Tag Archives: US Bank

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US Bank Smartly Checking Monthly Fee Increasing from $6.95 to $12 & Credit Card Waiver Eliminated (Effective May 19)

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Good afternoon everyone.  Hot off the heals of the massive Southwest Airlines devaluation this morning, I found another devaluation on my recent US Bank Smartly Checking account statement.  The main dagger is how to waive the monthly maintenance fee: “Having an eligible personal U.S. Bank credit card no longer waives the Monthly Maintenance Fee”.  Here are the full details:

Changes to the U.S. Bank Smartly Checking account

    • The Bank Smartly Checking account Monthly Maintenance Fee will change to $12
    • You can avoid the Monthly Maintenance Fee by meeting one of the waiver criteria:
      • Combined monthly direct deposit totaling $1,500 or more
      • An account owner on an eligible small business checking account
      • Maintain an average account balance of $1,500 or greater
      • Be a member of a Customer Group that waives the Monthly Maintenance Fee
      • Qualify for the Smart Rewards Gold Tier or above
    • Having an eligible personal U.S. Bank credit card no longer waives the Monthly Maintenance Fee
    • A Bank Smartly Checking account will automatically come with the Smart Rewards Bronze Tier benefits, at a minimum
    • The interest tiers for the Bank Smartly Checking account are updated

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The 7 Miles & Points Tools / Services that I Pay For

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Good afternoon everyone, happy Friday!  I love free stuff as much as the next person, but there are a few miles and points tools and services that are so incredibly useful, they’re definitely worth paying for. Keep in mind, this isn’t a complete list, so there may be other fantastic tools out there that I haven’t discovered or used yet.

AwardWallet Plus – $49.99 / year

I can’t imagine a world without AwardWallet.  They track all my credit card programs, airline programs, hotel programs, shopping portal balances, dining rewards, and much more.  I love that they constantly check my accounts, display the current balances, and display expiration dates for all my rewards.  The flight schedule change notifications (which sometimes come days / weeks / months before official airline notifications) and upcoming expiration alerts are well worth the cost to me.  If you are interested in trying it out, here is my AwardWallet referral link.

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Upcoming Changes to Charitable Matches, Gift Card Redemptions, and Rewards Expirations for US Bank Altitude Go, Altitude Connect, Cash+ & Shopper Cash Credit Cards (Effective April 14)

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Good afternoon everyone, happy Friday!  I was reviewing my US Bank credit cards and noticed a few upcoming changes to these 4 cards: Altitude Go, Altitude Connect, Cash+, and Shopper Cash.  All of these changes go into effect on April 14, 2025.

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US Bank Altitude Go Credit Card

Here are the major changes, but click here to see the full details:

  • Discount on purchased gift cards: Coming in early 2025! Receive discounts of up to 5% on dozens of name brand gift cards.
  • Updated rewards earning: 4X points on dining, takeout and restaurant delivery on your first $2,000 each quarter (then 1X point).  You will continue to earn 2X points at grocery stores, at gas stations/EV charging stations and on streaming services and 1X point on all other eligible purchases. Plus, $15 credit for annual streaming service purchases. Excludes discount stores/supercenters and wholesale clubs.
  • Reward redemption and expiration changes: Points will not expire as long as you keep your account active. To keep your account active, simply make a purchase, maintain a balance or redeem rewards. Points will expire if there is no activity for 12 consecutive billing cycles. You’ll get the most value when you redeem points as a deposit to an eligible U.S. Bank account, at $0.01 per point—where 10,000 points are equal to $100. And, you can redeem points for a monetary charity contribution to a variety of nonprofits, and U.S. Bank will match your contribution at 100%. When redeeming points for a statement credit, travel, gift cards, merchandise, Real-Time Rewards and U.S. Bank Rewards Card, the point values and redemption minimums may vary over time, and will be disclosed upon redemption.

5% discounts on gift cards is not very exciting.  The $2,000 quarterly cap on the 4x categories is new, since there is currently no cap on those categories. US Bank might change the redemption minimums for Real-Time Rewards.

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How Much Money Did I Make from Bank Account Bonuses in 2024?

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Good afternoon everyone, I hope your week is going well.  Doctor of Credit has a Best Bank Account Bonuses page that he keeps up to date with the best offers each month.  In that master post, he links to individual bank account bonuses with helpful information regarding the bonus details, how to avoid monthly fees, when to close the account, how often you can open a new account, and much more.  For the last 10 years, I have been opening new checking accounts, savings accounts, brokerage accounts, and cash management accounts for the new member bonuses.  At the end of each year, I share my results on the blog.

Over the last 10 years, I have made $26,775 in bank account bonuses. You will receive 1099-INT / 1099-MISC tax forms every year, so you have to pay taxes on the bank account bonuses, but sometimes you can fund the opening deposit with a credit card and earn miles, points, or cash back.  If you are lucky, you can meet a minimum spending requirement by funding a new checking account or reach a spending threshold / milestone to earn more rewards.  Here are my results from the last 10 years with links to corresponding yearly summaries:

Drum roll please… Here are the 12 new accounts Laura and I opened in 2024 that paid out $2,755 in bonuses:

Bank Account Name Opened Closed Bonus Notes
WeBull Brokerage (Laura) 01/01/24 02/21/24 $180 30 free stocks (worth $180)
Citi Access Checking 01/01/24 04/26/24 $200
PSECU Checking 01/04/24 05/31/24 $300 $100 credit card funding
PenFed Credit Union Checking 01/04/24 11/08/24 $250
M1 Finance 01/06/24 02/20/24 $250
NASA Federal Credit Union Checking 01/09/24 04/26/24 $300 $400 credit card funding
Redwood Credit Union Checking 01/26/24 04/26/24 $250 $500 credit card funding
Raisin Account @ Grand Bank 01/26/24 08/15/24 $150 Rakuten cash back: 10,000 AMEX MR Points ($150 value)
Upgrade Rewards Checking Plus 03/05/24 05/11/24 $150
Upgrade Premier Savings 03/07/24 08/15/24 $200
One Finance Savings 11/08/24 12/28/24 $225 Rakuten cash back: 15,000 AMEX MR Points ($225 value)
Chase Total Checking (Laura) 11/11/24 Open $300
$2,755

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My Overly Ambitious 2025 Airline, Hotel & Credit Card Predictions

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Good morning everyone, happy Sunday!  Not to be deterred by my abysmal 2024 results (How Right (& Wrong) were my 2024 Airline, Hotel & Credit Card Predictions?), 2025 is a fresh year and the year all most some a few of my predictions will come true.  Without further ado, here are my predictions for 2025:

My 2025 Airline Predictions:

  • Alaska Airlines or Southwest Airlines will bring back their “convert travel funds to airline miles” feature.
  • Alaska Airlines will let you use the Companion Fare to book Hawaiian Airlines flights.
  • American Airlines will return as a Citi ThankYou Points transfer partner.
  • British Airways will lower their partner redemption prices for American Airlines and Alaska Airlines.
  • Delta will increase the annual fee on their credit cards and increase the Delta SkyMiles discount to 20%-25%.
  • JetBlue will allow you to redeem points on a new partner airline (besides Etihad Airways, Hawaiian Airlines and Qatar Airways).
  • Southwest Airlines will do a status match once they start selling seat assignments.
  • United Airlines will bring back their “family pooling” feature.

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