Closing Out April

It’s the end of the month, don’t leave money on the table with expiring credits. Check the following:

1. Make sure you’ve spent any American Express credits in Uber Eats or Uber by tomorrow night.

2. Check for any credit cards that have had annual fees post and call the bank for a retention offer. I suggest saying: “I’m thinking of closing this card given its high annual fee, but before I decide what to do I was wondering if there are any retention offers or spend bonuses.” Bonus if you add “COVID has made it hard to use the benefits”.

Caveat: If you take a retention offer from American Express, plan on keeping that card for 12-13 months to avoid getting popups denying you credit card bonuses in the future. Good retention offers are well worth the extra year.

3. If you have an American Express co-branded personal card (Marriott, Delta, Hilton), make sure you’ve attached the dining offer to your card and that you’ve spent it. The easiest way to do this from home seems to be to buy an exact value DoorDash gift card on Fluz, which will should code correctly as dining. Amazon Meals is another decent option. As always, find a Fluz referral from a friend to make their day if you don’t have an account already.

4. Spend any American Express co-branded business card wireless credits before tomorrow. I prepay my cell phone bill with this one and all of the credits over last year and this year mean that my bill will be $0 after the credits are applied for a long, long time.

5. Make sure you’ve spent any $10 American Express Personal Gold dining credits by tomorrow. The easiest way IMO is to buy something for pickup for $10ish at a local coffee shop on GrubHub, but a combo meal at a ShakeShack is also a good option for many of you.

6. Cancel any cell phone burner accounts that you’re done with (and for which you didn’t use a virtual credit card number that already expired).

7. Spend your AmEx Personal Platinum $30 PayPal credits. The easiest way to get these out under the wire is with PayPal Digital Gifts which has been paying the credit even though the T&C says that it shouldn’t. If you’re set up as a gift card reseller, you can alternatively buy gift cards for resale on Fluz or eBay gift cards on Slide.

8. The time remaining for Q2 bonused spend is already one third over. Check the current Q2 categories and reassess your strategies.

9. Still with me? Get yourself a drink, you won!