Although the common belief and experience of most of the persons in USA is that “there is no free lunch” and any offer from a company for “Free Cash” always comes with a catch. Either the company wants to agree for auto renewal of their services or buy their products or offer points/rewards that will depend on how much money you spend on their products or services. Sometime this cash awards cannot be redeemed unless it reaches a minimum threshold at least 10 dollars for which you have already spent more than 1000 dollars and some companies only offer these rewards to buy only their products on-line or in store, and it may also have a due date or other limitations. If you buy from on-line you pay shipping charges.
But I am talking about free money that has limited requirements and it is redeemable as direct deposit to your checking account. I have an American Express card that is linked to my Hilton Hotels royalty program, which means every dollar earns me 1 point that can be redeemed for free stay, but the catch is that I must charge at least 10-15 thousand dollars to get a free night. The offer is not very attractive compared to the other cash-back program from other credit cards. Having this card from more than 25 years, I recently got an offer from American Express to open an on-line Checking Account and I can get $250 as cash award. What was the catch? I had to arrange a one-time Direct Deposit of $500, with no minimum balance requirement or months to keep the account active. I completed the requirement and got the Cash Award in my Checking Account even before the monthly statement was generated by the system which takes at least one business cycle of 25-30 days. The day I got the cash award, I transferred the award and the direct deposit amount to my other checking account. Hence, I got my free lunch worth $250.
I can cancel the direct deposit or close the account any time. I have benefited from such “generous” offers many times in the past. You must be on the lookout for such offer and when you get it grab it. Make hay while the sun shines. Read my blogs for such stories in future, and I have no other catch
Rambler's Corner 