by PointsGuru | Feb 15, 2018 | Gift Cards, Grocery, Retail
The list is growing long for us grocery shoppers who keep our receipts or take time to scan them and earn rewards. We have many apps available such as Ibotta and now we have another you can stack with it while you have your receipts out to scan. If you haven’t signed up for Ibotta then do so here and get a bonus.
The Fetch Rewards App is a free mobile app that gives you cash back for taking pictures of your grocery receipts. The main difference between Fetch Rewards and other receipt scanning apps is that it doesn’t matter where you buy your product. Ibotta requires you to buy a specific product at a specific store.
The Fetch Rewards app only requires you to buy a specific product. As long as your offer appears on a receipt at any grocery store, you’re going to earn cash back for it. You also get 25 points for ANY receipt from grocery stores.
What we like about this app compared to the other grocery shopping apps is that it recommends other brands you would have made more money on when you scan the receipt for the next time you go shopping. For example, I bought Starbucks coffee and it tells me I could’ve earned more points on Maxwell House. Although I still made points for scanning the receipt.
How To Earn Gift Cards Using Fetch Rewards
1. Sign Up For An Account
As with all point reward apps and websites, you can’t earn if you haven’t joined. Go to the app store on your smartphone and download the free Fetch Rewards app. Once downloaded enter your information, including my referral code QG4YH. When you enter the referral code, you will receive 2,000 points when you scan and complete your first receipt. That is enough points to bring you halfway to your first $3 gift card cash out–making it worthwhile.
Take Advantage Of Special Offers
Under the “Special Offers” tab within the Fetch Rewards app, you will find a current listing of offers that provide relatively high point values. For instance, when I wrote this you could earn 1500 points for buying any two namebrand hair care products. To get the full details of these special offers, simply touch the “offer” box and a new screen will appear that shares all the details of that offer.
How To Earn Gift Cards Using Fetch Rewards
2. Any Receipt Earns Points. Fetch now gives you points for every grocery receipt you update. You do earn more points though if your receipt contains brands from their list.
Bonus Points: Search Through The List Of Brands After Your Next Grocery Shopping Trip:
Currently, there are over 160 different brands available to earn rewards through in the Fetch Rewards app. These are primarily brands that sell grocery and personal product items. All are name brands such as Degree, Axe, Gatorade, Heinz, and Kraft.
3. Upload Your Receipt
Knowing that you have a qualifying item on your receipt, hit the “scan” tab at the bottom of the app and follow the instructions.
An example is one qualifying brand was a stick of Axe deodorant and it was for 750 points plus the receipt of 25 points.
The second time I used the app my only qualifying items was $2.99 box of Captain Crunch which earned a 1,000 receipt scan bonus plus 29 points for the cereal. Essentially this means I earned $1.02 for my few seconds worth of effort to scan and verify the receipt.
Those two trips plus the 2,000 points I earned for entering my friend’s referral code at sign up were more than enough to claim my first Amazon code.
How To Earn Gift Cards Using Fetch Rewards
4. Claim Your Reward
As you can see by my example, it is possible to earn your first cash out with Fetch Rewards in as little as two shopping trips.
Fetch Rewards makes claiming and redeeming your reward simple. In the app, press the “rewards” tab at the bottom of the screen. You can then pick out your reward either by “category” or by “points.” I find it easier to search by points. Simply press the 3K option to cash out 3,000 points for a $3 reward or the 5K option to cash out 5,000 points for a $5 reward and so on. Fetch Rewards offers cash out values all the way up to 50,000 points for a $50 reward.
There are dozens of different types of gift cards available including those for Amazon, Walmart, Itunes, Panera Bread, Dunkin’ Donuts, Whole Foods and more.
Once you pick a reward, a code will be sent to your email box with instructions of how to cash in your gift card. So far I have cashed out for Amazon gift card codes and the whole process from picking out my reward in the app, to receiving my email, to adding it to my Amazon account has taken under five minutes. I would assume the process would vary depending on what gift card you choose.
by PointsGuru | Feb 12, 2018 | Low Interest
You could spend all day and night searching online for the hottest 0% Transfer offers online with no balance transfer fee but its nearly impossible to find decent offers. You may get a few offers a week from your current or wannabe credit card companies offering 0% but with transfer fees. Search engines also tend to give you 5 pages of junk results about credit cards that DO have fees. I refuse to move money with fees so this is my short list of the best 0% No Fee cards right now.
My favorite Top 3 Cards that are 0% APR with No Balance Transfer fee are the following:
1. We are in love with this Credit Union Alliant Bank (alliantcreditunion.org). You get 0% APR for 12 months with NO FEES. You don’t have to be a member to apply and find out if you qualify for the 0% APR deal. Choose ‘not a member’ when you apply and if you are approved you’ll then be able to become a member of the credit union to finish opening your account. I applied for this myself to transfer money from my Slate card that was ending this month to do my annual shuffle around of balances on 0% Cards. My credit line was actually bigger on this card than with Chase Bank but mainly because I have so many cards already with the bigger bank.
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by PointsGuru | Feb 2, 2018 | Sign-Up Bonus, US Bank
As if you need another reason to watch the Winter Olympics now you can monetize the sport when you get this credit card offer.
U.S. Bank is bringing back the Winter Olympics US Bank FlexPerks card promotion. You’ll earn an increased sign-up bonus of 25,000 FlexPoints after meeting minimum spending requirements. Plus bonus FlexPoints for every medal the US Olympic team wins!
Because FlexPoints are worth 1.5 cents each when you redeem them through the US Bank travel portal for airfare, hotels, and rental cars, this could end up being a decent deal. We’ve bought some excellent flights through their portal and for some reason a better deal than Citi ThankYou, Chase Ultimate Rewards, and the much over hyped Membership Rewards.
The US Bank FlexPerks Travel Rewards card normally comes with 20,000 FlexPoints after spending $2,000 within 4 months of account opening. But US Bank is celebrating the Winter Olympics by increasing the card’s welcome offer and adding bonuses.
With this deal, the US Bank FlexPerks Travel Rewards card earns 25,000 FlexPoints after spending $2,000 on purchases within the first 3 months. And you’ll get bonus points for each medal the US team wins:
- 500 FlexPoints for each gold medal
- 250 FlexPoints for each silver medal
- 100 FlexPoints for each bronze medal
The card also comes with:
- 2 FlexPoints per $1 spent on 1 category (gas, grocery or airline purchases) which you spend the most on each month and on most cell phone expenses
- 2 FlexPoints per $1 of eligible charitable donations
- 1 FlexPoint per $1 of all other eligible purchases
- $25 airline credit for every award flight booked with FlexPoints (baggage fees, in-flight food, drinks, etc.)
The $49 annual fee is waived the first year.
During the 2014 Olympics, the US team won 28 medals (9 Gold, 7 Silver, 12 Bronze), which were worth 7,450 FlexPoints (9 Gold X 500 FlexPoints + 7 Silver X 250 FlexPoints + 12 Bronze X 100 FlexPoints). So if the US team earns a similar amount of medals as last time, you’d end up with ~32,000 FlexPoints (25,000 FlexPoints sign-up bonus + ~7,000bonus FlexPoints).
FlexPoints are worth an average of 1.5 cents each when redeemed for airfare, hotels, or rentals cars through the US Bank travel portal. So you could end up with ~$450 toward your next trip!
If you were considering applying for the US Bank FlexPerks Travel Rewards card, now is the best time. You can apply with this link. If you’re a newbie to credit cards we recommend a Chase card first such as the Freedom Card here that comes with a $150 bonus.
by PointsGuru | Feb 1, 2018 | Retail
The leaked Chase Starbucks Visa card is now live for applications. Here’s a review of the card.
In case you are new to the Starbucks rewards program here’s a summary: All Starbucks Gold members get 2 stars per $1 spent at Starbucks. Get a free drink or food item after reaching 125 stars ($62.50 in spend). More in-depth post here on the program.
The New Starbucks Visa Card Offers these rewards:
- Get instant Gold status on the Starbucks loyalty program which typically takes 300 stars ($150 in spend) to reach
- Earn 1 star per $4 spent everywhere outside Starbucks (free item after $500 in spend)
- Earn 1 star per $1 spent on Starbucks purchases only when reloading your Starbucks balance via the app (if you pay directly at Starbucks you’ll earn the regular earn rate of 1/$4). The 1 star per $1 earned on Starbucks app reloads is in addition to the standard 2 stars per dollar earned by Gold members on all purchases. In total, you’ll end up with 3 stars per dollar, but again, the credit card is only adding 1 star extra per dollar.
- 8 Barista Picks: Curated food or beverage Rewards selected by baristas and automatically loaded to the cardmembers Starbucks Rewards account. These are random picks that get sent to you, not something you can choose. This benefit will load to your account 45 days after becoming a cardmember and will reset each cardmember year. Barista picks expire after 30 days.
Signup Bonus
- Earn 2,500 stars (20 free drinks) after spending $500 within the first 3 months
- Earn 250 stars (2 free drinks) when using the Starbucks Visa card to load your Starbucks card in the app for the first time
The Starbucks Stars program comes with a 6-month expiration on stars, and this expiration is the same for credit card holders. This is especially important to keep in mind with regards to the signup bonus since you’ll have to use up all 22 free items within 6 months. The good thing about this is that you can keep points from expiring by using this card and topping off rewards like we do with airline and hotel points.
Starbucks stars can be used for almost any free item – it’s not limited to a drink. Our suggestion is to find the most expensive food item from Starbucks which could be an $8 or so Turkey sandwich and use it for that! A typical drink runs under $5, so keep that in mind when determining the value of the rewards program.
Small Print
The Chase Starbucks Visa card is not available to current cardmembers or previous cardmembers of this credit card who received a new cardmember bonus for this credit card within the last 24 months. This is not possible now because this is a new card. Unknown whether the 5/24 rule applies to this card. This rule basically says you cannot get most cards from the Chase portfolio if you have too many applications or other cards.
You can use the card now in the app, but…!
Upon approval, you’ll be able to use a digital version of the credit card immediately in the Starbucks app (but not elsewhere).
Card comes with standard Chase card benefits like purchase protection, extended warranty, price protection, and car rental insurance.
Should you get the card?
The $49 annual fee is shocking because it really doesn’t do too much unless you really want to feel like you belong to Starbucks. If a card charges an annual fee you should get benefits such as a free hotel night. A $49 annual fee with the IHG card can get you a free night stay at a Holiday Inn. The card also has foreign transaction fees and that makes no sense because they are such an international business.
Looking at the earnings on the card it’s not too bad but if you put in the annual fee it’s not impressive. The value comes to less than 1% back on everyday spend, and it’s slightly over 3% back on Starbucks purchases. To maximize the value of the card it would come to a valuation of 2% everywhere ($500 spend gets $10 sandwich at Starbucks) and 8% at Starbucks ($125 spend gets $10 sandwich).
This was a pretty hyped card which was leaked last year to include such a high annual fee. Starbucks is a brand that people obsess with such as Apple but you have to be a pretty ill informed shopper to actually pay a fee for this card.
by PointsGuru | Feb 1, 2018 | Miles
My brother recently discovered airline miles and was discussing at Christmas that he had no idea he could get miles for all of the flights he took that were paid under his employer. He has missed out basically on thousands of miles the he could’ve received for free. If you’re in the same situation or are in the need to find a way to request mileage credit on the major U.S. airlines that are missing or want them added from past flights then we have the solution.
Some examples of retroactive credits of miles are:
- Missing Miles: The miles from a flight you took do not appear in your frequent flyer account after a certain period of time.
- Newbie: You register a frequent flyer account after a flight you take and would like to earn the miles from that flight.
- Oops: You did not add your frequent flyer account information to your reservation before your flight and would like to earn the miles from that flight.
Tip: In order to minimize the chances of needing to retroactively request mileage credit, register for a frequent flyer account before your flight. It’s always best to do this before you book the ticket then you’ll have the number to add to your reservation. This can be done online or at the check-in desk at the airport. Note that you can choose to credit the miles from your flight to one of the airline’s partners. A handy guide WheretoCredit.com lets you pick which airline to register for a frequent flyer account on that airline.
1. United Frequent Flyer Accounts
Flights on United
Miles from flights on United typically post to United frequent flyer accounts within 48 hours. If they have not posted after five days, you can submit a request for the miles by submitting your 13-digit ticket number at this link. You can find the ticket number on the e-ticket receipt email you received when your ticket was issued (not the email confirming your ticket purchase). Ticket numbers for United flights usually begin with 016.
It’s important to note that if you register a United frequent flyer account after your flight, you must request the miles for that flight within 30 days of the flight in order for the miles to be credited to that account. If it has been between 30 days and 6 months since the flight, you can request mileage credit for a fee of $50. Whether or not this is worth it depends on how you personally value United miles.
Flights on Partner Airlines
For flights on Star Alliance or other partner airlines, miles will usually post to United frequent flyer accounts within 15 days after the flight. If the miles have not posted after this point, you can request mileage credit by submitting your 13-digit ticket number, same as above. One exception is intra-Japan flights on ANA, as these do not have a ticket number. For these flights, simply enter 2050000000000. If the system cannot locate your partner airline ticket, it will request other information – all of this information can be found on your boarding pass, so we advise holding onto your boarding pass for some time after your flight.
Amtrak
You can earn United miles from rides on Amtrak. These can also be requested once it has been more than 15 days since your trip. To do so, you’ll need to send a message through this Contact MileagePlus link; choose “Mileage Credit” as the subject. You will need to submit your ticket receipt and the ticket itself.
Hotels, Rental Cars and Other Partners
For hotels and rental cars, mileage credit requests are accepted after eight weeks. This link provides information on how to request credit from each hotel and rental car partner. Requesting mileage credit for a rental car or hotel reservation can even reactivate expired United miles in your account! If the reservation is from before the date your miles expired and the miles for the reservation have not already posted to your United account, requesting mileage credit for the reservation will reactivate the expired miles.
2. American Frequent Flyer Accounts
Flights on American
Miles from flights on American typically post to American frequent flyer accounts within 2 business days. If they do not, you can request mileage credit by filling out the form on this link. Note that you can only request credit for flights taken within the past 12 months. Conveniently, you can request mileage credit for other passengers on your itinerary on the form as well rather than needing to fill out a separate form for each passenger; the miles will be credited to their American frequent flyer accounts. If you do not have an American frequent flyer account, you can register one to earn mileage credit for flights taken within the prior 30 days.
Flights on Partner Airlines
You can request mileage credit for flights on OneWorld partners using the same link as above. However, you can only request mileage credit for certain airlines this way. If the airline is not on the list below, you will need to mail or fax (1-817-963-7882) your ticket receipt and boarding pass to request credit.
Hotels, Rental Cars, and Other Partners
See this link for how to request mileage credit for each of American’s non-airline partners.
3. Delta Frequent Flyer Accounts
Flights on Delta
Miles from flights on Delta typically post to Delta frequent flyer accounts within 24 hours. If they do not, you can request mileage credit through this link (you will need to log into your account). You will need your ticket number – the field has space for 13-digit ticket numbers, but if your ticket number is 14 digits, simply leave off the last digit. Note that mileage credit can only be requested for flights taken within the past 9 months, different from United and American. If you had not registered a Delta frequent flyer account before your flight, you can register one and request mileage credit for flights taken in the prior 30 days.
Flights on Partner Airlines
Miles from flights taken on SkyTeam partner airlines usually post to Delta frequent flyer accounts within 7 business days. If they do not, you can request mileage credit using the same link as above.
4. Alaska Airlines Frequent Flyer Accounts
Flights on Alaska
Miles from flights on Alaska typically credit to Alaska frequent flyer accounts within 7 business days. If they do not, you can request mileage credit by filling out the form on this link. You can request mileage credit using your 13-digit e-ticket number, or, if you do not have it, other information about your flight (date, route, etc.) will suffice. If you happen to have your boarding pass accessible when you request the mileage credit, all of the necessary information can be found on it. Mileage credit requests can only be submitted for flights taken in the past 11 months, and, unlike you must have registered a frequent flyer account prior to your flight.
Flights on Partner Airlines
Miles from flights on partner airlines typically post within 14 business days. If they do not, you can use the same link as above to request mileage credit. If this does not work, you can send your receipt and boarding pass to Alaska Airlines either by mail or email (mileage.plan@alaskaair.com). The amount of time after the flight in which mileage credit can be requested varies by partner airline, as follows:
- British Airways – 6 months
- Air France and KLM – 9 months
- Other partners (American, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, Hainan Airlines, Qantas, etc.) – 12 months.
Hotels, Rental Cars, and Other Partners
Instructions for how to request mileage credit from other partners can be found on this page. Mileage credit requests for Avis, Alamo, Budget, Dollar, Hertz, National and Thrifty can be submitted through the given rental car company’s website. Similarly, mileage credit requests for Hilton, Fairmont, La Quinta, and can be submitted through their websites. To request mileage credit for all other hotel partners, you must email your hotel receipt to mileage.plan@alaskaair.com.
5. Southwest Airlines Frequent Flyer Accounts
Flights on Southwest
Miles from flights on Southwest typically credit to Southwest frequent flyer accounts within 48 hours, and mileage credit requests can only be submitted after this period. Requesting mileage credit on Southwest is simple. After logging into your Southwest account, click “My Account.” Within the “My Account” page, click on “Manage Account” and then “Request past points.” Submit your flight confirmation number on the page to request mileage credit.
Southwest does not have any airline partners.
Hotels, Rental Cars, and Other Partners
Though Southwest does not have airline partners, they do have hotel, rental car, and other partners – you can earn miles from all of them. Just head over to Southwest.com and request all the miles from these partners.
