September 28, 2015

Our Sunday Night Mini App-O-Rama – 175,000 Points for $95 in Annual Fees

For whatever reason, some of my most popular posts (and maybe other bloggers can weigh in if this is true for them as well) are posts about the credit cards we chose to apply for. I wonder if its a phenomena of “well that blogger applied for it, so it must be a good deal and we must follow!” Or maybe just curiosity to see what the “experts” are doing? I always find it interesting as what I chose to apply for will most likely not be the right solution for you. We are all at different stages in the points/miles game with different needs for points/miles based on our current balances and future trip goals. I’m happy to share what I’ve done but please remember I am an experienced travel hacker with years of knowledge and I understand the risks involved. Do not apply for credit cards just because I did!

As some of you might recall, my wife’s latest round of credit card applications was back in early July and she just about hit the minimum spend on all of them. While I like to stick to a 91+ day application cycle (others will say this is not necessary and they are correct to an extent but this is what I like to do), we will be away for the next two weeks starting Thursday (2nd anniversary trip woohoo!) so I wanted to complete a small round of applications for my wife. Here is what she applied for:

Card 1: Chase British Airways Visa Signature – 100,000 Avios – $95 Annual Fee

100kBAOffer

I posted about this offer when it came out last week and let me stress, this card is NOT for everyone (see that post for why). It works for us because we live in an AA hub and we love using AA miles to fly to the Caribbean for cheap. We’ve been to Antigua and Puerto Rico in the last year using Avios for 20,000 Avios roundtrip instead of using 35,000 American AAdvantage miles. The other big reason to get this card for us is the upcoming devaluation of Amex Membership Rewards transfers to British Airways. While we could still transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards to BA, I like using my Chase UR points for United & Hyatt so picking up a 120,000 Avios (including the spending requirement) will not force us to rely on flexible rewards from either Amex or Chase.

Card Details:

  • 50,000 Avios for spending $2,000 in 3 months
  • 25,000 additional Avios for spending $10,000 total in the first year
  • 25,000 more Avios for spending $20,000 total in the first year (so 100,000 total Avios if you spend $20k or more in a year)
  • 3x Avios earned on British Airways Purchases
  • 1x Avios earned on All Other Purchases
  • $95 Annual Fee (not waived)
  • Travel Together Ticket after $30,000 in spending in a calendar year 

Neither of us have had a British Airways credit card before so I didn’t have to worry about the 24 month rule nor does Chase’s 5 recent inquiries rule apply on non Ultimate Rewards cards (the rule does apply to the Chase Slate however) as my wife would have failed this requirement. She applied online and got a message asking to call Chase right away to verify some information. She called and after moving some credit lines around from other Chase cards, she was approved.

Card 2: Citi Hilton HHonors Visa Signature – 75,000 Hilton HHonors Points – $0 Annual Fee

CitiHilton75kOffer

This offer (which expires today by the way) is the highest ever on this card that I am aware of. I actually got this card for myself last year when it was 60,000 points but this offer is obviously better. My wife has just shy of 100k Hilton HHonors points now so this will be a nice little infusion that will cover a few nights at mid tier Hilton hotels.

Card Details:

  • 75,000 Hilton HHonors Points for Spending $2,000 in 3 months
  • No Annual Fee
  • 6x Points earned at Hilton Family Properties
  • 3x Points earned at Supermarkets, Gas Stations & Drug Stores
  • 2x Points earned on All Other Purchases
  • Complimentary Hilton Silver Status (basically you get 15% bonus points that’s about it)

It’s a shame Hilton devalued their program a few years ago but the program isn’t totally dead for our travel needs. I like that this is a no annual fee card that my wife can keep and it ensures will she will always have some status with Hilton, even if it is only marginally worth something. She applied online and was approved instantly.

Summary:

This was a quick and painless round of applications that netted us another 175,000 points for $95 out of pocket. I’ve been waiting to apply for the British Airways card until a 100k offer returned and while it is a bit more spending than I’d like, I have no doubts I’ll accomplish it within a year especially with  some new reselling venues I’ve started to get into (post coming once the items sell and I can calculate my profit).

The Citi Hilton makes sense (especially with the bonus at its highest point ever) for us since we tend to stay in Hiltons that average 40,000 to 50,000 points a night so we will hopefully get 2 nights out of this signup bonus. At the worst, we get one night and some leftover points but my wife will now finally have a no annual fee card from Citibank that she can keep forever. This will help her establish a better relationship with Citi as she has been cancelling many of their cards before the first year is up.

*As always, this post contains does NOT contain any affiliate links*
September 25, 2015

Roundup of Current Free Points & Money Offers

Over the past few days, there have been several offers out there for free points and cashback for certain members or cardholders. I figured I would put together a quick post that summarizes each offer in one post.

1) $15 Statement Credit for Chase Sapphire & Chase Sapphire Preferred Cardholders – Through 9/30/15, Sapphire or Sapphire Preferred cardholders who make a purchase using Visa Checkout at a participating merchant with their respective card will receive a $15 statement credit within 1-2 billing cycles. There is a limit of one $15 statement credit per account (unlike the recent American Express offer which was a statement credit for each merchant and thus you could earn multiple statements credit per account). Some of the participating merchants include Newegg, Fandango, UnderArmour, Pizza Hut, Staples and more.

SapphireCheckoutOffer

Since the terms do not indicate a maximum purchase, you could purchase a cheap $.49 cent game code from Newegg using Visa Checkout to make a profit of $14.51 which is exactly what I did. Of course you could also buy something you need from a participating merchant and use this to take $15 off the purchase. Just remember to take advantage of this before 9/30/15!

2) 500 Free IHG Points – IHG is offering members 500 free IHG points if you link your IHG Rewards credit card to your online profile by October 31st. This might be targeted (though the terms don’t explicitly state that) as several people received an email about this offer but I think it is worth a shot to try it anyway. Worst case you don’t earn anything while best case you earn 500 points for linking your IHG MasterCard to your profile. The terms also state if you already have your IHG card linked you would receive the bonus points (again assuming this is not targeted) so no need to unlink it and relink it. While 500 points isn’t a lot, it will reset the expiration of your points.

3) 200 Free Starwood Starpoints – Starwood is promoting the use of their SPG Dashboard which is an online tool that tracks all your historical stays, summarizes your account activity and offers exclusive promotions when using the SPG Dashboard. When logging into the SPG Dashboard, most people are reporting seeing an offer for 200 free points if you opt in to receive emails from Starwood.

SPG200

If you don’t see this offer displayed, check your SPG profile and see if you are already subscribed to receive emails from Starwood. If so uncheck all the boxes to unsubscribe, sign back into the SPG Dashboard and you should then see the offer appear for 200 free points. I did exactly this for my account and it worked. As with the IHG offer, 200 points isn’t much but does serve as a great way to extend the life of your points.

September 19, 2015

Quick Deal: 25,000 United Miles for Buying a Certified Pre-Owned Mercedes-Benz

I’m sure there is a limited target audience for this deal but United is offering 25,000 miles to members who purchase a Certified Pre-Owned Mercedes-Benz and if you are a United elite member, you are also entitled to special discount pricing on certain models. In order to take advantage of this offer, you must first register and obtain a control number to present to the participating Mercedes-Benz dealership.

UnitedMercedesOffer

Direct Link to Signup for This Offer

For this promotion, United is partnering with TrueCar to find available models near your neighborhood. You can view the prices on each car but since I’m not in the market to buy a Mercedes, I can’t express any opinion whether these prices seem fair or not (though if I had to guess they are probably high). To obtain the 25,000 miles, you must print out the savings certificate with your control number (see below).

UnitedMercedesOffer2

While it would be nice to earn 25,000 miles for buying a car, remember these miles are roughly worth $300-$350 depending on how you value them so when considering the price of a Mercedes, this is not a significant incentive. You are probably better off researching and finding a good deal on a Mercedes yourself though it may be worth a shot to see how much you can negotiate on a car you find using United’s TrueCar link.

Terms and conditions:
The bonus mileage offer and incentives are only available to members who are eligible MileagePlus members at the time of an eligible transaction. An eligible MileagePlus member is a member who has been enrolled in the MileagePlus program for at least six (6) months prior to the time of accessing the bonus mileage offer and incentives, or if less than six (6) months, has flown at least one (1) flight eligible to earn miles since enrollment. To receive the miles or incentives, the MileagePlus member must log in to united.com/mercedes using their MileagePlus credentials and print out a Savings Certificate to present to the dealer for the applicable car of their choice. In order to be eligible for the bonus mileage offer or other incentives, the member must obtain a Savings Certificate prior to the transaction. Upon completion of the sale or lease, these bonus miles will be posted to a member’s account approximately 6-8 weeks after the date of completion of the eligible transaction. These offers are not valid for any purchases already completed.

September 18, 2015

What to Consider Before Applying for the British Airways 100k Avios Credit Card Offer

(This post does not contain any affiliate links)

I know you’ve most likely heard about the new 100,000 Avios offer on the Chase British Airways Visa credit card already but I wanted to share a few thoughts on it, specifically on a few different items to evaluate before applying. A lot of digital ink has been spilled expressing how amazing this offer is and while I agree it is a good offer, I’d like to express some words of caution because this offer is NOT for everyone.

BAoffer

Here are the key details of the offer:

  • 50,000 Avios for spending $2,000 in 3 months
  • 25,000 additional Avios for spending $10,000 total in the first year
  • 25,000 additional Avios for spending $20,000 total in the first year (so 100,000 total Avios if you spend $20k or more in a year)
  • $95 annual fee NOT waived

As you can tell that is a LOT of spending to take full advantage of this offer and unlike the normal offer on this card (which is 50,000 Avios for spending $2,000 in 3 months with the annual fee WAIVED) this offer does NOT waive the annual fee. While a 100k offer is normally great, here is a list of items to consider before applying for this card.

  1. If You Are Unsure if You Can Spend $20,000 in a Year on This Card

This is probably the most important point to make. As I mentioned above, the normal offer on this card has the annual fee of $95 waived and you can earn the same 50,000 Avios from this offer (this offer is still available here). If you gamble and think you can spend this much but fail, you would have paid a $95 annual fee on this offer for no reason. Please make sure you have a plan to meet this large minimum spend.

  1. Do You Fly American Airlines or Alaska Air?

It might sound funny to those who aren’t already aware but you don’t actually want to use these points to fly British Airways. That’s because British Airways will tack on hundreds or thousands of dollars of fuel surcharges on award flights on their metal (and most of their partners with some exceptions). Instead you should plan on using these points on American Airlines/Alaska Air domestically or to the Caribbean/Mexico. Since British Airways’ award chart is based on the distance of the flight, a 100,000 Avios can go a long way. See the chart below for flight costs. Basically, if you don’t plan on using a good portion of these points for American or Alaskan flights, I’d rethink if this is the right offer for you.

New British Airways Award Chart P.S. Yes, I am aware of other good uses of Avios (US to South America, Australian domestic flights etc.) but practically speaking the majority of my readers would be using these points for AA or Alaska Air flights.

  1. You Had This Card & Received a Signup Bonus within the Past 24 Months

This is actually a quite simple rule to follow. Chase will not award you the bonus points on this offer if you received the signup bonus within the past 24 months. (Thanks to Justin for catching this!)

  1. Losing the Opportunity to Put Spend on More Rewarding Cards

Assuming you are not into manufactured spending, most people would need to use this card full time for a while to meet the minimum spend requirement. Since this card only earns 1 Avios per dollar spent with no bonus category (except for 3 points per dollar spent on British Airways), you are giving up 2x, 3x or even 5x points earned in certain categories. Without knowing your personal situation and spending habits, does it really make sense to put all your spending on a 1x card whose points have limited usefulness (as described above)? Of course only you can answer that question.

Conclusion:

I don’t mean to sound so negative about this offer as I think this offer works for the right individuals – in fact, I plan to apply for this card myself. I posted this because I know a lot of people are going to see “100k offer” and think it is amazing (and a lot of blogs have written as such). My advice is to analyze your personal situation and ask yourself if it really makes sense for you. I think the four points I presented above are a good starting point for this discussion and if you find yourself wavering on a few, rethink whether this offer is good for you. The old offer of 50,000 Avios with no annual fee for the first year is still available as well.

September 11, 2015

Quick PSA: Yes, You Really Need to Be Playing Starwood’s Open the World Promotion

I’ll make this short and to the point – Look, I don’t normally play and I certainly don’t post about all the various contests to win some prize but Starwood’s Open the World Promotion caught my eye after other bloggers mentioned winning prizes. I saw two different bloggers post about winning 1,000 SPG points so I started playing and guess what – I won as well! Instead of points, I won a $50 Amazon gift card.

SPGInstantWinner

Direct Link to Promotion

It is super easy to play as all you do after registering is click on a mobile device and then select a door to open which adversities a Starwood hotel. Simply go to this link, enter your SPG number and email address and hope for the best. By playing you are also entered into the Grand Prize Sweepstakes which is advertised as a “weeklong dream getaway” but per the terms & conditions is really 250,000 Starpoints.

Simply put this is worth 30 seconds each day to play. Good luck!