Harlan Vaughn's Blog, page 17

Is Stash Stock-Back Better Than Earning Points? They Seem to Think So – Do You?

Micro-investing platform Stash introduced a debit card this week with an interesting proposition – earn 1.25% rewards on every purchase in the form of stock. If you spend at a publicly traded company, you’ll get a slice of their stock.

And if they’re a private company, your rewards go into a low-cost Vanguard ETF.

That’s great, but if you want to earn stocks, just get a Fidelity Visa (learn more here) for 2% back and buy whatever fund you want. Right?

Stash says they make it easier by delivering your rewards instantly and automatically. And sometimes bonuses go up to 5% back.

Today I got an email with the subject line: “Forget points. The Stash debit card has something better.”

Sweet! Citi Rewards+ 10% Rebate Works With Other ThankYou Cards for up to 10,000 Points Back per Year

So this is pretty cool. The Citi Rewards+ card is a new card that:

Earns 2X Citi ThankYou points at supermarkets and gas stations on up to $6,000 in spending per year (then 1X)
Rounds up every purchase to the nearest 10 points (spend $2, earn 10 points, say)
Rebates 10% of your redeemed miles on up to 100,000 points per year
Has NO annual fee

I product changed my old Citi Diamond Preferred to the Rewards+, and that was that. Until today, when I saw a random 1,600 ThankYou points in my account.

The only activity I’d had recently was transferring 16,000 Citi ThankYou points to Qantas. Then I realized – the Rewards+ card’s 10% rebate worked on the redeemed ThankYou points, even though I earned them with other ThankYou cards.

For a card that’s free to keep, that’s up to 10,000 points back in my account every year – and I value those for $200 at least. An as long as this works, I will 100% keep my Prestige card long-term.

This pairing is pretty awesome – and seems to work with any other ThankYou card and for any type of redemption (points transfer, travel booked directly, etc).

Holy crap, this new power-up to my Citi Prestige card is worth an extra 10,000 points per year. Officially keeping

When you combine the rebate with points transfer bonuses and 1.25 cents for travel – it gets all that much better.

Combine Citi Rewards+ with other ThankYou cards for up to 10,000 points back per year

It stings to lose the 10% mileage rebate on American Airlines cards. But in its place, you can get 10% back on up to 100,000 redeemed Citi ThankYou points. That’s a nice tradeoff.

If you have a Citi Rewards+ card, you can combine your ThankYou member accounts and trigger the rebate when you use miles earned from other Citi ThankYou cards, like:

Citi Prestige
Citi Premier
AT&T Access More

You can theoretically link your accounts online, but it never works right. Your best bet is to call Citi and have them do it. When I called, they were able to instantly combine all my ThankYou points into one place.

The advantage is you get all the superpowers of each card in the pool. For example:

1.25 cents toward all travel booked through Citi if you have the Citi Premier
1.25 cents toward flights booked through Citi if you have Citi Prestige
And now, 10% of your points back in your account, on up to 100,000 redeemed per year with Citi Rewards+

Citi Rewards+ is my Citi Prestige’s new BFF – but god, couldn’t they have chosen a different design?

Just note that once you combine your accounts, they can never be unlinked. But there’s not much of a downside to linking them.

A Citi agent had it done in 10 minutes

I converted a sock drawer card to the Citi Rewards+ because why not? But wasn’t expecting it to turn out this well.

Use any ThankYou card to earn points, get your Citi Rewards+ 10% rebate at statement close

I recently zeroed my ThankYou account to book my Hyatt Ziva Puerto Vallarta stay, so the points I transferred to Qantas were earned with my Prestige or AT&T Access More card. I haven’t spent a buck on the Rewards+ card.

All I’ve done recently is redeem 16K points – and got 1.6K points back

This makes me believe the 10% rebate will work when you redeem any ThankYou points, regardless of which card earned them.

I will happily collect up to 10,000 points back per year thanks to a card that’s free to keep

By linking your Rewards+ card to your other ThankYou cards, that’s good for up to 10,000 points back per year. At 2 cents each, that’s worth $200 each year.

And while I was planning to keep my Citi Prestige card anyway, having this new perk worth another $200 makes keeping it a no-brainer.

Get more from transfer bonuses and travel bookings

Right now, you get 25% more points when you transfer to Qantas through April 13th, 2019.

Niiiice

So if you transfer 8,000 points, you’d get:

10,000 Qantas miles
800 points back

Meaning you’re essentially exchanging 7,200 Citi ThankYou points for 10,000 Qantas miles.

And if you have Citi Prestige or Citi Premier, you can use your points for 1.25 each toward flights (and all travel with Premier).

So 10,000 Citi ThankYou points gets you $125 in travel, and you’d get 1,000 points back – making 900 points worth $125 toward travel, and closer to being worth 1.4 cents each.

Should you open a Rewards+ card to access this benefit?

If you open this card, you won’t be able to earn the sign-up bonus on another ThankYou card (Prestige or Premier) for 24 months. And it will count against your Chase 5/24 status.

However, if you have all the ThankYou cards you want, and aren’t concerned with 5/24, it’s got a sign-up bonus of 15,000 Citi ThankYou points after you spend $1,000 in purchases within 3 months of account opening – decent for a card with no annual fee.

Of course, you’ll get 10% of those points back, so it’s more like a 16,500 point bonus.

Trip Report: An Amazing Repeat Stay at the Hyatt Ziva Puerto Vallarta

This time last week, I was at the Hyatt Ziva Puerto Vallarta – almost 1 year to the day after my February 2018 stay. I originally wanted to try a different Ziva, like Los Cabos, or perhaps return to the Zilara in Cancun – and found tons of award flights from Dallas to all three.

But flights from Chicago to fly down an old friend were scarce. So for whatever reason, the availability lined up and sent us to the Ziva Puerto Vallarta again.

I was open to it, returning to the known. Also curious to see if it had changed – and I knew it would be a sure bet for max relax. We even thought about trying the Hilton all-inclusive there.  But in the end, we settled on a right proper fly n’ flop.

It’s a huge, gorgeous property with:

5 restaurants
5 bars
Coffee shop/self-serve deli
4 pools
Kids club
Tennis club, spa, gym, hot tubs, and swim-up rooms

When your hotel room looks like a magazine

Here are my 1-year-later impressions.

Hyatt Ziva Puerto Vallarta Review – 2019 version

If you haven’t yet, check out my Hyatt Ziva Puerto Vallarta review from last year where I talk about the stay, spa, and eating at all the restaurants. That was 1 year ago.

This time, I knew exactly what to expect. And even better, I cobbled together a few tricks to book, including:

Redeeming Citi ThankYou points for the stay
Getting the 4th night free with Citi Prestige
Free AA flights with Business Extra
Covering all the taxes and fees with statement credits

I talked about how I booked the $3,000 trip for $0. So all I had to pay for were Uber rides to and from the airport, and I had enough travel credits to cover those, too. Truly all I did was show up and started eating and drinking my way through the property – which was awesome.

Citi ThankYou Points Are My Earn & Burn Currency of the Year! 60,000 UR = 100,000 TYP (Prestige Vs Sapphire Reserve Pt. 2)

I recently emptied my Citi ThankYou points account. Yup, I burned every single last point to stay at the Hyatt Ziva Puerto Vallarta. For my 4-night stay, I could’ve spent:

80,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points (because it’s 20,000 Hyatt points per night)
~131,000 Citi ThankYou points (with the 4th night free thanks to Citi Prestige)

I asked a friend which would be the better option. “Whichever is easier for you to replenish,” was her advice.

Within my Chase Ultimate Rewards portfolio, I spend most on my Sapphire Reserve for 3X, and sometimes my Freedom for 5X. Within my Citi ThankYou portfolio, I spend most on my Prestige for 5X, and sometimes my AT&T Access More for 3X. And the Prestige 5X category gets the bulk of my attention.

If I spend $10,000 on flights and dining:

On Sapphire Reserve at 3X, I get 30,000 points
On Prestige at 5X, I get 50,000 points

For my same spending, I get way more rewards. For the hotel stay above, the earn rate was actually equal (80/3 = 131/5). But for transfers to airline miles, that’s the difference between getting 1 award ticket instead of 2 for the same spend.

Match your spending to a 5X category and see what happens.

For views like this, just burn Citi ThankYou points if your 5X categories are similar to mine

If you buy a lot of airfare, and eat out often, you’d do well to earn 1.67 more points per $1 – they add up fast!

Citi Prestige Vs Chase Sapphire Reserve (again)

You can scale the 3X vs 5X example above as much as you want:

30,000 UR = 50,000 TY
60,000 UR = 100,000 TY
90,000 UR = 150,000 TY

Now I respect the Ultimate Rewards program because transfers to Hyatt are valuable. That’s why I said use the Sapphire Reserve for hotel awards, and the Citi Prestige for flights.

This photo is here just for fun. Hello! 

The more I thought about it, the more I realized how much better it is to collect ThankYou points for many popular flight awards. Especially considering both programs transfer 1:1 to:

Flying Blue (for flights on Delta and SkyTeam partners)
Singapore Airlines (for flights on United and Star Alliance partners)
Virgin Atlantic (excellent for flights on Delta, especially to Europe)

By the numbers

For same $30,000 of spending on airfare and dining, the difference is stark. If the flights you want cost 25,000 miles round-trip in coach (a typical price), you could get:

3 flights with Sapphire Reserve (75,000 miles)
6 flights in Prestige (150,000 miles)

For $20,000 in spending in the same categories, you could get 2 flights with Sapphire Reserve (50,000 miles) or 4 with Prestige (100,000 miles).

In each case, because of rounding, you’re always just out of reach with the Sapphire Reserve and right on the nose with Prestige. Obviously this is just example that just happens to work and awards cost all kinds of prices – but the point is if you can make the most of Citi’s air transfer partners, you can get more award flights faster.

That’s certainly helpful for everyone, especially peeps with big families or a large travel group.

And yes, that’s a lot of spending – but the way it adds up is huge.

At those earning rates, you don’t need to think about using your ThankYou points. Earn ’em and burn ’em!

I’m not paying big bucks to make important dates any more – earn and burn, baby

I already earned 20,000 more ThankYou points and just sent 16,000 of them to Qantas for a $374 round-trip award flight on American Airlines (which exceeds my 2 cent per point rule – score!).

It’s all in the pairing

For flight awards, the 3X or 5X earning rates are the make or break between being so close and having more than enough.

And within the UR and TY ecosystems, there are cards with plenty of 3X and 5X categories, like:

3X on travel and dining with Sapphire Preferred – UR
3X on travel, shipping, internet, phone, advertising with Ink Business Preferred – UR
5X on internet, phone, cable, and at office supply stores with Ink Business Cash – UR
5X in rotating categories with Freedom – UR
3X for shopping online with AT&T Access More (no longer available to new applicants) – TY
3X on travel and gas with Citi Premier – TY
5X on airfare, travel agencies, and dining with Prestige – TY
3X on hotels and cruises with Prestige – TY

I like being Prestigious!

I’m obviously zooming in on the Citi Prestige 5X categories. It’s the bulk of my spending and the main source of my rewards.

My 5X manna

The idea here is to identify where you spend the most and match it to a reward category. Then find the card most rewarding, and with benefits you like, for that spending.

Knowing your sweet spot, as shown above, can be the different between 3 award flights – or 6. That’s pretty huge.

Bottom line

I’m proclaiming Citi ThankYou points as my earn and burn points currency this year. Yup, I got places to go and I wanna get there on the double – quite literally.

Once I realized the huge difference between spending in 5X vs 3X categories, it was a no-brainer to keep my Prestige card another year.

In the example above, I got a $374 AA flight for 16,000 Qantas points (from Citi ThankYou). To earn 16,000 TY points @ 5X, I’d have to spend $3,200 on my Citi Prestige card.

With a 2% cashback card, I’d have to spend $18,700 to get $374 in rewards. Say what you will about steep annual fees – and this is just one example – but the difference is startling. And for me, these types of award flights are my norm based on my travel patterns.

So yeah, I feel good about earning and burning Citi ThankYou points – and jamming on my Prestige card. If you’re a frequent traveler who also spends a lot on airfare and eating out, this might be your jam too. I encourage you to find where you spend a lot of your discretionary income and see if you can get 5X (or as close as you can) for it.

What’s your go-to earn and burn currency for 2019? 

Also see: 

Citi Prestige Vs Chase Sapphire Reserve: Which Ultra-Premium Card Is Better? (Bonus Categories, Perks, Insurance)

OUT AND OUT - Investing. Positivity. Oh, and travel.

Citi Prestige Vs Chase Sapphire Reserve: Which Ultra-Premium Card Is Better? (Bonus Categories, Perks, Insurance)

Dang, this is hard. I’ll go ahead and say, “It depends.”

But I am going through it, y’all.

Both the newly refreshed Citi Prestige and ever popular Chase Sapphire Reserve have their place in this world. And I know which one I’m using a LOT more (Citi Prestige). But I can’t bring myself to downgrade my Chase Sapphire Reserve because I don’t want to lose specific perks.

As I look at them, side-by-side, I gotta say – it’s a total wash. Do I keep ’em both?

This year, Citi Prestige gets my vote

And while I’ll stick with Citi Prestige short-term, I think they’re both keepers. Let’s compare.

Citi Prestige vs Chase Sapphire Reserve – 2 excellent ultra-premium cards

OK, elephant in the room: Citi Prestige just had some big changes last month. For this comparison, I’m focusing on the card as it is now, NOT as it was.

Here are the most important benefits, side-by-side:

CardCiti PrestigeChase Sapphire Reserve




Annual Fee• $495• $450


Bonus Categories• 5X on airfare booked directly with airlines, travel agencies, & dining

• 3X on hotels booked directly & cruises

• 1X on all other purchases• 3X on travel & dining

• 1X on all other purchases


Annual Travel Credit• $250• $300


Priority Pass Membership• You + 2 guests OR immediate family (spouse, partner, and children)• You + 2 guests


Other Perks• 4th night free (capped at 2X per year and must book online (no elite points) starting September 1, 2019)

• Missed event ticket protection

• Earn bonus points through Chase shopping portal

• Chase Offers




Points Value for Travel Booked Directly• 1.25 cents for air travel (1 cent starting September 1, 2019)

• 1 cent each for other travel• 1.5 cents each for all travel


Airline Partners• Avianca

• Asia Miles (Cathay Pacific)

• EVA Air

• Etihad Guest

• Flying Blue (Air France / KLM)

• Garuda Indonesia

• Jet Airways

• JetBlue

• Malaysia Airlines

• Qantas

• Qatar Airways

• Singapore Airlines

• Thai Airways

• Turkish Airlines

• Virgin Atlantic• Aer Lingus

• British Airways

• Flying Blue (Air France / KLM)

• Iberia

• JetBlue

• Singapore Airlines

• Southwest

• United

• Virgin Atlantic


Hotel Partners• NONE• Hyatt

• IHG

• Marriott


Trip Delay Insurance• 6 hours, up to $500 per ticket, missed connections expressly not covered• 6 hours, up to $500 per ticket, missed connections are covered


Trip Cancellation & Interruption Coverage• Up to $5,000 per trip• Up to $10,000 per person, and up to $20,000 per trip


Lost or Damaged Baggage Coverage• Up to $3,000 per passenger (up to $2,000 for NY residents)• Up to $3,000 per passenger


Car Rental Coverage• Up to $75,000

• Secondary in the US, primary abroad• Up to $75,000

• Always primary


Price Protection• Within 60 days, up to $200 per item, $1,000 per calendar year• NONE


PDF Guide to BenefitsDownload here.Download here.




Annual fee – Winner: Chase Sapphire Reserve

They’re about the same. The difference of $45 isn’t much, but Chase Sapphire Reserve narrowly beats out Citi Prestige.

Bonus categories – Winner: Citi Prestige

Citi Prestige earns 5X points for airfare and dining, whereas Chase Sapphire Reserve earns 3X for all travel – that includes things like:

Hotel stays
Tolls
Uber/Lyft rides
Parking garages
Public transit
Train fare and passes

It’s just that “travel” category that throws me off

So I’ll use Citi Prestige when I eat out and pay for flights, but Chase Sapphire Reserve for everything else.

The question is: do you spend enough in this broad “travel” category, apart from flights, to justify having one over the other?

Because I’ll put hotel stays on my Chase Sapphire Reserve (unless I’m booking the 4th night free through September, then Citi Prestige).

But really, how much do you spend here? Cuz I’d much rather get 3X with Chase Sapphire Reserve than 1X with Citi Prestige for other travel…

On the other hand, I dine out constantly, so having that as a 5X category almost single-handedly saves Citi Prestige for me.

Annual travel credit – Winner: Chase Sapphire Reserve

If you see it as a prepaid rebate toward travel, the annual fees drop to:

$245 with Citi Prestige
$150 with Chase Sapphire Reserve

In that light, the Chase Sapphire Reserve is a better deal.

Priority Pass Membership – Winner: Citi Prestige

This will be a big deal for peeps with families. With the Chase Sapphire Reserve, you only get 2 guests, period. Even if they’re family. After that, you pay $27 per person.

I use my Priority Pass on the regular, especially at restaurants

But with Citi Prestige, you can bring your family (including your spouse or partners, and children). If you’re with your SO and have 2+ kids, this version of the Priority Pass is actually much better.

Other perks – Tie

I’ve already used the 4th night free benefit on the Citi Prestige this year – and that alone covered nearly the entire annual fee. Starting September 1, 2019, you’ll have to book this online – which means you won’t get elite credit or points, or have your status recognized. And it’ll be capped at twice per year.

Still, if you like boutique or independent hotels, this won’t matter. But if you value hotel loyalty programs, this is a loss.

Conversely, I’ve used a couple of Chase Offers, and use the Shop Through Chase portal all the time.

These other perks aren’t meaningful unless you use them. And if you do, the tie-breaker.

Points value for travel – Winner: Citi Prestige

For flights booked through each bank’s portals, you’ll get:

1.25 cents each with Citi Prestige
1.5 cents each with Chase Sapphire Reserve

If you spend mostly in the 5X or 3X categories, that’s worth:

6% back toward airfare (1.25 X 5) until September 2019, then 5% back (1 X 5), with Citi Prestige
4.5% back toward travel (1.5 X 3) with Chase Sapphire Reserve

Either way, Citi Prestige wins.

Airline partners – Winner: Tie

You can access all 3 airline alliances with either bank program. And there’s enough overlap to make them comparable.

The only way I’d pick Ultimate Rewards over ThankYou is if you:

Like United miles for no fuel surcharges (although you can do the same with Avianca)
Transfer points to Southwest
Have a strong preference for any single partner

If I wanna fly AA, I can do so with British Airways Avios or Qantas – either way is fine by me

For my travels, I’ve found the Citi ThankYou program is more versatile than it gets credit for. Both programs are great for niche uses and advanced players.

The edge goes to Ultimate Rewards for instant transfers, but honestly, I’m good with either. You might think differently if you like JetBlue, Southwest, or Virgin Atlantic.

Hotel partners – Winner: Chase Sapphire Reserve

By a miiiile. And the thing I love most about Ultimate Rewards are transfers to Hyatt.

I love using Ultimate Rewards points for cheap Hyatt Place and Hyatt House stays

This alone is reason enough to keep the card open for me. Because I’ve had plenty of free Hyatt stays. I never worry about airfare, but do love having the option to use Hyatt from time to time.

And, if I’m being honest, there are a few niche uses for Marriott points, too. Especially the extended-stay hotels slightly outside of town.

If Hyatt ever devalues their program, my thoughts would be much different. But as it stands, transfers to Hyatt are one of the best things about Ultimate Rewards.

Trip delay insurance – Winner: Chase Sapphire Reserve

They’re nearly identical, but that missed connection thing is a b-word if it ever happens to you.

Trip cancellation – Winner: Chase Sapphire Reserve

Quadruple the coverage.

Lost or damaged baggage coverage – Tie

Unless you’re a New Yorker. :/

Car rental insurance – Winner: Chase Sapphire Reserve

No idea why Citi decided to make it secondary in the US and primary overseas. You absolutely need a card with primary rental car insurance. And because of that broad “travel” category, I’d put car rentals on the Chase Sapphire Reserve anyway.

Price protection – Winner: Citi Prestige

Citi has it, Chase doesn’t.

Who should go with Citi Prestige?

Peeps who:

Dine a lot
Pay for lots of airfare
Like to book travel through the bank portal
Can use the 4th night free perk
Want a better Priority Pass membership
Can do well with the transfer partners
Have other Citi cards to pair it with (Citi Premier for 3X on travel and gas, AT&T Access More for 3X online, Rewards+, etc.)
Will use the price protection for big-ticket items (I use this perk a lot, actually)

I dine often, like the transfer partners, and have other ThankYou cards to keep my supply rolling in

Pretty much all of these apply to me. Between the 5X earning, 4th night free, and other built-in perks, I get waaay more in value than the annual fee costs.

And ultimately, if you’re doing that, it’s worth it. If you can do that with both cards – even better.

It’s just that latter point that’s tripping me up. Can one do well with both of these cards? 

Who should go with Chase Sapphire Reserve?

Link: Chase Sapphire Reserve

It’s tough to beat the Chase Sapphire Reserve. But this one’s better if you:

Want broader earning categories with less to think about (travel & dining)
Prefer a more user-friendly card with instant transfers
Use the travel insurance for trip delay and car rentals
Value transfers to hotel partners (I know I do)
Like a particular airline transfer partner, such as United, Southwest, or JetBlue
Are fine with this version of the Priority Pass (you + 2 guests)
Like Chase Offers and Shop Through Chase to save / earn more points
Have other cards to pool your points (Ink Business Preferred for 3X categories, Chase Freedom for rotating 5X categories, Chase Freedom Unlimited for 1.5X everywhere, etc.)

What can I say, I love ’em both

Over the course of the year, I use the $300 annual travel credit, rent cars on occasion, use the Shop Through Chase portal, transfer to Hyatt, and redeem Chase Offers.

It’s the access to Hyatt award rooms and broader 3X travel category that keeps me hooked. Is it worth paying for it at a net $150 annual fee ($450 – $300 travel credit)?

Totally – especially if you prefer the other travel partners, too.

Should you have both? Or just one?

Heavy travelers can make out like a bandit with both cards. If I had to recommend one, I’d say Chase Sapphire Reserve.

Unless you’re advanced with points & miles cuz those 5X categories on Citi Prestige… dang. They’re good.

Ultimately, I’m finding reasons to keep both – at least for now.

A lot has shifted in the points / credit card space in the last year – and new changes to Citi Prestige kick in starting September 2019. For the next 6 months, I’ll see how it goes.

Maybe they’re chums and we don’t even know it

Also, never downplay the value of a diverse points collection. Perhaps you guard your Ultimate Rewards points like a fiend but are happy to burn your ThankYou points (like me). Or maybe you spend plenty in all the bonus categories and want to maximize every buck.

Or, who knows, perhaps they’re both excellent cards with their own unique sets of strengths and limitations that will appeal to many types of people – and with everything considered, they’re roughly equal and both worth your time.

Bottom line

I started writing this with the intention to rule out one or the other as I have enough cards with $400+ annual fees these daze.

The fact is, I’m using Citi Prestige and the Chase Sapphire Reserve for their strengths. And where one is great, the other is weaker – and vice versa.

And actually, they form a nice simpatico. That said, I reach for my Citi Prestige a lot more than my Chase Sapphire Reserve – but when I do use the CSR it’s with a direct intent. Plus, those Hyatt transfers – gah. Too good.

If you have neither, start with the Chase Sapphire Reserve. Although I just transferred ThankYou points to Qantas to go to my baby’s ultrasound next month – so to say ThankYou points are inferior in any way is entirely subjective. It’s all in how you plan to use them.

Points & miles are still changing my life and allow me to connect and be present when it matters. And I find both cards have a valuable points setup to keep them flowing in.

If I had to pare it down to bare bones I’d say:

Citi Prestige to pay for flights and food, use for award flights. Chase Sapphire Reserve to pay for most other travel, use for hotel stays.

When viewed that way, they fit together even better. But for that all-in-one solution it’s Chase Sapphire Reserve. And Citi Prestige if you have a more advanced plan.

Do you agree with my analysis? Would love to hear your thoughts on these two heavyweight (literally, they’re made of metal) cards!

OUT AND OUT - Investing. Positivity. Oh, and travel.

Up to $45 Back With Freebird for Taking Uber and Lyft Rides – New Promo Code

In time for Friday eve, I just got word of a new promo code you can stack with others for up to $45 cash back on Uber and Lyft rides booked through Freebird.

Here’s how to do it:

Download Freebird
Enter promo codes:
“S897C” – $10 cashback ($5 for each of your first 2 rides)
“GOLONG” – $10 cashback through March 18, 2019
“5FOR5” – $5 cashback on your first 5 rides (up to $25) through June 1, 2019
“RIDESHAREGUY” – $10 instant cashback 

That’s a total of $45 cashback!

Freebird lets you book Uber and Lyft rides through their app – and you’ll earn points on each ride. Once you earn 5,000 points, you can cash it out for $10. So you can potentially do even better with these codes when you add points to the mix.

This new promo code gets you $25 more bucks – and works for existing users

Plus, as I’ve found over the past few weeks, your Uber and Lyft credits should still work!

Freebird powers up your Uber and Lyft apps

Key Link: Download Freebird

If you ride Uber or Lyft with any regularity, I’ve found Freebird to be a nice “power up” for those bookings. The prices are the same – as it pulls the quote from those apps directly – and I’ve also had my Uber credits applied even when booking through Freebird.

With Freebird, you earn points + cashback for ordering rides through the app. Here’s my full writeup on Freebird with more information.

I took Lyft rides all around San Antonio recently, including to the River Walk

And now, you can get an extra $25 cashback on top of existing promo codes (all listed above).

I am all over this as it’s literally free cashback for doing something you’re already planning to do.

I have no idea how Freebird is making money (presumably through sponsorships from local businesses and liquor companies), but take it while the getting is good – especially if you have trips coming up soon.

It should stack with any Uber/Lyft credits or promotions already attached to your accounts – and trigger any travel statement credits from cards like Chase Sapphire Reserve, Citi Prestige, or US Bank Altitude Reserve. So there’s a potential triple/quadruple stack in here (you know I love a good stack):

Uber/Lyft rewards + credits
Statement credits
Freebird cashback
Miles/points (not with CSR and travel credit, though)

Bottom line

What’s also cool is you can toggle between Uber and Lyft within the Freebird app if you want to check prices with both services. That way, you can pick the cheaper option and still earn the Freebird points and cashback credits.

I’ve been using Freebird for the past few weeks and haven’t had any issues. Receipts and charges still come directly from Uber or Lyft – just note they pull your default payment method from the respective service, so be sure to change it directly within the correct app if you so desire.

And again, I dunno how Freebird will be profitable with all these promotions going on but… get it while you can. I’ve already initiated a few transfers to my bank account and gotten cash money directly in hand – so I can personally confirm it works.

Happy riding!

OUT AND OUT - Investing. Positivity. Oh, and travel.

American Airlines Cards Officially Useless – I’m Closing Mine in May 2019

American Airlines has a case of “too big for their britches,” as we say down south. They think they’re Delta – they’re not. They think their co-branded credits cards are too beneficial – so they’re cutting the best benefit.

As of May 1st, 2019, NONE of the American Airlines credit cards (from Barclays or Citi) will have a 10% rebate on redeemed miles, which was good for up to 100,000 redeemed miles per year (so you could get back 10,000 miles).

I maxed this out every year – and rarely use other benefits of the cards. I don’t check bags. Priority boarding is great, but whatever. I don’t buy airplane food.

And I get better earning rates with ultra-premium cards for all the bonus categories.

In a couple of months, I’m closing my American Airlines cards. Unless Citi wants to give me a big retention offer to keep one a while longer.

*eyeroll emoji* These are not meaningful to me

Even worse – Citi isn’t adding anything to make up for this loss (Barclays is at least trying). Sorry, but spending $20,000 to get a stupid $125 discount isn’t a tradeoff.

Bye bye, AA cards

For whatever reason, I find myself with 4 American Airlines cards:

Citi Platinum Select Amex (kept it to add Amex offers, which is no longer possible)
Citi Platinum Select MasterCard (got it for the bonus, kept it because of a good retention offer)
CitiBusiness Platinum Select MasterCard (got for the bonus, will cancel)
Barclays no-annual-fee card (will keep because it’s free)

You’d think I was Mr. American Airlines or something

My original plan was to close the two MasterCards and keep the Amex because the annual fee is only $85 (instead of $99). Because with it, I’d still get all the same bennies, including the 10% mileage rebate.

But now I have zero incentive to keep any of them.

Why they’re toast

As someone who flies AA semi-regularly, I don’t find value in the paltry spate of AA travel perks. And if I did fly AA a lot, I’d already get them as a function of elite status. Either way, there’s no reason to keep the cards unless you:

Check bags and don’t have status
Don’t have other cards that earn more points in the bonus categories
Really like priority boarding and 25% savings in-flight (for me, yawn)

Because for flights and dining, I pay with Citi Prestige (which recently faced its own set of cuts and shakeups) for 5X Citi ThankYou points. And for gas, I’ll use my Blue Business Plus Amex for 2X Amex Membership Rewards points.

The only way I’d keep the annual fee cards is with a big retention offer (as I don’t expect to put any spend on any of the 4 cards, nor use any of the remaining benefits).

Heavy AA flyers would do better with the Citi AAdvantage Executive card or Barclays Aviator Silver card for better perks like access to Admirals Clubs, or $25 in food/drink credit each day you fly AA, respectively.

And casual AA flyers are better with a card that earns flexible points like the Chase Sapphire Preferred.

Bottom line

Citi seems focused on cutting their card benefits for whatever reason, but it seems this change came from American Airlines because it affects all their cards with the 10% rebate benefit.

Between AA about to lose Etihad, United working to step up, and Delta absolutely owning them operationally, I really wonder what’s going on at corporate. Because losing this rebate is absolutely a devaluation. Being Dallas-based, I’m semi hub captive, but don’t pay for flights enough to earn meaningful status on any airline.

This change further cements my “free agent” view of travel. The only airline worth being loyal to is Alaska (or maybe Southwest if you mostly travel domestically). And the best hotel chain is Hilton (or Hyatt if that’s your jam). Otherwise, loyalty is dead and credit cards are turning into a wasteland.

While I don’t really care about the loss of this benefit one way or another, I see it as something I was willing to pay for. Now that’s it’s gone, the rest of the cards’ benefits aren’t worth paying for. Simple as that.

The only reason to get an American Airlines credit card is for the sign-up bonus. Then dump it, unless you want to upgrade to one of the ultra-premium AA cards mentioned earlier. Otherwise, they’re not even fit for a sock drawer any more.

Citi, you have 2 months to come up with something good. If the retention deals suck, I’m out.

As far as I’m concerned, Barclays is the sole issuer of American Airlines cards now.

OUT AND OUT - Investing. Positivity. Oh, and travel.

I’m Gonna Be a Dad! My Journey Toward Becoming a (Gay) Known Donor

Here’s a post I never thought I’d write. It’s something I’ve been thinking about the past few months, and the time feels right to say: I’m gonna be a dad!

I still can’t believe it – it happened so fast. The little bean is currently ~13 weeks along, so we’ve made it to the second trimester. It’ll be born in late August/early September.

Our arrangement is unorthodox, as in – not the norm. I’ll be known as the father, and its moms (yes, plural) will be the primary caregivers.

I’m learning there isn’t a script for this. So we have to communicate, communicate, communicate.

I know in my heart the child will be surrounded by love in a supportive, capable household.

I really thought this would never happen for me. But now it is. I say that with much amazement.

The photo that stopped my heart and changed everything

Here’s how it came to be.

Becoming a known donor

So I’m basically a sperm donor. After talking and thinking about it for a while (like 3 months), I decided to go for it.

They’ve prepared long to welcome a baby into their home. When I saw how much effort they put into their lives, and themselves, it felt so very right.

They believe every child has a right to know its lineage and family history, which is where the “known” part comes into play. Because I’ll be able to get photos, visit on occasion, and evolve through this process. We’ll all have to navigate this together and support each other – that’s the only way it will work.

It was important to them to find a gay donor – for so many reasons. Because of what it represents. Because it’s important to examine how LGBT people can start families. And because hello, we’re awesome.

Investing Vs Pay Down Student Loans: Why I’m Gonna Aggressively Save for Retirement and Just Pay the Minimum

I’ve been taking stock of my complete financial life: mortgage, credit cards, savings, and other debt.

At one point, I became obsessed with getting rid of my student loans. They’re an ugly stain, a black cloud always marring my ideal financial vision. Last year, I made a $7,000 payment just to start chipping away at the principal. I see now it was an emotional, not logical, decision.

Since then, I don’t feel like made much progress. And deep down, I want to save more in my IRA account. I was paying so aggressively that I wasn’t saving as much.

After running the numbers, I’ve decided to say screw the student loans. I’m gonna pay the bare minimum and invest everything else.

Past Harlan went to school. Future Harlan is gonna save his pennies. (Third person tense activatedddd!)

I just wanna be carefree. For me, that means giving up the ghost of paying off my student loans – I’m gonna invest the rest

I’m tired of missing out on opportunities.

Why I’m forgetting about paying off my student loans

First things first: my loans are all federal. That means I make payments to a government loan servicer, have protections against hardship, and most importantly… with my IBR plan, they’ll be forgiven after 25 years.

My loans originated in 2011, so they’ll be gone in 2036 – which is in…

*gulp*

17 years. I’ll be in my 50s by then – and I signed those promissory notes when I was 17. Isn’t that crazy?

I don’t have a fixed payment. Instead, I re-certify every year. And somewhere along the line, I decided I wanted them gone and even got a 0% APR credit card to pay them down. I currently owe ~$46,000 (the average is $30,100).

I hate everything about Mohela – the apples, the logo, everything

That pains me to write, but my retirement savings far exceed that.

It wasn’t a financial decision rooted in reality. I decided removing the mental burden of having them would be worth more than saving. After all, with a 6.75% interest rate, that’s a guaranteed savings as opposed to hypothetical returns.

And then, once they were gone, I’d put all my resources into padding out my nest egg. Until I slapped myself in the face and looked closer at the numbers.

Despite how I feel about having the student loans, I was forgetting one huge truism: the sooner I invest, the more I’ll earn with compound interest + time on my side. The 8th wonder of the world – duh. And all my returns were actually over 7%.

Plus, going back to feelings, it bummed me out to max out my 2018 IRA contributions before filing taxes in 2019. In other years, I maxed it out at the earliest moment – not the last.

I maxed out 2018, but 2019 has a ways to go. It will happen

I spent time thinking about it and looking at the numbers. Investing is the clear winner. Those student loans will just have to deal.

By the numbers, I can earn 10s of $1,000s more

I played around with online calculators and liked Student Loan Hero’s Student Loan Payoff vs. Invest Calculator the best.

That’s a huge difference

For this equation, I set:

Investment returns at 7%
Loan interest at 6.75% (cuz it is)
Extra payment at $500 per month (how much I’d need to max out an IRA at $6,000 / 12)
Contribution timeframe at 17 years (at which point, my loans will be forgiven)

This is crazy to me. And now I feel salty for having “wasted” that $7,000 payment – should’ve thrown into into an index fund and called it a day.

Or saved it to put down toward more real estate. Or just kept it. That’s money I literally threw into the wind. And the sad thing is most of it went to interest and didn’t even touch the loan principal…

Up to $45 Back for Uber & Lyft Rides + Earn Points Every Time With Freebird

I recently discovered Freebird – an app that aims to reduce drinking and driving, and partners with local bars, restaurants, and liquor companies to reward consumers for taking Uber or Lyft rides to their businesses (and back home). Rewards come in the form of points per ride, and cashback when you visit a participating business.

And right now, you can stack 3 promotion codes to get up to $45 back when you connect your Uber and/or Lyft accounts and start riding.

Even better, it pulls prices directly from Uber and Lyft – but booking through Freebird gets you the benefit of earning rewards on every ride.

I’ve been using it for a week or so and I gotta say, it’s pretty cool.

Freebird is an app that connects to Uber and Lyft and rewards you for riding

Here’s how to get the cashback.

What’s Freebird?

Key Link: Download Freebird

When you ride with Uber or Lyft, you’ll earn points by booking through Freebird. Typically, you’ll earn between 100 and 250 points – and 5,000 points are worth $10. So basically you get ~50 cents back per ride.

But points are just one component – you can also earn cashback for visiting local businesses.

If you visit a business on the list, you can get cashback

How it works is:

You link your cards to the Freebird app
Take an Uber or Lyft to the restaurant or bar
Use a card linked with Freebird to pay at the restaurant or bar
The business rewards you with cashback once Freebird detects the transaction (for any amount)

In addition, there are promotions for more points or cashback. For example, right now Don Julio will give you 500 points ($1) to take a ride home – in addition to the usual points you’d earn for booking the ride through Freebird.

On the app’s back end, you can link your Uber and Lyft accounts, and toggle between them. In this way, you can select whichever is cheaper (or whichever one you like better).

Freebird pulls the price directly from Uber or Lyft, so it matches exactly. There is no markup for using Freebird. It’s simply a promotional tool for local businesses and liquor companies.

Stack 3 Promo Codes, Get up to $45 Back With Freebird

Here’s where it gets good.

You can stack any number of promotional codes to earn cashback, and right now there are three.

They are:

“S897C” – $10 cashback ($5 for each of your first 2 rides)
“5FOR5” – $5 cashback on your first 5 rides (up to $25) through June 1, 2019
OR
“3TENBACK” – $10 cashback on your first 3 rides (up to $30) for a limited time
“URBDAY1” – $5 cashback on any ride

The first code gets you a flat $5 back for your first 2 rides. You must choose between the second or third codes – you can’t redeem both. I’d do the third one (3TENBACK) if you need to take longer rides (if your ride is under $10, that’s the amount you’ll get back).

If you stack all 3 promotion codes and max them out, you’ll get back $45 total.

When you’re ready to cash out, link your debit card and Freebird pushes the money to your checking account via a Stripe payout.

Afterward, keep an eye out for other new promotions. And continue to earn points by booking Uber and Lyft rides through Freebird. Like right now, you get an extra 500 points for linking your Lyft account.

And definitely use it if you genuinely want to go to one of the businesses offering cashback through the app – that’s easy free cash for doing something you want to do anyway.

Are there downsides?

I ran a couple of test rides on each app, and the price matched what Freebird found. There’s really nothing to lose. And if they keep it up with the points and cashback promotions, there’s a lot to gain, especially when you start using the app.

As a side note, the charge for the ride will appear on your account directly from Uber or Lyft, so be sure to set your payment settings to whichever card you want to use in the respective app (like if you’re trying to use travel credits or earn points for travel).

Bottom line

Key Link: Download Freebird
Sign-up for Uber
Sign-up for Lyft

I’m liking the Freebird app for my Uber and Lyft rides around town. If you can’t get points through Ebates, Acorns, or Ibotta, you might as well take these.

And right now, you can stack 3 promo codes for up to $45 cashback from taking Uber of Lyft rides booked through Freebird.

To add a promo code, click “Profile” then “Promo Codes” and enter these 3:

“S897C“
“5FOR5” OR “3TENBACK“
“URBDAY1“

Once they’re in your account, you can tap them to activate your rebate. And if you don’t have an Uber or Lyft account, you can use my links for free credits there, too (thank you for using them!).

I think I’ll continue using Freebird long-term, because I like their mission to reduce drunk driving. And of course, the points and cashback are great, too.

But if you just wanna score a few free rides, this is an excellent opportunity.

OUT AND OUT - Investing. Positivity. Oh, and travel.