I recently signed up for the Bilt Palladium card, forking over a beefy $495 for the annual membership fee to test it out. I’ll do a full post on my experience after having some reps under my belt on the card, but for now I’m going to focus on one of the major offsets for […]
Bilt Palladium — $400 Bilt Travel Hotel credit is outrageously easy to use Read More »
US Bank may be my favorite free money bank of 2026. This newest deal is another $150. Targeted offer by both email and mail on a card I typically have very low activity (currently I have a negative balance due to a prior deal credit). The deal Earn up to $150 in statement credits on
US Bank occasionally has some good offers on their products. This is one of those. While the quantity of direct deposits can be substantial, when looking at the 3-month window, assuming 2x-monthly paychecks, that $8,000 for the top bonus tier breaks out to ~$1,300 a paycheck (if setting up right away). That feels pretty achievable
US Bank Smartly checking bonus offering $450 to set up direct deposits Read More »
I love a good chicken sandwich. In fact, I actually love almost all chicken sandwiches. Sometimes you have a craving and you move on it. That’s exactly what I did this past month, but in my ordering I made a mistake. The merchant wasn’t helpful, but the credit card “dispute” functionality was. I left the
Citi’s Credit Card dispute ability saved me from my missing chicken sandwich Read More »
This week I shared a post about my slew of card applications whose sign-up bonuses will be supporting a slew of fun and exciting activities over the coming year. Two of those applications took advantage of a widespread type of application known as preapproval. These effectively let you go from window-shopping the manakin’s outfit to
Card pre-approval provides certainty without adverse impact of a hard inquiry Read More »
There’s lots of reasons for me to be loyal to Capital One, but really high up there is how much I love the Capital One lounges. I’ve now graced Dulles, Denver, and Dallas lounges. Each of these is markedly better than the mediocre Priority Pass quality, or the good but not amazing American Express lounges.
Capital One Lounge Changes — nerfed access for non-primary cardholders Read More »
There’s almost nothing that brings a smile to my face quite like going 3-for-3 on new card applications. The truth is, I took advantage of prequalification tools to have high confidence in two of the three. Still exciting to see the approvals roll in, one by one. Almost as exciting as the big bonuses that
I bought a really amazing race bike last summer. After a very abridged life, that bike was thrashed in a bike accident with a parked car. Luckily homeowners insurance covered all but $2,000 deductible for that bike purchase. I was able to sell the components of that trashed bike to someone building their own…for $2,000!
A Bicycle Story — Crash Replacement Benefit (Canyon) — Part Four Read More »
How many is TOO MANY open credit cards? Every month I have to log into 12 different issuers accounts to update my tracking and make payments across 39 open credit cards with $560,200 total credit line. I track this carefully to make sure I don’t miss something. The reality is that this can be a
My 39 open credit cards is pretty amazing, and also…unreasonable Read More »
There exists an amazing suite benefits that come along with using a credit card. This ranges from supplementary rental auto insurance to bag protection to roadside assistance to extended warranties to purchase protection. That big, bulky book of details that comes when you get a new card? There’s actually some helpful benefits that are worth
A Bicycle Story — Purchase Protection Benefit (Visa) — Part Three Read More »
