Do you hoard credit card points? (2 Viewers)

[comfortably numb]

Yeah, I imagine a ton of junk mail and potential for identity theft as one's credit footprint increases. But if you are super organized, diligent about payment and enjoy the "game", more power to you.

I have a single card. Capital One visa; I think it's platinum. I pay for everything I can using it. I've only used the points for travel, and typically fly somewhere 4-5x/year. Not loyal to any particular airline, though Hawaiian and United are our main carriers. My credit score and income are good.

For the cc aficionados, if you could have one card, what would it be? What card should I consider?

How many points do you typically pay for a domestic lower 48 flight?

I have had the united mileage plus explorer card for several years. I basically figured i would hoard points and use it only for flights. 

In the last few years i have gone to orlando with my family (4) and then i have taken 3 trips to Portugal with my miles. Some of these Portugal trips have been a long weekend with my cousin to watch a soccer game. (Easier to justify whem the flight is free)

Ive seen domestic cross country flights for 12500 -25000 each way and ive seen 30k-60k 1 way flights to europe.

I'm curious what capital 1 rewards would charge for a flight from lax to jfk?

 

[bcat01]

What kind of flights can you get for 300k?

Last year we flew to London business class for around 100k each.  We could have flown economy for less, but we splurged and it was absolutely worth it.  You can fly economy to Europe round trip for 60k per person.

 

[Terminalxylem]

How many points do you typically pay for a domestic lower 48 flight?

I have had the united mileage plus explorer card for several years. I basically figured i would hoard points and use it only for flights. 

In the last few years i have gone to orlando with my family (4) and then i have taken 3 trips to Portugal with my miles. Some of these Portugal trips have been a long weekend with my cousin to watch a soccer game. (Easier to justify whem the flight is free)

Ive seen domestic cross country flights for 12500 -25000 each way and ive seen 30k-60k 1 way flights to europe.

I'm curious what capital 1 rewards would charge for a flight from lax to jfk?

Haven't ever redeemed airline mileage points, and my credit card uses cash back to "erase" flight purchases. So all I know is what I pay for flights.

Flying to to west coast is usually $300-500, Vegas about the same, CO or UT $500-700, east coast $700+. This is regular coach with no add-ons.

 

[CGRdrJoe]

So this is my plan for the 50,000 bonus points with my new chase card. 

https://scottscheapflights.com/

Scott’s cheap flights is a great site to get alerts on cheap airfare from the airports You chose to get alerts from. Then you find the price on google flights before booking through chase rewards. It may be a lot of work but you can really maximize your points for travel this way.

I don’t pay for the site as I don’t get to travel a lot but coworkers pay for it and claim it’s saved them a good chunk of money to fly overseas.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

So this is my plan for the 50,000 bonus points with my new chase card. 

https://scottscheapflights.com/

Scott’s cheap flights is a great site to get alerts on cheap airfare from the airports You chose to get alerts from. Then you find the price on google flights before booking through chase rewards. It may be a lot of work but you can really maximize your points for travel this way.

I don’t pay for the site as I don’t get to travel a lot but coworkers pay for it and claim it’s saved them a good chunk of money to fly overseas.

has anyone paid for this and had any success?  i signed up for emails and like the cut of their jib.  just wondering if anyone has bought any of their posted deals.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

i think i'm going to have a lot of fun doing this.  i've already met the requirements for my first chase card.  wife's application is in for her chase card.  which card should I go after next?  delta/amex is begging me to get their card.  70k bonus.

 

[CGRdrJoe]

has anyone paid for this and had any success?  i signed up for emails and like the cut of their jib.  just wondering if anyone has bought any of their posted deals.

I have a coworker that paid for it and he's used it to fly to Europe and Asia with his wife for crazy cheap prices. This guy is a pretty cheap mofo but he found it worth it to pay for it. He's out of town until next week but I'll gladly ask him some specific questions if you have any.

 

[skycriesmary]

has anyone paid for this and had any success?  i signed up for emails and like the cut of their jib.  just wondering if anyone has bought any of their posted deals.

I had their paid trial for a month, and found it to be a nice head start on getting the alerts before the freebie accounts get it. In lots of situations that much of a heads up can be the difference in scoring the deal. That being said, I went back down to free as I won't be able to schedule any additional trips for awhile. 

 

[Brony]

i think i'm going to have a lot of fun doing this.  i've already met the requirements for my first chase card.  wife's application is in for her chase card.  which card should I go after next?  delta/amex is begging me to get their card.  70k bonus.

I'd stick with business credit cards and try to space out your Chase applications.  Doctor of Credit and Points Guy are good resources for best bonuses.  

 

[DA RAIDERS]

I'd stick with business credit cards and try to space out your Chase applications.  Doctor of Credit and Points Guy are good resources for best bonuses.  

thx.  gonna go barclays next.  

the wife was approved for chase, on my referral, which was a bonus of 15K points.  we'll knock out her bonus next month and have 135K bonus points in a 3 month period.  pretty sweet!  i'm going to send out those referral emails.  why not!

 

[culdeus]

thx.  gonna go barclays next.  

the wife was approved for chase, on my referral, which was a bonus of 15K points.  we'll knock out her bonus next month and have 135K bonus points in a 3 month period.  pretty sweet!  i'm going to send out those referral emails.  why not!

Follow the flow chart.  The Barclays biz aa is early on the chart for a reason. 

 

[culdeus]

So this is my plan for the 50,000 bonus points with my new chase card. 

https://scottscheapflights.com/

Scott’s cheap flights is a great site to get alerts on cheap airfare from the airports You chose to get alerts from. Then you find the price on google flights before booking through chase rewards. It may be a lot of work but you can really maximize your points for travel this way.

I don’t pay for the site as I don’t get to travel a lot but coworkers pay for it and claim it’s saved them a good chunk of money to fly overseas.

Why would you not just use expertflyer?  Unless a filthy casual why pay for flights. 

 

[DA RAIDERS]

Follow the flow chart.  The Barclays biz aa is early on the chart for a reason. 

can you move the barclays points into the same pool as the chase points, somehow?  or are the barclays points locked into AA. i assume the chase points can be used for AA.  i haven't researched the redemption portion of the game yet.  

thanks

 

[culdeus]

can you move the barclays points into the same pool as the chase points, somehow?  or are the barclays points locked into AA. i assume the chase points can be used for AA.  i haven't researched the redemption portion of the game yet.  

thanks

You shouldn't even be thinking about barclays points for another 2 years, minimum.  Follow the flowchart.  

 

[DA RAIDERS]

You shouldn't even be thinking about barclays points for another 2 years, minimum.  Follow the flowchart.  

i am.  i'm just curious as to how to marry the points across all these different platforms. or even if it's possible.   and thinking about the points/fun/travel is kinda the whole point.

 

[culdeus]

i am.  i'm just curious as to how to marry the points across all these different platforms. or even if it's possible.   and thinking about the points/fun/travel is kinda the whole point.

Don't worry about this.   Work downwards from the highest bonuses with the value flexible currency to the least while maintaining 5/24 as long as is considered reasonable.  Be flexible to go get a unplanned card as needed.

 

[SofaKings]

Using my Amex Platinum Delta miles for wife, daugter and I to Europe for spring break.  Just picked up Chase Costco card.  See how that rolls.

 

[culdeus]

Using my Amex Platinum Delta miles for wife, daugter and I to Europe for spring break.  Just picked up Chase Costco card.  See how that rolls.

For God's sake why?

 

[DA RAIDERS]

bear with me people..i've always been a one or 2 cc person.  forgive the dumb questions.  

got the chase sapphire preferred.  cranked out the 4k in a month.  same card for the wife, will knock that spending out easily.  we pay off everything, no balances.

i saw a different chase card, the ink business preferred, with an 80k bonus.  should i go for that one?  will chase give me another card?  i've never had 2 cards from the same bank.  or should i go barclays next?  

i get confused with the wording of the flow chart, when it says "get however many of these cards you can"  i should just be going for the biggest bonuses, correct?  regardless of the bank?  so possibly i end up with 2 or 3 chase cards?

thanks 

 

[culdeus]

bear with me people..i've always been a one or 2 cc person.  forgive the dumb questions.  

got the chase sapphire preferred.  cranked out the 4k in a month.  same card for the wife, will knock that spending out easily.  we pay off everything, no balances.

i saw a different chase card, the ink business preferred, with an 80k bonus.  should i go for that one?  will chase give me another card?  i've never had 2 cards from the same bank.  or should i go barclays next?  

i get confused with the wording of the flow chart, when it says "get however many of these cards you can"  i should just be going for the biggest bonuses, correct?  regardless of the bank?  so possibly i end up with 2 or 3 chase cards?

thanks 

If you do it right you'll end up with about 20 chase cards.  (Between two people)

 

[dkp993]

Using my Amex Platinum Delta miles for wife, daugter and I to Europe for spring break.  Just picked up Chase Costco card.  See how that rolls.

Have it.  Great for gas.  4% back plus the already lower Costco price is nice.  

 

[Judge Smails]

How many points do you typically pay for a domestic lower 48 flight?

I have had the united mileage plus explorer card for several years. I basically figured i would hoard points and use it only for flights. 

In the last few years i have gone to orlando with my family (4) and then i have taken 3 trips to Portugal with my miles. Some of these Portugal trips have been a long weekend with my cousin to watch a soccer game. (Easier to justify whem the flight is free)

Ive seen domestic cross country flights for 12500 -25000 each way and ive seen 30k-60k 1 way flights to europe.

I'm curious what capital 1 rewards would charge for a flight from lax to jfk?

pm me about Portugal insights please.  There for a week next month!

 

[Judge Smails]

If you do it right you'll end up with about 20 chase cards.  (Between two people)

All at $95 a year or do you cancel?

 

[culdeus]

All at $95 a year or do you cancel?

Cancel at 13mos unless a no fee option exists 

 

[Tecumseh]

All at $95 a year or do you cancel?

I believe the proper play is to pay for one year, then downgrade before the second AF.

 

[Brony]

bear with me people..i've always been a one or 2 cc person.  forgive the dumb questions.  

got the chase sapphire preferred.  cranked out the 4k in a month.  same card for the wife, will knock that spending out easily.  we pay off everything, no balances.

i saw a different chase card, the ink business preferred, with an 80k bonus.  should i go for that one?  will chase give me another card?  i've never had 2 cards from the same bank.  or should i go barclays next?  

i get confused with the wording of the flow chart, when it says "get however many of these cards you can"  i should just be going for the biggest bonuses, correct?  regardless of the bank?  so possibly i end up with 2 or 3 chase cards?

thanks 

My experience has been that Chase would likely give you another card.  Especially using 2 people on this to space out your applications, you're in a good spot.  I think the guideline is 1 application every 30 days. Some people can get several Chase cards in 1 month, but others will play it safe and only do a new Chase app every 3 months.  It's not black and white.

Chase Ink Pref is really good card.  I've gotten 2 of them.  First applying using SSN, second using EIN.  Yes, in general go for biggest bang for your buck even if there is annual fee.  Ink should give you 100K rewards points with wife referral.  That is worth either $1,250 even you book travel through Chase, or potentially more if you convert that to airline miles. 

 

[SofaKings]

For God's sake why?

Why not?  We all can't live in Tuscany.

 

[Sand]

has anyone paid for this and had any success?  i signed up for emails and like the cut of their jib.  just wondering if anyone has bought any of their posted deals.

I don't pay for it, but get their public emails.  Wife and I went to Kauai on points - the tickets were ~$350 apiece.  With the Reserve I paid 50k points or similar.  Ridiculous value can be had sometimes.

 

[Sand]

Cancel at 13mos unless a no fee option exists 

So pay the fee then cancel?  Why?

 

[culdeus]

So pay the fee then cancel?  Why?

You get the fee refunded.  Different issuers have different policies on this so brush up on those.  

 

[Sand]

You get the fee refunded.  Different issuers have different policies on this so brush up on those.  

Ok, that makes sense.  Why not just cancel at month 11?  I'm missing something here.

 

[culdeus]

Ok, that makes sense.  Why not just cancel at month 11?  I'm missing something here.

No.  You always want to see the anniversary or the fee post.  There are tiny difference on when those happen across issuers but for example you try to cancel an amex card at 11 mos. They claw back the bonus and blackball you. 

 

[culdeus]

What I do for every card is set a Google calendar reminder of each anniversary.  I'll call in the first Monday after that and fish for a retention offer or movement to a no-af.  Short of that kill it and move on.   Most cards now though allow you to do this by chat which is nice.  

 

[Sand]

No.  You always want to see the anniversary or the fee post.  There are tiny difference on when those happen across issuers but for example you try to cancel an amex card at 11 mos. They claw back the bonus and blackball you. 

Had no idea.  I have my Citi prestige that has it's 1 year coming up.  Not sure whether I will cancel or downgrade yet.  Based on this, though, I'll definitely wait until the fee posts.

 

[culdeus]

Had no idea.  I have my Citi prestige that has it's 1 year coming up.  Not sure whether I will cancel or downgrade yet.  Based on this, though, I'll definitely wait until the fee posts.

Citibank normally has decent retention offers that are worth letting the AF post and then fishing for, if you can't get a good retention offer try to product change this to the AT&T Access More Card.

 

[Sand]

Citibank normally has decent retention offers that are worth letting the AF post and then fishing for, if you can't get a good retention offer try to product change this to the AT&T Access More Card.

Cool.  (Looked through the cards - I have the premier, not the Prestige).  Either way I'm going to change it up.  Probably get the wife to grab a Premier one for Christmas spending. 

 

[culdeus]

Cool.  (Looked through the cards - I have the premier, not the Prestige).  Either way I'm going to change it up.  Probably get the wife to grab a Premier one for Christmas spending. 

These cards took a nerf and are expecting a relaunch later this year with improvement.  But when is tbd.  

 

[eoMMan]

I'm sure this has been covered a million times but for an overall travel card, the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card is the best choice for a "first timer", right?

I'm aware of the 5/24 rule.

The World of Hyatt card looks interesting too.

 

[culdeus]

I'm sure this has been covered a million times but for an overall travel card, the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card is the best choice for a "first timer", right?

I'm aware of the 5/24 rule.

The World of Hyatt card looks interesting too.

No, do some more reading of the flowchart.  It's use case was entirely driven around the fact that the first year AF used to be waived, now that it isn't the only reason to get the CSP is as part of the "MDD" or Multiple Daily Dip where you get the CSR on day 1 and CSP on day 2. 

 

[RUSF18]

Do the more impressive point offers (100K) ever become known ahead of when they become available, or do you just kinda need to keep an eye out and jump on them once offered?

I know I'm going to have a very expensive November coming up and should be able to knock out 2 or 3 "spend $5k over 3 months" requirements that month alone so I'm trying to plan out the best method of attack. 

 

[culdeus]

Do the more impressive point offers (100K) ever become known ahead of when they become available, or do you just kinda need to keep an eye out and jump on them once offered?

I know I'm going to have a very expensive November coming up and should be able to knock out 2 or 3 "spend $5k over 3 months" requirements that month alone so I'm trying to plan out the best method of attack. 

Amex biz plat has 100kMR for 10k spend and bonuses for individual charges of more than 5k.  The problem is you want to do that card in December to max out the little perks it has.  

Why not do the chase MDD which is 8k spend and then throw the amex biz plat on top of it in December?  Can you hold off that long?  

If not, then just toss a quick biz card in ft amex that isn't plat.  

 

[RUSF18]

Appreciate the insight. Can't hold off that long...I'll be spending the money by middle of November at the latest.

A few years back I took advantage of a 100K Amex offer with only 5K spend for the platinum card. That was pretty sweet.

 

[tjnc09]

Does anyone have an IHG card with Chase?  I signed up with an offer for a $150 statement credit, but it didn't show up on my second statement.

 

[joker]

Have a hookup for a resort in Mexico in March, just need the plane tickets for three adults. What's the best card to get for some quick miles to cover some /all of the tickets? And is this worth not following the chart? Already set with mortgage, etc, so I can wait to start churning if taking a miles card first sets me back a bit. 

 

[culdeus]

Have a hookup for a resort in Mexico in March, just need the plane tickets for three adults. What's the best card to get for some quick miles to cover some /all of the tickets? And is this worth not following the chart? Already set with mortgage, etc, so I can wait to start churning if taking a miles card first sets me back a bit. 

Use awardhacker.com to see what redemptions make sense and go from there.  Its already late to get a good redemption for March and getting thru the sub phase makes this even worse.  

That being said Barclays aa biz makes a lot of sense.  

 

[DA RAIDERS]

barclay aviator 50k + 10k on second card or aviator red, 60k ?  the red seems to have one less hoop to jump through for the 60k points.  with the straight aviator you need to have an employee spend on their card to get the last 10k.  the straight aviator has better perks long term, but i'm just hunting the bonus.

thoughts?  

 

[culdeus]

barclay aviator 50k + 10k on second card or aviator red, 60k ?  the red seems to have one less hoop to jump through for the 60k points.  with the straight aviator you need to have an employee spend on their card to get the last 10k.  the straight aviator has better perks long term, but i'm just hunting the bonus.

thoughts?  

Why not both?  What is your 5/24?

 

[DA RAIDERS]

Why not both?  What is your 5/24?

2/24. Just starting. I have CSP and an REI card that might actually fall outside of 24. Which would make me 1/24. 

 

[culdeus]

2/24. Just starting. I have CSP and an REI card that might actually fall outside of 24. Which would make me 1/24. 

Aviator biz then, does not burn a 5/24 slot.  Would do that and then start hammering chase biz cards like nails.

 

[Sand]

Does anyone have an IHG card with Chase?  I signed up with an offer for a $150 statement credit, but it didn't show up on my second statement.

Is that one of the new ones?  I think they just mothballed some and introduced new ones.  I have an older one ($49 yearly fee for 1 free night a year - easily worth it!), but I don't remember a statement credit with that one.