6 Situations Where I (Surprisingly) Don’t Need Cash
Photo by zbowling
While there are certainly still many places where cash comes in handy, I have been surprised recently at the number of unusual places where I have been able to use my credit card. It seems like you can’t escape the Visa or MasterCard logo these days — at least that was my experience during my Thanksgiving travels. So what places surprised me by accepting credit cards?
1. At The Vending Machine
For some reason, this surprised me last month when I saw it in a hotel — yes, just like this picture shows, some vending machines are now accepting credit cards. I wonder what the economics of it all are — if the convenience store next door has a $5.00 minimum charge, how come this vending machine is willing to charge a $2.00 Coca-Cola? All-in-all, I can’t really complain; when you’re thirsty, it stinks to have a dollar bill that the machine just will not accept. One more of life’s little frustrations eradicated!
2. Onboard The Airplane
Even at 30,000 feet, it is hard to escape the domain of the credit card. Many, if not most, major airlines now accept credit cards for in-flight purchases of things like snacks, drinks, and other items. In fact, some airlines are even going so far as to go completely cashless – no credit card, no cocktail. Given that airlines are charging more and more money for more and more amenities (no free drink on US Airways? Really?), these credit card terminals are going to find quite a bit of use.
3. At The Drive Thru
Maybe it is just because I remember the “old days” when it used to take a little bit of time for a credit card authorization to go through, but it still seems strange to me that you can use your credit card in most fast food drive-thrus. Many are making it even easier by installing outside terminals where you can swipe your card yourself.
4. In The Back Of A Cab
Am I the only who ever gets (irrationally) nervous in a cab ride that you might not have enough cash? There is just something about the variable factors that go into a cab ride which can make me nervous. What if you get stuck in traffic? What if you don’t really have a grasp of how far you are going? So the fact that more and more cabs are now accepting credit cards is a very welcome development in my book. The only problem, in my experience, is that some cabbies are still very much in opposition to the idea, so sometimes they will give you minor pushback at first. Small price to pay.
5. Buying Mass Transit Cards
I have been in a couple major cities in the last few weeks, and several of them had mass transit systems that allowed you to load almost any amount — no matter how small — on to a “pay as you go” transit card using your credit card. In Boston, for example, I found myself constantly charging $2.00 to add another ride on to my pass (since it was a short trip, why risk buying more than I need?). Of course, some cities like New York de-incentivize this by offering bonuses for putting on more money at one time (which seems like a fair system).
6. Opening A Bank Account
i just find this one funny. When I opened a checking account earlier this year, I was given the option of initially funding the account via credit card — up to $500 (free credit card rewards!). Now, I am extremely responsible with my credit cards, but does anyone else think that funding a bank account with a credit card might be a bad idea?
What Does It All Mean?
So credit card machines are everywhere now — that much seems apparent. I imagine it is a combination of decreased transaction costs coupled with a recognition that people simply spend more money when they use credit cards.
Is this a good thing? It certainly makes life more convenient. At the same time, it also adds to the temptation to spend more, which for some people is hard to resist (That $10 sandwich on US Airways or American seems a lot more acceptable when you pay via credit card).
One major concern of mine with all of this, though, is security and accountability. When you use a credit card in a store, you can be reasonably confidant of its legitimacy and you know where to come back to if there are any problems. With all of these mobile credit card machines, though, whether it be on a plane or a cab, it seems like it might be harder to maintain that accountability.
Furthermore, this proliferation of credit card machines just raises the stakes when it comes to fraud — take a look at these pictures of credit card skimmers that Redbox found. Now look at the vending machine in this post’s picture — one’s legit, and one isn’t, but it’s not easy to tell. I worry that with these credit card machines everywhere, people will become complacent and simply accept them, rather than remain vigilant for fraud.
Regardless, it’s pretty amazing where you can use credit cards these days. What unusual or surprising places have you used a credit card recently?
So are gift cards a bad idea now?
Photo by The Consumerist
Yikes. It has not been a good week to be a gift card. It seems like there are media reports and stories all over the place concerning the dangers of gift card usage. Should you avoid gift cards?
Revisiting the Sharper Image Gift Card Mess
Last spring, when the Sharper Image filed for bankruptcy, many of us got a rude awakening — Sharper Image stopped accepting their more than $40 million outstanding gift cards, making them essentially worthless. Eventually, after some bad press, Sharper Image adjusted their policy, but the episode was a red flag when it comes to gift cards — Sharper Image was really one of the first major retailers to go bust in the “modern gift card world” , and one of the first to threaten to nullify a large number of gift cards in bankruptcy.
Will Your Gift Card’s Company Still Be There?
All of these concerns came back to the forefront again when the ubiquitous Circuit City filed for bankruptcy recently (note: Circuit City announced that they will continue to accept gift cards while in bankruptcy reorganization). The news about Circuit City surprised me — even though I knew it had been doing struggling, to hear of such a major chain falling apart is a little disquieting. It seems like every day we are hearing news about more and more major American companies struggling to survive this economy (General Motors, anyone?)
If you get a retail store gift card, will the store still be there when you go to use the card? In this economy, many experts are saying it simply is not worth the risk.
The Chicago Tribune ran a story recently called “Gift cards tagged with doubt” that tackled this issue, noting that:
If you buy a gift card from a retailer that goes bankrupt, it’s uncertain when, or if, it can be redeemed, experts say… In the case of Circuit City, the company sought and received permission in bankruptcy court to honor its outstanding gift cards, a spokesman said. But such petitions are optional. If the retailer doesn’t ask or the judge rejects the request, gift-card holders have to file a claim in bankruptcy court and get in line behind all the other people the company owes.
Now, in my opinion, that article seems a bit alarmist — we’re hopefully not going to see many major retailers collapse. But at the same time, I can see that it is probably a good idea to avoid at-risk companies, such as the perpetually-plagued airlines.
More Risks
Of course, this is all on top of the traditional criticisms of gift cards — mainly that they are loaded with fees, expiration dates, limitations, etc that make them difficult to use. This is a reoccurring topic for consumer advocacy groups like Consumer Reports, so I will point to their work rather than rehash it here. Suffice it to say, this is definitely a win-win situation for retailers — that Consumer Reports article mentions a statistic that unused, lost, or expired gift cards amount to over $8 billion dollars in 2006. That is crazy!
And it will only get worse — that Tribune article mentioned that the National Retail Federation believes that shoppers plan on purchasing around four gift cards this holiday season, spending around $150 total. I had no idea gift cards had become that popular of a gift.
So What Do You Do?
If you are the gift-receiver, the answer seems easy: use your gift cards quickly. I am terrible at this, but I am beginning to appreciate the importance of burning rather than saving gift cards. I think I may make an effort next week to start keeping better track of the gift cards I currently have and make a better go at working through them.
If you are the gift-giver, on the other hand, setting aside the obvious suggestion that you actually buy personal gifts rather than generic gift cards, what should you do?
- Retail gift cards carry risk. While they are going to have less fees and expiration dates, and may be easier to use, you run the risk that the company may go bankrupt or disappear.
- Those Visa or MasterCard Gift Cards are even worse. I really dislike these cards. These things are annoying to use, have more fees, and are not covered by most state gift card laws.
And that seems to bring us back to an old gift option…
Cash
Image by AComment
Cash. Is cash really that bad of a gift? It is no less personal than a gift card, but gives you just as much (if not more) flexibility, does not expire, no fees, and is pretty darn safe. Seems like a good situation to me.
So what are you doing this holiday season?
6 Situations Where I Still Need Cash
Photo by Dplanet::
The time has finally come — for the first time in almost two months, tomorrow I will be visiting an ATM. My local ATM and I used to be much better friends, but it just does not serve the same role in my life which it once did. Using my credit card (responsibly) has enabled me to pay most of my expenses over the past few weeks without cash, with added budget tracking benefits. As part of my build-up to tomorrow’s ATM visit, however, I want to take a moment and reflect on some of the expenses that still keep me using cash every now and then.
1. Group Outings
This is probably one of the most important roles that cash will play going forward in my life — helping handle group expenses. I go out with a couple of my friends for a “cheap” dinner out once a week, and when I am at home I often am eating with a much larger group of people; cash is crucial to resolving these situations. While often times it is feasible to request separate checks at restaurants, sometimes you just can’t avoid a shared bill.
As a side note, I have managed to make this a “cash neutral” situation for me by often times collecting the group money and charging the total to my card if no one else minds. In addition to earning 5% back for restaurants on my Citi mtvU card, it gives me a fresh source of cash. Of course, that also means I am “cheating” a bit when I say that I have not been to an ATM in two months, but oh well.
2. The Vending Machine
I am well aware that the vending machine is not a very good deal — best case scenario you are only slightly being ripped off, and worst case, like at a movie theater I was at a few months ago, you’ll find yourself paying an outrageous $3.50 for a 20-ounce of Coke. Sometimes, however, a vending machine is just the best option for a quick fix, and its those kind of situations in which I am happy to have a few singles in my wallet.
3. Laundry
No, my laundry room is not coin operated. That would be a nightmare. It is, however, based on a card system that requires cash to load money on the card — accepting $5, $10, or $20 bills. Once every couple of weeks, then, I find myself feeding more money in to the machine. I can understand that it is likely not feasible to install credit-accepting machines in all of these laundry rooms, but it would be nice to have the option, at least, of adding value by credit.
4. Tipping
With the exception of restaurants, most tipping situations require cash — at the end of a cab ride, at a bar, at the airport skycap, bellhop at the hotel, etc. Even if you could charge a tip, the recipient will appreciate cash much more (they won’t lose any of their tip to credit card processing), so I always try to tip in cash if possible. I find traveling to be particularly tipping-heavy, so I carry a bunch of singles in my travel wallet for the inevitable tipping situations that require cash.
5. The Bar
This is a little bit of a different situation — most bars are more than happy to accept credit cards (although some, like the one I was at last night, do not). However, as much as I would love to take advantage of the 5% back my credit card offers at bars, I fully recognize that when I “open a tab,” despite my best efforts, I am far more likely to spend more than I had planned. Cash keeps me in a limited situation and helps me stay aware of how much I have spent. Now, I am not one to go crazy, but cash seems like the best bet in any sort of bar situation.
6. The Convenience Store Next Door
This one annoys me simply because it shouldn’t be a reason to carry cash — the convenience store next door has a minimum credit charge of $10. They aren’t supposed to do this — the merchant agreements with both Visa and MasterCard say there shouldn’t be a minimum charge — but clearly they don’t care. I don’t often find myself spending more than $10 at a time (usually just grabbing something like orange juice), so cash is a must.
Those are some of the places I find myself still using cash — where do you find yourself using cash?
Oops — Almost Forgot About That Gift Card
Photo by aussiegall
I was furious with myself last Friday morning when I realized that it was October 31st.
No, not because it was Halloween. Rather, I was furious because Friday was the day that my $25 American Express Gift Card was set to expire from the AmEx Spring Fling Promotion this summer, which came with the reward of an AmEx $25 Gift Card that could only be used at Best Buy, Fandango, and Borders.
I Hate “Open Loop” Gift Cards
I have already said it once, but let me say it again — if you have a choice, avoid these “Open Loop” gift cards at all costs. By “Open Loop”, I mean these American Express, Visa, and MasterCard gift cards you can buy that are good anywhere credit cards can be used. They may seem like a good idea in theory, but they are perhaps the most consumer-unfriendly form of flexible spending out there.
Want to give little Johnny or Sally a flexible gift? Give them cash. I’m not sure why cash is considered such a taboo gift — it really is the same thing as giving them a Visa gift card, just without the annoying hoops. Consider:
- “Open Loop” gift cards cost you money – most have some sort of $3 – $5 service charge associated with them that you have to pay for. Why don’t you forgo the gift card and give me the extra $3-$5 in cash. It will make me even happier.
- “Open Loop” gift cards can be annoying to use — ever tried to use one of these things for part of a lager purchase? I always take a deep breath, as invariably some sort of complication comes up in using up all of the money on the card. I suppose you could avoid that problem by simply buying something under the cards value, but then you lose money.
- And most annoyingly — “Open Loop” cards have expiration dates and inactivity fees — you’re balance is going to start going down over time.
Don’t want to give cash? Buy a store gift card. These days most merchants don’t have expiration dates on their cards.
Running Against The Clock
This Spring Fling card was particularly annoying; it had an expiration date set a mere couple of months after it arrived, and it didn’t slowly lose value — rather, it simply lost all value after October 31st.
Alas, when I remembered this on Friday, I was nowhere near a Best Buy or Borders to use the card in store. My first instinct was to try to buy something at BestBuy.com. Luckily, Best Buy lets you buy Best Buy gift cards online at no cost and with no tax — so it looked like a $25 gift card was going to work perfectly.
Of course, that would have been too easy. During check-out, BestBuy.com refused to accept a card that was within 15 days of expiration – no way around it. Argh.
Thankfully my second choice worked out — Fandango had no problem taking the card, and I was able to buy myself a $25 Fandango gift certificate that does not expire. Several theaters around me participate in Fandango’s ticket-purchasing program, so I’ll be able to use it at some point.
The Lesson
I’m just thankful I was able to use the gift card. I would have felt like an idiot if I had left the card expire — not only because the money would be lost, but also because the only reason I had the card to begin with was because I was trying to take advantage of the promotion.
In the future, I think my strategy with these cards is going to be to immediately buy a merchant gift card — to someplace like Best Buy, Barnes and Noble, or iTunes, for example, where I know I will eventually use the money. Buying a store gift card with an AmEx gift card is a great way to get all of the money off the AmEx gift card and to put it in a form that won’t expire.
How do you handle these cards? Are any of you fans of them?
Lessons on New York City Taxis
I spent this past weekend with friends doing the “tourist experience” down in New York City, seeing many of the major landmarks in Manhattan. Since time was short, we tried to do as much as possible, which necessitated using a cab a few more times than I would have liked. It had been a while since I had used a NYC cab, and so I ended up learning a few things about NYC cabs along the way.
Hail Only Medallion Cabs
I was briefly down at a rail station and was surprised to be aggressively called after by waiting taxis that assumed I was a tourist looking for a cab. What made me uncomfortable, though, was that while I actually did want a taxi, several of these taxis calling me were not the yellow “medallion” taxicabs but rather cars in less “traditional” looking colors. I awkwardly avoided them and headed towards a yellow taxi, despite their yelling after me.
Turns out I made the right call - only the Medallion yellow cabs are licensed to pick up hails off the street. The yellow Medallion cabs are tightly regulated by the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission, while non-yellow cabs in Manhattan are operating illegally when they pick up hails off the street. This isn’t just a legal “technicality” — a quick search on Google turned up plenty of stories of people being taken advantage by these non-Medallion cabs.
Maximum Number of Passengers
There seem to be two dominant types of Medallion taxicabs in Manhattan, one of them being the SUV-like Ford Escape. One night, my group had about five people in it, and we were looking to take a cab in Midtown. We assumed that since we had five people, we were better off looking for one of the SUV cabs, figuring that we would be able to all fit in one cab.
When we hailed one of these cabs and told him that we had five people, he told us that the rules said he could only carry four, despite the size of the car. This was somewhat surprising in itself, but what was more surprising was what he did next — he offered to take the five of us if we offered him ten dollars cash to compensate him for breaking the rules. My friends really needed to go, so they negotiated with him, trying to get him down to two or three dollars, but ultimately settled on five dollars extra. I was a little uncomfortable with this whole situation, but went along with it.
Was he scamming us? Turns out he was not lying about the maximum capacity. According to the Taxi and Limousine Commission’s website, most cabs are only licensed to carry four passengers. So keep in mind that magic number, as well as the fact that some cabbies are apparently quite willing to break this rule.
Paying By Credit
Since last winter, New York City taxi cabs are supposed to be able to accept credit card payments using the computer system in the back of taxi cabs. I was very interested in trying this out, especially given a New York Times blog post from December about difficulties their reporters had found in trying to get cabbies to accept credit card payments. Apparently, the idea of credit card payments was not particularly popular with cab drivers.
Did we run into any problems? Not at all. Paying with credit went very smoothly each time — simply slide the card in the terminal in the back seat, and then enter the tip amount on the screen. No complaints or problems from the cab driver, and I got a nice record of how much we spent on taxis.
Suggestion – Always get a Receipt
The New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission runs a great website with a very helpful Frequently Asked Questions page. One suggestion that I didn’t know about but will keep in mind for the future is that it is important to always get the receipt after the trip, regardless of how you pay. Why? The receipt contains the medallion number of the cab, and so in addition to providing you a record of the amount you spent on the cab ride, you also get a way to trace back the cab you took should you need to file a complaint or seek a lost item.
That’s excellent advice, since even careful people can every now and then make a mistake with a suitcase or a cell phone. Turns out that just last night, Barack Obama’s campaign trip director left behind a suitcase in a cab — a suitcase which unfortunately contained their birthday present for Senator Obama! They spent all day trying to find it, with no luck.
Anyway, if you’re interested in more information about New York City taxi’s, I suggest you look at the TLC’s web page, including their passenger bill of rights.
Reduced-Sugar Cereals — Are They Really Worth It?
I was in the cereal aisle of the grocery store this morning, preparing to replenish my dwindling supply of cereal, when I took a moment to look at the various different versions of my favorite cereals. I have been trying to be more careful with what I eat lately, and so when I saw the Reduced Sugar version of Frosted Flakes, I had to take a second look. Is it worth it?
Difficult to Compare
When trying to figure these things out, I normally would simply search the internet (and that is, of course, what I did when I got home), but since I was already at the grocery store and hadn’t known to research ahead of time, I decided to try to make a quick judgment on the spot.
The first thing I noticed, though, was how difficult it was to compare the two – undeniably the result of a deliberate move on the part of cereal makers. For starters, the two different kinds seem to come in different box sizes, which means different prices. Thankfully, the grocery store provides the unit cost per weight of the cereal, but this is somewhat unreliable of an indicator given that, as a general rule, the price per ounce goes down the larger the box you buy. Furthermore, as an extension of the different sized boxes, the serving sizes on the nutritional facts are slightly different between the two, making it even more difficult to compare the two.
Thankfully, it is nice to know that I’m not crazy. A Washington Post article, Are Reduced-Sugar Cereals Worth It?, from Feb. 23, 2005 had a similar observation:
“The cereals we tested cost more per ounce than their original versions, although that fact is not obvious. Watchful shoppers will notice that original and reduced-sugar cereals come in the same-size boxes, but those boxes can differ in total weight by as much as six ounces. And reduced-sugar cereals don’t seem to go on sale.”
Not Quite A Good Deal
Thankfully, I was eventually able to find a box of the regular and a box of the reduced-sugar that had weights that were close enough to compare:
- Regular 17.5 ounce box of Frosted Flakes: $3.79, or $3.57/pound
- Reduced-Sugar 17 ounce box of Frosted Flakes: $4.29 or $3.92/pound
Obviously, the reduced-sugar cereal costs notably more – but while annoying, that might be acceptable if the health benefits were significant enough. Are they?
Turns out, not really. An Associated Press article, Experts say no advantage to reduced-sugar cereals, that appeared, among other places, in the USA Today on March 12, 2005 noted that reduced-sugar cereals offered:
“… no significant nutritional advantages over their full-sugar counterparts. Nutrition scientists at five universities found that while the new cereals do have less sugar, the calories, carbohydrates, fat, fiber and other nutrients are almost identical to the full-sugar cereals.”
My favorite line from that article, though, has to be:
“Officials at General Mills, Kellogg’s and Post were unable to explain why the new cereals are a better choice… Company officials said they were responding to parents’ demands for products with less sugar and that they aren’t claiming these cereals are any healthier than the originals.”
Unbelievable.
Given that there is no way the reduced-sugar version tastes the same as the original, combined with the increase in price and the marginal, if any, health benefits, I think I am going to continue sticking to the regular version!
Revisiting Multi-Ride and Unlimited Passes
The New York Times recently ran an article entitled “In Decade of Unlimited Rides, Metrocard Has Transformed How The City Travels,” which reflected on the tenth anniversary of the introduction of the 30-day unlimited MetroCard in New York City. Its a pretty interesting read, describing the perceived connection between payment methods on New York’s public transit system and its ridership levels.
What makes it interesting from a personal finance perspective, however, is the graph that accompanied the article, which the Consumerist.com picked up yesterday (”Are Unlimited Ride MetroCards A Good Deal? Not For A Lot Of People Who Use Them“). The graph depicts the distribution of usage for holders of the 30-day MetroCard, with an average usage of around seventy rides a month. In order to break even you need to ride about forty-six times. While it is true that most people are saving considerable money with the unlimited cards, about a good fifteen-twenty percent of them seem to be losing money on the unlimited ride cards.
A Nice Reminder
I recently wrote about the often under-appreciated value of the 10-ride pass. The article serves as a nice reminder to make sure that you are truly saving money with multi-ride and unlimited passes.
It is often too easy to fall victim to the idea of buying in bulk– I know I’m certainly guilty of this. The idea of saving 10-15% off a train or bus ticket makes sense only if you’re going to make full use of what you purchase. Worse, buying a ten-ride or unlimited pass might make induce you to travel more than you otherwise would. The best way to figure out what is right for you seems to be to think carefully about how many trips you’re going to make before you think about which pass to buy, and then buy appropriately.
Not The Whole Picture
Of course, the Consumerist.com entry to which I linked doesn’t provide the entire picture. For one thing, its a questionable choice to refer in the title to “a lot of people” losing money — the graph shows that the vast majority are saving money and making the right choice.
But beyond that, there are certainly other legitimate factors to consider, including any discounts or employer-repayment that might reduce the price of an unlimited ride pass, as well as the convenience of not having to mess with the ticket machines. Most interestingly, I learned from the comments on the Consumerist.com article that the New York MTA automatically insures 14 and 30 day unlimited ride cards when purchased with a credit/debit card, so if you lose an unlimited pass and paid with a credit card, you can get your money back, which certainly seems like a very generous and significant benefit.
All-in-all, though, a nice reminder to carefully consider your needs when making such purchases!
Best Buy Rewards Zone: An Interesting Beast
After receiving an email recently, I was reminded of the Best Buy Reward Zone program (more information), and took a minute to take a second look at it. The program is pretty simple — at the most basic level, you earn one point for every dollar you spend at Best Buy, and once you earn 250 points, you get a certificate good for $5 off. This essentially makes Best Buy Reward Zone points worth about $0.02, or, in other words, it offers potentially 2% off in the future.
What is interesting, however, is the direction that Best Buy seems to be taking with the program: heading more and more towards the frequent flyer program model that the Airlines have been perfecting for decades. Three developments seem to indicate this.
One: The Reward Zone Shopping Mall
The email I alluded to earlier was the announcement that Best Buy had launched a Reward Zone Shopping Mall, where instead of earning cash back for your purchases made through the portal, you earn Best Buy Reward Zone points. Airlines have been doing this for a while now, and even some credit card companies offer more “points” through these sorts of portals, but this is the first time I can think of that a company has done something like this for a rewards program this is so closely tied just with itself (credit card points, and even frequent flyer miles, to an extent, can be used with a ride range of services and companies; Reward Zone points are only for Best Buy).
Two: Best Buy “Elite Status”
For frequent business flyers, part of what makes the loyalty game so addictive is the “elite status” that airlines offer; fly enough on a major airline, and they will shower you with perks like double miles on flights, first-class check in, expedited security lines, special seats, waived fees, free drinks, and more. Best Buy recently introduced its own elite status, “Premier Silver,” where if you spend $2500 in a year, you’ll have access to more points, special offers, expanded customer service, and more.
On some level, I am surprised we haven’t seen more companies (explicitly) offer such an “elite” status program — it makes sense to treat your best customers right. But I think the fact they introduced this system also speaks to the type of customer Best Buy thinks it might have been missing out on or losing.
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Saving My Grandmother’s Miles (Fighting Expiration)
For more than a decade, my grandmother was a frequent flyer as she traveled on business around the country, earning a substantial number of frequent flyer miles in the American Airlines AAdvantage Program. She’s been retired for a number of years, but is planning a trip for a grandchild’s graduation, and wanted me to look into using her miles to get a free award ticket.
It turns out, though, that my grandmother’s frequent flyer miles expired last December, a loss of over 125,000 miles! Apparently it had been over a year and a half since she last earned miles, and as a result, her miles expired due to a lack of activity.
When You Should Care
What surprised me about this was that my grandmother is otherwise incredibly on-top of her finances. While frequent flyer miles are certainly an abstract form of assets, at the very least these miles can usually be valued at around $0.01/mile, but often closer to $0.02, meaning that my grandmother had let miles expire that could be valued between $1,250 – $2,500 depending on how she used them.
Helpful Tip: So when should you actively care about your miles? While it is never a bad idea to take the minimal steps necessary to any amount from expiring, a good rule of thumb is once you’ve earned at least 15,000 miles, you should pay attention. 15,000 miles is about 60% of the way to a domestic (US) award ticket on most airlines, could be valued at around $150, and, on some airlines, is even enough for certain awards.
The importance only goes up the more miles you have; my grandmother should have been paying attention, as she had enough to fly business class almost anywhere American Airlines flies. Even if you don’t have 15K miles, there are very easy tasks (that don’t involve flying!) that can keep your miles from expiring.
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Three Quick Steps Before Check-Out To Maximize Online Shopping
Just about ready to buy that new product online? Hold up – by taking a few quick steps, you could end up saving even more money on your final purchase without much effort.
Before making any purchase online, I always do three things: check for cash-back affiliate links, check for online coupons, and use a credit card that maximizes my reward.
Step One: Check For Cash-Back Affiliate Links
As I’ve mentioned previously in my post on cash-back affiliate websites, it is almost a cardinal sin to make a purchase at an online store without first checking to see if you can earn cash back by using one of the cash-back websites like Ebates, Cashbaq, or FatWallet. There’s little to no effort involved on your part — if one of the sites offers cash back for the store from which you are about to purchase, all you have to do is start your shopping session by using the link at the cash back site.
The website Rewardsdb.com makes this process even easier; when you’ve decided to purchase from a store — say Drugstore.com — all you have to do is go to RewardsDB.com, enter Drugstore.com, and it will tell you all of the sites that offer cash-back at Drugstore.com and what they offer, making easy to very quickly determine what your options are.
Step Two: Check For Coupons
The beauty of the internet is that there are very few secrets — and that is especially true with regards to any coupon or discount codes a store releases. There’s no need to search extensively, but a quick trip to RetailMeNot.com or a Google search for “ABC Store Coupon” can often turn up useful discount codes that you might otherwise not have known about. Never hurts to look!
Step Three: Use a Credit Card That Earns Rewards
Finally, you can make a further dent in the final cost to you by using a credit card that offers rewards suited to your purchase. For example, the Citi mtvU Visa Card offers (an equivalent) 5% back at a bunch of categories that includes Amazon.com. Even a general-purpose card that offers something like 1% cash back can make a dent.
These three steps really don’t take that long — a quick search of some place like Rewardsdb.com, a quick search of some place like RetailMeNot.com, and then using a rewards credit card — but the savings can really add up.
Any one else have any tips to share?
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