Quick Tips

Every Friday I post a new Quick Tip covering a wide range of topics, including ways to save money, travel tips, personal products/services I find interesting, and more.

  • How I Earned Double Starbucks Stars During My Marriott Stay

    How I Earned Double Starbucks Stars During My Marriott Stay

    Over the summer, Starbucks and Marriott Bonvoy announced a new partnership. Unfortunately, unlike the deal that Starbucks serves up with Delta, I wasn’t too impressed with the Marriott offering that limits Bonvoy point-earning to select weeks and requires customers to make at least three purchases during that week to earn just 100 Marriott Bonvoy points.…

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  • Kind of Awesome: Google Flights Now Shows Amtrak Routes

    Kind of Awesome: Google Flights Now Shows Amtrak Routes

    Google Flights has long been a useful tool for carrier-agnostic travelers looking for a good price. Yet, while regular Google has seen better days, the Google Flights tool has seen improvements in recent months. For one, at long last, Southwest joined the party and started showing fares on the platform. Plus, just this week, a…

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  • You Can Save 25% Off Solis Mobile Hotspots (For 2 Days Only)

    You Can Save 25% Off Solis Mobile Hotspots (For 2 Days Only)

    My go-to mobile hotspot device is having a major sale. From now through Wednesday (expiring after October 9th at 11:59 p.m. PT), you can save 25% off Solis devices and data plans. To take advantage of this sale, you can use my link and enter FALL25 at checkout. With this discount, you can currently save nearly…

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  • Your Credit Card Info Better Be Up to Date to Keep Free Walmart+

    Your Credit Card Info Better Be Up to Date to Keep Free Walmart+

    Almost exactly two years ago, the American Express Platinum Card introduced a new perk that enabled cardholders to enjoy a free Walmart+ membership — and I’ve been using this perk since day one. As it turns out, after activating the benefit, all you have to do is charge your Platinum card for the monthly Walmart+…

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  • How I Tricked a Subscription Into Finally Letting Me Cancel Online

    How I Tricked a Subscription Into Finally Letting Me Cancel Online

    Years ago, I signed up for a digital subscription to my local newspaper. This was not only a means of having access to paywalled stories but also just to support them. Well, since then, the price (like with most subscriptions these days) has continued to rise. Plus, an independent news organization has popped up in…

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  • You Can Now Turn Marriott Bonvoy Points Into Starbucks Stars

    You Can Now Turn Marriott Bonvoy Points Into Starbucks Stars

    Last week, I covered how MGM Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy had launched their mutual point transfer feature (a mere six months after their partnership first rolled out). Well, now another Marriott Bonvoy pact is gaining a point conversion feature — and it’s definitely not one I expected. Now, you can elect to turn your Marriott…

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  • Amex is Making a Small But Impactful Change to Its Uber Credits

    Amex is Making a Small But Impactful Change to Its Uber Credits

    One of the key perks of American Express Platinum and American Express Gold Cards is a monthly Uber/Uber Eats credit. As a Gold cardholder, you’ll receive $10 a month in Uber Cash while Platinum customers can get $15 per month (plus an additional $20 in December to bring the total to a nice, round $200…

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  • Walmart+ Has Added a ‘Whopper’ of a Membership Perk

    Walmart+ Has Added a ‘Whopper’ of a Membership Perk

    Ever since Walmart introduced its Walmart+ subscription in 2020, the mega-retailer has continually added benefits or upgrades to the program. That streak extended recently as the company announced that they were teaming up with Burger King for a new perk. Now, Walmart+ members can score 25% off at BK — when they place their order…

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  • A Stellar Capital One Venture Card Welcome Offer is Ending Soon

    A Stellar Capital One Venture Card Welcome Offer is Ending Soon

    Ya know, I really don’t like it when my friends manage to scoop me on credit card news and deals. Yet, that’s exactly what happened earlier this week. It started when my friend was looking for a new travel rewards card ahead of a trip he was booking. In the process, he came across the…

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  • Another One of My Favorite FinTech Apps is Shutting Down

    Another One of My Favorite FinTech Apps is Shutting Down

    As the famous Harvey Dent quote from The Dark Knight goes, “You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” That’s largely been my experience covering FinTech over the years as some awesome apps disappear in their prime while others undergo a series of negative changes… which often…

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  • How Someone Tried to Scam Me for a Backlink on This Site

    How Someone Tried to Scam Me for a Backlink on This Site

    As a blogger, a good 70% of the emails you get on a daily basis tend to be requests looking for links. Why? Well, the short answer is “search engine algorithms” — if a site has links going to to it from trusted sites, that site’s domain authority can also increase, leading to better rankings. But,…

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  • Allegiant Allways Named Best Airline Card — And I Can See Why

    Allegiant Allways Named Best Airline Card — And I Can See Why

    For the sixth consecutive year, the Allways Rewards Visa (which was previously known as the Allegiant World Mastercard) was named Best Airline Credit Card by USA TODAY’s 10 Best 2024 Readers’ Choice Awards. Plus, the Allways Rewards program was crowned Best Frequent Flyer Program by the same awards. What’s interesting about these results is that it’s…

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One of the reasons why my wife and I have enjoyed such a successful marriage is that we were quick to get on the same page about money. However, while we agree on how we spend and save our money, when it comes to credit card rewards, my wife's been more apprehensive than me. It's...
The Internet is Going Wild for This Lucrative Offer from Paze
You may not have heard of Paze — but there's a good reason why you'll want to familiarize yourself with it now. This week, the digital wallet (which comes from the same company behind Zelle) launched an offer that could be worth $100 or more. Currently, when customers use Paze to pay at qualifying online...
Travel Tuesday: When is the Best Time to Book a Hotel Room?
I don't know about you, but for me, one of the most stressful parts of booking a trip is finding the right time to make my purchase. While part of me wants to lock my plans in as I make them, another part of me knows that being a bit more strategic can yield good...
How Chase Just Got Me to Keep My Sapphire Preferred Card
A couple of weeks ago, my wife received replacement cards for our Chase Sapphire Preferred in the mail. This served as our reminder that, if we did want to downgrade the card as we'd been talking about for years, now would be the time. See, I'd convinced her to get the card while it was...