Notes And Updates For May 28, 2013

  • View from the Wing has a great write-up about the 5,000 and 10,000-point bonuses that some Amex charge card holders can earn by enrolling in Amex’s “Pay Over Time” feature.  I didn’t qualify for the bonus — and it’s unclear who does — but some people are reporting success and it’s certainly worth a try if you have an Amex charge card.
  • Frequent Miler discusses Google’s new answer to PayPal, Venmo, and Amazon Payments, which allows users to send payments through Gmail and – at the moment – is waiving fees for payments by credit card (read: manufactured spend opportunity).  The feature is being rolled out gradually, but you can gain access by asking a friend to send you a penny through Gmail.
  • Friends, please send me a penny through Gmail.
  • A few months ago, I considered whether the American Express Platinum card was worth its hefty $450 fee.  Reader and friend-of-brother Brett stumbled upon the post and points out that the Mercedes Benz version of the Platinum card offers a 50,000-point sign-up bonus (25,000 more points than the normal version) for a mere $25 more per year, which is a no-brainer unless you plan to keep the Platinum card indefinitely.