Getting the Most Rewards out of Buying Stuff

I enjoy shopping for some cool things, especially video games and some expensive stuff. As always, gasoline prices are not going to go down to $1.50 a gallon anytime soon, so maybe its time to get a little payback for what you buy.

Many of you may have a rewards credit card that usually gives you about 1% of your purchases, back; but how about if I can get you a better return rate on your purchases?

Here's my list of tips on what to do to get back even more money, sometimes up to 5% back.

• Talking about gasoline prices, there are a few gas stations that have "cash only" options for slightly less than credit only. But in about 85% of cases, the gas station you visit does not really care which way you pay, as long as they get their money and you got gas in your tank. Here's how you can get back more.
• First of all, always use your credit card with a rewards program. If you pay in cash all the time, you get ZERO PERCENT BACK. Remember that by using a credit card, you do not pay interest if you pay the entire amount back when your next bill comes along.
• Most rewards cards are 1%, but here's one that can get you 3% or even 5% if you have a business. I use the Costco American Express card and it provides me 3% back at all gas stations, including Costco gas, where it is relatively cheap. 5% is for any business member that gets a business American Express card. Do your research, you might find a better return if you get the right card.
• I spend about $1,000 a year on gas, so 3% back is $30 of fun money I can spend on something else... say more gas. As for my folks, I don't know why they use a gas station credit card, they can only use it at one brand of gasoline, and the REFUSE to fill-up at another gas station that's cheaper. Sheesh, did you know that San Francisco's gasoline only comes from two refineries?

• How about shopping online? Here's how you can kill three birds with one stone, and it only takes a little bit of extra effort to do. Here's the steps:
• First of all, get a free membership with Mileage Plus on United Airlines and once you get your registration done, go to the "earn miles" section and you find the Mileage Plus Online mall. There, you can go shop at many of your favorite online stores, including places like Best Buy and Barnes and Noble.
• Second, make sure to charge your purchase to a rewards credit card.
• Third, make sure you are registered for that store's loyalty program.
• Now, it's time to use all three. I'll give a perfect example, let's use Best Buy!
• The United Airlines Mileage Plus online shopping mall offers Best Buy, where you get one mile for every two dollars you spend. You click on the link to enter Best Buy, go shopping and pick what you want, choose for your item to be shipped or express pick-up, charge it to your rewards card, and register your "Best Buy Reward Zone" loyalty membership to your purchase (Every $250 gets you $5).
• Lets do the return rate math:
• United miles earned: 0.50% return rate
• Rewards credit card: 1% (or possibly more)
• Best Buy loyalty membership: 2%
• TOTAL: 3.5% return rate.

So... think creatively! You can get back more than you think you can.

Disappointed United P.S. Premium Service Flight - JFK to SFO 3/29/08 Flight 893

I was especially disappointed with United Airlines' "Premium Service" return flight from JFK New York to San Francisco (flight 893 on 3/29/08). My flight to New York was great (flight 6 on 3/22/08) because it had all the bells and whistles that I expected, but my return flight was a total nightmare.

I paid 45,000 frequent flier miles to do this vacation in business class, and here's what you get on a flight on United Airlines on their "Premium Service" flights to/from New York JFK and SFO/LAX:

• Leather reclining seats with foot rest
• Premium quality food with champagne, includes at least three entree items and a snack.
  
• Personal entertainment player that works like an iPod with on demand games, movies, tv shows, and more.
• Adapter-free electrical plug to power-up your computer, iPod, etc.
  
• Basically, it's like riding international business, but you get the extra perks.

Here's some photos I took of my flight from SFO to JFK on the Premium Service plane:


How do you like the fact that the special United P.S. plane (Boeing 757) was changed to a Boeing 767 international configuration?

We get this announcement about ten minutes prior to boarding flight 893 on 3/29/08. Then the lady on the PA system says that you don't get all the perks. Damn.

Here's a list of what I lost due to this plane change:

• I got a reclining seat with footrest, but it was not leather.
• I requested for a seat in the front row of business, which gives extra leg room. I lost it and had to sit in the second row.
• The electrical outlet required an "EM Power" plug. I nearly drained my iPod dead because of this. I could not watch videos on my iPod since it eats my battery quickly,
• No personal multimedia player. I got that stupid pop-out video player that showed videos on a loop. In two hours, you see the same TV episode. Also looked like it was VHS quality with the static lines.
  

I'd have to say, First Class passengers would be really pissed off. The Premium Service planes comes with those flat sleeper seats, but all they got was a reclining seat instead. What kind of bullshit is that?

Oh yeah, even worse: The plane took-off 30 minutes late. Two lightbulbs were burned out and the tap water system in the rear of the plane was not working. Whoopie.

Here's some interesting news, while my experience was bad, reading the summary of flights from JFK to SFO on 3/29/08, flight 17 was supposed to leave at 5:35PM but left at 7:04PM due to "ramp service."

Come on United. I expected better. 45,000 air miles is a lot to pay for a nice seat and top notch premium service. How about some compensation for this expensive flight?

The Unfortunate World of Airline Miles

I can't believe I did this, I bought plane tickets to Las Vegas on Monday for $200 each, and then two days later, I get a huge chunk of airline miles posted in my account when my United Airlines Credit Card posted me 21,000 miles available to use.

21,000 miles is the equivalent of $210 in money to pay a plane ticket, or just an additional 4,000 miles to get a "saver" ticket to fly almost anywhere in the USA (regardless of the price of fare).

Now I regret it because the airline I picked has a "no refund" policy, damn! I could have used my 21,000 in free air miles to buy a flight to Vegas and used that extra cash to feed it down the mouth of a rip-off slot machine or a shot a roulette.

But I must say that it is totally worth getting a credit card or a check card with some type of rewards program because you use your cards to pay for your daily and big ticket item purchases, and why not get about 1% back? Say you spend $1,000 on your credit card, 1% of $1,000 is $10, which typically means you can claim a gift card for a retail store for that amount.

Credit cards with rewards is a good option, but check cards with rewards typically only return 0.25% of every dollar you invest. The only thing that would make the rewards program worthless is that if you do use it, it's usually a higher APR than a non-rewards program, and if you are paying interest on your credit card bills (instead of paying your bill completely every month for 0% interest), it aint worth it.

Let's summarize my rants:
Rats, I could have flown for free!
No refund?? What a joke!
Can't I get my money back so I can gamble and try to get double?
Try a credit card with rewards, it's worth getting free crap.