Refinance Your Car Loan Due To Ultra-Low Interest Rates?

Posted on May 10, 2020 // Leave a Comment
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

Many interest rates are at all-time lows right now. This means that if you have any sort of debt, you should explore refinancing. The goal is to lower your interest rate and monthly payments while paying minimal upfront costs and fees.

Did you know that you can refinance your existing car loan? While I advise avoiding car loans because they turn a painful $1,500 in optional features into “only” $20 a month, I also know that most people do end up taking out a loan. Experian says that 85% of new cars and 55% of used cards are financed as of Q4 2019.

I’ve long recommended a good credit union for a new or used car loan. Below are one refi-centric rate comparison and several national credit unions that offer competitive rates on refinancing existing car loans – down to as low as 2% APR. For credit unions, don’t be afraid to use the alternative paths listed to join. There should be no loan application fee, although you will have to undergo a credit check. You should get multiple quotes to compare, including at least one credit union.

MyAutoLoan.com Refinance

  • This one is not a credit union, it is like LendingTree for auto loan refinancing. Open to everyone, you submit one application and they will give you multiple quotes from different private lenders.
  • They offer an interest rate estimator tool with no credit check based on your overall credit profile.
  • No application fees.
  • Refinance for as low as 2.04% APR for 36 months. They seem to specialized in refi, as their listed refinance rates are lower than their new/used car purchase loan rates.
  • No payments for up to 90 days for qualified borrowers.

Pentagon Federal Credit Union

  • Membership open to active, honorably discharged, or retired military, Federal employees, or select membership groups. This includes being a Red Cross blood donor or volunteer. You can also join the Navy League for $25. I recommend just going through the PenFed application process and let them guide you.
  • Currently, they are offering a $250 bonus when you refinance an auto loan with them.
  • Refinance a 2019/2020 model year car for as low as 2.14% APR for 36 months.
  • Refinance a 2018 or older model year car for as low as 2.99% APR for 36 months.

Navy Federal Credit Union

  • Membership open to active military, veterans, and family members of veterans.
  • Refinance a 2019/2020 model year car for as low as 2.29% APR for 36 months.
  • Refinance a 2018 or older model year car for as low as 3.89% APR for 36 months.

USAA

  • Membership open to those with the military affiliation: active duty, Guard or Reserve, a veteran, an eligible family member, or a cadet or midshipman. USAA is the most strict about their membership if you are not military, but they usually have very competitive rates.
  • No application fee.
  • No payments until 60 days after your loan is approved.

Hanscom Federal Credit Union

  • Membership open to active or retired military as well as other partner organizations. If you don’t otherwise qualify, anyone can join the Nashua River Watershed Association for a one-time $35 fee.
  • Hanscom FCU offers a 0.25% discount for loans on new and used vehicles (excluding motorcycles) to current active duty members in the U.S. Military.
  • No application fees or title transfer fees.

Why multiple quotes? If you apply for a car loan, they will run a credit check and provide a specific rate quote on your credit report data. (Check your credit reports for free once a week until April 2021.) Thus, I wouldn’t only go by which place advertises the lowest “as low as” rate unless you have a perfect credit score. You should apply to multiple lenders and compare as they may target differed borrower profiles. If you make these credit checks within a short period of time (Experian suggests 14 days or less), the credit bureaus should automatically recognize that you are comparison shopping and only count one hard inquiry against your credit score.

Filed Under: Banking, Credit Cards, Debt //
Last updated: May 12, 2020
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.

Special Coronavirus Relief: Paid Leave, Mortgage Payments, Student Loans, Credit Cards, and Unemployment

Posted on March 22, 2020 // 2 Comments
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

Wow. I thought that I was prepared, but I must admit that I was still shaken by last week. For those facing severe financial emergencies right now, so I have tried to collect information and links to where you can hopefully find some help. Be prepared advocate for yourself; many of these will only be given to those who ask and are persistent. Everything is in flux as well, so if you don’t find success try again later. There will be more government stimulus coming.

Paid leave for small/mid-sized business employees, including part-time workers and self-employed. Eligible employees can receive up to 80 hours of paid sick leave and expanded paid child care leave for 12 weeks when employees’ children’s schools are closed or child care providers are unavailable. Business must have less than 500 employees (52% of workforce). This is done via refundable payroll tax credits. DOL press release. NYT article.

The act provided paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave for COVID-19 related reasons and created the refundable paid sick leave credit and the paid child-care leave credit for eligible employers. Eligible employers are businesses and tax-exempt organizations with fewer than 500 employees that are required to provide emergency paid sick leave and emergency paid family and medical leave under the act. Eligible employers will be able to claim these credits based on qualifying leave they provide between the effective date and Dec. 31, 2020. Equivalent credits are available to self-employed individuals based on similar circumstances.

Unemployment insurance. Many states are expanding their eligibility rules for unemployment benefits. You might be eligible if you have to stay at home to care for children. You may not have to officially quit your current job (i.e. your employer temporarily shuts down). You might be eligible if you are under quarantine or have to take care of someone under quarantine or infected. Please visit the Department of Labor for your specific state. CNBC article. DOL.gov/coronavirus.

Mortgage payments. Contact your mortgage or home-equity loan servicer directly to ask about mortgage payment deferral options. Fannie and Freddie Mac have instructed their loan servicers to suspend mortgage payments for up to 12 months if borrowers suffer hardship. In New York, the impacted can defer mortgage payments from any servicer for 90 days. Bank of America is allowing deferrals on a case-by-case basis, with the waived payments being added to the end of their loan term. CNBC article.

Student loans. President Trump announced that federally-held student loans would be set to 0% interest for at least 60 days in addition to being able to request forbearance for 60 days, but there has been a lot of difficulty in actually making the requests with loan servicers as they have cut back on call center hours. There will also be an automatic suspension of payments for any borrower more than 31 days delinquent as of March 13, 2020, or who becomes more than 31 days delinquent. Press release. ED.gov. Studentaid.gov.

Credit cards and auto loans. Chase, Citibank, American Express, US Bank, Discover, Ally Bank, and Apple have all announced some sort of accommodation for coronavirus. The offers are often vague, but it can’t hurt to call and ask for details. For example, Discover says it won’t report late payment to credit bureaus, but what about late fees and penalty APRs? Chase says they might waive fees or extend payment due dates, but only on a case-by-case basis. Apple (if approved) will allow you to skip your March credit card payment without incurring interest charges. Ally Bank will allow deferral of auto loan payments for 120 days, but finance charges will still accrue. Some of these are rather lame, like offering up credit line increases that were always available anyway.

Filed Under: Banking, Credit Cards, Deals & Offers, Real Estate //
Last updated: March 23, 2020
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.

Bank of America Free Museum Tickets 2020 Dates

Posted on January 31, 2020 // 3 Comments
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

Bank of America is running their Museums on Us program again for 2020, which offers cardholders free admissions to 200+ museums, science centers, and botanical gardens nationwide on the first full weekend of every month (Saturday and Sunday). Each person just needs to show their valid Bank of America or Merrill Lynch credit/debit card and photo ID for free admission.

Each cardholder gets one free general admission for themselves only, so be sure everyone with their own cards brings them. If you have a BofA credit card, you may consider adding family members (of any age) as a free authorized user. Another option is to open a Kids Savings Account with no monthly fee and also comes with a debit card. You may need to open this in a physical branch.

2020 Calendar Dates (Check specific museum for hours)

  • January 4th & 5th
  • February 1st & 2nd
  • March 7th & 8th
  • April 4th & 5th
  • May 2nd & 3rd
  • June 6th & 7th
  • July 4th & 5th
  • August 1st & 2nd
  • September 5th & 6th
  • October 3rd & 4th
  • November 7th & 8th
  • December 5th & 6th

Here is the full list of participating locations. For example, one of the available museums is the Thinkery in Austin, Texas. We found it to be a fun and interactive children’s science center. The admission was $12 per person including kids (23 months and under free), which means this could have saved our family of five a total of $60 for that one day. I’ve seen other museums on their list with $20 admission prices.

Sign up for reminders! I admit that I’ve probably missed more free dates than I’ve actually gone. I recommend signing up for their free e-mail reminder before each free weekend. I signed up and didn’t notice any horrible spam from BofA, just the reminders.

Bottom line. While I wouldn’t open a new bank or credit card account for this feature, free museum admission on the first full weekend of every month is a nice perk if you already have accounts with Bank of America.

Filed Under: Banking, Credit Cards //
Last updated: January 22, 2020
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.

Citi® Diamond Preferred® Card: 0% Intro APR for 21 months on Balance Transfers

Posted on January 2, 2020 // Leave a Comment
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

One of the most common resolutions is to pay down debt. Rewards-earning credit cards may not be optimal for those carrying balances and thus more impacted by 18% interest rates than a relatively puny 2% back on purchases. Consider the Citi® Diamond Preferred® Card, which doesn’t offer a fancy rewards structure but has brought back their longest 0% APR intro balance transfer period. The highlights:

  • 0% Intro APR for 21 months on balance transfers from date of first transfer and 0% Intro APR for 12 months on purchases from date of account opening. After that the variable APR will be 17.99% – 28.74%, based on your creditworthiness. Balance transfers must be completed within 4 months of account opening.
  • There is a balance transfer fee of either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater
  • Get free access to your FICO® Score online.
  • With Citi Entertainment®, get special access to purchase tickets to thousands of events, including concerts, sporting events, dining experiences and more.
  • No annual fee.

The strong part of this card is the long 21 month period, so you can spread out payments over 1.75 years and ideally pay it all off by the end. There is a 5% balance transfer fee ($5 min). However, if you’re currently paying 18% APR, then a 5% fee is the equivalent of paying 3.33 months of interest at that previous rate, and then you’ll still be left with 17.7 months at 0% interest.

Once the intro period on all 0% cards expire, the rates will go right back up. You’ll either need to pay it off or transfer your balance again if you need more time. This card lets you spread your payments out over 21 months instead of 6 or 12.

If you are certain that you can pay it off within a shorter time period, look for a card with no balance transfer fee. Compare with other low fee 0% APR balance transfer offers.

Bottom line. The Citi® Diamond Preferred® Card is a card targeted that for those serious about paying down their balances. The 0% introductory period of 21 months on balance transfers is the longest they offer, with a one-time 5% balance transfer fee ($5 min). No annual fee.

  • Citi® Diamond Preferred® Card application link
Filed Under: Credit Cards, Deals & Offers, General //
Last updated: May 9, 2023
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.

Bank of America Free Museum Tickets 2019 Dates (+ New Holiday Dates)

Posted on December 18, 2019 // 6 Comments
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

(Update: BofA has added an additional six days of free museum admission in 2019, from 12/26-12/31. In case you need something extra and no-cost to do during the winter break! I just went back to the Thinkery in Austin, TX again recently and it was awesome again but those admissions quickly added up for an entire family.)

bofa_musBank of America is running their Museums on Us program again for 2019, which offers cardholders free admissions to 200+ museums, science centers, and botanical gardens nationwide on the first full weekend of every month (Saturday and Sunday). Each person just needs to show their valid Bank of America or Merrill Lynch credit or debit card and photo ID for free admission.

Each cardholder gets one free general admission for themselves only, so be sure everyone with their own cards brings them. If you have a BofA credit card, you may consider adding family members (of any age) as a free authorized user. Another option is to open a Kids Savings Account with no monthly fee and also comes with a debit card. You may need to open this in a physical branch.

2019 Calendar Dates (Check specific museum for hours)

  • January 5th & 6th
  • February 2nd & 3rd
  • March 2nd & 3rd
  • April 6th & 7th
  • May 4th & 5th
  • June 1st & 2nd
  • July 6th & 7th
  • August 3rd & 4th
  • September 7th & 8th
  • October 5th & 6th
  • November 2nd & 3rd
  • December 7th & 8th

Here is the full list of participating locations [pdf]. One of the available museums is the Thinkery in Austin, Texas. We found it to be a fun and interactive children’s science center. The admission was $12 per person including kids (23 months and under free), which means this could have saved our family of five $60 for that one day. I’ve seen other museums on their list with $20 admission prices.

While I wouldn’t open a new bank or credit card account for this feature, it is a nice perk if you already have such accounts. You can also sign-up for a free text reminder before each free weekend. I signed up and haven’t gotten any spam texts from BofA, just the reminders.

Filed Under: Banking, Credit Cards //
Last updated: December 19, 2019
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.

Capital One Spark Miles For Business: 50,000 Bonus Miles, Worth $500 Towards Travel

Posted on October 23, 2019 // 1 Comment
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

The Capital One Spark Miles for Business is a rewards business card offering a big early spend bonus offer in addition to ongoing 2 Miles per $1 on every purchase. Here are the highlights:

5 Miles per dollar on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel.

  • Unlimited 2 Miles per $1 on every purchase, everywhere.
  • 50,000 bonus miles – equal to $500 towards any travel-related purchases – when you spend $4,500 in purchases within the first 3 months.
  • Unlimited 5X miles on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel.
  • $0 annual fee for the first year, then $95 annual fee after that.
  • Transfer your miles to 15+ travel loyalty programs.
  • Redeem your miles instantly for any travel-related purchases, from flights and hotels to ride-sharing services.
  • Up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck(R).
  • Miles never expire as long as your account is open.
  • No foreign transaction fees.
  • Free additional employee cards.

Consider that if you meet the $4,500 spending requirement within 3 months, you will end up with 50,000 miles + 9,000 miles from 2X rewards = 59,000 miles = $590 towards travel purchases on $4,500 spending (13% cash back!).

Note that “Existing or previous Accountholders may not be eligible for this one-time bonus.” For comparison, there is also a Spark Select for Business and Spark Classic that are different cards with lower sign-up bonuses but no annual fee.

The 2 miles per dollar spent for all purchases is a strong rewards structure, and the annual fee is waived for the first year as well. From the second year onward, you’ll have to weigh that against the $95 annual fee after the first year. The math says that you would have to spend more than $19,000 every year ($1,583 a month) to make the 2X miles and $95 annual fee (Spark Miles)pay out more rewards than 1.5X miles and no annual fee (Spark Miles Select).

The travel can be booked directly through airlines and hotels, and there are no blackout dates or award seat limits to worry about.

Miles transfer options. Capital One now allows you to transfer your “miles” into select airline miles programs as well. Here are the airline transfer partners:

  • Aeromexico
  • Air France/KLM
  • Air Canada Aeroplan
  • Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
  • Avianca Lifemiles
  • British Airways Avios
  • Emirates Skywards
  • Etihad
  • EVA
  • Finnair
  • Qantas
  • Singapore Airlines Krisflyer
  • TAP Air Portugal
  • Turkish Airlines
  • Virgin Red

Hotel partners

  • Accor Live Limitless
  • Choice Hotels

If you know how to leverage one of these international airline miles programs, this can be a very valuable option. Otherwise, it’s nice to know you can always get a certain level of value by redeeming against any travel purchase.

If you are looking for a comparison with other strong business cards, check out my updated list of Top 10 Best Small Business Credit Card Bonus Offers.

Filed Under: Credit Cards, Deals & Offers, General //
Last updated: October 1, 2024
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.

Chase Sapphire Banking: $1,000 Bonus For New/Existing Customers ($75,000 Assets)

Posted on September 26, 2019 // 6 Comments
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

New bonus. Chase has a new $1,000 cash bonus offer if you upgrade to or open a new Sapphire Banking account. To qualify, you must transfer a total of $75,000 or more in new money or securities into eligible Chase checking, savings and/or investment accounts. You must open by 11/19/2019, complete the $75k transfer within 45 days of opening, and maintain that balance for at least 90 days from the date of funding. Chase will deposit the bonus into your new account within 10 business days after meeting the requirements.

Banks are trying to develop relationships with the “might be rich in the future” crowd instead of only courting the “really rich”. Okay, the official term is “mass affluent”. Sapphire Banking is a new brand extension of their popular Chase Sapphire line of credit cards, although you don’t need to have one to open this account.

Sapphire Banking details. This is a “premium” checking account for those that can keep $75,000 in deposits or investments in qualifying Chase accounts. If you have less than $75k in assets, then a $25 monthly fee applies. Sapphire Banking perks include:

  • No ATM fees, including rebates on fees charged by non-Chase ATMs.
  • No fees for foreign exchange (ATM/debit), outgoing wire transfers, or stop payments.
  • No fees on the first four overdrafts within 12 months.
  • Free online stock and ETF trades with You Invest by JP Morgan.
  • Access to Sapphire lounges at concerts, sports and special events, early ticket sales and premium seats.
  • $0 monthly service fee on a linked Chase Total Business Checking account.

Moving over ETFs, mutual funds, and stocks. Since investments count towards the $75,000 requirement, if you have that much in ETFs, mutual funds, or stocks at another broker, you could perform an in-kind ACAT transfer over to their discount brokerage firm You Invest. All of your tax basis information should also move over seamlessly these days. Your old broker may charge you an outgoing ACAT fee about about $75, although you might ask You Invest if they will reimburse you for this fee. This would let you avoid parking $75,000 at Chase earning nearly zero interest (okay, it’s 0.01% APY). Losing out on 2% interest on $75k works out to a rate of $125 interest per month ($1,500 per year).

Alternatively, you could move over some cash and then invest in something similar to cash. I’m not sure if You Invest will let you buy individual US Treasury bills or brokered CDs. If not, you might also consider ultra-short bond ETFs like MINT or Treasury Bill ETFs like BIL.

Bonus math. Let’s say they want you to keep your $75k there for 90 days and to be safe you keep it there for another 10 business days until you see the bonus. Let’s make that 120 total days to be conservative. Earning $1,000 over 120 days on a $75,000 balance is ~4% annualized. This is on top of any other return from your investments (T-Bill interest, etc).

This is about the highest bonus that I have seen on this account, which is good because you can only get it once per 12 month period. This includes the You Invest bonus, which would only give you $200 right now if you transferred in under $100,000. The bonus will be reported on a 1099-INT:

You can only participate in one Chase Private Client CheckingSM, Chase SapphireSM Checking or You InvestSM new money bonus in a 12 month period. Coupon is good for one time use and only one bonus per account. Bonus is considered interest and will be reported on IRS Form 1099-INT (or Form 1042-S, if applicable).

Bottom line. Chase Bank has a premium checking account tier called Sapphire Banking, targeted at the “mass affluent”. There is a new account bonus of $1,000 for both new and existing Chase bank customers if you move over $75,000 in cash and/or investment assets.

Filed Under: Banking, Credit Cards, Deals & Offers //
Last updated: September 26, 2019
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.

Capital One Walmart Rewards Mastercard Review: 5% Back, But With Restrictions

Posted on September 24, 2019 // 7 Comments
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

Today, Walmart launched their new Capital One Walmart Rewards Mastercard (credit card) and Walmart Rewards Card (store card that only works at Walmart). Here are the highlights, which unfortunately include some hoops and hurdles to jump through.

  • Intro offer: 5% back at Walmart in-store when using Walmart Pay during the first 12 months.
  • 5% back on purchases at Walmart.com and Walmart app (includes Walmart Grocery Pickup and Delivery).
  • 2% back on Walmart purchases in stores after the introductory offer.
  • 2% back on restaurants and travel.
  • 1% back on all other purchases.
  • No foreign transaction fee.
  • No annual fee.

You can redeem your rewards during online checkout at Walmart.com, for recent purchases, and statement credits. (Gift cards and travel are listed as options too, but why would you choose that over cash unless they offer some sort of bonus?)

The only long-lasting benefit is the 5% back at Walmart.com and Walmart app (includes Walmart Grocery Pickup and Delivery). If you spent $1,000 a year at Walmart.com, then that’ll get you $50 in cashback. I might spend that much at Walmart in-store over a year, but definitely not Walmart.com at this time. If they released Walmart’s in-store sales volume compared to their online sales, I think you’d see a large disparity.

I was disappointed to see that 5% back in-store only works (1) if you remember to set up and use their Walmart iOS or Andriod app and (2) it only lasts for the first 12 months. After a year, it’s back down to only 2% back on Walmart purchases which really isn’t very appealing with multiple 2% cash back on everything alternatives. Did they not realize that nobody liked their old Synchrony card because it only offered a super-sad 1% back at Walmart stores?

Why is Walmart so stingy with the cash back? Perhaps Walmart’s profit margins are too slim to match Target REDcard’s 5% cash back on both in-store and online purchases. I suppose you could see that as a good thing. But still, it gives me little reason to get this card. Costco only offers 2% back via their self-branded credit card, but at least throws in 4% back on gas and 3% back on travel and restaurants. Meanwhile, Amazon offers 5% back if you have Prime and includes Whole Foods purchases.

Bottom line. Walmart has a new co-branded credit card. The only long-lasting benefit is the 5% back at Walmart.com and Walmart app (includes Walmart Grocery Pickup and Delivery). It’s not very good any place outside of Walmart, and not even especially good at Walmart stores after the first year. If Walmart.com steps up their game to include better delivery options, perhaps it will be worth a second look.

Filed Under: Credit Cards, Deals & Offers //
Last updated: September 25, 2019
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.

Equifax Data Breach Settlement: Free Credit Monitoring vs. Reduced Claim

Posted on July 31, 2019 // 25 Comments
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

Update. As many of you correctly pointed out, only $31 million was allotted to the $125 alternative payment if you opted out of the free credit monitoring. The FTC has provided an update encouraging people to pick the free monitoring:

I thought I could choose $125 instead of free credit monitoring. What happened?

The public response to the settlement has been overwhelming. Millions of people have visited this site in just the first week. Because the total amount available for these alternative payments is $31 million, each person who takes the money option is going to get a very small amount. Nowhere near the $125 they could have gotten if there hadn’t been such an enormous number of claims filed.

The free credit monitoring provides a much better value, and everyone whose information was exposed can take advantage of it. If your information was exposed in the data breach, and you file a valid claim before the deadline, you are guaranteed at least four years of free monitoring at all three credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) and $1,000,000 of identity theft insurance, among other benefits. The market value of this product is hundreds of dollars per year.

You can still choose the cash option on the claim form, but you will be disappointed with the amount you receive and you won’t get the free credit monitoring.

My perspective is that data breaches are happening all the time. (Capital One was breached just this week.) All of them just say “oh my, we’re sorry, here’s some free credit monitoring”. I’ve probably got about 8 different credit monitoring services going on right now, and I’m sure more will be offered shortly. I do NOT value their free monitoring at some “retail value” of hundreds of dollars. You may feel differently. I think that people should be rightly angry if they end up with a few bucks in the end, which hopefully will spur further change and make future penalties more severe. If all these companies care about is money, then isn’t a huge cash penalty a better deterrent to lazy security practices?

Original post:

Equifax has reached a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and 48 out of 50 states over their huge data breach that was discovered in 2017. You can find full details at FTC.gov, where you can confirm the official claim website. You can check your eligibility at this lookup tool. You will need to provide your last name and last 6 digits of SSN.

First, you can get up to 10 years of free credit monitoring or $125 if you decide not to enroll because you already have credit monitoring. No supporting documentation necessary. I am already using these free daily credit monitoring services and they have been working well for me, so I am definitely filing a claim for the cash payment of $125. However, some people may prefer the monitoring. You can file a claim for every person in your household that is 18 or older.

Next, you can be compensated for the time you spent dealing with the claim, at a rate of $25 per hour up to 20 hours. Supporting documentation requirements vary as follows:

  • If you submit a claim for 10 hours or less, you must describe the actions you took and the time you spent doing those things.
  • If you claim more than 10 hours, you must describe the actions you took AND provide documents that show identity theft, fraud, or other misuse of your information.

If you are the type of person that read this website, you probably did spend at least some amount of time dealing with the data breach. For me, these activities mostly happened near the time the breach was discovered in September 2017.

  • You might have spent time reading press releases and news articles about the data breach and how it might impact your financial life and how to avoid identity theft.
  • You might have spent time reading official websites about all of the many differences between a credit freeze and fraud alert.
  • You might have spent time on the phone or online in order to place and/or removing those credit freezes and fraud alerts.
  • Finally, you probably checked all of your credit reports from all three credit bureaus, probably multiple times, in order to make sure there was no fraudulent activity.

For example, if you spent 5 hours doing this total, you can file a claim for an additional $125 (5 times $25) by listing and attesting to your activities but without having to provide physical documentation.

You can also file claims for direct expenses that you paid as a result of the breach (supporting documentation required), including:

  • Losses from unauthorized charges to your accounts
  • The cost of freezing or unfreezing your credit report
  • The cost of credit monitoring
  • Fees you paid to professionals like an accountant or attorney
  • Other expenses like notary fees, document shipping fees and postage, mileage, and phone charges

As with many such settlements, the final amounts may be reduced depending on the number of people who make a claim.

Finally, starting in 2020, all US consumers can get 6 free credit reports per year for 7 years from the Equifax website. That’s in addition to the one free Equifax report (plus your Experian and TransUnion reports) you can get at AnnualCreditReport.com. You can sign up for an email reminder if you want.

Filed Under: Credit Cards, Deals & Offers //
Last updated: July 31, 2019
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.

Our Family Travel Award Redemptions 2019

Posted on July 11, 2019 // 2 Comments
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

I’m not a Instagram travel blogger and I’ll never visit every country in the world, but I do earn enough points from navigating the top credit card offers to fund a big chunk of our annual travel each year. We are a family of five including a toddler, so we redeem for domestic economy class tickets to see grandparents instead of business class seats to an over-water Maldives bungalow. We also travel in peak times due to school schedules, so it’s harder to hunt for high value opportunities. I used to worry about this, but now we just earn ’em and burn ’em.

We are heading to Kauai later this month, which included these redemptions:

Economy flights to Hawaii – 15,000 to 40,000 American miles roundtrip each
The actual redemption amount will vary based on dates and times. The interisland flights are 7,500 miles each way (both AA/Hawaiian), and Mainland US to Hawaii are 20,000 miles each way.

You can earn American Airlines miles from multiple credit cards, as there are versions from both Citi and Barclaycard. Sometimes one offer is much better than the other, right now both are solid. Marriott/SPG points also transfer over to American miles. The cards will also let us get free checked bags and priority boarding, saving us more money.

Grand Hyatt Kauai – 25,000 Hyatt points per night
I’m excited to visit what is consistently rated the best resort in Kauai for the first time. You can earn Hyatt points from multiple credit cards as well. There is the Chase World of Hyatt card, and Ultimate Rewards also transfer over on a 1:1 basis instantly to Hyatt. That means the Chase Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire Reserve, Freedom, and Freedom Unlimited all earn points that can lead to a nice resort in Hawaii. (I also got a ton of points from the Ink Business Preferred for small businesses.)

Transferring some Chase points over let me top off the account to reach exactly the number of points needed. Redeeming with Hyatt points also includes all taxes and let me avoid the daily $35/resort fee. Here’s a screenshot showing that the total cash cost for our stay would have been $701 per night (2.8 cents per Hyatt point) after adding in the resort fee:

(I’m also getting 10% of my redeemed points back from this promo, so in the end I’ll be getting more than 3 cents per Hyatt point.)

For the holidays, we are heading to visit family in Austin, Texas:

Economy flights to Austin – 20,000 British Airlines Avios roundtrip each
The flights are actually on American as well, just using Avios. While far from my best Avios redemption, it worked out as British Airways allows you to “household” an account. We had a previous trip so a lot of miles were spread across the kids’ accounts, and this feature lets us pool the points and use them all up. For example, what if you had 18,000 points in five different accounts and the award you wanted was 100,000 points? Avios lets you pool them together, and you could transfer over some American Express Membership Rewards or Chase Ultimate Rewards points to top things off.

Besides past flights, our main source of Avios points was the Chase British Airways card.

SpringHill Suites Austin – 14,000 Marriott points per night
No free scuba lessons or water slides here. This is just a nice suite hotel so that we can fit all five of us in comfort. There is a solid free buffet breakfast, and it’s close to family (and a Rudy’s BBQ).

Marriott also has credit cards from both Chase and American Express that can provide lots of points-earning opportunities.

Both my wife and I apply for a few new cards each year, but we don’t go past that much anymore. Our basic idea is to try out one card at a time. Sometimes the perks are pleasantly much better than expected, and other times they are harder to use than expected.

Filed Under: Credit Cards, Deals & Offers, Travel //
Last updated: May 30, 2020
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.

Which Airline Miles Are Easiest To Redeem For Economy Awards? 2019

Posted on June 30, 2019 // 2 Comments
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

Cashing in your frequent flier miles for a free flight can be hit or miss, especially around a holiday. Which airlines are the most generous with making seats available? Each year, consulting firm IdeaWorks tries to run a fair comparison of all the major airlines to keep them honest. This WSJ article (paywall?) discusses their process:

In March, IdeaWorks searched for two award seats together on various travel dates between June and October on each airline’s busiest routes. Seats have to be available at the airline’s lowest everyday price—typically 25,000 miles round trip for a domestic coach ticket. The company made nearly 4,000 queries.

Below are the rankings of the 6 major US airlines. It is important to remember that this ranking focuses on domestic economy tickets only (no business class or international flights). The article does also rank international airlines on availability from a related metric.

For 2019, the most improved airline is United Airlines, while the worst decline goes to Delta. Not surprisingly, United claims this was totally on purpose because that’s what customers want and they are all about that… Meanwhile Delta suggested that the change was simply a result of more demand because their program is so popular. Shrug.

If you fly a lot on United, you can get significantly expanded award availability with the Chase United Explorer card. Add in the free checked bag for you and a companion, and the perks can easily offset the annual fee.

Southwest and JetBlue remain on top at close to 100% availability, but that is a bit misleading since both of their points are revenue-linked with no blackout dates. For example, 25,000 Southwest points will buy you basically any “Wanna Get Away” ticket that costs up to about $375. So the results are really just saying that Southwest’s busiest routes almost always have a flight that costs under ~$375. JetBlue is only 98% because some of their flights are just over the price threshold. I wonder if they included flights to Hawaii, now that Southwest flies there?

I have come to appreciate the simplicity of Southwest’s structure, especially now that I primarily shop for multiple economy tickets. For example, you can reliably value their credit card bonuses of 40,000 points = $600 in Wanna Get Away airfare, and 80,000 points = $1,200 of Wanna Get Away airfare. I can buy five seats on the same flight, no problem. Others prefer the traditional, more complex structure because it offered the skilled person the chance to get outsized value, like a $3,000 ticket for 50,000 points.

Airlines make a huge percentage of their revenue from selling these airline miles, which they create out of thin air both for actual flying and specifically for credit card users. This also means they have an incentive to create “miles inflation” such that each mile is worth less and less over time. I like this annual WSJ survey because it shows that someone is paying attention and calling them out publicly, at least on seat availability.

Filed Under: Credit Cards, Deals & Offers, Frugal Living //
Last updated: June 30, 2019
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.

World of Hyatt Credit Card Review: Up to 65,000 Bonus Points

Posted on June 17, 2019 // 4 Comments
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

World of Hyatt credit card is a Hyatt consumer credit card issued by Chase that offers several perks for those that enjoy Hyatt hotels. There is a current sign-up bonus of up to 65,000 Hyatt points. Here are the highlights:

  • Earn up to 65,000 Bonus Points. Earn 35,000 Bonus Points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening. Plus, up to 30,000 more Bonus Points by earning 2 Bonus Points total per $1 spent in the first 6 months from account opening on purchases that normally earn 1 Bonus Point, on up to $15,000 spent.
  • Enjoy complimentary World of Hyatt Discoverist status for as long as your account is open.
  • 1 Free Night award each year after your Cardmember anniversary at any Category 1-4 Hyatt hotel or resort.
  • 1 Additional Free Night award at any Category 1-4 Hyatt hotel or resort if you spend $15,000 during your cardmember anniversary year.
  • Receive 5 tier qualifying night credits towards status after account opening, and each year after that for as long as your account is open.
  • Earn 2 qualifying night credits towards your next tier status every time you spend $5,000 on your card.
  • Earn up to 9 points total for Hyatt stays – 4 Bonus Points per $1 spent at Hyatt hotels & 5 Base Points per $1 from Hyatt as a World of Hyatt member
  • Earn 2 Bonus Points per $1 spent at restaurants, on airline tickets purchased directly from the airlines, on local transit and commuting and on fitness club and gym memberships
  • $95 annual fee.

If you’ve gotten a bonus from any Hyatt Card within the last 2 years, please note the following:

The product is not available to either (i) current Cardmembers of any Hyatt Credit Card, or (ii) previous Cardmembers of any Hyatt Credit Card who received a new Cardmember bonus within the last 24 months.

If you have the old Chase Hyatt card, you can call them up and ask for upgrade options.

The 5/24 rule applies to this card. On many Chase cards, there is an unofficial rule that they will automatically deny approval on new credit cards if you have 5 or more new credit cards from any issuer on your credit report within the past 2 years (aka the 5/24 rule). This rule is designed to discourage folks that apply for high numbers of sign-up bonuses. This is applied on a per-person basis, so in our household one applies to Chase while the other applies at other card issuers. The 5/24 rule is now believed to apply to this card.

What can you get with 50,000 Hyatt points? Here are all the Hyatt redemption options, but the most popular options are for free hotel nights, points+cash hotel combinations, or room upgrades. Hyatt allows you the flexibility of combining your points with any other World of Hyatt member to redeem an award.

After the recent Marriott/Starwood merger, I believe that Hyatt points are now the most valuable hotel points on a per-point basis. In general, I would rather convert my Chase Ultimate Rewards points into Hyatt points than any other hotel program.

Below is their points award chart, and here is their award search tool. Free rooms start at 5,000 points. A suite upgrade is 6,000 points.

For example, 50,000 points can get you two free nights at the Category 6 properties like the Hyatt Regency Maui or Grand Hyatt Kauai (25,000 pts/night). You also avoid the resort fees of up to $45 per night with an award redemption. Alternatively, 50,000 points would get you 4 nights at a Category 3 like the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress in Orlando (12,000 pts/night) with some points left over. Finally, you could get 10 nights at 5,000 points per Category 1 night like the Hyatt Place Austin/Round Rock.

If you compare with the cash cost of these hotels, the number varies you are nearly always getting between 1 cent and 2 cents per point value, sometimes more. We are staying at the Grand Hyatt Kauai this summer on Hyatt points from this card, where the cash value is $701 per night when you include all taxes and the $35/night resort fee. That works out to 2.8 cents per Hyatt point.

Annual fee and free anniversary night. This card does have a $95 annual fee, but in exchange you get a Free Night Certificate good at any Category 1-4 hotel or resort. I can easily get $95 of value out of this certificate, so this card is a keeper card for me. Your travel situation may be different.

You can also earn an additional free night at any Category 1-4 Hyatt hotel if you spend $15,000 during your cardmember anniversary year. I had to spend $6,000 to reach the sign-up bonus the first year, so I went ahead and reached this hurdle to reach a total of 2 free Cat 1-4 nights + 50,000 points after the first year. I probably won’t go for it in future years, though.

Hyatt points expire after 24 months of inactivity, but earning points via this credit card counts as activity. Chase Ultimate Rewards points also convert to Hyatt points and the transfer counts as activity.

Ongoing rewards structure. I might book my Hyatt nights on this card, but the rest of the rewards aren’t terribly exciting to me.

  • 9 points total per $1 spent at Hyatt – 4 Bonus Points per $1 when you use your card at Hyatt hotels & 5 Base Points per $1 you can earn as a World of Hyatt member.
  • 2 points per $1 spent at restaurants, on airlines tickets purchased directly from the airlines, on local transit and commuting and on fitness club and gym memberships.
  • 1 point per $1 spent on all other card purchasesoffer details reference link*

The free Discoverist status from this card gets you a free bottle of water daily, a free upgrade to premium WiFi internet, dedicated check-in area, and a 2pm late checkout upon request at participating locations. You are also eligible for a minor room upgrade within your type booked.

Bottom line. The Chase World of Hyatt card is the new co-branded Hyatt credit card. As with most of these types of card, the best value is obtained by folks like like to stay at Hyatt properties. World of Hyatt is my favorite hotel rewards program, and thus my favorite hotel point to earn.

Also see: Top 10 Best Credit Card Bonus Offers.

Filed Under: Credit Cards, Deals & Offers, General //
Last updated: January 16, 2025
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.

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