Marriott To Offer 10X Bonus Categories

One of the highlights of our trip to Panama last year was dining in Don Jose, named one of the top 50 best restaurants in the world.  Since we aren't traveling right now, I am working on collecting as many points and miles as I can. And chasing the bonus categories for credit cards can be an easy way to do this fast. 

Marriott is launching new bonus categories for its line of Chase credit cards on July 15th. American Express is not included. The promotion 10x points on gas stations and restaurants including delivery purchases. You may not be buying much gas right now, but if you get takeout, then you will want to use the right card. 

Marriott cards included in this promotion are:

• Marriott Bonvoy Boundless^TM Credit Card, 
• Marriott Bonvoy^TM Premier Plus Business Credit Card, 
• The Ritz-Carlton^TM Credit Card, 
• Marriott Bonvoy^TM Credit Card, 
• Marriott Bonvoy^TM Premier Credit Card, 
• Marriott Bonvoy Business^TM Credit Card.

You will need to register your card by September 20, 2020, it's easy and takes no time at all. Then you will earn 10x points up to $3500 in combined purchases from July 15, 2020 through September 15, 2020. 
I keep a cheat sheet or write notes on each credit card so I know which one to use for which purchase to maximize points. 
If you don't have a Marriott Chase card, you can take a look at the different cards here. They range from the $95 annual fee to the $450 annual fee. Marriott points are super flexible since you can transfer them to dozens of different airlines and use them to book Marriott hotels which include dozens of different hotel brands. 
However, the points have been devalued over the last few years so my first choice right now is collecting Chase Ultimate Rewards Points and Marriott points are second. 

Chase Sapphire New 5x Categories

Chase just announced some new 5x categories for one of my favorite credit cards, the Sapphire Reserve. This is my favorite card because Chase Ultimate Rewards Points are super flexible. You can transfer them to airlines and hotels or use them like cash in the travel portal or just cash them in for cashback. 

Plus when flights were canceled due to Covid, all of my points were refunded into my account. Easy! 

Starting July 1, 

• earn 5x points when you shop at Instacart (delivery and pickup)
• 5x at gas stations. 
• a $50 credit if you purchase an Instacart Express Membership
• earn 10x points on streaming services like Netflix and Spotify. 

Last month, Chase announced that the annual $300 travel credit will now be a grocery credit. It is automatically applied to your purchases. 

My second favorite card is the Sapphire Preferred which carries a $95 annual fee instead of the hefty $550 for the Reserve. Most of the July perks apply to the Preferred too, but at a decreased value. For example, you earn 3x points when you shop at Instacart, 3x points at gas stations and 5x on streaming services. 

And remember if you have the Chase FREEDOM card, this quarter you earn 5x points on all Amazon purchases. 

We can't travel right now, but we can rack up the points so we are ready when we get the green light. 

Amex Offers You $50 Credit To Shop Small

If you have an American Express credit card, check your offers. You will probably have the shop small offer if you spend $10 plus at your favorite small business, American Express will credit you $5 back. 

You do need to click on the offer in your online account to add it to your card by July 26,2020. Then check the online directory to see what businesses are included. You can take advantage of this offer 10x between now and September 20, 2020. That's a total of a FREE $50 and who doesn't want a FREE $50 right now. Plus you are helping out our small businesses. 
So shop small! Win-win! Thanks Amex. 

Should You Buy Southwest Points?

One of my favorite cities in the US is New Orleans and my favorite way to get there is by flying Southwest. I visited in November for my college reunion and though it was a quick weekend, wow, it was amazing to be back in this beautiful and engaging city. 

And now, New Orleans has a brand new airport that makes flying there even easier. Right now, Southwest is offering a points promotion to encourage people to start traveling again. 

The deal is a 45% bonus when you buy points between June 12th -25th and another 45% bonus if you choose to buy more points between July 1st-12th. 

Now I'm not usually a big fan of buying points, I would rather use the shopping portals and earn points on purchases I make anyway. But if you need points for an upcoming trip, you may want to jump on this deal. Do take note, the points do not count towards the companion pass. You must purchase at least 2,000 points to get the discount. 

For example: 

2,000 points normally cost $60 but with the promotion cost $33, 

10,000 points normally cost $275 but with the promotion cost $151.25 

If you look at flights to get an idea of the value, a flight from San Diego to San Francisco will cost you 9,723 points one way. If you switch that to dollars, it's $129. So even with the promotion, buying the points does NOT offer any value. 

However, if you just need to top off an account to get a FREE flight, then it may make sense. 

It's something to consider depending on your travel plans. 

Last Chance To Earn A FREE 1,000 Marriott Points

Your chance to get a FREE 1,000 Marriott Bonvoy points ends on Thursday, June 18th, so don't forget to take advantage of this offer. 

Since so many of us have been ordering takeout, this one is a no brainer. I joined a few weeks ago and then got take out at a local pizza place. 

Within days, I received an email letting me know I had been awarded 1,000 bonus points. Woohoo! It was that easy. 

Check out my post about how to register for this program. Remember to actually use the credit card for your purchase that you link to the dining program. I linked my Sapphire Reserve credit card so I could double-dip on restaurants. The Reserve earns 3x points at restaurants. 

That's how we do it at almostFREEfamilytravel.com 

How To Get 5x Points On Your Amazon Purchases

By the end of 2019, 112 million people shopped at Amazon.com. Wow! That's incredible. I don't know about you, but since the pandemic started, I tend to order from Amazon rather than head to the store. 

One of my favorite go-to credit cards offers rotating bonus categories. For Q3, Chase Freedom is offering you 5x points on your Amazon and Whole Foods purchases. You cannot find Amazon on the regular shopping portals so this is a great benefit. 

Your purchase will still count towards Amazon Smile. 

In past years, Amazon was included in Q4 for holiday shopping, but this year, they offered it a quarter early. 

You must register your Chase FREEDOM here. Registration opens on June 15th. 

Why Chase FREEDOM is one of my favorites

The Chase FREEDOM card is my go-to no annual fee card. You earn 1% cashback in the form of Chase Ultimate Reward Points for every purchase. And every quarter, Chase adds bonus categories that earn 5% cashback. Cashback categories range from gas stations to Amazon to Paypal. You are able to earn $75 cashback on $1,500 in purchases across the three categories. Chase will even keep track on the website. You do need to activate each quarter which you can also do through the website with just one click. Registration opens on June 15th. Then you can redeem your points for cashback. If you have the Chase Ink, Chase Sapphire or Chase Sapphire Preferred, you can transfer the points to airlines, hotels and use the Chase travel portal. Right now, Chase is offering $200 bonus cash back when you open this card and spend $500 in the first 3 months. 

How To Pay Yourself Back With Chase

An exciting new perk offered by Chase Sapphire Reserve and Preferred credit cards is the option to pay yourself back with your points. 

So what does this mean and why is it so exciting? Here is your step to step guide. The Chase Sapphire Reserve, Preferred, Freedom, Freedom Unlimited, and Ink credit cards all earn Chase Ultimate Reward Points. Personally, these are my favorite points right now just for their flexibility and for the travel portal. They are flexible because you can transfer the points to dozens of airlines, hotels and you can use them to book travel through the Chase travel portal. 

And if you are a Preferred or Reserve credit card holder, you get a bonus. Chase will actually offer you extra value on the points so instead of 1:1, you get 1:25:1 for Preferred credit card holders and 1:50:1 for Reserve credit cardholders. Check out my post about why I'm hanging onto the Reserve card. 

How To Pay Yourself Back With Chase

And now through September 30, 2020, you also get the extra value when you pay yourself back with points and essentially erase any grocery, home improvement, or dining purchase. 

The beauty here is that you still earn the Ultimate Reward points on your grocery, home improvement, or dining purchase and then you erase it with the extra value. When you book travel through the Chase portal, you also get the extra value, but you don't earn Chase points and you don't earn airline miles or hotel points. That's because Chase uses Expedia as its portal so you are making your reservation through a third party. 

You have 90 days after your purchase to essentially erase it with points and you can pick and choose from the list. 

1. Log in to your Chase account
2. Click on redeem points 
3. Click on earn/use points at the top left of the screen 
4. Click on pay yourself back 

You will see the list above of all your activity that you can erase, just check off whichever ones you want to erase and click on continue. Chase will ask you if you want to erase the entire purchase or just partial and tell you the bonus. Hit confirm and submit. Your statement credit will post within 3 business days. This is very similar to the process used by the Capital One credit card. 

As a comparison, you can see on this grocery purchase, I earned 6.68 points because at that point, you just earned 1x points. But when I redeemed points to erase it, it didn't cost me 668 points due to the bonus. 

At this point, since you might not be traveling, it might make more sense to erase grocery, home improvement, and dining purchases and then buy your travel. You get the bonus when you erase those purchases and then you double dip by getting points again when you pay for your travel. If you decide to apply for the Chase Preferred credit card, please consider using my referral link and supporting my blog. Right now, you can get 50,000 points when you spend $4,000 in the first 3 months. That's about $625 in travel, groceries, home improvement or dining. Awesome!