Barnes & Noble bookstores and AT&T are now offering free wireless internet access to everyone. You can use this storefinder to see which ones have free Wi-Fi. Seems like they are now promoting their own e-Books as well through the service. Via Lifehacker.

You can still get 2 hours of free Wi-Fi every day from Starbucks if you register a gift card and use it once a month. Sometimes you just need a change of scenery to get the inspiration going again.

In my post Does My Car Qualify For Cash for Clunkers?, one of the major requirements was that the car must have a combined fuel economy of 18 mpg or less, according to FuelEconomy.gov. Many people have been complaining that their old car gets nowhere near the mileage that the website says they do, but at least there was a definitive source.

But wait. Due to some government wackiness, last week the EPA changed the ratings on nearly a hundred models of cars so that they no longer qualify. For example, some versions of the 1988 Toyota 4Runner SUV now have combined MPG ratings of over 19. The buzz about Cash for Clunkers has been going on for months, so people have been getting ready to trade-in their old vehicles. In fact, the bill runs retroactive to July 1st, so many are already driving their new vehicles!

From this CNN Money article:

Even though the program’s basic requirements have been known since it was created by Congress earlier this year, Cash for Clunkers didn’t become official until Friday. So as part of the official launch, the EPA conducted “quality assurance and quality control effort regarding fuel economy calculations on more than 30,000 vehicle model types spanning the past 25 years,” according to an e-mail sent by EPA spokesman Dale Kemery.

As a result, 86 car models became newly eligible for the program. However, 78 models became ineligible, EPA spokeswoman Cathy Milbourne said in a statement released Tuesday night.

In other words, if you were close before, check your mileage numbers again. Your car may now qualify even though you didn’t before, or it may no longer qualify at all.

Jamba Juice just sent me this buy 1 get 1 free coupon. Expires 8/9. Good for those overheating states right now! Yes, it is overpriced fruit.

BofA is also offering a $25 bonus to encourage existing customers to try out Online Billpay. Both personal and business accounts qualify. You have to register beforehand at the promotion page, and then pay 2 bills online within 30 days.

I would try and register anyway, but in the fine print at the bottom of the page, it states that this offer is only available to customers who have not made a bill payment with Bank of America Online Banking within the last 6 months.

Saw this on TV. Bank of America is offering a $100 bonus for new checking account customers, both personal and business. A new customer is a “person who is not currently a signer and who was not a signer within the last 6 months on a Bank of America personal or business checking account.” The requirements:

Get $75 when you open a new qualifying personal or business checking account with a $250 deposit and make a purchase with your debit card.

Get an additional $25 when you make 2 online bill payments within 30 days. Business checking customers can pay 2 bills with our Small Business Online Banking Bill Pay service or use the Online Business Suite® Direct Payments service.

Be sure your application includes the promotion offer code WIWGASINT for personal accounts, and SBECASH for business accounts.

Here’s another potential $200 bonus for placing a trade in newly opened account at Forex.com by July 31st. The application seems to suggest the backend is also run by Gain Financial, same as with Zecco Forex. The promotion code used is CashAd05. The offer appears open to all, as there is a banner linking directly the bonus page from the Forex.com home page.

The cost for a trade can be held under $10 if you simply do a quick buy and sell roundtrip trade. Use the demo program before trading with real money, so that you properly understand the effect of lot sizes and leverage. FX trading can be very tricky. The fine print:

*To qualify for cash bonus, you must open and fund a new FOREX.com trading account by July 31, 2009. After first trade is initiated, cash bonus will be deposited to your account within 3-5 business days. Accounts transferred from other businesses that principally operate as a forex dealer, futures commission merchant, or securities broker-dealer are eligible to receive an additional $50. FOREX.com may request documentation to prove account withdrawal or transfer such as, but not limited to, a copy of your account statement no older than 30 days. Initial deposit can be withdrawn at any point. To withdraw cash bonus, initial deposit must not be withdrawn for a minimum of 90 days from the first trade. FOREX.com reserves the right to deny bonus payment if customer does not meet FOREX.com account opening procedures or the terms and conditions of this offer. FOREX.com reserves the right to determine cases of promotion abuse. Existing FOREX.com customers who have funded and traded are not eligible to receive this promotion. This offer is available to self-directed trading accounts only. Managed accounts and accounts referred by an Introducing Broker are not eligible. Limit one cash bonus per customer. FOREX.com reserves the right to terminate or modify the terms of this offer at anytime. This offer is non-transferable.

Zecco Trading, best known for their free stock trade offers, recently started a Forex platform where you can trade foreign currencies. Since Forex appears to be a zero-sum game (negative if you account for inflation and spread costs), I wasn’t really interested. However, today I received an e-mail that they are giving me a $200 bonus to try it out. Okay, now I’m listening.

You must open a Zecco Forex account, fund the account, and make your first trade by July 31st, 2009. The promotional code given to me was CashAd04. The actual bonus amount depends on how much money you have in the account when you place your first trade:

The fine print:

To qualify for cash bonus, you must open and fund a new Zecco Forex trading account by July 31, 2009. After first trade is initiated, cash bonus will be deposited to your account within 3-5 business days. Bonus amount varies based on amount of deposit according to the following schedule: $200 bonus with deposit of 10,000 or more; $100 bonus with deposit of $2500 -$9999; $75 bonus with deposit of $1001-$2500, $50 bonus with deposit up to $1000. Cash bonus cannot be withdrawn within 90 days of initial funding. Existing Zecco Forex customers who have funded and traded are not eligible to receive this promotion. Self-directed trading accounts only; managed accounts and accounts referred by an Introducing Broker are not eligible to receive this promotion. Limit one cash bonus per customer. This offer is non-transferable.

Credit card funding. An possible extra is that you can fund via a credit card. According to posters in this FW thread, this should show up an a purchase, which means we can get miles or cash back on top of the $200 bonus. There is a $5,000 cap on each credit card funding, but you can perform multiple transactions. However, there is a chance that withdrawals will also be done to a credit card, which would negate any rewards. Worth a shot?

Warning. Forex accounts let you use things like 200x leverage, which means you can both win or lose a lot of money really, really fast. (More likely lose due to spreads.) Don’t place a trade until you know what you’re doing. I’ll post my trades if I do them. So far, I am looking at placing an unleveraged/minimally leveraged trade with a 1-2 pip spread in a Mini account.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred card is offer 40,000 points after you make $3,000 in purchases in the first 3 months. There is a $95 annual fee, but it is waived for the first year. Thanks to the readers who sent this in. (There is also a regular Chase Sapphire card with no annual fee, that is offering 10,000 points after you only spend $500 in the first 3 months. Don’t get that one.)

What can you do with 40,000 points? You can get a credit towards a travel purchase of $500 (online booking free, but $20 fee via phone), or 40,000 frequent flier miles with a 1.25 miles per dollar point transfer. The exact participating airlines are unknown. Info taken from their benefits guide.

Rewards program quality? At 1 point per $1 spent with no special bonus categories, and only a 20% bonus for $50,000 in annual spending, this card is not worth a $95 annual fee. I’d sign-up, redeem the points for a quick and easy $400, and then cancel the card within the first year.

Instead, get a 1:1 frequent flier point transfer and 1.25 miles per $1 spent with the cheaper Starwood American Express card (which also has their own 25,000 Starpoint sign-up bonus).

“Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned by the issuer. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of the issuer, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the issuer. This site may be compensated through the issuer’s Affiliate Program.  “The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.”