Tag Archives: Gift Cards

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Travel Predictions for 2016 Part 2: Credit Cards and MS

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Good afternoon everyone, I hope you enjoyed my insightful/crazy ramblings in Travel Predictions for 2016 Part 1: Airlines and Hotels.  If you liked that post, you will surely love my crazy predictions about credit cards and MS.  Full disclosure, I wrote most of this post on my iPhone standing in front of a dryer at my local laundromat, so the train of thought might be kind of strange.  I apologize.  Without any further ado, let’s get started!

Credit Cards

Chase – with the loss of Amtrak and the addition of Singapore Airlines in 2015, I think we will see some more changes to Chase’s transfer partners in 2016.  I think we will see some more international airlines added (like the Citi Thank You Points program).  A few guesses?  Air Canada, Qantas, Air China, and Lufthansa (insert your favorite international airline).  Chase Ultimate Rewards will continue to transfer 1:1 to all programs and there will be no transfer bonuses.  I think there will be a newsworthy announcement for the Chase Sapphire Preferred, maybe adding free Gogo WiFi like the US Bank FlexPerks Credit Card or perhaps a new 3x category to compete with Citi Premier/Prestige Credit Cards.  What about our beloved Chase Ink Bold/Plus Business Cards?  I am worries that the 5x category might change to something less lucrative or the yearly cap might be lowered.  I also predict Chase will launch a completely new travel rewards credit card in 2016.  Maybe the Airbnb/Uber Credit Card?  Lastly, I hope Chase loosens up on the 5/24 rule or completely eliminates the rule altogether.   Continue reading →

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PSA: Order eGift Cards Individually from PayPal Digital Gifts

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Good morning everyone!  This post is a public service announcement that is probably way overdue, but better late than never.  If you have been following Doctor of Credit, Frequent Miler, or Miles to Memories over the past 1-2 months, you are probably aware of all the gift card (and egift card) deals that have been announced this holiday season.  Every gift card deal usually has a stated limit on the number of gift cards you can purchase.  The best deals usually have a limit of 1, whereas the less popular deals have a higher limit of 3-5 gift cards.

In this post, I will show you why it is better to purchase every egift card individually, rather than all at once.  The data in this post is solely based on my experience purchasing egift cards from PayPal Digital Gifts, an automated service where you can purchase egift cards directly from PayPal on eBay.  In the example below, I purchased a $100 eBay egift card for $95 during one of their sales.  I bought and paid for the below eBay egift card on 12/23 at 10:22pm PST.

Quick tip: you can roll your savings by purchasing an eBay egift card with a previously bought eBay egift card.  Keep rolling the $5 savings every time there is a new eBay egift card deal.

Help a blogger: I would greatly appreciate your support if you use my eBay affiliate link to purchase anything on eBay, just click the eBay logo in the sidebar.  Thank you!

PayPal Receipt $100 eBay GC 1

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Reviewing my Travel Predictions from December 30, 2013

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A few years ago, I wrote My Travel Predictions (Both Good and Bad) for 2014 on December 30, 2013.  I thought I wrote a similar post at the end of 2014 for 2015 predictions, but I guess I did not.  Anyway, I thought it would be fun to review that original post and see how close I came to predicting the truth.  For the most part, I think my predictions were about a year too early.

My original predictions are in black and my thoughts/reactions are in red.

Airlines:

  • British Airways – I think the 4,500 and 7,500 (maybe even 10,000) Avios award prices will go away or the entire award chart will be revamped.  The current prices are just too good.  I was partially right about the 4,500 BA Avios award band.  I wouldn’t be surprised if the 4,500 BA Avios band completely disappears in 2016.
  • Alaska Airlines and Delta Airlines – since there has been a lot of fighting over routes to/from SEA and SLC, I think Alaska will no longer allow you to earn or redeem miles with Delta.  This is an ongoing issue, but I think the fighting will continue in 2016.
  • American Airlines and US Airways – after the merger, we will see some new “enhancements” (aka devaluations) to the new award chart.  Maybe off-peak awards will be changed or removed.  You could see this coming from a mile away.  I’m sad that off-peak awards are changing.
  • Southwest Airlines and AirTran – hopefully the merger goes through smoothly and quickly.  I look forward to using Southwest Rapid Reward Points for flights to Hawaii, Mexico City, and other tropical destinations south of the border.  I also think the 50,000 Southwest Rapid Reward sign up bonus will no longer count for companion pass status, it is just too easy to get Companion Pass.  I hope Southwest continues to add new routes.  I’m especially excited about the newly announced LAX-LIR (Liberia, Costa Rica) route starting in mid 2016.
  • Hawaiian Airlines – merge with another airline, maybe JetBlue or Alaska Airlines.  This seems unlikely, but it could still happen.
  • Lufthansa  – revamp their award chart after everyone signs up for their credit card.  I wasn’t approved for the Barlcays Lufthansa credit card (or any Barclays credit card, ever), so I don’t care what happens to the Lufthansa award chart.
  • Virgin Atlantic – miles will be transferable 1:1 with Virgin America and Virgin Australia.  This seems unlikely, but Virgin Australia and Singapore Airlines allow transferring miles between their award programs (just not at a 1:1 ratio).

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Weekend Roundup: Chime Card Offers, BankAmeriDeals & Panera Bread on Visa Savings Edge

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Good morning everyone, I hope your weekend is off to a great start.  If you want to save a little money during the last few holiday shopping days, check out your Chime Card offers.  There are several offers for movie theaters (Star Wars anyone?), cable providers (college football bowl games anyone?), car insurance (not as much fun to pay for), dining out at Chipotle and In-N-Out, and several other retail offers.

Chime Card Offers 12-18-2015

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How to Redeem Bank of America WorldPoints Travel Rewards

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Good morning everyone.  I recently signed up for a Bank of America WorldPoints Travel Rewards Business Credit Card (thanks to Bank of America’s $1,000 business checking account offer) and was curious how best to redeem my WorldPoints.  I believe WorldPoints earned from a personal credit card and a business credit card can be redeemed for the same things at the same value and probably combined into 1 WorldPoints account, but I have not tested that idea yet.

My Bank of America WorldPoints Travel Rewards Business Credit Card earns 1.5 points per dollar spent everywhere and the points do not expire.  I’m only using this card for the business checking account bonus, so I don’t recommend using this card for everyday spending.  You can do much better with a Citi Double Cash Credit Card that earns 2% cash back.

BofA Travel Rewards Earning Overview

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