[Amex Offers] Starbucks 15% off, up to $5 (max $75 spent)

Yesterday, Chase Offers released a Starbucks promotion. Today, Amex respond in kind.

Short Summary:

Get 15% of your in-store purchase back as statement credit each time you use your enrolled Card at Starbucks by 3/5/2018. Valid in-store at stand-alone Starbucks locations and for app reloads. Limit $5 in statement credits. See terms for exclusions.

Detailed Terms:

Enrollment limited. Valid in-store at stand-alone Starbucks locations and for app reloads. Valid at participating locations in US and US territories only. Excludes Starbucks within the following locations: i) retail stores, department stores, supermarkets, malls, outlet malls, ii) hotels, resorts, casinos, convention centers, cruise ships, theme parks, iii) airport terminals, train/bus stations, highway rest-stops, iv) hospitals, military bases, office buildings, and university/college campuses. Not valid for e-gift card purchases. Excludes physical gift cards purchased online. Excludes Teavana Brand. Offer is non-transferable. Limit of $5 in statement credit(s) per American Express® online account. Statement credit will appear on your billing statement within 90 days after 3/5/2018, provided that American Express receives information from the merchant about your qualifying purchase. Note that American Express may not receive information about your qualifying purchase from merchant until all items from your qualifying purchase have been provided/shipped by merchant. Statement credit may be reversed if qualifying purchase is returned/cancelled. If American Express does not receive information that identifies your transaction as qualifying for the offer, you will not receive the statement credit. For example, your transaction will not qualify if it is not made directly with the merchant. In addition, in most cases, you will not receive the statement credit if your transaction is made with an electronic wallet or through a third party or if the merchant uses a mobile or wireless card reader to process it. By adding an offer to a Card, you agree that American Express may send you communications about the offer. POID: GAB2:0001

Conclusion:

While the total is limit to $5 as opposed to $10 cap of Chase Offers, the percentage of saving is at a much better 15 percent. This translates into $5 saving for $75. Although I've seen savings for Starbucks gift cards at better rates (e.g. 20, 25 or even 50%) in the past, I am not aware of any better widely available promotions right now. So it's not such a bad idea to stock up if you visit Starbucks regularly.

[Chase Offer] Starbucsk 10% back (up to $100 spent)

Chase Offers is releasing some interesting offers today. Too bad this one only applies to Marriott Visa and not all the visa cards offered by Chase.

Detail:

Starbucks

10% back (up to $100) on an in-store purchase

Limit 1 per activation/account; Not valid on gift card or Starbucks Card purchases or reloads; at participating stores only.

Must use registered Chase Marriott Visa card. Valid for in-store purchase at participating Starbucks stores. Not all merchant locations may be monitored by Visa. $100 max. statement credit.

In-store only

Available until 1/31/18

Conclusion:

Maximum $10 back from Starbucks purchase isn't too bad. It would be nice if this was offered earlier when the refill mugs are available.  But this would at least come in handy when buying those beautiful city mugs.

[Amex offer] Twitter and FB sync option discontinued

It appears that Amex has decided to stop allowing people to sign up Amex Offers through twitter and FB as of today. This means I can no longer get my favorite offers on my Penfed Amex; what’s worse, I’m now completely at the mercy of Amex’s customized algorithm to decide if I would be offered certain perks. I used to load up those $25 off $250 Best Buy offers on all my cards for my holiday shoppings.

This come at a time when Chase is getting into this business so hopefully the competition will keep the impact at minimal. At the end of the day, most of time I load these offers up and ended up not using them. As long as good offers are consistently being released, I’ll keep using them.


Source: Doctor of Credit

[Hilton] Hilton Gold and Diamond get free breakfast at Waldorf Astoria

Hilton just gave me a gift for 2018 travel. Apparently Gold and Diamond member may now have the option of free breakfast (and also for one guest) when staying at Waldorf Astoria properties. I used to choose Hilton over Waldorf when I visited New York and Chicago last year because the lack of free breakfast but now I'll definitely reconsider.

Just a friendly reminder that you can get Gold status if you are either the primary card holder of Amex Platinum or authorized user.


source: thepointsguy

[Amex Offer] Save 15% at Starbucks, up to $5

Rejoice, coffee lovers, Amex is offering 15% back for in-store purchase, limit $5, offer ends 12/18. Might be a good idea just to buy gift card and load it to your Starbucks account so you can take advantage of their loyalty program as well.

Full Terms

Enrollment limited. Valid in-store only at stand-alone Starbucks locations. Valid at participating locations in US and US territories only. Not valid for online purchases or mobile app reloads. Excludes Starbucks within the following locations: i) retail stores, department stores, supermarkets, malls, outlet malls, ii) hotels, resorts, casinos, convention centers, cruise ships, theme parks, iii) airport terminals, train/bus stations, highway rest-stops, iv) hospitals, military bases, office buildings, and university/college campuses. Offer is non-transferable. Limit $5 in statement credit(s) per American Express® online account. Statement credit will appear on your billing statement within 90 days after 12/18/2017, provided that American Express receives information from the merchant about your qualifying purchase. Note that American Express may not receive information about your qualifying purchase from merchant until all items from your qualifying purchase have been provided/shipped by merchant. Statement credit may be reversed if qualifying purchase is returned/cancelled. If American Express does not receive information that identifies your transaction as qualifying for the offer, you will not receive the statement credit. For example, your transaction will not qualify if it is not made directly with the merchant. In addition, in most cases, you will not receive the statement credit if your transaction is made with an electronic wallet or through a third party or if the merchant uses a mobile or wireless card reader to process it. By adding an offer to a Card, you agree that American Express may send you communications about the offer. POID: G9S0:0002

[Amex Offer] $30 off $150 at Comfort Hotels

American Express just released a pretty nice offer today: $30 off $150 on Comfort hotels. Interestingly enough, for me, in both instances, the offer is only found on the authorized user and not the main cardholder. Nevertheless, 20% off is a pretty good deal anyway.

Details:

Get a one-time $30 statement credit by using your enrolled Card to spend a minimum of $150+ on room rate and room charges, when you pay for your stay with Comfort® hotels from 10/2/2017 to 12/2/2017

Full Terms:

Enrollment limited. Offer valid on Comfort Inn®, Comfort Suites®, and Comfort Inn & Suites® locations in the US and Puerto Rico. Reservations must be made online at newcomforthotels.com or by using the mobile app. Excludes the following Choice Hotels® brands: Sleep Inn®, Quality Inn®, Clarion®, MainStay Suites®, Suburban®, Econo Lodge®, Rodeway Inn®, Ascend® and Cambria®. Excludes Vacation Rentals and points purchases for the Choice Privileges Rewards Program. Excludes physical gift cards purchased online. Offer only valid on room rate and room charges. Offer not valid for lodging stays that are paid for before the promotion start date or after the promotion end date. Must add offer to Card and use same Card to redeem. Limit 1 statement credit(s) per American Express® Card across all American Express offer channels. Statement credit will appear on your billing statement within 90 days after 12/2/2017, provided that American Express receives information from the merchant about your qualifying purchase. Statement credit may be reversed if qualifying purchase is cancelled. If American Express does not receive information that identifies your transaction as qualifying for the offer, you will not receive the statement credit. For example, your transaction will not qualify if it is not made directly with the merchant. In addition, in most cases, you may not receive the statement credit if your transaction is made with an electronic wallet or through a third party or if the merchant uses a mobile or wireless card reader to process it. By adding an offer to a Card, you agree that American Express may send you communications about the offer. POID: CHPD:0001

[Marriott] [YMMV] Stay 14 Nights for 2018 Gold Status

When I checked my mail today, I received something from Marriott. It turns out, I will be able to maintain Gold status if I just stay 14 more nights between now and end of the year (12/31). Marriott Gold normally requires 50 nights a year and I was lucky enough to get to Gold status thanks to Amex Platinium automatically this year.

Marriott Gold's benefit can be found here

key benefits that are useful even for infrequent travelers:

Lounge Access/Free Breakfast

25% Bonus on Marriott Rewards Points

Complimentary Enhanced Internet Access

Guaranteed Late Checkout

Conclusion:

 Stay 14 nights for a year of Gold status isn't a bad deal, especially considering that Marriott is also running a Megabonus right now; I'm definitely going to adjust my upcoming reservations in light of the new development.