Mom’s POINT Of View-December Edition

Hi, and Happy Thanksgiving! 

This is my December Mom’s POINT Of View a little early. 

Don’t worry; it is not in lieu of my big end-of-year email reminder, which will be out soon. 🙂 

As we enter December and we head towards the end of the year, here are some important items to keep in mind. 

Holiday Shopping

Black Friday and Cyber Monday Shopping Plan-I go into a lot of detail in this article about how to maximize your rewards and save money this holiday season. Click here for article.

Travel Tuesday-If you can plan in advance, consider booking your next destination next Tuesday. Travel Tuesday (the Tuesday after Thanksgiving) is the day when airlines, hotel chains, cruise lines, and travel platforms roll out some of their best offers of the year. Make sure you use the “right card” when you book! You can read more about Travel Tuesday here. 

Gift Idea-Want to give someone the gift of travel? Instead of traditional gifts, consider gifting something that can help them save on future trips. This could be a consultation with me, the Points Mom, to help them maximize their rewards, use card benefits, and redeem points for the most value. My consultation rate of $295 has been the same since 2018, but it will be going up to $349 in 2025. Buy the gift card now to lock in the 2024 rate! 

Bonus Offers-if you know you will be spending a lot this holiday season anyway, it may be a good time to apply for a card because you will easily be able to make the spending requirement for the sign-up bonus. Reach out to me to determine which card may make sense for you. 

Amazon-I meet with so many people who make this mistake. Do not be baited into using your Chase, Amex, Cap One, Citi points to pay for your Amazon purchases. If you do this, you will only be getting about 6/10 of a cent in value. Save your points for more valuable redemptions! 

Rakuten Fans-Through December 8, 2024. you can refer a friend to Rakuten and earn $40 (or my choice, 4,000 Membership Rewards) per each referral once they make a “Qualifying”  purchase of at least $40 within 90 days of signing up. You can qualify for a Referral Bonus more than one time. Click here to learn more.

Credit Card Info
Chase Freedom Unlimited MATCH-For those of you eagerly awaiting your match, I am too. My 12 months is up and I check each day to see if my points have posted. Some people have called Chase and reported that the match can take 6-8 weeks after the 12-month mark. Thanks for doing the research for me. If you don’t know what I am talking about, don’t worry, this offer does not exist any longer.  

Amex Platinum-your Uber Cash will be $35 come December 1. Don’t lose this! And remember, PHYSICAL gift cards work at Saks for the $50 credit. 

Speaking of Uber Cash-Amex has smartened up, and now, as of November 8th, we need to have an Amex Card as the payment method for the ride in which you are using Uber Cash. Before November 8th, you were able to use the Uber Cash despite what your primary payment was. So if you like your Uber Cash, make your default payment method an Amex Card. Note that it does not need to be the one that is giving you the Uber Cash. So, for example, for any of you with an Amex Green card, make that your payment method for the 3x per $1 on transit, despite the fact that your Uber Cash is coming from an Amex Platinum/Gold. 

Amex Gold-my family had a pre Thanksgiving Zahav feast last night FOR FREE because I used all of my Goldbelly Gift Cards. Don’t forget, Goldbelly gift cards do TRIGGER the $10 dining credit as of November, 2024. Mark your calendars to buy one once a month. 

Amex Offer/Amazon-if you are someone, like me, who jumped on that Amazon/Amex offer last month, make sure you have gotten all of your bonus points (I have) and if you have, switch your Amazon payment method back to the “right card”. 

Capital One-this news is in my shopping article too, but it is noteworthy enough to tell you here. If you use the Capital One Shopping portal, payouts from Capital One Offers can now be issued as Cap One Miles instead of cash-back.

Amex Bonvoy BRILLIANT cardholders-you have a new benefit to take advantage of by July 31, 2025. You can book stays using your card at some high-end Bonvoy properties and receive some additional perks like a $125/$150 resort credit depending on room type, bonus points, etc. You need to stay before 8/31/25 to receive these extra benefits. You can get more info here.

Status

In General-see where you are with all of your status. Do not miss status for 2025 by a little bit. Figure it out! Also, check in your airline accounts and see if you have any status match offers you can take advantage of before the end of the year. 

Delta 2023 Status Holders-Don’t forget you have till December 31, 2024, to convert your rollover MQMs into SkyMiles, MQDs, or use them to extend your elite status. You will see your options when you log into your Delta SkyMiles account.

Traveling this holiday season?

Don’t pay foreign transaction fees-If you are leaving the country. make sure you take cards that DO NOT incur foreign transaction fees. 

STEP–Enroll your trip here for FREE so that the Department of State can accurately and quickly contact you in case of emergency.

More Reminders

Dunkin gift card raffle-Thru the end of the year, I am raffling off a $7 Dunkin Gift Card each week on Instagram. The winner is picked every Friday. If you want to enter for this week, go to reel from this past Monday and follow the instructions to enter. Extra credit for anyone who knows how I am getting this $7 Dunkin gift card each month. 🙂 

Points Mom Rates-as I mentioned in the gift card section above, my consultation rate of $295 has been the same since 2018. It is going up to $349 in 2025. Book your appointment now to lock in the $295 rate. If you book before 12/31, even if your appointment isn’t until 2025, you will get the $295 rate. Instagram-I do not want to bombard you with emails each time there is something newsworthy to report. But if you want to be in the know about the latest offers, tips, info, etc., then follow me on instagram @thepointsmom_. 

Cindy

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