MasterCard Gift Card rebate: Safeway $10 coupon, Staples $15 gift card

How to Set PIN for U.S. Bank MasterCard giftcard

  1. Call 1-866-952-5653
  2. Press "1"
  3. Press "2"
  4. Enter gift card number
  5. Enter the 3-digit security key (at the back of the card)
  6. Press "3"
  7. Enter a 4-digit PIN number
  8. Re-enter PIN. done
[11/6/2013 - 12/3/2013]
Safeway Thanksiving/CyberMonday 2013 Promotion:
$10 Safeway Coupon again.  I purchased a $500 MasterCard gift card with my AMEX Premier Gold card.   There is no cash advance fee.



[9/11/2013 - 10/8/2013]
Limited-time Promotion: I bought a $500 MasterCard gift card. The promotion is for minimum $100 MasterCard gift card purchase. $10 coupon is valid per Safeway account holder.  It has the same coupon code number 78461 as last time ...



[August 2013 Expired]
Limited-time Promotion: Buy at least $100 MasterCard gift card and receive $10 Safeway coupon.  The coupon can be used with minimum $10 purchase. Each coupon expires about 14 days from the day you purchased the MasterCard gift card.

$500 MasterCard debit gift card from Safeway

The promotion says limited one per Safeway card membership (thus, not per household) which is free membership.  As there is a Safeway store on my way to work every day, it was convenient for me to conduct the following experiments.

  • Chase Ink Card + my Safeway membership number:  received $10 Safeway coupon
  • American Express Blue Cash Card + my Safeway membership number: received $10 Safeway coupon
  • Chase Ink Card + Isa's Safeway membership number:  received $10 Safeway coupon
  • American Express Blue Cash Card + Isa's Safeway membership number: received $10 Safeway coupon

Two $10 Safeway coupon

The MasterCard gift card bought with my American Express Blue Cash card would become fee-free, because Blue Cash card offers 3% cash back on grocery purchase. ($500*3% = $15).  I would make $9 per coupon.  Total, I earned four $10 Safeway coupons.  The $10 can be used for minimum $10 purchase. I noticed that all four coupons have the same coupon code number 00000-78461 (hmm.. what if someone finds a way to print these coupon copies ... yet in that case the coupons will have same expire date) I bought one bag of frozen scallops, $14, and paid only $4 in the checkout.

I plan to keep American Express Blue Cash Card for some time to boost up my credit score to 750+

[Expired]
Limited-time Promotion: Buy at least one $200 MasterCard gift card in Staples Store, and receive $15 Staples gift card in rebate

$200 Mastercard debit gift card from Staples

 Previous Post ---> How to Get Overseas and International Home Mortgage
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How to Get Overseas and International Home Mortgage

Beautiful Life

The Burden of Rent ...

Isa has been providing financial supports to cover her parents' rent in Taiwan since she graduated from college.  I support my parents financially in a much smaller scale.  We both felt an obligation and honor to do so, as this practice is not uncommon in Asian culture.  However, we probably can never be financially independent if the Taiwan rental need is always there.  In the early February of this year, I shared a wild thought with Isa, "why could not we purchase a residential unit in Taiwan?"  She was caught a bit surprise and thought I was joking.  She soon saw I meant business and agreed the logic.

"If your parents live another 50 years, we may have to work another 50 years to cover their rent.  That is undesirable.  If instead we use the rental money to pay mortgage for a Taiwan residential unit, the rental need would be a finite 30 years maximum.  The best part is that we will own a residential unit in Taiwan, build a strong Taiwan credit."

Question: Idea sounds great. How?

International Home Mortgage
I spent about 3 weeks in asking Taiwanese friends, googling web for financial options, and exchanging emails with US banks, and found HSBC Premier mortgage and Citibank Global Mortgage offer overseas mortgage.  Our friends either pay off the mortgage with cash, or would not consider overseas home mortgage as an investment option.  Wells Fargo and Charles Schwab do not offer non-US home mortgage services.  Chase and Bank of America do not seem to offer international home mortgage services.

Using my Taiwan home mortgage as a case study for a middle-class US family who seeks international or overseas home loan.

HSBC Premier International Mortgage

Getting a international home mortgage in Taiwan ...
  • Who can purchase an overseas property?
    • As Isa holds Taiwan citizenship, she can proceed to purchase a Taiwan property without delay.  Adding my name to the title would delay the purchase progress, as I do not hold Taiwan citizenship.  I am fine to have only Isa name on the title now, as Taiwan's mortgage is under her name only also.
  • What are the qualifications for international mortgage?
    • Regardless of HSBC or Citibank, the requirements seem to be the same.  Variant requirements may depend on which country. 
      • Solid US credit score (Isa's FICO score was above 700 in February)
      • Holding citizenship of the property country helps.  Both HSBC and Citi Banks asked this question.
      • Proof of reliable US income.  In the case of Taiwan, this item is not mandatory, if the purchaser has an active Taiwan bank account with at least USD $100,000 in the last 3 months. That money is a proof of positive financial strength.
    • In general, Isa would not be qualified for mortgage via local Taiwan bank because she does not have Taiwan income proof.  However, we found a close relative of hers working in a Taiwan Bank.  With her personal guarantee, Isa was offered a competitive 20-year mortgage interest rate.  We had to decline it because our target is a 30-years loan.
  • Which bank offers such service and who are bank contacts?
    • HSBC bank and Citibank has local Taiwan branch that provides home mortgage services via their local bank representatives.
    • Both HSBC premier and Citibank Global referred me to their mortgage representatives in Taiwan.
      • Call 1-866.503.4722 for HSBC premier mortgage, or 
      • Email global.client@citi.com or Citibank Global Mortgage 
  • Which bank offers the lowest home mortgage interest rate?
    • After another 4 weeks of email exchanges with HSBC and Citibank, we found HSBC's  30-years mortgage rate lowest.  Coincidentally, six-months earlier, I opened a HSBC Premier IRA account and a HSBC Premier checking account, due to a friend of mine working at HSBC investment. (To be qualified for HSBC Premier status, open a HSBC account (checking, saving, or IRA) with at least USD $100,000.
    • The HSBC US premier status upgrades the HSBC TW account status to premier once globally linked.
    • With HSBC Premier status, there is no transaction fee to transfer money from US account to Taiwan account. There is still the currency exchange fee from US dollar to Taiwan dollar.
  • What is current home mortgage interest rate in Taiwan?
    • HSBC Premier offered 1.9%, 30-years mortgage loan. The rate is not fixed for 30 years; it fluctuates every year. Past mortgage interest rate in Taiwan has been around 1.8-2%.  So, it is a safe bet that the interest rate will stay around the same level.
  • Are there country-specific mortgage requirements?
    • I would say yes. Check early with HSBC or Citi Bank branch in that country.  In Taiwan, minimum down-payment is 40% of home price.
  • How to get the best currency exchange rates?
    • HSBC TW
    • Citibank TW
    • There are a few banks in Taiwan which offers better exchange rates.  For ease of mortgage payment management and possible additional financial investment worldwide, we decided to use HSBC Premier services.
  • How to pay mortgage in a foreign country monthly?
    • Open a HSBC Premier checking in US.
    • Open a HSBC checking account in the property country via in-person visit, and provide proof of US HSBC Premier account status.
    • Link the US and TW checking accounts via HSBC Global View and Global Transfers.
    • We preferred to select the one-shop global bank like HSBC which offers US bank service, money transfer to Taiwan, good currency exchange rate, and local Taiwan bank service. 
    • As a result, 
      • 1. my own HSBC premier IRA account is linked to
      • 2. our HSBC premier checking account (I added Isa's name) which is linked to
      • 3. her HSBC TW premier checking account in US dollar (Isa's name only) which is linked to
      • 4. her HSBC TW premier checking account in TWD (Isa's name only)
    • From another perspective, this offers a free international money transfer for personal and family need.  We can conduct Step 1-3 via HSBC website. We need to make a call to HSBC Taiwan currency specialist for Step 4.  The international transfer takes about 5 business days, and the currency conversion is instant.  Premier status comes with no transaction fee.  We will be able to withdraw money from HSBC TW branch in our next Taiwan visit.  At HSBC, exchange rate also fares better via online transfer with a phone call than in-person counter visit.  We were informed that both Taiwan government and HSBC pay attention to frequent and non-small international money transfer.  Our HSBC consultant recommends to transfer not more than USD $10,000 each day.

 Would my foreign (non-US) home mortgage interest as tax deductible?

IRS references
Qualified Home
For you to take a home mortgage interest deduction, your debt must be secured by a qualified home. This means your main home or your second home. A home includes a house, condominium, cooperative, mobile home, house trailer, boat, or similar property that has sleeping, cooking, and toilet facilities.
The interest you pay on a mortgage on a home other than your main or second home may be deductible if the proceeds of the loan were used for business, investment, or other deductible purposes. Otherwise, it is considered personal interest and is not deductible.
Main home.   You can have only one main home at any one time. This is the home where you ordinarily live most of the time.
Second home.   A second home is a home that you choose to treat as your second home.
Second home not rented out.   If you have a second home that you do not hold out for rent or resale to others at any time during the year, you can treat it as a qualified home. You do not have to use the home during the year.


Second home rented out.   If you have a second home and rent it out part of the year, you also must use it as a home during the year for it to be a qualified home. You must use this home more than 14 days or more than 10% of the number of days during the year that the home is rented at a fair rental, whichever is longer. If you do not use the home long enough, it is considered rental property and not a second home. For information on residential rental property, see Publication 527.

I do not know the correct tax answer now, will research.  My hunch is "not likely".

 We pooled in 80% of our cash savings for down-payment for a small Taiwan residence unit in April, completed all legal and mortgage paperwork in early June, 2013.  There is no increase in net monthly cost, because the extra Taiwan mortgage payment is the same as past Isa's monthly support.  She is able to build her Taiwan credit, although she does not work in Taiwan.  We are glad that my parents-in-law enjoy the new place.  And I know Isa has a nice place to stay whenever she stays with her parents in Taiwan visit.

 Six months later, I travelled to Taiwan to visit my parents-in-law.  Although the residence unit is a small one, the place has good security and privacy, and is filled with the sense of freedom, satisfaction and family appreciation.  Isa always gave me thumbs up for making this investment. :-)

Previous Post ---> Free Credit Report from CreditKarma.com is a Useful Tool to Improve FICO Credit Score
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Free Credit Report from CreditKarma.com is a Useful Tool to Improve FICO Credit Score

Card FAQ

About two months ago, there was a need to refinance my home mortgage. I was not sure if my credit score would be high enough to fit into the excellent credit score category to be qualified for best mortgage rate, as I had been actively signing up for new credit card bonuses.

  1. A call to my mortgage broker revealed that FICO score minimum 720 instead of 740 is required.
  2. My credit report on CreditKarma.com which is free to join showed that my estimated credit score was about 734.   (I had been using CreditKarma.com which uses soft check, instead of hard inquiry, to monitor my credit score level, because refinance mortgage was known to be coming)
  3. Paid mortgage broker USD $25 to pull a real FICO credit report, as it is the first requirement for home mortgage refinance.
My real FICO credit report

It was a surprise that my real FICO score was about 770, 30 points above the credit score shown in my CreditKarma.com account.

CreditKarma.com estimated credit report
After looking at my FICO credit report page by page, I would draw the following observation.
  1. CreditKarma.com credit score is not accurate, yet is a good estimate.
  2. Applying Comcast internet service generated one hard credit inquiry based on my FICO score report. Hard credit inquiry lowers FICO credit score. 
  3. New American Express credit card uses your oldest American Express credit card history.  I applied for a new American Express cash-rebate card (no annual fee) in late May to boost up credit score from 734 to 760.
  4. There were many credit card inquiries.  I would refrain from applying to no more than 14 credit cards, whether approved or rejected, within 2 years.  Mid-2014 is the end of my 2-year cycle.  Maybe at most 1 or 2 more if a new card sign-up bonus is very attractive like Chase Business Ink 60,000 bonus points.  (Is Chase going to have this promotion every June?) Considering cancelling some credit cards in the next 6 months, because they require annual fee, adding a no-fee long-history American Express cash-back should help to keep my FICO score and revolving credits intact.
Meanwhile, taking my time to learn and experiment about how to maximize opportunities to earn points using Chase Business Ink 5x and Chase Freedom 5x.
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United Airline award miles versus Bereavement Fares

Personal Finance >>

 On the evening of June 30th, we received a phone call from relatives at Albany, New York that Isa's uncle might live for only another 2~3 days.  Immediately, we organized our travel plan.

See "United Airlines" section on the right hand side about my experience to earn United miles. For example,
  1. Isa used her 75,000 United Airline miles to redeem two round trip tickets to Albany at the earliest possible (and affordable) one-day-later flight.  Southwest would cost $2000 for two round-trip tickets.  Saved $2000.
  2. I expected Uncle's house would be visited by neighbors and friends often, and relatives would be busy taking care of his needs. (My assumption is correct).  So I used my 120,000 Hilton HHonor points to redeem four nights at Hampton Inn Albany Airport at Latham, which is only 10 minutes drive away from Uncle's house.  We dropped the idea to pay for hotel stays, for example, $85 per night at Best Western Inn before taxes, because, for example, future hotel stays inside Yosemite does not accept any redeem points from Hilton, Sheraton, Marriott, .etc. Isa felt guilty because I used up almost all my Hilton HHonor points to visit her uncle.  I shared we have earned 100,000 Virgin Atlantic points that can be converted to be 200,000 Hilton HHonor points. Yet no conversion is in plan, in case we want to fly Virgin Atlantic flights to London.  (Everything at that Hampton Inn was quiet and clean, except loud AC, thus 4 star). King bed suite at Hampton Inn at Albany is priced at $144 per night before taxes and tips.  Saved about $600 for 4 nights of hotel stays.
      3. King-size bedroom suite
      A quiet and clean breakfast area
  3. For the same reason of not bring more work to Albany relatives, we rented a car via Priceline.com, about $200.

Two round-trip tickets San Francisco - Albany

4 nights at Hampton Inn Albany Airport at Latham


I cancelled our mid-August Southwest tickets without penalty. The Southwest Rapid reward points were refunded immediately.  Although United Airline service is not one of the best, its options and convenience during urgent times have demonstrated the high value of United award miles.  I am currently working and learning how to achieve $5000 within three months after the approval of my Chase Ink Business card with 60,000 bonus points, and accumulating more United miles by leveraging the 5% promotion in Chase Freedom.  Two days ago, a United 50,000 bonus points target promotional email also arrived.  I decided to stick to my credit card plan and not to apply the one for the rest of 2013.


Compassion (Bereavement) fares
After this trip, my best friend mentioned that there are bereavement fares that his colleagues took and were free.  It sounded too good.  Web search reveals that they are not free.  There will be discounts, some not explicitly specified.  When United award miles are not available, this will be another option.  Also check Priceline.com, Kayak.com, Travelocity.com for possible last-minute discount tickets.

United Airline
"United offers a 5% discount on fares (roundtrip or one-way) in the event of a death or serious illness (requiring hospitalization or hospice care) of an immediate family member."

American Airline
"American Airlines offers a compassion fare for customers traveling due to a medical emergency or death of a family member not limited to immediate family of the passenger. Domestic partners are allowed.
This fare also applies to customers traveling due to a medical emergency within their family."

Delta Air Lines
"Bereavement fares are available only by calling Delta Reservations"

Southwest Airline
None

We arrived in Albany on-time to see him.  It was my first time and last time to meet him in-person. He saw us and cried immediately.  Two days later, uncle passed away in the very late night of July 4th peacefully.

In this urgent visiting trip, Isa used 75,000 United miles for our tickets and 162,500 United miles for her mom's ticket and changes and booking mistakes, because her mom extended her stay to take care her last surviving (and younger) brother.  Although she used up half of her traveled-earned United miles, Isa smiled at me, worth it, ok to make mistakes.

Previous Post ---> Chase Freedom 5% and MileagePlus Dining 1000 bonus miles
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