Airline/Hotel Loyalty Programs

[Bo Diddley]

I love the flexibility of AMEX points. It pays to keep a bunch of them on hand to cover shortages for rewards from other travel partners for a given redemption. You'll find that occasionally there's a transfer bonus that gets you more points than the normal exchange rate with a particular partner. I try to hold most of my points for those windows of opportunity to get more value out of the points.

I like to spend a little time seeing how much things cost from time to time so I can recognize a good value ticket or hotel option when I see them.

One such window just opened up. Thru the end of April, you get 30% more points when you transfer to Hilton Honors. I've found good value in Hilton hotels in the UK.

[Pelado]

OK, I decided to jump back the credit card game-the-system crowd. I signed up for a SkyMiles Amex where I get 75K miles if I spend $3K in the first few months (already done). Then today I got a SkyMiles Platinum Business Amex where I get 95K miles if I spend $4K in the first 3 months. A cool 170K miles to play with.

I will have well over 300K miles. I need to plan some trips.

We should have a repository of referral links so that if there's a card one of us wants to get, at least one member of our little clan is also benefitting from it. I'll start with a summary of some of the current promotions and benefits of the cards in my wallet for which I can get a referral (click on the linked card name to apply for the card):


Chase Ink Business Preferred - 100,000 bonus Ultimate Rewards points after spending $15,000 in first 3 months; 3x UR points on travel, postage/shipping, social media advertising, internet, cable, and phone services; 1x points on other spending; points earned by other cards can be transferred into the UR account for this card and each UR point on this card is worth 1.25 cents in purchasing power in Chase portal (25% bonus); $95 annual fee

Chase Ink Business Unlimited - 75,000 bonus UR points after spending $6,000 in first 3 months; 1.5x UR points on all purchases; no annual fee

Chase Ink Business Cash - 75,000 bonus UR points after spending $6,000 in first 3 months; 5x UR points on purchases on internet, cable, phone, office supply stores; 2x UR points on gasoline and restaurants; 1x UR points on other spending; no annual fee

Chase Freedom Card - 20,000 bonus UR points after spending $500 in first 3 months; 5x UR points on rotating bonus categories each quarter; 1x points on other spending; no annual fee

Chase Freedom Unlimited (I don't have this one, but I'm trying the same link as the other Freedom Card) - 20,000 bonus UR points after spending $50 in first three months; 1.5x UR points on all purchases; no annual fee

United Business Card - 75,000 bonus United MileagePlus miles after spending $5,000 in the first 3 months; 2x MP miles on United spending, dining, gasoline, office supply stores, and local transit; 1x MP miles on other spending; 2 United Club passes annually; free checked bag for holder and companion; unlocks additional award availability; $99 annual fee/waived for first year

Chase Amazon Prime Card - 5% cash back on all purchases at Amazon.com or Whole Foods; 2% cash back at restaurants, drugstores, and gas stations; 1% cash back on other spending; no annual fee

To qualify for the business cards, you don't have to be (wholly) self-employed. A side gig could be enough to qualify you - something as simple as collecting some extra cash on the weekends doing welding for friends and family.

Many card companies, including Chase, will automatically decline you if you've opened up 5 or more new card accounts within the previous 24 months (known as the 5/24 rule). So you want to be judicious in which accounts you open to make sure that the juice is worth the squeeze. Luckily, business cards usually aren't considered for the 5/24 rule.

Chase Ultimate Rewards points (along with American Express Membership Rewards) are pretty much the most valuable loyalty rewards currency. Their best use is generally transferring them as needed to airline or hotel transfer partners for specific award spots. They can also be used in the Chase Travel Portal.

Your spending strategy doesn't have to be this complex (though it can also be much more intricate). In general, when I first get a card, I put all my spending on it to make sure I get the bonus points/miles. After the bonus has been earned, I revert to using whichever card gets me the most points for the purchase. For example, I only use the Chase Amazon Prime Card for Amazon purchases. I use the Chase Ink Business Cash card for internet, phone, cable, and office supply store purchases since I get 5x Ultimate Rewards points. I use the Chase Ink Business Preferred for any travel, postage, or social media advertising to take advantage of the 3x UR points. All the non-bonus category spending goes on the Chase Ink Business Unlimited since it gets 1.5x points instead of just 1x like the other cards.

I just got the United Business Card approval today. I don't anticipate using this card a lot for a couple different reasons. First, it provides MileagePlus miles instead of Ultimate Rewards points. UR points are more valuable than MP miles. Second, the bonus categories are not particularly exciting. I don't anticipate racking up a lot of United purchases, and even if I did, it would generally be wiser for me to use the Chase Ink Business Preferred to get 3x UR points instead of 2x MP miles. Some of the benefits that spurred me to apply: 1) It unlocks the same award availability than is available to the elite MP members without having to obtain elite status 2) It makes upgrades more likely for me and my travelling companion(s) 3) It opens up access to Chase's Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection. I'm skeptical that there will be any properties in the Collection that would be considered a bargain, but I couldn't see the options at all without the card, so now I'll be able to see the options there, at least. So there are some benefits to the card, including the 75k bonus miles with very little risk since the $99 fee is waived for the first year.

I also have the CitiBank Costco Card, which I use for 4% cash back on gasoline and 2% cash back on other Costco purchases. Unfortunately, I didn't see any referral bonus links there.

So what cards do you all have? Don't forget to include referral links where available so you can rack up some free rewards by all us suckers following your example.

[Pelado]

And delayed twice again today. Bloody hell.

He said the problem yesterday was one of the flight attendants never showed up.

That was an issue for us on a different carrier last spring.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Sounds like a maintenance issue and not a lot of aircraft inventory or margin to deal with it. Probably need to factor this risk in when deciding who to fly with.

And delayed twice again today. Bloody hell.

He said the problem yesterday was one of the flight attendants never showed up.

[Moliere]

I love the Provo airport. So convenient.

Agreed. I’ve only flown through it once (round trip) but it was very easy. Allegiant did a decent job with the flight but I’d likely never fly them other than direct.

[Green Monstah]

Yeah, Breeze and Allegiant (and Spirit and Frontier) are a real you-know-what when it comes to cancellations.

[Bo Diddley]

I take this back. My son and DIL were flying from SFO to Provo yesterday. Flight was delayed 2 hrs. Then again for 3.5 hrs. Then cancelled. By this time it was late, so they put them up in a hotel in SF so they could catch a flight today. Now they just texted us and said that today's flight is delayed.

Sounds like a maintenance issue and not a lot of aircraft inventory or margin to deal with it. Probably need to factor this risk in when deciding who to fly with.

[Pelado]

I take this back. My son and DIL were flying from SFO to Provo yesterday. Flight was delayed 2 hrs. Then again for 3.5 hrs. Then cancelled. By this time it was late, so they put them up in a hotel in SF so they could catch a flight today. Now they just texted us and said that today's flight is delayed.

They must be holding the plane for a bigwig - like maybe SU.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Yes. Flew to SFO from Provo last year. It was fine.

I take this back. My son and DIL were flying from SFO to Provo yesterday. Flight was delayed 2 hrs. Then again for 3.5 hrs. Then cancelled. By this time it was late, so they put them up in a hotel in SF so they could catch a flight today. Now they just texted us and said that today's flight is delayed.

[Pelado]

If you buy early, you can typically get a great deal.

I won't be buying at all since they don't have service near me yet.

[Green Monstah]

My guess is that the flights will be pricier around games.

If you buy early, you can typically get a great deal.

[Pelado]

I may actually get BYU football season tickets because it's so cheap and easy to fly into Provo.

My guess is that the flights will be pricier around games.

[Uncle Ted]

I love the Provo airport. So convenient.

When is Allegiant and/or Breeze going to fly to DFW or Dallas Love?

[Green Monstah]

I may actually get BYU football season tickets because it's so cheap and easy to fly into Provo.

[Green Monstah]

They probably have to do that to keep it manageable with the increased commercial flights. Probably more parking coming as well.

Yeah. I may know a kid who left their car parked for a month.