We got a letter stating that our new Barclaycard American Airlines Credit Card is on its way. The US Airways Dividend Miles Mastercard will be replaced with the AAdvantage Aviator Red Mastercard. It also came with a note that said to register now and we would earn 50% more miles on qualifying purchases. The new cards from Barclaycard will be Blue, Red, Silver and Aviator.
The US Airways and American Airlines merger has been a bit tough for some of us especially if you are Gold and lost lots of benefits such as checking-in two bags and the preferred seating that went away this year. It has a bright spot though if you had Dividend miles they will finally be converted into AAdvantage miles. In continuation of this merger there were two card companies that worked with the once competing airlines and now they need to do something to bring together the programs. This is a start by converting the US Airways cards into American AAdvantage cards.
We compared the new cards below from American Airlines but are not all that impressed when it comes to the competition. Virgin America is offering no-cancellation fees and other airlines cards offer free Gogo. The only really impressive thing is that these cards offer a 10% annual bonus which is great for those that pay the high annual fee.
Plenti is a new rewards program that will bring in several big brands together to earn and redeem points. This will be a game-changer for American Retail because you will be able to earn points across a variety of merchants. Macy’s, Rite Aid, ExxonMobile, Nationwide Insurance, AT&T and several other brands have all come together to be apart of the first U.S. based coalition loyalty program of its kind with American Express.
There’s no need to use an AMEX card to participate in the rewards program although you can get a bonus of 2,500 points if you sign up for the official card of the program. They are most likely using the same model as used in other countries with Payback rewards program. The program will launch this May and unfortunately there’s no way to sign up yet. I am curious how this will change Macy’s Star Rewards program if any.
UPDATE: The Plenti loyalty program from American Express is now open for enrollment. Head over to plenti.com to sign up.
Participating in the program with Plenti so far I am most excited about is Nationwide Insurance. Imagine earning points for paying huge homeowner’s and auto insurance bills. Earn 1 point per $1 spent of your monthly phone bill at AT&T is one example. Other partners they have signed up include Hulu and Direct Energy.
Earning Plenti points will not be in place of earning a 5x category bonus with say a Chase Freedom or a Discover IT. You can basically have your cake and eat it too with these stackable points say at an Exxon station or AT&T with cards such as the Chase Ink Card.
The benefit for the customer of course will be the ability to earn rewards more quickly and to have far more flexibility in redeeming them. One study has found that the average American is a member of 29 loyalty programs but only uses 8 actively.
The coalition also plans to double or even triple the number of members in the coming years by adding a national restaurant chain, a grocer and a do-it-yourself retailer possibly Home Depot or Lowe’s. It would be great to see them partner with an Airline or Hotel Chain on top of these! Competitors to the partners listed such as Nordstroms, J.C. Penney or CVS, or a major competitor will not be added to the group.
Every 1,000 points will yield at least $10 in savings, and members will get additional special offers. People can use whatever debit or credit card they choose when the program launches. Keep your eyes open for the launch of a new AMEX Plenti branded credit card that will offer additional rewards and benefits.
I was falling in Love with Virgin America but now they are more of a one-night stand or one-hit wonder. I even bought stock in the company under the ticker VA. I am now losing all faith in the airlines.
Update: They updated my status match without telling me for some reason unless I lost the email to spam somehow. Virgin America is still my favorite airlines 🙂
I got kind of suspicious when they advertised their status match and yet you see many people just like me who tried to match with American Airlines and never hear anything back. I have resent the email three times now since September and contacted them via Twitter still nothing has been done. That’s fine its a luxury I can live without. Although this would have at least helped me in my current “upgrade” for a real “upgrade” I cannot fathom someone bidding for an upgrade to Main Cabin Select. It is beyond me. I can understand additional when booking the far or perhaps if they still have some open after the booking but bidding as if its some in-demand seat is outrageous unless its for $20 more. There is no way I would have pay $90 more if I would have known.
I got an email that asked me to bid for an upgrade on my flight coming up from LAX to DFW. I thought it was for an upgrade not just moving up the main cabin. I was on my phone and not reading all the fine print so then today I got an email saying I was “upgraded” to main cabin select”. Oh. and it is for the middle seat as the window or aisle was not available What I had to pay $90 to sit in a middle seat from the seat that I already had was just a few rows back? This is an upgrade? I would think that by Texas law we would have 24 hours to be able to stop such a charge. I will have to look into it more.
Why would an airline even bother with Main Cabin Select seating. It does nothing that great to warrant the added expense and of course they had middle seats available up there. I have not yet been on a Virgin America flight that had all the Main Cabin Select seats full. If I were the airline I would rip out that area and make that a business class and take out the middle seats.
I now regret paying $150 for my Virgin America Platinum Card because I doubt I will fly this airline again after these heartbreaking experiences. I looked over at Consumer Affairs and it looks like I am not the only one with complaints. They are rated below AeroMexico and American Airlines… and British Airways.
Make sure you pay close attention when bidding for upgrades with Virgin America because you may not be happy with what they consider an upgrade. A middle seat a few rows ahead of where I was sitting for someone who has long arms is NOT what I had anticipated.
In the past few years retailers have been offering incentives to fill prescriptions at their pharmacies instead of the competition. It has been heating up dramatically especially with CVS and Walgreens the two major pharmacies.
When you fill prescriptions each month why not get some benefit from the pharmacy you choose to fill it at? You’re getting the same prescription regardless of which pharmacy fills it. But who has the best pharmacy rewards program? We shall take a look deeper into CVS, Walgreens, and big retailers such as Target.
CVS ExtraCare Rewards.
For the pharmacy benefits of ExtraCare Rewards every time you fill a prescription, you get 1 credit. If you fill a 90-day online prescription, you get 3 credits. When you have 10 credits, you get $5 ExtraBucks Rewards that can be redeemed at CVS. You need to fill 10 prescriptions to earn $5 ExtraBucks.
Additional ways to earn credits:
1 credit each time you get a flu shot or vaccination from a CVS pharmacist which you can get yearly
3 credits when you add prescription management to your CVS.com account
1 credit when you sign up for Refill Reminder emails in the Online Prescription Center
1 credit when you sign up for prescription text alerts in the Online Prescription Center
Walgreens Balance Rewards.
Balance Rewards provides you with 500 points each time you fill a prescription. You can start redeeming points for actual rewards once you reach 5,000 points. 5,000 points can be redeemed for $5 that can be spent at Walgreen’s. Walgreens rewards 500 points for each flu shot or immunization yearly like its rival CVS.
Most do not know that if you save your points you can get a better point to dollar redemption ratio.
10,000 points – $10
18,000 points – $20
30,000 points – $35
40,000 points – $50
Target’s reward program is very straightforward: fill five prescriptions, get a certificate for 5% off a day of shopping. The certificate comes in the mail and can be used on as many purchases as you want, as long as it’s within the same day. That means they can be used on as many transactions as you want. When you get your 5% off certificate it then comes with a coupon code that can be used online as well. This amounts to a full day of saving 5%. The 5% savings can be stacked with the standard 5% you save when you use your Target REDcard. Target has had double months where you get 2 credits for each Rx filled which is another benefit. Other rewards programs you may try are Kroger and your local grocery store may offer an RX Program.
Bottom Line
While Target Pharmacy Rewards has no cap on your savings CVS seems to give more discounts in their ExtraCare Rewards program in general. You will get emails for random $2 off Bonus Bucks or 20% off all purchases that day. Although you only have to spend $50 at Target with your 5% off certificate to match the savings you’d receive at CVS or Walgreens. While CVS would normally be more expensive than Target I think I would go with a 20% than a 5% off. You also need to consider how much time you will spend in the drive-thru at CVS and Walgreens as I know the one near me takes forever. I like to get everything shipped to me and still reap the rewards benefits. Which one of these benefits you the most? Comment below if we need to add a pharmacy.
With FreedomPop you can get a monthly allowance of WiFi for FREE. This means no contracts, monthly fees, or any of that. All you have to do is pay for the $29.99 activation.
When you sign up you’re given the option to select a plan. I registered for the FREE Basic 500MB monthly plan. I found that 500MB has been enough for basic things such as responding to emails, apps and browsing social media sites. If you are going to stream videos or download large files then you would want to select a higher plan. You can get the Free WiFi offer here.
In the registration process you choose a device. Devices range from the wifi USB stick to hotspots that can accomodate up to 8 devices at once. I selected the Freedom Spot because it’s small and sits in the palm of my hand which is perfect to send WiFi to my devices.
The 4G speed is extremely fast in certain areas where coverage is strong and can sometimes be faster than my home internet provider. If you need more data you can tell friends about it and earn more by transferring unused data between linked friends or participate in “partner offers”.
Hotel WiFi has been cheaper or free at most locations lately but you might consider using this in place of purchasing expensive hotel wifi if you don’t have “status”. One example is in Las Vegas I recently stayed at the Mirage hotel and casino and there was No WiFi in the rooms it was miserable. The WiFi was only available in the Lobby.. um what good is that? For some reason Las Vegas hotels do not believe in WiFi. With this device you would have free internet.
When you tell friends about it you each receive an additional 50MB of data and a chance to link accounts to swap unused data. Add your own link to the comments as well too so we can connect!
Plenti is a new rewards program that will bring in several big brands together to earn and redeem points. This will be a game-changer for American Retail because you will be able to earn points across a variety of merchants. Macy’s, Rite Aid, ExxonMobile, Nationwide Insurance, AT&T and several other brands have all come together to be apart of the first U.S. based coalition loyalty program of its kind with American Express.
With FreedomPop you can get a monthly allowance of WiFi for FREE. This means no contracts, monthly fees, or any of that. All you have to do is pay for the $29.99 activation.