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.
The month of May came with plenty of news that could affect your wallet. So,
I’ve compiled some of these top stories from this past month to share,
including an awesome Amex green card offer, the return of a status match favorite, and more.
First up, with another fiscal quarter just a month away,
Discover has announced the next round of 5% bonus categories
From July through September 2023, Discover It customers will be able to earn up to 5%
cashback at gas stations as well as on purchases made using digital wallets such as Apple Pay,
Google Pay, Samsung Pay, and others. For the gas stations category,
purchases at the pump and inside qualifying stations will count. Plus,
discover says that public EV charger purchases will also be included. As usual,
the 5% back is capped at a combined category spending total of $1500, meaning that a max
of $75 is possible from this offer. Customers will also need to be sure to activate the bonus.
Personally, I think this will be one of the easiest quarterly categories to max out thanks
to the digital wallets aspect. But, one very minor downside is that I won’t be able to take advantage
of this category via my Curve card. But, aside from that, I give these Q3 picks a big thumbs up.
Next, the Amex Green card is currently offering its best-ever welcome bonus
While it often stands in the shadow of the Platinum and Gold cards,
the Amex Green card is actually a surprisingly solid card. And now, it comes with one killer
welcome bonus offer. Currently, new cardmembers can earn 60,000 membership rewards points
after spending 3,000 in purchases on the card within their first six months. On top of that,
they’ll earn 20% back on eligible travel and transit purchases during that six months,
up to a total of $200 in statement credits. Even if you only value MR points at 1¢ each,
this offer could be worth $800 between the two halves of the deal.
As a reminder, the Green card features 3x points on travel and transit purchases as
well as 3x on dining. And while it carries a $150 annual fee,
it also includes a $189 annual credit for CLEAR and $100 annual credit for Loungebuddy.
Given all of these factors, I think this is an outstanding deal
and makes the Amex Green card one worth considering this summer travel season.
In unlikely co-branded credit card news,
Fisher-Price has launched a new card with a focus on college savings
I don’t know about you, but I don’t really associate the preschool toy company Fisher-Price
with credit card. Yet, in partnership with the FinTech Concerto, the brand has launched a new
card issued by MRV Bank. With the Fisher-Price College Savings Mastercard, customers can earn up
to 2% back on all purchases, but there’s a twist. This 2% value will only apply if they deposit
their cashback into a 529 education savings plan. Meanwhile cashback not deposited into a qualifying
account will be valued at the equivalent of 1% back. According to a press release, customers will
be invited to open a new 529 when they apply for the card or can link a current account.
Overall, this is a pretty unique idea for a card and honestly, i dont hate it. Although you could
always just get a regular 2% back flat rate card or a variety of other rewards cards and
earmark your cashback for college savings, this Fisher-Price is built for the job. So while it’s
definitely not for everyone, I at least want to give them props for this somewhat novel concept.
Moving to other personal finance news,
Robinhood is currently rolling out 24/5 trading hours for select assets
Soon, you’ll be able to trade stocks on Robinhood during any time of day. Well,
assuming it’s a weekday and the stock your trading is one of a select few. Recently,
the app announced the launch of 24/5 extended trading hours. First, these hours will run
from 8:00 pm Eastern on Sunday to 8:00 pm Eastern on Friday. Additionally, at launch,
only the top 43 of the most traded ETFs and individual stocks will be eligible. Users
will be able to place 24 Hour Market orders using Limit Order and will be able to select
whether they want their order filled during regular, extended, or 24 hour market hours.
Elsewhere, in some late-breaking Robinhood news,
the app is set to delist three crypto assets amid an SEC crackdown. Cardano, Polygon,
and Solana will all be pulled from the app on June 27th 6:59 p.m. Eastern and users who don’t
transfer these assets from their account before this deadline will have their coins
sold automatically. I’m sure this is going to go over great, so I’ll just leave it at that.
After a multi-year absence,
it looks as though Wyndham is once again offering its status match challenges
Once upon a time, an offer from Wyndham made it possible for Amex Platinum cardholders
and others to essentially unlock a merry go round of status matching,
including earning Caesars Diamond status on an annual basis. Unfortunately,
this deal went away at the start of the pandemic as Wyhndham ended their matching challenge.
Well, out of nowhere, it’s now back - but there’s a bit of a catch.
Now, you can match your status from other hotel chains to Wyndham in
order to enjoy perks for 90 days and, if you meet certain stay requirements,
you’ll be able to retain said status. While matching varies by brand, as an example,
the Hilton Gold status that comes with the Amex Platinum matches to Wyndham Diamond. Then,
if you stayed at least 10 nights during your 90 days, you’d get to keep Diamond status.
The bad news is that Caesars has since added language to their status matching
that likely doesn’t make it possible to match your quote unquote unearned status to Caesars
Rewards during your Wynhdam trial status as you could back in the day. However,
if you meet the requirements to keep your status, then the matching should work, entitling you to
a number of Caesars Diamond perks such as a $100 celebration dinner, waived resort fees, and more.
Even if this Wynhdam matching deal isn’t quite as powerful as it once was, it’s still
good to have it back and could definitely come in handy with some planning ahead.
Finally, Starbucks summer game has returned and
you don’t need to make a purchase in order to have a chance to win prizes
The latest Starbucks promotion has arrived in the form of their annual summer game. And
while these events are meant to encourage you to visit the coffee shop and buy more,
there is an easy way to get free plays. Once you log into the game, scroll down to find the enter
without making a purchase link. Admittedly, this year’s form is a bit more annoying than in the
past as you’ll need to watch a 30 second spot before you can submit. But, once you do, you’ll
get an email with a link to redeem your free play. By the way, in addition to your one daily play,
you can also claim some of the other challenges for more plays - up to a total of 2 per day.
In my case, I’ve been playing nearly every day and have scored quite a few free stars as well as,
to my surprise, a $25 gift card. So while you might not end up with much,
it may still be worth your time to give this a shot each day through the June 18th end date.
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.
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