Credit Cards

Category Archives for Credit Cards.

Should Most People Ditch Airline Miles as Credit Card Rewards?

by Gary Leff on July 24, 2018

Jul 24 2018

When it comes to domestic awards airlines are rarely going to give you 2 cents a point in value. And you’re still stuck hunting and pecking for award space rather than taking the flights you want.

As award charts devalue, and airlines charge more and more points for awards (especially when saver seats aren’t available) while paid tickets have often gotten cheaper using points to directly pay for travel makes more and more sense. In an era of regular $300-$400 roundtrips to Europe it can still make sense to pay for travel with credit card points even when it no longer makes sense to do so with airline miles.

Insights into How Credit Card Payments Work From the CEO of Plastiq

by Gary Leff on July 18, 2018

Jul 18 2018

Bill payment service Plastiq charges your credit card and then pays the bills you ask them to. That way you can earn credit card rewards for bills you might otherwise pay by check (currently only Mastercards allowed for mortgages), and benefit from convenience and float, charging something at the beginning of a credit card billing cycle and paying it off at the due date weeks after the end of the cycle.

Their CEO did an AMA on Reddit and offered some interesting insights into payments and their business plans.

New Benefits and Faster Miles Earning for Citibank AAdvantage Business Card

by Gary Leff on July 16, 2018

Jul 16 2018

I just signed up for the CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Mastercard®, taking advantage of the best-ever offer of 70,000 miles after spending $4,000 within the first 4 months of account opening.

Citibank just launched improvements and faster points-earning fro the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite™ Mastercard®. Now they’ve improved earning and benefits on the business card, too.

Chase Takes $330 Million Charge Due to High Cost of Points Redemptions

by Gary Leff on July 13, 2018

Jul 13 2018

You’re costing Chase more than they expected, and they’ve revealed how much more to investors.

How Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh Earns Credit Card Rewards

by Gary Leff on July 12, 2018

Jul 12 2018

As the media and opponents dig into the background of the President’s nominee to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court, one story circulating is about Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s reported past credit card debt.

Notably, Judge Kavanaugh does not currently have any reportable credit card debt. And he explains his past credit card balances that exceeded his net worth excluding the value of his residence as the result of purchasing items ‘for friends’ that he was reimbursed for.

New American Express – Marriott Transfer Ratio Coming in August

by Gary Leff on July 6, 2018

Jul 06 2018

In the new Marriott program there will be two card issuers: Chase for personal cards, and American Express for premium personal and small business cards. All legacy cards will continue to be serviced.

And in the new program the transfer ratio of Membership Rewards to Starwood (and ultimately Marriott) will be changing as well.

Chase’s 5/24 is Expanding

by Gary Leff on June 28, 2018

credit card with chains wrapped around it

Jun 28 2018

On Wednesday I attended a briefing with Chase and Hyatt executives about the new Hyatt co-brand card that launches today. I’ll have more on that today.

We talked through the reasons for the new card benefits and had time for some question and answer. I asked about Chase’s “5/24” rule.

First-Ever: Credit Card Earns 1 Elite Qualifying Mile Per Dollar Spent

by Gary Leff on June 27, 2018

Jun 27 2018

Barclays just re-launched the Frontier Airlines World Mastercard and it’s one of the most creative new products I’ve seen in a long time. Frontier is an ultra low cost carrier, but for cardmembers it doesn’t have to be. In fact if Frontier had onboard internet this card is good enough to make me consider the airline.

New Aggressive Pitch for Onboard Credit Card Signup — ‘Get Both’ for Big Bonuses

by Gary Leff on June 14, 2018

Jun 14 2018

I was surprised flying American Airlines this week that the onboard credit card pitch for the Barclays AAdvantage® AviatorTM Red World Elite Mastercard® included the flight attendant noting that this is ‘a new card introduced in 2017 (sic) and that if you already have the American Airlines card issued by Citi you can get this one too.’

Explicitly mentioning a competitor product seems to be a new part of the script since I’ve seen several references to this from other flyers on Facebook as well.

American Express Will Now Give You a Warning If You’re Not Eligible for an Initial Bonus

by Gary Leff on June 13, 2018

Jun 13 2018

Lifetime means as long as American Express sees you as having had a card in the past. Often that seems to be around seven years. You can ask American Express what cards you’ve had in the past and they’ll tell.

There’s no more guessing, because American Express has a new popup when you submit an application — before they pull your credit — noting you’ve had the card in the past (or currently have it) and therefore aren’t eligible for a bonus. You can proceed with the application if you wish, or stop the process.