Hello from the SFO Polaris lounge! I’m flying to Japan in ANA First Class tonight thanks to wide-open award space that happened earlier this year. At SFO, the lounges all close by 10 pm (Centurion at 9 pm, KLM at 7:45 pm), but the flight is at 1:45 am, so ANA issues $30 meal vouchers per passenger in the form of a Mastercard Gift Card. Terms state the merchant must be categorized as “food, dining, or restaurant.” It’s the same GC that United, Alaska, and Delta issue (though I hear they are sometimes Discover cards), with the same zip code of 60173. You receive a QR code and the card number, expiration date, CVV, and billing zip code. From some internet sleuthing, I found the entire billing address: 1475 E Woodfield Rd, Schaumburg, IL 60173.
Author: e*
Gopuff bans me for using Chase credits
I’ve reviewed Gopuff over a year ago (don’t use my referral since I just got banned); back then there were many problems with Chase not auto-crediting those of us in states where the charge posted as BEVMO rather than GOPUFF. Well, they fixed that a few months in and I was happily humming away with up to 12 orders per month with all my Chase cards for a while up until the last week of March. I was trying to pick up drinks for my birthday party, but the payment kept erroring out. I thought perhaps some drinks were low stock, so I kept changing the order, and I also tried other cards in my account. No luck.
Review of Avail.co, Landlord Perspective
Avail.co (referral link) is a free all-in-one platform that is part of realtor.com, made to facilitate everything landlords and renters need. I became a landlord for the first time this year, and was so grateful to have found Avail to manage everything in one place – from creating a listing to posting it on multiple sites to accepting renter applications to performing background and reference checks to generating a state-specific lease to managing payments to resolving maintenance tickets from your tenant and more. You can manage multiple properties easily through this site and see everything in one dashboard.
Wevat: Tax-free shopping in France
Most of us know that shopping internationally can mean a significant savings especially with tax refunds via Global Blue, Planet Payment, Travelex, etc. I recently returned from Paris, where I shopped at a few stores who did tax refunds via Global Blue. However, I also discovered and tried out a newer service called Wevat (referral REQRESZQ for additional 5 euros refund; I receive no commission) for smaller purchases, and I’m here to report the experience!
You can order the new American Express Platinum designs now
Starting today, January 20, 2022, you can order one of the two Art x Platinum designs for your American Express Platinum consumer card (not Business Platinums currently).
Sign in to your account, click on your Platinum card, and go to Account Services > Replace a Card > I want to change my Card’s design. It only worked for my vanilla Plat; it doesn’t seem like we can replace Schwab or other Plats yet.
eMed review and reimbursement through insurance
I’ve been using eMed, a telemedicine service utilizing the Abbott BINAXNow COVID-19 rapid antigen test kit (which is NOT a molecular NAAT/PCR test), several times over 4 months now to fulfill the 1 day COVID test requirement on international flights to the US. This kit is officially accepted by the CDC for travel to the United States, and as of Dec 6, 2021, a COVID-19 test (molecular or antigen like this one) is required within 1 calendar day of flight departure to the US. Previously, they accepted a test within 72 hours of departure.
Saving on luxury goods in Milan, Italy and getting the VAT refund in Chiasso
Recently I was in Europe with a few travel companions that are really into luxury goods. Apparently Europe is the place to get them for a huge savings, and I accompanied them while shopping in Vienna, Milan, and Zurich. I’m not into luxury goods, but I learned a lot in the process that I thought I would share for anyone who might want a one-off luxury product for themselves or interested in getting started on reselling these.
Buying cheaper COVID-19 rapid tests in Europe
I recently got back from Austria, Italy, and Switzerland. My travel companion said his friends were asking him to buy COVID-19 rapid antigen tests abroad because they were cheaper and more abundant there Unfortunately, they asked when we were already on our last stop in Zurich, Switzerland, so we didn’t check the other countries. Switzerland is known to be expensive (honestly, I loved Switzerland and didn’t feel that it was extraordinarily expensive compared to major urban cities in the US like SF or NY), but we went out to check the local pharmacies anyways. We were shocked to find that it actually was cheaper and more abundantly available than in the US. Here are some datapoints on what we found:
How to request reopening a US Bank credit card
Here’s a quick guide on how to request the reopening of a US Bank credit card that either you closed or was closed due to inactivity. Sorry, don’t think this helps if your card was closed because you got banned. 😅
Unlike other banks, US Bank is a little more old school and requires a written request to reopen a closed account. Here is what you need:
- Reopening may require a credit inquiry, but the account would be reopened with the same card number and same credit line, so it’s not considered a new account on your credit report, in case you are worried about 5/24.
- On your written request, include the following:
- Sentence requesting the reopening of your account.
- Account number (credit card number).
- Individual annual income.
- Other sources of annual income you would like to report.
- Monthly housing payment.
- For the above, rent or own?
- Signature, name, and date.
Cardmember ServicePO Box 6361Fargo, ND 58125-6361FAX: 1-800-670-4834
Pro-Tip: You can take your document to any US Bank branch and they will fax it to the number for you for free. If you would like to do it from home and don’t have a fax machine, I love using HelloFax (5 free fax pages when you sign up with my link). It’s simple and fast! Just don’t select the option to send it in high quality/color, because this sends them a fax containing a link to the document rather than faxing them the document itself.