Monthly Archives: December 2013

My Travel Predictions (Both Good and Bad) for 2014

2014 New Years

My Travel Predictions (Both Good and Bad) for 2014

Happy holidays everyone!  As 2014 quickly approaches, I wanted to share my predictions for 2014, regarding airlines, hotels, and credit card rewards.  Feel free to agree, disagree, or share your own comments below.

Airlines:

  • British Airways – I think the 4,500 and 7,500 (maybe even 10,000) Avios award prices will go away or the entire award chart will be revamped.  The current prices are just too good.
  • Alaska Airlines and Delta Airlines – since there has been a lot of fighting over routes to/from SEA and SLC, I think Alaska will no longer allow you to earn or redeem miles with Delta.
  • American Airlines and US Airways – after the merger, we will see some new “enhancements” (aka devaluations) to the new award chart.  Maybe off-peak awards will be changed or removed.
  • Southwest Airlines and AirTran – hopefully the merger goes through smoothly and quickly.  I look forward to using Southwest Rapid Reward Points for flights to Hawaii, Mexico City, and other tropical destinations south of the border.  I also think the 50,000 Southwest Rapid Reward sign up bonus will no longer count for companion pass status, it is just too easy to get Companion Pass.
  • Hawaiian Airlines – merge with another airline, maybe JetBlue or Alaska Airlines.
  • Lufthansa  – revamp their award chart after everyone signs up for their credit card.
  • Virgin Atlantic – miles will be transferable 1:1 with Virgin America and Virgin Australia.

Hotels:

Continue reading →

Need Help Liquidating Gift Cards?

CCs

Need Help Liquidating Gift Cards?

Happy holidays everyone!  If you are lucky (or maybe unlucky), you may have too many gift cards in your wallet.  Wouldn’t it be great to get all of your gift card balances on one card?

Here’s how…

You will need a Target AMEX reloadable gift card.  I first learned about this card from Frequent Miler’s post last October (post).  It hasn’t gotten much attention lately with Bluebird dominating the reloadable space, but this card definitely is worthy.  It does not have bill pay, but what it lacks in features, it makes up for in “loadability”.  This is the only reloadable gift card that can be loaded with gift cards that do not have PINs.  You know, all those American Express gift cards you bought last week at Office Max?  They don’t have PINs.  Load them to your Target AMEX card and you are good to go.

Welcome Slick Deal members, here is my Target receipt from this morning:

Target Receipt1

After loading up my Target AMEX, I usually drive over to CVS and buy 2 Vanilla Reload Cards.  There you go, all liquidated.  For more info on the Target AMEX, read this post.  If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.

Cashing Out Membership Reward Points for British Airways Avios

MR Logo

Cashing Out Membership Reward Points for British Airways Avios

Last February, my mother and father both signed up for the American Express Premier Reward Gold (PRG) credit card since it had a sweet sign up bonus: 50,000 Membership Reward Points after spending $1,000 in 3 months, with no annual fee the first year.

The Membership Reward Points posted after 2 months and then sat in their account.  And sat.  And sat some more.  Until yesterday.

Since neither of them have any plans to use the Membership Reward Points, I decided to cash out their Membership Reward balance and take advantage of the 20% transfer bonus to British Airways Avios (link) before the December 31, 2013 deadline.

MR BA Avios

The Membership Reward Points were immediately deducted from my parents’ accounts and credit to their British Airways accounts.

  • Mother: 22,000 Membership Reward Points x 1.20 = 26,400 British Airways Avios
  • Father: 51,000 Membership Reward Points x 1.20 = 61,200 British Airways Avios

BA Balances

Good thing for me, we all belong to the same British Airways Household account.

BA Household

Anyone have an ideas on what to do with 1 Membership Reward Point?

Dad MR

Since both of their Premier Reward Gold credit cards will have an annual fee coming up in February, the 20% transfer bonus was as good as any.  I would have transferred the points to my SPG account, but 3 Membership Reward Points = 1 SPG Point is too hard to stomach.  If you annual fee is coming due in the next few months, you may want to look into transferring some/all of your Membership Reward Points to British Airways, especially if you have a Household account.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.  Happy holidays!

$5 Minimum Payouts for Ebay Bucks Reward Program Starting January 1, 2014

ebay bucks logo

$5 Minimum Payouts for Ebay Bucks Reward Program Starting January 1, 2014

If you are unfamiliar with Ebay Bucks, it is basically a rewards program that gives you 2% cash back (in the form of Ebay gift certificates every quarter) on almost everything you buy on Ebay.  Very straightforward program and a great way to encourage buyers to shop more on Ebay.  To learn more about the program, read this post.

A few minutes ago, Ebay sent out the following email regarding changes to the Ebay Bucks program:

New Ebay Bucks Rules

To earn more than $5 in Ebay Bucks each quarter, you will have to spend more than $250 on Ebay each quarter ($250 x 2% = $5).  Previously, you would receive an Ebay gift certificate no matter how much, or how little, you spent each quarter.  I just sent Ebay a tweet asking if they can roll over rewards from one quarter to the next, but I doubt that will happen.

If you need help reaching the $250 quarterly spending on Ebay, just look at the gift card category.  You can easily spend more than $250, earn Ebay Bucks, and get a (great) discounts on gift cards.

If you have any questions about Ebay Bucks, please leave a comment below.  Happy holidays!

Need some Ebay Help? Ask an Ebay Power Seller (aka Me!)

Ebay Master

Need some Ebay Help?  Ask an Ebay Power Seller (aka Me!)

If you are like me, hopefully just a little bit, you might be saying, “Thanks grandma for the ___ for my ___, I’ve always wanted one of these,” but in your head, you are thinking, “dang, what the heck is this and why would she buy this for me?  Is there anyway to sell this and get some money for the ____ I really want?”  The answer is yes, and you can sell it on Ebay!

Never sold something on Ebay before?  No problem, we all have to start somewhere.  If you want to learn how to sell your first Ebay item, check out this post: Sell your First Ebay Item.

If you are in a hurry, I recommend download the Ebay app for iOS or Android.  You can take pictures on your phone, edit with the Ebay app, and list it in a matter of minutes.

Pricing

One of the trickiest and most important part of Ebay is the pricing strategy you decide to use.  You can have an auction run from 1-10 days or have a buy it now listing run for 30 days.  In general, if you want to sell an item faster (but for less money), use a buy it now listing.  If you want to get the most money possible and don’t mind waiting a few days, go for the listing.  If there is a lot of demand for the item you are selling, I would have a small starting bid, like 99 cents.  If you have a unique item with not much selling history, go with a higher starting bid, close to the amount you would like to sell the item for.  From my 9 years of Ebay selling, I always prefer having an auction end on a Saturday, either morning or afternoon.  Please remember times zones when starting an auction.  7AM Eastern Time is not considered morning for us West Coaster bidders.  And likewise for West Coast sellers.  Do not have an auction end after 7PM, since most East Coasters are in bed or out on the town.   Continue reading →