Category Archives for Credit Cards.
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.
With American Express getting exclusivity to issue Hilton co-brand credit cards in the U.S., and Citi’s Hilton cards retired, Amex will be launching new cards and improving benefits this week — expected for Thursday the 18th. The base Hilton Honors American Express Card remains the same but eliminates foreign transaction fees. The Hilton Honors Surpass® Card from American Express is going to become the Hilton Honors American Express Ascend Card. The annual fee goes up from $75 to $95, but it adds 10 Priority Pass free visits per year and a free weekend night each year after spending $15,000 in purchases on the card in a calendar year. And the card looks attractive, too. It’s important to note that if you’ve had the Surpass card, the Ascend card will not be considered a new product.…
I’ve shared with you what’s in my wallet and why.
This is your opportunity to take shots at my strategy, or to offer your own an explain why it makes sense for you. What cards are you using for the most spend?
American Express Membership Rewards points have historically transferred to Hilton at a rate of 1000 -> 1500. So 1 Amex point was worth 1.5 Hilton points.
That’s not a rate I’d want to transfer at. I value Hilton points at 4/10ths of a cent and Amex points at 1.8 cents apiece. Sometimes they’d run bonuses where 1 Amex point would yield 2 Hilton, still not a great deal but better of course.
Hotel franchise manuals contain all sorts of interesting tidbits, from the specific details of brand standards (the experience they’re obligated to provide to you as a guest) to how they allocate rooms for reward nights. Back in December I shared juicy tidbits from Best Western’s document. Loyalty Lobby mentioned that the Holiday Inn Express franchise manual (from 2012) could be found online, unprotected. So I googled it. Here is the .pdf. It tells you everything from the maximum price to send a fax or for photocopies, that all Holiday Inn Express hotels must provide complimentary tooth brush, tooth paste, comb, and razor/shaving cream, and that the hotel’s computers must load McAfee protection software, among other items. Here are some of the things that I found interesting. Hotels are required to set aside at least 5%…
The more I look at the Continental Presidential Plus MasterCard from Chase, the more interesting it looks — for a certain segment of frequent flyer. The $375 (gulp!) annual fee, though $300 in the first year, comes with Continental Presidents Club membership – which also gets you access to Northwest and Delta clubs. The similarly priced American Express Platinum card comes with this same lounge access plus access to American Airlines AAdmiral’s Clubs and other benefits (like the Fine Hotels and Resorts program and domestic companion airfare benefit) not matched by this card. However, for flyers seeking elite status on Continental, it offers the best credit card elite status perk I’ve seen with any airline: up to 28,000 elite qualifying miles per year through spending on the card, and best of all you can drop…
Citibank is offering 25,000 bonus miles and first year free for the Ameircan Airlines business and personal mastercards and personal American Express. All cards require $750 in spending within the first four months to qualify for the bonus. These cards can generally be churned every few months, and signing up for all is 75,000 miles at a pop.
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 »
