Category Archives for Credit Cards.
Southwest has changed their redemption values today in a way that upends the original model of the Rapid Rewads 2.0 program launched in 2011.
They’ve reduced the average number of points per dollar required for Business Select fares by 35% and Anytime fares by 22%. And they’ve increased the average points per dollar required for Wanna Get Away fares by 6%.
This $49 card has come with an anniversary free night every year that’s good at any IHG hotel. For new certificates issued May 1 onward these certificates will only be good for hotels that normally cost 40,000 points per night or less.
From August through October there was a 50,000 mile signup bonus offer for the Cathay Pacific Visa. That’s double the previous offer.
Through June 30 they’re offering an initial bonus up to 60,000 miles.
Yesterday I received a nice box with a thank you note inside and a book 1000 Places to See Before You Die with my name inscribed onto the cover.
I reached out to Barclays to see what’s going on with this and they shared:
When you use your Chase card to buy travel directly — instead of transferring points to miles — you have the Ultimate Rewards online portal and you have phone reps. There are some things you cannot do online, like book Southwest Airlines flights. However there’s a new thing you can do online…
American Express has been talking to the Denver airport about a Centurion lounge since 2011. They wanted to put one on United’s B concourse. That never happened, but there’s finally now movement because on Tuesday the Denver City Council is expected to approve a lease for a new Centurion lounge on the C concourse.
The median credit scores by U.S. city are interesting. The best scores cluster in areas known for retirement and education as much as prosperity.
According to research by the Federal Reserve credit scores predict relationship stability. More or less you need to marry someone with a similar credit score if you want your marriage to last. So figure out which city you belong in if you want to find a life long partner. In fact get your credit score up and then get serious about dating.
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.)
I’m a curmudgeon. I refuse to adapt to the language of the day. I almost always refer to “Hyatt top tier elite status” and refuse to type the words “World of Hyatt Globalist status.” Because that’s just dumb.
I hate losing the second ‘H’ in HHonors though I suppose Hilton gets to say what the name of their program is.
Chase won’t approve many people who have opened 5 or more new accounts within the previous 24 months for some of their credit cards. That’s frequently referred to as “5/24.”
However some cards are exempt from 5/24, and the number of new accounts you’ve had in the last two years won’t disqualify you from being approved.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
