Tag Archives: US Bank

Targeted Spending Offers on US Bank Club Carlson Business & Cash Plus Credit Cards

Posted on June 2, 2017 by Grant. 12 Replies

Good morning everyone, happy Friday! By the time you read this post, I will be on my way to Denver for a short weekend trip (with a Sunday travel meetup in Denver). My love affair with US Bank continues as they continue to shower me in gifts (in the form of targeted spending offers) on my US Bank Club Carlson Business Credit Card and US Bank Cash Plus Credit Card. Let’s go through the offers and see if there are any winners.

First up, I have a targeted spending offer on my US Bank Club Carlson Business Credit Card. After spending $2,000 on the credit card, I will earn an extra 5 Club Carlson Points per dollar, up to 5,000 bonus Club Carlson Points. To maximize the offer, I would need to spend exactly $3,000. I would receive $3,000 x 5 points per dollar = 15,000 Club Carlson Points + 5,000 bonus Club Carlson Points = 20,000 Club Carlson Points. 20,000 Club Carlson Points is worth ~$100 (each Club Carlson Point is worth 0.5 cents to me), so $100 / $3,000 = 3.33% return. Not bad, but I really don’t want any more Club Carlson Points, so I will pass on this offer.

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Earn a $10 Statement Credit for using US Bank Credit Card with ApplePay (May 23 – June 30)

Posted on May 30, 2017 by Grant. 3 Replies

Good afternoon everyone, I hope your week is going well. I am really late to the party, but US Bank sent out emails last week to cardholders with a $10 bonus if you added your US Bank credit card to your ApplePay wallet and made an ApplePay purchase of $10 or more. I received the email for my US Bank Club Carlson Personal Credit Card, US Bank FlexPerks Select+ American Express Credit Card, and US Bank Cash+ Credit Card. I have 3 other US Bank credit cards that did not receive the email.

There are 2 ways to use ApplePay: in-app purchases, such as buying tickets from the StubHub app or for paying for your Uber/Lyft ride; or in-store purchases, made at the register at your local store or gas station. I’m not sure if both ways will trigger the bonus, but I assume so.

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Best Credit Card for Restaurants: US Bank Cash Plus or FlexPerks Gold AMEX?

Posted on May 21, 2017 by Grant. 10 Replies

Good afternoon everyone, I hope you are having a great weekend. I am currently in Miami on my way back home to San Francisco after my week-long vacation to Saint Kitts and Nevis and my stay at the Marriott Saint Kitts Beach Club timeshare property (2 trip reports coming later this week, or next week, or never – let’s see if I can get these posted before I forget). Enough about me, let’s talk about credit card rewards.

A long time ago, my go to credit card for all restaurant purchases was my beloved Citi Forward Credit Card. I used to earn 5x Citi Thank You Points for all restaurant purchases, from fast food to fine dining. Unfortunately, Citi changed the card earnings on restaurant purchases from 5x to 2x, so I looked for a suitable replacement. The obvious choice was Chase Sapphire Preferred with 2x on restaurants, then along came the Chase Sapphire Reserve with 3x on restaurants. I tried to apply for the Chase Sapphire Reserve (twice!), and got declined (twice!) due to 5/24. I don’t have any other Chase credit cards that I want to convert / product change to a Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Sapphire Reserve either. With those sad facts, my search for a suitable restaurant credit card continued.

I was pretty happy using my US Bank Cash Plus Credit Card for restaurant purchases – earning 2% cash back at restaurants and 5% cash back at fast food restaurants. That was good enough for a few months until I got an email from US Bank that changed everything…

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My March App-O-Rama Credit Card Sign Up Bonuses Post

Posted on May 17, 2017 by Grant. 15 Replies

Good morning everyone, I hope you are all having a great week. By the time you read this post, I will be ATVing around the island of St. Kitts (I know, tough life). Anyway, I wanted to talk about one of my favorite topics – credit card sign up bonuses. In March, I discussed Which 10 Credit Cards am I Considering for my March App-O-Rama and then in early April, I wrote about my March App-O-Rama Results. In this post, I will share with you my plans (if any) for redeeming my miles and points. If you have any better suggestions than the ones I share in this post, please let me know in the comments. Thank you!

To get started, I was approved for the Bank of America Alaska Airlines Visa Signature Credit Card and the Bank of America Alaska Airlines Business Credit Card. Both credit cards offered 30,000 Alaska Airlines miles after spending $1,000 in 3 months along with an Alaska Airlines Companion Ticket (which can now be used on Virgin America). I have a few other Alaska Airlines Companion Tickets in my Alaska Airlines account, so I will probably not use them all. 60,000 Alaska Airlines miles is worth ~$900 to me (valuing Alaska Airlines miles at 1.5 CPP). I don’t have an exact use in mind, but I like flying on Virgin America first class when I fly from SFO to JFK.

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

Posted on May 7, 2017 by Grant. 17 Replies

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.

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