Chase Freedom Archives - Fishing4Deals

Five Ways to Save Big on a Whole Foods Thanksgiving Dinner

November 16, 2016 by Fishing4Deals

Check your calendar. Thanksgiving is just a week away! If you are hosting this year, it is seriously time to start planning your menu!

Thanksgiving is a huge deal in our family. We traditionally have:

the meal before the meal;
the meal; and
the meal after the meal.

As our family celebration has grown to over twenty people (think two turkeys) it is sometimes practical to bring in prepared food. After all, the point of the holiday is to spend time with friends and family, not to be stuck in the kitchen all day.

When Whole Foods Market invited me a few other bloggers to sample their traditional Thanksgiving meal and their Top 10 Holiday Wines, I was intrigued.

Does the Food Measure Up to Grandma’s Standards?

Thanksgiving Dinner from Whole Foods Market

Actually, yes!

The turkey was delicious — moist, flavorful, and nicely seasoned. The traditional side dishes complimented the turkey: crisp, vibrant green beans, tart cranberry orange sauce, real mashed potatoes, mushroom stuffing — the works!

In my estimation, the Whole Foods traditional Thanksgiving meal was a good value at $89 for six to eight diners.

Everything tasted homemade, the veggies were fresh, not soggy. This meal was far, far better than the $49 disaster I ordered from Safeway a few years back.

But you can do much better price wise!

What’s Included in the Whole Foods Traditional Thanksgiving Meal?

The basic package that feeds six to eight people is on sale at Whole Foods Market for $89 and includes an uncooked oven ready turkey, gravy, traditional sage stuffing, homestyle mashed potatoes, organic cranberry orange relish, and a choice of two vegetables or homestyle casseroles. All this is on sale from the regular price of $119.99.

The small turkey included in the basic package weighs about 13 pounds.

For larger gatherings, a dinner that serves 12-16 costs $169.

You choose the style of turkey from five offerings:

Locally sourced
Organic
Heirloom bronze (higher percentage of dark meat)
Kosher
Brined

The ready-to-cook turkey is rubbed with herb butter, and rests on a bed of mirepoix. You just need to pop it in the oven.

You can choose two vegetables or casseroles from this list:

Maple carrots with pecans
Creamed spinach
Roasted brussels sprouts
Green beans with roasted shallots
Organic harvest roasted vegetables
Garlic roasted fingerling potatoes
Organic corn pudding
Butternut sweet potato casserole
Organic green bean casserole
Macaroni and cheese
All the trimmings!

Yum!

And for $99, you can get a fully organic turkey dinner with a slightly different selection of sides.

You schedule a time for pickup with your local Whole Foods store — they are even open Thanksgiving morning if that works for you!

Five Ways to Save Big on the Whole Foods Thanksgiving Package Deal

Fishing4Deals is all about the deals, so I am going to show you five ways to maximize your savings.

Shop the sale
Order online and get a $10 off coupon
Get the Whole Foods App
Seek out local specials
Pay with Whole Foods Gift Cards purchased at a discount

Shop the Sale

Whole Foods is offering special deals on some other Thanksgiving basics. For instance, you can order two bakery quality pumpkin pies for $15. Fruit pies are $9.99 each. The store is featuring a Cuvee Papale red wine for $10 off.

Order Online and Get a $10 Coupon

Save $10 if you order online

If you place your dinner order online before November 22, 2016, Whole Foods will email you a coupon for $10 off your next in-store purchase of $75 or more.

Get the Whole Foods App

Download the Whole Foods app for Apple or Android. If you’re not using the app, you may be missing out on some pretty big discounts.

Every Wednesday, Whole Foods loads new deals that are only available by scanning a barcode on your phone when you check out.

The app also provides weekly coupon specials that are available to all shoppers.

Scan the barcode when you check out for savings

Seek Out Local Specials

Pick up the weekly flyer of in-store sales and the bimonthly coupon book at the front of the store. You may find some seasonal specials for your Thanksgiving table.

For instance (for my Northern Virginia friends) the Tysons Corner Whole Foods Market is offering 25 percent off a bottle of wine!

Pay with Whole Foods Gift Cards Purchased at a Discount

Here’s the real deal: I never pay cash or credit at Whole Foods Market.

My trick is to buy Whole Foods gift cards at a discount.

For example, Staples sells Whole Foods gift cards. There is no fee for the purchase of these gift cards in-store. If you pay with a Chase Ink small business credit card, which earns five times points at office supply stores, that effectively amounts to five percent off the cost of groceries at Whole Foods.

Alternately, if you have an American Express card, check your AmexOffers for a deal at Staples. My card has an active offer for a $20 statement credit for a $75 purchase at Staples. Purchases of Whole Foods and many other gift cards are eligible for this offer — which could bring the cost of your turkey dinner down to $69!

You may also be able to find Whole Foods gift cards at a drugstore like Walgreens. The Chase Freedom credit card is offering five times points at drugstores this quarter. If you purchase a Whole Foods gift card at a drugstore and pay with a Freedom card, you will earn five percent cash back.

If You’re Not Cooking, You Have Time to Decorate

Thanksgiving tableware by Williams-Sonoma

Williams-Sonoma partnered with Whole Foods Market for the blogger meet up, and they provided two sample table settings to create a festive mood.

The first tablescape was designed for a formal dinner, complete with seasonal china and serving bowls.

The second casual tablescape featured porcelain dishes from William-Sonoma’s economical Provisions line, and modern serving pieces from the Open Kitchen line.

Economical porcelain dinnerware by Williams-Sonoma

Do these designs give you any ideas for your own celebratory feast?

***

Cousins in New Jersey are hosting Thanksgiving this year, so I won’t be cooking. Where will you be spending the holiday?

Disclosure: I have a partnership with Whole Foods Market and was compensated for my work, but all words and opinions are my own.

Hack My Wallet: Gift Card Edition

August 22, 2015August 22, 2015 by Fishing4Deals

I hate gift cards.

I think gift cards make terrible presents — Cash is a much better gift!

The unspent balances and fees on gift cards make a tidy profit for the people selling them.
Spending gift cards causes delays at the checkout counter.
Returns are more difficult with gift card purchases.
Gift cards can be lost or stolen.

There are a million more reasons why I hate gift cards, but that is a topic for another post.

This post is about each of the gift cards I have in my wallet right now, and why.

Staples Visa Gift Card — Value $20

I got this card from Staples as a rebate for purchasing $300 in Visa gift cards during a promotion. Every few weeks, Staples runs a promotion on Visa gift cards, with a rebate that offsets the card purchase fees. Sometimes, the rebate is in the form of a Staples gift card that must be spent at Staples. This Staples Visa gift card is a cash equivalent that can be spent anywhere.

Clydes Gift Cards — Value $50

Amex was running a special promotion where you could get a $5 credit for a $25 purchase at various Washington area restaurants. I purchased two $25 gift cards at Clydes, one with my Amex SPG credit card, and one with my Amex Bluebird card. Clydes is my favorite restaurant so I know these gift cards will be put to good use.

Tara Thai Gift Card — Value $45

Tara Thai is a fabulous restaurant that participates in the Rewards Dining Program. I purchased this gift card when United Mileage Plus Dining was running a special promotion. The gift card gives me the flexibility to participate in the promotion offer, while delaying my actual dine until a more convenient time. I ended up missing the deadline for meeting the terms of the promotion, so I just earned 5 times Ultimate Rewards Points on this.

Lonestar Steakhouse Gift Card — Value $40

Lonestar Steakhouse is another participant in the Rewards Dining Program. I think when I picked up this gift card I had it confused with Texas Roadhouse. Lonestar Steakhouse is pretty far from where we live so we’ll have to go out of our way to use this.

Whole Foods Gift Card — Value $6.70

Amex Offers was offering a $15 statement credit for a $75 purchase at Whole Foods. By purchasing a gift card, I am able to earn the credit, while redeeming for small purchases at Whole Foods at my leisure.

Home Depot Gift Card — Value $100

I purchase Home Depot gift cards at Staples using a Chase Ink card that pays 5 times points on all purchases at office supply stores. I give the gift cards to our contractor to purchase supplies for our home renovation.

Amazon Gift Cards — $100

I picked up an Amazon gift card at Office Depot recently, where I earn 5 times points on my Chase Ink card. My daughter started college recently and we purchase some of her textbooks on Amazon.

Home Improvement Gift Card — $200

This is another Office Depot purchase. Home Improvement Gift Cards are sold without a fee, and can be used at either Lowes or Home Depot, as well as a number of other stores.

Starbucks Gift Card — $32

I purchase Starbucks gift cards at Staples and load them to my iPhone. I usually pick up something from Starbucks if there is an outlet in the airport.

Exxon Gift Cards — $100

Currently, I am putting my gas purchases on my Chase Freedom credit card because of the quarterly 5 times bonuses on gas purchases. I purchased these Exxon gift cards at Office Depot, but won’t use them until October when the Chase Freedom bonus categories change.

CVS — $10

Honestly I can’t remember where I obtained a paper gift card worth $10 at any CVS drugstore. It will be a miracle if I remember to use it! I do know that some Office Depot stores sell CVS gift cards.

What’s in My Wallet? $700 Worth of Gift Cards

I totalled up these various gift cards and am appalled to report that I am carrying around $700 worth of gift cards. That is overkill, for sure.

First off it is way too much cash equivalent to have in my purse.

Second, that is an awful lot of money to have tied up in gift cards rather than earning interest in the bank.

It is just as necessary to keep tabs on your gift cards as it is on your bank account or credit card balances. It looks like I need to be more deliberate about slimming down my wallet!

Are Gift Card Purchases Worth It?

Let’s tote up the bonuses I earned on these gift cards.

Ultimate Reward points: 4,160 points
Amex statement credits: $25
United Mileage Plus miles: 425 miles

This is pretty small potatoes. After accounting for the time and gas spent driving around to purchase these gift cards, you might conclude that its not worth stuffing your wallet with gift cards, remembering to use them, and holding up the checkout line for such trivial bonuses.

On the other hand, you might find that small bonuses add up to big rewards if you consistently pursue all opportunities.

Where do you come down? Are gift cards part of your miles and points strategy?

15 is My Limit on Schnitzengruben, ahem, Rewards Credit Cards

August 24, 2015August 5, 2014 by Fishing4Deals

Fifteen is my Limit — Fifteen is my limit . . .

I love to read those silly What’s in My Wallet blog posts. I guess it’s because before I got into points and miles, I would not have believed that you could open an insane number of rewards credit cards without ruining your credit.

It does raise some questions, though:

How could the banks keep extending you credit?
How many times can you earn big bonuses?
How do you remember which card to use for which purchases?
How could you possibly keep track of all those credit cards without missing a payment?

15 is My Limit on Schnitzengruben, I mean Credit Cards

I recently counted 14 credit cards in my wallet from five different banks. That is crazy! I don’t recommend that for anyone.

Miss a single payment and you will be socked with a $35 fee and a major ding to your credit score.

With fourteen active credit card accounts, it is taking too much of my time to track expenses and pay the bills. Let’s face it; my office is cluttered and my wallet barely closes.

I am looking to thin out my collection.

Rewards Credit Cards Aren’t for Everyone

Travel rewards credit cards aren’t for everybody.

First off, you need to have a stellar credit score to be eligible for the best offers.

Most people prefer to carry only one or two cards, to simplify things and minimize the hassle. There is merit to this approach, particularly if you are disorganized and don’t keep current with paying your bills.

A perfectly reasonable strategy is to earn free travel is to focus on one airline or one type of flexible rewards such as Chase Ultimate Rewards points or cash back travel cards like the Capitol One Venture Card, or the Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ World Elite MasterCard®.

But if you have a credit score in the excellent range, and you pay your bills on time and in full every month, rewards credit cards can be incredibly lucrative.

Once you have experienced the large bonus offers for opening a new credit card, which can be worth $500 or more, it is easy to get sucked into to opening more and more accounts to earn free travel.

Know Your Credit Score

FICO credit score — Barclay’s Offers Free Access to Your Transunion Credit Score

From personal experience, I have watched my credit score progressively improve the further along I got in this game. Barclay’s bank offers its credit card customers free access to their official FICO credit score once every three months.

My most recent FICO score is 837, with 14 open accounts, and five additional credit card accounts that I have closed in the past year or so.

That is because my credit line has increased dramatically with all these cards, and my monthly spending is just a small fraction of the available credit.

The banks appear willing to extend me credit well beyond my annual income. Be careful. Like with the mortgage crisis, a lot of people get in debt over their heads from credit cards and can’t make the payments, or end up paying exorbitant amounts of interest, at rate as high as 28 percent annually.

This much is clear: the banks are making plenty of money, but probably not from people like me.

Starting Out with Rewards Credit Cards: The Chase Freedom Card

When I started my environmental consulting business 15 years ago, I opened the Chase Freedom credit card in order to keep my business expenses separate from my personal expenses. Chase Freedom is a personal, not a business credit card but I was using it for business purposes. It carries no annual fee, and earns 5x rewards on select categories of spending. This is a card that I would highly recommend for someone just starting out. The points can be taken as cash back on your next statement, or used as Ultimate Rewards Points. Ultimate Rewards Points are quite flexible and can be transferred to many airline and hotel loyalty programs but you need to have one of the premium credit cards from Chase to enable transfers.

If you are just starting out with travel hacking, the Chase Freedom card is a great place to begin because you can earn cash back or travel rewards, depending on your needs. Because the card has no annual fee, you can keep it forever, thus increasing the length of your credit history over time. This card earns 1x points on all purchases, and 5x points on select categories, that vary each quarter on up to $1500 of purchases per quarter. Generally, the 5x points is good for gas purchases for six months of the year. This spring, the card offered 5x points on restaurants, and sometimes you can get 5x points on Amazon.com, Lowes, or Kohls.

Right now, Chase is offering a $100 bonus for new applications, but I have seen this bonus go as high as $200 after spending $500 on initial purchases within three months. From time to time there is an extra $25 incentive for adding an authorized user to your account. There are cards with bigger bonuses but they usually entail annual fees and larger initial spending requirements.

Pick a Card, Any Card!

Whenever I show anyone what credit cards are in my real wallet, they look at me like I am crazy. I often get looks as I fumble through my wallet looking for the card that earns bonus points at this store or that.

Because I run a small business, I am eligible to apply for business credit cards. This allow me to “double dip” on account bonuses. I travel for both business and personal reasons and must keep my expenses separate for tax purposes. I caution you that business cards can only be used for genuine business expenses and they lack some of the consumer protections of personal credit cards.

What’s in My Wallet?

Here’s a quick rundown of what is in my wallet and why, and which cards are candidates for culling.

Chase Rewards Credit Cards

Quicken Rewards, personal (authorized user): The credit card I’ve had the longest is the Quicken Card issued by Chase Bank. We opened this card over 15 years ago because at the time, it was the one of the few cards that allowed you to download your statements into the Quicken personal accounting software. The Quicken Rewards card pays cash back rewards and carries no annual fee. This cash back card pays 2x drugstores, restaurants, and office supply stores, and 1x points on other purchases. Redemptions for airline tickets can be worth up to 1.25 cents per point, but only if you redeem at the top of a price bracket, e.g. a $500 ticket for 40,000 points. This is a keeper.

Freedom, personal: I love the Chase Freedom card because I can earn 5x points on practical things like gas and restaurants and there is no annual fee. It is a keeper because it pads my Ultimate Rewards point balance, and contributes to the length of my credit history, which is a factor that improves my credit score.

Ink Plus, business: The Chase Ink Plus is my primary business credit card. When I opened the card, I earned 50K Ultimate Rewards points after spending $5,000 in 3 months. This card pays 5x points at office supply stores and on telecommunications and 2 points on gas stations and hotels. The points easily transfer to Amtrak, Southwest Airlines, and United — three of my preferred carriers. Chase offered me a fabulous retention offer which I declined, but I plan to keep the card open.

Ink Bold, business: This is a charge card, not a credit card. The differences is that balances must be paid off every month. I opened this card for my blog business in June 2014 when there was a special bonus offer of 60,000 Ultimate Rewards points after spending $5,000 in three months. This card has a $95 annual fee which is waived the first year. This card has the same bonus categories as the Ink Plus. The usual bonus is 50K points.

Southwest Rapid Rewards, business: I opened the Southwest Rapid Rewards card for the 50,000 mile bonus. That is an offer that rolls around every couple of months. Southwest claims that you can get two roundtrip flights for 50K miles, and that has been my experience. The Southwest Rapid Rewards card has a $69 annual fee that is not waived the first year. You get 3,000 bonus miles every subsequent year. Last year, I was offered an additional 3,000 points as a retention bonus, and this year I received this offer again! I highly recommend the Southwest Rapid Rewards card for budget domestic travelers because of the excellent availability of award tickets on Southwest Airlines.

United Mileage Plus Explorer, personal (authorized user): This is my husband’s card. He opened it because there was a targeted offer for 50,000 miles. The card carries an annual fee of $95 which is waived the first year. When the fee came due, he was offered a retention bonus of 15,000 miles which offset the annual fee, and then some.

Barclays Reward Credit Cards

Barclaycard Arrival™ World MasterCard®, personal: I have the no annual fee version of the Barclaycard Arrival. I opened it because of a targeted offer for 40,000 bonus miles and the ongoing benefits including 2x points on restaurant and travel spending. You get a ten percent rebate on your travel redemptions, so this card effectively pays 2.2 percent cash back. I love the access to my free credit score and the free TripIt Pro subscription. The card now pays a bonus of 20,000 miles for new applicants. This is another keeper.

The US Airways® Premier World MasterCard®, personal: I opened this card because it offered me 35,000 miles after making a single purchase. There is an $89 annual fee which is waived the first year. My version of the card awarded 10,000 bonus miles on your anniversary. It has a number of additional benefits such as one free checked bag for up to four family members, a free lounge pass, and 5,000 fewer miles needed for reward tickets. With this card, you can get 2 companion passes for $99 each, but there are lots of strings attached. I just received the 10,000 mile annual bonus. I called to cancel the card because I did not want to pay the annual fee. This card currently pays a 40,000 mile bonus after the first purchase, but does not offer the annual 10,000 bonus points. It has an $89 annual fee which is waived the first year.

US Airways Dividend Miles, business: I opened this card by “accident.” I had applied for a different version of the US Airways card, but was informed that that it was not possible to have two different personal cards. I was able to switch my application to this business card, and earn 25,000 Dividend Miles upon the first purchase. The annual fee of $89 is waived the first year.

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50K Frequent Flyer Miles x 2

April 27, 2015April 7, 2014 by Fishing4Deals

Free FICO Credit Score from Barclaycard Arrival

My favorite feature of the Barclaycard Arrival™ World MasterCard® is free access to my credit score every quarter.

If you are opening a lot of credit cards to earn points and miles, you definitely need to stay on top of the impact on your credit score.

Barclay’s offers free access to the real FICO score from Transunion. You are also eligible for a free FICO credit score from Barclay’s if you have the The US Airways Premier World MasterCard®.

This benefit has been available for the past six months, so I have been able to watch my score gradually increase over time as I took a break from opening new credit cards.

At first blush, you might think that your credit score would go down from opening a lot of rewards credit cards. It does. Your score temporarily drops a few points for each credit inquiry on your credit report.

However, if you pay your bills on time and in full every month (and you should only be in this game if you do) your score could actually increase over time.

That is because an important component of your credit score is credit utilization, or how much of the total credit line is being used.

If your total credit line increases as you open more cards, and the percent of credit utilized decreases, that can have a positive impact on your credit score.

Free FICO Score from Barclaycard Arrival: My Credit Score Increased Over Time

Six months ago, when I first gained access to my official FICO score via Barclaycard, my score was roughly 779. That is in the excellent range. (Sorry, I don’t have a screen shot.)

I wanted to give my credit score a rest, so I stopped applying for new credit cards for a while. As credit inquiries gradually dropped off my report, my score rose to 810 in January 2014.

Three months later, in April 2014, my credit score rose again to 825 out of a maximum score of 850. This is amazing considering the large number of credit cards I have applied for over the last several years.

Stay Alert for Offers for 50K Frequent Flyer Miles

My “strategy” when I first got into this game was to look for rewards cards that offered 50K bonus miles for new applicants. First, I applied for the Southwest credit card for 50K, and then the Southwest business card for 50K. Next I applied for the Delta card for 50K, and then the Delta business card for another 50K. After that I applied for the United card for 50K, and the United business card for 50K.

I am self-employed so I am eligible for small business credit cards because of my environmental consulting business.

I got a lot of free flights from these airlines!

Actually though, I think a consolidation strategy makes more sense for a lot of people, especially leisure, budget travelers.

Nevertheless, I didn’t follow my own advice, and last summer I applied for the American Airlines AAdvantage credit card for 50K bonus miles.

With my credit score now well above 800, I was now ready to consider applying for additional travel rewards credit cards. So this weekend, I applied for the American Airlines AAdvantage business credit card for 50K bonus points. This card has a $3,000 spend requirement in the first three months to get the bonus, and it has a $95 annual fee that is waived the first year. There are other offers out there for “Executive” versions of the AA card, but they had higher spend requirements than I was comfortable with.

Eyeing the Barclaycard Arrival

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Vermont to DC — 4,000 Points on Amtrak — Quite the Deal!

December 10, 2014October 31, 2013 by Fishing4Deals

I reeled in a great deal on a round-trip train ticket from Vermont to Washington, DC for the Thanksgiving holiday.

For just 4,000 points, you can travel the entire length of the Northeast corridor on Amtrak — over 500 miles.

I transferred 8,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points to my Amtrak Guest Rewards account to purchase a round-trip ticket for my daughter.

The points transferred instantaneously!

The retail price of the round-trip ticket on her travel dates is $239.

Points redeemed in this fashion are worth 3 cents apiece. This is a value proposition!

I earned these points through routine spending on my Chase Freedom credit card.

Amtrak Guest Rewards has a number of blackout dates around popular holidays when award tickets are not offered. Fortunately, there was no problem with our preferred travel dates.

Amtrak used to run a train to Montreal — “The Montrealer” — but dropped the line when Congress cut back funding.

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Eight Reasons Why I Stopped Applying for Travel Rewards Credit Cards

December 10, 2014May 20, 2013 by Fishing4Deals

I am stepping off the credit card application merry-go-round — for the time being.

Here are 8 reasons why:

1. I am still holding unspent gift cards. I acquired a number of gift cards to meet the minimum spend requirements for the Chase Ink Plus rewards credit card I opened last year. These include ITunes, Starbucks, Amazon, and Trader Joes gift cards. I have about $500 of credits on these various cards that I want to spend down before incurring another minimum spend requirement.

2. I need to give my credit score a break. My credit score took a hit from numerous credit inquiries and from lowering the average age of my accounts. A hiatus from credit card applications will allow my accounts to mature and give my credit rating a chance to recover.

3. I can meet my immediate travel needs with points/miles already in hand. My family has lots of travel planned for this summer, but with 180,000 points/miles in the bank, I should be able to finance about half a dozen cross-country flights. At a recent Frequent Flyer University conference, the advice from the experts was to use your miles to protect against program devaluations.

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