Is $40 Worth Missing Out on 1,750 Points?

Over Martin Luther King Weekend, I am taking a little trip south. The sole purpose of the trip is to use my 2 free Hilton night certificates that were expiring from my Hilton Citi card.

My free night certificates cover the first 2 nights of the trip leaving me to pay 1 night out of pocket. The cost of the 3rd night is about $175. On Saturday and Sunday, the cost of the room was about $250 a night, not a bad use of the certificates. My dilemma is how to pay for the 3rd night at the hotel.

My choices are my JetBlue American Express and Citi Hilton Hhonors Reserve Card.

You may be wondering my JetBlue American Express card. Its an odd choice. American Express has a great promotion known as AMEX Sync, which offers cash off at particular merchants if you spend $Xs. One of my offers is $40 off if I spend $175 at a Doubletree.

Since my stay is at a DoubleTree, this is a great time to use this offer. The downside of using my JetBlue AMEX is that I won't earn HHonor points for the money put on the credit card.

On the other hand, if I use the Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve card, I will earn Hilton points on my credit card spend for the hotel night. With the Reserve card earns 10 points per $1 spent at the Hilton portfolio.

My $175 hotel room with earn me 1,750 points. However, by using my Reserve card, I lose out on the $40 savings from AMEX.

Therefore, I ask...$40 or 1,750 Hilton Honors points? Which one would you choose?
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Saying Goodbye

Last week, I said goodbye to another credit card: Delta American Express Gold card.

I got the credit card as part my Delta New Member bonus. By getting the card, I earned close to 55,000 miles:

        45,000 sign-up bonus
         5,000 new member credit
         5,000 from credit card spend

The card did what it needed to do: earn miles.

Now, one year later, the annual fee of $95 was due. Could I justify paying $95 for the card?

  - Do I value Skymiles? No!

  - Will I use the free bag? No, I have flown Delta once in 24 months.

  - Do I want another AMEX card? Yes, but is $95 worth keeping it?

After thinking about it, the decision was easy. I called American Express and cancelled the card.

Goodbye Delta American Express . . . I am sorry that I used you.



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Please Spend More Than $10 On Small Business Saturday

One of the best marketing plans I have seen is American Express's Small Business Saturday.

In 2010, in the midst of the economic recession, American Express decided to declare the Saturday after Thanksgiving, Small Business Saturday. They did more than make a declaration and some advertisement, they put money behind the program. American Express offered a one-time $25 statement credit for anyone who registered their Amex card and made a $25+ purchase at a participating small business. The program was a huge success that American Express brought it back in 2011. Why would American Express give away free money? Well, its all for good publicity.

Typically, small business are not fans of American Express. Of all the credit card providers, American Express has been reported to the highest swipe fees.  I say "reported," because American Express strongly pushes back from assertions that its swipe fees are higher than Visa and Mastercard. However, speaking with family members with small business, they confirm that American Express's fees are higher than other providers. I have seen this chart a few times:

Regardless of the what the fees actually are, American Express leaves a bad taste with small businesses owners. Small Business Saturday promotion has slowly started to make small business owners warm up to American Express.

2013 will be the third year of this Small Business Saturday promotion. This year, American Express is only offering a $10 statement credit compared to the $25 credit offered the past two years.

The decrease in the statement credit from $25 to $10 is major. When first announced, many people in the community were unhappy. Why? Its $15 less of merchandise that they get. You see people game the system by purchasing exactly $25 worth of merchandise, just enough for the credit. While not against the terms and conditions of the program, it is against the idea behind the program.

With the decrease to a $10 credit, I fear that small business owners might lose money on purchases. Say Joe Smith visits XYZ Small Business on Small Business Saturday. Joe Smith has his new Amex, that he got, because X blogger told him to apply, and heard that he can get $10 free merchandise by swiping his American Express card. The problem with the lower statement credit is a possible lower profit margin.

Assuming a $10 purchase, a 3% American Express swipe fee eats $0.30. Add in the processors swipe fee, which typically a quarter (.25) or two (.50). Take the higher end, the use of the credit card costs $.80 or 8% of the purchase price. Now lets look at a $25 purchase, 3% = $.75. Add in the $.50 processor fee and we are at $1.25 or 5% of the purchase price. If Joe Smith picks an item with a small profit margin, Mr. Small Business owner might be in trouble with the lower price point.

Yes, this is an extreme example. My analysis could be completely off. I don't have an MBA or even a BA in business. If my analysis is completely off, please let me know. No hard feelings. However, I have a feeling some small business owners might be doing the math like me. This may result in some small business owners might skip publicizing Small Business Saturday.

The reason why I wrote this article is to encourage people to think about spending a little more than $10 on Small Business Saturday. Spending an additional couple dollars on your purchase, maybe the difference of a profit, loss or break even for Mr. Small Business Owner.

Registration for Small Business Saturday opens on November 24. To register, bookmark this website.

Are you planning on participating in Small Business Saturday?
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A Free Night from Fairmont and American Express

This morning in my sleepiness, I saw this this tweet on my feed:

I took the bait and clicked on the link and was brought to this webpage. 

According to the promotion, book a stay with your American Express at a participating Fairmont hotel and get a free night after X paid nights. For most of the participating hotels, the free night is either the 3rd or 4th consecutive night. In addition, they will throw in late check-out free. 

Here is a list of the participating hotels:

You need to book by 12/31/13 and your stay must be between completed by 3/31/14.

To take part of this promotion, you must go to the website and click on the link of the property that you want to stay at. The promotion will only work booking this way, according to the T & C.

While this isn't a new promotion, it is a lucrative promotion if you are planning on staying at a Fairmont. What boggles me is why this offer isn't with the Chase. Fairmont has a cobranded credit card with Chase.

 Isn't this promotion tantamount to cheating? Why wouldn't you offer something like this with Chase?

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American Express Offers For You

American Express has a variety of ways to save you money.

One of my favorite ways to earn save money with American Express is their Offers For You. American Express offers statement credits after making purchases at certain retailers. The available statement credit offers change monthly and differ from person to person. To find your offers, log into your American Express account and scroll to the bottom.

Click on Offers For You and your available offers will appear. Here are some of my offers:

Each offer has a minimum spend to get the statement credit. Click on the + plus sign next to the offer to see the terms and conditions of that particular offer. Here are the terms for Buca Di Beppo:

To add the offer to your card, click "Save Offer" and the offer will now be added to your card.

American Express is great about letting you know when you have triggered a rebate. Typically, I get an email within minutes of making a purchase. Here is the email, I got after making a purchase at Staples:

The statement credit typically appears 3-5 days after the purchase.

Offers For You is a no brainier to participate in. It doesn't cost you to participate, but it can put a little more money in your pocket.

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Really AMEX? Really?

Last night, I came home from to a letter from American Express. At first, I though it was something they were selling me.

They weren't sell me anything. The letter was one of the most awkward I have ever received from a credit card company:

 Dear JD Teitelman

      We're writing to let you know that we mistakenly issued additional reward points to your 
       account in September 2013. Although these points are in your rewards account and 
       available for you use, they are twice the amount you should have received for your 
       August billing period.

       In order for us to offset the extra points you received, we will not issue additional points 
       to your account until you have earned more points than you received in error. This means 
       that your points balance on your American Express statement may be zero or negative 
       until your balance shows the correct number of points. We apologize for any 
       inconvenience this may cause.

       You can always check your earned rewards and review your account activity online at
       americanexpress.com/managemyaccount.

       Thank you for your Card Membership.

       Sincerely,

       American Express Customer Care


Some of you may have received a similar letter in the past. American Express made a mistake and I am being punished? However, what really steams me isn't that they sent the letter. Rather, how many points they are trying to recover. My September AMEX deposit into my Delta account (the AMEX in question is my Delta AMEX Gold) was 13 miles:

AMEX is trying to recover 6.5 miles. Trying to recover 6.5 miles makes AMEX look cheap and makes me feel less like a member, but a more like a customer. AMEX should have had a cut-off level of points that they weren't going to recover. I understand trying to recoup 500, 1000, or 5000 miles give erroneously, but 6.5, 20 or 100, that just is greedy. Yes, I understand that they were trying to be fair by taking points back from everyone. Even worse, I went back to my August credit card statement and I spent exactly $13.30 and earn 13 Skymiles. I wasn't given any extra points.

I can forgive you AMEX, because mistakes happen. However, don't punish me because one of your employees screwed up. Sometimes you let mistake pass . . . 

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Secondary Benefit of American Express Card: Return Protection

Credit cards have three levels of benefits: initial, primary, and secondary. Most of the time, we only focus on the initial and primary benefits of credit cards.

Initial Benefits: Sign-up bonuses in the form of points, miles, free flights, and nights

Primary Benefits: Miles/Points per $1 spent, threshold bonus (spend $20,000 in a year and earn X)

As one can see, the initial and primary benefits tend to be the ones that get the fancy promotions, the mention by fellow bloggers, and big bold print when the credit card. What gets lost is that many credit cards off valuable secondary benefits.

Secondary Benefits: Rental Car Protection, Travel Insurance, Lost Luggage and Roadside Assistance

Yesterday, I learned that American Express has a great secondary benefit that I might use: Return Protection. As detailed here, American Express will reimburse one up to $300 for any item that a merchant will not accept back up to $1,000 annually. Here are the caveats of the program:

1) Must have made the original purchase with an American Express card

2) Purchase must have been made within the past 90 days

3) Card member must maintain permanent residence in the United States

4) The item trying to be return can't be: animals and living plants; one-of-a-kind items; limited 
     edition items; going-out-of-business sale items; consumable or perishable items with 
     llimited life spans; jewelry; watches; services and additional costs; rare and precious coins; 
     used, altered, rebuilt and refurbished items; custom-built items, cellular phones; pagers; 
     compact discs; digital video discs; mini discs; audiotapes; videotapes; computer 
     software; firmware (such as console games, Nintendo, etc.); maps; books of any kind; 
     health care items; formal wear; tickets of any kind; motorized vehicles and their parts; 
     land and buildings; firearms; ammunition; negotiable instruments (such as promissory notes, 
     stamps and travelers checks); cash and its equivalent; and items permanently affixed to home, 
     office, vehicles, etc.

5) Must return the item to American Express 

This secondary benefit could be very helpful for stores with only 30 and 60 day return policies. I forget to return items often. I tend to buy a lot and return 80% of it. However, sometimes I get burned by 30 and 60 day return policies, because I forgot that I purchased something. Return protection can save me money and may justify a credit card's annual fee.

One question about this benefit, where does all the returned merchandise go? Is there an American Express Return store somewhere?
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Unique Benefit I Wanted From the 75K AmEx Gold Card Offer

With the recent frenzy over the increased bonus for the AmEx Business Gold Card (public link from AmEx site) there was lots of "apply before the deal goes away" and then "what you can do once you get the 75,000 bonus points." In my opinion it was crazy to see how many people were pushing the deal and my google reader was just as overloaded as everyone else. But I actually applied for this deal because it was the perfect storm of what I needed at the time.

The deal came up on my 91st day after my last series of credit card applications so my previous hard pulls of my credit had just dropped off and my score was in great shape at 738 so I was already starting to study what cards I should get. The deal also was my first foray into AmEx Membership Rewards market so I was excited to see a big bonus. I plan to hold onto the 75,000 sign up bonus and see who offers a great transfer bonus this summer. But the biggest benefit I saw from the card was 2x on shipping purchases. I plan on using shipping more and more because we are selling most of our apartment items online so we don't have to worry about getting them to Seattle when we move in July. That nice little bump will help ease the sting of shipping all of our stuff to wherever we are shipping it and will make it a little easier to get to the sign on bonus threshold.

If you are a points and miles person who buys and sells items and is often finding yourself shipping lots of items to EBay, like I soon plan to be, then this could be a good option for you. The additional benefits of 3x points on airline purchases, 2x on advertising, shipping and gas make it a very attractive card, especially when it's at a sign on bonus level as high as we saw last week. So...the offer didn't work for everyone, but for me...it was perfect timing!


Important Note: We talk about credit card sign-up bonuses on our blog because they are an important part of the “game.” Any credit card links in this post will be public application links taken from the issuer's direct website. We do not earn income from you applying from the links. Similarly, please take an extra minute or two before applying for credit cards. If you do not pay your credit card balance off every month then you should stay away from this aspect of the game. Credit cards can lead to major long-term problems if not used correctly. I encourage you to read JD's post on Young People and the Chains of Credit Card Debt for more details.  

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Delta GrandSlam Update: Delta AMEX Gold

Important Note: We talk about credit card sign-up bonuses on our blog because they are an important part of the “game.” Any credit card links in this post will be public application links taken from the issuer's direct website. We do not earn income from you applying from the links. Similarly, please take an extra minute or two before applying for credit cards. If you do not pay your credit card balance off every month then you should stay away from this aspect of the game. Credit cards can lead to major long-term problems if not used correctly. I encourage you to read my post on Young People and the Chains of Credit Card Debt for more details.  

I have been pretty silent on my Delta Grandslam, as of late. I have completed 8 of the 10 partner offers, so there is at least 1,000 Skymiles on the table. You can read more about the Delta Grand Slam here, here, and here.

Moving to another section of the Delta GrandSlam: Getting the Delta Amex Gold

The official section reads:

           "Not already a SkyMiles Credit Cardmember? Get up to 30,000 bonus miles 
           with the Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express. That's 
           up to 25,000 miles for getting the Card, plus an additional 5,000 miles now 
           as a new SkyMiles member. On top of that, earn one mile for eligible everyday 
           purchases and double miles for Delta purchases. Plus, get a free checked bag on
           every Delta flight"

However, the terms and condition state:

             "Credit Card Partners: 5,000 bonus miles earned for signing up for the           
              Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card. Only approved accounts are eligible                     
              for bonus miles."

I bring the terms and conditions up, because it only states that you have to be approved for Gold Delta Skymiles Credit Card. Therefore, one can earn points for any offer out there, not just the 25,000 mile offer.

With that said, a few days a go, I received an offer via email for a 40,000 Delta SkyMiles AMEXCard. The offer requires you to spend $1,000 miles in 3 months. A link to the direct site is here. The $95 annual fee is waived the first year. The offer is good until April 28, 2013.

If you get apply and get approved by this offer, you would have 45,000 SkyMiles (40,000 from card + 5,000 from the new member bonus). There is a risk that you might not get the 5,000 bonus. However, I feel like you would have a great argument to fight them not giving them to you.

On the other hand, I have read from bloggers about a 45,000 mile offer. It takes some time, but if you go to the Hustler Money Blog he will walk you through the steps. I just tried this steps and the offer is there, as of 11pm 3/27/13. The offer is slightly harder than the one above: 25,000 miles after the first purchase, 20,000 additional after spending $5,000 in 6 months. If you get this offer, you would then have 50,000 miles (45,000 from the credit card sign-up bonus + 5,000 new member bonus).

As a friendly reminder, take a screen shot of the landing page with the offer. This will be your proof, if you need to fight it later on.

Unfortunately, I am unable to apply for this card now, because I just got some new credit cards last month. It always seems the best offers come out in the middle of my wait periods. My Delta anniversary is coming up in July, so I better get with flying with Delta, earning my last two partner rewards, and getting the AMEX card...otherwise, I am leaving valuable miles on the table . . .


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JD's Newbie Hotel Choice

Important Note: JD and I may talk about the loyalty credit card for our particular airline and hotel in these posts. Credit card sign-up bonuses are an important part of the “game.” Any credit card links in this post will be public application links taken from the issuer's direct website. We do not earn income from you applying from the links. Similarly, please take an extra minute or two before applying for credit cards. If you do not pay your credit card balance off every month then you should stay away from this aspect of the game. Credit cards can lead to major long-term problems if not used correctly. I encourage you to read JD's post on Young People and the Chains of Credit Card Debt for more details.  

This is the last part of Chris and I’s debate on best newbie hotels and airlines. Other parts of our debates can be seen by clicking the links below:

Let’s Get Ready to Rumble (Intro)

JD’s Newbie Airline (US Airways)

Chris’s Newbie Airline (United)

Chris’s Newbie Hotel (Club Carlson)

I was having a hard time picking my newbie hotel. Many would probably guess, I would go with Hilton. I wrote here, why I am sticking with Hilton, even as others around running to other hotels. The benefits of Gold status (upgrades, breakfast, extra points) are very valuable. However, the recent increase in the number of points for a free nights made me think twice as naming it "Best Hotel for Newbies."

That title for me goes to Starwood. Say What!
                                        


Yes, Starwood is my choice for Best Newbie Hotel.

Starwood Hotels and Resorts has 9 different hotel brands: Aloft, Four Points, Sheraton, Westin, Le Meridean, Element, W, St. Regis and Luxury Collection. With over 1,100 hotels in 100+ countries, Starwood has hotels in almost anywhere you are headed.

The main reason that I am nominating Starwood as Best Newbie Hotel are the reward redemption's. Starwood's loyalty program is called Starwood Preferred Guest or known as SPG, in the mile world.  SPG gives you multiple ways to redeem Starwood points. The most straight forward way to redeem point is for free nights. Starwood Hotels are divided into seven (7) categories with higher category hotels costing more points per night than lower category hotels.

As you can see, SPG gives you the 5 nights for the cost of 4 night, when redeeming points for
categories 3-7. Week long redemption stays are cheaper, because of SPG 5th Night Free feature.

SPG has another feature that let's you stretch your points further: Points + Cash.

As you can see, one can spend points and cash to upgrade better rooms or even suites. I don't know if the spending the points on a suite is the best use, but there are times that it is well worth it: proposing to your girlfriend, impressing the in-laws or throwback high school hotel party.

There is a redemption chart for upgrades paid solely with points, as well:

One of the most interesting uses for SPG points is Flights and Nights. SPG gives you the ability to turn 60,000 Starpoints into 5 nights in a category 3 hotel and 50,000 airline miles or 70,000 Starpoints into 5 nights in a category 4 hotel and 50,000 airline points. The Miles Professor writes here how she use this redemption option to get two nights at the Conrad Tokyo (she transferred the miles to Virgin Atlantic)

I think the redemption option that makes Starwood stand out compared to other hotels is the ability to transfer points to an airline of your choice. What makes Starwood stand out is the transfer rate: 1 to 1. Starwood allows you to transfer their points into 29 different airlines. Only 6 of the 29 airlines don't transfer at a ratio of 1 SPG to 1 airline miles. Go here to see the list of airlines that Starwood allows its members to transfer to. As a basic member, the minimum number of SPG points one must transfer is 2500.

While I told you how you can spend the points with SPG, the other side of the coin is how one earns is SPG points. There are four major ways of earning SPG points:

Stay at their Hotels: 

Members at Preferred Guest level earn two (2) Starpoints for every eligible dollar spent on participating points. One can earn more points per dollar by gaining status within SPG.

Get and Use SPG Card:

Starwood offers a personal and business cobranded AMEX credit card. Currently, the offer is 25,000 SPG points after spending $5,000 in six months (10,000 points after first use and 15,000 points after spending six months). You earn 5 SPG per dollar spent at Starwood Hotels and 1 SPG per dollar on anything else. 

For the past two summers, the offer has increased to 30,000 SPG. I would wait until July to see if the offer comes up unless you need the card now!

Buy Starwood Points

I was hesitant to add this option, but it is an earning option. To buy points go here. Currently, you can save somewhere between 15% to 25% off buying points. Typically, you can by $0.035 per SPG point with a minimum 500 point buy.

Transfer

Transfer points from American Express Membership Rewards or Diner's Club

Frequently, Starwood has promotions to give you the option of increasing your points balance. For instance, in the past two quarters, SPG has offered targeted members opportunities to earn free nights or bonus points by staying at their hotel.

Yes, its nice that they have multiple brands for different price points. Its also great that they have more than 1,100 properties in 100 countries. The bread in butter is your ability to spend the points. Unlike Hilton or Club Carlson, a small amount of points can go far with Starwood. With free nights starting as cheaply as 3,000 or 4,000 points and the option to mix cash and points, a small amount of points can go pretty far. That is why I am recommending SPG for newbies. 

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Earning Points Doing My Favorite Activity - Eating Out

Would you like to earn up to 7 points per dollar simply eating at your favorite restaurants  Sounds to good to be true, huh? Its not! Dining Rewards is probably the easiest points earning secret out there.

Many major airlines and hotels offer dining rewards:

Alaskan Airlines

American Airlines

Delta Airlines

Hilton

Priority Club

Southwest Airlines

United Airlines

US Airways

Dining Rewards, also has partnerships with these rewards GoodDining, eScrip, Best Buy Reward Zone, Upromise, Fuel Rewards, and American Express IDine.

Each one of the links will take you to a different program. You are able to earn points from one program only.

Here is a step by step guide to earning points from your favorite restaurants:

1) Pick a hotel or airline that you would like to earn miles with

2) Register for the program

3) Register all your debit / credit cards - I have kicked myself one, two, three times now for not registering a new credit card and leaving points on the table.

4) Search for restaurants in your area

5) Dine out and use your registered credit or debit card. You will get points based upon the amount charged to your credit card card, including tax and tip

6) A few days after eating out, an email will arrive asking you to take a survey based upon your dining
experience. You must take this survey to get points. The survey is no longer than 10 questions long.

7) Sit back and wait for your points to hit your accounts. Sometimes it has taken 3 weeks for points to hit my account.

Repeat steps 4 - 7 again, and again, and again.

The beauty of this program is that you are earning points for doing something what you are already doing. Chris and I are big fans of this program and will tailor where we eat to earn points. On a few occasions, the deciding factor between 2 restaurants (one participating in dining rewards and one that does not), the one that does participate wins out.

Earning the big points:

If you eat 12 times at restaurants participating in the program, within a calender year,you earn VIP status. VIP status gives you more points per dollar. For example, Delta Dining Rewards offers 3 points per dollar for basic members. If you hit VIP status, one earns 5 points per dollar. If you have the Chase Sapphire card (which gives you 2 points per dollar spent at restaurants), you earning a whopping 7 points per dollar for eating out.

Helpful Tips:

1. Register all of your debit and credit cards
2. Keep a watch of restaurants in your area that are partnering
3. Check your emails for bonus opportunities, you have to register to participate in the bonuses
4. Complete the surveys
5. Don't abuse the system - I have heard reports of people not getting points for swiping their card multiple times in a day at the same restaurant.

Dining Rewards won't make you point rich, but it will help increase your points balance.