Sidewinder

In August of 2020 I mailed my Sinclair payment from the historic post office in downtown Menomonie, Wisconsin (see).

On July 6 of 2020 I mailed my credit card payment to State Farm Bank from the post office in Hutchinson, Minnesota. This was the first time I'd ever set foot in McLeod County. The post office opened in 1941 and has been "Designated Significant by Historic Hutchinson" but the plaque doesn't say when this designation was given. : /

"Maximum desired credit line." What the hell kind of question is this? It's like when banks ask you what your "desired APR" is; like someone "desires" one that isn't zero? And there's the menu of reasons you have to choose from. "Large upcoming 1-time purchase" (nope); "I expect higher expenses in the coming months" (I don't); "Current line doesn't meet my long term spending needs" (Meh. It's not like C1 are my go-to cards, but it seems maybe this is the "right" answer to set them salivating (gross)) "Other" and "I prefer not to answer." The latter seems like a third rail. What should I tell them on both questions?

See, months ago I planned my trip to Boston (greetings from the Back Bay Hilton btw) and I reserved a room ici at the Hilton, as well as at a Hyatt, with the decision to be finalized in the pre-trip interval. A week or so ago, I got an email from Hilton to the tune of "can't wait to see you!" and probably some handy links to other traveler-focused bidnesses here in Boston. A day after I checked in to this here Hilton, my AmEx got charged $187 by Hyatt Hotels. Evidently I had forgotten about the Hyatt rez by the time I had chosen to give Hilton the gig. Whatever the fine print says, and even though this is all technically centex's fault, I feel that Hyatt just isn't bringing it when they neglect, yes neglect to send me the sort of handy email that Hilton sent. Hilton even sent it in time for me to cancel, if I needed to, without penalty. (I really do think Hilton cares more about their customamers than the other big hotel companies do.) Would you try to get Hyatt to reverse the charge? What would be your plan of attack?

Mmmmmmmmmm, squash...

Which, is what I said basically.

The card has arrived, see, and I tried it out at the MyBurger in Wayzata. It works. Also I hadn't eaten at a MyBurger in >5 years. They're a lot better now.

is awesome. However, I don't understand why the winterness is such a factor. I mean yay, trains! all year round of course, but that sentiment, as it pertains specifically to distant freight trains' whistles, is at its yay-iest in the winter. Why is that?

Responding to my mailed pre-approval, I went to the website and entered my pre-approval code. Based on how FNBO handled this process when I apped them in June, I expected to see the basic name & address type info automatically filled in (UNIQUE approval code, right?) Instead I had to fill all that crap in manually; maybe more than once. BNP Paribas is a considerably larger enterprise than FNBO is but they won't commit resources to having as sensible a website. Also when I apped BofA Cash Rewards, Barclay's Aviator Red, FNBO, and Chase Freedom Flex I got my "Congrats & Welcome" emails less than an hour after approval. I got my BNP approval on December 6, and my "welcome" email on the 10th. (Does this have anything to do with the company being French? I have to wonder if their IT guys are all, like, painting or something...)

See, I've had a checking account at BMO Harris for some years now. Three or four times a year, they offer a deal wherein if you use your debit card 10x in one month, you receive a $5 gift card (choose amonh Amamazon, B&N, Google Play, or Apple (gross)). They don't have to do that. I'm not paying anything for the account or to have the debit card. Seven months ago (see), they had a deal wherein if you open a Statement Savings account and add $200 to it each month, they will add, yes ADD FIVE DAMN DOLLARS to it, up to twelve months in a row. BMO Harris is a bank. Why aren't they doing more to piss customers off?

A) I don't get why I'm getting notifications on this six-year-old thread 2) What was this business about "cheques bouncing?" There's no way that was me; I make no mention of "cheques" as I haven't lived in Canada for decades. Anyway, since this thread's debut, I've gotten in with American Express, Barclay's, FNBO, and now BNPeanuts ($3K limit. Gross.) So the underwriters I'm still missing are Banks: BMO Harris PNC (just opened their first Minnesota branch, in Roseville) Fifth Third (no retail brick & mortar in MN but they'll issue here if you have a deposit account?) Geo-restricted: Regions Key TD Bank (so if I want in with those guys I must buy a house in Virginia? I might not do that.) Santander? Huntington? I can't tell if those guys do their own underwriting or not. : / Credit unions: DCU PenFed NASA FCU NFCU (ineligible : / ) USAA (see NFCU) The list o' underwriters is thus complete, yes?

Got approved for the BNP card just now (officially the Bank of the West Cash Back World Mastercard). They gave me a $3,000 limit, which rates a Mighty Meh. Though currently I don't know if this means they're a chintsy issuer, or if it's just that they/their systems were leery of me having already opened four new cards since June. : /

See, Barnes & Noble had a coupon deal this past week for 25% off any one single item. After doing rather a bit of research to find a item that wasn't already priced like a zillion times more favorably at Amazon, I settled on The Cambridge History of the Byzantine Empire (I like history, see), which normally sells for $59.99 at either retailer. The coupon of course brought this down to $44.99, and being a BMO Harris checking account customer means that I received a $5 B&N gift card last summer for using my debit card 10 times in a single month. So, after $3.61 in sales tax (gross), we are looking at a $43.60 expenditure, or we might choose to view it as $42.29 since I paid with my BOA Cash Rewards card (where my 3% category this month is online shopping), for $59.99 worth of book. That is me saving in excess of sixteen damn dollars, an achievement for which you are all to praise me.

...is something these guys are rather adept at. (Sondheim lives.)

Delta SkyMiles don't expire either.