- You may be able to get a free $10 Domino’s gift card plus 500 Rapid Rewards points when you get a new Southwest account.
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New list of SPG Hot Escapes hotels is announced, valid for next 6 weeks. There are a quite a few discounted properties in US, including one in Orlando. Tomorrow is the last day to book, and you can get an extra 5% discount for being an SPG member. (h/t LoyaltyLobby)
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Official links for Southwest cards have died, but zombie offers usually live on for a few weeks or months. Check this Flyertalk thread for the latest developments.
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The sign-up bonus on US Airways World Premier MasterCard is increased to 50,000 miles. See my previous post for more. The card pays me commission, however, I included a link to non-affiliate offer as well. It’s your choice as to which offer to go with.
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On Monday, I wrote about JAL mileage program and possible ways to leverage it for flights to Caribbean. I wanted to add that reportedly, miles can only be redeemed for immediate family members. Not a big deal, but something to be aware of.
If you have a good access to airports served by United, you should look into ANA program. It’s very similar to JAL, only flights run 22,000 miles for itinerary that’s less than 4,000 miles (total segments combined).
ANA miles transfer form Membership Rewards, which are way easier to get than SPG points. This “sweet”spot will go away in April, so you should take advantage of it while you still can. I’ve linked to this excellent post on Miles4More, but if you haven’t seen it, you must check it out.
On my mind
No, this isn’t a last week’s rant! I’ve mentioned how busy families need to be selective as to how far they are willing to pursue this hobby. I have personally made many mistakes in this area, chased ridiculous promotions, all just to save a few bucks. It wasn’t worth it. In fact, as I wrote before, last year’s Small Business Saturday has turned sour and almost ruined a special getaway with my husband.
Well, I am happy to report that this year’s Amex promotion couldn’t have gone better. I took my family to a small mom-and-pop local Chinese buffet. I was a bit nervous because the people who own it speak poor English. If the place was crowded, it could potentially turn into a nightmare, with me trying to explain my scheme of charging the bill in $10 increments.
Thankfully (for me), the place was almost empty and the owner understood what was expected of him in exchange for my patronage that day. I had a total of 4 Amex cards, so had access to $120 in credits. The bill came to only $42, so I told him to do five $10 swipes, and it would take off the tip. No problem.
I had $70 in unused credits, so I asked him if they sold gift cards. He said he had gift checks. He brings out this envelope that probably wasn’t opened in years and got out $70 worth of colorful certificates. Then he proceeded to charge $70 in $10 increments. Afterwards, when the charges went through, he got out this special stamp, and stamped them as endorsement. This is serious stuff, y’all. That’s probably what it was like buying stocks in the olden days.
I apologized to the guy for all this nuisance, and he just smiled and said :”Not at all! Please, stay!” I’m sure he didn’t mean anything creepy by it. I think? Nobody was waiting in line and soft Chinese music was playing in the background. He would have been happy to keep swiping my cards all day long. I seriously wish I would have added extra authorized users. I would have made out like a bandit.
Sure, this whole thing was totally ridiculous, and I was probably the only one in my small town doing this promotion. But I got a load of free food and gift checks to use later. Not to mention, we probably made this guy’s day. When I got home, there were 12 confirmation emails from Amex, so everything went through without a hitch. Just beautiful.
A lot of stuff we pursue in this hobby is over-the-top and can be borderline absurd. But sometimes stars align just right and absurd can turn into absurdly lucrative. The trick is to know when to pursue and when to walk away.
Readers, what did you do on Small Business Saturday?
Click here to view various credit cards and available sign-up bonuses
Author: Leana
Leana is the founder of Miles For Family. She enjoys beach vacations and visiting her family in Europe. Originally from Belarus, Leana resides in central Florida with her husband and two children.
I have 5 cards. Went to Asian buffet $50 (5 x $10) for lunch then I got
gift cards $50 worth from Farrell’s ice cream and lastly went to Filipino restaurant $50 for dinner
This is my first time participating in small business Saturday and I have to say it was really amazing!
@Anthony It does sound amazing ! I hope they bring it back next year. You can easily make up for your annual fee through this promo alone.
We went out to breakfast, got some credit at my brother’s candy store, http://www.sweetnessandlight.com, purchased 3 restaurant gift cards, and used 4 credits towards our Christmas tree!
@David T That sounds like a lot of fun! Thats the best kind of combination: Saving money and having fun with your family at the same time.
10 cards total, spent $10×20 swipes at a local business for gift cards AND they had $25 if you spent $100, so also got an additional $50! Then $10×4 at the co-op, $10 at the fish store, $10 at various places around town. $300!!! All the regular Amex accounts already show the credits. Just waiting for FIA and Bluebird to show up.
@ tscateh That’s a nice haul! I dropped the ball and didn’t sign up my husbands Serve account. Oh well…
@Sebastian Wow, you did very well with this promo! Nicely done. I really wish I got more Amex cards. I thought it was going to be a nuisance, but turned out great. Oh well, hopefully next year I can get more credits.
As far as your question on US Airways card goes, I think you have a very good chance at getting another card. Of course, it depends on many factors like credit score and recent pulls. Your situation is very similar to mine. I got this card and closed it in February. I applied again a few months ago, and was approved. I already got the bonus miles. Unfortunately, I applied when the offer was for 40K miles. Still, I can’t complain, since it’s just $1 spend.
So, it’s really up to you. I would absolutely try if I were you. This is the last call on this card.
If you read my previous post, I’ve included a non-affiliate link as well. Whichever you go with is up to you. I do recommend you at least try.
It was a great weekend where I got $220 in gift cards from Great Wolf Lodge plus $50 in Tide Cleaners store credit. In preparation, I got extensions on two AMEX cards and subaccounts from two main SERVE accounts. In total, 9 cards. We asked to be swiped in $10 amounts (split tender). If you explain them what you are trying to achieve they will help you. But those stores didn’t have a clue about the AMEX program.
Question for you. I had the Barclay US Airways a year ago and I closed it by 1/21/2014. Do you think I can apply and get the bonus again?
did I understand you correctly, you did all your purchases 3 x $10 x 4 cards at the same business?
I must have misunderstood. Thought that I could do 3 x $10.00 at 3 different businesses.
Hilde, actually, Amex didn’t really say in terms that it had to be swiped at different businesses. And indeed, all my credits posted just fine. It just said, three $10 credits per card. Of course, you never know with these promotions, so there weren’t any guarantees. But it worked just fine for me. I hope they bring this promotion back, I’m adding all of my family members to my Amex cards! 🙂