Earlier last month, Citi started issuing a new type of credit card which has a very good design and offers a 2% cash back effectively. They broke this into the standard 1% cash back on purchases and another 1% cash back once the statement balance is fully paid. It is a slightly clever marketing ploy while encouraging and rewarding those who pay the bills on time. Other banks such as Fidelity Amex or Barclaycard Arrival have long offer similar 2% cash back on all purchases.
The significant advantage that Citi has over all others is as follows:
1. MasterCard Network which has a pretty wide acceptance compared to the Amex network.
2. No annual fee on this card.
We covered some of this card here. It is not too exciting but still something that could be added to your arsenal. I guess if a good chunk of us do not apply for this card, at some point, due to small numbers and marketing targets to be met, the sales team at Citi would be forced to offer at least few thousand bonus points as a way to attract few big spenders.
In all, this seems to be a good deal for those who just want to swipe away without worrying too much of the credit cards as to which one would fetch maximum rewards at a given time. Honestly, there is not much too much difference. At the high-end, you have the Amex preferred with 6% cash back on groceries and this card gives you 2%. If you smartly apply for big bonus cards and divvy up your spend on other 5% cards, there is hardly a difference. In most cases, you could actually even come out ahead in 2% cards. Then there is this obvious psychological ease in not having to think too much about which credit cards to use at which stores.
Citi card link for those who are interested is here. This is a direct link to the citi bank website.
Another update is the Target RedCard. This is similar to the Amex Bluebird or Serve card. Amex used to offer a Target prepaid card while Target had its own Redcard which fetches 5% returns. This is a totally different and brand new prepaid card issued by Amex and the intention is to operate along similar lines as Serve card. So far, the findings with Target Redcard has been that it is reloadable with your credit card in any Target Location. That is a cheap, quick and efficient way to complete minimum spending requirements, though not necessarily to gain points. For those, you still have to rely on drugstores or grocery stores among others. So in all, it is a great addition to the roster of prepaid cards. Will have to wait and watch as to where to fit it in one's overall strategy. For now, I would suggest to hang in tight on one's Bluebird or Serve card while targeting big bonus spend cards that are likely to emerge starting next month till end of holiday season.
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
Eff Paypal
Seriously EFF Paypal. As a company they are not that good .. nor is any of the eBay or PayPal services in general. I have seen lot of reports recently about them cancelling accounts and in many cases keeping the money in the account for 180 days!
..gasp..
180 days!
..gasp..
Seriously, what is wrong with this company? With the talk of it being hived off from eBay, it would have had some sense to continue garnering its revenue. But many many users report that their accounts are being arbitrarily shut down.
Seriously EFF _Paypal_.
..gasp..
180 days!
..gasp..
Seriously, what is wrong with this company? With the talk of it being hived off from eBay, it would have had some sense to continue garnering its revenue. But many many users report that their accounts are being arbitrarily shut down.
Seriously EFF _Paypal_.
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
How to test the load of Paypal or Serve?
With the constant cycle of loading up Serve or Bluebird as well as PayPal or other prepaid cards such as Netspend or Green Dot or Western Union among others, the head goes into a tail spin as to what is being loaded where, withdrawn how and has the transaction posted yet? So, my computer programming mind, thought about automating or converting a part of this into non-thinkable ( and thus non-taxing to your mind) process.
How to test Bluebird or serve ( since you can have only one or the other ) ?
The questions that top the mind are:
- is there an unused gift card (slang used will be gc from here on) somewhere?
- as gc is used for many other options such as paying rents or mortgages via money orders, is this all accounted for?
- gc main card is say chase - so chase spend = serve credit + rent + mortgage + anything else such as bill pay options (Serve/Bluebird has a neat transaction search and filter feature on their site)
- From August/September, I am just running audits ( ha ha .. corporate style!) that would identify if +/- does not add up
- another option is the chase card such as freedom and then either bill pay chase freedom or just use it for other legit bill pay options so as to not invite scrutiny
Actual Test is:
- The inflow is from credit cards
- The outflow is money order + bill payment to credit card only now
- Test the online account statements of bluebird/serve/banks and bill pays
How to test PayPal?
- is there an unused PayPal card somewhere?
- did PayPal load correctly into PayPal site?
- did the money from PayPal go to my bank account?
- did the money go from bank account back to the credit card account or some other bill payment options?
- main card here is a periodically changing card .. which right now is the chase ba card .. money from here mostly flows to chase cc and other bank accounts
- the main bill pay here is chase ba or other cards
Actual Test is:
- The inflow is from chase card
- The outflow is only bank account withdrawal for now and from there back to chase bill pay card
- The limits are USD 4,000 PayPal cash card load.
- The place to test is the paypal.com website/ bank website and credit card website
With the closure of Amazon payments as of mid-October only these two primary options remain. It is in a way easier to manage this spend and track them. Like in all fields, the cream rises to the top and only the best of the best will remain and in true capitalism style, the non-competitive cards are going to die their natural deaths. There are of course, immediate emails and alert notifications that come to me but I just wanted like a website or a dashboard where I could track or monitor all these things as they are automated or mindlessly performed.
Is there any testing or tracking methods that you follow? Please share!
How to test Bluebird or serve ( since you can have only one or the other ) ?
The questions that top the mind are:
- is there an unused gift card (slang used will be gc from here on) somewhere?
- as gc is used for many other options such as paying rents or mortgages via money orders, is this all accounted for?
- gc main card is say chase - so chase spend = serve credit + rent + mortgage + anything else such as bill pay options (Serve/Bluebird has a neat transaction search and filter feature on their site)
- From August/September, I am just running audits ( ha ha .. corporate style!) that would identify if +/- does not add up
- another option is the chase card such as freedom and then either bill pay chase freedom or just use it for other legit bill pay options so as to not invite scrutiny
Actual Test is:
- The inflow is from credit cards
- The outflow is money order + bill payment to credit card only now
- Test the online account statements of bluebird/serve/banks and bill pays
How to test PayPal?
- is there an unused PayPal card somewhere?
- did PayPal load correctly into PayPal site?
- did the money from PayPal go to my bank account?
- did the money go from bank account back to the credit card account or some other bill payment options?
- main card here is a periodically changing card .. which right now is the chase ba card .. money from here mostly flows to chase cc and other bank accounts
- the main bill pay here is chase ba or other cards
Actual Test is:
- The inflow is from chase card
- The outflow is only bank account withdrawal for now and from there back to chase bill pay card
- The limits are USD 4,000 PayPal cash card load.
- The place to test is the paypal.com website/ bank website and credit card website
With the closure of Amazon payments as of mid-October only these two primary options remain. It is in a way easier to manage this spend and track them. Like in all fields, the cream rises to the top and only the best of the best will remain and in true capitalism style, the non-competitive cards are going to die their natural deaths. There are of course, immediate emails and alert notifications that come to me but I just wanted like a website or a dashboard where I could track or monitor all these things as they are automated or mindlessly performed.
Is there any testing or tracking methods that you follow? Please share!
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Best Business Card Yet... with more points now!
The exciting news from the Credit Card world is the enchanced bonus on the Chase Ink or Bold Business card.
Direct link from Chase:
https://www.chase.com/online/business-credit-cards/ink-business-credit-cards.htm?CELL=63WS
This card is already mentioned in the best card section of this site. Normally they give 50,000 points which went up to 60,000 points in recent times. However, if you go in branch then the bank was giving 70,000 points. Now, for a limited time, this offer has moved online. So, anyone of you waiting for the right offer, this is the right time to jump. Most of the individuals in US can claim sole proprietership as their business if you have a valid SSN. You could rent your place to others or have some minor business activities and as long as you can justify the income, this should be a home run.
This card is one of the best out there and is Visa branded with Signature chip and good protection on rental cars among others. Best of all, you get the points in the form of Ultimate Rewards Portal which can be redeemed for cash at par value of 1 dollar per 100 points. You can get better value with car rentals and airlines bookings though. Basically, it gives you lot of options to consider and gives you more tools for your next journey.
A direct link is posted above as this blog is not affiliated with any programs where we get paid for Chase products ( or really any other products for that matter!).
Direct link from Chase:
https://www.chase.com/online/business-credit-cards/ink-business-credit-cards.htm?CELL=63WS
This card is already mentioned in the best card section of this site. Normally they give 50,000 points which went up to 60,000 points in recent times. However, if you go in branch then the bank was giving 70,000 points. Now, for a limited time, this offer has moved online. So, anyone of you waiting for the right offer, this is the right time to jump. Most of the individuals in US can claim sole proprietership as their business if you have a valid SSN. You could rent your place to others or have some minor business activities and as long as you can justify the income, this should be a home run.
This card is one of the best out there and is Visa branded with Signature chip and good protection on rental cars among others. Best of all, you get the points in the form of Ultimate Rewards Portal which can be redeemed for cash at par value of 1 dollar per 100 points. You can get better value with car rentals and airlines bookings though. Basically, it gives you lot of options to consider and gives you more tools for your next journey.
A direct link is posted above as this blog is not affiliated with any programs where we get paid for Chase products ( or really any other products for that matter!).
Friday, September 26, 2014
Anything new?
Probably nothing. Citi came up with a 2% card back but without bonus and a great rewards structure, it was not as if having this card is a must. Honey Badger would recommend to stay put as there could be more exciting options down the line.
The hotel points continue to be devalued and overall raise a question about whether it is even worth accumulating this on a long term basis rather than follow a "apply card-get points-burn them" strategy. Any other way to accumulate points would add and keep your points alive.
Its good in a way that there is no activity here so that we could go out and see what else is out there in the world :D
The hotel points continue to be devalued and overall raise a question about whether it is even worth accumulating this on a long term basis rather than follow a "apply card-get points-burn them" strategy. Any other way to accumulate points would add and keep your points alive.
Its good in a way that there is no activity here so that we could go out and see what else is out there in the world :D
Monday, September 8, 2014
Reload Cards Options
Quick round up on all the available reload cards or prepaid cards - which are the bread and butter of the spending strategies. This is the primary tool across all blogs and the main weapon in your arsenal to strategize your spend.
Vanilla Reload: This is what started it all for most folks. It is a very basic reload, prepaid card where the user pays cash or debit card to load money. There were few places such as CVS and 7-11 stores which used to load it via credit cards. But as of mid-2014 this option is pretty much gone.
MoneyPak: Another card that is being gradually phased out by end of 2014.
Paypal cash: Now this is a great card. So far many stores accept this card to be paid via credit card. Prominent among them is the 7-11 stores which accepts credit cards and most banks, except Amex, count them as gas purchases. Which means getting the 3%-5% category bonus. Chase ink and bold cards give upto 2% while the US Bank Flex Rewards program is known to give upto 4% cash back if it is redeemed for airlines. Though, US Bank does not have the best rewards program redemption when it comes to airlines travel choices. Hence, I would rather stick to the Chase ones - mainly Ink/Bold or the British Airways card. They all give back rewards on gas purchases from 7-11. Chances of some 7-11 accepting credit cards are quite high given that there are quite a few of them (about 25 in my area in 10 mile radius). There are restrictions such as just one $500 transaction per day per customer. These are not major league bad. I use them mostly during the weekend. The goal is to get the car fuel costs reimbursed. Even if I load 2 Paypal cards, worth about 1000 bucks, at $10 cost and $20 return from Chase, that is a $10 profit - enough for my weekend driving excursions/shopping and grocery finding around the town. 10 bucks gives you about 3 gallons at $3.33 per gallon, enough to net you about 3*30 = 90 miles or so. That is more than sufficient for a small trip. This card is also a go to card for many people. There is a limit of $4000 in this card per month. Not too shabby.
Just any other random cards:
Evolve paybucks : Stands out if you manage to find this card at some store and get the store to accept credit card at register. Most Netspends cards and other prepaid cards in that aisle fall under this category. It is hit and miss. And you do not want to be caught holding your money in this card where they have temporarily suspended it. So the best approach would be to stick to the brand names card.
Not really a direct load cards, but American Express Bluebird and Serve are well covered along with their less famous bertherns such as the Amex Target card.
If you find anything else, please leave it in the comment section.
Vanilla Reload: This is what started it all for most folks. It is a very basic reload, prepaid card where the user pays cash or debit card to load money. There were few places such as CVS and 7-11 stores which used to load it via credit cards. But as of mid-2014 this option is pretty much gone.
MoneyPak: Another card that is being gradually phased out by end of 2014.
Paypal cash: Now this is a great card. So far many stores accept this card to be paid via credit card. Prominent among them is the 7-11 stores which accepts credit cards and most banks, except Amex, count them as gas purchases. Which means getting the 3%-5% category bonus. Chase ink and bold cards give upto 2% while the US Bank Flex Rewards program is known to give upto 4% cash back if it is redeemed for airlines. Though, US Bank does not have the best rewards program redemption when it comes to airlines travel choices. Hence, I would rather stick to the Chase ones - mainly Ink/Bold or the British Airways card. They all give back rewards on gas purchases from 7-11. Chances of some 7-11 accepting credit cards are quite high given that there are quite a few of them (about 25 in my area in 10 mile radius). There are restrictions such as just one $500 transaction per day per customer. These are not major league bad. I use them mostly during the weekend. The goal is to get the car fuel costs reimbursed. Even if I load 2 Paypal cards, worth about 1000 bucks, at $10 cost and $20 return from Chase, that is a $10 profit - enough for my weekend driving excursions/shopping and grocery finding around the town. 10 bucks gives you about 3 gallons at $3.33 per gallon, enough to net you about 3*30 = 90 miles or so. That is more than sufficient for a small trip. This card is also a go to card for many people. There is a limit of $4000 in this card per month. Not too shabby.
Just any other random cards:
Evolve paybucks : Stands out if you manage to find this card at some store and get the store to accept credit card at register. Most Netspends cards and other prepaid cards in that aisle fall under this category. It is hit and miss. And you do not want to be caught holding your money in this card where they have temporarily suspended it. So the best approach would be to stick to the brand names card.
Not really a direct load cards, but American Express Bluebird and Serve are well covered along with their less famous bertherns such as the Amex Target card.
If you find anything else, please leave it in the comment section.
Friday, September 5, 2014
Debit Cards
Why debit cards? Because some of us still like it and are used to it - the simplicity of it is what started it all. It simply deducts the money from your checking account and prevents any over spending. The best debit card programs are the:
1. Bank of America Hawaii Debit card: This used to earn pretty good rewards which got devalued recently
2. Local Credit Unions: One such was Perkins which also devalued their programs. Still check your local credit unions. I found Fulton Bank and Citadel Credit Unions to be a good one when it comes to accumulating and redeeming points.
3. Suntrust Delta Debit card: Again a decent card once upon a time, it is fraught with statement credit issues, account opening issues and just so many issues that it is really not worth it.
For the brave and more enterprising, the BankAmex debit card offers American Airlines miles. So does BankDirect - an online bank based out of Texas. Most of these seem decent options but beware - the programs are known to get shut down quite arbitarily and the redemption options are really not that up to the mark.
Bottomline, I would check the local credit union and stick with one which earns you between 1 - 3 cents per dollar spent. Niche reward points are more than welcome. For instance, my local credit union has redemption options for local restaurants which are quite generous. Since I frequent those places anyways, it makes sense to accumulate those points.
Apples to apples, debit cards do not stand a chance against credit cards. Decidedly banks have moved more towards the credit card berthern in the recent past for obvious reasons. Since there are tools such as Serve which allows to load $1000 per month via automation, I find it easy to keep the points running in some small credit card. It might not count for much but maybe buy you a free dinner every few some months.
1. Bank of America Hawaii Debit card: This used to earn pretty good rewards which got devalued recently
2. Local Credit Unions: One such was Perkins which also devalued their programs. Still check your local credit unions. I found Fulton Bank and Citadel Credit Unions to be a good one when it comes to accumulating and redeeming points.
3. Suntrust Delta Debit card: Again a decent card once upon a time, it is fraught with statement credit issues, account opening issues and just so many issues that it is really not worth it.
For the brave and more enterprising, the BankAmex debit card offers American Airlines miles. So does BankDirect - an online bank based out of Texas. Most of these seem decent options but beware - the programs are known to get shut down quite arbitarily and the redemption options are really not that up to the mark.
Bottomline, I would check the local credit union and stick with one which earns you between 1 - 3 cents per dollar spent. Niche reward points are more than welcome. For instance, my local credit union has redemption options for local restaurants which are quite generous. Since I frequent those places anyways, it makes sense to accumulate those points.
Apples to apples, debit cards do not stand a chance against credit cards. Decidedly banks have moved more towards the credit card berthern in the recent past for obvious reasons. Since there are tools such as Serve which allows to load $1000 per month via automation, I find it easy to keep the points running in some small credit card. It might not count for much but maybe buy you a free dinner every few some months.
Online Trackers
To continue on the last post about online tools to manage rewards
Excel: There are good providers such as Zoho, Google, Microsoft Live docs among a multitude of free services which offer online Excel programs. There are also a few ways you could manage it if you are paranoid about sharing the documents with large companies. You could put the docs in Dropbox. Spideroak or any of the online backup companies and share the link with only yourself. You could also password protect it and/or share with only family members. With the availability of these tools in plentitude, this section hardly needs coverage.
RewardsWallet: This is a pretty nifty tools few years ago when most airlines participated. However, like Expedia and Orbitz among others, many of these sites have no access to major airlines loyalty programs who would rather the customers visit their website.
Excel: There are good providers such as Zoho, Google, Microsoft Live docs among a multitude of free services which offer online Excel programs. There are also a few ways you could manage it if you are paranoid about sharing the documents with large companies. You could put the docs in Dropbox. Spideroak or any of the online backup companies and share the link with only yourself. You could also password protect it and/or share with only family members. With the availability of these tools in plentitude, this section hardly needs coverage.
RewardsWallet: This is a pretty nifty tools few years ago when most airlines participated. However, like Expedia and Orbitz among others, many of these sites have no access to major airlines loyalty programs who would rather the customers visit their website.
Travel tools
I generally recommend home-grown tools such as Excel or Word or anything basic enough to manage your travel points. Honestly, even your notebook should suffice if you plan your trip well and want to keep it simple. There are a lot of online and offline programs which offer you free templates. It is easy to build one yourself as all you really need to enter in an online excel which is in the cloud is details about the program such as program name, expiration date and possibly a list of zip codes around which your travel is planned. Just plug-in the zip codes and check which hotels and airlines offer the best deals.
Most of the times, you would find the best deals online. Many major chains simply put them online and have the same info access to both you as well as their employees. I know that sounds counter intuitive as one may guess that employees or travel agents have the best deal. But really, these guys get the margin offers. As in, they get the deals based on volumes and hence work best if you are doing bulk bookings of corporate bookings. At which point, it makes sense to pick up the phone. For a normal traveler, single or with family, it hardly makes sense to try that hard. Though, certainly I am not discouraging you from pick up that phone and call to check about any ongoing specials in air or hotel.
Awardwallet.com is pretty good and so are a bunch of other sites. I like Reward programs sites that list down your points as well as earn you points on activities such as dining or using local business. I usually prefer going directly to the airline websites though. Most offer a multitude of tools that could be used to manage your travel.
To round-up, as indicated at the start, build your own, home-grown tools. It need not be something fancy but anything that is a combination of computer docs - online or offline that only you can access without the hassles of login/password OR simple index cards based tracker are really all that is needed. For scheduling, there are free calendars - again both online and offline.
The best tool that you have is planning ahead. Pick up two airlines and hotels and stick with them and accumulate crazy number of points and spend them during an off-season. Nothing really could beat it!
Most of the times, you would find the best deals online. Many major chains simply put them online and have the same info access to both you as well as their employees. I know that sounds counter intuitive as one may guess that employees or travel agents have the best deal. But really, these guys get the margin offers. As in, they get the deals based on volumes and hence work best if you are doing bulk bookings of corporate bookings. At which point, it makes sense to pick up the phone. For a normal traveler, single or with family, it hardly makes sense to try that hard. Though, certainly I am not discouraging you from pick up that phone and call to check about any ongoing specials in air or hotel.
Awardwallet.com is pretty good and so are a bunch of other sites. I like Reward programs sites that list down your points as well as earn you points on activities such as dining or using local business. I usually prefer going directly to the airline websites though. Most offer a multitude of tools that could be used to manage your travel.
To round-up, as indicated at the start, build your own, home-grown tools. It need not be something fancy but anything that is a combination of computer docs - online or offline that only you can access without the hassles of login/password OR simple index cards based tracker are really all that is needed. For scheduling, there are free calendars - again both online and offline.
The best tool that you have is planning ahead. Pick up two airlines and hotels and stick with them and accumulate crazy number of points and spend them during an off-season. Nothing really could beat it!
Best Hotels by Area
The hotel industry is ever evolving. What I do not get especially in the US is the fact that many of the mega Hotel chains such as IHG, Hilton, Starwood or Marriott sit on such huge amount of prime real estate and yet they would rather let their rooms empty rather than give you or me some free rooms :)
Anyhow, this industry had one of the worst loyalty programs which were revamped for the better in recent times, towards the end of the decade. I would not recommend accumulating any of the hotel chains points for long time. Few months would be a good exit point. There are some credit cards which partner with various hotels. But do not expect any gift card redemption option or sensible airline point conversion. The only exception to this rule is the Amex Starwood preferred card. Which is surprising, given that it is a hotel card at its core but seems to integrate well with airlines. The drawback is of course the hefty annual fee on this card. Another good option is the Wyndham credit card. I stick with Hilton or IHG (Holiday Inns) though I do go to Marriott at times along with other hotels depending on the deals.
So, credit card wise the best would be the Chase cards, Amex cards and the US Bank driven Wyndham cards. Hotel redemption wise, in the US, the best options are the Marriott and the IHG. Wyndham is decent and so is Hilton. Internationally, Hilton and Marriott have strong presence at multiple locations. Starwood is something that you could apply in a targeted fashion if your travel destination has significant presence of this chain.
In the Asia/Europe/Africa sector, you are bound to find a good amount of Hilton/Marriott properties. Australia is a different game while Canada has options very similar to the US. For South America, I would stick with known brands such as Marriott. There are lot of franchising and local corporate-run chains which tend to significantly dilute the service of other well known brands.
Finally, I think once in a while, one must experience very high end hotel stays. Westin is one such which is pretty much a good example of what a high end hotel has to offer. There is of course a lot of niche hotels which cater to the high heeled but in my opinion, it is better to not make an ass of yourself or come off as a cheapstake by bargaining about hotel points in the lobby of such big hotels. Usually, one is better off if a business sponsors you to the higher end of the hotel chains and get you reimbursed. The point redemption options here are not there or are simply not worth it. The business model of really top notch hotels depend on service and margin and is really not loyalty focused. You would pretty much find yourself in needless arithmetic when you enter this zone.
Anyhow, this industry had one of the worst loyalty programs which were revamped for the better in recent times, towards the end of the decade. I would not recommend accumulating any of the hotel chains points for long time. Few months would be a good exit point. There are some credit cards which partner with various hotels. But do not expect any gift card redemption option or sensible airline point conversion. The only exception to this rule is the Amex Starwood preferred card. Which is surprising, given that it is a hotel card at its core but seems to integrate well with airlines. The drawback is of course the hefty annual fee on this card. Another good option is the Wyndham credit card. I stick with Hilton or IHG (Holiday Inns) though I do go to Marriott at times along with other hotels depending on the deals.
So, credit card wise the best would be the Chase cards, Amex cards and the US Bank driven Wyndham cards. Hotel redemption wise, in the US, the best options are the Marriott and the IHG. Wyndham is decent and so is Hilton. Internationally, Hilton and Marriott have strong presence at multiple locations. Starwood is something that you could apply in a targeted fashion if your travel destination has significant presence of this chain.
In the Asia/Europe/Africa sector, you are bound to find a good amount of Hilton/Marriott properties. Australia is a different game while Canada has options very similar to the US. For South America, I would stick with known brands such as Marriott. There are lot of franchising and local corporate-run chains which tend to significantly dilute the service of other well known brands.
Finally, I think once in a while, one must experience very high end hotel stays. Westin is one such which is pretty much a good example of what a high end hotel has to offer. There is of course a lot of niche hotels which cater to the high heeled but in my opinion, it is better to not make an ass of yourself or come off as a cheapstake by bargaining about hotel points in the lobby of such big hotels. Usually, one is better off if a business sponsors you to the higher end of the hotel chains and get you reimbursed. The point redemption options here are not there or are simply not worth it. The business model of really top notch hotels depend on service and margin and is really not loyalty focused. You would pretty much find yourself in needless arithmetic when you enter this zone.
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