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In January’s earnings call, American Express said they’d be refreshing 40 products in the coming year, and we’ve already seen some of that with the Delta and Hilton co-brand cards, each of which has new, coupon-book like credits. With new credits come new games:

Monthly Resy Credits

Delta’s Platinum and Reserve co-branded cards now have a have monthly Resy dining credit. In case you don’t want to actually eat at one of those restaurants this month just to save $10-$20, there are options:

  • Buying anything at a Resy restaurant will trigger the credit, whether it’s a gift card, tee-shirt, or stuffed animal
  • Many Resy restaurants are also on Toast, and Toast sells reloadable gift cards online which usually trigger the credit (Anecdotally there’s roughly a 3/4 success rate for whether this works for any random restaurant, but once you find that restaurant, it works consistently)

SideShowBob233 subliminally let me know that there’s a burger themed bath robe sold at some restaurants, so I guess you could look for that too.

Quarterly Hilton Credits

The Hilton Aspire Resort credit has always been slightly gameable, but only slightly. The Hilton Surpass and Hilton Business cards’ new quarterly credits are more gameable though: All the Aspire methods continue to work, but so does buying physical Hilton gift cards online. Note though that Hilton will silent cancel your orders if you do a bunch back-to-back, so treat it like a marathon, not a sprint.

Happy Wednesday!

SideShowBob233 also subliminally let me know about this bath robe, so I guess you’ve got options.

  1. Do this now: Register for your personalized United MilePlay offer. I got 7,400 bonus redeemable miles with a $650+ premium fare flight booked and flown by June 7.
  2. The Citi AA Business card has an elevated 75,000 mile sign-up bonus after $5,000 spend a single purchase, and the $99 annual fee is waived the first year. Note: I tried to strip off any tracking parameters from the offer, but it wouldn’t load when they’re stripped off. As usual, I’m not here to sell you credit cards and I won’t earn anything if you use this link.

    If you thread the needle through the terms and conditions and the sign-up bonus sticks around long enough, you can get it twice in just over three months, keeping in mind that business card approvals at Citi require 91 days between applications.
  3. Office Depot / OfficeMax stores have $15 off of $300 or more in Visa gift cards through Saturday. For best bang:

    – Even multiples of $300 typically offer bigger per card discounts
    – Try for multiple transactions back to back
    – Link your cards to Dosh
    – Don’t forget the American Express Business Gold $20 monthly credit
    – Look for lower fee Visas (currently, new cards are rolling out with a $7.95 activation fee)

    These are Pathward gift cards, so have a liquidation plan in place.
  4. You can make six credit card payments with your tax return or extension due today, which is a low friction way for manufactured spend provided you can float the money in case of any potential IRS holds. You get two payments each with PayUSATax [1.82%], Pay1040 [1.87%], and ACI Payments [1.98%]. The same game works with quarterly estimated taxes to scale this throughout the year.

    Usual disclaimer: I’m not a tax professional or an accountant, and you shouldn’t listen to my advice about anything, ever.
  5. Southwest has a promotion for 25% off base fares with promo code SAVE25NOW booked by this evening. There are blackout dates, and not all flights on non-blackout dates are included, but isn’t that what Wanna Get Away+ fares are for?

MEAB vibes.

EDITOR’S NOTE: ⚠️Warning! Your subscription to MEAB is cancelled effective immediately due to rewards abuse⚠️ (Just kidding, that was Bilt, and they were apparently just kidding too)

  1. Kroger stores have a 4x fuel points promotion on third party gift cards and fixed value Visa and Mastercards running through April 23.

    The fuel points market is currently slightly depressed, but if you can hold them for a few weeks you’ll probably get better rates. Kroger account shutdowns are largely a thing of the past with good account hygiene and keeping balances well below six figures.
  2. There’s a new free churning called CardRight that tracks sign-up bonuses, card eligibility rules, when you can close a card without clawback, current card offers, and similar features related to card churning.
  3. H-E-B Stores have a $10 H-E-B gift card with the purchase of $50 or more in Home Depot or Lowe’s gift cards. Scale with multiple H-E-B accounts. (Thanks to GCG)
  4. Yes, there have been scattered reports of big retention offers for Business cards at American Express, and we’ve been hearing them in quasi-private forums for several weeks; no, we don’t know a way to be targeted if you’re not already targeted. Either way though, you should always be checking for retention offers and comparing those to new sign-up bonuses before accepting.

Happy Thursday friends!

Bilt company party invitation preview just dropped.

Introduction

I like to think I’m pretty good at spotting compromised gift cards; I’ve found and destroyed upwards of 1,000 over the last decade. In fact as far as I know, I’ve only actually purchased four compromised cards prior to last week. Then last week, my compromised card count increased by an eye-popping 25% (or 2,500 basis points because it sounds even bigger) when I bought a compromised Pathward Mastercard at Kroger.

Side note: I was already suspicious of that particular gift card because the security flap was too easy to remove, but the store had very low stock, I was in a hurry, and I was heading out of the country later that day, so I threw caution into the wind very stupidly. Don’t be stupid like me, and don’t be afraid to open a gift card in store and inspect it before buying it.

The Compromise

I opened the card in the parking lot, found a few clues that the card had been compromised:

  • The package was held together with super-glue
  • The CVV gummy was balled up
  • Removing the CVV gummy showed a scratched off code
  • The front of the card had four numbers scratched off

I know it may sound difficult to figure out that the card was compromised with nothing but those four clues, but luckily I did! So great.

When you have a compromised card, it’s a race against time to get it frozen and fixed before the card scammers are able to realize that the card was purchased and active, which is why it’s important to open and inspect cards as quickly as possible.

The Fix

I dialed the toll free number on the back of the card in my car at the Kroger parking lot, and I got stuck in Pathward’s automated call system. The system was repeatedly asking for a card number, and then hanging up on me after three failed attempts. I obviously failed every attempt because I didn’t have a full card number or CVV. Entering all 0s, 1s, or random numbers didn’t get me past the call tree, and neither did acting dumb and not entering anything either.

After a few frustrating minutes, I realized that another non-compromised Pathward Mastercard would have a valid number, so I got one of those and used its information, which got me through the automated system to talk to a human. The human was able to freeze the funds on the compromised card and issue a replacement by mail after looking it up using information on the barcode and about how it was loaded.

The Lesson

Gift card companies do their best to avoid talking to humans, and that means when a scammer scratches numbers off of cards, you may not be able to talk to a human when every minute counts. So, the point of this article:

On your phone, keep a list of gift card numbers, CVVs, and expiration dates for old, drained cards for every issuer and card type that you typically buy. Then, if you encounter a stubborn robot phone system, you’ll have quick information ready to get through to a human.

Happy Thursday!

Next up: Following the clues to decipher restaurant hidden messages.

  1. Chase Pay Yourself Back categories for Q2 for the Sapphire Reserve are:

    – Wholesale clubs
    – Pet supply
    – Gas stations
    – Annual fee

    We lost grocery stores, but gas stations and wholesale clubs both typically sell gift cards.
  2. The Alaska MileagePlan shopping portal has an offer for $500 bonus miles after $100 spend by April 8.

    Giftcards.com remains available through the shopping portal, and there are still ways to liquidate these both online and in person.
  3. Do this now: Check for targeted Q2 spending offers on Chase cards for 5x on up to $1,000 spend at grocery, gas, and home improvement stores, all of which sell gift cards. Cards with less valuable currencies like the IHG card have slightly higher multipliers like 8x.
  4. If you have a Chase United card, check for a targeted Rewards Your Way spend bonus. Reported offers include your choice of bonus PQP or 24,000-36,000 miles for $10,000-$20,000 in spend. (Thanks to BrianInMD)
  5. The Barclays Aviator Red AA card has an increased referral sign-up bonus of 70,000 miles for the referred after a single purchase, and another 10,000 miles for the referrer. The $99 annual fee is not waived for the first year.

Yes friends, there was no April Fool’s Day fake post yesterday because at MEAB, every day is fool’s day (?).

  1. The only thing more predictable than upcoming late-night show jokes about Boeing 737 manufacturing quality jokes is a regular transfer bonus to AirFrance/KLM FlyingBlue. This one is a Chase Ultimate Rewards 25% transfer bonus through April 30.
  2. Office Depot/OfficeMax stores have $15 off of $300 or more in Visa gift cards through Saturday, limit 10. As usual:

    – Try for multiple transactions back-to-back
    – Link your credit cards to Dosh
    – Try even multiples of $300 for a chance at a better deal
    – Don’t forget your monthly AmEx Business Gold $20 office supply credits
    – The

    These are Pathward gift cards which often have a liquidation limit of $480 per six minutes per retailer merchant account. (Thanks to GCG)
  3. Yes, Bilt is losing AA in June as a transfer partner and now has Alaska. Yes, everyone wrote tons about it, yes it’s news. Yes, it sucks if you’re shutdown by both Citi and Barlcays because Bilt was a viable path to AA earning. No, it doesn’t warrant dozens of paragraphs of digital ink.

    For west coast travelers this is probably neutral news, but for everyone else it’s slightly negative, at least until AA devalues their award prices.
  4. The Citi Shop Your Way Rewards Mastercard has had a predictable cadence of spend offers for the last six months or so: the first offers are sent on the 1st of the month, and the second are sent on the 15th. Since the 15th just passed, we have a new round:

    – 7,500 Bonus ThankYou Points after $750 or more in online purchases
    – 250,000 Bonus Shop Your Way points after $1,000 or more in online purchases
    – 200,000 Bonus Shop Your Way points after $750 or more in online purchases
    – $70 statement credit after $1,000 or more in online purchases
    – $50 statement credit after $750 or more in online purchases

    (Thanks to Ben, David 99, Roberto, and TV)
  5. Heightened offers for Delta cards are available during trip checkout, and each includes a $400 statement credit after a single Delta purchase:

    – Personal Gold: $400 statement credit and 50,000 SkyMiles after $3,000 spend in six months
    – Personal Platinum: $400 statement credit and 70,000 SkyMiles after $4,000 spend in six months

    I had to try two different browsers to get the increased offer to appear during checkout. You don’t need to actually book a ticket. (Thanks to DDG)
  6. Chase Offers has 10% back on up to $650 in spend at Hilton properties through March 31. (Thanks to FM)
  7. Meijer has two good deals for manufactured spend, especially if you scale with multiple MPerks accounts:

    – 37,500 points with $250 in third party gift cards (excluding Amazon and phone cards)
    – $10 off of $150 or more in Visa gift cards

    Meijer sells both Pathward and Sunrise gift cards

Have a nice Monday!

Inspecting Boeing’s 737-MAX9 door plug fix on an award flight booked with bonus FlyingBlue miles.

Often the weekend recap on Monday is quieter, but that’s definitely not the case today.

  1. It was only a few short days ago that I said I would speculatively transfer Membership Rewards to Etihad Guest if I was targeted. Capital One obviously heard me and said “let me help you out MEAB” with a tiered transfer bonus:

    – Transfer 1,000 – 10,000 miles: 20% bonus
    – Transfer 11,000 – 50,000 miles: 30% bonus
    – Transfer 51,000 or more miles: 40% bonus

    The bonus is per transaction and not cumulative, and runs through the end of the month. (Thanks to justmeha)
  2. The Motley Fool again has an increased 7,400 AA miles for $99+ spent through the AAdvantage eShopping portal. We care this time because like our hopes and aspirations, the AA loyalty points spending calendar reset on March 1.
  3. The Citi AA Platinum Select personal card has an increased 75,000 AA mileage bonus after $3,500 spend in four months, and the annual fee is waived for the first year. The sign-up bonus doesn’t earn loyalty points, but all spend on the card does.
  4. On Wednesday, MEAB briefly hinted about American Express shutdowns. The total number of shutdowns was small, there’s plenty we still don’t know, the dust still hasn’t settled, and we don’t know if it’s done. Even so, we do know a few things that are easily summarized as:

    – Some shutdowns involved a particular type of spend gaming
    – Some shutdowns involved a few rather heavy hitters that weren’t doing that gaming

    Most of the rampant speculation on public facing sites that I’ve seen is either partially or totally refuted by the datapoints that we do have, so I guess, just don’t believe everything you read on the internet, even if you believe you have 99 reasons to do so.
  5. Office Depot/OfficeMax stores have a promotion for $15 off of $300 or more in Mastercard gift cards running through Saturday, limit ten. (Thanks to DoC)
  6. The American Express Hilton Aspire card has an increased sign-up bonus of 175,000 points and a free night certificate after $6,000 in spend in six months. This offer is also available by referral, so make sure to grab one from P2 or a friend and make their day. Yes, the other Hilton personal cards also have an increased bonus, but without the free-night certificate they’re a big yawn.
  7. The Bank of America AirFrance KLM FlyingBlue Mastercard has a heightened sign-up bonus of 70,000 bonus points, $100 statement credit, and 100 XP after $3,000 spend in 90 days. The offer is presented during the checkout flow when you make a dummy booking on the US AirFrance or KLM website, and the $89 annual fee is not waived for the first year. (Thanks to Don)
  8. Some Wyndham news:

    – The business card has a new 100,000 point sign-up bonus after $15,000 spend in one year, and this one is a keeper for gas station spend
    – The personal earner plus card also has a 100,000 point sign-up bonus after $2,000 spend in six months, and is probably only worth keeping for the first year
    – Vacasa redemptions will have a new pricing structure at 15,000 points or 30,000 points per night per bedroom starting on March 26, and the cash price determines the point price ($250 / bedroom / night or less is 15,000 points, $500 / bedroom / night or less is 30,000 points)
  9. There’s a 250,000 Membership Rewards American Express Business Platinum link with lifetime language available through the AmEx random number generator, and it seems extra pop-upie too. To see it, try some combination of:

    – Connecting to a VPN in Dallas or Denver
    – Trying incognito mode
    – Searching for “American Express Business Platinum” in various search engines
    – Waiting for a 190,000 points offer to expire and automatically reload

    The bonus requires $15,000 spend in three months.

Phew!

Our hopes and aspirations on March 1, 2024.

EDITORS NOTE: In 2024, I’ve introduced Guest Post Saturdays. I’m still looking for more guest posts, please reach out if you have something interesting to share with the community! Today’s guest post is from Southwest Airlines kingpin and family travel guru, Brian M!

Garden The Flexible Options (GTFO) and travel better! Employing gardening strategies for multiple travel options reserved with flexible change and cancellation terms mitigates the risks of uncertainty and dampens the negative impacts of uncontrollable factors that affect travel.  Moreover, one’s travel plans become more adaptable.  For those about to travel, we salute you!

The concept of gardening a reservation is not new. In the travel maximization context, “Gardening” is the practice of booking and monitoring a travel reservation while consistently analyzing whether the booked reservation (which may have been impacted by some outside factor like a schedule change) may be efficiently improved through some sort of action(s) or change(s) and the activity of undertaking that action or change to improve the subject reservation.   When factors affect a reservation that one is monitoring, then one may be able to (or may have to) undertake some action that could lead to an improved reservation. Always be probing the alternatives of a reservation to determine whether inaction, a change, or a cancellation may be the best decision. Deals can vary at original booking and over time; so, using and revisiting different levels of one’s travel waterfall of techniques is essential.  

Flexible reservations are also not new; but, flexibility does have value. Most car rentals have long had very flexible cancellation terms.  And, many hotel reservations have had flexible change and cancellation terms.  More recently, flight reservations issued by more carriers, especially through their award loyalty programs, have become more flexible.  Importantly, flexibility may be free!  Okay, that’s not quite true because even if there is no monetary cost to a change or cancellation, one would still need to undertake the effort to book, change, or cancel a reservation (so, there is an expenditure of time and effort) and there’s an opportunity cost of those points or miles.  Regardless, booking flexible rates/fares can preserve the ability to be ready for uncertainty, including both known unknowns and unknown unknowns. Fares and rates may drop. Flight times may change. New, more preferred, flights may become available. Accommodation amenities may close. Natural disasters may impact a destination. A car type may no longer be available or suitable. A travel companion may become ill or simply decide to no longer travel. To be impacted by an external force is human; to prepare for uncertainty is divine.  Changes will happen and the adept can adapt by gardening existing flexible reservations. When the reservation gets tough, the tough garden the flexible reservation!

Options in travel, like in life, are important. Reserving multiple flexible options for aspects of travel or flexible options for entire trips enables one to gain more value and empowers one with more control to exercise the desired option (and cancel the undesired flexible option(s)) when it becomes time to strike. Furthermore, gardening those options amplifies the value and control unlocked by flexible change and cancellation terms. Could one sow one’s travel field with inexpensive option seeds with the intent that some schedule change or weather lemons may grow to produce a bushel of opportunities and enjoy some refreshing non-stop lemonade? However, to reserve multiple flexible options with award program currencies, one must earn those currencies first. Miles need to be earned before they can be burned.  So, earning a sufficient volume of miles and points can be helpful to book early and book often. But, what volume may be sufficient varies and could be lower than may initially seem to be required given the ability to reduce, reuse, and recycle miles and points over time as options are canceled and changed. Miles burned for a reservation may rise like a phoenix from the ashes of cancellation ready to fly into action for the next reservation. Consideration about how to option the travel is also important – which traveler(s)? which flight(s)? which accommodation(s)? which date(s)/night(s)? which elite benefit(s)? which booking method? Considerations are unique for each aspect of each trip for each traveler. 

And, putting these three concepts together creates a travel strategy greater than the sum of its parts empowering one to travel better. A trip that may have been originally booked with a 2-stop flight itinerary on a less preferred day to a counter pick up for an expensive compact rental car to drive to the Hyatt Place Lubbock may be gardened to become become a better option – a non-stop flight to stroll directly to the rental car aisle to choose any inexpensive full-size car to drive to the Hyatt Regency Wichita after freely canceling non-preferred flexible alternatives. However, time, effort, and organization are mandatory to the success of any GTFO travel strategy.  So, determining how deep to dive into each aspect can be critical to maintaining sanity and avoiding The Optimizer’s Curse. Therefore, too many specifics related to a GTFO travel strategy would be imprudent. One must decide for oneself whether to, when to, and how much to utilize such a travel strategy. Of course, there are risks associated with the strategy beyond loss of sanity, including that duplicate reservations may be automatically canceled by the travel provider. Furthermore, speculation is undesirable: one must decide for oneself where to draw one’s own line – how far is too far and what may create too much risk given potential adverse consequences.

Travel is about the journey and the destination. So, utilize a GTFO travel strategy to burn some miles to GET THE F* OUT – both to travel better than one otherwise might and to spend less! Or, don’t travel – cash-out miles and improve life in a different way! No matter what, miles earned are only worth the value gained when burned. 

“Better to be prepared for an opportunity and not have one, than to have an opportunity and not be prepared.” Travel opportunity is knocking and you may have the option to seize it today while maintaining the flexibility to seize a different opportunity tomorrow by gardening each of those seized opportunities until one becomes the best option.

– Brian M

Preparing to garden a few existing bookings.