Category Archives for Credit Cards.
Instead of earning miles, cash back, or travel credit you’ll earn bitcoin or ethereum.
Somehow merely dropping the word “bitcoin” makes some people believe they have a business model. Blockrize doesn’t yet have a bank issuing partner. And the company’s founder only just “started investing his own savings in cryptocurrency in September.”
One of the great benefits of many premium travel rewards cards is trip delay coverage. If your flight is delayed — the length of delay required varies — you can send the bill to your credit card company’s insurance provider for things like transportation to and from a hotel, your room night, and meals.
Chase revealed several interesting facts about its credit card business in an investor deck this week.
While the average FICO score is 785 that means many cardholders have lower scores, just as they have higher scores. Annual spend of $39,000 sounds high but equates to $3250/month, not low but not as intimidating. I’m intrigued that 90% of users are keeping the card after the first year.
Virgin Atlantic is a transfer partner of Chase, American Express, and Citibank. So Virgin Atlantic miles are really easy to get. In general I don’t value their miles as much as many other currencies but there are strategic uses like 120,000 miles roundtrip for first class from the East Coast on their partner ANA.
Another strategic use is when they discount their own flights. Virgin adds fuel surcharges to awards, but when the mileage cost is low enough even that makes sense.
There are many great ways to earn miles, and many of those are neglected by the average frequent flyer. While the greatest miles and points deals ever are long gone, that’s how these things work. The best deals don’t last. Which is why it pays to stay alert, and not leave miles on the table.
We often delve into the extreme detail and minutiae of rewards cards, there are tons of benefits and features and lots of details but it’s easy to lose the forest from the trees.
I thought I’d try to keep it simple, with just a single statement to encapsulate the key value proposition offered by several of the best rewards cards. See if you agree with my cutting to the chase on each.
The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 provides penalties for financial institutions who allow themselves to fund illegal online gambling activities. However fantasy sports, state lotteries, and horse racing are not clearly included activities in the law.
Most financial institutions have stayed well on the ‘safe side’ of the law and prohibited customer activity that isn’t actually illegal under the Act.
The British Airways Visa comes with a 10% re-usable code, CARDOFFERU, that cardholders can use to reduce the price of British Airways tickets. That offer has been extended to travel which begins by June 30.
And now the British Airways AARP discount of up to $200 has been extended too.
There’s a Vimeo video up about the new Starbucks credit card.
When the original Starbucks Visa was introduced 14 years ago it gave you an actual 1% rebate at Starbucks. The Starbucks Duetto Visa was sunset in 2010. I had hoped the new iteration of the product would be more lucrative.
Cathay Pacific launched its new US credit card back in February. It’s issued by Synchrony Bank.
Initially the signup bonus on the card was 25,000 points after $2500 spend within 90 days for this $95 annual fee card. In late summer they ran a 50,000 point signup offer.
Today they launched a new offer for the card which bonuses all foreign transaction spend: 35,000 miles after $2500 spend within 90 days and a $0 annual fee the first year.
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 »
