This offer ends on February 29, 2012 and is valid for travel between January 10, 2012 and February 29, 2012 or between April 15, 2012 and June 15, 2012. Blackout dates are February 17, February 20, May 25 and May 28, 2012.

To receive your 20% discount code and to view the full terms of this offer, visit this page.

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Visa Cardholders: Get a 20% Discount on Virgin America Flights

If you already have Gold or Diamond Elite status, you’ll receive 5,000 free Hilton HHonors points just for registering your card. In addition, a glitch in the system currently allows you to register twice. You can enroll the first time to get Gold status, then re-enter your card info to get the 5,000 points. Even without double dipping, however, this is a very nice deal. See this link for the benefits of HHonors Gold membership.

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Visa Signature Cardholders: Free Gold Hilton HHonors Status + 5000 Points

If you have more than one Visa Signature credit card, each card is eligible to receive a single-use promo code. In addition, each code can be applied to the purchase of tickets for up to eight passengers on the same PNR on southwest.com.

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Save 15% off Southwest Airlines Fares with your Visa Signature Card

Holiday Movie Deals with Visa Signature
In addition to its Holiday Collection offers, Visa has also introduced a new movie deal for the holiday season. Apart from the usual discount of 20% off $25 Fandango.com gift certificates, Visa Signature cardholders can also take advantage of a Buy One, Get One Free movie ticket offer when they see Disney’s new movie, Tron: Legacy. For more details on Visa’s Fandango offers, see www.fandango.com/visasignature.

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Visa Signature Holiday Deals

See this link for details. If you live in DC, you can visit this link. (Via SD)

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Visa Signature: Free Movie Screening of Secretariat in Select Cities

With no rewards program, it’s a credit card that’s about as easy to understand as possible. There are no transaction or penalty fees of any kind. That includes foreign transaction, balance transfer, cash advance, late payment, over credit limit or returned payment fees. Cardholders must sign up for e-statements for all their active accounts. For more info, see this link.

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PenFed Promise Card: A New, No Fee Credit Card

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Visa SavingsEdge Helps Small Businesses Save More

Link (via FT)

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Order Dollar Coins with Your Credit Card at Face Value with Free Shipping

Amex vs. Visa / Mastercard
I recently decided to perform a mini experiment to explore a little publicized aspect of making purchases in foreign currency–namely, to discover the difference, if any, between the underlying exchange rate used by American Express and that of Visa/Mastercard.

The experiment
In the past, I had heard that Amex used inferior exchange rates, so to test that theory I set up an admittedly imperfect experiment, pitting my Starwood American Express against my Chase Visa.

Last week, I ran a series of charges against each card. On Jan. 28, I charged 25 British pounds on each card, with each charge coming within minutes of one another. I repeated this again on Jan. 30 and Feb. 1. In theory, the Starwood Amex with its 2% forex fee should beat the Chase Visa with its overall 3% forex fee (1% from Visa + 2% from Chase), assuming that their underlying exchange rates were comparable.

The results
Unfortunately this test didn’t yield the information that I was hoping for. For one thing, I found that while Amex processed each transaction on the day that it occurred, Visa took until the next day, meaning that I couldn’t directly compare the exchange rates.

When I tried to calculate the foreign exchange fee using the average daily Interbank rate, as quoted by Oanda.com, I got the following results:

Further Research
Since these results weren’t exactly what I was expecting, I did a bit more research and found some information that helps explain why I didn’t get nice, round numbers. American Express describes how it determines its conversion rate in the fine print of your billing statement:

If you incur a Charge in a foreign currency, it will be converted into US dollars on the date it is processed by us or our agents. Unless a particular rate is required by applicable law, we will choose a conversion rate that is acceptable to us for that date. Currently, the conversion rate we use for a Charge in a foreign currency is no greater than (a) the highest official conversion rate published by a government agency, or (b) the highest interbank conversion rate identified by us from customary banking sources, on the conversion date or the prior business day, in each instance is increased by 2%. This conversion rate may differ from rates in effect on the date of your charge.

Visa also explains how it handles foreign currency transactions:

Will the rates shown be the rates charged to my account?

The exact rate you receive depends on when the transaction is posted to the Visa system. The day the charge actually posts may be later than the day on which you made the purchase, depending on how promptly each merchant handles their Visa transactions.

How does Visa calculate its rate?

Every day—except weekends, Memorial Day, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day—Visa calculates the rate for the next day’s transactions. The Visa rate is selected from a range of rates available in wholesale currency markets or the government-mandated rate in effect one day prior to the applicable central processing date. Visa makes this rate available to issuing banks, which may adjust the rate when billing cardholders by applying a foreign transaction fee. The rate Visa makes available to issuing banks may vary from the rate Visa itself receives. Most consumers find that using Visa is a convenient and cost-effective way to make purchases and obtain cash when traveling internationally.

How accurate are the rates?

The rates you are shown are generated with Visa’s internal database for exchange rates and are accurate to two decimal places. However, they are only meant to serve as an indication of the rate you could expect to receive from your issuing bank. As exchange rates change constantly, the rate is only accurate for one day. The exact rate you are charged depends on when the transaction is posted to the Visa system, which may be later than the day on which you paid, depending on how promptly each merchant handles their Visa transactions. Additionally, your final transaction amount may differ depending on whether the merchant converts the currency at the point of sale or if the bank that issues your card assesses a foreign transaction fee.

My conclusion?
Based on this information, I learned that a direct comparison of exchange rates will always be difficult given how much latitude the networks have afforded themselves in determining the conversion rate, especially with regards to the timing of the transaction. From a practical standpoint, it’s more important to look at the other components of foreign currency fees rather than the underlying exchange rate.

Instead, focus on the fees that are documented and well-defined. See the table below for a summary of these fees for major issuers:

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An Experiment Gone Awry: Comparing Amex Foreign Exchange Fees to Visa and Mastercard

Fortunately, both Visa and MasterCard have compiled directories to help with this very task.

• See Visa’s excellent Biller Directory where you can actually search by either category or biller name, or just see which billers are common in your zip code.
• See MasterCard’s Directory of Service Providers where you can search merchants by either category or state.

Of course just because a merchant accepts credit doesn’t mean you should use it. You’ll still want to check that there is no additional ‘convenience fee’ being charged for using your credit card.

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Does your Utility Company Accept Credit Cards?

• A Visa Signature Concierge available 24/7 to handle restaurant reservation requests
• Discounts on Zagat Survey guides and maps, ZAGAT TO GO software, packs and bundles, and ZAGAT.com membership
• Exclusive tastings, cooking classes and private gourmet events

For more information, see http://www.visa.com/signaturefood.

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Free Zagat Survey Access with a Visa Signature Card

20,000 miles is valid for a Round Trip Coach Saver Award ticket between the United States and Canda on either Alaska Airlines or Horizon Air. Note that the card has an annual fee of $75 for Visa Signature and Platinum Plus accounts, and $45 for Preferred accounts.

You can see the offer, along with a summary of the card’s benefits, here.

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Alaska Airlines Visa: Free Roundtrip Ticket with Application

For more details, see www.visa.com/magicwand.

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Win a Trip to Disneyland by using your Visa

Upon qualified registration, use your registered Visa check card or credit card at any participating BURGER KING® Restaurant for 10 purchases between June 1 – August 31, 2007, and receive a credit for the amount of every 10th purchase (up to $7.00 max value) on your future Visa check card or credit card statement. No minimum amount required for any purchase.

To participate, you need to register your Visa card first at this link. You may also want to consider visiting this page in preparation as well.

Link

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Every Tenth Meal at BK Is Free When Paying with Visa

For more information, visit: http://www.visa.com/100K.

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Win $100,000 in Visa’s Holiday Sweepstakes