50,000 Delta Miles for (2) American Express Card Signups

American Express offers up to 25,000 miles on its co-branded Delta American Express Gold cards: no fee the first year, 20,000 miles after first purchase (no minimum spend requirement), and up to 5,000 more bonus miles for adding additional cardholders (2500 miles per card, also no fee, add a family member and don’t even give them the card, then cancel once the bonus miles post).

This offer is good on both the personal and small business versions of the card, for a total of up to 50,000 delta miles.
A domestic coach ticket is 25,000 miles
An international coach ticket to Europe is 40,000 miles.

Consumer Card Link

Business Card Link

American Express Is Giving Away $300 To Close Your Account

Amex must be getting desperate!
In a bid to balance their balance sheets, reduce liabilities and improve cash flow that they are offering card members $300 to cancel their accounts!
Read the full story here.

Here is the story:

Well, this sure is a different kind of deal. Instead of paying you a bonus to join, New York-based American Express will give you a $300 American Express prepaid card if you agree to say goodbye. American Express says that it is making this "deal" so that customers can "simplify" their finances. Sure. The offer, which isn't available to everyone, requires a 14-digit RSVP code. Customers are receiving this offer via U.S. Postal and email.

Let's get something straight here. If you receive this offer, American Express is telling you something: please leave. Note also that in order to get the $300 prepaid card the customer MUST pay off his or her entire balance by April 30, 2009. If the balance is not paid off by April 30, then you will not receive the $300 card. But your card will still get closed. That's a heck of a deal.

Here is a picture of the offer from American Express's Web site (click to enlarge):


You can read the fine print here (click to enlarge):


You may be wondering why American Express doesn't just close the accounts of these customers, which would save American Express $300. Here's why: the $300 prepaid card is acting as an incentive for the customer to pay down the balance in an expeditious manner. The customer has exactly two months to get that balance paid off; if he or she does, the $300 card is theirs. Not a bad strategy by American Express.

The "we want to help you simplify your finances" language is a joke, of course. But, hey, this is American Express. It has never really been good at this sort of thing.

Anyhow, be on the lookout for the offer. If you receive the offer, be sure to let me know. I'd like to see what kinds of balances are being targeted here.

Maximizing Your Starwood Points

Due to repeated requests, I am re posting this article. (It was originally posted 01/01/08)

This article is a synopsis of the Starwoods loyalty program. With proper participation, you can get free hotel stays and round trip tickets around the world on the airline of your choice with minimal effort and best of all, absolutely free!

(read till the bottom- it's well worth your time!)

Starwoods is the parent company of a large chain of hotels including Sheraton, Westin W Hotels, St. Regis, Ritz Carlton and more. The loyalty/points program is called the Starwoods Preferred Guests program. There are a few ways to redeem Starwood points

#1. Hotel stays.

Points can be used for unrestricted no blackout date hotel stays. That means if there is room available you can reserve it with points. Awards range from 2,000 to 25,000 points

#2. Cash and Points.

This option allows reduced point stays while paying a small portion in cash. For example a category 3 room that is regularly 7,000 points or about $250, can be had for 2,800 points and $45 dollars under this portion of the program.

#3. Upgrades.

Starting at 1,000 points a night for a category 1, going up for higher class hotels.

#4. 5th Night Free.

When you reserve a category 3 hotel and up, a five night stay will cost you only enough points for a four night stay.

#5. Nights and Flights.

This offer gives both airline points and hotel stays as follows: 60,000 points will get you 50,000 miles to the airline of your choice and 5 nights at a category 3 hotel 70,000 points will get you 50,000 miles to the airline of your choice and 5 nights at a category 4 hotel.

#6. Transfer to Airline Miles.

The reason Starwood points are so valuable is because they transfer out to any loyalty/miles program at a 1:1 (or sometimes 1:2) ratio! All other programs come no where near -if they allow transferring out at all. Not only that, but when you transfer 20,000 points to an airline mileage program you get a 5,000 point bonus, so 20,000 points transfers into 25,000 miles, and that is enough for a domestic round trip ticket on almost any large airline.

There are various way to accumulate Starwood points is either by staying nights at a Starwood hotel or by spending on a Starwoods Preferred Guest credit card from AMEX. Both of these methods take very long for the average person to accrue meaningful amounts of Starwood points.

There is a quicker way.

American Express issues two credit cards that offer points for the Starwoods Preferred Guest program. The Starwoods Preferred Guest consumer credit card and the Starwoods Preferred Guest business credit card. Each one offers a 10,000 point bonus after the first purchase. If you sign up for both cards (and anyone can-even without a Federal Tax Identification Number(TIN), by making a name for your business, let's call it Jack's Services and as a Sole Proprietorship, or self owned business you don't need a TIN, rather your social security number takes the place) that will quickly put you at 25,000 points, when you transfer them to an airline miles program!

As of now there is nothing against the rules of the program to sign up and receive the bonus more than once. So after sixty days pass, apply once again for these two cards and once again you'll receive a 20,000 Starwood points bonus.

As an added tip if you want you can do this for your wife as well and get an additional 20,000 starwood points, or 25,000 airline miles. You can even combine both accounts afterwards at no cost , so long as they both have the same address !

All in all, Starwoods Preferred Guest Point Program is one of the best programs credit cards offer both in terms of sign up bonuses and ease of use- be it for redeeming rooms or transferring to airlines mileage programs.

Sign up for the Starwood program Here

Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express.


Starwood Preferred Guest Business Credit Card from American Express

AMEX - $25 Credit When You Sign Up For Geico Automatic Billing

Do you have Geico?
Do you have an AMEX credit card?
Get a $25 credit when you sign up for automatic billing using an Amex credit card.

To enroll your premium for automatic payment, click here or
call GEICO at 1-888-451-1274.

Delta Online Booking Bonus Back Through December 31 With Amex Payment

Delta is offering 1000 bonus miles for online roundtrip ticket purchases through December 31st provided payment is made with an American Express card. The bonus can be earned up to 25 times and registration is required.

Any American Express card will do, it doesn’t have to be a co-branded Delta Amex.

Get 10,000 AMEX Reward Points With Consumer Preferred Gold Rewards Card

For a limited time, American Express is offering 10,000 bonus Rewards points after you spend $500 in 3 months. 10,000 points is redeemable for either a $100 gift card or many other items from the Membership Rewards program catalog.
This card is fee free for the first year after that it is $125 a year. However there is no need to keep the card long enough to be charged the annual fee!

Other benefits of this card are:

-Membership rewards points can be transferred into many programs, such as Alitalia, Air France, and Continental.

-Open Savings partners which give cash back in addition to membership rewards points include:

-3% cash back at Delta, Hyatt, Jetblue, and Stubhub.

-5% cash back at Fedex/Kinkos, Flowers.com, and Yahoo marketing.

The card also offers comes with many premium AMEX features including:

-AMEX’s excellent Return protection, giving you 90 days to return any item $300 or less that you aren’t satisfied with.

-$100,000 Travel Accident Insurance

-Baggage Insurance Plan: up to $1,250 for carry-on baggage and up to $500 for checked baggage.

-Car Rental Loss and Damage Insurance Plan: coverage for theft of or damage to rental vehicles.

-Roadside Assistance Anywhere plan.

-Buyer’s Assurance Plan: Up to one additional year of warranty protection on purchases.

-Purchase Protection Plan: Coverage against accidental damage and theft for up to 90 days from the date of purchase.

American Express Consumer Preferred Gold Rewards Card Sign Up Link.

There is also The Gold Card for Business, with which you can earn 25,000 after you spend $1,000, That is enough for a round trip domestic ticket! and you can earn up to 40,000 Rewards Points annually.
Gold Card from American Express OPEN(SM) Sign Up Link
And then be sure to print and save this page which shows the terms and conditions of the offer: You must call them and have them include bonus codes 9238 and 0903 with your application.

The Business Card Scoop

Don’t Have A Business Credit Card Yet? What Are You Waiting For?!?

Business credit cards are great. They allow another opportunity to earn points/miles for opening a credit card, and best of all they do not affect your personal credit score!

Unlike on a personal card where you should be very careful to never utilize too much of the total available credit, you can utilize a greater percentage on a business card because it won’t count against your personal credit score.

Another advantage of a business card is when you sign up for cards that have just the first year fee-free. On a personal card you may negatively impact your credit score when you cancel the card because your total available credit goes down (unless you move the credit to another card) On a business card you can cancel the card without any worries as it won’t affect your personal credit score!

You do not actually need a business to apply for a business credit card!

Here is what you should fill out on the application form: (This is all 100% legal as confirmed with credit card CS agents.)

-Business Type: Sole-Proprietorship

-Business Name: You can just enter your exact name as the business name!

-Tax ID number: Most forms (including AMEX) allow you to leave this blank. Alternatively you can enter your SSN, as that is the tax ID number for sole-proprietors.

Here are some business card apps that you can try out!

You can check the status of an AMEX application by using the AMEX Status Checker

American Express Business Gold Rewards Card, 1st Year Fee-Free a $125 Savings

Blue for Business® from American Express. -0% APr For 15 Months

Starwood Preferred Guest Business Credit Card from American Express

Earn up to 30,000 bonus Delta miles during your first year with the Gold Delta SkyMiles Business Credit Card from American Express!

Blue Cash for Business offers up to 5% cash back, no annual fee and 0% introductory APR.

Good luck!

AMEX Business Card Holders 5000 Membership Reward Points When You Sign Up For Extended Payment Option

Possibly this bonus can be done with each AMEX business card that you have.
(If you don't have one yet now is a great time to get one. There are banners on the top of this blog with Amex business card offers.)
Offer Link

Enroll online, or call 1-877-688-6792
Or call 1-877-688-6792 by 02/29/2008

As a valued Cardmember, you are used to paying your American Express® Business Charge Card balance in full. However, on occasion you may want greater flexibility. When you add the Extended Payment Option2 to your Card, you have the option to pay over time for charges of $200 or more. This financial tool can give you more power to seize opportunities, control cash flow, and make larger purchases that support your business growth.
How does the Extended Payment plan work?
1. Enroll online now or call 1-877-688-6792. There is no enrollment fee.
2. When you make new purchases over $200, they are automatically itemized separately on your monthly statement.
3. You decide whether to pay those purchases in full, pay the minimum amount due, or pay anything in between.
Enroll online now or call 1-877-688-6792

Get Up To $800 Free With Amex Business Gold Card

The Business Gold Rewards Card from American Express is now offering 5,000 Amex Reward Points as a sign up bonus, that you can redeem for a $50 gift card (5000 points) after the first purchase.

Also, you can get another $250 in gift cards (5000 bonus points + 20,000 regular points, 1 point per dollar spent) for reaching $20,000 in spending.

Finally, you can get $500 in gift cards (20,000 bonus points + 30,000 regular points) for reaching $50,000 in spending.

When you renew the card in 1 year, you can get another $100 gift card (10,000 points) but this bonus will be "eaten" by the annual fee you will have to pay (you do not pay the annual fee during the first year).
(Don't have a business? That doesn't matter- anyone can get a business card- find out how by clicking here.)
Other benefits of having an AMEX business card are:

Special events: With the Gold Card you have access to some of the best seats in the house for theater, concerts, sporting events and family events- you can get tickets often before they go on sale to the general public- find out more here.
Insurance: AMEX offer a few insurance plans,
For travel:
- get an allowance of up to $3,000 for lost baggage, additional compensation for delayed baggage, delayed, canceled or missed flights.
For every day purchases:
AMEX will extend the manufacturers warranty by up to a year. Additionally, there is a 90 day insurance on all items bought with an AMEX card that get lost, damaged or break during that 90 day period from the date of purchase, AMEX will either issue a check or credit your account for the purchase amount. This is a great benefit that no other credit card issuer issues.
Special OPEN By AMEX Business savings at retailers like Fedex, Kinko's, Etc.
Points transfer to Hotel, Airlines- find out more here
Points also transfer into gift cards or merchandise- find out more here.

-All this is fee free for the first year as well. To sign up fpr this Card click image.

Free Hotel Rooms And Free Airline Tickets To Anywhere In The World

I've gotten many requests for the articles i wrote explaining the Starwood's Prefferred Guest points program, as well as the article on American Airlines' AAdvantage frequent flyer programs. Therefore I am posting links to those articles here.
Starwoods Preferred Guest article (for free hotel stays and airline miles)
AAdvantage program (for free tickets)

I have put together a list of the 3 airline alliances, and their primary members. This information is particularly useful when you are deciding which frequent flyer program to transfer your Starwood points to.

Star Alliance:
Air Canada
Air New Zealand
ANA
Asiana
Austrian
BMI
Lot Polish Airlines
Lufthansa
SAS Scandinavian Airlines
Singapore Airlines
South African Airways
Spannair
SWISS
TAP Portugal
THAI
United Airlines
US Airways

Oneworld:
American Airlines
British Airways
Cathay Pacific
Finnair
Iberia
JAL-Japan Airlines
Lan
Malev
Qantas
Royal Jordanian

SkyTeam:
Aeroflot
AeroMexico
Air France/KLM
Alitalia
Continental Airlines
Czech Airlines
Delta Airlines
Korean Air
Northwest Airlines

Check The Status Of Your Amex Business CardApplication

Applied for an AMEX card and want to know if you were approved? Check your status now!
Status Check Link

Transfer your StarpointsSM from January 1 to March 31, 2008, and receive a bonus of 30% more BA Miles.

Offer Link

Terms and conditions:

• To qualify, you must be an existing Starwood Preferred Guest member and a British Airways Executive Club member residing in the US, Canada or Bermuda only.
• Offer valid for Starpoints to BA Miles conversions made between January 1 and March 31, 2008.
• Minimum Starpoints transfer apply and vary per tier: 2,500 for Preferred; 1,500 for Prefereed+, Corporate Preferred and Gold Preferred; No minimum for Platinum and VIP Preferred.
• For every 20,000 Starpoints, you will receive 5,000 Starpoint bonus to be converted to BA Miles. Both the Starpoints from your account and the Starwood Preferred Guest Airline transfer bonus will qualify for the 30% promotional bonus
• Maximum number of Starpoints that can be converted per transaction is 94,999 (79,999 from the member plus 15,000 from the airline transfer bonus). Members may only transfer Starpoints into their own frequent flyer accounts once per airline within a 24 hour period.
• You may only transfer Starpoints to an Executive Club account that is in your name.
• Once Starpoints are transferred into BA Miles, they cannot be returned to Starpoints.
• All terms and conditions of the Starwood Preferred Guest programme apply.
• BA Miles will post to your Executive Club account 4-6 weeks from the date of conversion.
• All BA Miles issued are subject to Executive Club terms and conditions.

Another Reason To Get A Card From AMEX

Currency Conversion Fees:
All credit cards have currency conversion fees. When using a Visa or Mastercard in a foreign country, you typically pay a 3% to 5% currency conversion fee for every transaction. Amex charges a flat 2%. I save at least 2% on every foreign purchase by using my Amex card.
Other Built In Benefits Of AMEX:
Buyer's Assurance Plan

• Automatic Protection - Charge your covered purchases that have a valid U.S. manufacturer's warranty entirely to the Card.
• Extend Your Warranty - The Buyer's Assurance Plan will extend the terms of the original U.S. manufacturer's warranty for up to one additional year on eligible purchases with warranties of 5 years or less.
• Don't Think Twice - Coverage is available for eligible items for up to $10,000 (not to exceed $50,000 per Card account per policy year).

Return Protection

• No More Shopping Regrets - Return Protection¹ offers guaranteed product satisfaction on designated items purchased entirely with an eligible American Express^® Card.
  
• 90 Days of Protection - If you try to return an eligible item purchased in the U.S. within 90 days from the date of purchase and the merchant won't take it back, American Express will refund the purchase price.
  
• Up to $300 Coverage - You are covered for up to $300 per item, excluding shipping and handling, up to $1,000 annually per Card account

Shop with Confidence
Pull a loose string on your new sweater and left with a giant hole? Good thing you have the Purchase Protection Plan¹ that protects your eligible purchases.

• Embedded Protection - Just use your Card and the Purchase Protection Plan protects eligible purchases against accidental damage or theft for up to 90 days from the date of purchase.
  
• Worldwide Coverage - Coverage includes eligible purchases made worldwide with the Card, including gifts purchased for others.
  
• Shop Worry Free - The Purchase Protection Plan repairs, replaces or reimburses you for the amount charged to the Card (not to exceed the original purchase price). Coverage is limited to up to $1,000 per Occurrence, up to $50,000 per Card account per policy year, and is in EXCESS of other sources of indemnity.

Decline the collision damage waiver
Did someone hit your rental car? Not to worry with the Car Rental Loss & Damage Insurance Plan.

• Use your Card - When you are the primary renter,
  simply use your eligible Card to reserve and pay
  for your auto rental.
  
• Say "No Thanks" - Decline the collision damage
  
• waiver (CDW) or similar option when you are reserving and picking up your car from the Commercial Car Rental Company.
  
• Enjoy the Ride - The Car Rental Loss and Damage
  Insurance Plan provides coverage against theft of or
  damage to most rental vehicles. Coverage applies for the first 30 days, and is in excess to your other sources of insurance.

Peace of Mind. Every Day. Every Way. Everywhere.
The Global Assist Hotline¹ provides trip planning assistance as well as emergency assistance when you are 100 miles or more from home.

• Destination Information - Before you travel, turn to us for weather reports, inoculation information, visa requirements, U.S. Embassy locations, and more with Global Assist Online Destination Guides.
  
• Need Emergency Services? - We can help you with just about anything. For example, we can help locate lost luggage, provide paid emergency translation services, prescription replacement assistance, provide referrals to physicians and lawyers, and do an urgent message relay if you need to reach someone back home.
  
• Stuck Without A Wallet? - We can help with your hotel check-in even if you’ve lost your wallet, we can also provide you with emergency cash wire services, and report all the Cards in your wallet as stolen if you call us

The Best Way To cancel A Credit Card

Never cancel a credit card- heres how
#1. Let's say On Jan. 1 you signup for the Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express.
(which gives you 10,000 free starpoints after your first purchase and no annual fee for the first year.)

#2 After you get your card, make the first purchase. Your first statement will show your sign up bonus of 10,000 Starwood points.

#3. On March 1 apply for a second card.

#4 Make your first purchase. After the statement comes you will be awarded a second sign up bonus.

#5. Then you call AMEX and tell them that you want to consolidate your cards and combine your first cards credit limit into the second card. Now you have one card with a credit limit of double what you had before.

Another bonus: No card will ever be open for a year, so you will never get charged the annual fee.

As of now there is nothing against the rules of these programs to sign up for the bonus more than once. however, I am sure this will change soon enough, so get in while the door is open.

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