In The News
by Jason SteeleFrugal Travel Guy Gets Lounge Benefits and a Delta Visa (check card)
Richard Ingersoll, also known as the Frugal Travel Guy has laid out this strategy for attaining lounge access. Apparently the expensive American Express Platinum card is offering 25,000 Membership Rewards points for new sign ups as well as membership in the business lounges at three or four major airlines. Those include Delta/Northwest, American, and Continental.
To get the 25,000 Membership Rewards points, you need to use the card for a mere $1,000 in spending over the first three months. The lounge access comes free. While one or the other is not worth $450 by itself, together they do make sense for frequent travelers. I would highly recommend this to travelers who do not live in a hub city, and are forced to change planes to get to their destination. It is these travelers who are the most likely to make use of the lounge facilities coming and going.
Elsewhere, he also points out that Delta is finally offering a Visa that earns SkyMiles, kind of. The Suntrust Delta SkyMiles Visa check card can be used at places that do not take American Express, a boon for hard core Delta SkyMiles aficionados. Since this a check card, I would be loathe to use it any time you are paying for goods or services to be received in the future. This includes air travel, pre-paid hotels, services, or even Internet purchases. Since you have very little chargeback ability on a check card, you are really just handing them cash electronically. If the company should fold, or just fail to deliver, you are essentially out of luck this side of a courtroom. Finally, only people in the states that Suntrust Bank operates are eligible for this card.
American Express Charges You For A Negative Balance?
Here is a story from The Consumerist about someone who claims that American Express is charging them a finance charge on a negative balance. As with any story in the Consumerist, you have to treat it with some skepticism. On one hand, never underestimate the powers of a bank’s computer system to make a mistake. On the other hand, I happen to have a negative balance on one of my American Express cards, as a result of a credit I did not get due to a mistake no less. I just received the statement with the negative balance and no finance charges applied.
My theory is that the individual carried a balance one month, and then had a net credit the following month. Since the banks are still allowed to use double cycle billing for the next eight months, that would explain how he could have a finance charge on a negative balance. The story is also another good example of why you should always call your credit card company to make reasonable requests. The customer did that, and got the credit.
A Quick 100 Miles From Continental Airlines
Follow the link from this website and take a quick lesson on all of the Continental OnePass credit cards and you can earn a quick 100 miles. It is not much, but at the very least, you will extend your mile’s expiration date.
Here are a few benefits they may or may not mention. Most Continental cards offer the benefit of waived baggage fees. That feature alone can pay for itself very quickly on a long trip with a lot of luggage. Also, Continental is joining the Star Alliance, making it another great alternative to earning miles on the infamous United Airlines “Mileage Plus” program. This is the program that has taken loyalty programs to a new low by actively blocking you from redeeming miles on it’s partners, even when members make awards available to other members of the Alliance. For the latest update on this absurdity, see the invaluable View from the Wing blog.
Speaking Of The View From The Wing
They have come up with almost a Master’s Thesis worth of information on choosing the best reward card. I have touched on much of this over time, but it is nice to see it all compiled in a single post.
July 8th, 2009 at 09:16
I didn’t think Continental miles had an expiration date?
September 2nd, 2009 at 18:47
I wanted to give consumers a heads up about how Chase credit card company treats long time and VERY GOOD customers. I would NOT recommend this company to anyone. Unlike other companies I have dealt with, when a problem occurs I have been able to handle it over the phone with a customers service rep. or online. Recently, Chase has told there phone reps they could not resolve issues over the phone and that a letter would have to be sent. When I requested a supervisor, I was told there wasn’t one. When I tried to go online to write an email (after a torturous sign up process just to send an email!) I wrote the letter 5 times and every time I got, server error, website logged me off and did NOT save my draft (as the message said it would!) or the email screen went completely blank! After 2 days of trying I decided to write this letter instead I know why companies, and Chase in particular, do this, if they can frustrate consumers enough they will give up and company will not have to deal with them, or do the right thing by customers. I for one will not have this card any longer!