Tag Archives: US Bank

Arcadia Power: $15 Off My PG&E Gas & Electricity Bill (+ 5% Cash Back with US Bank Cash+)

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Good morning everyone, I hope your weekend is going well.  Last month, Doctor of Credit wrote a post about Arcadia Power stating that you could use this service to pay your electricity bill with a credit card and not be charged a fee.  I have been paying a $1.35 fee per payment to PG&E (Pacific Gas & Electric) for the last few years, so I was immediately interested.  For the last few years, I have been using my US Bank Cash+ Credit Card to earn 5% cash back on utility bills (as far as I know, Chase Ink Business credit cards do not earn 5x on electrical utilities bills, just phone / internet / TV utility bills).  With the $1.35 fee per payment, as long as my payment to PG&E was greater than $27 ($27 x 5% = $1.35), I would come out ahead.  If I could continue earning 5% with my US Bank Cash+ Credit Card to pay my PG&E bill and avoid the $1.35 fee, I would definitely use Arcadia Power.  I am happy to state that that is exactly what happened with my recent PG&E payment via Arcadia Power.  If you are not an Arcadia Power member, please use my referral link to create a free account.  Thank you!

I received this email from Arcadia Power on January 5.  In the email, it says I saved $15 (my Arcadia Power first payment bonus) and owe $105.88.  My card on file (US Bank Cash+ Credit Card) would be charged on January 8.  I didn’t need to do anything else.

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Are 2 Gogo Accounts Better Than 1? (Spoiler: Yes!)

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Good morning everyone, happy Friday!  According to the news, yesterday and today are 2 of the busiest travel days of the year (roughly 3 million people are projected to travel both days).  If you are traveling this holiday season and especially if you are traveling with friends or family members, I highly recommend creating a second Gogo account.  Let me explain why.  A few days ago, I got the following email from Gogo regarding my 10 free Gogo passes for having an American Express Business Platinum Charge Card (if you have this charge card, I will show you how to get your 10 free Gogo passes below.)

I tend to fly Southwest Airlines often and they do not offer Gogo, so most of my Gogo passes expire at the end of the year.  But of the few times when I am travelling on an airplane that offers Gogo, I am usually travelling with my girlfriend and Gogo only allows you to use 1 Gogo pass per flight.  If you have more than 1 Gogo account, you can use passes from each Gogo account on the same flight.  Pretty novel idea, right?

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Pathetic US Bank Radisson Rewards Targeted Spending Offer

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Good afternoon everyone.  I just wanted to share a pathetic US Bank Radisson Rewards targeted spending offer I received yesterday.  I have 3 US Bank Radisson Rewards credit cards (Business, Visa Signature, and Visa Platinum) and received the same pathetic spending offer on all 3 credit cards.  After spending $50 on the credit card, I will earn 1 bonus point per dollar, up to 5,000 bonus points.  The Business and Visa Signature versions earn 5x everywhere, so this would be 6x everywhere.  I barely put any spending on my US Bank Radisson Rewards credit cards and this promotion does not entice me to start using these credit cards.  If you use your US Bank Radisson Rewards credit cards more often, you may receive a better targeted spend offer.

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US Bank Credit Cards Renewal Notification Explains 60 Day “Renewal Period”

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Good morning everyone.  If you have been to Santa Cruz recently, please check out this post: I Need Restaurant / Activity Recommendations for Santa Cruz.  Yesterday, I was reviewing my credit card statements and spotted this Renewal Notification message on my US Bank Radisson Rewards Premier Visa Signature Credit Card.  I keep this credit card and pay the $75 annual fee just for the 40,000 Radisson Rewards anniversary points every year.  In the Renewal Notification section, it says the following (I kept the important stuff and removed everything else):

You have a “renewal period” of 60 days from the date we mailed this notification. During the renewal period, you may terminate your Account and avoid paying the Annual Membership Fee. You may terminate your Account by calling or by writing us at the Cardmember Service telephone or address shown below. During the renewal period and before you terminate your Account, you may continue to use your card without having to pay the fee. If, however, you do not terminate your Account by the end of the renewal period, you will have to pay the fee.

Each year, the Account will be subject to your payment in advance of an Annual Membership Fee of $75.00, which will compensate us for maintaining and servicing the Account for the following year.

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Share Location with US Bank App to “Reduce Card Declines and Prevent Fraud”

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Good morning everyone.  A few days ago, I was checking my US Bank credit cards via the US Bank iPhone app and saw this popup: Share your location to help keep your account secure.  According to the popup, by sharing my location with the US Bank app, this will help reduce credit card declines and prevent fraud.  Theoretically, it makes sense.  If you (and your phone) are in California, but there is an in-store purchase made with your credit card in New York City, US Bank would block the charge.  Likewise, if you are driving through Oregon and decide to visit a Nike store and stock up on tax-free sports gear (fun fact: Oregon is one of four states with no sales tax, the other states are Delaware, Montana, and New Hampshire), US Bank will know that you are in Oregon and allow the purchase.  Makes perfect sense to me.

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