Monthly Archives: March 2014

No Joke: 2 $10 Amazon eGift Card Giveaway!

2 Amazon Gift Cards

No Joke: 2 $10 Amazon eGift Card Giveaway!

I had an elaborate April Fools joke planned where I was gunna say CVS had joined Plink and you could earn 400 Plink Points for purchases greater than $100, but I guess that joke will never happen :(

Side note: RIP Vanilla Reload Cards (or will they be zombies and return from the dead?… to be determined)

On a happier note, I wanted to thank those of you (roughly 30 of you) who used my Amazon affiliate link during March.  I earned a few bucks toward my free first class ticket, so I wanted to give back a little something.

Instead of a boring giveaway where everyone posts in the comments “Pick me, I love your blog!” or “It’s your friend from high school, you still owe me 10 bucks!”, I decided I would make it more fun.  I will send a $10 Amazon egift card to the 2 closest comments who can guess the last 2 digits of my social security number.  (Hint: guess something between 00 and 99).

You have until 8PM PDT on April Fools Day to comment.  I will give you an extra $1 if you guess it exactly!

Any questions?  No?  Good.  Start guessing!

Guest Post from Doctor of Credit: Bank Account Sign Up Bonuses

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Guest Post from Doctor of Credit: Bank Account Sign Up Bonuses

(Disclosure: Will from Doctor of Credit emailed me about doing a guest post for each other’s blog and I said that would be a cool idea.  If you are interested in doing a guest post, please send me an email.)

If you’re a regular Travel with Grant reader like myself then chances are you’ve made a heap of points, miles and cash from various credit card sign up bonuses. Unfortunately you’re limited by the number of cards you can apply for and be approved for because you receive a hard credit pull every time you apply. Manufactured spending can be a great way to fill in the time between app-o-ramas, but my favorite thing to do to take the edge off is to make some extra spending money from bank account sign up bonuses.

Why I Love Bank Account Sign Up Bonuses:

  • The majority of them don’t require a hard credit pull, only a chex systems inquiry.
  • They pay cash, which is much more flexible than points and can be used for spending cash for your travel holidays.
  • They compliment credit card sign up bonuses. E.g, the Chase Freedom gives you a 10% bonus on all points earned if you have a Chase checking account open. A lot of checking accounts also allow you to fund the initial deposit with a credit card which is perfect for helping to meet some minimum spend requirements or some light manufactured spending.

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App-O-Rama Update: US Bank FlexPerks Travel Rewards Credit Card Finally Arrived

US Bank Olympics Promo

App-O-Rama Update: US Bank FlexPerks Travel Rewards Credit Card Finally Arrived

During my last app-o-rama (link) on March 15, I applied for the US Bank FlexPerks Travel Rewards Credit Card because of the Winter Olympics promo (see pic above).  I got a pending decision so I called the reconsideration department.

US Bank FlexPerks Pending Call

Unfortunately, US Bank doesn’t really have a reconsideration department, the representatives just tell you to wait a few days and call back to see if you were approved.  They also have an automated application status phone number (800-947-1444) that will tell you the status of your application.

Yesterday, when I logged into my US Bank account, I saw a new credit card added to my online account.

New US Bank CC

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Reminder: Travel with Grant Meet Up Saturday Night (March 29) at In-N-Out (Tustin District)

Thank you to everyone who showed up tonight.  I hope you learned a few tips and tricks from me, since I certainly learned a few tips and tricks from all of you.  I will try to coordinate another meet up with other local travel bloggers and maybe schedule another meeting in late April or early May.  See you all there :)

In-N-Out Logo

Reminder: Travel with Grant Meet Up Saturday Night (March 29) at In-N-Out (Tustin District)

This is just a friendly reminder that EVERYONE MUST SHOW UP TO IN-N-OUT TOMORROW!

  • Time: 6PM (feel free to come anytime after 6)
  • Date: tomorrow night (March 29)
  • Address: In-N-Out Burger, 2895 Park Ave, Tustin, CA 92782 (Google Maps)

If you are free tomorrow night and located within driving or flying distance (John Wayne is pretty close) to the Tustin District, please join me and other “travel addicts” and “points junkies” for a night of burgers, fries, and secret tips/trick.

If you need a few more reasons to come, here you go…

In N Out Map

I will invite Travel-Summary (Irvine local / travel blogger) and see if Amol (Hack My Trip) or Jamison (Points Summary) can come down from LA and join us.  It will be nice to see some familiar faces and meet some new travel fanatics.

I will be at In-N-Out at 6pm, but come anytime you want.  Last time we were planning on staying until 8pm, but most of us stayed until after 10pm.  Feel free to bring friends or relatives, the more the merrier.  Remember, seating outside is limited and it might get kind of cold in the evening, so bring a sweater or a snuggie (I don’t judge).

If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.  See you all tomorrow!

$40-$50 Radisson Blu Stays

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Updated 6/7/2014 at 3PM PST: Manufactured spending costs have risen to $50, from $40.  Club Carlson has also added a new tier of hotel properties that is classified as Category 7 and costs 70,000 Club Carlson points per night.  Adjust your calculations to determine the cost for a Category 7 hotel property.

Club-Carlson-Cards

$40-$50 Radisson Blu Stays and Cheaper Club Carlson Stays

Good morning, this might be one of my last posts before my 2 week trip to Europe.  I will be leaving tomorrow night to fly up to SFO and returning home on Super Bowl Sunday (February 2).  I will try to blog while on my trip, but no promises.

Here is a good post to pique your interest.  Everyone is aware that the Club Carlson credit card from US Bank offers “last night free” on award stays.  To maximize the benefit, let’s assume you only stay 2 nights at any Club Carlson property.  Therefore, every stays is BOGO or every stay is half off, however you want to look at it.  Here are the 6 categories of Club Carlson properties:

Club Carlson Award Nights

One of the great things about having the Club Carlson credit card is that you get 5 Club Carlson points per dollar spent… on anything.  Therefore, if you bought a $500 Vanilla Reload Card, the total comes to $503.95.  If you are earning 5x on the purchase, you will receive 2,520 Club Carlson points for a $3.95 fee.  If my math is correct, that comes out to 0.157 cents per point (that’s more than 6 points per cent, by the way).

Assuming you bought all your Club Carlson points at 0.157 cents per point, here is the cost per category if you stay in 2 night stays.

Category Points Half Price Stay
Cat 1 9,000 4,500 $7.05
Cat 2 15,000 7,500 $11.76
Cat 3 28,000 14,000 $21.95
Cat 4 38,000 19,000 $29.78
Cat 5 44,000 22,000 $34.49
Cat 6 50,000 25,000 $39.19

Therefore, my stay at the Radisson Blu in Amsterdam would only cost $39 for a standard room or $59 for a premium room.  Forget points and cash prices!

Rad Blu AMS Price

Likewise, a stay at the Radisson Blu Rome would be $34.50 for a standard room and only $47 for a premium room.  Once again, forget about points plus cash rates.

Radisson Blu Rome Price

Right now, I am trying to rack up a ton of Club Carlson points before something happens (probably going to raise the hotel redemption rates sometime this year).  If you want to apply for the Club Carlson credit card, please read my application procedure of freezing 2 small credit bureau reports here.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.  See you all in Europe!