gift card via the Venmo app, up to 3 times ($15 cash back limit).  I decided to jump on both deals since I use the Venmo and Starbucks apps often.

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Travel with Grant Turned 11 Years Old Today!

Good morning everyone, I hope your week is going well.  I have an exciting announcement: Travel with Grant just turned 11 years old today!  Yup, I started this blog on May 1, 2013 and I can’t believe I’ve had a travel blog for 11 years (I really can’t believe I have done anything for 11 years, let alone blogging).  I am very grateful for all the amazing friends I have met through the miles and points hobby and all the incredible memories I have made along the way.  I appreciate my readers for reading, asking inciteful comments, and sharing helpful tips on my blog posts.  Let’s keep it up for another 11 years, shall we?

If you have a moment, please answer this poll question.  Thank you.

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Starbucks 15% Off Chase Offer (Gift Card Balance Reloads Worked)

Good afternoon everyone, I hope your week is going well.  A few days ago, I wrote Peets Coffee & Tea $10 Off $25 AMEX Offer (Gift Card Balance Reloads Worked).  If you are a fan of Starbucks, you won’t want to miss this deal.  There is a new Starbucks Chase Offer available where you can earn 15% cash back, up to a $4.50 statement credit on a $30 purchase.  I added the offer to all my eligible Chase credit cards and made a $30 Starbucks gift card balance reload and that triggered the Chase Offer.  You can repeat that process with each Chase credit card that has the Starbucks offer.  Here are the details:

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