Hey everyone, this is Kyle from Money@30 and it’s time for another round-up of recent
personal finance, credit card, and travel news.
Per usual, over the past few weeks, there’s been plenty of news that could affect your
wallet.
So, I’ve compiled some of these top stories from this past month to share, including some
new credit card options, potentially free wifi in the sky, and more.
First up, the three major US credit bureaus have once again extended their weekly free
credit report offer Early in the pandemic, Equifax, Experian,
and TransUnion announced that they’d begin allowing consumers to download their credit
reports once per week instead of once per year.
Since then, that offer has continued to be extended, with the latest update allowing
customers to access their reports weekly through the end of 2023.
To do this, make sure you’re using the still-named AnnualCreditReport.com — and be aware that,
while you’ll be able to view your credit reports for free, the site might try to offer
you additional paid services that are optional.
Moving to credit card news, Marriott Bonvoy recently released what are technically two
new card options: one from Amex and one from Chase.
Marriott Bonvoy has introduced two new co-branded cards: the Marriott Bonvoy Bevy American Express
card and the Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful Card from Chase.
Both of these cards come at an annual fee of $250, putting them in the middle of the
lineup.
And the similarities don’t end there as the two products are basically identical outside
of their issuer.
In terms of rewards, the Bevy and Bountiful cards earn 6x Marriott Bonvoy Points on purchases
at participating Marriott Bonvoy properties, 4x points on purchases at restaurants worldwide
as well as at U.S. supermarkets (up to $15,000 in combined restaurant and supermarket spending
per year), and 2x points on all other purchases.
Additionally, cardholders earn complimentary Gold status, have the opportunity to unlock
a Free Night Award worth up to 50,000 points once they make $15,000 in purchases in a year,
and more.
The general consensus seems to be that these two new options aren't very competitive and
don’t really justify their annual fee.
Nevertheless, these may be worth keeping an eye on if for no other reason than to see
if this bad buzz leads to changes.
While details are scant at the moment, it was recently announced that Chase and DoorDash
would soon be releasing a co-branded card.
Speaking of new credit cards, a rewards card from the popular delivery service DoorDash
is in the works with Chase serving as issuer.
According to a press release from the two companies, the upcoming card will allow customers
to “unlock benefits and earn rewards on purchases both on and off the DoorDash platform.”
Unfortunately, no specifics were announced.
However, if we look to the recently-released Instacart card, it might give us some hints
as to what’s possible with a DoorDash card.
Then again, Chase could completely flip the script on us, so we’ll need to stay tuned
for future updates on this in-the-works offering.
Next, with interest rates rising, Robinhood is now offering customers up to 3% APY, although
there’s a catch Remember back in the day when Robinhood announced
that it would offer users 3% APY on funds before completely canceling that plan when
it came out it wasn’t quite approved by regulators?
Well, at long last, that 3% APY is a reality… sort of.
Now, Robinhood customers can indeed earn up to 3% APY on their uninvested cash.
However, to earn that rate, they’ll first need to opt into the cash sweeps program and
be a Robinhood Gold member.
For those unfamiliar, Gold comes at a cost of $5 per month.
Cash sweeps users without Gold can now earn 1.5% APY on uninvested funds.
Seeing as interest rates have been rising among online banks, that 3% APY isn’t near
as exciting as it once was.
So, unless you’re already a Robinhood Gold customer, this trade-off probably isn’t
worth it.
In travel news, T-Mobile customers can now enjoy complimentary WiFi on select United
Airlines flights
T-Mobile’s “Coverage Beyond” initiative has expanded and now includes a number of
United flights.
In turn, those with a Magenta Max, Business Unlimited Ultimate, or equivalent Sprint plan
can enjoy a complimentary connection for their entire flight where available while those
with Magenta, Business Unlimited Advanced, or equivalent Sprint plans can enjoy one hour
of free connection on all of their applicable flights as well as redeem flight-long connections
four times per year.
United now joins Delta, American, and Alaska Airlines in offering such perks via T-Mobile.
So if you have T-Mobile or Sprint, keep an eye out for this offer on your next United
flight.
Finally, in some late-breaking news, the company that was PointCard is making more changes
and will now be known as AtlasCard
As I shared in a previous update, PointCard recently killed off its Neon debit card, seemingly
in favor of its Titan charge card.
Well, now that product is getting revamped before it even debuts and PointCard itself
is changing its name.
According to the company’s social media, it looks as though both the FinTech and their
product will go by the name Atlas Card.
Updated details on the charge card apparently still need to be decoded, but I did notice
that the proposed $399 annual fee for Titan is now $499 for Atlas.
So, unless the rest of the card has been overhauled to offer a lot more than what Titan was going
to, I’ll have to give the AtlasCard a big shrug.
Hopefully this roundup gave you a better idea about what some of these updates are all about
but for more on these stories, I’ll have links to some of my articles in the description
box down below.
Also if you like this video, please hit the thumbs up button, leave a comment, and be
sure to subscribe because we have new videos every week and will have new roundups like
this on the first Thursday of every month.
So thanks again for watching and I’ll see you next time here on Money@30