Episode 31: The Hotel Status Loyalty Trap

0:42 Bank of America $300 Personal Checking Bonus (HT DoC) Requires $4,000 Direct Deposit in 3 monthsYou need to have a checking account with BofA to quality for their Preferred Rewards program (which provides up to 75% uplift for spending on certain personal BofA credit cards) 1:30 Banco Popular Avianca Vuela Visa 60,000 Offer (HT US Credit Card Guide) $149 AF not waived the first year40,000 first use+20,000 with $1,000 spend in first 3 months with code SB4060Deal or not a deal? 3:53 Cathay Pacific Asia Miles Credit Card 50,000 (HT DoC) 30,000 after $2,000 in spend first 90 days20,000 after additional $6,000 spend in first 6 months$95 AF not waived first yearIssued by Synchrony BankDeal or not a deal? 7:10 Stop & Shop gas rewards for groceries? Trial for nowHas anyone been targeted?100 = $1 off groceries. Not as good as gas rewards for all but the smallest tanks (10 gallons = this)If you find yourself with expiring rewards this is a way to 'cash out' at 10/(your fill up in gallons). Very similar to the Safeway rewards we've discussed. 10:02 Airline Shopping Portal Bonuses (HT Frequent Miler) United 2,500 for $600 ends 8/18Alaska 1,500 for $600 ends 8/11Southwest 2,000 for $550 ends 8/18AA 2,000 for $500 ends 8/18Smaller bonuses for lesser amounts of spend as well 10:36 Amex Adds Weekend Night Certs to $95 AF Hilton Cards + 130,000 (HT DoC) Surpass/Business 130,000 + Free Weekend NightBoth available for referralFree Weekend Night cert for every $15,000 spent per *calendar* year, post quickly after spend threshold metA whopper of a deal I say 13:12 BofA Amtrak 40,000 + $100 (HT DoC) Some serious value he re if you’re up for Amtrak travelAmtrak points are worth 2.9 cpp towards non-Acela2.5 cpp towards Acela10,000 Amtrak points gets you 4 one-way upgrade certsSemi-related: You can redeem bank points for Amtrak through a roundabout method with up to 1.64 cpp of valueDeal or not a deal? 16:07 Free Topic: Is Hotel Status an even bigger trap than airline status? Robert: Recent stay at Waldorf Astoria Chicago Near total bust from a status standpointConcierge emailed ahead of time and said status entitles you to 1-level upgrade *if* space is availableConcierge pi