I am glad I was raised with American Express because I will stick by them through and through and this is how they repay me.

Stealing from Mommy Points

Here’s how it works:

1. Register your American Express card.  Unless you are making over 10 purchases at the eligible retailers, I don’t really see a huge need to register every single Amex you can find in your sock drawer, but do keep in mind you can only get 10 “gifts” per card.
2. Then, use that card to spend $25 or more at a participating online store between November 28 and December 21, 2011, and you could get a surprise gift.  Eligible retailers include: J. Crew, Pottery Barn, Toys R Us, Walmart, YoYo, Dell, REI, American Eagle Outfitters, Zappos, Blue Nile, Bed Bath and Beyond, the Nike Store, Game Stop, and more…  Yes, you can still go through a shopping portal, and yes you can buy gift certificates to meet the $25 spending requirement.  You get the idea……
3. After you make your purchase of at least $25 with an eligible retailer, you may receive a gift from Amex!  I am a little bit confused on whether every purchase gets a gift until the gifts are gone, or whether it is a bit random.  I did two Walmart purchases yesterday and both received gifts.  The first received a year of ShopRunner free, and that email came within minutes of the purchase.  The second purchase received a $5 Amex statement credit if I make another minimum $5 purchase at Walmart between now and February 29, 2012.  That email came about 18 hours after the purchase was made.  I plan to make a few more purchases at eligible retailers, so we will see what I get!

It’s that simple.  Register, spend $25 on something you needed anyway at one of the eligible retailers, and get a prize.  Some examples of available gifts are: $10 Walmart gift card, $500 American Express gift cards for you and three of your Facebook friends (psst, I’ll be your friend!), $300 Dell gift card, $25 Toys R Us gift card, statement credits, and Membership Reward points.

Are you already a part of the gift chain?  I learned through Twitter that chiefmbh bought $225 in Walmart gift cards and received statement credits and more gift cards.  Way to go!  (If you want to have fun with me on Twitter you can follow me @Mommy_Points)  What did you get from the gift chain?

 

Judging by the comments on her blog, most people seem to be getting Shoprunner memberships.

Last year AMEX gave $25 statement credits for supporting small businesses.  I earned mine by eating at my favorite local restaurant and paying with my AMEX.

The first great news is that the same promotion is returning again this year, so mark your calendars for Saturday, November 26.

The other exciting news is that Fedex is supporting the promotion by giving away 30,000 small business gift cards worth $25 each at 1PM ET on Tuesday, November 1. All you have to do is “like” Fedex on Facebook and be one of the first 30,000 people to register on Tuesday. Be sure you’re quick, because I assume these will be gone in no time.

Good luck!

HT Lucky

I know just last week I said I just have the normal Hilton HHonors AMEX and I was fine with that, but tonight I sat down and did the math.

Last year (according to my nice AMEX yearly summary) I spent ~$9,000 at Hilton properties on that card.

Since the Surpass earns 9 pp$ instead of 6 pp$ at Hiltons if  I take 9000 x 3 I get 27,000 points I didn’t earn.  This is just north of 1 free Category 3 room.  Plus this year I’ll get the upgrade bonus points based on spend and stay so the first year it definitely pays off.

I also figured while I was at it I might as well request a credit limit increase and that got instantly approved.  I only requested a $3000 increase on a $5000 limit, but figured it’s better to play it safe.  I thought about trying to double it, but with my pending Hilton Citi card and it’s limit I don’t really need more on the AMEX.

This is a great benefit for the Platinum and reemphasizes its position as a frequent traveler card.  If I did more foreign travel and thought those places would all take American Express this would help to justify the annual fee.  I’m sure there are many out there who spend enough internationally to do that.

HT Gary

Shop at a small business on November 27th and spend more than $25 on your American Express and you can get a $25 statement credit.

Enroll: http://www.smallbusinesssaturday.com/

Eligible merchants include any independently owned small businesses that accept the American Express Card. Purchases made online, at large, national chains, at franchised business locations and at government agencies are not eligible. Prepaid, corporate cards and ExpressPay transactions are not eligible.

I definitely appreciate this more than the promotion they ran around Christmas a couple years ago that gave statement credits for shopping at Wal*Mart.

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20100915005590/en

Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) and MasterCard Worldwide today begin an exclusive brand partnership to offer customers and businesses co-branded Delta SkyMiles Debit MasterCard® cards. It will create the largest and most comprehensive debit card program offered to Delta customers.

[...]

Delta and MasterCard have executed the first phase of the agreement; the two companies will now work over the next several months to build a national network of financial institutions to offer the Delta SkyMiles Debit MasterCard cards to current and prospective Delta customers through local bank branches across the United States.

This is good news for people out there who have favorite merchants who do not accept American Express and live in an area that does not have a Sun Trust bank.  I am curious to see what banks will begin to offer this and what exactly the benefits will be.  The current card offers 1 mile per $2 and has a lower annual fee than the AMEXs.

Personal and business Platinum and Centurion card holders will now be extended access to US Airways lounges.

from bankingdeals.com

Note: this is the Platinum and Centurion charge card, not various American Express credit cards that have used the word Platinum throughout the year and not American Express cards issued by anyone other than AMEX (e.g. Bank of America).

The US Airways lounges will not require a ticket on US Airways unlike some of the other airlines that participate.  This actually might not be a bad deal since the annual fee is $450 and grants one access to Delta, US Airways, American, and Continental’s lounges.  Membership for the US Airways lounge (which reciprocates to other Star Alliance lounges, but not to Delta or American) is also $450 for a non-status flyer.

Thanks Wandering Aramean

All credit card point earning categories are not created equal.  Many credit cards offer bonus points on certain categories such as gas an groceries while purchases at big box stores are often excluded.

Flyertalker 4Health details his way of getting around spending category shortfalls by buying WalMart gift cards online on American Express’ bonus portal (only for Membership Rewards cards).

My Hilton HHonors American Express offers bonus points at grocery stores.  Many grocery stores now sell gift cards for various other places.  Since restaurants no longer earn bonus points on that card it can be used to purchase restaurant gift cards so the grocery bonus is earned instead of the standard point rate.  It takes some advanced thought and relegates one into chain restaurants, but if you are going to eat at Chilis anyway might as well get some more points with it.

If you are using another card’s portal or one of the various airline shopping malls verify before hand that purchasing gift cards counts.  Many times purchases of gift cards or purchases made with gift cards do not count for bonuses.

I took my full marriage license with me on my honeymoon because I was headed straight to work without passing go and collecting $200. I also collected .PDFs of all the forms I’d need to update with my company like new W4s, benefits forms, as well as a name change form. It seems like everything has filtered through except for the IT account changes so I’m not really sure what name to use until my outlook name officially changes.

I was finally home on Friday so I used my window to go to the DMV and get that changed. I headed in with my new SS card, marriage license, and a pay check (since I was updating my address too). I decided to try to go early morning since going over lunch is a horrible idea in NC. They all go on lunch and everyone else who works goes to the DMV so they have 2 people open and a 2 hour line. It opens at 8 a.m. so I headed over at 9 a.m. I was seen by the triage guy after waiting in the first line for 10 minutes, then after he verified I had enough papers (I wish all states would have a primary paper checker to make sure before the big wait that you don’t have to come back). I took my number and sat down. Now the NC DMV only accepts checks and cash and I was unsure what this would set me back. A new license is $32 for 8 years. A replacement license is $10. I had $20 on me so I was hoping it was the latter and it was so I was safe. I did have to get a new picture taken. I wasn’t really prepared for that, but oh well. New license should arrive in the mail in 10 days and the old license is completely intact. I’m not sure what’s the point of central processing if we get unsnipped licenses. The DMV also updated my name and address with the voter administration so that was 2 birds with 1 stone. I wasn’t sure about car registration since that’s a separate office in NC (very annoying!)

After that I headed over to the bank and changed my name there. Pretty easy since I bank with a small bank and I always get great service when I go there.

I had to renew my registration for my car so I got it inspected, returned home, and renewed my registration online. Turns out that they did in fact update that record also when I changed my name at the DMV so my new registration should come in my new name.

After that I printed out forms for all my other banks and copied the marriage license and sent it off. This included Fidelity and ING Direct. I called American Express to get new cards issued. I called their card replacement line and just requested a new name over the phone, no documentation required. I have photo cards from Citi so I had to mail a new signature to them, but otherwise I could have updated it over the internet.

I printed out a form for a new passport, but I need to get some photos taken and I’m slacking about that.

Now I just have to wait until I have some form of ID in my new name and I will begin the process of changing names with frequent flyer accounts which is the whole point I want to get to.

I was reading fellow Boarding Area blogger View from the Wing and noticed a new Delta promotion Together We Fly.  This requires Delta flyers to form team of 4 to earn bonus miles based on team miles.

…but wait!

• To register you need a team captain with an address in Michigan, Minnesota, Tennessee, or Washington (so the old Northwest hub states)
• Tickets must be purchased with an American Express card (but not necessarily the Delta Skymiles American Express card)
• a few other rules to note

Since this promo is capped and not an all out competition like the United Elite Choice Team Competition from last year I decided to enlist my former NW elite turned Delta elite coworkers to be my teammates (well, because frankly they meet the residency requirement and I don’t and I know all our tickets will be purchased with an AMEX).

There are two important things when it comes to wallets and travel: have a wallet that meets your needs, and fill it with the right cards.

I use my wallet as the main organizer for my expense reports. I went through a few wallets early in my travel career, but settled on one with multiple bill-length compartments. This allows me to easily keep work receipts separate from personal receipts.   Business receipts go in the back compartment, personal receipts and cash go in the front.  I also like a zippered coin compartment to keep control of parking meter money.  Having multiple compartments also allows me to keep Canadian currency separate so I can quickly get the appropriate money.

I also like a wallet with slots for many credit cards so I always choose the correct one.  The current cards I carry are:  Hilton HHonors American Express, Citi PremierPass, Citi Professional, my local bank debit card, and my Charles Schwab Investor Checking debit card.  In addition to these cards I have some that sit at home collecting dust.

• Hilton HHonors American Express: This card comes in a free version offering 6 points per dollar at Hiltons, gas stations, grocery stores, and a few other things and 3 points per dollar elsewhere.  I use this card for all Hilton properties, my internet and phone bills, groceries, and some gas. It also gives Silver VIP status. There is also the Surpass level which gives 9 points per dollar at Hilton properties, 6 at the same types as the other card.  The Surpass carries an annual fee of $75/year and it is possible to spend enough to get Diamond VIP status.  Since I already get Diamond VIP on my own and the additional 3 points per dollar from Hilton properties take a while to be worth $75 I have stayed at the normal card.  If the right bonus comes along I will probably upgrade.  I took on the Hilton card originally during a 62,500 point bonus.
• Citi PremierPass: This used to be a good card when mileage rewards had a different redemption scheme.  I mainly just use this card for personal expenses in categories I don’t have any other bonus in like clothing.  I also use this card to book personal airfare due to the ability to earn Thank You points on miles also.  I use my Thank You points for gift cards mostly.  There is also a annual fee version of this card that gives a TYP per mile flown instead of 1 per 3 miles flown.  I don’t purchase my business airfare and until recently didn’t purchase much personal airfare either.  I’d rather have an airline card if  I purchased my airfare though.
• Citi Professional: I can’t find a link for this card right now.  It has a cash version and a Thank You network version.  I have the Thank You version.  It gives 3 points per $ at restaurants, gas stations, and rental cars.   It is also part of the Mastercard small business rebate network which has rebates are fuelman network gas stations and Avis.  I use this card for restaurants, rental cars, and fuel man gas stations (with other gas stations going on Hilton).  Another nice feature is primary rental insurance.
• Charles Schwab Investor Checking: I tried to get the Charles Schwab Visa for its 2% cash-back and no forex, but I had a snag with FIA.  Instead of a credit card, I have this debit card for my checking account with Charles Schwab.  I’ve blogged about this card before because I use it to save on forex.  As a debit card I just have to make sure I put money in this account before  I go internationally.  The checking account earns a paltry 0.75% so I pretty much just use this for foreign currency transactions.
• My local bank debit card: to me this is mostly an ATM card, but I have one of those “rewards checking accounts” which means if I make 10 debit transactions a month I earn 4.25% APR on balances less than $10,000.  This means I find a soda machine that accepts credit cards and make a few transactions, then I use this for airport parking until I get to my 10 transactions.

I don’t like to change credit cards often so I’m not the person to emulate, but I have learned to keep track of which card to use in which situation.  At first I tried to be a 1 credit card person putting everything on my PremierPass card, but I quickly grew out of that.  I tried the Starwood American Express, but since I rarely had Starwood stays to supplement my earnings I was not earning much.  That card has been filed away and I do use it when I stay at a Starwood.

The actual wallet I carry was purchased at Target 2 years ago.  I am not a brand whore and I’d rather have more money to use for travel so I bought a $20 wallet instead of a $200 wallet.