Introduction (If you already know about the credit, skip to the next section)

American Express Platinum Card is a great card to have, however it come with a hefty $450 Annual fee.

The card offers you many perks, which if you use them, are well worth the $450 in fees. One of the interesting perks is a $200 Airline fee Credit per calendar year which can be used towards incidentals fees ( like checked baggage fee, food / drinks purchases on airlines, etc.)

In order to receive the benefit, you have to enroll in the program.

Enrolling in the Program

To enroll in the program, you can either call American Airlines or use the following link

americanexpress.com/airlinechoice

Important Note

If you are enrolled in the $200 Airline Fee Credit and wish to keep your current airline selection, no action is needed.

If you would like to change your airline selection for 2012, you may do so in January by returning to this site.

Terms and Condition from American Express

Benefit is available to Consumer and Business Platinum Card® and Centurion® members only. To receive statement credits of up to $200 a year toward incidental air travel fees, Card member must enroll and choose a qualifying airline at www.americanexpress.com/airlinechoice. Only the Basic Card member or Authorized Account Manager(s) on the Card account can enroll and select the qualifying airline. Card members who have not chosen a qualifying airline will be able to do so at any time. It can take up to 48 hours post enrollment and airline choice for the benefit to be effective. Card members who have already selected a qualifying airline will not be able to change their choice until January of each calendar year at which time they may change their airline choice for that calendar year. Card members who do not change their airline selection will remain with their current airline. Statement Credits: Incidental air travel fees must be charged on the enrolled Card account for the benefit to apply. Incidental air travel fees must be separate charges from airline ticket charges. Fees not charged by the Card member’s airline of choice (e.g. wireless internet and fees incurred with airline alliance partners) do not qualify for statement credits. Upgrade charges are not deemed to be incidental fees. The airline must submit the incidental air travel fees under the appropriate merchant code, industry code, or required service or product identifier for the charge to be eligible. Purchases made by both the Basic and Additional Card members on the enrolled Card account are eligible for statement credits. Each Card Account is eligible for up to a total of $200 a year in statement credits, regardless of the number of Cards on the Account. Please allow 2-4 weeks after the qualifying incidental air travel fee is charged to your Card account for statement credit(s) to be posted to the account. Card members can call the number on the back of the Card if statement credits have not posted after 4 weeks from the date of purchase. Card members are responsible for payment of all charges until the statement credit(s) posts to the account. To be eligible for this benefit, Card account(s) must be active and not in default at the time of statement credit fulfillment. If a charge for any incidental air travel fee is included in a Pay Over Time feature balance on your Card account (for example, Sign & Travel), the statement credit associated with that charge will not be applied to that Pay Over Time feature balance. Instead, the statement credit will be applied to your Pay In Full balance. For additional information about this benefit, call the number on the back of your Card.

Background on Missing points:

- I had made some airline ticket purchases which are eligible for category bonus on my American Express Card. I also made some more airline ticket purchases in the following statement cycle. I received the bonus points for the next cycle but the previous one was some how ignored.

- My account was under financial review (more on how it went for review later) by American Express. My suspision was that when they looked for account to give category bonus, my account was somehow identified as being freezed and was not given a category bonus.

- Since I cleared the Financial Review process, I should now be able to get the bonus points.

Getting the Missing Points.

Step 1: Call the number on the back of the card.

The representative was able to confirm that I should be eligible for the bonus points for the purchase but they were unable to add the points. They gave me a direct number for Membership Rewards

Step 2: Call Membership Rewards ( at 800 297 3276)

The Representatives were less then helpful. IT took them a while to figure out why I should be getting bonus points for the purchase. They suggested that I wait for 8-12 weeks after the closing of the statement and then call them. I knew It was time to ask for the supervisor and I did so. I had to explain the full scenario again to the Supervisor and she then suggested that I have to write a letter and MAIL it in to a P.O. Box number. At which point I knew I had a bad supervisor and and Representative. I thanked them and dropped the call.

Attempt 2: I had to explain the whole scenario again, at which they said I can either send a secure message or FAX them the inquiring about the missing points ( much better). I went the secure message route, as it is much easier to keep track of the conversation.

Step 3: Send Secure Message

The first rep who saw my secure message was came back with a clueless response. She had detailed how membership rewards works and had clearly not taken time to read the issue in my message. I had to reply to it explaining that I understand what she said and I was contacting to get the missing points. Later I get a secure message from Amex, which had confirmed that they have credited the missing points. I later confirmed the points were posted as an adjustment to my account.

Conclusion: What really worked was the secure message. I had always heard that AMEX has great customer service, this was definitely not an example of that. I expect better service from American Express for the hefty yearly fee they charge.

I will be posting Free Gift Cards periodically on the site, along with great personal finance, self improvement, travel tips.

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Below is a free gift from me to the readers. Its only one time use, so the first one to use it will get it. Please leave a comment if you use it.

Disclaimer: I do not make any money from this.

Shoebuy.com
$10 gift certificate
Gift Code
P326119998426611
Redemption Link

http://www.trialpay.com/z/c/WC6WfUUWF/

Expires
Jan 15, 2012

Redemption Instructions:

Click here to shop at Shoebuy.com. You must use the link from this email.

From your shopping cart, proceed by clicking the Check Out button.

*** DO NOT enter your gift certificate code in the Promotional Code field. It is not a promotional code. ***

Either log in with your Shoebuy.com account or continue to checkout without an account. Do not choose to check out through PayPal or Google.

When asked for Payment Information, choose Gift Certificate at the bottom, and enter your certificate code: P326119998426611

If your purchase exceeds the gift certificate value, you will be given the option to pay the remaining balance and complete the purchase with a credit card.

Please note: you will not be able to use PayPal, Google Checkout, or other payment methods besides credit card if you would like to use the gift certificate.
Terms and Conditions:
Can only be redeemed through the Shoebuy.com website. Not redeemable for cash or other gift certificates, and not transferable to orders already placed. Not valid with use of Shoebuy discounts. Only one gift certificate allowed per order. Shoebuy is not responsible for lost or stolen gift cards. This Gift Certificate expires January 15, 2012.

My Bonus Center has many magazines like Discover, Elle, Maxim, Real Simple and others for free trial of three months.

You can select up to three magazines at a time and must have a valid credit card number.

I have selected Real Simple as am I trying to simplify my life and would like to read more on it.

If you do not wish to continue the subscription then you will have to get your subscription canceled. To be on the safer side you can use a virtual credit card number with a set limit (I use a Citi credit card which lets you do this).

Makes me wonder if you can just keep on re-doing this and get free magazines for life…! But before you jump on that, spare a thought for the environment as if you do not read these magazines it would just be a waste of high quality paper.

My checking account pays me 4% interest and as of this writing HSBC Direct pays 1.45% (which by the way is one of the top online savings account), which brings me the conclusion, DUMP YOU SAVINGS ACCOUNT…!

If you notice the interest rate is more than double, it used to be 5% when the rate HSBC was offering was around 2-3%.

The checking account is not a regular checking account it is High Yield Checking Account (HYCA).  There are some difference in a high yield checking account (HYCA) and a checking/savings account and to earn the high interest rate you have to meet certain requirements which are generally easy to meet.

My account requires:

1. One direct deposit or auto-pay per month.
2. Ten signature based purchase using DPS.
3. Online Statements.

I have looked at many other HYCA’s  and the requirements are pretty similar to the one I have (but please read and understand the requirements). Some accounts are available nationwide

But I anyways do these with my regular checking account, so with no added hassle I am getting much higher interest rate then what I would have got.

I still use my Credit Card for big ticket items but for regular daily purchases < $10 I use the debit card (for ~10-12 transactions). If you are addicted to tea/coffee and you pay by CC for them then this debit card can your Tea?Coffee-Time-Credit-Card…!

Now if are wondering how to get a checking account that pays high interest you have obviously not read my post on Checking accounts.

How to do it.

1. After you have found your High yield Checking Account, make sure you understand the requirements.

2. Link your checking and Savings account both ways (always good to do).

3. Transfer money to your checking account.

4. Make sure you meet the requirements.

Don’t make any excuses here, these requirements are really simple to fulfill, if you do not have Direct Deposit, set up auto pay for your Credit card or utilities bill. If you do not make ten CC purchases, buy some thing small on CC to cover up, like 99cents chips from a store that accepts CC for it (many do). There are many ways these were some that I could just think of the top of my head.

Now, whoever thought checking account could pay more interest than an online savings account…!

Let the savings account pig turn blue…here

PS: That was fun to do…

This is just a recap of some of my popular posts on the site fr my new readers:

1.  How Warren Buffet gets better deals than you? (And how you can do it too).

A analysis of the six simple methods that Warren Buffet uses to get the best deals.

2.  How to select a Checking account? Fees in a checking account? And more.

A complete reference on checking accounts.

3.  The basics of an emergency fund

What is an emergency fund? Why do I need an emergency fund? How much do I need to save?

4.  How to invest the emergency fund?

5. Lessons we all should re-learn from the present financial crisis.

Some personal finance lessons we probably knew about but never

To stay in touch.

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Ask me a question on twitter and I will reply back.

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Never miss a post.

We are probably already living in the longest recession since the great depression of the late 1920′s and early 1930′s. Many people have lost jobs; many large and small businesses have gone under; it’s difficult to get credit which many were so dependent on and need the most now. For many people like me this is the first recession they are seeing and things have been tough.

Now, I did not intend to scare you by saying all this but it is such difficult times that get us thinking on how could one prepare for such a situation if it was to happen again or still continue to worsen? How one could avoid the adverse effect of such a situation on their finances and wealth?

I read, discussed and pondered and then it struck me that we all knew the solution all along, but probably due to the economic prosperity we have seen in the recent years, one did not give these lessons enough importance. If only we re-learn these five lessons…

Buy a home that you can really afford.

Home ownership is touted as ‘The American Dream’. While home ownership has many advantages, buying a home is a big decision which if gone wrong can have several negative consequences like foreclosure, bankruptcy, etc. If you qualify for a mortgage it does not necessarily mean you can afford it. Buy a house for which you can comfortably afford to pay the monthly mortgage payment for throughout the duration of the loan and not just a teaser rate for the early years.

Build an Emergency Fund.

An emergency fund is like a safety net you can build to insulate yourself in case of any unfortunate events that may happens in your life. When we have a steady source of income we tend to ignore this and assume that things will continue to be smooth.  Some people depend on their credit cards limit for their emergency fund but it is not certain you will have it when you need it. Your credit line may be reduced or worse the credit card company may go under. One should also learn how to invest the emergency fund.

Stock market investment is not for everyone.

Historically stock market returns have been better than many other investments that are easily accessible but there has been significant volatility in their returns in the short run. Any money you need in the near future say 5 years (may be for college tuitions, travel, buying a home, medical expenses, etc.) should not be in the stock market. Passive investment in stock market (aka index funds, mutual funds) can also lose a lot of money (The stock market had tanked more than 50% in the eighteen months leading to March 2009).

Do not over invest in your company’s stock (or sector).

So let us say you worked for Chrysler/Lehman Brothers and also had a significant portion of your investment in their stock (normal accounts or via retirement savings accounts like 401K), what could happen? Your job may be in danger and a significant portion of your investments would have been wiped out, even worse, if you are close to retirement that savings could be your life’s hard work. I guess you see the point.

Frugality

A word that had some negative connotation associated with it has gained some popularity now. More and more people have started seeing the value in saving money for the future, trying to spend on necessities than luxuries and living within your means have become the ‘in thing’.

Received the following email from Lending club:

There’s never been a better time to refer a friend to Lending Club:
With the financial markets showing renewed levels of uncertainty, you know that Lending Club notes offer an asset with little correlation to traditional equity and fixed income markets and average net annualized returns over 9.5%. Notes offered by prospectus filed with the SEC.

We’ll give $25 to invest in Lending Club notes to registered investors you refer. It’s a great way for your friends to become a part of our financial community.

Two ways to invite your friends to join Lending Club and have them receive $25 to invest:

* Have your friends type in this Referred by code when registering: goodlender
* Use this link to automatically upload a list of email addresses and send your friends a personal note:  https://www.lendingclub.com/invite/invite.action <This is not valid if you do not have an account>

Have a question or comment for us, contact us anytime at support@lendingclub.com or call 1-866-811-9225.

Regards,

The Lending Club Team

It seems like they have reduced their joining bonus for invited members from $50 to $25. Its still free $25 to try out lending club.

Note: This is not an article to guide you on stock picking.

You know Warren Buffet as a successful investor (and if don’t then you are probably an alien…!) and it’s no secret that he gets better deals in everything he does.  When he wants to invest in a company, the company offers him a better price for its stock and then throws in some preferred stocks or warrants. People pay millions to meet him and dine with him.

So how does he do it? And how can you do it?

1. Stick to the basics.

Warren Buffet has always only invested in businesses that he can understand well and he thinks that will remain in demand consistently; for they satisfy specific needs people have. If something is too complicated for you to understand you will probably not be able to take a right decision on it.  Stay away from things that are not intuitive to you. There will always be enough opportunities that you can understand and be comfortable with. You may have to just look around a bit.

2. Negotiate.

Do you think Warren Buffet takes the first offer he gets for a company stock? No way..! He negotiates. And you think it is cheap to negotiate even when billionaires are doing it. Negotiation is one of the best skills you can learn, it will come in handy at various points in life, right from buying your home or car to negotiation your salary.

3. Network and create a reputation for yourself.

Research may be a good source to find opportunities but the best deals are still struck by knowing people.  Warren Buffet’s network of rich and influential people who hold him in high regards helps him get to opportunities before other s.  Network with people, and care about what they think about you.

Communicate with your friends, employees, investors on a regular basis. If there is something they will come to know about you or your firm, let it be you who tells it to them. This is the best way to build trust and reputation.

4. Get there first.

Good deals don’t last forever and Warren Buffet knows that. You will never see Warren Buffet investing in what is hot now (because people have already got there). If you have missed the wave, you have missed the wave. There is nothing you can do about it.  Instead of trying to jump on it start looking for the next wave. Whether it is investing or any other decision; research and domain knowledge adds value. Spend time to gain some expertise in the domain of your interest and you will be able to spot opportunities before other people see them.

5. Adopt simplicity.

Warren Buffet still lives in the house he bought several decades ago for approximately $31,500. A carefree life style will also affect other aspects of your decision making. As long as you are able to keep it simple, you are increasing your odds of success.

6. Be confident.

Warren Buffet once said:

I always knew I was going to be rich. I don’t think I ever doubted it for a minute.

That’s confidence.  Confidence can be the difference between what you dream about and what you achieve.  Believe in your abilities and work on improving your skills and you will get there.