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Qapital is a free banking app that can save you money automatically towards your financial goals. Right now they are running a promotion until Feb 15th and for everyone who signs up with a referral link will earn $20 sign-up bonus after linking a checking account and making a first deposit. You can also refer others and when they sign-up using your link they can earn $20 as well.

You have to first download the Qapital app. Next, create an account and link a checking account to Qapital app (enter login credentials). You can set up a savings “goal” and a “rule” (how much to be deposited each week etc to qualify for the $20 bonus). As soon as the first deposit is made as per your rule you will be awarded with the $20 sign-up bonus. Makes sure you use a referral link for this offer to be valid as simply downloading the app from playstore will not trigger the bonus.

You can leave your referral links in the comments below or use our link here

Hat tip – DoC

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Follow our Facebook page Credit Card 101 for latest in the world of credit cards and Rewards

Unless you are brand new to the points game, you know that the Platinum Card from American Express (in any of its varieties) arguably offers some of the best benefits of any card on the market.  What scares off most people is the high annual fee of $550 (with up to 3 authorized users for $175 per year) – but should that fee scare you off?

There are a lot of articles that extol the virtues of the benefits, but to what end does the average cardholder use them – and at what volume must they be used to “break even” on the fees?   Like most, there are some benefits on which I rely heavily and others which I never touch.  I tracked my usage in 2018 to see what sort of value I was getting from this card.  My results are below:

Fees and Users

I have the personal version of the American Express Platinum Card and added both of my parents as authorized users, so my fees  come to $725 ($550+175) annually.  As authorized users my parents have all the benefits that I as the primary account holder do with the exception of the airline, Uber, and Saks Fifth Avenue credits.  For this usage review I have included the activity of all cardholders.

Annual Credits

The personal Platinum Card offers a $200 airline credit, a $200 Uber credit, and $100 Saks Fifth Avenue credit ($50 in 2018 as it started in the latter half of last year).  I took full advantage of these credits in 2018 netting me a value of: $450

Lounge Access

My favorite benefit of the Platinum Card is the most comprehensive lounge access offered by any credit card on the market and while 2018 was not a banner year for travel for me or for my parents we made great use of the lounges while traversing the globe.  I’ve listed out the number of visits, calculated to include the primary card member, authorized users, and guests.

Centurion Lounge Visits:               23

Delta Lounge Visits:                        15

Priority Pass Lounge Visits:           26

Escape Lounge Visits:                        3

TOTAL:                                                67

Coming up with a “value” for lounge access can be tricky.  Some lounges offer high end craft cocktails, cuisine designed by famous chefs, and spa services, while others offer sub-par wifi, make your own instant noodles, and hard plastic seating.  I’ve always felt that the value is conservatively $20 per visit, which considers what even a basic small meal or snacks and drinks would cost at the airport.  Using that figure, the annual value from the lounge visits comes to: $1,340

Statuses

One of the more unique perks offered by the Platinum Card is status with both Marriott and Hilton hotel chains and with Avis, Hertz, and National car rental chains.

I didn’t spend many nights in chain hotels last year, but in each of the two nights I spent at Hilton properties, I received free breakfast as a Hilton Gold member.  I value each breakfast at about $15.  While Marriott Golds do not receive complimentary breakfast, I did receive a suite upgrade for 2 nights (which also included club lounge access).  Based on the going rates at the property, the upgrade was worth $107 for each night for a total of $214.

When it comes to rental cars, each of the statuses provided offer similar benefits – accelerated earning of rewards, a one class bump when you rent a car, and some form of streamlined check in process.  Sadly, I utilized the Avis status as my car got hit and I needed a rental for two weeks.  In this case, I actually paid for the rental (which was fully reimbursed by the other driver’s insurance) with my Chase Ink Preferred as it earns 3x on rental cars and offers very good rental car insurance, but was able to take advantage of the bump to a full size vehicle at no additional cost.  The price difference was about $10 per day for a total value of $140.

The total value from provided statuses: $384

Amex Offers

American Express provides targeted discounts and points earning bonuses on all of their cards which can add significant value for any account holder.  While 2018 saw Amex tighten up their offer redemption rules and only allow offers to be used once per individual across all accounts, the value is still one of the easiest harness.  In 2018 on my Platinum Card alone, Amex Offer discounts saved me: $944.85

While the Platinum Card earns 5x on airfare purchases, it only earns 1x on all other spend.  However, with Amex Offers there are opportunities to boost earnings through specific vendors.  For me, the most lucrative of these additional points multipliers were for Best Buy and Amazon.  The additional points I earned through the Amex Offers amounted to: 41,426

Other

While there are many other benefits offered the only other one I used this year was the free ShopRunner membership.  For those that don’t know ShopRunner is a subscription service that allows for free 2-day shipping at many online retailers; think of it as Amazon Prime for a bunch of different retailers.  I made five purchases at vendors that partnered with ShopRunner and received free 2-day shipping which in total amounted to savings of: $73.18

Final Tally

Annual Credits:                 $450.00

Lounge Access:                 1,340.00

Statuses:                               384.00

Amex Offers:                        944.85

Other:                                       73.18

Total:                                $3,192.03

On top of nearly $3,200 I also received the additional 41,426 Membership Rewards points above the base earn of 5x on airfare and 1x on everything else.

What Else Could I Have Used?

With so many benefits it can be easy to lose track of what all is available on the card.  This year I did not take advantage of the Global Entry credit as I am enrolled through 2019.  I did not use any of the insurance items for travel, baggage, car rental, purchase protection, warranty extension, or return protection, nor did I use the roadside assistance.  I didn’t take advantage of the concierge service or any of the offerings through the Fine Hotels & Resorts program, the Hotel Collection, or the Global Dining Collection.  As I type out all of benefits that I didn’t use I begin to feel as though I left so much on the table.

Conclusion

The Platinum Card offers outsized value for its $550 annual fee and that large number shouldn’t scare off new applicants.  While this card is rarely the first card I pull out when making a purchase, it is a staple in my wallet and last years $3,192.03 is absolutely the reason why.  If you’re thinking about applying, the normal sign-up bonus on the personal card is 60,000 Membership Reward points, while the business card is typically 75,000, while occasionally targeted offers are sent out for 100,000 points.

In the interest of full disclosure, we will earn a referral bonus for anyone that is approved from our affiliate.  These are publicly available offers and all claims made in this post as of the posting date can be found in the offer language for the card.  We only provide the best publicly available offers and thank you for your continued support.

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This is a unique (slightly unconventional) way to earn credit card points and small profit. There will be an opportunity to purchase coins from US Mint tomorrow (1/24/18) at 12:00 pm sharp. PFS buyers club (https://bit.ly/2B0w4ND) is offering to purchase these coins from you for a small profit and you get to earn credit card points as well.

I have done several deals with them in the last two years and found them to be very reliable with payment (paid via paypal as friends family).

Please register only if you are able to complete the deal. The process is very simple – You opt in, they will send you instructions, be on the computer tomorrow at 12 pm EST on 1/24, the coins get shipped to your home (1 per household), do not open the box, slap the label PFS provides you with and drop it to Fedex. You will receive payment 24-48 hours after delivery.

Between the three deals, you’ll be able to spend over $2,200 and receive over $50 in commissions. If you’d like to register below is the link (affiliate).

https://pfsbuyersclub.com/Account/Register?referral=DZJF3UYP

Suggested cards to use –

ATT&T access more – 3x Thank you points
Chase Ink Unlimited – 1.5X UR Points
2% Cash back cards like Spark business, Venture, Barclay Arrival plus

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What are the cards that earn Membership Rewards?

American Express Membership Rewards is the rewards program offered by American Express. Membership Rewards Points (MR points) is the currency of this program and is also called flexible currency program due to the wide range of redemption

There are several cards available that offer Membership Reward Points as the rewards. Here is a summary of all the cards and a short summary of its benefits

There are lot of ways one could earn Membership Rewards, thanks to the whole array of cards (Personal & Small business) available.

Let us review the options available to redeem them.

1. Transfer to Airline Partners

American Express membership Rewards can be transferred to 15 Airline partners. Here is a summary of all the transfer partners and the ratios that you could transfer MR Points.

These partners span across all major airline alliances along with the independent airline loyalty programs like Etihad Guest and Emirates Skywards. There are occasional transfer bonuses as well, which will further enhance the value of your Membership Reward points

Transferring to Airline partners and redeeming for premium cabins gives best value for your MR points.

Here are a few examples:

2. Transfer to Hotel Partners

You can also transfer MR points to 3 hotel loyalty programs. Here is the summary

This is a good way to top up your account if you are short of few points for an award or depending on the redemption value, you could transfer the points needed for an entire award.

3. Get 1.25 cents per point with American Express Platinum Card for Schwab

If you hold a Schwab brokerage account, you could get a different version of the American Express Platinum card exclusive for Scwab account holders. Annual fee is $550 with the same benefits like Airline fee credit, Uber credit . You are still eligible for this card, even if you hold regular american express platinum card.

The beauty of this card, is the ability to redeem your MR points at 1.25 cents/point in to your Schwab account. Since Amex pools all the MR points in to one place, you could redeem your MR points across all cards at 1.25 cents per point.

4. Book Travel

You could use MR points to book travel with Amextravel.com, you need a minimum of 5,000 MR points to redeem for travel.

You could book flights and hotels through Amextravel.com at 1 cent per point

Tip: if you hold American Express Business Platinum card, you get 35% points back when you pay with MR points.

5. Redeem against Charges:

You could use your Amex MR points to redeem against your purchases, however, it is not the best value. You get only 0.6 cents

6. Redeem for Gift cards

You could use MR points to redeem for gift cards. Again, you will not best value from this option. It is probably one of the last thing you should consider, especially considering that there are ways to buy discounted gift cards. You would get anywhere between 0.7-1 cents/MR point

7. Redeem for Merchandise

You could redeem towards merchandise aswell from a wide range of products offered by Membership Rewards portal.

8. Redeem at Checkout with Select Merchants

You can use MR points when you are doing shopping with Select merchants. Amazon is one such popular option. When redeeming at Amazon, you get 0.7 cents per MR point

Conclusion:

Amex Membership Rewards is one of the most valuable flexible currency in the market. There are wide range of redemption options available, however the best value can be had when redeeming for travel by transferring to Airline Loyalty programs or redeeming with Amextravel.com along with combination of Business Platinum card

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There are a lot of premium cards available in the market now and they carry a hefty price tag. For starters, the annual fee may be over-whelming. To Justify the annual fee, each card is packed with a wide range of benefits . With a little effort, it is possible to enjoy benefits that can outweigh the annual fee.

In this post, we will compare the key features of the following cards

The Platinum Card from American Express

American Express Business Platinum

Chase Sapphire Reserve

Citi Prestige

US Bank Altitude Reserve Visa Infinite Card

CNB Crystal Visa Infinite

United MileagePlus Club card

Citi/AAdvantage Executive World Elite MasterCard

Delta Reserve

SPG Luxury Card

Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card

Annual Fee: Annual fee is key factor when choosing the premium cards and there could be additional fee for authorized users.

Rewards & Annual Credits:   Each card offers a variety of rewards and the annual credits plays a key role towards offsetting the annual fee.

Other Key Benefits: All cards offer No Foreign transaction fee as one common benefit. Apart from that, you could get Airport lounge access with limited options to vast options.

Other Key Points to Consider: There are also other benefits like Concierge, Purchase protection etc.. which could further enhance the value if used appropriately. You may get a lot of value from the credit card the first year especially with the sign-up bonus. If you do not see much points earning benefit the next year you could always downgrade the card to a no fees card. This helps you establish a long credit history and you don’t come across as someone who just gets credit card for sign-up bonuses.

Conclusion: Several Premium cards are now available in the market and competing for your business. Even though these cards come with a huge annual fee, it is easy to reap huge value with little planning and execution.

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Follow our Facebook page Credit Card 101 for latest in the world of credit cards and Rewards

Who doesn’t like Buy One Get One, especially an Airline Ticket?  This is what exactly a Southwest Companion pass means, a really lucrative benefit offered for the loyalty towards Southwest airlines.

What is Southwest Companion Pass?

Southwest Companion pass is a benefit offered by Southwest Airlines for its Rapid Rewards members. This benefit allows you to choose a person to fly with you at no airline cost (Taxes and fees have to paid for the companion ticket) when you purchase a ticket or redeem points for a flight.

How to qualify for Southwest Companion Pass?

To qualify for Southwest Companion pass, you need to fly 100 qualifying one-way flights on southwest or earn 110,00 qualifying rapid rewards points in a Calendar year. Companion pass will be valid for the following full calendar year plus the rest of the calendar year, which means if you could earn the companion pass during the start of calendar year, that will be close to 2 years of flying with the Buy One Get One (You will still have to pay the Taxes and fees for the companion)

Can you Change the name of the Companion?

Southwest allows you to change the name of the companion for up to 3 times during a calendar year. Note that you must fly along with the companion to be able to make the ticket free

How to earn Southwest Companion Pass?

Flying 100 qualifying one way flights on Southwest is a lot of flying and is not a possible feat for most folks. Thankfully, there are ways to earn 110,000 qualifying Rapid Reward points with a little effort

1. Southwest Credit Cards

Southwest co-branded credit cards offered by chase are probably the easiest way to earn Companion pass. The best part is Signup bonus and the regular spend on the card are counted towards the 110,000 rapid rewards points requirement for earning Southwest Companion pass.

There are 4 versions of credit cards available

1. Southwest Rapid Rewards Premium Credit Card
2. Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Credit card
3. Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Credit card
4. Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business Credit Card

As on the day of writing this post, there is an increased signup bonus for all the 4 cards offering 60,000 points. With personal cards, you could earn 40,000 points after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months of account opening and earn an additional 20,000 points after you spend $12,000 on purchases within your first year.

With business credit card, you could earn 60,000 points when you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months

Note that Chase allows only one personal and one business Southwest credit card per person. Southwest credit cards falls under the 05/24 rule, so use caution before applying for these cards. By signing up for one personal and one business credit card and completing the minimum spend requirement, you could earn enough points for a companion pass.

The potential challenge here is spending $12,000 to earn that 20,000 bonus points. But you could supplement with the other methods to earn the remaining points

Important Note: To maximize the Companion pass, you should aim at getting the companion pass as early as possible in 2019, so you could enjoy for the rest of 2019 and the full 2020. Ensure that you complete the minimum spending requirement on your credit cards, such that the signup bonus posts only in the new year – 2019.

2.  Referral bonus points for Southwest Credit cards:

Chase frequently runs promotions for referring your friends or family members to sign up for the Southwest credit cards. Referral points earned counts towards the Southwest Companion pass requirements.

3. Shop & Dine

Apart from the signup bonus from credit cards, regular spend on the credit cards & points earned through travel, you could also earn qualifying Rapid Rewards points through the Rapid Rewards shopping & Rapid Rewards Dining.

Rapid Rewards Shopping: Just like any portal, you could earn rapid rewards points for shopping at your merchants through the Rapid Rewards Shopping portal.

You could earn Rapid Rewards points at over 850+ stores and occasionally, there are bonus points offered.

Rapid Rewards Dining:     You dinner at your favorite restaurant could earn you Rapid Reward points.

1. Enroll for Rapid Rewards Dining program
2. Register up to 12 credit cards to track your purchases
3. Locate Participating restaurants, dine and pay with one of the registered cards
4. You could earn 3 points per dollar spent, as long as you opt in for email communications

Note that the points from Rapid Rewards Dining and Shopping may take up to 6 weeks to post to your account. Bonus points do not count towards the companion pass requirement.

3. 1-800 flowers

You could order gifts from  www.1800Flowers.com/rapidrewards and earn 1000 points for every order of $29.99 or more.

It may take up to 8 weeks for points to post to your account

4.  Home & Lifestyle

You could also earn Rapid Rewards Points with participating Home & Lifestyle partners. Note that these partners may change over time. At this time, you could earn points with the following partners.

NRG

Reliant

Makeitcount

Next Steps:

Once you met the requirements for the companion pass, you can login to your Southwest Rapid Rewards account and add a companion of your choice.

With in few days, you should get an envelope with your actual Companion pass

Note that a person can have only one companion pass. When you are ready to travel, you must book your reservation first and then add a companion by going to the “My Trips” tab or you can also call 1-800-248-4377 to complete the booking

Tips & Strategies:

You can change your companion up to 3 times in a calendar year. Note that, per the terms, it may take up to 21 days to process the companion change request.

You will not be able to add new companion, until all the travel with previous companion is complete. You could still book the ticket for yourself , but add new companion after completing the travel with previous companion

If you are a family of 4,  Wife and husband get companion pass each and add their kids as companions or  wife and husband could companion pass alternately and maximize the travel.

Conclusion:

Southwest Companion pass is arguably the best perk in the  travel industry. with a little planning and effort, one could get a companion pass valid for close to two years. With Companion pass, you just need to pay the taxes and fees for your companion – which is $5.60 for a one way ticket within USA.

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