Tag Archives: Southwest Airlines

Random News: AMEX Offers for Courtyard Marriott, Lucille’s BBQ, Whole Foods, and JC Penneys; up to 1,000 Bonus Southwest Airlines Shopping Portal Bonus Points; and New Office Depot / Office Max Rewards Program for 2015

AMEX Offers

Random News: AMEX Offers for Courtyard Marriott, Lucille’s BBQ, Whole Foods, and JC Penneys; up to 1,000 Bonus Southwest Airlines Shopping Portal Bonus Points; and New Office Depot / Office Max Rewards Program for 2015

Good evening everyone, what a long day it has been.  I woke up at 4am so I could get to Oakland Airport and catch my 6:15am flight back to Orange County on Southwest Airlines.  I am happy to report that my first use of my Southwest Companion Pass (since last November) went smoothly.  The only hick-up was when I checked in for my flight, I had TSA Pre Check both ways, but my companion only had it on the outbound flight.  It wasn’t too bad, I breezed thru TSA security and only had to wait for her for 10 minutes :)

My buddy Greg (aka Frequent Miler) was able to buy a physical gift card at his local Courtyard Marriott and receive the $20 statement credit (link).

Courtyard Marriott AMEX Offer

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Random News: 3 Retention Calls, 2,931 Southwest Airlines Miles, and 50% Companion Tickets on Hawaiian Airlines to Beijing

Which Credit Card

Random News: 3 Retention Calls, 2,931 Southwest Airlines Miles, and 50% Companion Tickets on Hawaiian Airlines to Beijing

Good evening everyone, here are some random news stories from today.  This morning, I helped my parents with their retention calls.  The only call worth listening to is the first one since my dad was able to get a $95 statement credit and a spending challenge on his Citi American Airlines Platinum MasterCard.  My dad used this card a fair amount during the last 12 months so I wasn’t that surprised with the generous retention offer.  Download Link

The only reason I told him to keep the credit card open is the 10% rebate on the redeemed miles.  For example, 2 one way business class flights to Europe cost 100,000 AA miles, shortly after booking the award flight, 10,000 AA miles are rebated and credit back to his AA account.  In essence, you are paying $95 for 10,000 AA miles each year if you max out this credit card benefit.

MT AA Balance

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Random News: How to Connect to Free Boingo Wireless Hotspots, Alaska Airlines Platinum Plus Credit Card Update, and Changing Credit Lines on Chase Credit Cards (Online)

Boingo Logo

Random News: How to Connect to Free Boingo Wireless Hotspots, Alaska Airlines Platinum Plus Credit Card Update, and Changing Credit Lines on Chase Credit Cards (Online)

Greetings from San Sebastian, Spain!  Here are some random posts that might interest you…  Have a great Sunday everyone!

On May 31, American Express announced their new partnership with Boingo Wireless to provide free unlimited WiFi at over 1 million Boingo wireless hotspots around the world to all American Express Platinum cardholders (personal, business, and Mercedes Benz versions).

Boingo2

Read the post here.   Continue reading →

Crazy Weekend: UCLA Graduation, San Diego Wedding, LAX Flight, and My Credit Card App-O-Rama Updates

San Diego City Logo

Crazy Weekend: UCLA Graduation, San Diego Wedding, LAX Flight, and My Credit Card App-O-Rama Updates

TGI Friday everyone!  This might be my last post for a few days, but I will still be able to answer comments with the WordPress iPhone app.  Here is my schedule this weekend:

  1. Friday Night – My younger brother’s UCLA graduation
  2. Saturday Afternoon – My older brother’s wedding in San Diego
  3. Sunday Night – Family vacation from LAX to Spain/France for 2 weeks

My dad scored 4 award seats 11 months ago for LAX-DUS-BCN on Air Berlin (economy baby, woo hoo!) returning on 4 separate awards seats from MAD-FRA-LAX on Lufthansa (economy again!)  We are doing a big road trip from Barcelona up to Carcassonne, France west to San Sebastián, and down to Madrid.  I imagine some epic World Cup viewing parties in my future.

Spain Road Trip

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App-O-Rama Update: 4 Approvals, 2 Recon Calls, 1 Pending Application, and a Barclays Denial

Which Credit Card

App-O-Rama Update: 4 Approvals, 2 Recon Calls, 1 Pending Application, and a Barclays Denial

Advice: you do not need to apply for 6 credit cards at one time.  You should only attempt this if your credit score is high and you have the ability to Manufacture Spend $5,000-$10,000 per month.  Please proceed at your own risk/skill level.

In a nutshell, this is what happened yesterday morning when I applied for 6 cards.

  1. Barclays Arrival Plus Credit Card – automatically denied :(
  2. Citi American Airlines Executive World MasterCard – recon call approved, $5,000 credit line + $4,500 moved from Citi Dividend Credit Card.
  3. AMEX Premier Rewards Gold Charge Card – automatically approved (charge card, no preset credit limit).
  4. Chase Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Plus Credit Card – recon call approved, $2,000 credit line.
  5. US Bank Club Carlson Business Credit Card – pending, must wait 24-48 hours for results.
  6. Bank of America Alaska Airlines Visa Signature Credit Card – automatically approved, but for a Platinum Plus credit card with a $2,000 credit line.

Here are more details about each application and approval/denial process…  Continue reading →