Credit Card Points/Miles Maximizer

10/04/2021

Do you guys think these electric boards will ever go mass production? I hope so!

09/30/2021

Final call for 12 American Express Membership Rewards Promo Transfers! In this most recent post I layout:
1. 12 transfer bonus options from Amex going right now ending today
2. How to determine which options to transfer to
3. Example of how I've determined which ones to transfer to
4. Ways to maximize the transfers
5. A Word on "Speculative Transfers" during Promo Periods

I'd like to share about the 1. 12 transfer bonus options from Amex going right now 2. How to determine which options to transfer to 3. Example of how I've determined which ones to transfer to 4. Ways to maximize the transfers 5. A Word on "Speculative Transfers" during Promo Periods For everything b...

06/26/2019

Last week I opted to book with cash instead of points due to the points cost being weak compared to a $ fare (or pay with points on the Amex Business Platinum or Chase Sapphire Reserve where I am currently seeking above that amount for most bookings & paying w cash instead), and I noticed something that I have noticed before but that is important to point out. When booking flights, it's important to not just go for whoever is cheapest, keeping in mind timing, baggage policy, and experience including seat choice & otherwise as well. Among legacy carriers (Delta, United, & AA) watch out for United's baggage policy on their basic economy fares. It is a step below basic economy on Delta & AA. Here is a comparison: https://clark.com/travel/basic-economy-delta-united-american/ Spirit airlines is even worse than United basic economy with all the fees you can pay if you don't plan well in advance and factor in all added costs you might incur on a flight: https://www.insider.com/spirit-airlines-flight-review-food-photos-2018-6

When you're searching for a cheap flight online, these fares will often have the lowest price. But there's a catch!

03/04/2019

If you are a Chase Freedom Cardholder (I have 2), You might like the following deal:
Earn a total of 10% cash back on up to $2,500 in total hotel purchases made through Chase Ultimate Rewards®. Offer valid on purchases made March 1 - March 31, 2019.

During the promotional period of March 1 to March 31, 2019 11:59 p.m. E.T., earn an extra 9% cash back on up to $2,500 in combined hotel purchases made through Chase Ultimate Rewards® using your Chase Freedom card. The bonus cash back earned is in addition to the 1% cash back you earn on all purchases for a total of 10% cash back, which means you can earn up to $250 total cash back ($25 cash back plus your $225 bonus cash back). Bonus cash back will post to your account within a week of the transaction posting, and will appear on your monthly credit card billing statement and be available for use within 1-2 billing cycles. To qualify for this promotional offer, account must be open and not in default at the time of fulfillment. This promotional offer is non-transferable. For more information about your rewards program, see your Rewards Program Agreement.

Special thanks to AskSebby for his Youtube video that shared this promotion.

03/03/2019

If you have enough Marriott points to consider booking their Category 7 properties, I suggest doing so before March 5th for any of the Category 7 properties that will then shift to Category 8. Presently there is no Category 8, so I took advantage of that fact in January with my wife for our first year anniversary for our stay at the Ritz-Carlton New York Central Park. I also used their 5th-night free opportunity when booking with points. If I had booked the same property after March 5th, it would have been significantly more points per night.

Time is running out to book Marriott Category 8 hotels for just 60,000 points, as these properties will jump to 85,000 points as of Tuesday, March 5th.

12/24/2018

Merry Christmas Eve! I wanted to share just a few things before this year came to a close that are more urgent in nature:
1. If you have any Amex cards, the targeted 50% bonus to Hilton right now (both my dad & I were targeted, so I'm guessing tons of people were) is a great one to capitalize on before it ends on Dec 31!
Here is the comment I left on a post about it: Great post! There is only one thing that I noticed that I would disagree with, even though I know that multiple other experts agree with you on this matter. It’s when you said, “I would only recommend transferring if you have a specific redemption in mind…” I’m planning on flying to NYC with direct flights from a British Airways 40% bonus transfer I did over a year ago. The cost was about 5.5k Amex points one way per person because of the transfer, cheaper by a decent margin than any other points option. I did not have that or any other specific redemptions in mind when I made the transfer so long ago. When I transferred 200k Amex points to Hilton during this bonus, I also did not have any specific redemptions in mind, but noted that with the Amex cards I have, none of which are Hilton branded, I’m able to get better value than using the Hilton cards themselves by using this promo. With me having 4 credit cards and 3 charge cards with Amex already, and the 4-5 credit card limit of Amex, I’m especially glad that promos like this one exist, & jumped at the opportunity despite not having any redemptions in mind. I definitely agree with you though that people should run the math for themselves prior to doing the transfer.
https://millionmilesecrets.com/news/american-express-hilton-transfer-bonus-50-targeted-dec-2018/

2. The transition from Marriott having category 7's to some moving to category 8 is almost upon us! Book the hotels with points at the current rates now while you still can! I just did one in the past week before the points rates go up likely forever starting next year. For max value, the St. Regis Bora Bora & Maldives are incredible (think 60k Marriott points per night for a hotel that would run over $1,000, and in some cases, thousands, for the same room for someone not booking with points), although others seeing the opportunity have booked most (but not all) nights. https://thepointsguy.com/reviews/st-regis-maldives-vs-bora-bora/?navtid=Latest-2

3. Remember all of the credits with credit cards that expire at the end of the year, like many airline credits such as those that come with the Amex Platinum (& Saks 5th credit), Penfed Pathfinder, & many others. If you don't have a way of redeeming them for incidental charges between now and then, keep in mind the rules for getting around restrictions: https://thepointsguy.com/guide/airline-gift-cards-amex-incidental-fee-credit/

This bonus could make transferring your points to Hilton worth it in some cases.

12/14/2018

I'd like to go over my cashback debit cards, what spend to put on them, what card I'd like to see that you might know about, and why I don't like to put much money into those accounts beyond what is going to be spent on the debit card.

Debit card 1: Discover Bank (1% cashback on up to $3k/month) I use this card primarily on the rare occasion when a location (online or in person) does not allow credit cards, or where the retailer charges an additional fee to use credit cards that is not the same for debit cards where the math makes more sense with a 1% cashback debit card.
https://www.discover.com/online-banking/checking-lp-lng-01/?cmpgnid=ps-bk-ggl-bndCHK&src=S00000M8V&van=Dbank&TPR=061&gclid=CjwKCAiAo8jgBRAVEiwAJUXKqEsCDUQ_WX7uzis5RC1b0c7BbrxS97R3JXtAzzOVODRSMTny6lshhRoCGqkQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Debit card 2: Langley Federal Credit Union (10 cents cashback per transaction)
This card is one that I use a lot more often than Discover, because it's much more often a better deal. It's ideal with most transactions that are a dollar or less, and in some cases it's better than anything I have available for higher amounts, like $2 or even $3. It's best combined with Samsung Pay to get a few additional cents, and more depending on how often you use it. Currently, it's not better than $2 in most cases for me, since I have the Chase Freedom and an Android phone, getting effectively a minimum 7.5% return when redeemed for travel by combining the power of Chase pay being the current 5% best option for me, the Samsung Galaxy using Samsung Pay to process Chase pay transactions, and having the reserve which converts 5% cashback to 5 points, which can then be used for 7.5 cents toward travel or converted to partners like Hyatt or United at a 1:1 ratio where it can sometimes be worth as much as five cents per point. My most common $1 purchase currently is the McDouble with the Mcondald's app where it is on sale once per day this month for $1.
https://www.langleyfcu.org/checking-langleypays

Debit card 3 - I have various banks for free ATM reimbursements + a wide network of free ATM's including but not limited to Alliant https://www.alliantcreditunion.org/money-mentor/tired-of-paying-atm-fees-alliant-now-offers-atm-rebates While I don't have it yet due to lack of need, an even better ATM rebate card is one that's unlimited worldwide, including this one: https://www.schwab.com/public/schwab/banking_lending/checking_account

What I would like to see is a card like the one with Langley Federal for 10 cents cashback per transaction that is available nationwide without people needing to belong to any organization or pay any initial fee to get into one (cheapest option with Langley I believe is $20).

The reason why I don't like to put much money into those accounts beyond what is going to be spent is that you can get better interest elsewhere. I like to put enough of a buffer where I can have free transfers from other banks (Bank of America does not offer free transfers for the account I have with it, while Wells Fargo & all of my other bank accounts and credit union accounts do) on autopilot most of the time, but primarily put savings where the intention is primarily to get interest into other accounts. The following account, coming out shortly, is offering 3% interest: https://www.bankrate.com/banking/robinhood-checking-and-savings-accounts-top-interest-rate/
Here is a referral link for the friend of mine that introduced me to this excellent interest rate: https://share.robinhood.com/cs-RKQzVWzPDvvFYbygnikaY4 While he does not get any cash for you using the link, it puts him closer to the front of the waiting list supposedly. Also remember that you can post referral links on this page as long as they are not predatory and you are able to answer potentially difficult questions I ask (even if the answer is "I don't know" to determine their nature.

No monthly fees or minimum balance requirements, plus access to over 60,000 free ATMs. Open today!

03/30/2018

This offer is gone on April 1st!

On April 1st, the top credit card on the market (in my opinion and the opinion of many others) for getting annual free nights at a hotel is being discontinued from being available to future applications. While this card is already no longer available by searching on the Chase website, you can still apply for it here: https://creditcards.chase.com/a1/ihg/default2
For $49 per year (waived the first year) you can get a free night at ANY IHG hotel, including the InterContinental Bora Bora & Thalasso Spa that can go for over $1200 per night or the Kimpton Seafire Resort and Spa which can go for over $2500 per night! Options closer to VA include the Kimpton Hotel Monaco Washington DC which can go for over $500 per night. You also get Platinum status with IHG which includes thousands of hotels around the world. Read about other great ways to use it here: https://milecards.com/1588428245/ihg-free-night-certificate/
See more local options by going here and narrowing properties down to categories 9-11 by clicking on the box on the top left of the map (but keep in mind that some properties are not on there - it is from a 3rd party): http://travelisfree.com/2016/11/01/complete-map-of-ihg-rewards-properties/
Kimpton Hotels are missing from that website, so check out some options at https://www.asksebby.com/blog/analysis-best-kimpton-hotels-to-redeem-with-ihg-points
In order to get this free night, there is NO minimum spending requirement except $1000 within 3 months of account opening for 60,000 points the first year (which can get you into most but not all hotels), whereas future years are at any hotel with no minimum spend requirement.
Here is a post on how to use the Free Night Certificate: http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2018/01/11/ihg-card-free-night/
For going to places like the InterContinental Bora Bora & Thalasso Spa, I recommend the following:
1. booking as far in advance as possible,
2. have you and your spouse (if you're married of course) get the card on the same day or one day after the other
3. use the trick discussed on the last link to get 4 days together between you and your spouse for free - flying all that way for 2 nights would not be ideal
4. If you have kids, consider getting them their own cards if they already have established credit where they can be primary account holders (if they don't 2 days is too late)
5. Don't forget to call reconsiderations with a plan in place beforehand if you get denied initially

To hear more about the replacement cards which are not as good, go here: https://www.asksebby.com/blog/new-ihg-rewards-club-premier-credit-card-details-and-other-card-possibilities
or directly from Chase here: https://www.chase.com/personal/credit-cards/ihg/other-cards/other-ihg-cc
or here: http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2018/03/26/ihg-credit-card-changes/