Amazon 20% Off Promotion Code With Wedding Registry

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Amazon is offering a Registry Completion Discount for people who open a wedding registry with them. Within a month of your stated event date, you’ll receive a promotion code good for 10% off an entire order of up to $1,000 ($100 max discount). If you have Amazon Prime, the discount is bumped to 20% off an entire order up to $1,000 ($200 max discount).

Selected terms and conditions:

  • Promotional code expires within 90-days from the date in which the promotion was received via email.
  • If you created your registry less than 30 days before your wedding and no purchases were made off your registry, you will not be eligible for the promotion.
  • The Wedding Gift may be used only one time for one order of up to an aggregate of $1,000 USD (a maximum discount of up to $100 USD) for non-prime members. Prime Savings Wedding Gift may be used only one time for one order of up to an aggregate of $2,500 USD (a maximum discount of up to $500 USD).
  • The Prime 20% off Wedding Gift promotion will be limited to Prime customers who are members of Campus, Fresh, Prime Members with Shipping Benefits, Prime members with Mom benefits. This excludes trial, Student and Invitee members.
  • The Wedding Gift applies only to select items sold by Amazon.com. It does not apply to the same items sold by other sellers.
  • The Wedding Gift may only be redeemed through the Amazon account of the primary registrant of the Wedding Registry.
  • You may not qualify for another Wedding Gift for 2-years following the use of the Wedding Gift.
  • Promotional code may not be applied toward the purchase of gift cards, sales tax, gift wrap, or additional shipping costs.

Notably, you do not have to submit any documentation about your event. However, your registry must be active for at least 30 days and someone must have bought something off the registry in order to qualify for this promotion.

Hilton Hotels Free Status Match Link

hiltonhonors0Hilton Hotels has a promotion which matches the elite status of any other hotel loyalty program free for 90 days. You can register online at this Hilton Honors Status match link. If you complete four stays in those 90 days, you can keep your Gold status extended through March 31, 2018. If you complete eight stays in those 90 days, you can keep your Diamond status extended through March 31, 2018.

Eligible hotel chains include but are not limited to Choice Hotels, Hyatt, IHG, Marriott, and Starwood Preferred Guest. As long as you might have even a single Hilton stay in the next 90 days, it may be worth registering in order to get the perks.

True Identity Review: Free Unlimited TransUnion Credit Reports, Free Credit Lock, No Credit Card Required

trueidentity0TrueIdentity by TransUnion is an identity protection website that is free with no credit card required and no trial memberships. The highlights:

  • Free TransUnion credit reports. Unlimited reports and refreshes.
  • Free Credit Lock feature. Stop access to your TransUnion report with a single swipe or click.
  • Free instant alerts. Includes alerts for new accounts, inquiries or address changes.
  • Free mobile app. Android and iOS.

I decided to sign up and dig around. Here’s a screenshot of the main dashboard (click to enlarge):

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Free TransUnion credit report details. A partial screenshot of my report page is below. As one of the three major credit bureaus, TransUnion already has all your other personal information. I’m glad they let me see it for free. Note that you’ll have to pay to see reports from the other two credit bureaus, Equifax and Experian (see below). The report is free and current, although I can’t seem to find how often you are allowed to refresh your report.

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Free Credit Lock feature details. When you credit report is “locked”, it can’t be accessed by creditors, landlords, or employers. If they ask for it, their request will be denied. Credit Lock appears to be another layer created by TransUnion that is separate from a formal credit freeze (which I believe is regulated by law). A credit freeze is free only if you are already a victim of identity theft, otherwise it costs a fee and you often have to call in to get it lifted. I believe the requests must be submitted during the following times for immediate processing:

Monday-Saturday, 2 a.m.-11 p.m. Central Time
Sunday, 5 a.m.-11 p.m. Central Time

During these times (only a 3 hour gap around midnight during weekdays), the credit lock is pretty much instant (they warn that it may take up to 5 minutes). Therefore, you can theoretically keep your TransUnion report locked at all times, and then lift that lock just minutes before you actually apply for a loan or credit card. That’s my plan. Here’s a screenshot of my post-lock page:

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Free instant alerts details. You can pick from instant e-mail or SMS text alerts. I believe there are alerts via the mobile app as well. They will e-mail you weekly or monthly to confirm that you have no new alerts.

If it’s free, how will TransUnion make money? First, you will see ads for credit products (much like similar credit-related sites). Second, you can upgrade to their TrueIdentity Premium tier, which costs $9.99 a month and adds the following features:

  • TransUnion credit score (VantageScore 3.0).
  • Credit report data from the other two credit bureaus, Equifax and Experian.
  • Phone access to Identity Restoration & Lost Wallet Specialists with up to 1,000,000 in Identity Theft Insurance.
  • Premium alerts which monitor additional databases including black market websites, courtroom records, and payday loan databases.

Bottom line. TrueIdentity by TransUnion offers some handy features for the excellent price of free. No trials, no credit card required. You might be able to get your TransUnion credit report data elsewhere, but the real-time Credit Lock feature is unique. You’ll have to upgrade to $9.99 a month for features like cash insurance or an army of helpers to guide you if you do become a victim of identity theft. But again, there is no need to upgrade, ever.

Amazon 2% Balance Reload Rewards Promotion

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Amazon has a targeted promotion for Prime members that offers you a 2% bonus when you reload your Amazon gift card balance using a checking account. For example, if you load $100, you will get $102 in Amazon credit. To see if this promotion is available to you click here to visit the Reload Your Balance page. If you are eligible, you will see the banner below.

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For qualifying transactions, a reward equal to 2% of your qualifying reload amount will be automatically applied to your Amazon Balance after the qualifying transaction has been completed. You must reload your Amazon Balance using the payment method that includes a checking account and linked debit card. The maximum single reload amount to your Amazon Balance may not exceed $2,000.

I’m usually not targeted for these promotions and I saw it, so perhaps it is relatively popular. Note that this promotion isn’t all that valuable if you already purchase things on a 2% cash back credit card, or even better on a 5% back credit card with Amazon as a rotating category. Prime members can also get 5% back with the Amazon Store Card, which is basically a credit line that is only good for Amazon purchases.

However, if you avoid credit cards in general and usually buy things on a debit card, this is an easy way to get a little extra towards your Amazon shopping. Load your balance first via this promotion, get the 2% extra, and then go shopping.

Free 2,000 La Quinta Returns Points Promotions

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Added new 1,500 point offer. You can earn 1,500 free La Quinta Returns points by linking your Visa credit card and your mobile number to your La Quinta Returns account. Valid until December 31st, 2016.

Introducing Redeem Away!™ – a travel industry first from La Quinta Returns™. Now you’re free to redeem your points for lots of everyday purchases, on the go and with a tap of your mobile phone. Benefit exclusively for Visa® credit cardholders. Enroll today and redeem points toward qualified transactions at restaurants, drug stores and more. Get 1,500 points* when you link your Visa credit card and your mobile number to your Returns™ account, now until 12/31/16.

Previously, I shared that you can earn up to 500 free La Quinta Returns points by registering for La Quinta Returns Social Rewards and then using your Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter social media accounts:

– Register and Receive 100 points
– Link Your Social Handles to La Quinta and get 100 points per channel
– During Registration, Follow us on Twitter and Instagram to receive 100 additional points for each follow
– Tweet or Instagram with #LQReturns and get 50 points.

These bonus miles aren’t worth a ton, but they can be handy as La Quinta may close your account if it remains inactive for 18 consecutive months.

Best Interest Rates on Cash Reserves – November 2016

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Our family keeps a year’s worth of expenses (not income) put aside in cash reserves; it provides financial insurance with the side benefits of lower stress and less concern about stock market gyrations. Emergency funds can have a better return on investment than what you see on your bank statement. In my experience, having a solid cash cushion is the first step towards financial independence.

I don’t chase rates nearly as much as I used to, but it still pays to shop around. Chase Bank on a 1-year CD? 0.02% APY. Bank of America on a 10-year CD? 0.15% APY. Who buys these things?!? Meanwhile, the rates below vary from 1% up to over 3% annualized.

As of 11/6/2016, below is a roundup of the best rates backed by the full faith and credit of the US government (FDIC-insured, NCUA-insured, US Treasury Bonds, US Savings Bonds). I will try to sort them from the shortest to longest maturities.

High-yield savings accounts

  • Online savings accounts, everyone’s got one these days. Currently, the ones with a history of competitive rates are around 1% APY. These savings accounts can change their interest rate at any time, so if you’re going to just pick the highest one, be ready to move your money. I prefer the ones with a history of competitive rates, and I’ve been with Ally Bank for over 5 years. Their online savings is currently at 1% APY.

Short-term guaranteed rates (under 1 year)

  • If you’ve got a big wad of cash that you’re waiting to deploy shortly (just sold your house, just sold your business, inheritance), I say just keep it safe until you’re ready to invest it properly. Palladian Private Bank has a 6-month promotional rate of 1.30% APY guaranteed (maximum initial deposit of $100k) for new accounts. After the first 6 months, the rate reverts back to their normal rate (currently 1.10% APY). Since the initial promo rate is fixed, this makes it the higher 6-month CD rate available.

Flexible Savings Bonds

  • Series I Savings Bonds offer rates that are linked to inflation. “I Bonds” bought right now will earn a 2.76% rate for the first six months, and then a variable rate based on ongoing inflation after that. You must hold them for a year, and if you redeem them within 5 years there is a penalty of the last 3 months of interest. While future rates are unknown, at the very minimum it will be competitive with the best 1-year CD rates. More info here.

Prepaid Cards with Attached Savings Accounts

  • A small subset of prepaid debit cards have an “attached” FDIC-insured savings account with high interest rates. The risks are that balances are capped, and there are many fees that you must be careful to avoid (lest they eat up your interest). The other catch is that these good features may be killed off without much notice. I pulled my money out of my NetSpend card after the eligible balance dropped to $1,000 (no longer worth the effort for extra $3 a month in interest).
  • Insight Card is one of the best remaining cards with 5% APY on up to $5,000 as of this writing. Fees to avoid include the $1 per purchase fee, $2.50 for each ATM withdrawal, and the $3.95 inactivity fee if there is no activity within 90 days. If you can navigate it carefully (basically only use ACH transfers and keep up your activity regularly) you can still end up with more interest than other options.

Rewards checking accounts

  • These unique checking accounts pay above-average interest rates, but with some risk. You have to jump through certain hoops, and if you make a mistake you won’t earn any interest for that month. Rates can also drop quickly, leaving a “bait-and-switch” feeling. But the rates can be high while they last.
  • Consumers Credit Union offers up to 4.59% APY on up to a $20k balance, although 3.09% APY on a $10k balance might be easier to achieve unless you satisfy a long list of requirements. Note that the 4.59% APY requires you to apply and get approved for an additional credit card through them (other credit cards offer $500+ in sign-up bonuses). Keep your 12 debit purchases small as well, as for every $500 in monthly purchases you may be losing out on 2% cashback (or $10 a month on after-tax benefit).

Certificates of deposit

  • If you have a large cushion, it’s quite likely to just sit there for years. Why not put some money in longer-term investments where you can still take it out in a true emergency and pay an early withdrawal penalty. For example, UNIFY Financial Credit Union (formerly Western Federal Credit Union) is offering a 5-year Share Certificate paying 2.00% APY ($1,000 minimum balance) with an early withdrawal penalty of only 90 days interest. For example, if you withdraw from this CD after 2 years and pay the penalty, your effective rate earned will still be 1.76%. Anyone can join this credit union via partner organization, it appears it might be free or at most a one-time $25 fee.

Longer-term Instruments

  • Willing to lock up your money for 10+ years? Did you know that you can buy certificates of deposit via Vanguard’s bond desk? These “brokered CDs” offer the same FDIC-insurance and are often through commercial banks like Goldman Sachs. As of this writing, you can get a 10-year CD maturing 11/9/2026 that pays 2.10% APY. (Unfortunately, current long-term CD rates do not rise much higher even as you extend beyond a 5-year maturity.) Prices will vary regularly.
  • How about two decades!? Series EE Savings Bonds are not indexed to inflation, but they have a guarantee that the value will double in value in 20 years, which equals a guaranteed return of 3.5% a year. However, if you don’t hold for that long, you’ll be stuck with the normal rate which is quite low (currently a sad 0.10% rate). Think of it as a huge early withdrawal penalty. You really, really want to be sure you’ll keep it for 20 years.

All rates were checked as of 11/6/16.

LastPass: Sync Passwords Between Devices For Free

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Password manager Lastpass has announced that they are letting their Free users sync their passwords across all devices – desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone. Mac or PC. Android or iOS. There will still be ads for Free users and other features available only for paid Premium users ($1 a month). Still, anyone can now store all their passwords on the cloud for free. I must use my password manager over 100 times a week as it allows me to have a unique, complex password for every single website. Perhaps this move is partially due to iCloud keychain being free for Apple users?

In case you were wondering, it was Lastpass that was hacked last year, although it doesn’t appear any master passwords were directly exposed. This serves as a reminder that cloud sync is convenient, but with its own set of security concerns. Lastpass also offers multi-factor authentication for additional security, which again you’ll have to weigh against convenience issues.

See also: 10-Minute Digital Privacy Tuneup from Consumer Reports

Instapaper Premium Features Now Free To All Users

instapaper0Instapaper and Pocket are both handy “read it later” services that lets you save and organize articles to read at your convenience (often with better formatting). Instapaper was recently acquired by Pinterest and just announced that they would release all the premium features to all users for free (formerly $30 a year) . These premium features include:

  • An ad-free Instapaper website
  • Full-text search for all articles
  • Unlimited Notes
  • Text-to-speech playlists
  • Unlimited speed reading
  • “Send to Kindle” via bookmarklet and mobile apps
  • Kindle Digests of up to 50 articles

The Kindle Digests are a nice feature if you prefer reading text on your Amazon Kindle. The Text-to-Speech lets you listen to articles aloud while you are driving. Speed reading was a little funky to me, but some people love it. (Try it yourself.) Here are the responses of an Instapaper rep on concerns about the future:

There’s no catch. Our operational overhead is low, and now that we’re owned by Pinterest we can focus on just delivering the best product to our users.

[…] You are not the product. The value that Pinterest gets from Instapaper are improvements to our text parser and aggregate information about links on the web. We have no plans to serve ads.

Competitor Pocket is also completely free, although they do slot in some ads now. They are slightly different, I wouldn’t say one is better than the other for all people.

LendingClub United Miles Promotion (Both New and Existing Investors)

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LendingClub (LC) is a marketplace lender that offers unsecured personal loans and then sells investment notes backed by those loans. After defaults and fees, they advertise historical returns between 5% and 8%. As an incentive, LC recently started offering up to 100,000 United MileagePlus award miles to investors that bring in at least $2,500 in new money. Here I offer a quick analysis of the investor offer and point out that it is actually available to both new and existing investors, even though that may not be obvious from the website.

Highlights.

  • Offer only valid for taxable Lending Club accounts. (IRAs are not eligible.)
  • Only deposited and invested dollars are eligible for award miles.
  • Lending Club Investor must have UA MileagePlus account activated before investing to qualify. New investors can link online. Existing investors must call or e-mail to manually link your accounts (see below).
  • For existing investors to receive miles, an investor must transfer at least $2,500 of New Funds into an active eligible taxable account and invest the New Funds through the Lending Club platform within 90 days of the commencement of the then-current offer (each, an “Existing Investor Offer Period”).
  • Offer is valid from October 1, 2016 to December 31, 2016 and Mileage Plus miles will only be awarded on new funds transferred and invested through Lending Club during this time period.

Selected quoted text from the landing page:

We’re excited to announce our partnership with United Airlines! Investing on Lending Club just got more rewarding. Right now, receive one United MileagePlus® award mile for every two dollars you invest through Lending Club up to 100,000 miles!

[…] Upon the transfer and investment of the first $2,500 of New Funds, a new investor will qualify to receive 1,250 miles. For every dollar of New Funds transferred and invested in excess of $2,500, a new investor will qualify to receive .5 miles, up to a maximum aggregate bonus of 100,000 miles per calendar year.

The maths. A minimum deposit of $2,500 earns 1,250 United miles. Every dollar above that $2,500 will earn 0.5 miles up to the 100,000 mile limit. If you value United miles at range of 1 cent to 2 cents a mile, 1,250 miles is worth $12.50 to $25. Thus, the bonus value ranges from a 0.5% to 1% bonus on top of the interest you’d already receive.

Existing investors participation details. I confirmed with two different LendingClub representatives that this offer is also available to previous/existing investors. You must first link your United MileagePlus account number with your account. You can contact them via e-mail at EarnMiles@lendingclub.com or phone at 888-596-3159 (7:00am–5:00pm PST, M–F). Provide them with your LC account ID and your UA MileagepPlus Number.

Bottom line. The bonus itself is not big enough to encourage you to invest if you weren’t otherwise interested. However, if you have already decided to invest with LendingClub, definitely don’t miss out on these free miles to boost your overall return. The value is roughly 0.5% to 1% to your investment amount, assuming you bring in at least $2,500 of new money. Link your accounts first before moving over the new money.

As an existing investor myself, I’ve written my share of opinions on LendingClub. I’ll just say two things: Have realistic expectations and diversify. Their advertised historical returns of between 5% and 8% are more realistic than you may have seen elsewhere. As they also note, 99.8% of investors who invest in 100+ Notes of relatively equal size have seen positive returns. It is not coincidence that 100 notes x $25 each = $2,500.

List of Free Movie Streaming Sites Online

streamfree2If you are a cord-cutter but are still looking for some free movie content to stream, here is a collection of (legal) links. Shortly after I had kids, I dropped Netflix as I had no time to “binge” on anything. However, I still like to watch bits of movies now and then to relax and take my mind off of things.

Vudu Movies on Us. This Wal-Mart-owned service just announced that they will allow “thousands” of movies to stream freely online with ads. The catalog isn’t great, but sample titles include Margin Call, Mad Max, True Grit, Abduction, and School Of Rock. Streams at 1080p with Dolby Digital sound.

Yahoo View (formerly Hulu Free). This is where a lot of the free content that used to be on Hulu now resides. TV shows include Blindspot, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Chicago Med, and Empire. Limited movie selection as well.

Crackle.com. This one has been around for a while, and they even have a few original series of their own. Some Seinfeld. I always watch the newest episode of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.

Popcornflix. An interesting collection of movies that you might not see elsewhere from independent distributor Screen Media Ventures, LLC. Lots of big stars in their movie flops. Several cheap Disney knock-offs. Also… Inspector Gadget!

Free Documentaries (various). Unfortunately, many of these free documentary sites have lots of sneaky pop-up ads while mostly just embedding YouTube and Vimeo videos. The least annoying ones for me were Documentary Heaven and WatchDocumentary.org.

PBS.org. PBS shows many independent films and documentaries in their Indie Film section. You can also find the classics here like PBS Newshour, Frontline, Masterpiece Theater, This Old House, and Antiques Roadshow.

Most of these are also available via their own smartphone apps (iOS, Android) and streaming box apps (Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Xbox 360). Please let me know if I missed anything good.

What Cards Are In My Wallet? 2006 vs. 2016 Flashback Edition

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What’s in my wallet? Besides trying to land at least $500 on new sign-ups, which cards do I end up using on a regular basis? Apparently, the last time I answered this question was in 2006, more than a decade ago?! Let’s see if I have made any improvements since then. These are the cards that work best for my spending patterns and redemption preferences.

All-around cash back rewards card.

  • 2006: MBNA/Fidelity Investments 529 College Rewards Card. I still have this card, although it is in sock drawer mode now. This Fidelity-branded card went from being issued by MBNA, to FIA Cardservices (subsidiary of Bank of America), now to Elan Financial services. The 2% rewards did help me rack up over $8,000 in tax-deferred college savings (including appreciation from investments).
  • 2016: BankAmericard Travel Rewards Card. After moving over $100,000 of existing index funds from Vanguard and qualifying for their Platinum Honors tier, this enabled me to earn 2.625% cash back on all my purchases – redeemed as a statement credit offsetting any travel purchase. That’s a 31% improvement on 2% rewards. If you don’t have $100k in assets to move over, 2% is still double the 1% many cards give on all purchases – I have the Citi Double Cash card as backup.

Category-specific rewards credit card.

  • 2006: Citi Dividend Platinum Select Mastercard. This card is no longer available to new applicants, which is probably why the 5% categories got rather stale. I’m a bit embarrassed to admit that I stopped using it so long that Citi closed it due to inactivity. Whoops! It was one of my older cards, but not a big loss as I have so many other cards to contribute to my “average age of accounts” stat.
  • 2016: Chase Freedom Visa and Discover It Card. This quarter, the Chase Freedom is giving 5% cash back at Costco, Sam’s Club, Walgreens, and CVS ($1,500 total). The Discover It card is giving me 5% cash back at Amazon.com. Overall, I think recent competition has made the 5% categories more useful. Note that Chase Freedem technically earns Ultimate Rewards points, which can provide even higher value when redeemed for points/miles (see below).

Points or miles rewards card.

  • 2006: Starwood Preferred Guest American Express Card. Still a good card overall (we’ll see how the merger changes things). If you redeem in 20,000 point increments, it will provide 1.25 miles per dollar spent for a variety of airline programs. However, I don’t travel as much as I used to, and even at a 2 cents per mile valuation, that’s only 2.5% back on value (more than 2%, but less than the 2.625% above). SPG does not transfer 1:1 to United. I don’t travel for business much these days so I can’t rack up SPG points for hotel stays as quickly anymore, and I also don’t need this card to keep my stash of SPG points active and useful.
  • 2016: Chase Sapphire Preferred card. This card gives 2 Ultimate Rewards points per dollar spent on travel and dining out. Ultimate Rewards points transfer 1:1 to both United and Hyatt, for some solid redemption value. If you value at 2 cents per UR points, that’s 4% back value. I also need this card to keep all of my Ultimate Rewards stash active and available to transfer to the various airline and hotel partners. (I also earn UR points elsewhere from Chase Freedom, Ink business card, and their shopping portal.) If you haven’t had 5 new credit cards in the last 24 months, you should check out the Chase Sapphire Reserve card as well.

ATM Debit card.

  • 2006: Bank of America ATM card. I still have this account, but got tired of how BofA pays no interest and charges you money to initiate a transfer out. If I have to use a online bank as a transfer hub all the time, I’m just going to make that hub my primary account.
  • 2016: Ally Bank ATM card. These days, it’s a lot easier to do all of your banking at an online bank with no branches. Mobile deposit with smartphone camera is much easier than scanner. ATM rebates allow me to use any ATM, and up to $10 per statement cycle in rebates is enough for me (Allpoint ATM network is free and doesn’t count towards limit). 1% APY on savings account, which serves as free overdraft source for checking. Their app is solid, I can easily imitate interbank funds transfers (and I can login with just my thumbprint).

So the overall theme of what goes in my wallet has stayed the same, but the players have around changed a bit.

American Express 2X Rewards On Purchases at Small Businesses

amex2xAmerican Express has a new promotion that offers you “2X Rewards” on your consumer or small business AmEx when you shop at a small business. Runs through the end of the year, 12/31/2016. You must register here. List of what counts as small businesses on their map here.

This works with most of the various flavors of American Express. Specifically, when you use your enrolled Card at small businesses you can earn*:

  • Membership Rewards cards will earn 1 additional Membership Rewards point per dollar spent.
  • Delta Skymiles cards will earn 1 additional mile per dollar spent.
  • Blue Cash cards will earn an additional 1% back per dollar spent.
  • Blue Sky cards will earn 1 additional Blue Sky point per dollar spent.
  • Hilton Honors cards will earn 3 additional Hilton HHonors points per dollar spent.
  • Starwood Preferred Guest cards will earn 1 additional Starpoint per dollar spent.
  • Plenti cards will earn 1 additional Plenti point per dollar spent.
  • Schwab Investor cards will earn an additional 1.5% cash back per dollar spent.

* Rewards cap applies; 2X Rewards valid on up to $100,000 in purchases per enrolled consumer card and $250,000 in purchases per enrolled business card. Prepaid and Corporate Cards, American Express Cards issued by other financial institutions, The Plum Card®, Clear from American Express®, Blue Cash InStore, Blue Cash Rebate Card, Blue for Students®, American Express® Platinum Cash Rebate Card, Optima, and One from American Express are not eligible.

Definitely worth spending the initial effort to sign up for, although the size of the benefit will vary depending on your spending patterns.