Travel Backpacks - Best-Ever Deals on Two eBags Models

Amazon has some outstanding deals on a couple of highly regarded eBags brand travel backpacks.  These prices are by far the lowest ever for both bags.

Outstanding price on high-quality bags.  Can't beat these bags for the price.

eBags Professional Slim - $35

Amazon has the Professional Slim travel backpack on sale for $35 after $5 electronic coupon.  This is about 50% less than the usual sale price on this backpack and the lowest price ever offered thru Amazon.  Camelcamelcamel.com shows the lowest previous price from Amazon around $56.  

I bought one of these a while back but returned it as it was just a bit too small for the amount of stuff I typically put in a back for a weekend trip.  Looks very sharp and business-y...as the name says, professional.  Well designed bag with thoughtful features and different cargo areas.

https://www.amazon.com/eBags-Professional-Laptop-Backpack-Business/dp/B00OKXYUJ0

Available colors: black, heather gray, brushed indigo, navy, sage green

eBags Pro Weekender - $35

This is my travel backpack for weekend trips soccer refereeing and the like.  The bag holds a surprising amount of gear and is very well organized with different cargo compartments including a very handy top compartment that fits an accessory bag for Bose headphones or a bunch of charging cables etc.

I paid about twice this much and was very happy with the value.  $35 is unbelievable.  According to CamelCamelCamel.com, this bag has never been less than $62 until this week.

Available colors: black, heather gray, navy

 

https://www.amazon.com/eBags-Professional-Flight-Laptop-Backpack/dp/B077N3N8GT

Alternate Buying Option

eBags is selling the bags for $40 on its own website.  15% cash back right now via TopCashBack would make the final net price $34+tax.  See here for various cash back or points back shopping portal offers for eBags:  https://www.cashbackmonitor.com/cashback-store/ebags/

Often, Amex also offers cash back for eBags.  Typically this is $25 cash back on a $125+ purchase.  This type of offer is stackable with cash back from a shopping portal site such as TopCashBack.  However, there do not appear to be any current Amex offers for eBags.com

Check Your Credit Cards for Annual Fee Refunds, Retention Offers and New Category Bonuses

The economy is in a definite downturn due to COVID-19, and many people are doing far less traveling and less travel-related spending than normal.

In response, credit card companies are working hard to entice people to keep their credit cards rather than close their accounts.

Many of the big card issuers have proactively issued statement credits or other bonuses, or added temporarily enhanced benefits for all customers of certain cards.

For other card issuers or other credit cards, customers need to call and ask about offers to see what they may be targeted to receive.

Many cards are offering additional bonuses in categories in which those cards historically have not offered bonuses.  This is to encourage customers to use the card more.  For example, Chase is offering 5 Ultimate Rewards points per dollar on grocery store purchases for the new few months.  Similarly, American Express is offering 4 Delta Sky Miles per dollar on grocery store purchases with their Delta co-branded cards.

Another benefit is that the travel credit on certain cards can be triggered for spending that is not travel-related.  For example, the Citi Prestige card $250 travel credit can be used at supermarkets and restaurants.

This post is a heads-up, not a comprehensive roundup of all the changes on the major cards.

In light of recent changes, it behooves all of us to check our credit card portfolio and figure out which cards make the most sense for certain types of spending.

Sample articles with more details:

The Points Guy - temporary perks on Amex cards

Marketwatch - annual fee partial rebates on certain cards

Frequent Miler - COVID-related Credit Card Benefit Enhancements - Ultimate Guide 

The Best Cash Back Business Credit Cards

There are lots of credit cards that earn generous amounts of travel rewards.  Likewise, there are lots of cash back-earning credit cards.  And there are lots of business credit cards aimed at small business owners.

What there is NOT a lot of, is cash back business cards.  In the past few days, I researched cash back business credit cards and came up with what I believe are the three best such cards available to American customers.

Reminder:  One need NOT have a business tax ID (aka EIN) to get approved for a business card.  Generally speaking, a history of at least a few years' worth of revenue and expenses of a few thousand dollars annually at minimum, along with a solid (740+ certainly should do the trick) credit score should result in approval of a business credit card application to most of the major U.S. credit card issuers - Amex, Chase, Citi, Capital One, and others.


Reminder:  personal credit cards can be used for 'business spend' just as easily as business cards can.  There are not a lot of practical differences between personal and business credit cards.  One of the big ones is that business credit cards often lack some of the consumer protections that are required by law to be provided on personal credit cards.  Authorized user cards can be ordered for personal cards, just as with business cards.  And hundreds of thousands of dollars of spend can be put on personal cards, just as with business cards -- assuming proper credit line and management of it.

The Best Three Cash Back Business Credit Cards

Of these three options, the Amex one I can refer; the other two I cannot.  All three cards will allow pretty solid accumulation of cash back via spending.  And all three have at least a $500 signup bonus after hitting the minimum spend in first three months.

• Capital One Spark Cash
• Amex Blue Business Cash
• Chase Ink Cash

Capital One Spark Cash

Pros

• 2% cash back on everything, no limit - to my knowledge, the only business card on the market like this
• $500 signup bonus after $5k spend.
• Additional $1,500 signup bonus after $50k total spend in first year.

Cons

• $95 annual fee after first year.
• No category bonuses, just straight 2% on everything.

More Information

• https://frequentmiler.boardingarea.com/C1SCbiz/#Goto

Amex Blue Business Cash

Pros

• No annual fee
• 2% cash back on first $50k purchases per year
• $500 cash back signup bonus ($250 after $5k spend fairst 3 months, another $250 after another $10k spend in first year)

Cons

• Only 1% cash back on purchases beyond $50k in a year

Referral
My referral link (click 'all business cards to find the Blue Business Cash.  I recently got the Blue Business Plus.  http://refer.amex.us/JASONWuBSY?XLINK=MYCP.  

More Information

• https://www.doctorofcredit.com/american-express-blue-business-cash-card-500-sign-up-bonus-available-via-incognito/
• https://frequentmiler.boardingarea.com/AmxBBC/#Goto

Chase Ink Cash

Pros

• No annual fee
• $500 signup bonus (usually only $300) after $3k spend
• Great bonus categories:  5X office supplies ⚬ 5X cellular/landline/cable (on up to $25,000 in total purchases in 5x categories annually)
• 2X gas and restaurants (up to $25k annually)
• Besides being able to use as cash back, technically the card earns Ultimate Reward points which can be super handy (e.g. if you have a Sapphire Preferred or Sapphire Reserve personal card, and could combine the points and use toward paid travel thru Chase travel portal

Cons

• Only 1% cash back on non-category bonused stuff

More Information

• https://frequentmiler.boardingarea.com/CIC/#Goto
• https://www.doctorofcredit.com/chase-ink-cash-500-public-online-offer/

Analysis

• Which is best for you?  That depends on your own personal circumstances.  How much will you spend, and how much in various categories.  You will have to decide which is best for your usage.
• Will you spend enough to offset the $95 annual fee on the Spark Cash?
• The category bonuses on the Chase Ink Cash are potentially very lucrative, if you'll have spend in those categories.  Otherwise, it probably isn't the best choice.
• If you are going to spend well beyond $50k a year, Spark could be the best bet - although you won't recover the $95 annual fee until you hit $60k spend, vs. the Amex no annual fee card.
• Blue Business Cash may be the safe bet for starters - unless the category bonuses on Chase Ink Cash can be leveraged.