What is your favorite little-known perq (from credit card, prime, etc.)?
April 1, 2019 1:38 PM Subscribe
I saw last week that Amazon Prime members can get a year of Nintendo Switch online for free, which...pretty cool! But it struck me that if I hadn't been paying attention, I may well have missed the opportunity. What are your favorite "it's free!" (or even "it's way cheaper!" or "it's improved!") perqs that you can get if you know where to look?
I don't mean stuff like "sign up for this card and then spend $XXXX in the first three months" welcome rewards stuff; I mean the little extra under-advertised benefits that may come with an existing membership (e.g. reciprocal privileges at other places if you are museum member, upgrades, etc.)
I don't mean stuff like "sign up for this card and then spend $XXXX in the first three months" welcome rewards stuff; I mean the little extra under-advertised benefits that may come with an existing membership (e.g. reciprocal privileges at other places if you are museum member, upgrades, etc.)
The Costco card increases the warranty of electronics purchased from Costco automatically.
Bank of America has free museum days once a month (but it's generally just a single entrance).
The high end travel cards will come with things like free entrance to airport lounges or free PreCheck but have yearly fees in the thousands.
It's not free, but Amex offers a decent insurance plan for rental cars if you have reason to believe you might need something beyond what your personal policy covers. I've used it when camping with a rental in an area with a bad hail forecast, for example.
posted by Candleman at 1:51 PM on April 1, 2019 [4 favorites]
Bank of America has free museum days once a month (but it's generally just a single entrance).
The high end travel cards will come with things like free entrance to airport lounges or free PreCheck but have yearly fees in the thousands.
It's not free, but Amex offers a decent insurance plan for rental cars if you have reason to believe you might need something beyond what your personal policy covers. I've used it when camping with a rental in an area with a bad hail forecast, for example.
posted by Candleman at 1:51 PM on April 1, 2019 [4 favorites]
I have lifetime free Shoprunner (free 2-day shipping) through American Express.
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 1:57 PM on April 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 1:57 PM on April 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
Many cards price protect for X days. I buy videogames new and then when they go on sale in 30-90 days, I submit the claim and get them for however much they were just on sale for. It's especially powerful leading up to Black Friday/holidays because those big games will go on sale often for $30 so you'll be buying day 1 games and then boom, gimme that cash back.
This works for many things, but I'm lazy. I used the Citi Doublecash card for it.
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 2:00 PM on April 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
This works for many things, but I'm lazy. I used the Citi Doublecash card for it.
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 2:00 PM on April 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
Seconding the Amex insurance plan for rental cars. We have it set up to automatically tack onto any car rental, though the system gets confused if we book through something like Expedia that also offers car services. It's a fixed price for the entirety of the rental, and is about the same price as, like, two days from the rental company.
It saved us over $900 the time we were in Spain, the only automatic transmission car they had was a giant expensive SUV worth multiples of the Blue Book Value on our shitty 15 year old Honda Civic at home, and then we had to try and park said giant SUV in our charming hotel in the medieval quarter of Toledo, where the garage appeared to have been poorly retrofitted out of, like, a root cellar. For very small roots.
We got in OK, but scraped the paint job down to bare metal getting out.
posted by joyceanmachine at 2:02 PM on April 1, 2019
It saved us over $900 the time we were in Spain, the only automatic transmission car they had was a giant expensive SUV worth multiples of the Blue Book Value on our shitty 15 year old Honda Civic at home, and then we had to try and park said giant SUV in our charming hotel in the medieval quarter of Toledo, where the garage appeared to have been poorly retrofitted out of, like, a root cellar. For very small roots.
We got in OK, but scraped the paint job down to bare metal getting out.
posted by joyceanmachine at 2:02 PM on April 1, 2019
Two associations to which I belong offer email forwarding services as a freebie to members - you can get a "membername@foo.org" address forwarded to wherever you normally get email. This has turned out to be more useful than I would have originally thought.
posted by jquinby at 2:18 PM on April 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by jquinby at 2:18 PM on April 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
Er, the fancy travel cards I mentioned have yearly fees in hundreds, not thousands of dollars.
posted by Candleman at 2:25 PM on April 1, 2019
posted by Candleman at 2:25 PM on April 1, 2019
I’m in Mexico, and presume that this question implicitly refers to the USA, but my mobile phone plan includes free car breakdown cover, among other things. There’s even a shortcut that you dial: *100 or something on your keypad will have a tow-truck with you in 20 min or so.
posted by chappell, ambrose at 2:27 PM on April 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by chappell, ambrose at 2:27 PM on April 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
Last I checked, annual fees and benefits for AmEx and Chase Sapphire Reserve cards were similar, except that the CSR includes a $300 annual travel credit, which includes rental cars, Lyft, and Uber.
posted by bagel at 2:40 PM on April 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by bagel at 2:40 PM on April 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
TMobile gives me Netflix for cheap and MLB.com for free, as well as gas discounts and Dunkin Donuts discounts and free tacos and such.
Verizon Fios also gives me free Netflix.
Spotify + Hulu
Museum, Zoo, Aquarium reciprocity.
My town participates in Recyclebank, which gives me points for recycling that I can exchange for magazines I’ll eventuslky recycle. I see how that’s a bad example but it’s real.
posted by OrangeVelour at 2:44 PM on April 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
Verizon Fios also gives me free Netflix.
Spotify + Hulu
Museum, Zoo, Aquarium reciprocity.
My town participates in Recyclebank, which gives me points for recycling that I can exchange for magazines I’ll eventuslky recycle. I see how that’s a bad example but it’s real.
posted by OrangeVelour at 2:44 PM on April 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
The U.S. Bank credit card issues a protection/replacement (for damage or theft) plan for your cell phone if you pay your monthly bill with it (I have the card, but have not yet--knock, knock--had to avail myself of this service).
posted by AwkwardPause at 2:47 PM on April 1, 2019
posted by AwkwardPause at 2:47 PM on April 1, 2019
I recently found out you can get HBO Go for free with some AT&T plans (details). I was excited until I realized I didn't qualify, maybe you will benefit.
posted by possibilityleft at 2:52 PM on April 1, 2019
posted by possibilityleft at 2:52 PM on April 1, 2019
Citi Price Rewind. Find a lower sale price on something you bought and get a price adjustment from Citibank.
posted by jgreco at 3:21 PM on April 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by jgreco at 3:21 PM on April 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
Check with your city's library - many of them are offering so much more than books. Mine offers passes to local attractions (free!), as well as free subscriptions to Lynda.com as well as audio books, and some streaming video. (not to mention free activity room rental and training classes.)
posted by hydra77 at 4:20 PM on April 1, 2019 [24 favorites]
posted by hydra77 at 4:20 PM on April 1, 2019 [24 favorites]
A lot of the cards will extend a manufacturer's warranty by a year or two. I just filed a claim on a Roku that's begun crashing on spec.
(Frankly, I think most of these services survive because few people actually use them. As people figure them out and start using them more aggressively, they start to get cut back--price rewind features have taken a beating lately.)
posted by praemunire at 4:22 PM on April 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
(Frankly, I think most of these services survive because few people actually use them. As people figure them out and start using them more aggressively, they start to get cut back--price rewind features have taken a beating lately.)
posted by praemunire at 4:22 PM on April 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
Your health insurance probably offers a variety of fringe benefits, from discounted gym memberships to reduced admission fees at amusement parks. If your insurance through your job, ask your HR person about it.
posted by kevinbelt at 5:08 PM on April 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by kevinbelt at 5:08 PM on April 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
Thirding the Amex rental car plan. It’s not the basic coverage. You pay extra per rental. But it’s exceptional coverage for the price. A rare case where the supplement is worth it.
posted by spitbull at 6:50 PM on April 1, 2019
posted by spitbull at 6:50 PM on April 1, 2019
The other perk I’ve used more than I expected to is Amex member pre-sale and preferred seating for concerts. I’ve gotten some killer seats for major acts at good prices.
posted by spitbull at 6:54 PM on April 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by spitbull at 6:54 PM on April 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
Check with your city's library - many of them are offering so much more than books.
This was my first thought. I just learned my city's public library offers Acorn TV access to cardholders.
posted by bananana at 7:05 PM on April 1, 2019 [6 favorites]
This was my first thought. I just learned my city's public library offers Acorn TV access to cardholders.
posted by bananana at 7:05 PM on April 1, 2019 [6 favorites]
If you get a Target REDCard (either one, EFT or credit), anything purchased at target.com with that card gets free shipping on top of the normal 5% discount.
The 5% discount also applies to any Starbucks inside the physical store and almost all gift cards (including Apple)
posted by JoeZydeco at 9:54 PM on April 1, 2019 [3 favorites]
The 5% discount also applies to any Starbucks inside the physical store and almost all gift cards (including Apple)
posted by JoeZydeco at 9:54 PM on April 1, 2019 [3 favorites]
All of my regional libraries offer access to Kanopy, which gets me ~7 independent films per month. (I have three local library cards, and if I don't link my library cards to a single account, I get something like 19 films a month.)
Of course, ebooks, too. And Lynda.com.
posted by tapir-whorf at 11:23 PM on April 1, 2019 [4 favorites]
Of course, ebooks, too. And Lynda.com.
posted by tapir-whorf at 11:23 PM on April 1, 2019 [4 favorites]
The Chase United Explorer MileagePlus credit card provides primary insurance on rental cars. You have to decline the rental agency's insurance, and then if you end up liable for damage, you won't even have to make a claim against your own insurance first - despite what the rental representative adamantly states. It pays up to replacement cost of the car (some limitations for luxury vehicles). I wish I hadn't had first hand experience of this, but I'm really glad I'd used that card at Enterprise.
posted by infodiva at 12:58 AM on April 2, 2019
posted by infodiva at 12:58 AM on April 2, 2019
Slightly off topic but related: When this subject comes up here I always point out that credit card rental car insurance usually ONLY covers damage to to car you rent. Not to anyone else’s car or other property. Not to anyone’s body. I’m always surprised at the number of people who think because it’s called “insurance” that it includes liability protection. If you don’t have your own robust car insurance plan that extends significant liability, uninsured motorist, and property damage coverage beyond the car itself (and you have to be sure it extends to rentals, some don’t) you should be more concerned about buying a liability policy, which you can do expensively from the rental agency or much more cheaply in an annual plan from an insurance company (I had this through State Farm when I didn’t own a car, basically a full on auto policy that only covered me in rental cars, it was really cheap as an annual expense given that at the time I was renting cars very frequently).
You can do $50-100k in damage without trying very hard if you slip and slide into say, an average luxury or performance car. You can do much more than that if you injure someone. Your credit card plan (Amex included) will do nothing for you. *Never* rent without robust liability coverage. In most states the rental will provide the bare minimum liability limits, which barely covers hitting a fence.
Replacing a $30k car is as nothing compared to putting someone in the hospital for two weeks.
posted by spitbull at 4:10 AM on April 2, 2019 [8 favorites]
You can do $50-100k in damage without trying very hard if you slip and slide into say, an average luxury or performance car. You can do much more than that if you injure someone. Your credit card plan (Amex included) will do nothing for you. *Never* rent without robust liability coverage. In most states the rental will provide the bare minimum liability limits, which barely covers hitting a fence.
Replacing a $30k car is as nothing compared to putting someone in the hospital for two weeks.
posted by spitbull at 4:10 AM on April 2, 2019 [8 favorites]
We have a high-end Chase card, and between redeeming its points for travel with a 1.5x bonus (which paid for a trip to the Lake District in 2017, and if we're smart and plan something, will pay for much of a to-be-determined vacation this summer), the airport lounge access, the rental car primary insurance and the fact that I can call them and get a human immediately, it's worth the fee each year.
posted by Making You Bored For Science at 6:05 AM on April 2, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by Making You Bored For Science at 6:05 AM on April 2, 2019 [3 favorites]
Online subscription to the Washington Post at $3.99/mo. for Amazon Prime members (regularly $10/mo.)
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 9:04 AM on April 2, 2019 [7 favorites]
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 9:04 AM on April 2, 2019 [7 favorites]
A subscription to Scribd includes Pocket, Blinkist, Audm, Mubi and Farfaria
posted by KateViolet at 3:48 PM on April 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by KateViolet at 3:48 PM on April 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
I get roadside assistance at $2.99/month via my AT&T mobile plan.
posted by deus ex machina at 4:19 PM on April 2, 2019
posted by deus ex machina at 4:19 PM on April 2, 2019
@DevilsAdvocate, is there a link to more information on the $3.99/mo Prime-WaPo offer? I am a Prime member, but paying $100/year at the moment.
posted by thaths at 3:40 PM on April 18, 2019
posted by thaths at 3:40 PM on April 18, 2019
Huh, I can't find anything for new subscribers, just news articles from 2017/early 2018 describing the offer. I guess it was a limited time offer. My apologies for getting your hopes up.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 7:10 PM on April 18, 2019
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 7:10 PM on April 18, 2019
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by LKWorking at 1:49 PM on April 1, 2019 [20 favorites]