Monthly Archives: December 2019

2019 Travel Year in Review

Once again it’s time to look back and see where I traveled in the past year.

Cyan: Ski trip to Big Sky (Bozeman), Montana, Pink: Ski trip to Park City (Salt Lake City), Utah, Green: Business Trip to Copenhagen, Red: Business Trip to Vienna (49,830 miles)

I was able to do two ski trips this year and they were to two of my favorite places: Big Sky, Montana and Park City, Utah. In Big Sky I arrived a day before the group so I spent the night at the Hilton Garden Inn in Bozeman. Up on the mountain we stayed at The Huntley Lodge for the first time in about 20 years.  For the Park City trip I again arrived a night early and stayed at the Spring Hill Suites SLC Airport for one night and then at the Park Station Condos for the week.

After the last ski trip in February it was a long wait until I flew again. Then I had two trips in August. The first was to Copenhagen where I flew SAS Business Class and stayed at the AC Bella Sky Marriott. The second was to Vienna where I flew LOT Polish Business Class and stayed at the Hilton Vienna am Stadtpark with a stop-off at the Hyatt Place Chicago O’Hare Airport on the way home. Continue reading

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Activate 2020 1st Quarter Bonus Categories

I’m a little late with this post but it’s time to activate bonus categories for card that have quarterly bonuses for next quarter.  All of these cards offer bonus points or cash back on up to $2000 in purchases during the quarter.

US Bank Cash+

Even though TV, Internet & Streaming Services are shown as new below, though it’s been available for several quarters now.  If you’re not already getting 5x Ultimate Rewards points by using a Chase Ink card (and even if you are!) you may want to switch the card you’re using for payment.  You must register your card before December 26th to get the bonus cash-back in the categories you select.  As a reminder, you choose two 5% categories and one 2% category.  To register, click on the link in the email you received from US Bank or visit this link.  I’m choosing Home Utilities (as usual) but instead of my usual Gym category I’m going with sporting goods this time.  Since I’ll have a couple of ski trips during the first quarter of 2020 and I may buy something at one of the shops, it will cost more than my monthly gym membership so I’ll get a better value there.

Discover Card

Discover has already given us the full calendar for 2020.  For Q1 the categories are:

This is an easy one to max out as you can buy Visa gift cards at these places and load them to your Bluebird or turn them into money orders.

 

Chase Freedom

If you don’t have a Chase Ink card that earns 5x points on internet/cable/phone already and don’t want to use one of your US Bank categories, this is the quarter to use your Chase Freedom card on those bills.  Otherwise use this card for your gas purchases (and gift cards, if sold there) and on any streaming services you may use.

To register you can go to this link to look at the calendar, then click on the Activate Now button as seen above.

 

Categories: Cash Plus, Chase, Credit Cards, Discover, Freedom, US Bank | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

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