Weekend round-up: A few quick notes

Posted by Noob Master on May 5, 2013 in Avios, Sapphire Preferred, Uncategorized | 0 comments

I was busy traveling this last week, so here are a few quick hits that you might’ve missed.

Amex Mercedes Benz Card raises spend

The American Express Platinum Mercedes-Benz card has raised it’s minimum spend from $1,000 to $3,000 in 3 months. You still get 50,000 Membership Rewards points, but there’s the $475 annual fee you need to account for. If you travel often – I believe the $475 annual fee is easily justifiable since you get $200 in airline credits, lounge access, and many more perks.

If you want 50,000 Membership Rewards points without the annual fee there’s the LTO with the The Business Gold Rewards Card® from American Express OPEN.

House hold income on cc applications

This is a pretty significant break. The Card Act made it harder for stay at home spouses or partners to get approval for certain credit cards, because they couldn’t technically put the household income down on their applications. There were some work arounds, but now the Act is being revised. Stay at home spouses or partners will be able to put household income on their credit card applications now. That’s great and make sense, because household income would be used to pay off the credit card debt.

Once the revision is published it will be live, but banks will have 6 months to comply.

MegaDo adds membership tiers

MegaDo’s are a like a field trip in an airplane. They are events put on by the Milepoint/FTU founders and are great for hanging out with other aviation geeks and getting a behind the scenes look at airlines, airports, and hotels. I’ve yet to go on one, but it’s on my list. I was scheduled to go on the last MegaDo, but had to cancel because of a personal issue.

I received an email letting me know that you now must sign up for a private membership just to be able to book a ticket (which can be a hard ticket to buy). That’s because it’s now going to be a private charter, and the non-profit paper work has finally been processed.

There are three levels of membership: Basic for $10 a year, Gold for $500 a year (only 40 available), and Diamond membership for a $2,000 annual fee (20 available). Ouch. You do get some benefits with each tier. For the full details see below.

Here’s the full announcement.

British Airways Facebook Contest

Win up to 60,000 British Airways Avios points with their Facebook contest. All you have to do is “Like” the page and pull the digital lever. You can play once a day until May 13th.

There you go. Just a few notes that I’ve had in my que, but couldn’t get to until now. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

— Noob Master

Earn 3x Ultimate Rewards Points with your Sapphire Preferred on first Friday

Posted by Noob Master on Apr 25, 2013 in Chase Bank, Sapphire Preferred, Ultimate Rewards, Uncategorized | 0 comments

Earlier in the week, Chase announced on their Facebook page that on the first Friday of every month, you will earn 3 UR points per $1 when you use your Chase Sapphire Preferred® card at a restaurant.

(Diclosure: I receive a referral credit for the Chase cards mentioned in this post. Thank you in advance if you choose to apply through the blog!) 

First Friday 3x

I love earning extra Ultimate Rewards points (who doesn’t?), and although this isn’t a mind effing deal (because the Sapphire Preferred already earns you 2x points on dining) – it’s one I will take advantage of the first Friday of every month. Starting next week.

Yet, I wouldn’t advise using your Sapphire Preferred if you haven’t maximized the 5x points earning potential (up to $1,500) you get with the Chase Freedom® MasterCard or Chase Freedom® Visa on restaurants, movie theatres, and Lowe’s this quarter. I’ve already met the $1,500 5x tier, because we had some home improvements that needed to be done. 

If you eat out a lot, and I do more than I should, this deal could be a good opportunity to buy restaurant gift cards from your favorite establishment. I’ve taken advantage of restaurant promos in the past at some of my favorite local dining spots. Just an option.

Even though this isn’t the greatest new promotion, it’s always good to see a new opportunity to earn more Ultimate Rewards points. Even if it’s only on the first Friday of every month.

— Noob Master

Heads Up: US Airways Affiliated Offer Changed

Posted by Noob Master on Feb 17, 2013 in Dividends Miles, Sapphire Preferred, U.S. Airways | 0 comments

Damn. This US Airways card drama is getting tiresome. The 40,000 Barclays *affiliated* offer on first spend has apparently changed to 30,000 on first spend, and there’s an $89 annual fee. This offer changed without any communication or notice. Bad form Barclays.

(Hat tip Million Mile Secrets & FlyerTalk) 

I blogged about all the ways to earn Dividend miles through rewards cards on Friday. The offers seem to be changing every 12 hours, so stay tuned. I’ve updated my last two posts on the US Airways cards and my sick deals page with the current best offers.

Currently the best US Airways offer is for 35,000 miles on first spend and no annual fee. I’ve said all along that this may be the best offer for you, but I would’ve paid the annual fee for the extra 5,000 miles. That’s no longer in play now.

Here are the links to the best US Airways card offers:

https://www.barclaycardus.com/apply/Landing.action?campaignId=1695&cellNumber=19 (T&Cs at bottom)

https://www.barclaycardus.com/apply/…&cellNumber=31 (click link at top of app for T&Cs)

https://www.barclaycardus.com/apply/…&cellNumber=36 (T&Cs at bottom)

There’s also a business version for 25,000 Dividend miles and $79 annual fee.

(Disclosure: I don’t receive a referral for the US cards, but don’t let that stop you from applying.)

— Noob Master