M² Episode 142: Constant Change, Fourth Quarter Follow-Up and New Ultra-Premium Cards

Follow Up

0:21 Stockpile Sputtering

• Big wave of BINs now blocked for stock purchases this past week
• Heartbreaking really, as it was previously so terrific
• Fast developing situation, may still be some angles
• Are there other Stockpiles out there? The combination of fractional shares, acceptance of “debit” cards and prior tolerance for sales and transfer to checking were hard to beat.

15:04 Pirate Ship for Shipping Buyers Group Merch from Home

• Cheap way to ship packages with UPS/USPS
• Necessary because Dell has been cancelling orders to buyers group addresses and cancelling xbox GC orders
• Dead simple interface, easy to estimate costs. About $10 per laptop w/insurance for UPS ground from MA to NH.
• Dropped off at CVS at 10a on Thursday, arrived at BFMR in NH the next day at 10a.
• So for a $300 laptop that’s 6.25% tax in MA then $10 to ship
• A way to realize 90% of the value of Amex Dell credits, better than xbox GCs, a little more work, portal cashback too
• Pretty square deal. Highly recommended.
• Quick Tag: Saks credit follies

25:18 Amex Opportunity Roundup

• Upgrade/AU:
• New? Add Personal Gold AU 10,000 for $2,000 (link to check)
• Business cards, add up to 5 employees, 20,000 for $4,000 (link to check)
• Upgrade to Personal Platinum for 25k/10x at gas/grocery (link to check)
• Spend:
• 10x Gas/Grocery from upgrading to Personal Platinum
• 10x/15x Shop Small/Restaurant for new Personal Platinum
• +4x for referring from a card

30:02 Quick One: Citi AT&T Access More “Bank Error”

• Check your November statements for an adjustment for prior spend that didn’t earn 3x
• Utterly unclear which spend was adjusted
• Discuss: Does Citi, like Amex, also have a perfect system where not a single has gone missing?

News

32:52 Ultra-Premium Cards from Capital One and BofA

• Capital One Venture X (FM)
• $395 annual fee
• 100,000 point welcome bonus + $200 statement credit for vacation rentals first year
• $300 statement credit per cardmember year for travel booked through CapOne portal
• Available November 9, 2021
• Bank of America Elite Visa Infinite (DoC)
• $550 annual fee
• Unknown welcome bonus
• $300 air incidental “annual” (unclear if it’s cardmember or calendar)
• $150 “lifestyle” credits annual (steaming services, food delivery services etc)
• 20% savings on air travel when paying with points through their portal (that’s 1.25 cpp uplift, here we go again with a bank point lifestyle, gives reason to keep points rather than cashing out)
• Have to apply with a financial services advisor? Ugh.
• Said to perhaps be available November 22, 2021

40:13 Amex: 25% Transfer Bonus to Air France Flying Blue

• Expires 11/30/2021
• More on booking with FB in Episode 132. 

42:03 Targeted: Hilton Free Night Certificate for $8,000 Spend

• For some existing Amex Hilton cardholders
• Link to check
• Unclear what targeting criteria is, but great deal if you’ve got it

45:55 Holiday Airline Shopping Portal Promos (FM)

• United $1,000 for 5,000
• AA $1,200 for 4,000
• Southwest $1,000 for 3,500
• Delta $800 for 2,000
• Lesser denominations for fewer rewards also available if you fall short
• Reminder: giftcards.com limits to $2,000/mo (but do they really enforce it across multiple portals?)
• These start expiring Nov 19, 2021 so get to it
• Do any of these still make sense with Bravo? Physical GC?

48:39 Tip of the Week: Stacking Delta Companion Certificates, Upgrade Certs, Same-Day Changes

• Scenario: Boston to Orlando for two, desirable flight times are more expensive, can’t use companion certificates, can’t use upgrade certificates
• Strategy: Use instruments on less desirable flight then same-day change
• Step 1: Booked 2 seats on undesirable flight w/the companion cert that comes with Amex Delta Platinum card
• Step 2: Secure confirmed First upgrade using regional upgrade certificate that comes as one of the perks you can choose for reaching Delta Platinum Medallion status
• Step 3: 24 hours before the undesirable flight time you can call and ask to be moved to the more desirable flight if there are seats available in First, still confirmed, even though the more desirable flight doesn’t allow upgrade certs to be used. This is different than a same-day confirmed change where you usually need the same fare class to be available (and it’s often not available if the flight is more expensive).
• Bottom line: This made Companion Certs more appealing, and also made the upgrade certs useful.
• Also: Two people and Platinum Medallion are the sweet spots w/Delta for me. Two people because that’s what pulls through on perks and upgrades, and Platinum because that’s much easier to attain than Diamond through credit card welcome bonuses and a relatively modest amount of spend.