TopCashBack is once again offering cash back on American Express gift cards! 1.5% to be exact. Earlier this month, every shopping portal removed American Express gift cards from the lineup. It was a pretty big deal, since it knocked down $10,000 in monthly profitable manufactured spending. AAnyway there’s no telling how long this will last. … Read more
Earlier today, Mommy Points announced that Chase would soon be offering a 70,000 point sign-up bonus for the Chase Ink Plus card through the refer-a-friend channel. I just went on the Chase website and it appears the offer is now publicly available. The spending requirement for the 70,000 point version of the card is the same. … Read more
While researching the best Starwood hotel redemptions for Category 4, I came across quite a few gems. Unlike most other chains, low-category hotels in Starwoods portfolio are well located and offer decent accommodations. No hole-in-the-wall airport hotels here – especially outside of North America. Best Category 1 Starwood Preferred Guest Hotels Best Category 2 Starwood … Read more
Update at 3:00 PM: Virgin Atlantic has updated its page and these fares are now only valid on one-way travel. Keep an eye on this page, in case they do change it back to round-trip. Business class fares to Europe for next summer were recently discounted to under $2,000 round-trip. These discounted fares to Europe … Read more
Money order are an essential tool in accumulating points and/or unloading PIN-enabled gift cards. While most of the mile-earning debit cards (i.e. Bank of America Alaska, Suntrust Skymiles debit card) have been eliminated, there are still a few instances when money orders come in handy. For starters, the UFB Direct Airline Check card still earns … Read more
Yesterday, Kendra over and Points and Pixie Dust published a post about experiencing harassment during her trip to Vegas. Some of her experiences were pretty appalling (blocking someone’s way, really? Are we in elementary school?). Reading her post brought back that feeling of anxiety and helplessness when a stranger says or does something inappropriate and all … Read more
In partnership with virtual effects firm Framestore, Marriott recently introduced The Teleporter, a machine equipped to offer travelers a glimpse of certain destinations before they commit to traveling. A Wired reporter shared his experience using the machine on a virtual vacation to Hawaii. Marriott also made the machines available to the public this week, debuting … Read more
Yesterday, against my better judgment, I decided to waste 20 minutes of my life driving to the miserable hell hole known as Walmart in an attempt to unload my last set of gift cards. With just three Simon Mall gift cards to unload, I decided to get over my manufactured spending fatigue and cash out … Read more
Shopping portals have pulled American Express gift cards, but some folks may still end up with a bunch of them for one reason or another. Simon Mall accidentally sends an American Express rather than a Visa gift card (happened to me). Maybe newbies buy them at the grocery store without realizing they’re not PIN enabled. … Read more
This was a tough month, with shopping portals pulling American Express gift cards and my general laziness when it comes to manufactured spending. Still, I managed to make a great deal of progress in meeting $82,000 spending requirements. If you’re wondering how I kept track of all the spending, this post will give you some … Read more