Update: Closing Bank Accounts, the easy and the not so easy

Closed SignPhoto by Gaetan Lee

About a month ago I wrote about how I had decided it was time to close some bank accounts. Consolidation of my unwieldy number accounts was overdue, as I simple did not have a need for many of them, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to juggle the requirements necessary to keep all of them maintenance fee-free. So I made a list of accounts that I wanted to close, and sent off signed letters to those banks requesting the account closure.

How did the effort go?

Easy: Bank of America

Bank of America made the entire process incredibly painless. To start with, they appear to be one of the few major banks to actually address this issue on their website, and even provide an address to send the request. From their Account Information FAQ:

We are sorry to hear that you want to close your account. We are constantly looking for ways to make banking work for you in ways it never has before and would like to know how we can make this happen for you. Please call us at 1.800.622.8731 or send us an email if we can assist you in any way.

To close your account, please submit your request in writing to Account Closure, FL1-300-02-07, 4109 Gandy Blvd Tampa Fl 33611-3401. Be sure to have all account owners sign the letter and tell us how you would like to receive your balance.

In my case, I wasn’t closing *all* of my accounts at Bank of America, simply one of the excess checking accounts. So I simply wrote to them asking that they close the second checking account and deposit the balance into my first account. Within days of mailing the letter, the change was visible online, and I received a follow-up letter shortly thereafter.

Nice and easy, as it should be.

Just as Easy: LaSalle Bank aka Bank of America

Another example of a painless process comes from LaSalle Bank — of course, LaSalle is now part of Bank of America, so this may not come as a surprise, but I figure its worth mentioning anyway. I had opened a savings and checking account at LaSalle last year as part of a nationwide promotion they were running, and now no longer had a need for the account, especially since they were now part of the Bank of America family.

I requested that when they close the account, to deposit the balance into my Bank of America checking account if possible, and if not, to provide me with a check. Apparently their system is not yet set up to make that transfer possible, so I quickly received a check in the mail for the balance of the amount.

Again, nice and easy, as it should be.

Annoying: Chase

Chase, on the other hand, decided to make things difficult. Just like at Bank of America, I was not actually closing *all* of my Chase accounts, just a second checking account, so I figured I would not run into much resistance. To start with, not only does Chase (not surprisingly) not mention account closure on their website, they do not seem to offer any mailing address to write in with customer requests. Luckily, the monthly account statements list a mailing address for the bank, which is where I mailed my request to close the accounts.

Flash forward about two weeks, when I get a response from Chase saying that they were unable to close my account because they could not verify my signature on the letter. Seriously? Something tells me they would have had no problem processing a check with that signature, but apparently it (plus account information, last four of social) doesn’t pass muster for closing an account. Their advice was that I either send them a notarized version of my signature or visit a branch. Until then, for my protection, they were keeping the account open. How nice.

Despite the fact that they made no mention of calling the customer service number, I decided to give the phone a try. After a brief hold time, the Chase representative was more than happy to close my account over the phone after I provided pretty much the same information that was in the letter. Of course, I briefly had to talk to their account closure/retention department, but they quickly processed my request after I told them I wasn’t closing all of my accounts, simply consolidating.

So in the end, Chase was perfectly willing to do over the phone what they wouldn’t do via the mail, despite the fact that I provided the same information.

Not as easy as it should be.

Why A Letter?

It might seem silly that I was so insistent on writing a letter instead of calling-in or going into a branch. However, I have a few reasons for doing this:

  • I would prefer to have a written record of my account closure. Bank of America and LaSalle provided that to me, Chase did not.
  • A template letter requires less time on my part, especially when compared with going in to a bank.
  • I have always been under the (perhaps mistaken) impression that many banks penalize their representatives when people close accounts (and certainly don’t reward people for closures). Sending a letter allows me to at the very least avoid wasting a local branch agent’s time and perhaps spares them any sort of penalties for losing me as a customer.
  • Finally, and perhaps most importantly, I don’t want to deal with the sales pitch. I can stand up for myself, I would just prefer to not have to.

Regardless, here I am now, many bank accounts lighter, and all the happier.

September 29, 2008 | Filed Under Banking | Leave a Comment 

Is there an ethics of frugality?

PhilosopherPhoto by Jorge-11

Is there such a thing as going too far in pursuit of frugality? I have been thinking about this some ever since the Consumerist ran an entry where readers shared stories of trying to save money by threatening to cancel service.

The idea is simple — if you do not like what you are paying for something (in this case, Comcast cable service), call them up and tell them that you want to cancel your service. They’ll transfer you to a retention department that will presumably offer you some sort of promotional deal to stay with the service. The Consumerist piece provides several reader anecdotes:

JohnDeere: “i did the same with direct tv. first time a week before my contract expired, they gave me all the movie channels free for 6 months and no new contract. after that first week i called to cancel anyway they cut $20 off my bill and gave me a big credit to last till next year still with no contract. i got it all in writing.”

jojo319: “The key is to ALWAYS set the cancellation a few days out. That way if they call your bluff, you can call back and “change your mind” before they actually shut you off. Works like a charm.”

gawngi: “I called them up and told them I was being let go from my job (believable in the economy). I now pay $42 less a month for 1 year.”

In these cases, the readers were able to get their bill lowered simply by threatening to cancel. Comcast’s behavior makes sense, as in all likelihood they would rather have you at a discounted price than not have you at all.

But is misrepresenting yourself going too far?

If you really want to cancel…

To start with, I think it is pretty safe to say that if you really intend to cancel or are really unhappy, that there is absolutely nothing wrong with this tactic. When you call up your service provider, you let them know that you intend to cancel for some reason, and in return they might give you an offer to stay with them. If it is an offer that you like, then perhaps you’ll stay with them, and if it is an offer that you don’t like, you’re free to cancel and move on elsewhere.

Tip: If you really are thinking about canceling, when you call in you should provide your reason upfront. So instead of saying “I would like to cancel my service,” try saying “I just can’t justify the monthly rate to myself anymore, so I think I am going to have to cancel.” Doing this gives the service provider an easier chance of doing something to address your concern that might keep you as a customer.

But if you don’t really want to cancel…

But if you really don’t want to cancel, is it wrong to nevertheless call in and threaten to cancel?

I think many — including The Consumerist crowd — would probably say that there is absolutely nothing wrong with this tactic even though you are misrepresenting yourself. No one is forcing either party to do anything, no one is violating any agreements — you are free to threaten to cancel, and your service provider is free to offer whatever response they see fit. Are you bluffing? Are they bluffing? It is very much a game theory problem, with deception just part of the game. If you can save money on your monthly bills, why not?

Doesn’t feel “right” to me

While I appreciate the argument, it doesn’t sit well with me.  I am (obviously) fully in favor or trying to save money wherever possible, but I don’t feel comfortable doing it via misrepresentation.  Pursue loopholes and chase deals, in my opinion, but do it fairly within the rules. This may sound silly, but if I threatened to cancel without meaning it, I feel like I would be elevating money above some other very important human values.

It also seems somewhat disrespectful to your service provider; this is probably a bit naive, but I would like to think that I do not have an antagonistic back-and-forth relationship with all of my service providers. Having spent years with my cell phone provider, even if I am just one of their millions of customers, I would like to think that there is a certain level of respect that should go back and forth, and threatening to cancel seems to fly in the face of that.

I guess my feeling can be best illustrated by an example. To me, “My neighbor is getting so-and-so a deal from you all; is there anyway I could get a similar deal even though I am an existing customer” is a far different situation than “I am unhappy with my service right now, and I would like to cancel it.” The first one presents an honest situation, while the second is purely business.

Selfish Reasons

Setting aside the more “ethical” side to this, there are some more selfish reasons to avoid this tactic:

  • “Boy Who Cried Wolf, Part 1″ - If you become a habitual user of the “cancel tactic,” don’t expect much sympathy from your service provider when you really need it.  In all likelihood, the retention department is going to know how often they’ve given you a deal in the past, and that will factor in to future offers.
  • “Boy Who Cried Wolf, Part 2″ - If too many people use this tactic, the tactic might just go away. That may seem unlikely, since, again, the company might be better off with you at a discount than to not have you at all, but it may not be as outlandish as it seems.
  • “Boy Who Cried Wolf, Part 3″ - If you yell “fire” in a crowded field, do not be surprised if one time they actually spray you with the fire hose. The Consumerist article also has stories of people who failed with this tactic, and inadvertently canceled their service. Don’t assume that there is a retention department on the other end!

So I have stated where I stand, but what do you think? Let me know!

September 26, 2008 | Filed Under Saving Wisely | 2 Comments 

(More) Quick Tips on Textbooks

BooksPhoto by wohnai

One final post to wrap up the textbook season…

General Tips

A lot of this will seem like common sense, but…

  • Star early. You are not the only one who is going to be looking for your books. If you can get started well before school starts, all the better.
  • Make a list of the books you need, and more importantly, their ISBN numbers. Having a list of ISBN numbers will make internet shopping significantly easier!
  • Check any book exchange websites your campus might offer. I have never been terribly impressed by the ones I have seen, but you might get lucky. Definitely worth checking out before buying a new copy.
  • Check out a site like BigWords.com, which allows you to enter a bunch of ISBN numbers and they’ll try to find the best combination of stores.

Beware the Trap of Small Book Shipping

Keep in mind that with many online stores, the shipping price will be roughly the same regardless of the book size. That $4 book is going to look a heck of a lot more expensive when you account for the fact that shipping it might cost $4 in itself. This is an easy trap to fall into with sites like Half.com that can make books seem incredibly cheap upfront; make sure you are really getting a good deal! Often times it is a better deal to buy all of your smaller books at a store like Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble that offer free shipping over $25, rather than buy the books individually.

Buying From Amazon.com?

  • Unfortunately, Amazon.com rarely offers any sort of discount codes, and does not participate in any of the cash back portals.
  • You can get free shipping for orders over $25
  • Earn 5% back when you make purchases using the Citi mtvU Visa Card, which counts Amazon.com (not the marketplace) as a bookstore.

Buying from Half.com?

  • Half.com often has discount promotions going on, but these are usually limited to first time customers only.
  • Half.com participates in several cash back sites, including 3% back when you purchase through Ebates.
  • Watch out for shipping charges — they can add up!

Buying from Barnes and Noble?

  • Barnes and Noble offers its own $25 membership card that saves you 10% off all of your purchases; in my experience, it usually applies to textbooks purchased online. I also have saved quite a bit of money using this membership card at my Barnes and Noble Campus Bookstore buying office supplies.
  • Barnes and Noble almost *always* has discount codes that can save you money available; usually members have access to better coupons, but even non-members can save some money. FatWallet.com has a discussion thread that tracks Barnes and Noble coupon codes, and that is always my first stop when buying from Barnes and Noble.
  • Barnes and Noble offers free shipping at $25.
  • Barnes and Noble participates in several cash back sites, including 4% back when you purchase through Ebates.
  • Unfortunately, Barnes and Noble’s website does not count as a bookstore for the Citi mtvU card. In store purchases, however, do count, and will earn you the 5% back

Any other tips on textbook saving?

September 24, 2008 | Filed Under Spending Wisely | 2 Comments 

Adjusting to Airline Checked Bag Fees

BagsPhoto by cote

Yesterday, a friend of mine was preparing to buy a plane ticket for an interview; he was all set to buy the ticket on American Airlines, which offered one of the lowest prices, until at the last minute he remembered that American charges for a first checked bag. At $15 each way, that quickly changes the cost comparison, and so he stepped back to reconsider his options.

Unfortunately, baggage fees seem like they are here to stay. What started as a small fee for a second checked bag a few months ago has turned into fees for checking anything on many airlines, and some airlines are making it almost prohibitively expensive to check a second bag. What is one to do?

The Actual Fees

First, some facts. The chart below lists the current checked bag policies that I found when I quickly checked the websites of various airlines.

Airline First Checked Bag (one way!)
 Second Checked Bag (one way!)
American Airlines $15 $25
Continental Airlines $15 $25
Delta Airlines Free! $50
JetBlue Airways Free! $20
Southwest Airlines Free! Free!
United Airlines $15 $50
US Airways $15 $25

* Note: Check with your airline to confirm bag fees; these things change all the time.

Some Bags Are Still Free

First thing to note is that Delta, JetBlue, and Southwest still allow you to check your first bag for free. After that, Delta and JetBlue will make you pay for a second bag, while Southwest will give you a second one for free. In fact, Southwest’s web page right now makes a point of advertising that they have “No First Checked Bag Fee, No Second Checked Bag Free, No Change Fee, No Window or Aisle Seat Fee, No Curbside Checkin Fee, No Phone Reservation Fee, No Snack Fee, No Fuel Surcharge.” Pretty cool.

These Are One Way Fees

Don’t get confused — these fees are for each way. So that means a second checked bag on United will cost you an extra $100 round-trip!

International Trips — Usually Still Free

One thing that seems to often be overlooked is that these fees apply to Domestic US flights; on most airlines, international flights still allow two free checked bags. Note that many US airlines, for the purposes of airline operations, consider Canada a domestic destination – so on American Airlines, for example, that trip to Canada will cost you for a checked bag, while Mexico will get you two free bags.

Some People Escape The Fees

Although this will not apply to most of us, the major airlines tend to exempt their best customers from baggage fees. On American, for example, those traveling on First or Business Class tickets or those with AAdvantage Executive Platinum, Platinum, or Gold Status may check two bags for free. I guess paying more has its perks…

Do You Need To Check A Bag?

Earlier this year, a friend of mine insisted on checking a bag and paying the checked-bag fee in order to bring along one or two specific toiletries — specifically toiletries that could have been purchased at the other end for far less than the checked bag fee!

Can you make do with just a carry-on? Most airlines have fairly generous carry on allowances, all things considered. On American, the restriction is one bag and one personal items, as long as neither weighs more than 40 lbs and that the bag is no more than 45 inches and the personal item is no more than 36 inches when you add length+width+height.

What about toiletries? You are of course still allowed your one liter baggie that can be filled with liquids of up to 3.4 ounces each. Do you need more? Can you purchase it at the other end?

Consider Shipping? I have never been in a position where this has made sense economically, but I’m sure there are cases where shipping items in order to avoid a checked bag fee makes sense. Keep in mind that with advance notice, most hotels will accept packages for you.

These days I have gotten very good at traveling with only a carry-on bag, and am thankful that I am still able to pull this off. But if you have to check a bag, it is definitely worth being aware of all of your options.

September 20, 2008 | Filed Under Travel | Leave a Comment 

Cash “discounts” at Gas Stations

While I was out running errands a week or two ago, I noticed a gas station that was doing something that I had not yet encountered before:

Thanks to the blurry nature of my cell phone’s camera, I might have to clue you in: the six prices represent both the cash and credit cost of the three qualities of gas. In other words, this gas station is offering a discount to customers who pay with cash. Regular unleaded will cost you $3.75 a gallon if you pay with cash, but $3.85 a gallon if you pay with credit.

Of course, this is certainly not a new development — for the last year or so, it has been well covered in the blogosophere and press. But this is the first time that I have run across it, and as someone who tries to make most purchases on a credit card to leverage rewards and benefits, I am both annoyed and troubled by this direction.

The Logic

The rationale that gas stations give for this change is fairly straightforward — it costs gas stations more money to process a credit transaction than a cash transaction. As this LA Times article notes:

With each price increase, more people use credit cards to buy gas, taking a bigger bite out of station profits. A dealer typically pays a 10-cent transaction fee plus 2% to 2.5% of the total fuel sale for each customer.

In other words, as gas gets more expensive and people spend more per fill-up, the per-transaction cost goes up for gas stations.  Furthermore, gas stations are already feeling financially squeezed to begin with. So, as a result, many have taken to offering a cash discount for those who choose not to use credit cards, which is allowed under Visa/MasterCard merchant rules, assuming that they offer it as a “cash discount,” rather than as a “credit surcharge.” The Consumerist explains the distinction well:

This prevents people who pull over because they saw the posted price from getting an unpleasant surprise when they go to pump their gas. You should report this gas station to your credit card company.

Annoying

Of course, as someone who advocates using a credit card (responsibly) as much as possible, this is a disappointing development. I wholeheartedly agree with Raymond over at Money Blue Book who listed many of the benefits of paying for gas with a credit card:

  • Credit cards offer rewards for spending; a card like the Chase Freedom card would give you 3% back on gas purchases
  • Credit cards dramatically speed up the time it takes to complete a gas transaction; with cash, you will have to walk in to pay.
  • Credit cards provide a sort of automatic record of your spending, useful for budgeting and accounting purposes
  • Credit cards don’t require you to carry cash, which can be annoying to have to keep on hand

It is also a frustrating development given that gas stations are not unique in this credit card merchant arrangement; nearly every store has a similar structure that has variable costs that go up with the value of the transaction. The logic has always been that consumers are likely to spend more often and in greater amounts if they can pay via credit, which justifies the costs to merchants. Why do gas companies suddenly need to deviate from this? It is true that gas stations are unique in that people are not going to alter the amount they purchase at any given time much, but I could definitely see people being willing to fill up more spontaneously if they can use credit.

The Math: Credit Card Rebate vs. Cash Discount

Now, each time I visit a gas station, I’ll have to quickly figure out which is the best deal: using my Chase Freedom Card, with 3% cash back at gas purchases, or the cash discount. The gas station I mentioned earlier was offering a ten cent discount for cash purchases.

  • At the current prices, the cash price is $3.75, while the credit cost is $3.73 after discount, so while the credit card rewards are heavily diluted, the Chase Freedom card is still a better deal.
  • As a general rule, with a ten cent cash discount, the Chase Freedom card is a better deal as long as the gas is over $3.33
  • With a five cent cash discount, the Chase Freedom card is a better deal as long as the gas is over $1.67

Ominous Future?

Even worse, some gas stations are simply outright declining to accept credit cards. As No Credit Needed pointed out, this presents the concern that one day you may find yourself needing gas in an area where no gas stations would accept credit. While this is perhaps an unlikely scenario given that cash discounts are becoming more widely permitted and accepted, it is still a frightening prospect. I plan on holding out with my credit card at the pump as long as possible, but the writing may be on the wall.

Does anyone else have experience with these “cash discounts”?

September 16, 2008 | Filed Under Spending Wisely | 8 Comments 

Bookmarked - Getting Back In The Groove Edition

Thank YouPhoto by psd

Happy Fall, everybody!

With the start of the fall semester, I just want to take a moment and thank those of you who have been visiting my blog over the past few months — I truly appreciate every visitor. And if you’re just stopping by for the first time, I encourage you to look around. If you like what you see, consider subscribing to Student Scrooge via RSS Feed or via Email.

My apologies for the relative lack of posts lately — I have been pretty busy over the last week or two with the start of the fall term; I had a couple of posts that I had meant to finish, and you’ll be seeing those appear over the next few days. Hopefully things will be back to normal soon!

Carnivals

Broke Grad Student hosted the 167th Carnival of Personal Finance - Highlights from the Beijing 2008 Olympics edition, which included my post on whether or not interest rate is all that matters when choosing a bank. I was surprised and honored to be picked as an Editor’s Choice (or, in keeping with the Beijing theme, receive a Gold Medal). Very cool!

That One Caveman over at One Caveman’s Financial Journey hosted the 168th Carnival of Personal Finance - Fire Up The Grill, It’s Labor Day! edition, which included my post on those sketchy looking ATMs.

Frugal Babe hosted the 142nd Festival of Frugality last week, which included my post on travel discounts for college students.

Thanks to the hosts of these carnivals — it really is a lot of work, and each did a great job.

Of Note…

September 12, 2008 | Filed Under Bookmarked, StudentScrooge.com | Leave a Comment 

Textbooks, Textbooks, Textbooks…

Books for SalePhoto by spcummings

I feel like I am a veteran at this now — I just completed the checkout process (at Half.com) for what I think will be my last textbook order for the semester. The total bill at all stores ended up being around $350 this semester — it certainly has been worse, but of course it is rarely fun to spend that much money.

How can textbooks be so expensive?

Venting on Textbooks

Every semester I am amazed at the business in the campus bookstore — these books are expensive, very expensive — and equally amazed at the number of people who buy from the bookstore simply out of blind convenience. I have no idea what the profit margin is on these books, but it seems like business must be booming for them.

How are campus bookstores able to thrive so much? The convenience argument is a strong one; it can take time to get books that are ordered online, which can be a problem when you are starting class soon. I can’t help but think, however, that a lot of it has to do with the fact that many college students have little incentive to try to minimize their textbook costs. For many of my college friends, their parents either directly, indirectly, or temporarily cover the cost of textbooks for them, and while this is certainly a generous offer, given that the parent is (hopefully) not in the check-out line at the bookstore, there is not much pressure to cut costs. Unfortunately, this just perpetuates the situation and does little to alleviate the problem for those students who have to cover their own costs.

The issue of textbook costs seems to pop up as a “hot issue” every year around this time, with the theme this year being that help seems to be on the horizon. Besides the option of buying used/discount textbooks online, the federal government and many states are trying to reduce the cost of textbooks through legislation, while at the same time some professors and textbook authors are providing their textbooks online. I am not very optimistic that these measures will have much of an effect, but something is certainly better than nothing.

Options Buying Online

So it should come as little surprise that, of all of the rituals that occur at the beginning of the school year, none is more frustrating to me than that of the textbook dilemma — the attempt to balance the potential rewards of hunting for textbooks online with the convenience of the local campus bookstore. There are certainly savings to be had online, but there is also something to be said for the time and effort often necessary to realize those savings.

Thankfully it has gotten easier to use the internet to try to maximize savings on college textbooks. It used to largely be a choice between Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com for textbooks; in the last few years used book sites like Half.com have exploded in popularity, and now there are countless stores out there on the internet. Lifehacker.com recently ran an article that listed the best ways to save money on textbooks — while some of their ideas like renting textbooks are interesting, hands down the suggestion to use a book search engine like BigWords.com seems most useful.

BigWords makes it easy to quickly search for the best prices online for both new and used versions of multiple books at once, and has several nice features including finding the best combination of stores for a given set of books, taking into account shipping costs and other promotions. It certainly is one of the better ways to try to save as much money as possible.

My Own Strategy

To begin with, I rather liberally take advantage of my campus bookstore’s return policy — textbooks can be returned at any point during the first two weeks of class; this allows me to purchase the textbooks for use during the first few days while I search for the textbooks online. At the end of the return period, I bring the books back to the campus bookstore for a full refund, by which time my online orders start to arrive. This, of course, requires taking care of the books while I have them temporarily.

As for the hunt online — I don’t mind getting used textbooks, but I generally like that the textbooks be like-new with minimal writing or highlighting; its a personal preference, but I find too much mark-up distracting in my books. As a result, I’m frustrated sometimes when I use websites that aggregate search results, which often gives results that make it difficult to tell what the quality is.

After a few semesters of trying various textbook search engines, I’ve ultimately ended up primarily relying on three sources: Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, and Half.com. Half.com is probably one of the largest used book dealers, and I’ve been generally happy with the prices I found there; as a result, I usually check Half.com first. If I don’t like what I see, I then usually check out Barnes and Noble or Amazon.com. The nice thing about purchasing with Amazon or Barnes and Noble is that when you buy through them and not their merchant place, not only are the books new and shipped quickly, but you can also benefit from free shipping once you cross $25.

I like my admittedly simple system because it does not require a lot of work on my part but at the same time brings about some substantial savings compared to simply buying the textbooks at the campus bookstore. After all, with several hundred dollars at stake, every little bit helps.

September 8, 2008 | Filed Under School | Leave a Comment 

Travel Discounts for College Students

AirplanePhoto by tylerdurden1

Got an itch to travel? Several airlines offer special programs or discounts for college students, and while none of them will likely make your next trip free, they can result in a travel discount or make it easier to reach that frequent-flyer travel reward more quickly.

Discounts for College Students - Travel by Air

Bonus miles are nice, but the most important thing to a student is the bottom line — the cost of the trip. Luckily, students have access to exclusive travel deals; sites like StudentUniverse.com and STA Travel specialize in offering travel deals — both domestic and international — for college students. These sites require some sort of general verification that you are a student (my .edu email address sufficed). I recently purchased a round-trip ticket through StudentUniverse, and one of the nice features of the ticket was that it was refundable for something like $75 — much cheaper than refunding a ticket issued by the airline itself.

A word of caution, however: these sites do not always offer the best deal; in fact, many times I find that I end up booking with the airline directly. If you are looking to book a last minute trip, keep in mind that many airlines offer special weekend fares that are valid over the next one or two weekends; these can be great deals if you’re looking to travel Friday/Saturday and return Monday/Tuesday. Check a site like AirfareWatchdog for the latest offers. Bottom line: you should certainly take the time to consult other search engines like Kayak or Orbitz.

Discounts - Travel by Train

If you are looking to travel by train, Amtrak participates in the Student Advantage program; the Student Advantage program is a student discount card that costs $20 and provides discounts at various national chains. Once you have purchased your Student Advantage card, you are entitled to 15% off Amtrak rail fares. It is questionable as to how worthwhile the Student Advantage card is overall, but if you only use it for Amtrak, to fully recoup the initial cost, plan to spend more than $134 during the course of the year to make it worth it.

That being said, though, do not blindly trust that the Student Advantage card offers the best discount for students — there are other ways to save money traveling on Amtrak. Amtrak almost always has discount codes that can be found on the Internet which can sometimes beat 15% (and don’t require you to buy a card in advance), so do a quick search on google for discount codes before you book your trip. The FlyerTalk.com Amtrak Promotion thread can be particularly helpful.

Discounts - Travel by Bus

While not quite as glamorous as travel by plane or train, travel by bus can often be quite economical. Like Amtrak, national bus chain Greyhound participates in the Student Advantage program, offering a 15% discount off bus fares for card holders.

Discounts - Hotels

Finally, even though this is not a student-only discount, if you are trying to find a place to stay, I highly recommend using a  well-informed Priceline bidding strategy. Priceline is the site that lets you “name your own price” for travel — if your bid is satisfactory to them, you can score some amazing deals. Whether you are looking for a one star or four star hotel, Priceline can be hard to beat when you use aggregate information on the successful bid prices of others. (When using sites like Bidding for Travel or Better Bidding, remember to return back with your own experiences to help the community!)

Students may also consider hostels when traveling, which, especially in Europe, can provide a comfortable and safe place to stay at a relatively cheap price.

Special Frequent Flyer Programs

Several airlines offer sign-up bonuses for college students or accelerated rewards. For example:

  • Southwest Airlines has its College Rapid Rewards Program. Under the program, you’ll get 4 credits for enrolling, and then you’ll earn 4 credits for each round-trip. You have to sign up through the College Rapid Rewards page; existing Rapid Rewards accounts don’t count, and you may have trouble opening a college account if you already have a Rapid Rewards account. That being said, the college program makes obtaining a free flight feasible for students. Find out more information on Southwest’s program.
  • American Airlines offers 500 bonus AAdvantage miles for signing up through its college page, which also contains information on student discounts. That’s definitely not much (500 miles is worth about $5, and you can only make use of that if you acquire sufficient miles) — still, free is good. Find out more information on American’s college offers.

Honor Roll: AirTran U Standby Program

Probably one of the best college student programs offered by an airline is the AirTran U Standby Program. Under the program, anyone between the ages of 18 and 22 can fly standby (i.e. space available) on AirTran flights for between $69 - $99 dollars.

To take advantage of this offer, simply head to the airport more than two hours in advance and ask to be added to the list. If there is space on your flight, your name will be called at the gate prior to departure; if there isn’t space, you can get added to the list for the next flight, and if you never clear the stand-by list, your money should be refunded.  You can’t have any checked luggage, but you can earn a reduced amount of A+ Rewards credits.

This is a particularly nice program if you’re flexible with your travel plans. Find out more information on AirTran’s college program or check out where they fly.

Graduating? United has a gift for you

United Airlines has a special offer for graduating students — 10,000 Mileage Plus bonus miles, which is about 40% of the way to a free domestic flight. All you have to do is send them a copy of your transcript, your United Mileage Plus account number, and your email address, and they will deposit the bonus miles. The offer is not limited to undergraduates, and it appears that you can earn the bonus each time you graduate from an institution.  United.com offers more details on how you can claim the bonus. If you’re graduating, why not grab some free miles?

None of these deals are that earth shattering, but can certainly help make travel somewhat more obtainable. Travel does not have to be that expensive! If you know of any other travel deals for students, please leave a comment!

September 3, 2008 | Filed Under Travel | 4 Comments 

More on the Citi mtvU Credit Card

Citibank
Photo by kiwanja

Hands down, the Citi mtvU card is one of my favorite credit cards as a student. With the start of the school year, I thought it might be a good idea to mention this card again and throw in some new information.

I have covered the Citi mtvU Visa card in the past, but in a nutshell, the card is a student credit card from Citibank that offers extra rewards for spending in certain categories. All rewards are in the form of Citi ThankYou points, which, when used judiciously, can be valued at about 1 cent each. The part that makes the card special is that it offers 5 ThankYou points per dollar bookstores, movie theaters, and restaurants, meaning you can get about 5% back on purchases in those categories. It also provides bonus points for a strong GPA and for paying on time.

Limited Time Offer

Over at FatWallet.com, someone recently posted a link to a great limited-time offer from Citibank that coincides with the start of the traditional school year:

Earn 10 ThankYou Points on every dollar spent at restaurants (including fast food), bookstores, record stores, movie theaters and video rental stores for the first 3 months, 5 ThankYou Points per every dollar spent thereafter on same purchases.

So, in other words, for the first three months you have the card, you can earn up to 10% back in rewards in the top categories, double the normal amount. This is a great offer — especially if you’re about to drop a couple hundred dollars on college textbooks ($400 dollars in textbooks –> $40 in rewards!).

Citibank is also offering a special offer on its Citibank Dividend Platinum card — 10% cash-back at supermarkets, drugstores, gas stations, and utilities; while it is a nice sign-up offer, the normal cash back rate is 2%, which makes the Chase Freedom card seem like a better long-term card.

You may be wondering if the offer is legitimate — I had trouble finding it on Citibank’s web page, but when I searched “Citi mtvu” on google, the sponsored result from Citibank led to this offer.

How do you get the GPA bonus?

The Citi mtvU card also offers ThankYou Points for earning good grades (2,000 points for 4.00, 750 points for 3.50 - 3.99, 500 for 3.00 - 3.49), but they do not make it very easy to figure out how to go about getting those points. When I first got the card, I had to ask them to mail me a form, but I have since found that someone posted a copy online (see the Quick Summary area of that FatWallet discussion).

A quick note: My school provides us a copy of our grades online, but does not include a GPA on that particular page. For the past few semesters, I have just been sending them that unofficial page, and they have accepted it without problem (there is a spot on the form to write the GPA). However, this last time around they sent me back a letter that said they needed the GPA printed on the page — so keep that in mind when trying to get these points. That being said, they seem to be fine with a self-printed unofficial transcript.

Citi Thank You Points

The rewards you get are in the form of Citi Thank You Points, which is both a blessing and a curse. It is nice in the sense that you can pool your thank you points from multiple Citibank sources - nice if you have a Citibank checking account or plan on using a different Citi card in the future. It is a bit of a curse in the sense that you have to redeem the points for various rewards with different values, and it can be difficult to find out what is the best value.

If you have student loans, the choice is pretty easy. ThankYou Network points can redeemed 1-1 for rebate checks you can send to your student loan company (10,000 points — $100 reward)

Otherwise, your best bets are either going to be high-value gift cards (10,000 point level) or travel rewards — but more on how to make the best use of the travel cards later.

Great Card for Students

The Citi mtvU card remains one of my primary cards — especially given that it offers 5% back on most Amazon purchases as well.

What card do you recommend for students?

September 1, 2008 | Filed Under Credit Cards | 2 Comments