There were a few deals that I found to be interesting this morning so I thought it would be best to just round them all up here.
Dual SIM Smartphone
– BLU Advance 4.0 Smartphone Link
One of today’s Amazon Deal of the Day items is for an unlocked dual SIM Android smartphone. It is BLU Advance smartphone. The brand is popular in Europe with many low cost smartphone options. It is certainly not any Samsung Galaxy S6 (or even a S3) but it does put dual SIM functionality with an unlocked smartphone in your pocket for just under $50 (brand new).
The reviews on Amazon for this phone are pretty decent and should be something that you would find perfect for your international trips if you recognize the phone’s limitations.
Dual SIM phones are very popular outside of the US as people get different SIM cards for various purposes. Being able to have two phone numbers on one phone is pretty convenient.
Amex Offers
One of these is a new offer this morning, but the other is one that expires next week and one that I had apparently missed earlier.
J.Crew $25 Back After Spending $125
Log in to your American Express account and click on any of the cards you have in the account. Scroll down to the Offers portion and you should see the following offer waiting for you!
Here are the details:
- Must be used by May 25, 2015
- Offer valid in-store and online but not at outlet locations
- Enrollment limited (in other words, save this offer to your card now)
To maximize it, add the offer to separate cards, simply login to your American Express account and then choose to duplicate the tab (if using Google Chrome) as many times as you have cards. Once they are all open, select a different Amex card in each tab and select to save the offer to the card. This shows up as available on every one of my cards – charge cards, business cards, and personal cards.
Nashbar $35 Back After Spending $175
Nashbar is a sporting goods store that specializes in bicycles. This is a great way to get some gear cheaper.
Log in to your American Express account and click on any of the cards you have in the account. Scroll down to the Offers portion and you should see the following offer waiting for you!
Here are the details:
- Must be used by April 20, 2015
- Offer valid online only
- Enrollment limited (in other words, save this offer to your card now)
To maximize it, add the offer to separate cards, simply login to your American Express account and then choose to duplicate the tab (if using Google Chrome) as many times as you have cards. Once they are all open, select a different Amex card in each tab and select to save the offer to the card. This shows up as available on every one of my cards – charge cards, business cards, and personal cards.
15X AA Miles At Backcountry.com (plus extra AA miles for higher spending)
This is a fantastic deal for outdoor gear going into the spring and summer seasons. Backcountry has some great deals and I have used them many times in the past. With this bump in the AA portal payout, you can secure quite a few AA miles.
In addition to the 15X miles, there is also a bonus where you can earn up to 2,250 miles. The breakdown on that bonus is 250 miles for spending $125, 1,000 miles for spending $300, and 2,250 miles for spending $700. There is a further discount of 20% off a single, regularly-priced item using code SPRING20.
If you were to purchase $700 in gear from Backcountry.com, you would earn 12,750 AA miles. That is a nice bundle of miles if you have stuff you are looking for.
*Disclosure: If you use the link for the cell phone, I will receive a small commission. Thank you for your support!
So can you help a layman when it comes to buying a new phone you use only overseas.
I assume you just buy a SIM card there and you have a number that can make local calls, but if someone from home (LA) wants to reach me, I have to give them the new phone number? I guess what I am asking is: is this (buying this phone and a local SIM) the best way to make phone calls and receive messages from the States when traveling internationally?
That’s right, they would call that number. Depending on where you are traveling and the local company you are using, the incoming call would actually be free for you but be costly for the person calling from the U.S.
One thing to do is to use Skype or Google Voice through a data package with the SIM. Data is actually very cheap around the world. I only pay $6 for 300 minutes (in country), 200 SMS, and 500mb. To get 10GB, it only costs me $17.
Another option is to put a bundle on your prepaid SIm for US calls. It can cost as little as 2.5 cents per minute to call the U.S. with those packages.
Let me know if you have other questions.
This phone is good for US and western South America. It is not usable for the rest of the world which uses different frequencies.
It is good for 850/900/1800/1900 GSM which does cover most of the world. Am I missing something?
Depending on the seller, a BLU phone could have a warranty from 30 days or up to one year. Just based on the company upgraded web site, I believe BLU management want to play in the big league.