Biggest MS Developments - July

I'm going to periodically summarize the best of the Slack group discussions as part of your subscriber content, first so we've got a curated historical record for future reference, and second to make sure you didn't miss (some of) the major developments. Since this is an experiment, I'd very much appreciate your feedback on the format and how it could change to be better.

Alright, let's dive in:

Manufactured Spend

Larry L gives a great overview of how both self check out and gift cards work at Lowe's and includes a capture of the corporate policy for gift card limits and sales.

Chas4th verifies that Venmo charges at CVS backed by an AmEx will code as a restaurant (this is a great way to scale 4x spend with the Gold card).

I shared a fast-track for Fluz Power Portal access for Patreon members.

Nathan discovered that Safeway and Albertsons are rolling out payments with PayPal/Venmo. The rollout is currently spotty and buggy, but Draco Malfoy confirms that AmEx behind Venmo codes the store as a restaurant when it works, which is also a great way to scale 4x spend with the Gold card.

Keith built a dialer for liquidating debit cards on the phone with Citi automatically.

We discuss multiple gift cards that are currently running at 1% on Plastiq. For best luck, look for a local credit union that auto-populates as a payee in the Plastiq drop-down menu.

Credit Cards and Banks

Joshua notes that the Business Platinum, Business Gold, and Business Green online links for 20,000 Membership Rewards after $4,000 in spend for up to 5 employee cards is actually valid until September, despite the terms mentioning a March 31 expiration.

I found that Hansom Credit Union allows for funding with an AmEx of up to $2,000 per account, and it probably works with a CD too.

Nathan discusses Albert $500 referral bonuses and strategies for getting them to pay if you're the referrer or referee.

5 discusses getting a Brex account out of shutdown purgatory.

Mimi asks about Chase business card churning and gets multiple great answers.

Am Ob launches a discussion about what you can do with Kasheesh.

Travel Hacking

iheartpoints discovered that Aeroplan can access ANA inventory as soon as the booking window opens, which is 25-30 days earlier than other partners can access the inventory.

Allen shares a tip for turning a regular round-trip rental car booking with National into a one-way booking with no extra charge under the right circumstances.

Asim Ahmed shares tips for Marriott Guaranteed Lowest Rate bookings.

Jenn, Kristin Glad, and Hank have a great discussion about US credit cards while living overseas.