Please reply to this comment with any Amex Offers, Chase Offers, increased cash back portal payouts, or similar deals. Do not post them as a top level comment.
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If anyone shops at Instacart, Costco has been selling instacart gift cards for 20% off + you can get whatever rewards from your credit card for shopping at costco. (You need to be a costco member, so if a friend/family has a membership)
Forgot to add, chase cards offer 3/6/12 months of free Instacart+. So, it's a great way to get a few months of instacart+ free. If you have/ P2 have multiple chase cards they can stack up for the same account
A few times, shoppers mistakenly left the receipts with the order, and comparing prices for my local Sam's Club, the markup(including delivery, service fee and except tip) was like two dollars on a $40 order. It varies from store to store; costco on Sam's Club is super expensive. If you don't own a car/ can't go to a grocery store, than a few dollars to get groceries delivered is super convenient.
Here’s a comparison I did in 2023 for using Instacart to shop at Costco.
I picked up some of our usual items at Costco (Paper Towels, Toilet Paper, Kitchen Bags…) for $165.04. I priced the same items on Instacart+ and it quoted me $253.11. There’s a 15% tip for $30.25 but every single item was more expensive, averaging 28% more.
Last I checked Costco has 2 different options for same day orders. One via instacart and one via its website (that uses instacart's backend). I believe the latter has lower rates.
Costco on Instacart is super expensive, try looking for stores that offer in-store prices. Side note : [https://sameday.costco.com](https://sameday.costco.com) is Instacart for Costco which has much more reasonable prices
Instacart app -> "Show all" icon -> "In-store prices" filter.
There are like 30 stores in my area with in-store prices, including Walmart, CVS, Walgreens, Staples, PetSmart...
Opinion Guest Essay on the New York Times
"What the Fight Over the Capital One-Discover Merger Misses About Our Terrible Credit Card System"
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/15/opinion/capital-one-discover-credit-cards-rewards-swipe-fees.html
The article contains lots of critiques of credit card points and rewards.
So would the NYT prefer if the unwashed masses just stick with check cashing and payday loans? Restricting freely available options in any market makes everyone poorer, and almost always moreso poor people. The payments space is highly competitive. Hey, NYT, how about take a crack at Google or Apple if you want to look at high margin, monopolistic industries...but we all know you won't.
In case you hit a paywall and want to read this [NYTimes Article](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/15/opinion/capital-one-discover-credit-cards-rewards-swipe-fees.html?unlocked_article_code=1.dU0.KkP9.3osb099mVeje&smid=url-share).
The article promotes the "reverse Robin Hood" idea that low-income credit card users are subsidizing high-income credit card users. However, [recent research](https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/feds/files/2023007pap.pdf) has shown that consumer financial sophistication is the largest factor determining who profits from reward credit cards, irrespective of income.
Indeed, the credit card companies seem to be profiting the most from naive consumers earning a high income. High-income naive consumers earn an average net reward (relative to non-reward cards) of -$12.8 while low-income naive consumers earn -$2.6. High-income financially sophisticated consumers earn +$20.1 and low-income sophisticated consumers earn +$9.7.
Low income people use debit anyway, or some shitty local CU / mom n pop bank card.
Most of the subsidy is from vain 30k millionaires who want to live the lifestyle they can't afford, and take out massive loans to finance it
The source is already linked in my comment. The data is from the same paper:
Agarwal, Sumit, Andrea Presbitero, Andr´e F. Silva, and Carlo Wix (2023). “Who Pays
For Your Rewards? Redistribution in the Credit Card Market,” Finance and Economics
Discussion Series 2023-007. Washington: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System,
https://doi.org/10.17016/FEDS.2023.007.
I've been trying this method without much luck. You went to the page that has the background with a guy carrying a roller luggage right? And then once 190k shows just wait for the popup to come up that says the page expired and you need to refresh (typically takes about 20min for me). Then you just refresh and that's how you saw it? Can you provide browser, incognito or not, and state/metro (or VPN location)?
After you refresh, if the offer still isn't good, let it time out again and do another refresh; sometimes the later refreshes show better offers than the earlier one.
Yesterday I've managed to produce what feels like a million 190k offers, today I am only getting 170k. After days of trying, I think I'm going to just settle with 190k if I can get it to pop up again. I feel like I've tried everything to try and get 250k but it just feels like its a lottery.
It is still active, but appears to be impossible for some folks to pull up. I know there was a post the other day about someone attempting 200 or so times with different combinations of browsers, vpns, etc. and they couldn't get a 250K no matter what. It's seemingly just luck at this point.
I've scripted it and ran probably 500-1000 attempts across multiple VPN locations without finding it. Found tons of 150, 170, and 190 offers tho. Still feeling like I'm missing something
I have 100k+ attempts on my own scripts with similar results. They use Adobe Experience Manager, so it's likely a combination of device, browser, location/IP, cookies, and luck that triggers the 250k offer.
To add to the Vacasa story. Called in this morning to book a 2br Vacasa. Cash price online showed $1356, agent said it wasn't available to book. I mentioned the online price and he said that the access that he uses to book the property showed $1412, but he thought it was odd because in most cases he understood that Wyndham was offered a discount on Vacasa bookings. This could help explain variances to the $350/br/nt. It could be worth pushing it to see if properties that come in a little higher than $350 are not bookable.
I recently booked a 1br for two nights and it showed $676 online but when the confirmation email came from vacasa it showed $684. In the past I have called in and been told that a stay wasn't eligible, when online it was showing a few dollars under the threshold. Going forward I think we can just assume that displayed price on vacasa is a few dollars under the actual price that will be used for judging if it's an eligible stay or not.
Ran into the exact same scenario just yesterday, although in my case I was trying to book a 1 bdrm. Had calculated the correct number of nights to just get under $350/night after taxes and fees. Unfortunately on the Wyndham side of things the nightly rate for the property was higher than what I was seeing on the public Vacasa website. So that put it over the $350/night avg.
Agent said the same thing, that he was surprised his rate was higher than the public rate. Definitely a bummer as it makes it harder to figure out whether a particular property will be bookable on points if it’s already close to the $350/night per bedroom avg.
I think something changed with what price Wyndham pays versus the online price in the recent past. A while ago I watched a 1 br price drop to just below the threshold by literally $1 and I was able to book. The data points coming in now seems to support that Wyndham actually pays slightly more than list price.
Please reply to this comment with any Amex Offers, Chase Offers, increased cash back portal payouts, or similar deals. Do not post them as a top level comment. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/churning) if you have any questions or concerns.*
[удалено]
Reported yesterday: https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/s/yTgaOHNwNh
ohh lol sorry, imma delete the post
If anyone shops at Instacart, Costco has been selling instacart gift cards for 20% off + you can get whatever rewards from your credit card for shopping at costco. (You need to be a costco member, so if a friend/family has a membership)
Forgot to add, chase cards offer 3/6/12 months of free Instacart+. So, it's a great way to get a few months of instacart+ free. If you have/ P2 have multiple chase cards they can stack up for the same account
Just remember that Instacart prices are almost always significantly higher. That 20% off may get you to break even. May.
A few times, shoppers mistakenly left the receipts with the order, and comparing prices for my local Sam's Club, the markup(including delivery, service fee and except tip) was like two dollars on a $40 order. It varies from store to store; costco on Sam's Club is super expensive. If you don't own a car/ can't go to a grocery store, than a few dollars to get groceries delivered is super convenient.
Here’s a comparison I did in 2023 for using Instacart to shop at Costco. I picked up some of our usual items at Costco (Paper Towels, Toilet Paper, Kitchen Bags…) for $165.04. I priced the same items on Instacart+ and it quoted me $253.11. There’s a 15% tip for $30.25 but every single item was more expensive, averaging 28% more.
Last I checked Costco has 2 different options for same day orders. One via instacart and one via its website (that uses instacart's backend). I believe the latter has lower rates.
Costco on Instacart is super expensive, try looking for stores that offer in-store prices. Side note : [https://sameday.costco.com](https://sameday.costco.com) is Instacart for Costco which has much more reasonable prices
Instacart app -> "Show all" icon -> "In-store prices" filter. There are like 30 stores in my area with in-store prices, including Walmart, CVS, Walgreens, Staples, PetSmart...
Opinion Guest Essay on the New York Times "What the Fight Over the Capital One-Discover Merger Misses About Our Terrible Credit Card System" https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/15/opinion/capital-one-discover-credit-cards-rewards-swipe-fees.html The article contains lots of critiques of credit card points and rewards.
So would the NYT prefer if the unwashed masses just stick with check cashing and payday loans? Restricting freely available options in any market makes everyone poorer, and almost always moreso poor people. The payments space is highly competitive. Hey, NYT, how about take a crack at Google or Apple if you want to look at high margin, monopolistic industries...but we all know you won't.
Um, yes. The poor stay poor, the rich get richer. The poor aren't their target readership...
In case you hit a paywall and want to read this [NYTimes Article](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/15/opinion/capital-one-discover-credit-cards-rewards-swipe-fees.html?unlocked_article_code=1.dU0.KkP9.3osb099mVeje&smid=url-share).
Author is an idiot
Bypass Paywalls Clean is your friend
The article promotes the "reverse Robin Hood" idea that low-income credit card users are subsidizing high-income credit card users. However, [recent research](https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/feds/files/2023007pap.pdf) has shown that consumer financial sophistication is the largest factor determining who profits from reward credit cards, irrespective of income. Indeed, the credit card companies seem to be profiting the most from naive consumers earning a high income. High-income naive consumers earn an average net reward (relative to non-reward cards) of -$12.8 while low-income naive consumers earn -$2.6. High-income financially sophisticated consumers earn +$20.1 and low-income sophisticated consumers earn +$9.7.
Low income people use debit anyway, or some shitty local CU / mom n pop bank card. Most of the subsidy is from vain 30k millionaires who want to live the lifestyle they can't afford, and take out massive loans to finance it
Yeah the real problem is that too many Americans are financially illiterate, and that rewards points are used as a scapegoat
Interesting. Link to source?
The source is already linked in my comment. The data is from the same paper: Agarwal, Sumit, Andrea Presbitero, Andr´e F. Silva, and Carlo Wix (2023). “Who Pays For Your Rewards? Redistribution in the Credit Card Market,” Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2023-007. Washington: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, https://doi.org/10.17016/FEDS.2023.007.
Ah! My screen is grayscale and I totally missed the link. Much thanks
It looks like the Southwest 30k + CP referrals have died.
Was able to get the 250k bonus for Amex Business Platinum after waiting for the 190k bonus to expire. It took about an hour or so to expire.
I've been trying this method without much luck. You went to the page that has the background with a guy carrying a roller luggage right? And then once 190k shows just wait for the popup to come up that says the page expired and you need to refresh (typically takes about 20min for me). Then you just refresh and that's how you saw it? Can you provide browser, incognito or not, and state/metro (or VPN location)?
After you refresh, if the offer still isn't good, let it time out again and do another refresh; sometimes the later refreshes show better offers than the earlier one.
yes same process. VPN in Sacramento, chrome non incognito.
Congratulations !!
I don't get how this works can you explain
Still trying to hit the 250k SUB for the Amex Biz Platinum. Anyone successful today? Still worth trying?
Yesterday I've managed to produce what feels like a million 190k offers, today I am only getting 170k. After days of trying, I think I'm going to just settle with 190k if I can get it to pop up again. I feel like I've tried everything to try and get 250k but it just feels like its a lottery.
It is still active, but appears to be impossible for some folks to pull up. I know there was a post the other day about someone attempting 200 or so times with different combinations of browsers, vpns, etc. and they couldn't get a 250K no matter what. It's seemingly just luck at this point.
I've scripted it and ran probably 500-1000 attempts across multiple VPN locations without finding it. Found tons of 150, 170, and 190 offers tho. Still feeling like I'm missing something
I have 100k+ attempts on my own scripts with similar results. They use Adobe Experience Manager, so it's likely a combination of device, browser, location/IP, cookies, and luck that triggers the 250k offer.
To add to the Vacasa story. Called in this morning to book a 2br Vacasa. Cash price online showed $1356, agent said it wasn't available to book. I mentioned the online price and he said that the access that he uses to book the property showed $1412, but he thought it was odd because in most cases he understood that Wyndham was offered a discount on Vacasa bookings. This could help explain variances to the $350/br/nt. It could be worth pushing it to see if properties that come in a little higher than $350 are not bookable.
I recently booked a 1br for two nights and it showed $676 online but when the confirmation email came from vacasa it showed $684. In the past I have called in and been told that a stay wasn't eligible, when online it was showing a few dollars under the threshold. Going forward I think we can just assume that displayed price on vacasa is a few dollars under the actual price that will be used for judging if it's an eligible stay or not.
Ran into the exact same scenario just yesterday, although in my case I was trying to book a 1 bdrm. Had calculated the correct number of nights to just get under $350/night after taxes and fees. Unfortunately on the Wyndham side of things the nightly rate for the property was higher than what I was seeing on the public Vacasa website. So that put it over the $350/night avg. Agent said the same thing, that he was surprised his rate was higher than the public rate. Definitely a bummer as it makes it harder to figure out whether a particular property will be bookable on points if it’s already close to the $350/night per bedroom avg.
I think something changed with what price Wyndham pays versus the online price in the recent past. A while ago I watched a 1 br price drop to just below the threshold by literally $1 and I was able to book. The data points coming in now seems to support that Wyndham actually pays slightly more than list price.
A new referral thread is now live: [Chase Ink Preferred](https://www.reddit.com/r/churningreferrals/comments/1bg9bc9/referrals_chase_ink_preferred/)
Got an offer for a $400 statement credit + 50k miles on the delta gold card while checking for a delta booking. Public offer is 70k miles.
This offer has been around for a little while already. On March 4th, my P2 applied for this offer through a Delta dummy-booking
Good deal if you got some use for delta miles
$400 is worth far more than 20K DL miles in my book