Why I Am Sticking With Club Carlson

Over a year ago, I wrote about my experience Churning After Midnight. For some reason, I decided that applying for credit card drunk would be fun. Well, I don't recommend doing it.

At the time, I applied for and was approved for the Chase Southwest Business & Personal cards and the US Bank Club Carlson Visa.

One year later, its annual fee time. At the moment, I am unsure about keeping the Southwest Credit Cards. However, I have decided to pay the $75 annual fee for the Club Carlson card.

For $75, I get the following benefits:

•  40,000 Bonus Points

                 

            That's enough for two nights at a Category 4 hotel.

         

•   Buy 1, Get 1 Free Award Nights

           When you redeem Points for 2 or more consecutive Award Nights, your last night is free. 

           That is why your 40,000 bonus point is worth 2 free nights at Category 4 hotels.

•  Gold Status

          Having the credit card automatically upgrades your status with Club Carlson to Gold.

          Gold Status gives you a wide range of benefits; late check-out, room upgrades, free

          internet and many others. You can see the whole list of benefits, here.

The 40,000 bonus points, Buy 1, Get 1 award nights and Gold status are the main reasons for me to pay the annual fee for the credit card. I only used the award night benefit once in 2013, on a trip to Austin. My sister and I stayed at a Country Inn and Suites and saved over $200+ by using 28,000 points for 2 nights.  

This year, I hope to use the award night benefit more often. My travels will take me to places with more Club Carlson hotels.  Plus I am sitting on a nice stash of Gold Points. I plan on sticking with Club Carlson even with their most recent devaluation.

Earlier this month, Club Carlson announced the creation of a 7th redemption level. The 7th redemption level is only going to have a few properties in it (Most in Paris, London and New York City). At the moment, I have no desire to travel to any of those area, so it doesn't really effect me. If Paris builds the restaurants in the abandon metro stations; then I might change my mind.

One of the biggest decisions in this game is the annual fees. It isn't cheap to keep all of the credit cards with annual fees. However, you can't cancel every credit card either. You need a balance. Keep some and let some go is my strategy. 

Congratulations Club Carlson for making it to Year 2!
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Look What I Got . . .

Back in September, I wrote about an offer from Bank of America and Alaska Airlines Credit Card.

The offer gave me a $15 gift card to my choice of store, if I used my credit card to pay for a monthly reoccurring bill. To complete the offer, I paid a portion of my cell phone bill in October. However, I forgot about the offer until earlier this week, when this letter arrived:

The letter contained an awkward letter and my $15 Starbuck's gift cards:

Here is a copy of the letter:

The letter is awkward for two reasons:

   1) Its not personalized. In the age of mail merge, your can do this easily

   2) The second paragraph is not appropriate. This letter should be a simply thank you, nothing
        else.

Overall, thank you Bank of America for keeping your promise!


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Expat Boy: Going Abroad, What Card Do I Need?

Another post from Expat Boy:

Visa, it really is everywhere you want to be. Not all credit cards are created equal, especially when it comes to international travel. 

With few exceptions, the world is wired for the use of your credit card; the necessity of exchanging large amounts of cash, at the airport, ended several years ago. Due to a wide range of factors, the dollar’s global stature is down and its value can fluctuate broadly against other currencies. If you are risk adverse, one way to minimize wild currency valuation rides is to exchange large amounts of dollars for the local currency all at once. The problem with this strategy is you are now in possession of larges amounts of money, either at you hotel or on your personally. Another way to minimize currency valuations is to use your credit card. Credit cards afford travelers the ability to exchange only the exact amount of money needed and, add in some other important benefits.  

There are important features to look for when selecting a plastic-partner for traveling abroad. The most important feature to look for is a card with NO Foreign Transaction Fees is essential. Both my Capital One Cash Back and United Mileage Plus cards offer this. Foreign Transaction Fees can slowly eat through a travel budget. Ranging from as low as 1% to as high as 5%, foreign transaction fees are added to every credit and debit card purchase made abroad. Some debit cards add foreign transaction fees to cash withdrawn from ATMs. Saving $3,000 for a vacation and having about $100 (3% transaction fee) waster for the privilege of accessing money is nonsense.

A second important feature is how the financial institution issuing a credit card calculates currency exchange rates. Most, but not all, banks calculate the cost of foreign transactions in USD (US Dollars) at the best Interbank Exchange Rate of the day prior to when a transaction posted. If a bank’s currency exchange rate is varying from what Visa suggests, Foreign Transaction Fees, or some iteration thereof, are being charged.

Thirdly, if traveling in a ‘financial high risk’ area, a 1-800 number connected to a US customer service representative, not a call center, is essential.  Credit card companies are cracking down heavily on fraud, especially in China. Make one purchase in one of these high risk counties can result in a frozen card. Having a card frozen while abroad is no fun. This highlights an important reason why you needs to carry at least one spare credit cards. Debit cards are even more prone to being frozen, eaten by ATM machines or snapped in two pieces.

Finally, something to watch out for: a new and expanding type of foreign transaction is the Dynamic Currency Conversion, putting a foreign purchase into dollars at the point of sale. This option will always involve markups over the wholesale bank exchange rate of the day. When the option is available, decline this type of transaction and allow a bank to properly convert the purchase, not the merchant.

A credit card can be your best friend or your worst enemy when traveling aboard. A little work before you leave can help make the trip so much smoother.
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Is There An Opt Out Option, Bank of America?

I detailed here that one of the credit cards I recently applied for was the Bank of America Alaska Airlines credit card. The sign-up bonus was 25,000 miles after your first use. The miles sign-up bonus us great, but I really wanted $119 companion fare for an upcoming trip. I didn't get instant approval, but the card arrive a few days later.

Ever since, Bank of America has been mailing me stuff about the various features of their credit card. Most of the junk went straight to the shred pile until I received this insert below. What caught my attention was that I would receive "up to 5 miles per $1 spent at participating restaurants."

My initial reaction was cool, a feature I did not know about the card. That was until I turned over the flyer and read # 4: "Your Visa Card will be automatically enrolled in Mileage Plan Dining Rewards by Rewards Network and a Welcome Kit will be sent to your explaining your restaurant earning opportunities"

Really, your going to automatically enroll me? No choice? No opt-out?

Why am I making a big deal out of this, you might ask? Typically  Dining Rewards offers you a bonus to sign-up and spend a certain amount of money in your first 30 or 90 days. The bonus is typically only for new members. My gut tells me that there will be no bonus offer in my welcome kit.

I love Dining Rewards. I have written about it here and encourage people to sign-up for it. It takes minimal time, but has the potential for big rewards. Eat out, take a quick survey, earn miles/points.

What bothers me is the automatic sign-up for Dining Rewards! I could see this being a new trend with credit card companies, because it saves Dining Rewards money. Automatically signing people up reduces the need for spending extra miles on luring people to join with attractive sign-up bonuses. This is one time I hope I am wrong.....

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Chase Hyatt Visa Offer

Way back in September, I detailed how to the Chase Hyatt Visa. The offer came with two free nights, platinum status, and a $75 statement credit. The card had a $79 annual fee, not waived for the first month, but with the $75 statement credit, the annual fee dropped to $4.

Well, I was booking a hotel room at a Hyatt Place for an upcoming trip for Chris and I in May and noticed that the offer is back, but even better!

The offer now is 2 Free nights at any hotel after spending $1000 in three months, platinum status, and $100 statement credit (after first purchase). This new offer in essence makes the annual fee free for the first year and leaves you a little extra to spend on a free lunch.

The way to get this card is similar to how I described here. The only difference is the statement credit is now $100, instead of the previous $75.

I would defiantly apply for this card. Two free nights (I used them at the Park Hyatt Tokyo- will detail that trip, once Chris finishes his) is a great start at reducing your travel expenses on your next trip.

Happy Applying!


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Always Open Your Mail

Earlier this week, I came home from work and quickly through my mail in a pile. I never check the mail the day I receive it. Don't know why I do this, but it has become a part of my normal routine.

I was going disregard this flyer from Banana Republic, but I am happy I took a second look

The flyer offered me a $20 Reward Card if I used my Banana Republic Visa card 4 times outside of their stores before October 31, 2012. The details are here:

Looks like the Banana Republic card is going back into the wallet for a few days. $20 to spend at Banana Republic for swiping the credit card four times is to easy.

Why do I talk about this on a travel points blog? 

In the past, some of the best credit card sign-up bonuses have been sent via mail. For example, I received an offer for 50,000 bonus miles for getting the United Explorer Card. At the time, the best published offer was 40,000 miles. 

Chase has made it somewhat easier by creating this website. By going to this website, you can see if you have been targeted by Chase for any offers.

 Lesson Learned: Always open all of your mail in a timely manner. If something comes from a credit card company, open it up. It may be a sign-up bonus offer or bonus miles for spending in certain categories  Either way, it could mean more miles for you.