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The Single Best Travel Rewards Card
12 Sep. 2018
The Single Best Travel Rewards Card
Contrary Although I love talking all things points, miles and travel, I generally shy away from starting that conversation with strangers.  If there’s time or if I feel I can help someone look at travel rewards in a different way, I might go for it, but the topic often mushrooms and becomes a time drain.
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What I did With My Marriott / SPG Points
8 Aug. 2018
What I did With My Marriott / SPG Points
Intro By now it’s no secret that big changes to Marriott’s merger with SPG are underway and others in the process of being finalized.  Initially those changes were set to take place on August 4th, but that date has since been pushed back to August 18th.  I assume that the dates are now set in
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Fallout From A Bank Shutdown
7 Aug. 2018
Fallout From A Bank Shutdown
Shutdown I recently wrote a post about a bank shutdown linked to manufactured spending (MS).  It was my first checking deposit related bank shutdown from MS, but probably not the last.  The TCF Bank checking account in question was set to be closed on July 31.  I preemptively closed the account the day before, so
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Visa Gift Card Deal at Office Max/Depot starting today
29 Jul. 2018
Visa Gift Card Deal at Office Max/Depot starting today
Kind of a Big Deal A reminder there’s free points at Office Max/Depot today with a possible negative cost Visa gift card (VGC) promotion. The promotion is pretty standard:  get $10 off (instantly at checkout) $300 (or more) worth of Visa Everywhere branded (debit) gift cards purchased.  It’s not as good as the previous $15
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Why I Didn’t Do The Iberia Deal
9 Jul. 2018
Why I Didn’t Do The Iberia Deal
Don’t Believe the Hype? A great, then good, then in limbo deal surfaced in the past few weeks with Iberia Airlines.  Iberia is an airline carrier based in Madrid, Spain.  It’s award program uses Avios points that have the possibility of being transferred to and from British Airways.  Iberia is part of the One World
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Booking My First Round The World Trip with Points
7 Jul. 2018
Booking My First Round The World Trip with Points
Situation Overview Two years ago I had some Citi Thank You points and a bonus offer from Etihad came up.  If I remember correctly the transfer bonus was 30%, so I jumped on it.  At that time, the logic I used for that decision was: 1) I figured that that I could always make use
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Saving Myself From a Chase Shutdown
2 Jul. 2018
Saving Myself From a Chase Shutdown
Temptress This past week Chase introduced the World of Hyatt credit card.  It’s a revised card to the previously released Chase Hyatt Visa that has a vastly different set of benefits and rewards possibilities.  The main draws for me with this new card is the ability to spend your way to top tier (Globalist) status
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Identity Theft at Walmart Money Center?
20 Jun. 2018
Identity Theft at Walmart Money Center?
MOTR During a liquidation run to a local Walmart a few days, I filled out the Money Order Transaction Form (MOTR).  Walmart is required to capture customer information when and if $3,000 or more in money orders are purchased.  For stores that allow multiple debit/gift card swipes for money orders, some stores don’t utilize the
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