I found this really cool tool for finding the cheapest use of points between two airports. I find the first one to be more accurate. I used it to find a flight from CLT to IND on AA for 7,500 British Airlines Avios which I transferred from my Chase Sapphire Reserve account. It would have cost 11,000 through the Chase portal or $175 cash.
https://www.awardhacker.com/
https://travelcodex.com/award-maximizer/
Monday, 30 October 2017
Cheap tickets with China Eastern
I have been working on the return leg for our trip from Australia to the USA and was almost ready to book reward flights with Qantas from Dallas to Bali. Each one way ticket would have cost 60,000 points. The only problem was that I was 5,000 points short and to buy the 5,000 points would cost $200.
I quickly searched for alternatives and found if I bought a case of wine for $150 off of the Qantas epiQure website, I would get a bonus 5,150 points. I did this and then went to book the flights the next day. When I had selected the flights I saw that the taxes and fees for two people totaled $800.00 US!
This kind of ticked me off, because earlier I had seen a similar flight with fees only $215.00 per person, but I could not find that flight anymore. All flights from the US to Bali or Australia seemed to have the same high fees.
A search on Google Flights came up with one way tickets around $600 each. Feeling desperate I did a search on Cheapoair.com and found ticket for $271 each! They called this a Fusion Fare as it combined a Spirit Airlines ticket to LAX with a China Eastern ticket the rest of the way.
I have seen Google Flights do this in the past, but for some reason it hasn't been combining airlines recently. The catch is we have to pay around $36 per bag (including carry ons) and with Spirit airlines. China Eastern includes two checked bags. Another thing to beware of is that Cheapoair no longer allows free cancellations in the first 4 hrs. They charge $50 per person for cancellations, and after 24 hrs the flights are non-refundable. It's a good idea to use a credit card with good travel insurance when booking through them, or just book directly with the airlines and they give you free cancellation within 24 hrs.
I will write a review of our trip with China Eastern in the future, which will include a 24 hr layover in Shanghai Pu Dong. The reviews I have read mostly complain about lack of pillows and difficulty in English communication.
Another side note is that I used Ebates as a shopping portal to earn $9.83 cash back from this booking. I will have to write about shopping portals in the future, but most airlines have them so you have can get points by shopping at places like Apple.com and other online stores by using the link to the store in the shopping portal. They are basically referring customers to online stores, which then pay the portal comany for their traffic. If you use my link by clicking on Ebates or copying and pasting the link below to sign up, I will get $25 and you will get $10.
https://www.ebates.com/r/MIGUEL4648?eeid=28187
Cheers,
Mike
I quickly searched for alternatives and found if I bought a case of wine for $150 off of the Qantas epiQure website, I would get a bonus 5,150 points. I did this and then went to book the flights the next day. When I had selected the flights I saw that the taxes and fees for two people totaled $800.00 US!
This kind of ticked me off, because earlier I had seen a similar flight with fees only $215.00 per person, but I could not find that flight anymore. All flights from the US to Bali or Australia seemed to have the same high fees.
A search on Google Flights came up with one way tickets around $600 each. Feeling desperate I did a search on Cheapoair.com and found ticket for $271 each! They called this a Fusion Fare as it combined a Spirit Airlines ticket to LAX with a China Eastern ticket the rest of the way.
I have seen Google Flights do this in the past, but for some reason it hasn't been combining airlines recently. The catch is we have to pay around $36 per bag (including carry ons) and with Spirit airlines. China Eastern includes two checked bags. Another thing to beware of is that Cheapoair no longer allows free cancellations in the first 4 hrs. They charge $50 per person for cancellations, and after 24 hrs the flights are non-refundable. It's a good idea to use a credit card with good travel insurance when booking through them, or just book directly with the airlines and they give you free cancellation within 24 hrs.
I will write a review of our trip with China Eastern in the future, which will include a 24 hr layover in Shanghai Pu Dong. The reviews I have read mostly complain about lack of pillows and difficulty in English communication.
Another side note is that I used Ebates as a shopping portal to earn $9.83 cash back from this booking. I will have to write about shopping portals in the future, but most airlines have them so you have can get points by shopping at places like Apple.com and other online stores by using the link to the store in the shopping portal. They are basically referring customers to online stores, which then pay the portal comany for their traffic. If you use my link by clicking on Ebates or copying and pasting the link below to sign up, I will get $25 and you will get $10.
https://www.ebates.com/r/MIGUEL4648?eeid=28187
Cheers,
Mike
Wednesday, 25 October 2017
Cash back
Earlier I wrote about redeeming Ultimate Rewards Points by transferring them from Chase to United or one of the other transfer partners.You get a 1:1 exchange for the points. You could also get 1 cent per point as cash back in your Chase account. Is this a good idea though? Lots of people value these points at 1.5 cents each or more.
If you do not have a premium Chase card, then you cannot transfer to one of their other parters. In this case cash back is probably the best way to use the points, unless your spouse or family member has a premium card. If they do you can transfer the points to them and they can send them to transfer partners to book reward flights and hotels.
So lets say you have been earning 5% back on the Freedom card. To do this you have to activate the quarterly cash back category. It might be fuel one quarter and groceries the next. You will earn 5% on up to $1500 and after that 1%. That's $75 per quarter if you max out the 5%. You can then start using your Freedom Unlimited to earn 1.5%. You can hold on to the points as long as you want or you can redeem them as cash right away.
I would recommend holding on to them if its possible you will get a premium card later or know someone in your household will.
There are other cards out there with good cash back rewards if that is what you want. Bank of America has a with cash back card of 3% on a category you get to choose.
Tuesday, 24 October 2017
Redeeming Ultimate Rewards Points
I recently booked my first reward tickets from points acquired using Chase credit cards. I transferred 80,000 Ultimate Rewards Points to my United MileagePlus account and then booked two one way economy tickets from Bali to Indianapolis for 80k points plus $82.52 USD in fees. Some airlines (looking at you Qantas) charge much more in taxes, fees and fuel surcharges and end up ruining the deal.
I could have used these points to get $800 USD cash back, but when you look at the prices of flights from DPS (Bali) to IND on Google Flights, you see I am getting a much better deal. If I book the return flights for the same amount, I will have gotten two return flights for $1,765.00 USD. Right now that would cost over $3,100 to buy the tickets with cash. When you book business and first class tickets using points you end up getting an even better value compared to cash.
One caveat to this redemption is that to transfer points from Chase to one of their partners is that you must have a premium card like the Sapphire Preferred Card. There are other options, especially if you need a business card, but this is the best to start with, since it has no annual fee the first year.
The points you earn with your other cards, like the Freedom can easily be moved over to your Sapphire account. When logged into your Chase account you will see your Ultimate Rewards Points on the left under your credit card info and balance. When you click on them you will be taken to the Ultimate Rewards page where you can transfer your points between cards, spend your points on travel directly, or transfer you points to several transfer partners such as United, Southwest, Singapore Airlines, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, KLM, Korean Air, and several hotel rewards programs.
Travel booking through the Chase page is available without a premium card, but it is not a very good value compared to transferring to a partner. It might actually be better to just get cash back and then buy a ticket. If you do not want to keep your card longer than one year, you can transfer your points to someone else in your household who has a premium card and then use them with a transfer partner.
When planning your trip, it is a good idea to figure out which airline has the best redemptions and see what is available before transferring your points. Once they have gone, there is no getting them back into your Chase account from an airline or hotel reward program. If you find a redemption you like, then transfer the points quickly and get that thing booked. Since many airline points expire, it is not a good idea to transfer them without having an idea when you will spend them. Chase and Bank of America points do not expire, which makes them great places to hoard points.
When I first attempted transferring points to United through Chase's website, the request seemed to go through fine, but I waited days without seeing them show up on the receiving end. After several days and phone calls I realized they had gone back to Chase. When I requested they be transferred over the phone, they showed up immediately and I was able to book my flights.
United seems to have the best redemption value for flying from this part of the world to the USA (40k plus $41 one way). Singapore Airlines seems to be pretty good as well, but the fees were a little bit higher and the flights I saw were wait list flights. Southwest and British airways seem to have some pretty good short haul redemptions from what I have read. The only other redemptions on travel I have done are with Bank of America's Travel card, which just gave me money back after I purchased tickets with the card so you get exactly 1 cent per point. Maybe I will be redeeming some Qantas points sometime soon.
I could have used these points to get $800 USD cash back, but when you look at the prices of flights from DPS (Bali) to IND on Google Flights, you see I am getting a much better deal. If I book the return flights for the same amount, I will have gotten two return flights for $1,765.00 USD. Right now that would cost over $3,100 to buy the tickets with cash. When you book business and first class tickets using points you end up getting an even better value compared to cash.
One caveat to this redemption is that to transfer points from Chase to one of their partners is that you must have a premium card like the Sapphire Preferred Card. There are other options, especially if you need a business card, but this is the best to start with, since it has no annual fee the first year.
The points you earn with your other cards, like the Freedom can easily be moved over to your Sapphire account. When logged into your Chase account you will see your Ultimate Rewards Points on the left under your credit card info and balance. When you click on them you will be taken to the Ultimate Rewards page where you can transfer your points between cards, spend your points on travel directly, or transfer you points to several transfer partners such as United, Southwest, Singapore Airlines, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, KLM, Korean Air, and several hotel rewards programs.
Travel booking through the Chase page is available without a premium card, but it is not a very good value compared to transferring to a partner. It might actually be better to just get cash back and then buy a ticket. If you do not want to keep your card longer than one year, you can transfer your points to someone else in your household who has a premium card and then use them with a transfer partner.
When planning your trip, it is a good idea to figure out which airline has the best redemptions and see what is available before transferring your points. Once they have gone, there is no getting them back into your Chase account from an airline or hotel reward program. If you find a redemption you like, then transfer the points quickly and get that thing booked. Since many airline points expire, it is not a good idea to transfer them without having an idea when you will spend them. Chase and Bank of America points do not expire, which makes them great places to hoard points.
When I first attempted transferring points to United through Chase's website, the request seemed to go through fine, but I waited days without seeing them show up on the receiving end. After several days and phone calls I realized they had gone back to Chase. When I requested they be transferred over the phone, they showed up immediately and I was able to book my flights.
United seems to have the best redemption value for flying from this part of the world to the USA (40k plus $41 one way). Singapore Airlines seems to be pretty good as well, but the fees were a little bit higher and the flights I saw were wait list flights. Southwest and British airways seem to have some pretty good short haul redemptions from what I have read. The only other redemptions on travel I have done are with Bank of America's Travel card, which just gave me money back after I purchased tickets with the card so you get exactly 1 cent per point. Maybe I will be redeeming some Qantas points sometime soon.
Monday, 23 October 2017
Getting into the points game
Over the past few years I have done a fair bit of travel and have been learning about using points to pay for travel. This is simply a way to share with my friends and family what I have learned.
The first rule is to sign up for frequent flyer programs before you buy your tickets (or at least before making the flight). If you don't sign up for an account first then it is probably too late to get points on your flight. You can also earn points in other ways which I will address later.
I use Google Flights, momondo.com and other sites to search for flights and then click on the link it provides to book directly with the airline (if cheapest), thus eliminating any booking fee's like you would get with popular sites like orbits, cheapoair, etc.
This is the easiest way to start earning points and getting the best deals on flights and requires no credit cards or financial risk. Just use your frequent flyer/reward account when you book the tickets.
Here are some links to Frequent Flyer programs:
United MileagePlus
American Airlines AAdvantage
Alaska Mileage Plan
Delta's SkyMiles
Just Google your favorite airline and they most likely have a rewards program.
The next level of reward travel requires you to have a credit card that earns points.
If you can not pay off your card every month and end up paying the high interest rates on credit cards then the rewards not be worth it. The interest and fees will exceed whatever rewards you earn.
That being said, you can rack up quite a few points without having to pay any interest or fees. You can get 90,000 points in sign up bonuses (or $900 cash back) with just three cards and only pay $95 in annual fees.
Chase credit cards are a good place to start. If you plan on getting multiple cards you will soon learn that they have a limit of 5 cards in a 24 month period. It doesn't matter if the cards are from Chase or not. They will automatically decline your application once you reach the 5 card limit.
With Chase you can set up automatic payments to pay off your balance each month. You also get up to 5% back in either cash or rewards points on certain cards.
You also usually earn a big bonus by signing up and spending a minimum amount in the first three months.
For chase I recommend starting with the following cards:
Chase Freedom - usually gives you $200 cash back bonus (20,000 points) when you spend $500 in the first 3 months, plus $25 for an additional card holder when they first use the card.
You earn 5% cash back on a quarterly category and 1% on everything else. There is no annual fee.
https://www.referyourchasecard.com/2f/1I2SBS697W
Chase Freedom Unlimited - gives you $200 cash back bonus (20,000 points) when you spend $500 in the first 3 months, plus $25 for an additional card holder when they first use the card.
You earn 1.5% cash back on all purchases. There is no annual fee.
Earn $200 cash back with any participating Chase Freedom credit card. I can be rewarded, learn more.
https://www.referyourchasecard.com/2f/VJE7TG5NDP
Chase Sapphire Preferred - Earn 60,000 bonus points with Chase Sapphire Preferred when you spend $4000 in the first 3 months and another 5,000 with a second card holder who uses the card at least once. You earn 2% on travel and dining, and 1% on everything else.
The usual annual fee of $95 may be waived the first year depending on the current offer, so you can just downgrade the card after getting and using or transferring your points if you can't justify the annual fee. More benefits of this card is no foreign transaction fees and it offers great travel insurance including lost baggage and car rental insurance and purchase protection of 120 days due to damage or theft. It also allows you to transfer your points to many Airlines and Hotels. You can transfer the points from the freedom cards to this card, which makes them much more valuable than cash back. Using Chase's website you can use the points to book travel and get 25% more value.
If you want to jump right into the advanced level you can get the Chase Sapphire Reserve card and enjoy airport lounges with complimentary Priority Pass, a $100 credit towards Global Entry or TSA pre-check (every 4 yrs) and lot's more. You will get 50% more value using Chase's website to book travel. The new annual fee has gone up from $450 to $550, but you get $300 in statement credit for travel and $60 credit towards Doordash for 2020 and 2021.
If you apply using my referral links (currently only the freedom cards) I will also get 10,000 reward points when you are approved for each one. You can then refer friends yourself and earn points, up to 50,000 points per year.
If you are interested in hotel's Chase has the IHG Rewards Club Premier Credit Card which has an all time high sign up bonus of 140,000 points. You pay an annual fee of $89 but you get an anniversary night of up to 40,000 points with this. Hotel rewards start at 5,000 but 10,000 to 20,000 is more common. You get $100 towards TSA pre-check or Global Entry every 4 years and the 4th reward night is free. It offers phone insurance if you pay your cell phone bill with it. Lots of value out of this card.
Bank of America also has a travel rewards card that I keep in my wallet. There is a 12 mo. introductory rate of 0% APR for 12 billing cycles. You get a $250 bonus credit when you meet the minimum spend of $1000 in the first 3 months. It offers 1.5% on all purchases. You get it in a statement credit toward travel purchases. Super simple to use and has no annual or foreign transaction fees. If you have a savings account with BOA you also get 10% more back. There is no referral program for this card, but here is the link below.
https://www.bankofamerica.com/credit-cards/products/bankamericard-travel-rewards-credit-card/
I will talk about how to use points or get cash back in my next post.
Mike
The first rule is to sign up for frequent flyer programs before you buy your tickets (or at least before making the flight). If you don't sign up for an account first then it is probably too late to get points on your flight. You can also earn points in other ways which I will address later.
I use Google Flights, momondo.com and other sites to search for flights and then click on the link it provides to book directly with the airline (if cheapest), thus eliminating any booking fee's like you would get with popular sites like orbits, cheapoair, etc.
This is the easiest way to start earning points and getting the best deals on flights and requires no credit cards or financial risk. Just use your frequent flyer/reward account when you book the tickets.
Here are some links to Frequent Flyer programs:
United MileagePlus
American Airlines AAdvantage
Alaska Mileage Plan
Delta's SkyMiles
Just Google your favorite airline and they most likely have a rewards program.
The next level of reward travel requires you to have a credit card that earns points.
If you can not pay off your card every month and end up paying the high interest rates on credit cards then the rewards not be worth it. The interest and fees will exceed whatever rewards you earn.
That being said, you can rack up quite a few points without having to pay any interest or fees. You can get 90,000 points in sign up bonuses (or $900 cash back) with just three cards and only pay $95 in annual fees.
Chase credit cards are a good place to start. If you plan on getting multiple cards you will soon learn that they have a limit of 5 cards in a 24 month period. It doesn't matter if the cards are from Chase or not. They will automatically decline your application once you reach the 5 card limit.
With Chase you can set up automatic payments to pay off your balance each month. You also get up to 5% back in either cash or rewards points on certain cards.
You also usually earn a big bonus by signing up and spending a minimum amount in the first three months.
For chase I recommend starting with the following cards:
Chase Freedom - usually gives you $200 cash back bonus (20,000 points) when you spend $500 in the first 3 months, plus $25 for an additional card holder when they first use the card.
You earn 5% cash back on a quarterly category and 1% on everything else. There is no annual fee.
https://www.referyourchasecard.com/2f/1I2SBS697W
Chase Freedom Unlimited - gives you $200 cash back bonus (20,000 points) when you spend $500 in the first 3 months, plus $25 for an additional card holder when they first use the card.
You earn 1.5% cash back on all purchases. There is no annual fee.
Earn $200 cash back with any participating Chase Freedom credit card. I can be rewarded, learn more.
https://www.referyourchasecard.com/2f/VJE7TG5NDP
Chase Sapphire Preferred - Earn 60,000 bonus points with Chase Sapphire Preferred when you spend $4000 in the first 3 months and another 5,000 with a second card holder who uses the card at least once. You earn 2% on travel and dining, and 1% on everything else.
The usual annual fee of $95 may be waived the first year depending on the current offer, so you can just downgrade the card after getting and using or transferring your points if you can't justify the annual fee. More benefits of this card is no foreign transaction fees and it offers great travel insurance including lost baggage and car rental insurance and purchase protection of 120 days due to damage or theft. It also allows you to transfer your points to many Airlines and Hotels. You can transfer the points from the freedom cards to this card, which makes them much more valuable than cash back. Using Chase's website you can use the points to book travel and get 25% more value.
If you want to jump right into the advanced level you can get the Chase Sapphire Reserve card and enjoy airport lounges with complimentary Priority Pass, a $100 credit towards Global Entry or TSA pre-check (every 4 yrs) and lot's more. You will get 50% more value using Chase's website to book travel. The new annual fee has gone up from $450 to $550, but you get $300 in statement credit for travel and $60 credit towards Doordash for 2020 and 2021.
If you apply using my referral links (currently only the freedom cards) I will also get 10,000 reward points when you are approved for each one. You can then refer friends yourself and earn points, up to 50,000 points per year.
If you are interested in hotel's Chase has the IHG Rewards Club Premier Credit Card which has an all time high sign up bonus of 140,000 points. You pay an annual fee of $89 but you get an anniversary night of up to 40,000 points with this. Hotel rewards start at 5,000 but 10,000 to 20,000 is more common. You get $100 towards TSA pre-check or Global Entry every 4 years and the 4th reward night is free. It offers phone insurance if you pay your cell phone bill with it. Lots of value out of this card.
Bank of America also has a travel rewards card that I keep in my wallet. There is a 12 mo. introductory rate of 0% APR for 12 billing cycles. You get a $250 bonus credit when you meet the minimum spend of $1000 in the first 3 months. It offers 1.5% on all purchases. You get it in a statement credit toward travel purchases. Super simple to use and has no annual or foreign transaction fees. If you have a savings account with BOA you also get 10% more back. There is no referral program for this card, but here is the link below.
https://www.bankofamerica.com/credit-cards/products/bankamericard-travel-rewards-credit-card/
I will talk about how to use points or get cash back in my next post.
Mike
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