Episode 42: Manufactured Spend Setbacks and Opportunities, and Limited-time Promotions

Today we're back with a standard No Annual Fee episode.  We do the news, and then talk Personal Finance and Amex Small Business Credits.

0:30 GiftCards.com joins giftcardmall with $2k monthly portal cap

• Rakuten lasted until 7/7 at $60k/mo
• Showing $2k cap as of 7/8

1:50 [Targeted?] Chase Marriott/Ritz cards: 10x on Gas + Dining (DoC)

• 7/15-9/15
• $3,500 cap
• Must register: Link

3:15 Discover 20% off Amazon when Using 1 point (DoC)

• Just wanted to mention it’s smart to keep some Discover rewards clanging around rather than draining the rewards to be able to take advantage of these promos
• Discover is 5x on PayPal Q3 2020 so a good time to use Discover cards in general

5:00 Stop & Shop/Giant: 3X Fuel Rewards for VGCs 7/10-7/16

5:30 Hyatt 15-25% Point Rebate on Award Stays + Free Parking (Direct Link)

• Register by 9/1/2020
• Stay from 7/8/2020 - 10/8/2020
• 15% back for all, 25% back for Chase Hyatt cardholders
• Stacks with a promo for 2,500 for those with elite status + Chase card (Dans Deals)
• Example: 30k Hyatt is 22.5k after 25% back, potential 20k after 2,500 back promo

 8:55 Chase Sapphire Reserve Only Earned 5x at Restaurants 7/1-7/5 (DoC)

• Still, 3x + Pay Yourself Back is pretty great
• Still getting 5x on Gas through the end of September
• So Random

 11:25 Flexible Spending Account Covid Changes (Wirecutter)

• FSA Healthcare

• • You can increase, decrease, or stop your health-care FSA contributions altogether.
  • You have more time to spend your health-care savings from 2019. In the past, you had a two-and-a-half-month grace period after your plan period ended in which to spend your remaining balance, but your employer can now opt to extend the grace period through December 31, 2020.
  • You can roll over up to $550 into your 2021 health-care FSA, a $50 increase over the previous $500 limit.

• FSA Dependant Care

• • You can increase, decrease, or stop your dependent-care FSA contributions altogether.
  • You now have until December 31, 2020, to spend your dependent-care savings from 2019 (rather than the usual two-and-a-half-month grace period).
  • The same weird scenario from above applies. If you think you’ve lost your unused DCFSA contributions from 2019, contact your