It had been a few months (seemed like forever!) since I received a new card.
Barclays is losing the US Air card as part of the American Airlines merger with US Air, and they appear to want more cardholders before that happens. The existing US Air cards will become AA cards, but once the merger goes through next year, Barclays won't be able to issue new cards.
Barclays just raised the bonus on the card to 50K (from 40K). This is an unusual card because the minimum spend is $1, but the $89 fee is not waived the first year. Most other cards waive the fee the first year, but have varying minimum spends. The cost per point is about 2 tenths of a cent, and always get at least 2 cents value per mile, so this was a no brainer.
I already had a US Air card, and I still received instant approval online.
I've been wanting to get the American Express Platinum card to get the 100K Membership rewards bonus for some time. But the $450 fee is not waived the first year, and I just couldn't make the math work. Amex used to provide access to the AA Admiral's Club, but they lost that deal earlier this year. Now, they are building their own "Centurion Lounges", which I've read great reports about. They are closer to international lounges because they have free food and alcohol, whereas US domestic lounges have very limited free food- usually pretzels, carrots, etc.
I used the script found in this Doctor of Credit Blog post, and after 20 minutes on the phone, I was approved.
I already have 4 Amex cards, which I used on Small Business Saturday. Amex has a limit of 4 credit cards per person, but the Platinum is a charge card. The difference is that you can run a balance on a credit card and get charged interest, but a charge card is supposed to be paid off every month. Since I pay off all of my credit (and charge) cards every month, the difference is not material to me. But it is to Amex, so now I have 5 Amex cards!
The card also provides a $200 airline credit each year, which can be used for gift cards on AA. This is per calendar year, so getting it now allows me to get the $200 credit twice for a single annual fee. So if I decide not to renew the card, it cost me $50 for 100K Membership Rewards points.
That's a good value!!
Barclays is losing the US Air card as part of the American Airlines merger with US Air, and they appear to want more cardholders before that happens. The existing US Air cards will become AA cards, but once the merger goes through next year, Barclays won't be able to issue new cards.
Barclays just raised the bonus on the card to 50K (from 40K). This is an unusual card because the minimum spend is $1, but the $89 fee is not waived the first year. Most other cards waive the fee the first year, but have varying minimum spends. The cost per point is about 2 tenths of a cent, and always get at least 2 cents value per mile, so this was a no brainer.
I already had a US Air card, and I still received instant approval online.
I've been wanting to get the American Express Platinum card to get the 100K Membership rewards bonus for some time. But the $450 fee is not waived the first year, and I just couldn't make the math work. Amex used to provide access to the AA Admiral's Club, but they lost that deal earlier this year. Now, they are building their own "Centurion Lounges", which I've read great reports about. They are closer to international lounges because they have free food and alcohol, whereas US domestic lounges have very limited free food- usually pretzels, carrots, etc.
I used the script found in this Doctor of Credit Blog post, and after 20 minutes on the phone, I was approved.
I already have 4 Amex cards, which I used on Small Business Saturday. Amex has a limit of 4 credit cards per person, but the Platinum is a charge card. The difference is that you can run a balance on a credit card and get charged interest, but a charge card is supposed to be paid off every month. Since I pay off all of my credit (and charge) cards every month, the difference is not material to me. But it is to Amex, so now I have 5 Amex cards!
The card also provides a $200 airline credit each year, which can be used for gift cards on AA. This is per calendar year, so getting it now allows me to get the $200 credit twice for a single annual fee. So if I decide not to renew the card, it cost me $50 for 100K Membership Rewards points.
That's a good value!!
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