Travel cheap. Save money. Have fun.
Boo Hiss. Southwest Airlines has just announced a major devaluation of the Rapid Rewards frequent flyer program:
Wanna Get Away® reward flight bookings made on or after March 31, 2014 will require 70 points per dollar. This is an increase from the 60 points per dollar currently required.
In other words, the miles will be devalued by 15 percent.
If it’s been awhile since you had a chance to use the Pick2Pay tool on the sidebar, you may want to take a second look. This is a tool that helps you pick which credit card to use to maximize your points for a particular purchase.
The developers have incorporated a number of enhancements.
Most notable is the ability to search for rebates from cash-back portals like FatWallet as well as the credit card or airline sponsored portals.
My personal preference is to stick with FatWallet and the Chase Ultimate Rewards Mall for simplicity’s sake. Points and cash back deals for online purchases can vary considerably, though, so if you have a big purchase coming up, it is worth checking around.
Staples.com has a flash deal today (9/10/13) on $50 iTunes gift cards for $40 with free shipping. This sale could earn you 280 Ultimate Reward points if you have a Chase Ink card and go through the Chase Ultimate Rewards online shopping portal. (5x on office supply purchases plus 3x via Ultimate Rewards portal.)
Cards will be mailed via the U.S. post office with a tracking number.
This will sell out quickly so act now if you are interested!
If you have a small business credit card such as one of the Chase Ink cards, there’s an easy way to earn an extra 1-10 percent savings on certain purchases.
I stumbled upon several seldom-publicized travel savings opportunities which I discuss in a three-part series of articles.
Part 2: MasterCard Easy Savings
Part 3: Check Inn – CLC Lodging
These three savings programs for small businesses are among the best kept secrets in the travel blogosphere. The programs have all been around for years and they are a cinch to use.
The MasterCard Easy Savings program may be even a better deal than the Visa SavingsEdge. I say that because you can earn statement credits for every day expenses like gasoline, and even car repairs at 20,000 brand name gas stations.
If you register your small business credit card with the MasterCard Easy Savings program, you will automatically receive a cash rebate on your statement for certain everyday business purchases.
No coupons. No codes. Savings are automatic. What’s even better is that you can stack these rebates on to other points earning opportunities.
The MasterCard Easy Savings program offers savings on everything from office equipment to shipping, from hotels to rental cars. Every time you use your enrolled MasterCard small business credit card at a participating merchant, you get an automatic cash rebate on your monthly statement.
So which MasterCards are eligible? For starters, the Chase Ink business MasterCards participate in the Easy Savings program.
For frequent travelers, it is notable that you get 1% back at many gas stations (through the Fuelman network), 5% back for car rentals at Budget and Avis, 5% back for Frontier Airlines purchases, 5% back at Wyndham hotels, and 4% back from any hotel in the MasterCard hotel network. I checked my local area and found that the hotel list is quite broad and includes both Hilton and Marriott hotels among many others. Most every local gas station is a member of the Fuelman network.
Merchants participating in the Easy Savings discount program include:
If you have a gaggle of credit cards in your wallet and can’t remember which to use when buying gas or groceries, welcome to the club!
I like a new tool by Pick2Pay — it’s a free award wallet that suggests which card would be best to use for various categories of purchases such as drugstores or eating out. There are both web and mobile versions of the Pick2Pay application.
Pick2Pay remembers the cards in your wallet, but does not require you to enter personal information such as credit card numbers.
Pick2Pay is also great for online shopping because it can show you the best option for leveraging credit card and airline shopping portals.
Furthermore, Pick2Pay identifies discounted e-gift cards that allow you to stack rewards on top of credit card bonus points.
I just stumbled upon the motherlode of travel savings opportunities which I will address in a three-part series of articles.
Part 2: Mastercard Easy Savings
Part 3: Check Inn – CLC Lodging
These three programs for small businesses are the best kept secret in the travel blogosphere. The programs have all been around for years and they are a cinch to use.
The first program, Visa SavingsEdge, discussed in today’s post, is good; the second program, Mastercard Easy Savings, is even better; and the third program is great. Please signup for email notifications of these future articles.
Visa SavingsEdge
If you are a small business owner and have a Visa business credit card, you may be interested in the Visa SavingsEdge program.
With a single registration, you can receive automatic discounts from dozens of vendors. The savings show up as credits on your monthly statement. No fuss, no muss. This is the lazy person’s savings program.
The program is for holders of Visa small business credit cards. All you have to do is register your card once and the discounts are automatic.
You can check whether your card is eligible on the Visa website. My Chase United Mileage Plus business card and my Chase Southwest business card are both eligible, and I have heard that the Club Carson Business Card is also eligible.
Last week, I needed to book a roundtrip flight from Salt Lake City (SLC) to Washington, DC (IAD) in a big hurry and airfares were through the roof: $1297 on United Airlines to be precise.
No way, Jose! Instead, I purchased the “economy” class ticket for 37,500 United Mileage Plus miles, a $7.50 fee, and a $75 close-in booking charge.
I “earned” the miles by opening a United Mileage Plus credit card with Chase Bank, by accumulating some frequent flyer miles from a few long-distance flights.
If you been at the miles and points game for a while, you may already have picked up many of the big bonus credit card offers.
If that’s the case, you may be interested in an oft overlooked airline rewards credit card that pays five times points for all air travel.
This is a better rate by far than other rewards credit cards — which pay two to three points for air travel spend.
Pentagon Federal Credit Union (PFCU) offers the PenFed Premium Travel Rewards American Express® Card to its members.
PFCU does not run an affiliate program for bloggers, which may be why you haven’t read about this card elsewhere.
There is a temporary offer from Chase Bank for gift cards that can make a great present for recent graduates, or a gift for other occasions.
For those looking to meet the minimum spend requirement on a newly opened rewards credit card, these gift cards may offer some advantages, not the least of which is that they are 100% fee free.
The gift cards are can be fully personalized.
You can choose:
There is no fee for purchasing the gift cards and postage is free.
Do you find that Staples is overpriced for many office supplies and technology products? I do. I can generally do better shopping online at Amazon or NewEgg. Target is great for school supplies.
If you keep an eye out for weekly specials, however, you can find some good deals at Staples.
There is a compelling reason to stalk Staples sales. If you have one of the Chase Ink business credit cards, purchases at Staples and other office supply stores earn 5 times points.
I have a home office for my consulting business. When I need to stock up on supplies for my business, like reams of copy paper, Staples is my go to store. That is because they frequently run promotions that allow you to get a ream of paper, or sometimes a case, for “free after rebate.”
These purchases are not really free, because the rebate comes in the form of store credit which must be spent at Staples within a two to three month period. If you are in the market for printer paper though, it’s fair to say that you are getting these supplies at half price.