Update 11/20/2024. I just read on DoC that Amex has extended the Dell credit to June 30, 2024. This is good news as I depend on this credit to keep this card open indefinitely.

The Wednesday Morning Weekly — September 4, 2024

I am frugal and I don’t travel much. The last time I flew in a plane was in 1992 for a work related convention — a round trip between Los Angeles and Las Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). It was also the first time I had ever flown in a plane. Of all my credit cards, the primary travel benefit I make use of is the World of Hyatt transfer partner with Chase allowing us to get $150 rooms w/ free breakfast for effectively $50 per night. We do also make use of the Amex Business Platinum (ABP) $200 annual credit to fly my boyfriend’s mother out to visit every year or so, via a Southwest flight.

Many people believe the only reason to retain any Amex metal card, is primarily for the travel benefits. Now I perhaps agree with this with respect to the personal metal cards, but not so much with respect to the business metal cards. The effective annual fee for me on both the Amex Business Gold (ABG) and Amex Business Platinum (ABP) are around $100 each. Even with this one might ask me, “Why are they worth even that if you are not a traveler?”

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As I mentioned a few months ago, I have a Feeds page which is very handy. It aggregates more than a dozen resources related to the bank bonus hunting game — blog, vlog & podcast feeds. The Feeds page also includes some handy links — at the top of the page — to various resources I check each day in addition to what is presented to me in the feeds list. Please click on the aforementioned link for more details about what the Feeds page is.

Here’s what I do each day.

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Update 10/26/2024. The 1.5x UR CSR discount on Apple products is back and will available through the end of November.

The Wednesday Morning Weekly — September 11, 2024

This one will be short and sweet!

A brand new iPhone Pro costs $999 before taxes. After say 7% sales tax it’s $1068 out the door. This is quite pricey!

But for those who have a Chase Sapphire Reserve (CSR), Chase often runs specials where you can buy Apple products with Ultimate Rewards points at 1.5x, which provides a 33.3% discount on the iPhone — if you value Chase UR at 1 CPP as I do. This brings the $1068 out the door price down to $712.

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10/19/2024: DoC created a new page listing several things which count for the software credit. There are already over 100 comments.

8/27/2024: Good news! Synology C2 Storage codes as MCC 5734 and should count for the annual $100 software subscription credit. See the end of this article for more details.

7/2/2024: I just learned from DoC that U.S. Bank is now offering a $750 SUB on their Triple Cash Rewards Business Credit Card for a $6,000 spend within 6 months. I need another card to work and I think I am going to go for it. US Bank Triple Cash Rewards was only $500 for $4500 spend in the recent past. $750 sounds really enticing and reminds me of the recent Ink Unlimited and Ink Cash deals — the Chase Inks are my favorite cards of all credit cards. The card has no annual fee along with 0% APY for 12 months on purchases. I’ve also heard you can even fund bank accounts with it if done properly. The 3% cashback on gas and dining is helpful as well.

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