Best Travel Rewards Cards in Each Category Right Now

Posted on May 12, 2014 by Brad Christensen

The fact is, we want you traveling.  There’s nothing we’d love more than a guest post a week from one of you, telling us how you’ve unlocked the world by taking advantage of frequent flyer mile deals. If there’s ever any way we can make it clearer or easier for you, we hope you’ll ask.

In that spirit, I going to tell you which of the currently available offers is best right now.

“Best” is always a subjective term. The reality is, depending on exactly what you’re after, one card could be much better than another.  For example, if Frontier doesn’t fly out of your city, maybe even a great offer on that card wouldn’t be any good for you. But I know how people tend to like to have it boiled down and easy.  So, here’s my attempt at laying out the “best” available cards at the moment.

Best Airline Card

There are two problems in the airline mile world right now – they want too dang many miles for award ticket redemptions, and they have hardly any availability at the lowest levels. Especially since integrating with US Airways, I’m finding that American Airlines has both the lowest redemption levels, and the most availability at the low levels.  AA is what took me to Italy last year, it’s what took WorldWanderlusting friends to Dublin right now, and it’s what will take me to Peru and Hawaii later this year – all at the lowest redemption levels and with a fair amount of availability.

Wouldn’t it be really nice, then, if some of the best offers out there were for cards that offer AAdvantage miles? Well, we’re in luck.

AAdvantage miles

Some serious value in American’s Award Chart

We always advocate using credit cards only to make purchases you would otherwise make with cash, check, or debit, so sometimes higher minimum spending requirements aren’t practical for everyone. If, however, you’re in a position to spend $10k in the next 3 months on a card, you’re going to want to pick up the Citi Executive AAdvantage World Mastercard. Why? To start with, it’s because of the massive 100k point bonus after meeting that spending requirement. It does charge an annual fee – a big one – $450, but the offer also includes $200 cash back, along with Admirals Club Membership.

If that spending requirement is too steep, try on the Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select card with a 50k bonus after spending $3k in the first 3 months.  Get one for your spouse, too, after the first 3 months and 6 months of spending $1000/mo on credit cards will net you over 105k AA miles – that’s more than 2.5 trips to Europe, 3.5 trips to South America, or 3 trips to Hawaii.

Best Hotel Card

Staying one night in a hotel is always a bit of a bummer – you have to pack up as soon as you wake up, and who wants to do that?  At the same time, staying at the same place is a little tedious after a while.  I find that the sweet spot on a touring trip is 2 nights.  How cool would it be if you could book one free night, then get a second free night, free?

We mapped out this tour using CC hotels all around England.

We mapped out this tour using CC hotels all around England.

Well, you can.  It’s as simple as having the US Bank Club Carlson Premier Visa. With this card, in addition to Gold Status (Hello Upgrade!), whenever you use your Gold Points to book a Country Inn and Suites, Park Inn, or Radisson hotel through their program, your last night is free.

So what would really be nice is if it would come with some points to get you started taking advantage of that sweet deal. Hmm… well, how d0es 85k sound after spending $2500 in the first 3 months sound? They will ding you for the $75 annual fee up front but who’s gonna cry about that when your 85k will get you 5+5 nights in a category 2 hotels in Great Britain, Florida, or South Carolina?

Best Bank Points Card

I see Bank Points as a way to “connect the dots” between free flights and free hotels.  As such, there are programs that are great for making transfers to other loyalty plans, and programs that offer cash reimbursement.  Both of these have their place, too.  Sometimes you just need a few more points to top off a frequent flyer mile account – maybe bumping a United balance from 55k up to 60k.  For that kind of thing, the Chase Ultimate Rewards Program is great, but if we’re talking about a day-in and day-out usage card that you can really rock on and get some miles built up, I’m going to steer you in the direction of the Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ World Elite MasterCard®.

For starters, the way to use this card is far easier than any other program – no calculating the value of various flights only to find that they’re unavailable – no limitation to specific hotels in lower categories.  It is plain and simple – this card allows you to use points to reimburse your travel expenses.  That in and of itself is great, but it gets better – you accumulate those points at a total rate of 2.2% cash back for travel.

Brad and Nicole aboard the Norwegian Spirit

Brad and Nicole aboard the Norwegian Spirit

If you’ve got your flights and your hotels covered, but you’re trying to make your almost-free vacation almost freeer, get a ride on the Barclaycard Arrival.  Just put that car rental expense on it and reimburse yourself with some of the 40k points (equivalent to $400) you’ll get after spending $3k in the first 3 months. No disappointment on an up-front annual fee on this one.

If you’re thinking “free flights are great and all, but what I’d like is a free cruise,” welcome the Barclaycard arrival to port.

If you’re the kind that likes hotel rooms and all, but what you’d prefer is a quaint agriturismo, a bed and breakfast, or a room in a castle, enter the Barclaycard Arrival.

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Maybe this will make it a little easier on you.  We just hope you’re planning some great vacations for this summer and beyond.

Thanks for wanderlusting with us.

Posted in American Airlines, Barclaycard, Citi, Club Carlson, Credit Cards, Cruises, Hotels | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

60k Ultimate Rewards with Chase Ink Plus/Bold

Posted on May 5, 2014 by Brad Christensen

If you’ve been contemplating getting a travel rewards card for your business, Chase just made the offer a little sweeter on their Ink Bold Charge Card and Ink Plus Credit Card.  Historically they’ve offered 50k Ultimate Rewards once you meet the $5k spending requirement within the first three months, but for now they’ve bumped that offer to 60k -likely for only a limited time.

These are both cards that I’ve gotten long ago, and sadly Chase won’t award more than one bonus for each card, so I’ve had my fun with these ones, but that doesn’t stop me from telling you about them. (That said, when I got each of these cards, they were Mastercards, but now they are promoted as Visas – there’s a chance I could re-up, and with this offer, I may just do that).

60k ultimate rewards

Probably a limited time offer

To begin with, the difference between the two is simple. The Ink Bold is a charge card, which means the balance must be paid in full every month. The Ink Plus is a credit card, which means you could make a minimum payment and actually use the card as credit.  Where our policy in managing cards is never to use them as credit, but only as a purchasing instrument for things you would otherwise only buy with cash, check or debit, that means they are essentially the same thing.

Both cards do have an annual fee of $95, but it is waived the first year.  Neither carries any foreign transaction fees, and in both cases, for now, the bonus is 60k Ultimate Rewards points after spending $5k in the first 3 months.

This is a generous bonus on a pair of cards that are extremely useful, particularly for business owners who have a lot of office and fuel expenses.  This is because the cards offer 5x points for every dollar spent at office supply stores and on cable, internet, and phone. They also offers 2x point for every dollar spent at fuel stations. Putting all of your business expenses on either card could be a very points-lucrative proposition.

But let’s start by just looking at the bonus. By the time you spend your first $5k on the card, some of your purchases will likely have been in the multiplier categories and let’s just say you had accumulated 8k Ultimate Rewards – then your 60k bonus hits and it’s time to start thinking travel.

These Ultimate Rewards Points are very handy because they are so flexible.  Where loyalty points are divided into Airline miles Hotel points, and Bank points, these are bank points that can spent like cash, or transferred to a number of different programs.

Just to illustrate, I’ll offer some ideas as to how you might be able to put these points to good use.

  1. Transfer to British Airways for some great deals on short-hop flights on partner airlines like American, Alaska Air, or  LAN – I love this idea and we’ve posted about some of the best ways to use British Airways Avios – 9k RT from SLC to LAX means these 68k points could get 7.5 people on a flight like that. LAN is great for flights from Lima to Iquitos (for my Manventure), or Lima to Cuzco. WorldWanderlusters Doug and Aly used BA Avios to fly from London to Dublin, too – another great use.

    babes at the beach

    My wife and 4 friends flew RT to LA with 50k BA Avios

  2. Move the points to Southwest Rapid Rewards to use in conjunction with your Companion Pass – This is what I’m doing!  We’ll be getting 2/6 of us to Florida with my SW companion pass.
  3. Plan a Rail Vacation on Amtrak – Redeeming points to book Amtrak tickets is also relatively simple.  They’ve divided their route map into 3 distinct zones.  Stay within a single zone and your one-way coach ticket is 5,500 points (4,000 if you stay within the northeastern sub-zone from Virginia Beach to Montreal).  If your trip will take you into a second zone, you’ll be looking at 8,000 points and a third elevates the cost to 10,500. You could use very few of these points to arrange for quite the traincation.

    Amtrak with Ultimate Rewards

    Amtrak Travel Zones

  4. Transfer points to IHG, then take advantage of Pointbreaks – Every quarter IHG offers up hotel rooms in specific places for a mere 5k points a night.  Your 65k UR points could get you 13 nights in any of these hotels.
  5. Spend the points like cash on Chase’s UR Travel Portal – Forget about having to worry about the point systems and simply use the points as cash at a rate of 1:1.25 – your 68k points will net you more than $900 towards flights or hotels through their online system.

These are just a few ideas, but the possibilities are endless.  There are so many places these points could take you – especially if you have some ongoing business expenses that will help you keep your UR account flush with points.

Here are just  a few more things to consider:

  • These points do disappear if you cancel your card before transferring or spending them – keep that in mind before you decide to call in and cancel.
  • You could also just get pure cash back with your points, though the value isn’t as great that way.
  • Sheldon and I don’t get any commissions on this card (or hardly any others any more), but we’re still promoting it as always because the opportunity for you is abundant.
  • If you’re reading this and wishing you had a business so you could apply, read this post from Million Mile Secrets on ways you may qualify to have a business credit card – it’s less than you might think.

We appreciate you wanderlusting with us and we’d urge you to go Like our Facebook Page if “almost-free travel” is something that appeals to you.

Posted in Chase, Ultimate Rewards | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

3 Credit Card Run- 100k AA Miles, 40k Barclaycard Arrival, & $250 Cash

Posted on May 1, 2014 by wpengine

It had been too long.  I woke up on Saturday morning and without really thinking about it and applied for 3 credit cards in one day.   The reaping was fruitful with a 3/3 success rate! I’m so excited about these three cards let me show you which cards I got.

1. Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ World Elite MasterCard®

We’ve posted numerous times about this card. They recently upped the spending requirement on it, but the card is awesome. Here are some of the noteworthy reasons to get this card:

-Enjoy 40,000 bonus miles after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 90 days — that’s enough to redeem for a $400 travel statement credit toward an eligible travel purchase.
– Earn 2X miles on all purchases
– Get 5% miles back to use toward your next redemption, every time you redeem
– Miles don’t expire as long as your account is open, active and in good standing
– No foreign transaction fees on purchases made while traveling abroad
– 0% introductory APR for 12 months on Balance Transfers made within 45 days of account opening. After that, a variable APR will apply, 16.99%, 20.99% or 23.99%, based on your creditworthiness. There is a fee for balance transfers.

 

For other posts about this card read:

 

2.  Citi Executive AAdvantage World Mastercard

Application Link

We’ve posted about this card before.  It never really interested me in the past because the bonus was a boring 30K American AAdvantage miles.  That isn’t anything to get excited about, especially when it comes with a $450 annual fee (not waived).

App o Rama

You know the card is BIG when it arrives like this on your front porch!

However, the new offer that came around was for 100k AAdvantage miles, plus they gave you a dollar-for-dollar credit for your first $200 in expenses, which essentially made the annual fee $250.  That is much more palatable, espeically when you consider it gives me 100k miles and lounge access to all American Airlines and US Airways airport lounges.   Basically for $250 you’re getting 2.5 off peak trips to Europe.  Yeah that’s a steal if you can’t read between the lines.

The big problem here is the spending requirement.  Unless you have a business that spends tons of money, or you’re super rico (of which I’m neither) this card is extremely difficult to meet the spending requirement.  Fortunately I’ve got a friend who spends a ton on a credit card each month for his business and he helps me out from time to time when I need to meet big spending requirements.

3.  American Express SimplyCash Business Credit Card

Link: American Express SimplyCash Business Credit Card

Amex SimplyCash

American Express SimplyCash

I got this card back when they offered an initial bonus of $250.  The card has some strengths that really made me like it:

  • No annual fee
  • $250 Bonus (expired)
  • 5% Cash back at U.S. office supply stores
  • 5% Cash back on wireless telephone services purchased directly from U.S. service providers
  • 3% Cash back on the category of your choice from a list of select categories- Restaurants/Gas Stations/etc
  • 1% Cash back on all other purchases

Basically I saw this $250 bonus wiping out the $250 annual fee on the Citi Executive Card. If you look at it that way I ended up with:

  • 100,000 AAdvantage Miles
  • Airport Lounge Access for a year
  • 40,000 Arrival points ($400)

Not bad for a 3 card run.  It loads up my AAdvantage account in anticipation of future trips that are yet to be planned, but surely to be taken. If you were to get three cards today which cards would they be?

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Posted in American Airlines, American Express, App O Rama, Barclaycard, Citi, How to Wanderlust | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Manventure: The Great Amazon River Raft Race (And Machu Picchu)

Posted on April 28, 2014 by Brad Christensen

I’ve made it no secret that I’m an avid follower of the ArtofManliness.com blog, and I find no shame in saying that I’m always working on my manliness.  If you follow the blog, you know there’s far more to it than the physical aspects detailed in popular posts like “On Taking a Punch,” and “Learn How to Shave Like Your Grandpa.” In fact, the better part of the blog is dedicated to virtuous characteristics like industriousness, self-reliance, honor, and courage.

I’ve been reading Brett McKay’s “Manvotionals” book, which details each of these virtues by reflecting on writings throughout the centuries, and it’s inspired me to test my mettle with a physically challenging adventure – a “Manventure.”

You might recall the story of “My Fight with Mount Kilimanjaro,” which is probably the closest thing to a “manventure” that I’ve done in some time. It was physically and emotionally taxing, exhausting, even. It was the kind of journey that made me feel painfully alone, and yet buoyed up in brotherhood. It pushed my limits and gave me time to be introspective on a level that everyday life never allows. And it’s something I need to do again.

A Manventure in Peru

Deep in the heart of the Peruvian Amazon lies the city of Iquitos – a city, which despite being entirely inaccessible by roads, is home to nearly 400,000 people. This year, for the 16th year in a row, tourism authorities there will host “The Great Amazon River Raft Race.” Teams of four from the world over will compete in a race that requires participants first to construct a raft from logs of balsawood, then to float the mighty river some 118 miles over the course of three days.

Iquitos Peru

Photo Courtesy Peruthisweek.com

That’s an awfully short description of a monumental challenge that will no doubt test the wits of many. If you’re as intrigued as I am, and you’re tempted to test your toughness and testosterone, too, you can learn more by reading the description from the Dawn on the Amazon blog which is promoting the event.

But, knowing me, you’re also aware that I wouldn’t be on board with something like this if there weren’t a way to do it almost for free. So let me tell you how I’m doing it.  Booking my trip to Hawaii shaved off 70k AA miles, but, having accumulated them “a-la-chubby-kid-under-the-pinata,” I still have about 38k left. If you need to top off your account, there’s an offer for 50k AA points on the Citi® Platinum Select® / AAdvantage® World MasterCard® and an offer for 100k AA points on the Citi Executive® AAdvantage® World EliteTM MasterCard®

How to use AAdvantage Points

A flight to South America for 30k points and $73

Not only is AA the points-cheapest airline out there, their availability is also phenomenal.  I looked at the dates in September and I could fly to Peru almost any day for a mere 15k each way.

But the one wrinkle is that those flights only take me to Lima, and I need to get to Iquitos.  LAN is, of course, the go-to airline in Latin America, due to the fact that I can make bookings with British Airways Avios through their partnership.  Because it’s less than 649 miles away, it will only cost me 4500 Avios each way.  I have some Avios, but to get more, I’ll just transfer some Chase Ultimate Rewards points.

Fly to Iquitos

4500 each way between Lima and Iquitos

I could spend some time in Lima, too and call this a full-scale manventure, but there’s something about visiting Peru that just doesn’t seem right if I don’t make it to Machu Picchu, so I thought I’d see if I could pull that off, as well. Sure enough, I can book flights to Cuzco the same way and spend only 9k more Avios for a flight that would otherwise cost me $338.

Cuzco

My Brother’s Shot of Machu Picchu

I’m still weighing whether I’ll be able to pull off the 4-day trek up the Inca trail, or if I’ll have to take the train to Aguascalientes to cut the journey down to 2 days, but either way, on top of a trip down the Amazon on a self-made raft, this is going to make for an epic tale of manly accomplishment. If I’m able to do the Inca trail trip, I’ll wind up spending at least $600 on that part, but if I shave it down to the shorter trip, I should be able to get it done for less than $300.

As you might expect, I’ll stay in a free hotel in Lima – probably the Sheraton Lima Convention Center, which I can book for 3-4000 SPG points. In the end, I’ll spend no more than $700-1000 for a trip that would normally cost 2-3 times that, and that way I’ll get to prove my manliness 2-3 times more often.

What “Manventure” would you like to take? Can we help you plan to do it almost-free?

Disclosure: The number of cards for which we’re offered a commission when people apply through our site are fewer and fewer all the time.  What that means is that any more, we’re pretty much just running this blog as a hobby.  The only way we’re paid is in seeing your satisfaction when the ideas we talk about are transformed from Wanderlusting to Wandering.  If you’d like to write a guest post for us and tell the world how you’re traveling almost-free, please email worldwanderlusting@gmail.com and let’s arrange to make it happen.  Thanks for wanderlusting with us!

Posted in American Airlines, British Airways, Fun Travel Stories, Hiking, Manventure, South America | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Host a Worldwanderlusting Travel Seminar in Your Home

Posted on April 25, 2014 by wpengine
travel seminar

My wife and I went to Europe for 12 days at a cost of $900.

Brad and I have loved spreading the word about traveling for less.  In fact, we were just visiting about it the other day and Brad came to the conclusion that “WorldWanderlusting has become part of my identity.”  We laughed a bit about it, but then realized that it was true.

Teaching others how to be a WorldWanderluster brings incredible satisfaction.  Believe me, Brad and I don’t make millions from this blog.  In fact, the primary reason that we continue to blog is to share our passion with others.  The world has changed, and very few banks even pay commissions when helping others sign up for credit cards.

Sharing is Caring

Remember the last awesome restaurant that you tried?  Did you go back to work and tell all of your co-workers, or did you keep it to yourself.  More than likely, unless you selfishly didn’t tell them because you didn’t want to wait in line next time you go, you told all of your friends about the wonderful meatballs at the local Italian restaurant.

Life is all about sharing wonderful things with others.  Thanks to Brad I’m an eternal fan of Mountain Dew and Boise State football.  My aunt Teri showed me that the Mariners are the best team in the MLB, and my cousin Jeramie taught me about the Chicago Bulls, Dr. Pepper, and 80’s music.  These individuals showed me the light and helped me to find things that I’m passionate about in life.  Why shouldn’t travel be the same way?

One of my really close friends, Trevor, is responsible for teaching me to love travel.  My first international trip was to visit him in Barcelona, and since then he’s dragged me to Thailand, Costa Rica, and other spots too.  He taught me to love travel, now I turned around and taught him how to do it more often for less money.   This passion for travel that he gave to me has inspired thousands of our readers, in particular: You.

Remember that ‘Whatever goes around comes around.” Just make sure that you give out good things, so other good things can come back to you.  Now is your chance to give back to others when it comes to travel.  We want to invite you to host a WorldWanderlusting seminar in your home.

Twin Falls, Idaho Seminar

Earlier this week Brad did a WorldWanderlusting seminar in Twin Falls.  A devout follower offered their own home as the meeting place, and even facilitated the discussion.  More than 20 people participated in the event, and many were enlightened to the way of free travel.

This gave our follower a chance to really share this wonderful information with her friends and family.  No pressure for anyone, this isn’t a timeshare now! 🙂

Travel resolution

We took our son to Panama for $900.  You can too!

Host a WorldWanderlusting Travel Seminar in Your House

If you’re passionate about WorldWanderlusting, and if you’d like for Brad and I to help facilitate the discussion for a travel seminar in your home, let us know.  In some cases we might be willing to travel to your home and help you to share the ideas with your friends.

We might not be able to make it to Hong Kong by tomorrow or anything, so don’t expect any miracles, but we’re willing to consider the options to figure out how we can try to make it happen.

If we can make it happen, we’ll strive to bring some handouts and make the presentation exciting (how could a presentation about travel be anything but exciting?)  You find the people, set the venue, and we’ll pick the date together and we’ll try to make it happen.

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Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Why I love Polygamy (When it Comes To Travel Loyalty Programs)

Posted on April 21, 2014 by Brad Christensen

When it comes to spouses, by all means, be monogamous. There’s so much more to gain from a lifetime of dedication to a single partner, but when it comes to earning loyalty points to unlock a world of almost-free travel, let polygamy be your game. I swear allegiance to no single travel loyalty program. Having multiple partners means more travel to more places more often, and that’s precisely what we’re after.

When I booked my trip to Hawaii, I had enough miles with various programs that I could have chosen from any of several carriers – US Airways, Delta, United, Alaska, American and more.  So my decision became about which of those would be the wisest use. US Airways wants 40k at the lowest level to get to Hawaii, and those points will eventually become AA miles (through the merger) anyway. Delta and United wants 45k. There wasn’t availability on Alaska Air for my dates, but with American Airlines, I hit the jackpot! I ended up booking a perfect itinerary for 35k AAdvantage miles.

But to contrast that, when I was searching out flights to LA so I could go to the BCS National Championship game for free, I would have to have paid 25k AAdvantage miles for a flight I wound up booking for 18k SW Rapid Rewards. The best option will depend on the situation at hand, and you’re best off to be armed with many different weapons.

For two years now, we’ve taken advantage of a great Country Inn & Suites Hotel in Boise that we could book for 2 nights for 15k Club Carlson Gold Points, but when I looked to do the same thing the other night, I saw that they’ve increased it to a Category 3 hotel which requires 28k for 2 nights. I would have cried myself to sleep that night, but for the IHG program which offers a great Candlewood Suites hotel in Boise that we can book for only 10k/night.

I’m helping a friend book a trip to an off-the-beaten-path airport in Alaska – (Yakutat) YAK. Only Alaska Airlines flies into that airport but he doesn’t have any Alaskan Air Miles.  They’re a partner with Delta, so I thought he could use Skymiles, but they won’t work for the last leg of the flight.  Luckily, he’s followed our advice to be like the chubby kid under the pinata when it comes to gathering up points, so he had a stash of Starwood Preferred Guest Points – he could transfer them to Alaska Air at a rate of 20k:25k, so he ended up redeeming those 20k points for a flight that would have otherwise cost him $1300.

How Being Polygamous is Helping Us Go on an Alaskan Cruise

If all goes well, I’m going to book an Alaskan Cruise for our family as soon as school gets out. I had hoped to drive to Seattle and score one going in and out of Seattle for under $500/person, but they haven’t gotten that cheap.  The one that’s a bargain right now is a one-way cruise from Anchorage to Vancouver on Vacationstogo.com for $399/person but that leaves me with the dilemma of getting my family of 6 to Anchorage.  With pretty much every airline program I’d be looking at 25k/person for a total of 150k for six one-way flights… not exactly the WorldWanderlusting way of optimizing usage.

Planes, Trains, Automobiles, and Cruise Ships!

Planes, Trains, Automobiles, and Cruise Ships!

But never content to blow my entire wad of points at once, I kept seeking a solution. I know that short one-ways are the kind of thing British Airways can be really good for, so I tried to make it happen if we could drive to Vancouver and take a one way from Vancouver to Anchorage, but BA’s partners don’t fly that route. Seattle, though, was a different story.  For 10k/person (60k total) we could fly from Seattle to Anchorage and then take the cruise to Vancouver.

That of course leaves the dilemma of getting from Vancouver to Seattle to get our car.  My first thought was that we could rent a car one-way, but we’d need a minivan and it would cost me $260.  Then it occurred to me that those cities are along the Amtrak rail line.  I could transfer Ultimate Rewards points to Amtrak, but it’s such a short trip that we’re much better off to pay the $160 for all of us to take the train.  Of course, even that I’ll get reimbursed to my account, because I’ll put it on my Barclaycard Arrival World Mastercard.

In the end, I’ll have an awesome journey that consists of planes, trains, automobiles – and boats!  If I break it down, just by being creative with the way I structure our trip, we’ll wind up saving at a ton before we even start into using miles and points. I figure it will cost us $400 in fuel to drive to and from Seattle, $600/person including tax for the cruise, and the flights about $250 in value each.  Add in the $160 for the train and it works out to a total of $5,660. That sounds expensive until you consider some alternatives.

Dinner Date on The Norwegian Spirit

Being Monogamous on The Norwegian Spirit

Just for kicks, I checked some prices to see how much a family cruise vacation would cost for someone the way it’s traditionally done.  The cheapest flights I could find from Idaho Falls to Seattle were $586/person. The best price I could find on the RT cruise out of Seattle was $950/person after tax. The total cost on that for my family would be $9,216.  No wonder no one ever does stuff like that – who could justify it?

But put a little polygamous loyalty point magic on there and we can really get excited. Those flights will literally be free with my 60k BA points that I’ll actually get from moving points from Ultimate Rewards. I have 100k Barclaycard Arrival points that will shave $1000 off my cruise price.  Plus, the last time I took a cruise on Norwegian, I put $250 down for $500 off a future cruise. By the time it’s all added up, I’ll be saving roughly $3000 for a total cost of just over $2600 – not bad for a cruise vacation for six people.

I tell this story to illustrate how powerful it is to have an awardwallet with a variety of points from many different programs – that way I can always optimize my usage for minimal impact on my point balances and keep those stored for future adventures.

What about you?  Are you loyal to a single program?  Or do you like to spread it around too?

 

Posted in Alaska, alaska airlines, Barclaycard, British Airways, Family Travel, Roadtrips | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

How to Get More Miles Per Credit Card Application

Posted on April 17, 2014 by wpengine

Playing the mileage game can be fun, but much like a war, a good strategy can differentiate between a loss, win, and a beating!  Carefully planning your credit card applications is crucial to winning the overall war.  Credit card companies are starting to tighten up on approvals, bonuses, and points so you need to know your game. Let’s put together a strategy to help you to earn more miles per credit card application.

Picking up More Miles per Credit Card Application

Remember the coin boxes on Super Mario World with the big ? on them?  Some of them were lame and only offered a single coin, while others filled your pockets as you repeatedly smashed your head on the box time and time again until the coins ran out.  Similar to Super Mario World, some credit card issuers only offer a single bonus.  When it comes to these cards you want to make sure you really are getting the best bonus out there.  It would be a shame to pick up 25,000 for a card when someone else used a better link that offered 50,000, especially if you only get one shot.

Let’s take a look at the current situation with credit card issuers and their stance on multiple bonuses.  I’ll put in parenthesis what the best offer is that is either around, or comes around on a rare occasion.

chase bank

Chase Credit Cards

These guys are the powerhouse.  They offer the most travel credit cards out there.  Among their more popular cards out there right now they are offering these cards:

Sapphire Preferred (40) IHG Rewards (80) Marriott Rewards (70)
Ink Bold (60) AirTran (16 credits) Hyatt Hotels (2 nights)
Ink Plus (60) United MileagePlus (50) Fairmont Hotels (2 nights)
Southwest (50) British Airways (100) Ritz Carlton Hotels

As you can see they’ve got the lion’s share of the credit cards that are out there right now. Their rules generally are as follows:

  • Only one bonus per card
  • Some people have reported getting more than one card at once, but many have said that they’ve only been approved for a single card at a time.

Citibank Credit Cards

Citi has a connection with American Airlines, which is one of the best airliners for finding international flights.  Check out their current travel credit cards:

AAdvantage Platinum Select (50) Hilton HHonors Visa Signature
AAdvantage World Mastercard (50) Hilton HHonors Reserve (2 Nights)
Executive AAdvantage World Elite (100)

You’re going to love Citibank:

  • They’ll reissue their bonuses every 18 months. (Yay!)
  • You can’t have two applications for the same card in one day anymore. Darn!
  • Business applications need to be spaced about 60 days from a personal card.

I love my Citi cards.  They usually waive their annual fees on their cards too, which is awesome when it comes to extending your average length of credit history.

American Express

Let me tell you something about American Express.  They aren’t my favorite right now.  These guys are tightening their belts on everything right now.  They are cranking down on bonuses, annual fees, and about every other benefit that you want in a credit card.

Amex Platinum (100) Amex Premier Rewards Gold (75-only if you’re targeted
Starwood Preferred Guest (30) Delta Gold (45-targeted)
SPG Business Card (30) Delta Platinum
Amex Gold Card (75- only if you’re targeted) Hilton Hhonors Surpass

Their bonuses are amongst the lowest available right now, and they just recently announced in the last week other changes that make their products less competitive.

  • Single bonus per card (new as of the March of 2014)
  • In most cases they’ll approve multiple cards in the same day.

Basically their cards aren’t accepted everywhere, they have low bonuses, never waive annual fees, and have a superiority complex.

English: Scan of sample original Barclaycard (...

English: Scan of sample original Barclaycard (design of 1966-1983) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Barclaycard US

These guys are the new guy on the block, but they’re really starting to make their presence known in the credit card industry.  Three years ago these guys were almost in last place.  They’ve been working hard to land new cards and they’ve been promoting them well.

Arrival World Mastercard (40) Lufthansa Miles & More (35)
Frontier Airlines (40) Choice Privileges (30)
US Airways Div Miles (40) Wynham Rewards (32)
Hawaiian Airlines (35)  Best Western Card (15)

The cards offered by Barclaycard:

Seriously these guys have been only allowing a couple of inquiries per person per year lately, but they still have some great cards.  Not all of them are as sexy as Jessica Alba, but most of them are great.

Photo of Bank of America ATM Machine by Brian ...

Bank of America

These guys have basically fallen off the map. They just lost the Hawaiian Airlines card to Barclaycard.  They really only have one card left out there, which is the Alaska Airlines.  With it:

  • Reports show that you can get this card over and over again.
  • The problem is that the bonus usually only hovers around 25,000, and they have an annual fee the first year.  Unless the bonus bumps up higher, it isn’t as good as most other cards out there.

US Bank

These guys play in the shadows, and they have a couple of good cards, but they’re not really aggressive on their marketing for their travel credit cards like Chase and Amex.  You should find these travel related credit cards in their portfolio:

Club Carlson Visa (85) Aero Mexico Personal Card
Club Carlson Biz Card (85) LANpass
Flexperks Travel Card (40) Avianca Lifemiles Card

Many of their cards are for airliners that are out of the country, and they don’t offer huge upfront bonuses with the exception of the Club Carlson credit card.  It is one of my favorite hotel cards right now.  As I understand these guys:

  • They only allow you to get their bonuses once.
  • Are pretty strict on people who have lots of inquiries on their credit report.
  • Don’t waive the annual fee on their Club Carlson credit card.

Choosing your Applications Carefully

Watch for the cards to hit their biggest bonuses.  Currently the Southwest credit cards are offering 25,000 points, but if you’re patient then you should be able to get 50k as the bonus.  Historically they bump it up a couple times a year, so be patient.  The same goes for the Ink Bold and Ink Plus.  Last year they took the bonus from 50k up to 60k during small business week in America.

As you can see, most of the issuers have switched to a “single bonus” type arrangement.  This is particularly depressing when you look over the last few years and we have lost other airlines like:

  • Continental (Merged with United)
  • Northwest (Merged with Delta)
  • Airtran (Merging with Southwest)
  • US Airways (Bought the bankrupt American Airlines)

Basically you need to make sure that you’re getting the best bang for your application.  If you have questions, just ask before you submit your application for a credit card and we will let you know if we’ve seen better offers, or if what you’re seeing is the best for you.

 

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