M² Episode 97: Ups and Downs of online Opportunities and Getting Sucked into the Game

What a week it’s been...

0:22 PayPal Key Outage

• System wouldn’t allow underlying card changes 10/8/2020
• If you could link one card to PayPal Key for the rest of its useful life, which card would it be?

04:27 WalMart In-App Billpay Update (Slack)

• “Died” 10/7/2020 across all platforms
• But...came back the next day

06:42 Vigo Promo Code (Mike C on Slack)

• Last week we discussed how promo code HISPANIC2020 could take half off fees at WU/Vigo
• But it was unclear where to apply a Vigo promo code
• So instead some have used it to pay P2P up to $5,000 payment through with iOS with ApplePay for 0.8% (some people see much higher fees, still unclear why)
• But Mike points out that if you redeem WU Rewards (as little as 25 for a $2.50 discount) that you might be able to then apply a promo code with Vigo
• This only worked for me using Safari on a Mac
• Did not work in iOS app, nor on Microsoft Edge nor on Firefox
• Could be a cookie issue? Going incognito on Edge on Mac enabled application of promo code. And Chrome, and Firefox on Mac also worked.
• Takes fees down to $6 for $999. 0.6%. There’s that number again.
• Also a useful way of redeeming WU Rewards: In Vigo
• Nice work, Mike! Thanks for sharing.

11:20 Fee-Free VGCs at Staples Sunday 10/11-10/17/2020

• Limit 5
• Pair it with Bravo through Bluestacks Android emulator for 2% liquidation of these pesky denominations

12:06 Lyft Pink Adds Grubhub+ Membership

• Chase Sapphire Reserve gets Lyft Pink
• Lyft Pink now adds Grubhub+
• Ironically, this makes it easier to realize value from the $10/mo Grubhub statement credits the Amex Personal Gold card has
• Start the linking process in the Lyft app under the Lyft Pink section

16:25 Citi Prestige 5x Bonus for “Online/Cable/Streaming” (FM)

• Capped at 7,500 (so $1,500 in spend?)
• Nice thing with Prestige is that you can tell when transactions post whether they earn a bonus
• But unclear whether this will post later or inline
• Citi mentioned it to FM via email (crazy Citi)

17:42 Chicago Seminars virtual this year. (Ticket link)

• Tickets just $11.
• Many friends of the site and podcast are speaking.
• Ticket prices go to charity.
• Patrons can also use slack to coordinate in #milenomics-meetups.
• Live portion is on Oct 17, check your time zone!

Follow Up

18:23 Chase Sapphire Reserve

• Bought $300 worth of MCGCs at S&S
• Triggered $300 Annual Travel Credit (quite nice)
• Was also able to Pay Myself Back at 1.5x on this transaction
• October 5th came and went with no Sapphire Reserve enhancements
• Strange situation: Due to upgrading to this card the annual fee posts in April (the month I upgraded?) yet my travel credit resets in September (the month I got the Chase Fairmont card back in 2015). So I’m effectively under the $450 annual fee cost until April 2021. Does that make a difference?
• Do I need to wait for next statement close to earn rewards before product changing to Freedom Flex? Chase phone rep says: No. Points will post on statement close.
• Can you tell I can’t bring myself to close this card?

22:09 Turkish Fiasco Continues

• Last week I updated that the TYP hadn’t showed up. Right after the show they did.
• BUT I went to book, and then...found out I had to be on the booking.
• Except. I already booked myself.
• So the solution is either cancel on the phone or try to get an email in for the other 2 tickets.
• The REAL best way to book on turkish is: Book anything and throw it away. Then book what you really want.

25:01 Robert: Amex Clawback Comeback Attempt

• Noticed that JetBlue was *not* selected in my resurrected card
• And that it had the “classic” confusion Amex cards have when multiple versions of the same card are associated with a single login
• Decoupled it and...no airline was selected at all. Grr. Which means my attempted charge won’t trigger.
• Selected JetBlue once again and...it says I’ve depleted the $200 credit. This is a significant hitch for anyone trying to come back from any kind of clawback (referral too perhaps)
• So I chatted, but rather than asking about why the incidental didn’t trigger I instead asked why the counter hadn’t reset with the incidental reversal.
• Chat rep said to wait until statement close and that it might work out then.
• I sense that I could possibly get a manual credit after a statement close? That’s my hope, but in the meanwhile this card is jamming up the works (10 charge card limit).

31:42 Amex Referral Three For All

• Milenomics post
• How are we doing on this front?
• Discuss: Idea of household referrals and how awesome Amex’s referral scheme is

38:08 Robert: Monthly Citi AT&T Access More 3x Findings

• All WU in-app P2P transactions (including Vigo) appears to have earned 3x
• outasflyguy 1x transaction could be in-app bill pay (as opposed to P2P)
• 4 out of 6 Gift Card Granny transactions said “PITTSBURGH” rather than “8556006847” and the sum of those PITTSBURGH transactions equals the amount that earned 1x
• But this is the opposite of the pattern Vicky observed where PITTSBURGH == 3x so...who knows?

What We’ve Been Up To

39:56 Closed Santander & Citizens Checking Accounts

• You never know when it might be useful to have an account
• But these banks are notorious for offering lucrative (sometimes targeted) welcome bonuses but they have 12ish-month churning restrictions
• Closed them both out to position for future offers

40:56 Prepping for Amazon Prime Day

• This year prime day is Oct 13 and 14
• I had wanted to spin up a 3rd buyer’s group for this, but haven’t been able to in time.
• I also have trouble responding in real time to fast deals.
• VInh had a good quote about reselling--”you need to be able to drop everything when an opportunity arises.”  He was speaking about reselling but the idea is the same for buyer’s groups (and the margins are even thinner).

44:15 Schwab/Chase Private Client Brokerage Bonus Puzzle

• Wanted to go for Chase Private Client $2,000 for $250,000 offer, but funds need to be new to Chase
• I have a YouInvest account that’s been open 1.5 years so I needed to transfer that out somewhere before letting some time pass and coming back to Chase as a new investment customer
• Looked around at various brokerage bonuses and ended up going with Schwab
• They’ve got a public $500 for $100,000 referral offer but I was unsure I’d qualify since I already have a Schwab account with $100 in it that I opened to get the Amex Schwab Platinum card some time ago
• Further complicating things, some of our brokerage accounts are in my name, and others are joint accounts with my wife. Mixing and matching these can be cumbersome when it comes to transfers “in kind” (ie, without liquidating the securities but instead transferring them as mutual fund shares)
• I called and spoke to a Schwab first line rep who was kind of a downer. She said that if I referred my wife for an account and added myself as joint on the account it would disqualify me.
• I asked whether I could close my account and open another, then she transferred me to a rep more familiar with the welcome bonus/onboarding process.
• She was great. Really down to earth and, “What are you looking to accomplish. I can help get you what you want.”
• She said that I *could* refer my wife, add myself as joint, and still get the $500 for $100,000. And that if anything went wrong I could just email her and she’d patch it up.
• Then she sweetened the deal: If I could get to $250k she could match any other brokerage bonus out there (except TD Ameritrade because Schwab is merging with them)
• I remembered a $1,000 for $200,000 Merrill promo and offered that up for a match (though I think I’ve seen it as high as $1,200)
• She also said she could refund any transfer fees from the brokerages I was transferring in from
• In addition to Chase YouInvest I recalled that I had $100k with Merrill (for BofA Platinum Honors uplift)
• I hear they haven’t been pulling Platinum Honors away so quickly when assets fall below the $100k threshold, but either way - my wife also has Platinum Honors so I can still get 2.625% on her Premium Rewards card
• And in looking at my Premium Rewards card I wasn’t using it much since the CL is low
• So, I think I’ll convert my Premium Rewards card to yet another Cash Rewards card
• I added myself as an AU on her Premium Rewards card since the CL is much higher and therefore useful
• Submitted online transfer requests from YouInvest and Merrill. Super easy so far (no notary requirements or anything painful like that).
• Once I hit $250,000 there I should qualify for the $100 AF reduction on the Schwab Platinum card that UKinNY mentioned: Your Qualifying Schwab Holdings will be measured (a) within five business days of Card account approval and (b) on the first calendar day of your annual Card account renewal month (each date, a “Measurement Date”). If on a Measurement Date your Qualifying Schwab Holdings are: (i) equal to or greater than $250,000 and less than $1,000,000, you will receive a $100 Card statement credit; or (ii) equal to or greater than $1,000,000, you will receive a $200 Card statement credit.
• My wife has never had the card, I have. Will probably go for both around the end of the year to triple dip air incidentals

Main Topic: Getting Sucked Into the Game

• Hyatt status through mattress runs
• 50% off BA awards during a pandemic
• Barclays Wyndham credit cards
• JAL pushing flying “through” Tokyo to somewhere else in Asia (where?)
• Something can be valuable to others that has negative value to you: Snowblower analogy
• Hobby hype machine: Beckett baseball card analogy, outsized value/rare cards

54:22 Topic Number Two: Target a Daily Earning

• Flush out the discussion: where this came from, how it works.
  • The idea is this number should be a bit of a stretch...but not impossible to hit.
• Importance of time vs. payoff
• Snowblower analogy 
• Kirby Puckett (R.I.P.), Donruss, and more. 

Tip of the Week

1:07:41 Robert: A couple PayPal Key Updates

• Codes as 3% (5.25% with uplift) on BofA Cash Rewards when paying Citi over the phone
• Paying HELOC through Plastiq at 1% codes as 5x PayPal on Freedom this quarter