Credit Cards

Category Archives for Credit Cards.

Bonus miles for referring new cardmembers to the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature

by Gary Leff on August 14, 2005

Aug 14 2005

If you have an Alaska Airlines Visa Signature, you can refer friends to the card and earn 1000 Alaska miles when they’re approved for it. The Alaska Airlines Visa Signature is one of the cards that I recommend as one of the Best Mileage Earning Credit Cards (in limited circumstances, primarily if you can make use of the companion travel certificate that comes with the card). So if you’re going to get the card, consider letting someone who already has it refer you so they can get a free 1000 miles. (Via Free Frequent Flyer Miles.)

Juniper Bank to issue Visa for Merged USAirways-America West

by Gary Leff on August 9, 2005

Aug 09 2005

When the USAirways-America West merger was first announced in May I noted that a key detail was a planned cash infusion from a credit card partner in the neighborhood of $300 million. It was curious that the partner wasn’t named, while Bank of America was already partner to both airlines. So, despite the Charlotte Observer calling the news “somewhat unexpected”, it shouldn’t be all that surprising that Juniper Bank (which issues Frontier and Airtran cards) will become the issuer of the USAirways card.Taking the place of Charlotte-based Bank of America will be Juniper Bank, a subsidiary of British-based Barclays PLC, which agreed Monday to pour $455 million into the merger between US Airways and America West Airlines. In exchange, Juniper will have the exclusive right to market the US Airways credit card beginning in 2008,…

Multilevel Marketing for Credit Card Rewards

by Gary Leff on July 23, 2005

Jul 23 2005

Colloquy reports on a new program in the United Arab Emirates where cutomers receive a 1% rebate on their spending and a 1% rebate on the spending of everyone they refer for the credit card. I haven’t seen anything like this in the U.S. (though there are certainly one-time referral bonuses for getting someone to sign up for a card) but I certainly expect to.

20,000 Mile Bonus Offer for United Visa Signature Platinum Class

by Gary Leff on July 14, 2005

Jul 14 2005

The new United Mileage Plus Visa Signature Platinum Class, detailed earlier this month, has an offer of 20,000 bonus miles with first purchase along with the other card benefits detailed in my previous post. The application link won’t spell out the bonus miles — these links usually don’t — but the link is from an email clearly promising the bonus miles. In my experience with the United Visa, this works out perfectly well (although if you have any problems receiving the correct bonus, email me at gleff -at- yahoo.com and I’ll forward the text of the email).

United Mileage Plus Visa Signature Platinum Class

by Gary Leff on July 2, 2005

Jul 02 2005

There’s been a lot of buzz about a new United Airlines co-branded credit card. It’s expensive but has some great features. I haven’t chosen to carry it myself, but for frequent United flyers it may be just the right card. First, the fee is $140 per year. That’s more than the regular Signature Visa at $60 and more than the Gold Class Visa Signature which is priced at $85 (and which comes with 2500 anniversary miles, double miles on United purchases, and up to 10,000 miles a year for balance transfers). It’s also more expensive than the $30 Starwood American Express, to my mind the gold standard in mileage earning credit cards. However, there are some interesting benefits to the new United card. In addition to the 15,000 bonus miles with first purchase, 1000 mile…

Cathay Pacific Visa for Canadians

by Gary Leff on May 24, 2005

May 24 2005

Canadians can get a Cathay Pacific Visa Platinum card from RBC Bank. The annual fee is stiff at CA$150, but the card earns 1 AsiaMile per Canadian dollar spent — pretty good earning — on top of the 5000 AsiaMiles with first purchase. The AsiaMiles program permits upgrading on British Airways and American in addition to Cathay Pacific, and some of its awards are incredible values. 60,000 AsiaMiles buys you a business class award of less than 5000 miles each way. That would yield a British Airways ticket from the U.S. East Coast to most destinations in Europe. American charges 50,000 miles in coach for that. AsiaMiles is my program of choice for transferring eBay Anything Points, by the way, since 1 eBay point yields slightly more than 1 AsiaMile.

I’m Such a Geek

by Gary Leff on May 20, 2005

May 20 2005

This actually sounds like a fascinating way to spend a few daysCard Forum is the largest event in the card industry, with nearly 1,000 card issuers, banks and service providers converging at the Omni Orlando Resort for three information-packed days of educational sessions and networking that focused on loyalty and multi-channel marketing, stored value/pre-paid, and credit and debit.

How Can Banks Afford to Give You Miles, Rebates, and Premium Services?

by Gary Leff on April 14, 2005

Apr 14 2005

A piece in yesterday’s StartupJournal explained credit card interchange fees. Interchange fees, what credit card companies charge merchants when you use your card, average 1.75% for Visa and Mastercard and 2.4% for American Express. Larger merchants, naturally, negotiate lower feels than mom and pop businesses, but those percentages are the average. If Chase, which issues the United Visa, pays United 1.25 cents per mile and awards a mile per dollar spent on the card then they’re making half a cent on each dollar transaction. That half cent, plus any annual fee, funds their operations and any additional perks that come with the card. It also turns out that which prestige level card you use may now play a part in determining what the merchant gets charged. If you’re using a ‘premium’ Visa (such as Signature…

Devaluing the Paypal Debit Card

by Gary Leff on April 2, 2005

Apr 02 2005

New Paypal debit card users will receive 1% cashback, down from 1.5%. Current debit card members will be grandfathered at the 1.5% rate.Eligibility for the PayPal Preferred Rewards Program will become easier, however: Under the previous guidelines, only qualified eBay sellers designating a preference for PayPal in their eBay listings were eligible for the program, but beginning today eligibility will be expanded to include all merchants who promote PayPal as their preferred online payment method, whether operating on eBay or off.

Northwest Visa Offers

by Gary Leff on March 25, 2005

Mar 25 2005

Northwest has new offers up for their co-branded credit cards issued by US Bank. I’ve previously mentioned that US Bank is one of the biggest sticklers for one signup bonus per customer. However, a recent exchange with Gary Steiger (of Free Frequent Flyer Miles, where I came across this offer) made me realize that their limit is per card type. I first signed up for the Platinum Visa a few years ago when the offer was for 25,000 bonus miles over 2 years, requiring $500 in spending with Northwest for part of those miles. That signup qualified me for the 2002 Fly Free Faster promotion that netted another 10,000 miles. In 2003 I signed up for the Northwest Business Visa for 10,000 miles to qualify for that summer’s Fly Free Faster promotion. That was a…