Amazon: Pay with American Express Membership Rewards Points, Get up to 40% Off (Targeted)

Posted on July 4, 2024 // 5 Comments

Check AmEx link again to see if eligible again for this new round. You may also find an Amazon offer under your “AmEx Offers” in your account. Note that Amazon links may not show up on RSS/email, please click here to visit the website directly.

If you have an American Express card with Membership Rewards (MR) points, you can redeem them to buy eligible items at Amazon.com. The redemption rate is 1 MR points = 0.7 cents to spend at Amazon, which unfortunately is less than a cent per point and thus not really the ideal use of MR points. (My base redemption is 1 cent per point minimum toward any Delta flight.) However, here are targeted promotions where you can save money after redeeming as little as 1 single MR point (the minimum required can vary). Check below:

Here are some additional tips:

  • If you haven’t linked yet, first check if you are eligible for a bonus here. Otherwise, you can link your Membership Rewards points balance to your Amazon account here.
  • If you have already linked your cards and aren’t targeted, you may consider removing your American Express card from your account completely, and then linking it again after a day, and then checking the offer page(s) again after another day.
  • Items must be marked as both sold AND shipped by Amazon.com.
  • Be sure to select your American Express as your payment method and redeem the minimum required amount of Membership Rewards points.
  • Savings should be reflected on the final order checkout page, before you commit to purchase.

This is a recurring perk for existing American Express cardholders, which is why one of my two “keeper” consumer American Express cards is the Amex EveryDay Card (keeps my Membership Rewards points active with no annual fee, helps qualify for various Amazon promotions). The other is the Blue Cash Preferred from AmEx (6% cash back on US supermarkets, up to $6,000 annually).

You can also earn and keep Membership Rewards points active with a small business card. My favorite business American Express card is the Blue Business Plus Card – Earn 2X Membership Rewards points on all purchases, of up to $50,000/year. There is also the Blue Business Cash Card that earns a flat 2% cash back on up to $50,000 in purchases each year. Both have no annual fee.

Might also want to check for similar “Pay with Points” offers if you haven’t in a while: Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou, or Discover cash back.

Filed Under: Credit Cards, Deals & Offers //

Amazon Music Unlimited: 5-Month Free Trial for Prime Members

Posted on June 25, 2024 // 6 Comments

Amazon is offering a free 5-month trial of their Amazon Music Unlimited streaming service to Prime members (3-months without Prime). This offer appears to be widely available to Prime members unless you’ve had a trial recently in the last year or so.

This is the full version that lets you listen to any song or podcast on demand and without ads. The regular price is $9.99 a month for Prime members ($10.99 without) with the standard trial length being 1 month. You can manage and cancel your Amazon Music subscription at any time here. Even if you turn off auto-renew right away, you still get the rest of your free trial and it won’t auto-renew.

(Note that I am an Amazon affiliate and Amazon doesn’t let me put links in e-mails, so you may have to visit the original post to see all the links. Thank you.)

Filed Under: Deals & Offers //

Kindle Unlimited eBooks: Free 3-Month Trial for Prime Members

Posted on June 25, 2024 // 6 Comments

Amazon is offering Prime members a free 3-month trial of Kindle Unlimited. (Prime Day is coming up in mid-July.) This offer appears to be widely available to Prime members unless you’ve had a trial recently in the last year or so.

  • Enjoy unlimited access to over 1 million books.
  • Explore a rotating selection of popular magazines.
  • Listen to thousands of books with Audible narration.
  • Read anytime, on any device with the Kindle app.

(Note that I am an Amazon affiliate and Amazon doesn’t let me put links in e-mails, so you may have to visit the original post to see all the links. Thank you.)

You should be able to manually cancel your Kindle Unlimited membership early and it will let you keep your membership open until the end of the trial period, and not renew automatically. If you don’t do anything, it will auto-renew at the end of trial period at $11.99 per month. Remember that after you end your Kindle Unlimited subscription, you will lose access to all of the Kindle Unlimited books.

What personal finance and investing books are included? You can view all Kindle Unlimited books here. You can search Kindle Unlimited titles here after clicking the “Kindle Unlimited Eligible” box on the top-left. There are is a mix of a few bestsellers, some older classics, and a lot of independently-published titles of varying quality. Here are some business and finance-related titles that caught my eye:

Kindle Unlimited authors get paid per page that is read. Therefore, your reading actually pays authors for their work!

Filed Under: Deals & Offers, Investing //

Amazon Audible: Free 3-Month Trial w/ 3 Free AudioBooks for Prime Members

Posted on June 25, 2024 // 4 Comments

Amazon Prime Day is coming up again, and Audible is offering Prime members a free 3-month trial that includes 3 audiobook credits. This offer is targeted but should be widely available to Prime member unless you’ve had an Audible trial within the last year or so (I just did one in February 2024 and it did not work).

You will receive 1 audiobook credit each month for 3 months (3 free book credits in total). Audible usually only offers a 1-month free trial, and otherwise costs $14.95/per month for 1 audiobook per month.

(Note that I am an Amazon affiliate and Amazon doesn’t let me put links in e-mails, so you may have to visit the original post to see all the links. Thank you.)

My favorite feature of these Audible trials is that once you get a book, it is yours “forever”. You can go back an listen whenever you want, even if you membership is not active. Additional features include the ability to swap out and exchange audiobooks if you don’t like it after listening for a bit, and 30% off the list price of additional audiobooks. You can even have Alexa read your audiobook to you.

Upon completion of your 3-month trial, your subscription will autorenew at the standard rate of $14.95/month (unless cancelled). However, you can cancel online and hassle-free at any time before your trial ends and still receive the full benefits through the end of the trial period. I would do this first thing, and then you can always change your mind and opt back in if you want to keep your subscription.

Over the years, I’ve collected every single Harry Potter audiobook in the series via such offers. Great for kiddo bedtime reading. I’ve also redeemed previous credits for Shoe Dog (Nike origin story, my review), When Breathe Becomes Air, I Can’t Make This Up: Life Lessons from Kevin Hart, and The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life.

Filed Under: Deals & Offers //

Barclays AAdvantage Aviator Red Mastercard Review: 70,000 AA Miles (Single Purchase, $99 Annual Fee)

Posted on June 20, 2024 // 14 Comments

Offer increased to 70k, but must pay $99 annual fee. The Barclays AAdvantage Aviator Red Mastercard is a co-branded American Airlines credit card from Barclays. This offer is notable because the bonus can be triggered by a single purchase of any amount (no spending hurdle). Various perks for AA fliers are also included. Here are the card highlights:

  • 70,000 bonus AA miles
  • First checked bag free on domestic American Airlines itineraries for the primary cardmember and up to 4 companions traveling with you on the same reservation.
  • Preferred boarding (Group 5) for the primary cardmember and up to 4 companions on the same reservation for all American Airlines operated flights. “Eligible cardmembers will board after priority boarding is complete, but before the rest of economy boarding.”
  • Up to $25 back in inflight Wi-Fi statement credits every anniversary year on American Airlines operated flights.2
  • Anniversary Companion Certificate each anniversary year; earn a Companion Certificate good for 1 guest at $99 (plus taxes and fees) if you spend $20,000 on purchases and your account remains open for 45 days after your anniversary date.
  • 2X AAdvantage® miles for every $1 spent on eligible American Airlines purchases.
  • 1X AAdvantage® miles for every $1 spent on all other purchases.
  • No Foreign Transaction Fees
  • $0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $99.

Anniversary Companion Certificate details. From the fine print:

At each card anniversary, you will be eligible to earn 1 domestic economy fare companion certificate redeemable for 1 companion ticket at $99 (plus taxes and fees) if you spend $20,000 or more on eligible Net Purchases with your Card Account that have a transaction date within your cardmembership year (each 12-month period through and including your Card Account anniversary month) and your Card Account remains open for at least 45 days after your anniversary date. After the companion certificate is earned, please allow 1-2 weeks for it to be deposited to the primary cardmember’s AAdvantage® account.

When the companion certificate is used according to its terms, you will pay a $99 companion ticket fee plus government taxes and fees, the amount of which will depend on the itinerary (as of the date of these Card Account Reward Rules government taxes and fees range between $21.60 and $43.20), for a round-trip qualifying domestic economy fare ticket for a companion when an individual round-trip qualifying domestic economy fare ticket is purchased and redeemed through American Airlines Meeting Services. Companion certificate eligible travel must be booked and purchased from select economy inventory. The Companion certificate will be valid one year from the issue date. Companion certificate eligible travel is defined as travel on flights within the 48 contiguous United States, on flights marketed and operated by American Airlines, or on flights marketed by American Airlines and operated by Envoy Air Inc., Republic Airline Inc., SkyWest Airlines, Inc., Air Wisconsin Airlines, PSA Airlines, Inc., or Piedmont Airlines, Inc. This is not available for travel on codeshare flights booked with an American Airlines flight number but operated by another airline. For residents of Alaska and Hawaii, companion certificate eligible travel is defined as round-trip travel originating in either of those two states and continuing to the 48 contiguous United States. For residents of Puerto Rico only, valid for round trip travel originating in Puerto Rico and continuing to the 48 contiguous United States. For residents of the U.S. Virgin Islands only, valid for round trip travel originating in the U.S. Virgin Islands and continuing to the 48 contiguous United States. Applicable terms and conditions are subject to change without notice. Details, terms and conditions, certain restrictions, and restricted dates apply and will be disclosed on the companion certificate.

Additional bonus details. Note the following language if you have had this card previously. However, I have been able to get a new Barclays card in the past, as long as my old account was closed for at least roughly a year.

From time to time, we may offer bonuses of AAdvantage® miles or other incentives to new American Airlines AAdvantage® Aviator® Red Mastercard cardmembers in connection with an application for a new card account. These bonuses and/or incentives are intended for applicants who are not and have not previously been American Airlines AAdvantage® Aviator® Red Mastercard cardmembers. You understand and agree that you may no longer be eligible for any bonuses and/or incentives in connection with a new American Airlines AAdvantage® Aviator® Red Mastercard account after this Card Account is opened. If you receive a bonus or incentive for which you are not eligible due to your status as a current or former American Airlines AAdvantage® Aviator® Red Mastercard cardmember, we may revoke the bonus or incentive, or reduce your AAdvantage® miles by the amount of the bonus or incentive, or charge your Card Account for the fair value of the bonus or incentive, in our sole discretion.

Bottom line. The Barclays AAdvantage Aviator Red Mastercard is a co-branded American Airlines credit card that offers a relatively simple and straightforward sign-up bonus and free checked bags on domestic AA flights for you and up to 4 travel companions. The $99 companion certificate also has potential value, but you’ll have to spend $20,000 on the card within a year (and then wait for your next card anniversary and thus pay the $99 annual fee) to get it.

I will be adding this offer to Top 10 Best Credit Card Bonus Offers.

Filed Under: Credit Cards, Deals & Offers //

Fidelity Cash Management Account Adds New Core Sweep Option (SPAXX @ ~5% APY)

Posted on June 18, 2024 // 22 Comments

Update 6/18/24: This new option is now live, at least for me. Fidelity says it should be available to everyone by the end of this week. Worth a check (directions at the bottom below). Screenshots from my account below.

Original post from 4/21/24:

A flexible alternative to a traditional bank account is getting better. The Fidelity Cash Management Account (CMA) is a brokerage account that also includes traditional bank features like ACH routing and account numbers, Billpay, mobile check deposit, physical checks, and ATM/debit cards.

Perhaps a lesser-known fact is that the standard “Fidelity Account” is a brokerage account that also offers ACH routing/account numbers, Billpay, mobile check deposit, checkwriting, and an ATM/debit card. One of the major additions to the CMA (and missing from the standard Fidelity Account) is that you get unlimited ATM fee rebates, worldwide:

Your account will automatically be reimbursed for all ATM fees charged by other institutions while using a Fidelity® Debit Card linked to your Fidelity Cash Management Account at any ATM displaying the Visa®, Plus®, or Star® logos. The reimbursement will be credited to the account the same day the ATM fee is debited from the account. Please note that there may be a foreign transaction fee of 1% that is not waived, which will be included in the amount charged to your account.

Regarding that foreign transaction fee, I did some additional research and found that while officially, the Fidelity fine print states that there is a 1% foreign transaction fee that “may” apply, in practice, that 1% fee is only charged on signature-based purchases, not PIN-based transactions like ATM withdrawals. This was confirmed in this article by Robert Beauregard, Director of External Communications at Fidelity. This has also been confirmed by multiple anecdotal data points. You can check for yourself on a sample transaction using a calculator like this. Rather confusing!

One of the major drawbacks to the CMA was that the only option for the core position was their “FDIC-insured Deposit Sweep”, currently paying 2.72% APY (as of 4/21/24). While better than the 0.01% many other brokers offer on cash sweeps, this yield is much lower than that of the money market fund options available in the standard Fidelity account. To get around this, many people used the auto-draft feature that lets you set the standard Fidelity brokerage account as the backup funding source, and then kept a minimal or zero balance inside the CMA.

Perhaps Fidelity noticed this activity as well, or perhaps they noticed certain 5% APY cash offerings from competitors, because in less than two months (June 15, 2024), the CMA is adding the Fidelity Government Money Market Fund (SPAXX) an a core position option. If you have a Fidelity Cash Management Account and look at the “Additional Information and Endnotes” section of your March 2024 statement, you should find the following notice. This has also been confirmed by an official Fidelity representative on the r/Fidelity Subreddit. From my statement:

Please note that on or around June 15, 2024, you’ll have the option to elect Fidelity(R) Government Money Market Fund (SPAXX) as your core sweep investment vehicle. You will not need to take any action if you wish to retain the Bank Sweep as your core position. For additional information on your core position options, including the current yields on the Bank Sweep and money market funds, please visit Fidelity.com/spend-save/fidelity-cash-management-account/overview and FundResearch.Fidelity.com/mutual-funds/summary/31617H102.

The 7-day yield of SPAXX is 4.95% as of 4/19/24, significantly higher than the 2.72% FDIC-insured sweep. Money market mutual funds are unable to offer FDIC insurance, but they are still heavily-regulated by the SEC to hold very conservative and liquid investments. “Government” money markets have even stricter requirements, and that is why they are used as cash sweep funds. I personally lose zero sleep over holding cash in a money market fund run by a reputable firm like Fidelity, Vanguard, or Schwab.

This is a positive development for those that use the Fidelity CMA, especially if your state doesn’t have income taxes on investment interest that create an incentive to hold money market funds with mostly interest from Treasury bonds. If you do live in such a state, you should know that in 2023 neither Fidelity Government Money Market Fund (SPAXX) nor Fidelity® Treasury Money Market Fund (FZFXX) met the minimum investment in U.S. government securities required to exempt the distribution from tax in California, Connecticut, and New York. (Despite having Treasury in the name, FZFXX only had about 20% in eligible Treasury interest.) These are the core positions available in the standard Fidelity Account.

As such, residents of California, Connecticut, and New York may want to hold the Fidelity Treasury Only Money Market Fund (FDLXX), as it did meet those requirements in 2023 with roughly 90% of interest eligible for exemption. This is not a core option so you do have to buy this mutual fund manually, although the CMA account will sell it automatically to meet any cash demands that come up later. But still, if you forget for a few days, the interest difference is much smaller between SPAXX and FDLXX.

I am definitely switching over my core position as soon as I can. June 15th, 2024 is a Saturday, so I’ll check on Friday the 14th and then Monday the 17th. You can switch over manually by logging into Fidelity.com, going to “Accounts & Trade”,” Account Positions”, and then “Cash”. You should then see the button to “Change Core Position”.

Filed Under: Banking, Deals & Offers //

Upgrade Rewards Checking: $300 Referral Bonus (Improved) + 5.21% APY Savings

Posted on June 16, 2024 // 19 Comments

Update: This exact offer has expired, the bonus is down to $200 and APY has been reduced.

Upgrade has increased the bonus from $150 to a $300 bonus via referral link on their Rewards Checking Plus account (referred gets $50). Must set up direct deposits totaling at least $1,000 within 45 days. Note: This promo usually scheduled to end at the end of the current month, but has been getting extended a month at a time.

Good news is the account opening process was very quick and easy, literally under 5 minutes. I did not have to upload any extra documentation and I did not experience any hard credit checks. The account was open and ready the day after application. FDIC insurance on deposits held at Cross River Bank. (NOTE: This is a good bonus, but Upgrade is a fintech and therefore has a nonzero risk that your funds may be not tracked correctly and FDIC insurance does not cover the failure of a non-bank fintech. FDIC insurance only covers an event when a bank fails. I would not keep this as your primary day-to-day account, nor maintain significant funds there.)

Here are the highlights of the Rewards Checking account, if you maintain that $1,000+ in monthly direct deposits:

  • Debit card earning 2% cash back at restaurants, gas stations, utilities, convenience stores, drugstores, select monthly subscriptions (including Netflix, SiriusXM, Spotify, Disney Plus), and cell phone providers (including AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, Cricket Wireless). Maximum of $500 in 2% rewards per calendar year.
  • Debit card earns 1% cash back on everything else. (unlimited)
  • No minimum balance, no monthly fees (even without direct deposit).
  • ATM fees rebated when charged by another institution for debit card withdrawals in the United States, up to five times per calendar month.
  • Can fund up to $500 instantly via debit card. Some of you may have other debit cards that earn rewards.

An “Eligible Direct Deposit” is a recurring deposit to your Account by Automated Clearing House (“ACH”) from your employer, payroll, or benefits provider, or gig economy payer OR a deposit by Original Credit Transaction (“OCT”) from your gig economy payer. One-time direct deposits, including tax refunds, bank ACH transfers, bank verification or trial deposits, peer-to-peer transfers from services, such as PayPal or Venmo, merchant transactions, mobile check deposits, and cash loads or deposits are not Eligible Direct Deposits.

You can also add on their Performance Savings account with the following features, again with $1,000+ in monthly direct deposits into the Rewards Checking Plus:

  • 5.21% APY as of 2/27/24 (lower APY without direct deposits)
  • No minimum balance, no monthly fees (with or without direct deposits).

They also offer a Premier Savings account also at 5.21% APY which is currently offering an up to $200 deposit bonus if you deposit enough new money with them.

A straightforward checking direct deposit promotion that doesn’t incur a hard credit check, nor a large number of debit card transactions, nor require joining any partner organizations. Perfect if you can switch over and/or split direct deposits easily. Gig economy payments count.

Filed Under: Banking, Deals & Offers //

Robinhood Gold x Free $1,000 Margin ($2,000 Until August 2024)

Posted on June 16, 2024 // 10 Comments

If you joined the Robinhood Gold subscription service for the (expired) 3% IRA transfer bonus, you have have noticed that it includes $1,000 of margin interest-free (0% APR). Right now, they are increasing this amount to $2,000 of margin interest-free until 8/18/24. (It goes back to $1,000 afterward.) Some folks have been using this free loan to buy safe securities and collecting the dividends/interest. While I’m not usually a fan of debt and/or leverage, I’m alright if it is collateralized with something safe and liquid.

What is margin? Basically, it’s a loan for which you put up your investments as collateral. You must have a “margin account” instead of a “cash account” in order to be eligible for this line of credit. From Investopedia:

Margin is the money borrowed from a broker to purchase an investment and is the difference between the total value of an investment and the loan amount.

Margin trading refers to the practice of using borrowed funds from a broker to trade a financial asset, which forms the collateral for the loan from the broker.

A margin account is a standard brokerage account in which an investor is allowed to use the current cash or securities in their account as collateral for a loan.

Leverage conferred by margin will tend to amplify both gains and losses. In the event of a loss, a margin call may require your broker to liquidate securities without prior consent.

How do I know if I’m using margin? From the Robinhood Margin FAQ:

Before you can invest on margin, you have to apply and will only have access if you meet eligibility requirements.

You’ll only start investing on margin after the cash in your investing account has been fully invested. This means that if you have cash in your account, you won’t invest on margin until it’s fully spent.

For example, suppose you have $3,000 in your investing account—$2,800 in stocks and $200 cash. If you buy an additional $500 of MEOW stock, you will use your $200 in remaining cash first and the remaining $300 would be invested on margin using the securities in your account as collateral.

Once you have used margin funds for investing, you can check your total margin used amount in Investing — Buying power

How much money do I need in my account to invest on margin? For the most part, you need $2,000 to apply for margin. Here’s the official answer:

To purchase a security on margin, FINRA (a government-authorized regulator of brokerage firms) requires that you have at least $2,000 or 100% of the security’s purchase price (whichever value is less) deposited into your account. This is called the margin minimum.

If you’re flagged as a pattern day trader, you must have $25,000 in portfolio value (minus any crypto positions) before you can continue day trading.

Robinhood Securities, LLC (RHS) may also impose additional requirements and certain customers may not be eligible to use margin based on RHS internal guidelines.

Why is Robinhood giving me free margin? As a perk, and as a little free trial to hopefully get you to regularly use even more margin and thus pay them interest. They paid out a lot of money for those retirement asset bonuses. They added over $4 billion in assets. Times 3% is $120 million! From Marketwatch:

Robinhood has seen a significant increase in assets under management in 2024. Customers transferred over $4 billion in retirement assets from brokerage competitors between January and April of this year, with transfers averaging over $90,000 per customer. With account balances that big, some of these more seasoned investors may be used to using more advanced tools, like margin investing, and competing brokerages.

Robinhood attributes this recent growth to its 3% retirement match and 1% deposit boost promotions that were active at the start of this year. Those two programs meant Robinhood would essentially pay people to transfer their assets into Robinhood, and keep them there.

Now that Robinhood has those customers on its platform and signed up for its Robinhood Gold paid subscription service, it has to convince them to stay with the brokerage.

They do have some relatively low margin rates. From their press release:

I’m not sure I’ll keep doing this, but I’ll try it out for a couple months. I deposited a little over $2,000 of new cash into my existing taxable brokerage account (which previously just had a bit of stocks from past bonuses) and put in a limit buy order to 20 shares of SGOV, which is an ETF that holds short-term US Treasury Bills.

The share price of SGOV is usually around $100, depending on how much interest has accumulated in the NAV (net asset value). The share price of SGOV rises steadily until the beginning of the month when it makes a distribution. Here’s the SGOV dividend history. You could probably use fractional shares, but those use market orders which are usually just fine here, and I’m old-fashioned and prefer the control of limit orders. The bid/ask spread of SGOV is usually very tight, most often just $0.01. Screenshots below. (Note that I placed these orders sometime in late May 2024, as this post has been languishing as an unfinished draft for a few weeks…)

As noted, I can check to see how much margin I’m using by navigating to “Investing” and then “Buying power”. Right now, the SEC yield of SGOV is roughly 5.25%, so I’m earning ~$8.75 of interest each month on $2,000 (exempt from state/local income taxes). I haven’t used every penny of available margin since I bought whole shares, but I could with another dollar-based fractional share purchase. Many others have pointed out that even with $1,000 of free margin this can offset much of the Robinhold Gold fee of ~$5 per month. Just be sure to avoid the trap of thinking you can reliably make easy money with options trading, with or without margin.

Filed Under: Deals & Offers, Investing //

United Quest Card Review: 90,000 Bonus Miles + 500 PQP

Posted on June 13, 2024 // Leave a Comment

The United Quest Card is a new premium travel card that offers a lot of added perks on United Airlines for a higher annual fee. Here are the highlights:

  • 90,000 bonus United miles and 500 Premier qualifying points after $4,000 in purchases in the first 3 months. Plus, earn 5,000 bonus miles after you add an authorized user to your account in the first 3 months your account is open.
  • First AND second checked bags are free for both you and a companion (a savings of up to $360 per roundtrip) when you use your Card to purchase your ticket. Terms apply.
  • Priority boarding.. The primary Cardmember and companions on the same reservation will be invited to board United-operated flights prior to general boarding.
  • Up to a $125 United(R) purchase credit and up to 10,000 miles in award flight credits each year (terms apply).
  • Earn up to 9,000 Premier qualifying points per calendar year (1 PQP for every $20 you spend on purchases).
  • Up to $120 Global Entry, TSA PreCheck® or NEXUS fee credit.
  • Expanded award availability and free upgrades. Having this card makes it easier to find that saver award economy ticket. No blackout dates for MileagePlus members booking award flights on United.
  • $250 annual fee.

Here are the ongoing rewards on purchases:

  • 3X miles on United(R) purchases
  • 2X miles on all other travel.
  • 2X miles on dining.
  • 2X miles on select streaming services.
  • 1X mile per dollar spent on all other purchases.
  • No foreign transaction fees.
  • 25% Back on United inflight purchases (Wi-Fi, Food and Drinks).

The United Quest card is considered a new product, which means you can get this new bonus even if you’ve had other United card flavors in the past 24 months:

This card product is available to you if you do not have this card and have not received a new Cardmember bonus for this card in the past 24 months.

This card is very focused on making it a better experience for regular United customers. You have the first and second checked bag for free on United flights, both for your and a companion traveling on the same reservation. The bag fees are $40 first bag and $50 second bag per person, each way, so that adds up to a potential $360 total value roundtrip.

After each card anniversary, you automatically get $125 back on United purchases charged to your card, which already covers half the $250 annual fee. You save another 5,000 points (up to twice a year) when you book an award ticket with miles. You also get Priority Boarding, and while onboard, you get 25% back on your inflight purchases of WiFi, food, and drinks.

If you are trying to make Premier status on United, this card offers the ability to earn up to 9,000 Premier qualifying points a year (1 PQP for every $20 you spend on purchases).

Expanded award seat availability. You earn United miles for all your purchases, but then they also make it easier for you to redeem those miles on Saver level tickets with no blackout dates. No blackout dates for MileagePlus members booking award flights on United. Expanded award seat availability is another of the top perks from this card, and I’ve found a very significant difference when searching. If you’re constantly trying to find economy tickets for the entire family like me, this is a big deal. Saver Award ticket redemptions start at 12,500 miles one-way within the continental U.S. and Canada.

If you are a Premier® status member and traveling on an award ticket, with this card you can take advantage of Premier Upgrades on United-operated flights.

Another unique feature of this card is that it offers primary coverage on the Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver. On most other consumer cards, this coverage is offered as secondary coverage, meaning it only kicks in after your personal auto insurance has been exhausted.

Bottom line. The United Quest Card offers a long list of special perks for folks that fly United on a regular basis. For the right person, the benefits can be worth much more than the annual fee.

Also see: Top 10 Best Credit Card Bonus Offers.

The information for the United Quest(SM) Card has been collected independently by My Money Blog. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Filed Under: Credit Cards, Deals & Offers //

Best Interest Rates on Cash Roundup – June 2024

Posted on June 13, 2024 // 2 Comments

Here’s my monthly roundup of the best interest rates on cash as of June 2024, roughly sorted from shortest to longest maturities. There are lesser-known opportunities available to individual investors, often earning you a lot more money while keeping the same level of safety by moving to another FDIC-insured bank or NCUA-insured credit union. Check out my Ultimate Rate-Chaser Calculator to see how much extra interest you could earn from switching. Rates listed are available to everyone nationwide. Rates checked as of 6/12/2024.

TL;DR: Very minor changes since last month. Still 5%+ savings accounts and short-term CDs, with long-term CD rates holding roughly steady since last month. Compare against Treasury bills and bonds at every maturity, taking into account state tax exemption. I no longer recommend fintech companies due to the possibility of loss of cash access for months in the event of a company or middleman failure.

High-yield savings accounts
Since the huge megabanks STILL pay essentially no interest, everyone should have a separate, no-fee online savings account to piggy-back onto your existing checking account. The interest rates on savings accounts can drop at any time, so I list the top rates as well as competitive rates from banks with a history of competitive rates and solid user experience. Some banks will bait you with a temporary top rate and then lower the rates in the hopes that you are too lazy to leave.

  • The top rate at the moment is at My Banking Direct at 5.55% APY . Poppy at 5.50% APY (3-month rate guarantee). I have no personal experience with them, but they are the top rates at the moment. CIT Platinum Savings at 5.00% APY with $5,000+ balance.
  • SoFi Bank is at 4.60% APY + up to $325 new account bonus with direct deposit. You must maintain a direct deposit of any amount each month for the higher APY. SoFi has historically competitive rates and full banking features. See details at $25 + $300 SoFi Money new account and deposit bonus.
  • Here is a limited survey of high-yield savings accounts. They aren’t the top rates, but a group that have historically kept it relatively competitive such that I like to track their history. Sad to see Ally Bank falling even further behind.

Short-term guaranteed rates (1 year and under)
A common question is what to do with a big pile of cash that you’re waiting to deploy shortly (plan to buy a house soon, just sold your house, just sold your business, legal settlement, inheritance). My usual advice is to keep things simple and take your time. If not a savings account, then put it in a flexible short-term CD under the FDIC limits until you have a plan.

  • No Penalty CDs offer a fixed interest rate that can never go down, but you can still take out your money (once) without any fees if you want to use it elsewhere. Marcus has a 13-month No Penalty CD at 4.70% APY with a $500 minimum deposit. Also available at 7- and 11-months. Consider opening multiple CDs in smaller increments for more flexibility.
  • NexBank has a 1-year certificate at 5.40% APY ($25,000 min). There is a 180-day interest penalty if you withdraw your CD funds before maturity.
  • CIBC Agility Online has a 12- and 13-month CD at 5.36% APY ($1,000 min). Reasonable 30-day penalty if you withdraw your CD funds before maturity.

Money market mutual funds + Ultra-short bond ETFs
Many brokerage firms that pay out very little interest on their default cash sweep funds (and keep the difference for themselves). Note: Money market mutual funds are highly-regulated, but ultimately not FDIC-insured, so I would still stick with highly reputable firms. I am including a few ultra-short bond ETFs as they may be your best cash alternative in a brokerage account, but they may experience losses.

  • Vanguard Federal Money Market Fund is the default sweep option for Vanguard brokerage accounts, which has an SEC yield of 5.27% (changes daily, but also works out to a compound yield of 5.40%, which is better for comparing against APY). Odds are this is much higher than your own broker’s default cash sweep interest rate.
  • The PIMCO Enhanced Short Maturity Active Bond ETF (MINT) has a 5.34% SEC yield and the iShares Short Maturity Bond ETF (NEAR) has a 5.16% SEC yield while holding a portfolio of investment-grade bonds with an average duration of ~6 months.

Treasury Bills and Ultra-short Treasury ETFs
Another option is to buy individual Treasury bills which come in a variety of maturities from 4-weeks to 52-weeks and are fully backed by the US government. You can also invest in ETFs that hold a rotating basket of short-term Treasury Bills for you, while charging a small management fee for doing so. T-bill interest is exempt from state and local income taxes, which can make a significant difference in your effective yield.

  • You can build your own T-Bill ladder at TreasuryDirect.gov or via a brokerage account with a bond desk like Vanguard and Fidelity. Here are the current Treasury Bill rates. As of 6/11/24, a new 4-week T-Bill had the equivalent of 5.35% annualized interest and a 52-week T-Bill had the equivalent of 5.16% annualized interest.
  • The iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF (SGOV) has a 5.26% SEC yield and effective duration of 0.10 years. SPDR Bloomberg Barclays 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF (BIL) has a 5.21% SEC yield and effective duration of 0.08 years.

US Savings Bonds
Series I Savings Bonds offer rates that are linked to inflation and backed by the US government. You must hold them for at least a year. If you redeem them within 5 years there is a penalty of the last 3 months of interest. The annual purchase limit for electronic I bonds is $10,000 per Social Security Number, available online at TreasuryDirect.gov. You can also buy an additional $5,000 in paper I bonds using your tax refund with IRS Form 8888.

  • “I Bonds” bought between May 2024 and October 2024 will earn a 4.28% rate for the first six months. The rate of the subsequent 6-month period will be based on inflation again. More on Savings Bonds here.
  • In mid-October 2024, the CPI will be announced and you will have a short period where you will have a very close estimate of the rate for the next 12 months. I will have another post up at that time.

Rewards checking accounts
These unique checking accounts pay above-average interest rates, but with unique risks. You have to jump through certain hoops which usually involve 10+ debit card purchases each cycle, a certain number of ACH/direct deposits, and/or a certain number of logins per month. If you make a mistake (or they judge that you did) you risk earning zero interest for that month. Some folks don’t mind the extra work and attention required, while others would rather not bother. Rates can also drop suddenly, leaving a “bait-and-switch” feeling.

  • OnPath Federal Credit Union pays 7.00% APY on up to $10,000 if you make 15 debit card purchases, opt into online statements, and login to online or mobile banking once per statement cycle. Anyone can join this credit union via $5 membership fee to join partner organization. You can also get a $100 Visa Reward card when you open a new account and make qualifying transactions.
  • Genisys Credit Union pays 6.75% APY on up to $7,500 if you make 10 debit card purchases of $5+ each per statement cycle, and opt into online statements. Anyone can join this credit union via $5 membership fee to join partner organization.
  • Credit Union of New Jersey pays 6.00% APY on up to $25,000 if you make 12 debit card purchases, opt into online statements, and make at least 1 direct deposit, online bill payment, or automatic payment (ACH) per statement cycle. Anyone can join this credit union via $5 membership fee to join partner organization.
  • Andrews Federal Credit Union pays 6.00% APY on up to $25,000 if you make 15 debit card purchases, opt into online statements, and make at least 1 direct deposit or ACH transaction per statement cycle. Anyone can join this credit union via partner organization.
  • Pelican State Credit Union pays 6.05% APY on up to $20,000 if you make 15 debit card purchases, opt into online statements, log into your account at least once, and make at least 1 direct deposit, online bill payment, or automatic payment (ACH) per statement cycle. Anyone can join this credit union via partner organization membership.
  • Orion Federal Credit Union pays 6.00% APY on up to $10,000 if you make electronic deposits of $500+ each month (ACH transfers count) and spend $500+ on your Orion debit or credit card each month. Anyone can join this credit union via $10 membership fee to partner organization membership.
  • All America/Redneck Bank pays 5.15% APY on up to $15,000 if you make 10 debit card purchases each monthly cycle with online statements.
  • Find a locally-restricted rewards checking account at DepositAccounts.

Certificates of deposit (greater than 1 year)
CDs offer higher rates, but come with an early withdrawal penalty. By finding a bank CD with a reasonable early withdrawal penalty, you can enjoy higher rates but maintain access in a true emergency. Alternatively, consider building a CD ladder of different maturity lengths (ex. 1/2/3/4/5-years) such that you have access to part of the ladder each year, but your blended interest rate is higher than a savings account. When one CD matures, use that money to buy another 5-year CD to keep the ladder going. Some CDs also offer “add-ons” where you can deposit more funds if rates drop.

  • Credit Human has a 59-month CD at 4.65% APY. 48-month at 4.65% APY. 35-month at 4.75% APY. 23-month at 5.03% APY. 1-year at 4.95% APY. $500 minimum. The early withdrawal penalty (EWP) for CD maturities of 36 months or more is 365 days of interest. For CD maturity of 1 year, the EWP is 270 days of interest. This is actually a credit union, but is open nationwide with a American Consumer Council (ACC) membership. Try promo code “consumer” when signing up at ACC for a free membership.
  • First Internet Bank has a 5-year CD at 4.50% APY. 4-year at 4.45% APY. 3-year at 4.61% APY. 2-year at 4.76% APY. 1-year at 5.26% APY. $1,000 minimum. The early withdrawal penalty (EWP) for CD maturities of 2 years or more is 360 days of interest. For CD maturity of 1 year, the EWP is 180 days of interest.
  • BMO Alto has a 5-year CD at 4.80% APY. 4-year at 4.70% APY. 3-year at 4.60% APY. 2-year at 4.65% APY. 1-year at 5.05% APY. No minimum. The early withdrawal penalty (EWP) for CD maturities of 1 year or more is 180 days of interest. For CD maturities of 11 months or less, the EWP is 90 days of interest. Note that they reserve the right to prohibit early withdrawals entirely (!). Online-only subsidiary of BMO Bank.
  • You can buy certificates of deposit via the bond desks of Vanguard and Fidelity. You may need an account to see the rates. These “brokered CDs” offer FDIC insurance and easy laddering, but they don’t come with predictable early withdrawal penalties. Right now, I see a 5-year non-callable CD at 4.70% APY (callable: no, call protection: yes). Be warned that now both Vanguard and Fidelity will list higher rates from callable CDs, which importantly means they can call back your CD if rates drop later.

Longer-term Instruments
I’d use these with caution due to increased interest rate risk (tbh, I don’t use them at all), but I still track them to see the rest of the current yield curve.

  • Willing to lock up your money for 10 years? You can buy long-term certificates of deposit via the bond desks of Vanguard and Fidelity. These “brokered CDs” offer FDIC insurance, but they don’t come with predictable early withdrawal penalties. You might find something that pays more than your other brokerage cash and Treasury options. Right now, I see a 10-year CDs at n/a (callable: no, call protection: yes) vs. 4.33% for a 10-year Treasury. Watch out for higher rates from callable CDs where they can call your CD back if interest rates drop.

All rates were checked as of 6/12/2024.

Photo by micheile henderson on Unsplash

Filed Under: Banking, Deals & Offers, Investing // Tagged:

Pizza Hut Camp BOOK IT! Summer Reading Program (2024 Now Sold Out)

Posted on June 4, 2024 // 4 Comments

Update: Unfortunately, it “sold out” already!

Due to an overwhelming response, the 2024 Camp BOOK IT! summer program is now closed.

Registration live for Summer 2024 as of June 1st. If you were a kid in the 80s and 90s, you may remember the Pizza Hut “Book It!” program that rewarded reading books with free pizza. Well, Camp Book It! is again open to free enrollment for the summer:

All parents with students in PreK-6th grade (ages 4-12) can enroll in Camp BOOK IT!, our reading program created to stop the summer slide. In June, July and August, parents can use our digital tools to track and reward their kids reading with a free one-topping Personal Pan Pizza®.

This program is usually either run directly through schools or restricted to homeschooling parents during the academic school year, but is open to all age-eligible children from Pre-K to 6th grade during the summer. If it works like it did in the past, once you reach 20 days of reading in one calendar month (our goal is 20 minutes per day per child), you complete the goal and a prize code will be emailed to you. The code works online, so it’s easy to order and simply pick it up or add it to an existing order.

Encourage my kids to read books and feed them for me? That’s my kind of deal! The little Personal Pan Pizza rewards are a novelty to our kids, making it feel like a special treat that they earned. We also stack this with the Summer Reading program at our local library, which gives out other small trinkets to help build the “reading for fun” habit. This year we are also stacking with the Barnes & Noble Summer Reading Program.

Filed Under: Deals & Offers //

Barnes & Noble Summer Reading Program 2024 (Free Book, Kids Gr 1-6)

Posted on June 3, 2024 // Leave a Comment

Barnes & Noble is running their Summer Reading Program for kids in Grades 1-6. I like that the steps are pretty simple:

  1. Read any eight books this summer and record them in this Summer Reading Journal [printable PDF]. Tell us which part of the book is your favorite, and why.
  2. Bring your completed journal to a Barnes & Noble store between July 1 and August 31, 2024.
  3. Choose your free reading adventure from the eligible books listed here [PDF]. (Boxcar Children! 🙌) Valid while supplies last.
Filed Under: Deals & Offers //
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