Jump on it!

That feeling on your last day of vacation, realizing you won't be served breakfast in the beach-side cabana tomorrow (pictured above). Worse yet, dreading opening that inbox that you have neglected to the point that it almost disappeared. Just like your vacations, miles deals begin and end quickly, especially the lucrative ones. Recently, there was one deal that lasted less then 24 hours for a AMEX Platinum card that I failed to jump on. Read more about lessons learned on this deal!

Earlier this month, for less then 24 hours this card had a sign up bonus worth 100k AMEX Membership award points. This deal was posted on every travel blog and I knew about it right when it started. So why did I not sign up? There is a hefty $450 annual fee that is NOT waived for the first year. The bonus points were nice, but most people keep this card because of the benefits. Some of the benefits that I thought useful include:

• Airport lounge access to 3 carriers, Delta, American, and US Airways
• SPG Gold status (you can read more about SPG HERE)
• Purchase protection
• Free companion certificate for full class business or first class tickets bought.
• Elite status with Hertz, Avis, National(free car upgrades plus more)
• $200 Airline fee credit per CALENDER YEAR

I thought the exact same thing as you probably are, theres no way to possibly justify $450 in a fee. After a little more reading one thing interesting came up, that $200 airline fee credit is per calendar year and not annual. If I applied now, I'd get $200 for the year 2013, once January 1st 2014 hits i'd get another $200 before the second annual fee would hit. Therefore I could get 400 in airline credit for one annual fee, effectively making the cost of the card $50.

I actually discussed this with a few friends the night it came out, and I decided I'd wait till the following morning, if the deal was still there I'd sign up. In the back of my mind, I had a gut feeling it would already be gone though. Next morning it was dead. Lesson learned, Like my friends Will Smith and Carlson, Jump on it!