The other day, I was invited to participate in a market research study on credit cards.
In order to qualify, I had to answer some preliminary questions about which banks I used for my checking and savings accounts, and which banks had issued my credit cards.
After answering the pre-screening questions on the phone, I was selected to participate, and offered a fee for my time.
Upon arriving at the study site, I was ushered into a room to meet with two interviewers. There were a couple of laptops, and I was told that my responses to questions would be captured by webcam so that the researchers could go back over the tapes to analyze my tone of voice and facial expressions. There was also a one-way mirror in the room, from which additional people were observing the interview.
The interviewers began by asking me what credit cards I had, and why.
This was the warm-up question, and I think they were quite taken aback when I proceeded to describe the dozen or so credit cards I carry in my wallet, and my reasons for opening each card.
Lonely Planet’sThe World’s Best Street Food: Where to Find It & How to Make It is combination cookbook and travel guide –my two favorite genres.
This 225 page book, published in 2012 presents collection of street food experiences from around the globe, including everything from classic hotdogs to exotic pastries.
Inside The World’s Best Street Food:
100 authentic recipes from around the world
Brilliant images throughout
In-depth background of each dish, how it came about and what it’s like to eat
Savoury and Sweet sections
Lonely Planet’s the World’s Best Street Food
Glossary of exotic ingredients with easy-to-find alternatives
Where to find the best examples of each dish when you’re on the road
Written by food writers from around the world with an introduction by Tom Parker Bowles
The Kindle edition is currently free on Amazon (the paperback costs $14.50.)
Last month, on my US Airways flight back home from North Carolina the in-flight magazine had an ad for a US Airways credit card issued by Barclay’s with a 40K mile bonus. The ad said to ask the flight attendant for an application, but on the short flight, I never had the opportunity. There are so many different offers out there for what appear to be the same product, that sometimes it is hard to know what’s what. US Airways cards in particular will sometimes advertise a 40K bonus miles offer, which really turns out to be a 30K offer. The offers are changing all the time so you really have to read the fine print.
Applying for a U.S. Airways Dividend Miles Card with a 40K Mile Bonus
I have been looking for ways to boost my kitty of US Airways dividend miles for a family trip. When I returned home I went searching for the offer I had seen advertised.
I found an application link for an a Dividend Miles credit card that paid 40k bonus miles after the first purchase. There was an $89 annual fee, that was not waived the first year. The card came with all kinds of other benefits, but it was really the bonus miles I was after.
I don’t like to pay an annual fee, but sometimes it is more practical than getting a card with a high minimum spend requirement. Meeting a minimum might cause you to spend more money than you might have otherwise, or to stock up on gift cards just to meet the minimum spend requirement.
To make a long story short, I applied for the card and my application was denied.
I was told I was ineligible because I already had a different version of the U.S. Airways credit card, and that Barclay’s only allowed you to have one personal U.S. Airways card. So rather than incur a ding on my credit rating for no obvious benefit, I decided to apply for the business version of the card, which came with 25K bonus miles after the first purchase, and an $89 annual fee that was not waived the first year. Happily, I was approved for that card, have already received it in the mail, and have made my first purchase.
The business version of the card does not have all of the features of the personal card, such as the option for a free companion pass, or the ability to redeem flights for 5,000 fewer miles. However, these are features of the personal card that I already have.
Yesterday, Barclay’s came out with a new offer for theUS Airways® Premier World MasterCard®, which offers 40K bonus points after the first purchase.
New Offer for the US Airways® Premier World MasterCard®
Here are the details of the latest December 2014 offer:
Earn 50,000 bonus miles after your first purchase and payment of the $89 annual fee*
First checked bag free on eligible bags for you and up to four companions on domestic US Airways operated flights
One companion certificate good for up to 2 guests to travel with you on a US Airways operated flight at $99 each, plus taxes and fees
Priority boarding Zone 2 on US Airways operated flights
Redeem miles for award travel on US Airways and American Airlines booked through usairways.com or US Airways Reservations
Earn miles on every purchase with 2 miles for every $1 you spend on US Airways purchases and 1 mile for every $1 on purchases everywhere else
Please see terms and conditions for complete details
One caution is that the companion certificate comes with a number of limitations. For instance, there are blackout dates around popular travel times and other conditions that may sharply limit the utility of the certificate.
If you are looking for ways to boost your Dividend Miles balance, I would certainly recommend the personal version of the card over the business version. Live and learn!
Click here to compare current rewards credit card offers.
Here’s a chance to win two VIP tickets to the 2014 Lobster Rumble in New York City on June 5, 2014.
The charity event features a chance to vote on your favorite lobster roll among 23 contestants.
The winner and a guest will get roundtrip airfare to New York, a two night stay in a four star hotel, and a $500 gift card, courtesy of Haagen Dazs ice cream.
The event is completely sold out so this contest is your only chance to get in to this year’s tasting event!
First Checked Bag Flies Free with U.S. Airways® Premier Dividend Miles® Credit Card
Contrary to conventional wisdom, I always check my bags when I fly.
To me, it is much easier than dragging a heavy suitcase through security and the rest of the airport.
US Airways Drops Checked Bag Fee for Cardholders
Starting tomorrow, holders of a U.S. Airways® Premier Dividend Miles® credit card, and up to four companions, will be able to check their first bag for free on domestic US Airways-operated flights.
That’s a $25 savings per bag each way, or $50 roundtrip.
Just remember to include your Dividend Miles number in your reservation.
If you and a companion check your bags on just one flight a year, this new benefit will more than offset the $89 annual fee on the U.S. Airways® Premier Dividend Miles® credit card.
To follow your bags from check-in to landing, use your bag tag number, or the confirmation code from your baggage claim ticket.
If your flight has Gogo® internet, you can go to usairways.com and track your bags in flight for free, from your smartphone, tablet or laptop.
Do you prefer to check your bags or carry them onboard?
If you fly a lot, you probably have experienced a lost, delayed, or stolen bag. I’ve had my share of mishaps, but to me, the benefits out way the risks. What is your preference?
Click here to compare current rewards credit card offers.
I call myself the Priceline Queen, so I thought it would be fun to do a little analysis of which credit card is best for Priceline purchases.
On the face of it you might guess that The Priceline Rewards Visa® Card is the best bet,but that is not always the case.
For purposes of this analysis, I focused on three cash back, no annual fee credit cards issued by Barclays.
The three contenders are:
Barclaycard Arrival™ World MasterCard®
The Priceline Rewards Visa® Card
Upromise World MasterCard®
Ultimately, I decided not to publish the quantitative analysis, because the results were completely dependent on the hypothetical assumptions. It makes more sense for you to consider your individual spending patterns.
Instead, I prepared a comprehensive table comparing the three options, considering the pros and cons of each of these cash-back, no annual fee credit cards from Barclay’s Bank.
In Brief
The Priceline Rewards Visa® Card pays 5 percent cash back on all Priceline purchases, and it offers a $100 bonus for new applicants, after spending $1,000.
The Upromise World MasterCard® pays 3x points on gas purchases at Exxon/Mobil and 5 percent cash back on online purchases via the Upromise shopping portal, plus an additional 5 percent or so depending on the vendor, and it offers a $50 bonus after the first purchase. A ten percent payout on many travel purchases sounds pretty good, if you have faith that the Upromise shopping portal will pay out benefits. That’s a big if!
The Barclaycard Arrival™ World MasterCard®offers a $200 bonus after you make $1,000 of purchases within the first three months. It pays 2x points on all travel and restaurant purchases, and you earn back 10 percent of the points your redeem for travel expenses.
You can shop through the Upromise shopping portal using any credit card, but only the Upromise World MasterCard® pays the extra five percent.
Upromise is for Everyone
You don’t have to be a college student or the parent of a college student to take advantage of the Upromise savings program. Rebates from the credit card and the Upromise shopping portal are available to anyone registered with the program. You can request a check when your rewards balance is $10 or more. The catch is that you have to remember to go through the Upromise shopping portal, and that shopping portals are not always reliable in issuing the promised rebate.
Table Comparing Three No Annual Fee Cash Back Cards
This table is large, so please click through to see the complete analysis.
ATTRIBUTES
BARCLAYCARD ARRIVAL
PRICELINE CREDIT CARD
UPROMISE CREDIT CARD
BASICS & FEES
Credit needed
Excellent
Excellent
Excellent
APR - Interest rate
0% APR for 1st 12 billing cycles; then, APR of 14.99% or 18.99% based on credit worthiness.
0% APR for 1st 12 billing cycles; then, APR of 14.99% or 20.99% based on credit worthiness.
0% APR for 1st 12 billing cycles; then, APR of 12.99% or 20.99% based on credit worthiness.
2x points on restaurants and all travel expenses; 1x points on everything else.
5x points on "eligible" Priceline.com purchases; 1x points on everything else.
5% off on online purchases at Upromise.com; 3% off gas at Exxon/Mobile; 2% off movie theaters; 1% off everything else.
Bonus earnings
10% bonus points on travel redemptions
None, but could shop through Upromise or other online portal for extra savings.
Earn extra points from merchants in shopping portal. Many online travel agencies, hotels, cruises, and car rental agencies can be found in Upromise portal.
Priceline payouts: 6% on Name Your own Price hotel; 5% on Hotels; 3.5% on Activities; 3.5% on Cruises; 5% Name Your Own Price Car; 3.5% on Rental cars; 3.5% Vacation Packages; 3.5% Name Your Own Price on Airfare; 1% on Airfare
REDEMPTIONS
Redeem for statement credit
Yes, in increments of 2,500 ($25) or more
Yes, for any purchase of $25 or more
Request a check;
Deposit in 529 college savings account.
Restrictions on redemptions
Must have 2,500 points minimum to redeem.
To redeem for a $100 statement credit, for example, you must redeem your points towards a purchase of $100 or more.
Quarterly checks if balance exceeds $10.
Other redemption options
Can redeem points for statement credits or gift cards at half the value of travel redemptions (not recommended).
Use to pay off Sallie Mae student loans.
ADDITIONAL BENEFITS
Free FICO Credit Score
yes, 4 times a year
yes, 4 times a year
yes, 4 times a year
Purchase and Travel Protections
yes
yes
yes
1 year free TripIt Pro subscription
yes
no
no
LIMITATIONS
Can only redeem points at full value for travel expenses.
Earn only 1x point for Priceline.com purchases on cruise bookings, non-Name Your Own Price® car reservations, and hotel reservations designated as Pay When You Stay.
Payouts from online shopping portals are often unreliable.
Hard to remember to go through shopping portal.
OTHER FACTORS
Initial bonus worth $222;
Subsequent earn rate of 2.2% on all travel and restaurant purchases can pad your travel funds;
Relatively easy to cash out points for statement credits for travel purchases, but may require calls to customer service;
Initial bonus worth $100 toward Priceline reservations. 5% off prepaid hotel reservations on Priceline.com.
$50 initial bonus. 3% savings on some gas purchases. 5% savings on purchases through Upromise shopping portal, plus extra payout from many travel vendors and 900 other merchants.
MY TAKE
Good for budget travelers that prefer flexible paid travel over reward redemptions.
Good for heavy users of Priceline.
Best earning rate (app. 10%) on online travel purchases, except direct purchases from airlines and some hotel brands.
Good option if you do a lot of online shopping.
You need to consider your own spending circumstances to see which credit card makes most sense for you. Where do you come out?
Click here to compare current rewards credit card offers.
I know what you’re thinking. Why would you go to Japan to stay in an American chain hotel?
Japan has capsule hotels, love hotels, and traditional Ryokan inns.
So why in the world would you want to stay in an American chain hotel?
Two words: free nights.
I’ve read so many reviews from points and miles bloggers who have stayed at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Tokyo with “two free nights” they got from their Chase Hyatt credit card. That place seems a bit over-blogged.
What about the Imperial Hotel designed by Frank Lloyd Wright? Now that’s a place I would like to stay (though I never would, because I am too cheap.)
One reason you might choose a franchised hotel might be to economize. If you could earn free nights by accumulating points, that could cut the costs of your vacation. I’ve written before about how we are planning a rail-based trip, and that hotels near train stations would be ideal.
My guidebook, Japan by Rail, mentions a number of Choice Hotels that are directly across from railroad stations, and many others that are a ten minute walk away.
With all the hype about the Park Hyatt Tokyo, I thought I would take a look at other chain hotels that you can stay at for points, and how many properties they each have in Japan. The search tool at AwardMapper.com was tremendously helpful in this regard.
Choice Hotels Has More Hotels in Japan Than Any Other U.S. Chain
Are you surprised? Choice Hotels has four times as many properties in Japan as Hyatt does., and three times as many as the nearest competitors, Starwood and Best Western. Apparently, Choice has a ton of properties in Scandinavia, too.
To be sure the Comfort Inn is no Park Hyatt. The Japanese Comfort Inns all look like 2 star hotels that cater to business people. The rooms are quite small; but hey, this is Japan, you’d expect small rooms. The prices are reasonable, as are the points redemptions. For 38 of the 47 hotels, you need 8,000 points for a free night. What makes these hotels especially convenient is the free breakfast, free wifi, guest laundry, and small business center.
Get 32,000 Bonus Points with the Choice Privileges Visa Card Equal 4 Free Nights
Choice Privileges Credit Card Bonus Points
How can you get 8,000 points?
The easiest way is by opening The Choice Privileges® Visa® Card. This is a no annual fee travel rewards credit card that pays 8,000 points after your first purchase, and 24,000 points after a one night stay at a Choice Privileges location. That’s enough for four free nights at most Comfort Inns in Japan.
Here’s the thing: you can burn Choice Privileges points at hotels in Japan, but you will not earn points for your paid stays.
This is the points earning structure for The Choice Privileges® Visa® Card:
15 per eligible $1 spent at over 4,200 Choice Privileges locations
5 points per eligible $1 on additional Choice Privileges points or Choice Hotels gift card purchases
2 points per eligible $1 spent on everyday purchases
Cardmembers will get Automatic Elite Gold Status, which offers:
Ability to book free nights 50 days in advance instead of 30 days
Every time you earn points for eligible stays, Choice Privileges gives you a 10% point bonus
To be sure there are more generous offers available, but those are usually for cards with a high annual fee.
The Choice Privileges® Visa® Card has no annual fee, not in the first year, nor in any subsequent year. A card with no annual fee is one that you can hold for years and years, which will improve one of the important components of your credit score, the average age of your accounts.
What are the Limitations?
Comfort Inn Japan
There are some limitations. Your first paid stay must be in a U.S. participating hotel.
You will earn only 10 points per dollar at the lower end Choice properties: MainStay Suites®, Suburban Extended Stay®, Econo Lodge® and Rodeway Inn®.
“Eligible stays”exclude discounted rates or stays booked through third parties.
You do not earn points for stays in these countries: Brazil, China, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, India, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden and including Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Papua New Guinea and Fiji.
If I spend $3000 within the first three months, I will earn a 50,000 mile bonus.
$3,000 is not an easy reach for me, so I am always on the lookout for special opportunities.
How to Maximize Your Minimums
The Citi AAdvantage business card offers a number of spending categories that earn bonus points. These include two miles for every $1 spent on eligible American Airlines purchases and on purchases at certain office office supply stores, telecommunications, and car rentals, and one mile on all other purchases. Other cards, like the Chase Ink cards pay a five times bonus at office supply stores.
Obviously, if I can focus my shopping on these bonus categories, I will earn the most miles for meeting the minimum spend requirement.
For me, that means shopping at office supply stores like Staples. Last week, I got a good deal on an iTunes card at Staples. This week, I stocked up on toilet paper that was on sale there. Next week, starting Sunday April 27, 2014, there’s a rebate offer on MasterCard gift cards.
$20 Rebate on MasterCard Gift Cards
Staples is offering a $20 rebate on the purchase of $300 worth of MasterCard gift cards.
My plan is to buy three $200 gift cards. The cards have a steep fee of $6.95 each, so if I buy three, I will be paying $21 in fees. The $20 rebate will offset most of these costs.
These cards come with a PIN number, so they can be loaded onto a Bluebird card at Walmart.
I’ll need to get to the Staples store early before these cards sell out. If I am successful, I’ll be $600 and 1,200 miles closer to meeting the minimum spend requirement.
The other day, I was invited to participate in a market research study on credit cards.
