Credit Cards

Category Archives for Credit Cards.

Delta and American Express Re-up Credit Card Deal Through 2029

by Gary Leff on April 2, 2019

Apr 02 2019

I view Delta cards as strong, of course for their initial bonus and for the benefits they convey to passengers (especially those without elite status) flying the airline semi-regularly. I do not view them as a strong tool for spending, independent of weakness in the SkyMiles program itself.

That’s because even if you want to earn SkyMiles through credit card spend, American Express offers cards that earn Membership Rewards points faster than Delta miles, and Membership Rewards points will continue to transfer to Delta as well as having the option of being moved to other programs as-needed.

Using Credit Card Travel Coverage Instead of Travel Insurance

by Gary Leff on April 1, 2019

Apr 01 2019

I’m not a fan of travel insurance for most trips. I think it’s overpriced, and often fails to deliver what consumers think they’re buying. The hassle in getting a claim covered can outweigh the value of the claim. To my mind it’s something to consider for a ‘trip of a lifetime’ where a loss really would be catastrophic (a trip that could never be replaced) but not for run of the mill travel.

That’s a different matter from making sure your health coverage extends to wherever you’re traveling and to medical evacuation coverage.

Marriott Lifetime Titanium Still Available, There are Two Ways to Get It

by Gary Leff on March 31, 2019

Mar 31 2019

Marriott’s new loyalty program doesn’t offer a lifetime status level higher than 50 nights. The old Starwood program didn’t either. However the old Marriott Rewards program offered lifetime 75 night elite status, and those who achieved that status in the legacy Marriott program, got to keep it.

Marriott carved out an exception that let some Starwood members earn it too — but said it could never be earned after 2018. That turns out not to be quite correct.

How to Make the Most of Emirates Skywards Awards During Capital One’s 100% Transfer Bonus

by Gary Leff on March 20, 2019

Mar 20 2019

The biggest end of year miles and points news was definitely that Capital One has introduced the ability to transfer their miles to a variety of different airlines.

I’m excited to see that Capital One is running a bonus to transfer their miles to an airline at a better than standard rate. It suggests to me that transfer bonuses are on their radar, so I can’t wait to see whether another transfer bonus comes along soon.

What Kind of Bills You Can Pay With Credit Cards to Earn Miles Using Plastiq

by Gary Leff on March 8, 2019

Mar 08 2019

Plastiq.com is a service that will charge your credit card and mail checks on your behalf. (With some vendors they also make electronic ACH payments.) Their usual fee for this is 2.5%. It’s worth it to incur that fee if you’re earning a signup bonus with the credit card charges, or you’re meeting a spending threshold for a bonus. However I generally advise that it’s not worth it for the ongoing miles without a spending bonus. You don’t want to incur a 2.5% fee to earn 1 mile, you’re buying that mile at 2.5 cents. No mile is worth that. This may be totally obvious but for business spending companies can generally write off the fee. If you’re paying business bills via Plastiq.com your net cost is 2.5% minus (2.5% * your marginal tax rate).…

Eat at Home Like You’re Traveling With American Airlines and Amex Ending a Benefit

by Gary Leff on March 5, 2019

Mar 05 2019

A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.

American AAdvantage Credit Cards Losing 10% Rebate on Miles Redeemed

by Gary Leff on March 1, 2019

Mar 01 2019

Citibank should be notifying its customers today of benefits changes that go into effect May 1 for the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® card. One is a modest positive, while the other will be disappointing to many.

Big Changes to Barclays American AAdvantage Credit Cards Coming May 1

by Gary Leff on February 27, 2019

Feb 27 2019

Last summer Citi adjusted the benefit of their primary AAdvantage consumer card, adding two new bonus categories for spending and introducing the ability to earn a discount on American Airlines travel through card spend. So I’ve been waiting to see what sort of updates would be coming to the Barclays AAdvantage cards. There are several changes that go into effect May 1.

Marriott Reveals They Had My Unencrypted Passport and Credit Card Information, and Now Hackers Have It

by Gary Leff on February 24, 2019

Feb 24 2019

Marriott let me know that the hack of their systems released my unencrypted passport number and unencrypted credit card number. Even this information isn’t helpful because they don’t let me know which number or whether or not it’s expired.

The data breach compromised 383 million records including 5.25 million unencrypted passport numbers and 8.6 million payment cards. Marriott claims most credit cards were expired which means they have that information, but even though they’re telling me my credit card number was compromised they aren’t telling me the expiration date of the card.

Existing Legacy Starwood Amex Cardholders Can Earn 100,000 Marriott Points

by Gary Leff on February 22, 2019

Feb 22 2019

If you have the Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card you might not even know it because you still think of it as the Starwood Preferred Guest American Express Card — and your card still says SPG on it.

One of the biggest criticisms of the new program is that the value of points earned via credit card is one third less than Starwood Amex cardmembers are accustomed to. They’ve solved that through the rest of the year.