MyCardBlog

Today I found a very interesting trick from CitiCards.Com.

Citi Professional Card with ThankYou Network is a nice card. It will give you 3% cash back at restaurants, gas stations, office supply stores and even on car rentals. This professional card is a hybrid personal/business card and it will appear on your credit report. At CitiCards.Com, you can see “Earn 10,000 ThankYou Points” after first purchase which can be redeemed for a $100 gift card. However, if you apply for this card from this link, you can get 2,000 more ThankYou Points.

If you apply for this card through this link, you can get 5,000 more ThankYou Points.

How can you do this? When you enter the application page, you can try to close the window. (please make sure your browser allows ‘pop-up’s ) Then there will be a small window pop up which will give you more bonus points. I believe most credit card websites are aware of this trick. But they still promote this card as what exactly Citi said. Too bad, huh?

Similar trick can be found at another citi card—Citi Business Card with ThankYou Network. Details can be found at this post.

According to the new study conducted by Javelin Strategy & Research, Bank of America took top honors for the second year in a row in the report ranking the largest U.S. banks on how well they protect their customers from fraud and identity theft. JPMorgan Chase, Washington Mutual and Wells Fargo tied for second place, and Citibank came in fifth.

The study focused on 25 major U.S. banks that together hold 50% of U.S. checking-account deposits. One of the major drawback of this study is they just measured banks’ policies for preventing, detecting and resolving fraud. However, they didn’t get the feedback from their customers. So I don’t believe the ranking reported by Javelin Strategy & Research. As we all know that banks will have their own strategy to prevent the identity fraud. Every bank will try their best to protect their customers. To a certain degree, the policies mean nothing. How to execute the policy is much more important than how to make the policy. From my point of view, JPMoragn Chase will be ranked as the top safe bank, Washington Mutual and Wells Fargo will be tied for the second place. Bank of America will be ranked as the fourth safest bank. As for Citibank, I don’t believe they are a safe bank. They have way too many Indian customer service representatives, and you can imagine how they will “protect” your account.

You can see the full report here.

My post about redeeming ThankYou Points for an airline ticket to Europe or Asia turned out to be one of the most popular posts in this blog. If you can earn enough ThankYou Points from Citi, it’s really a nice plan. Anyway, if we assume that a ticket to Asia or Europe is about $1,000 and you have 60,000 points to redeem a ticket, your earning for using Citi credit card is actually 1.6 point per dollar spent. If you are using Citi mtvU card for college students, your reward will be 5*1.6=8 points for making purchases at restaurants and Amazon.Com.

Another way to get a free airline ticket would be using airline credit card such as AAdvantage Card issued by Citi and United Mileage Plus Card issued by Chase. Today I’m going to briefly introduce how to get enough AAdvantage miles to redeem for an airline ticket.

At Citicards.com, you can only get 20,000 AAdvantage miles for a new AAdvantage credit card. However, Citi sent me two flyers this month both of which will let you get 25,000 AAdvantage miles for a new AAdvantage credit card. That’s 5,000 miles more. The application website is www.away6.citicard.com and www.fly9.citicards.com. Phone number is 800-829-7535 or 800-871-7639. I don’t know why they have two different addresses, but they are actually the same. This offer expires on May 31, 2008. Trust me you’re not going to get two AAdvantage consumer cards, although you have many choices. Another way is to apply for a business card at Citicards.com which will give you 25,000 AAdvantage miles. Ok, you might have 50,000 AAdvantage miles from Citicards. According to AA, 50,000 miles are enough for an economy class ticket to Europe or Asia at off-peak season. (see the detailed requirement)

There are also many other ways to earn AAdvantage miles.

Starwood Preferred Guest Card from American Express is offering 10,000 bonus points right now. The 10,000 points can be transferred to AAdvantage miles on a 1:1 basis plus 25% bonus miles, that is, 12,500 AAdvantage miles for signing up this card.

Fidelity is offering AAdvantage miles for opening a new non retirement brokerage account. If you deposit $2,500 in the new account, you will get 5,000 miles. If you deposit $10,000, you will get 15,000 miles. If you deposit $50,000, you will get 25,000 miles.

The above mentioned methods are the easiest and quickest ways to earn a huge amount of AAdvantage miles. I believe if you collect all the miles from above mentioned sources, you can get enough AAdvantage miles which are redeemable for a ticket to Europe or Asia.

I know most of us have a good credit score and many of us are taking advantage of the credit score to make some free money. However, some of my readers are afraid of lowering the credit score if he/she applies for too many credit cards. It’s true that credit inquiries (hard pulls) will temporarily lower your credit score. But the influence will be not so obvious after 6 months or so. I would say credit score is nothing if you’re not using it. If you are not going to buy a house (or apply for a mortgage) in the next two years (Credit inquiries will disappear from your credit report after 24 months.), you are free to use your credit. Credit inquiries will slightly influence your mortgage rate but not influence the auto loan (as long as your credit score is 700+).

This post is to tell you how to get a free trip to Europe or Asia by redeeming Citi ThankYou Points for an airline ticket. You can redeem your ThankYou points for an airline ticket because ThankYou Network provides Fixed Flight Travel option:

Eligible Citi cardmembers can also take advantage of our fixed flights option for air travel by calling one of our ThankYou Network Travel Specialists. You can count on getting a ticket for the date you want to fly. Note: please book 14 days in advance and plan for a Saturday overnight stay. Tickets are subjected to availability.

Account or the following Card Accounts are eligible for fixed flight airline tickets at fixed ThankYou Point amounts: Citi PremierPass Card, Citi PremierPass Card – Elite Level, Citi PremierPass Card – Smith Barney Elite Level, Citi PremierPass / Expedia.com Card, Citi PremierPass / Expedia.com Card – Elite Level, Citi Professional Card with ThankYou Network, CitiBusiness PremierPass Card, CitiBusiness Card with ThankYou Network, Citi Chairman Card and Citi Chairman American Express Card. This list is subject to change without notice. Fixed flight option Travel Rewards are only available when you call the ThankYou Service Center (800-842-6596). Agents will work to offer you the best deal on available flights – you are not required to select the fixed flight option.

According to the ThankYou Network, if you have 60,000 ThankYou points, you can redeem them for a free airline ticket to Asia and Europe. (Only 25,000 ThankYou points are needed for flights anywhere in the continental US and Alaska at any time of year.)

So the goal is to get enough ThankYou points (You should have one of the above mentioned cards which are eligible to use the fixed flight travel option.) Here are some recommendations for you:

• CitiBusiness Card with ThankYou Network (10,000 ThankYou Points—see this post)
  
• Citi Professional Card with ThankYou Network (15,000 ThankYou Points—see this post)
• Citi PremierPass Card-Elite Level (20,000 ThankYou Points)
• Citi PremierPass Card (10,000 ThankYou Points)
• CitiBusiness PremierPass Card (15,000 ThankYou Points)

Other methods to earn ThankYou points:

Use Citi checking/saving account and debit card (Citi Bank will send about 300 ThankYou points every month. If you use all of the banking services provided by Citi Bank, you may get up to 800 points per month.) You can also use other credit cards like Citi mtvU card and Citi Diamond Preferred Rewards card to earn ThankYou points.

So remember, if you have a decent credit score with solid credit history, you can do a ThankYou Points AOR to get enough points for a free trip to Europe or Asia.

The title says it and it’s true. “Which is the best credit card for college students?” This the most frequently asked question from my friends. My answer is always “Citi mtvU Platinum Select Visa Card”. The reason is very simple—it’s just the best.

When we are using a credit card, we want to get a certain amount of cashback and some additional benefits. So what are the top categories of expenses in college? Dinning out, textbooks and other entertainments. That’s why this card is so popular among college students. You can get 5 thankyou points for every dollar you spent at restaurants, bookstores, video stores and movie theaters. Plus you can also get 5 thankyou points for shopping at Amazon.com—earth’s biggest merchant with a wide selection of books, magazines, music, DVDs, videos, electronics, computers, software, apparel & accessories, shoes, etc. Accumulated thankyou points can be redeemed as gift cards or cash at thankyou.com.

Another interesting feature of this card is you will be awarded for being a good student. You can earn 250~2,000 bonus thankyou points each semester for maintaining a good GPA. (Of course, you have to mail official transcript to them.) Furthermore, you can get 25 bonus points each month for paying the bill on time!

With Citi virtual account numbers integrated in this card, your online shopping will be protected.

Overall, this card features:

• 0% APR* on Purchases and Balance Transfers for 6 months if you qualify based on your application and credit history*
• Earn 5 ThankYou Points® for every dollar you spend at restaurants, bookstores, record stores, movie theaters and video rentals stores.
• Earn 1 ThankYou Point for every dollar you spend on all other purchases.
• Earn 25 ThankYou Points every month when you pay on time and don’t go over your credit limit.
• Earn up to 2000 ThankYou Points twice a year for having a good GPA.
• Redeem points for gift cards, travel, electronics, music and more.
• No Annual Fee

I will apply for this card in the near future. Usually I eat out at restaurants at least 10 times every week. I can’t imagine how much I can save if I use this card. (Currently, I’m using 2% cash back card at restaurants.) Remember, if you apply for this card, they may need you to provide proofs or they will contact your college. Don’t expect to get an instant approval. For those who don’t familiar with ThankYou points, you can visit www.thankyou.com. To apply for this card, please click here.

Citi has a new $200 bonus for opening a new checking account. The new promotion code is MVS4. You have to call citi toll-free number 866-810-9043 to open the account and mention the promotion code. Of course, you can apply for a new checking account in branch and ask the banker to enter the promotion code. I can’t find anywhere you can apply for the new account online with this promotion code.

How to get $200?

Open a new checking account with at least $100 (EZ-checking doesn’t qualify)

Set up direct deposit or use 2 bill pays per month for 3 months to get the first $100

Another $100 will be credited to your account within the next 3 months

Must be a new customer without any checking and saving account history with Citi

You can open the account by phone or at a Citi Financial center (please mention the promotion code)

The monthly fee for the Citibank checking will be waived as part of this promotion as long as direct deposit or bill pay usage is maintained.

Offer expires on Feb. 29, 2008

Please note that a hard pull will be appearing on your credit report during the application process. Outgoing external transfers are limited to $2,000 daily and $10,000 monthly. If you don’t keep direct deposit or use bill pay from citi, monthly service fee will be charged.

I have a post about the other $200 promotion at here.

I have a post about credit cards with $100 bonus (see here). This afternoon I dug out another credit card—Citi Business Card with ThankYou Network. This card will give you 10,000 ThankYou Points after $250 in purchase. The 10,000 bonus points is clearly stated at Citicards.Com. To see this card, please click here. At this page you have two choices—Visa version or MasterCard Version. You can choose whichever you’d like. After click the card type you want, you will enter the application page.

This card also offers 0% APR on purchases. So it’s also a great opportunity to take advantage of the 0% APR on purchases. This might help you to save a certain amount of money.

There are some reasons why you might have to think of getting a business card.

1). Business cards are hidden from your personal credit report. Business cards will not appear on your credit report. Therefore, your credit utilization is lower (The balance on the business cards will not appear on you credit report.) You can maintain a high credit score. In this way, you can still be able to get some great deals.

2). Business cards are generally giving out high credit limit. They are supposed to be used for business purposes.

3). Business cards have great 0% APR offers.

4). Business credit often is not included in the maximum exposure level a credit card issuer will give you. If you can’t get more credits from you personal cards, you may want to try business cards.

5). Business card issuers care less about card utilization but more about the timeliness of payment. It seems that the business credit is viewed in a different manner than is personal credit. It’s often assumed that the usage of your credit card is for you business.

How can you apply for a business card without a real business?

If you don’t have a business and want to apply for a business card for personal use, you can put Solo Proprietorship as the business type and your name as the business title. You can use your personal SSN as ITIN. You can put $0 revenue and 0 years in business. It won’t affect your chance to get a business card (as a start up company). The credit card issuers will pull your personal credit report.

The big shopping season is coming. Most of credit card issuers have launched their promotions. For example, discover is offering $20 cash back for every $200 in purchases made with discover card (this post). Citi Dividend MasterCard is offering 5% cash back for purchases made at department, electronics and apparel stores for 3 months (this post). American Express offers to double your rewards points (post 1 and post 2). Furthermore, they are offering buy 5 gift cards get 1 $25 Gadget Lover’s card free (this post).

This morning I received an email (got the mail in the evening) from Chase for my Chase Freedom Card. The Chase Rewards Plus+ is following the other credit card issuers to join the promotion campaign. The offers are very attractive. They offer cash back and most offers will expire on 12/31/2007.

Some featured merchants:

Circuit City 4% Target 7% Sears 5% JCPenney 5% OverStocks.Com 5% Walmart.Com 3% OfficeDepot 4% Staples 3% Dell Home 3% Newegg.Com 2% Toshiba 2% Buy.Com 2% OfficeMax 3% Apple 2% GNC.Com 6%

In order to see whether the price will change or not, I made a simple comparison. I found that the price of Apple iPod Touch is same as the one we can see directly from Target.com ($299.99)

If you have a Chase Freedom Card, you are eligible to register your Freedom Card through www.chase.com/rewardsplus. If you don’t have one, you might take the chance to get one. They are offering $100 cash bonus now. For more details, please login your account and find out more deals. Good luck!