Tag Archives: US Bank FlexPoints

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Downgrading US Bank FlexPerks Travel Rewards Visa Signature & American Express to FlexPerks Select+ and Cash 365 Credit Cards

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Good afternoon everyone, I hope everyone is having a great weekend so far.  A few months ago, my $49 annual fee posted on my US Bank FlexPerks Travel Rewards Visa Signature Credit Card.  Since I had spent down the majority of my FlexPoints, I decided to convert my US Bank FlexPerks Travel Rewards Visa Signature Credit Card into a US Bank FlexPerks Select+ American Express Credit Card.  This credit card has no annual fee and earns 1 FlexPoint for every dollar spent with no bonus categories.  This is by no means a good credit card, but it will keep your FlexPoints alive and you can continue to redeem 20,000 FlexPoints for an airline ticket worth up to $400.

US Bank FlexPerks Select Plus American Express Credit Card Landing Page

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Successful Credit Card Reconsideration Calls: Barclays Arrival Plus & US Bank FlexPerks Gold American Express

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Good morning everyone, hoppy happy Easter!  As part of my March App-O-Rama, I was approved for 8 new credit cards.  In this post, I will talk about my successful reconsideration calls for the Barclays Arrival Plus Credit Card and the US Bank FlexPerks Gold American Express Credit Card.  If you are curious, I shared the other results of my credit card App-O-Rama here.  Long story short, I applied for both credit cards toward the end of my App-O-Rama and received pending responses for both credit cards.  At that point, I patiently waited for approval emails or denial letters.

Luckily, I received a call from Barclays a few days later regarding my recent application of the Barclays Arrival Plus Credit Card.  The credit analyst told me that Barclays had already extended enough credit to me and she noted that I didn’t use my 2 other Barclays credit cards much (Barclays Lufthansa Credit Card and Barclays JetBlue Plus Credit Card).  She asked if I would be willing to move credit from one of those credit cards to approve the Barclays Arrival Plus Credit Card.  I said yes, that would be fine.  I ended up moving $10,000 from my Barclays JetBlue Plus Credit Card (subsequently lowering that credit line down to $9,500) and having a $10,000 credit line on my Barclays Arrival Plus Credit Card.  I thanked the rep for her help and asked if it were possible to get the credit card expedited to me so I could use the new credit card right away but I was told that there is a $15 cost to expedite the credit card.  I politely declined and agreed to the free USPS First Class Mail (snail mail) option.

Barclays Credit Cards Lufthansa JetBlue Arrival Plus

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What’s on my Mind: Tucson, Orange County, San Diego and my March App-O-Rama Results

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Good morning everyone, happy Friday Thursday!  I’ve had a pretty busy week this week: Monday I was watching NCAA March Madness Final (bummer the Zags lost); Tuesday I went to see Bassem Youssef (the Egyptian Jon Stewart) speak at UC Berkeley; Wednesday I got $202 loge/mezzanine tickets to see Hamilton in SF; and tonight I am flying to Tucson for a wedding this weekend.  Even though I haven’t had much time to write this week, I have a few blog posts brewing in my mind.  Before I get to what’s on my mind, I wanted to share some travel plans for the rest of April.

  • Tucson, AZ (Friday-Sunday April  7-9) for a wedding.  Anyone have any recommendations for restaurants, bars, hikes, or other activities that are close to Tucson?
  • Orange County, CA (Friday-Sunday April 14-16) for Easter weekend.  I will do an OC miles and points meetup on Saturday afternoon, stay tuned for more details.
  • San Diego, CA (Saturday-Sunday April 29-30) for fun.  I am seeing my friend/writer Shelli and organizing a SD miles and points meetup on Saturday or Sunday, stay tuned for more details.

A few weeks ago, I wrote Which 10 Credit Cards am I Considering for my March App-O-Rama?  In that post, I shared the credit cards I was considering and you guys gave me some good feedback.  I don’t have all the credit cards in the mail, but I have a good idea of which credit cards were approved and which ones were denied. Continue reading →

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Which 10 Credit Cards am I Considering for my March App-O-Rama?

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Good morning everyone, happy Thursday.  My last App-O-Rama (where I applied for several new credit cards at the same time) was back in mid December 2016.  I usually wait 3+ months between App-O-Ramas, so the time has come to start my next round of credit card applications.  I am going to list the credit cards I have in mind in the order in which I will probably apply for them.  If you have any feedback on my strategy or think I am missing or applying for the wrong credit cards, please leave a comment below. Without further ado, let’s begin…

1. American Express SPG Business Credit Card – 25,000 SPG points after spending $5,000 in 90 days and an additional 10,000 SPG points after spending $3,000 in 120 days.  No annual fee the first year, then $95 in the second year.

With the impending merger with Marriott, this might be my last opportunity to apply for the SPG business credit card.  I can’t pass up this opportunity. 35,000 SPG points are worth ~$700 in hotel nights and airfare (and possibly much more).

2. Bank of America MERRILL+ Credit Card – 50,000 points after spending $3,000 in 90 days.  No annual fee.

Doctor of Credit reports that you can apply for this credit card over the phone.  50,000 points is worth $500 cash or up to $1,000 toward airfare. Continue reading →

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US Bank FlexPerks Travel Rewards Visa Signature & American Express Downgrade / Conversion Options

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Good morning everyone, happy Friday!  I am flying to Phoenix this weekend to watch some Spring Training baseball games, go to a Phoenix Suns basketball game, and maybe catch a Phoenix Coyotes hockey game – lots of sports in my future!

In credit card related news, both my US Bank FlexPerks Travel Rewards Visa Signature Credit Card and US Bank FlexPerks Travel Rewards American Express Credit Card had $49 annual fees that just posted.  I got both credit cards during various Summer / Winter Olympic promos and have since spent down the majority of my FlexPoints.  The only reason to keep the FlexPerks Visa Signature card is for 3x at charity (making Kiva loans) or 2x at gas stations and grocery stores.  You do get 10 Gogo Wifi Passes every cardmember year, but I seem to earn them faster than I can redeem them (plus the American Express Business Platinum Charge Card gave me 10 free Gogo Wifi Passes that I have yet to use either).  As for the FlexPerks American Express card (no longer offered – it has since been replaced by the US Bank FlexPerks Gold American Express Credit Card), I really never use that card either.

Long story short, both credit cards had annual fees that posted and I wanted to downgrade / convert to credit cards with no annual fees.  Here is my journey calling US Bank and figuring out which credit cards you can downgrade / convert to.  The obvious choice is the US Bank FlexPerks Select Plus American Express Credit Card that earns FlexPoints and has no annual fee.

3 Current US Bank FlexPerks Credit Cards

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