News You Can Use – AMEX Transfer Bonus, 0% Plastiq Fees Ending, 300 Free La Quinta Points, $20 Off at UnderArmour

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1.   Earn Virgin America Gold Status With Your AMEX Membership Rewards Points

When you transfer 80,000 American Express Membership Rewards points to Virgin America anytime through December 31, 2015, you’ll earn Virgin America Gold status.

You do NOT have to transfer the 80,000 AMEX Membership Rewards points all at once to qualify.

Your Gold membership will be good through February 2017!

With Virgin America Gold status you get perks like:

• Free Express seats (sit up front and get off the plane quickly)
• Upgrades to Main Cabin select when available (more leg room)
• Lounge Access at Los Angeles (LAX) Airport
• Priority check-in and boarding
• Check up to 3 bags for free

Plus, you’ll get a 25% bonus on AMEX Membership Rewards points you transfer to Virgin America through October 8, 2015.

However, this isn’t a great deal for most folks.  That’s because even with the transfer bonus, you don’t get a favorable transfer ratio.  On top of that, you’ll have to pay a fee on the points you transfer.

For example, when you transfer 80,000 AMEX Membership Rewards points you’ll pay a $48 fee and only get 50,000 Virgin America points.

That said, Virgin America has good deals on inter-Hawaii flights, and this is a nice deal for folks who already book a lot of paid flights on Virgin America.

See my series on Virgin America points for more ideas on how you can use the points.

2.   Last Call for 0% Fees With Plastiq

I’ve written about how you can pay your utility bills, rent, taxes, and more with a credit card using Plastiq.  

They usually charge a fee of 2.5%.  But for a limited time folks who pay with their American Express or MasterCard only pay a 1.99% fee.

I don’t normally recommend folks pay a fee to put their bills on a credit card.  However, this could be a good deal if you need to quickly meet minimum spending requirements.

Million Mile Secrets readers who sign-up using our link and set up 6 recurring utility payments through Plastiq can pay these bills with their MasterCard for NO fee!

But time is running out because both of these deals end September 14, 2015.

That said, some folks are reporting problems with Plastiq sending out timely payments.

Using Plastiq, you can easily meet minimum spending requirements to earn the sign-up bonus on cards like:

• Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite Mastercard – 2X Barclaycard Arrival miles per $1 you spend (worth 2.1% back when you redeem for $100+ travel purchases)
• Citi Double Cash Card – 1% back when you make a purchase, and 1% back when you pay it off
• Citi AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard – 1 American Airlines mile per $1 you spend

• Citi Prestige Card – 1 Citi ThankYou point per $1 you spend

• Citi ThankYou Premier Card – 1 Citi ThankYou point per $1 you spend

The information for the Citi Prestige has been collected independently by Million Mile Secrets. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.