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Old 01-18-2020, 03:40 PM
 
Location: NJ
31,771 posts, read 40,580,083 times
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im currently accumulating points using chase ink, sapphire reserve and freedom unlimited. i used the chase portal recently to buy some plane tickets. its definitely a good deal since you get the extra 50% value from the points. im happy with it.

one issue that i have is that my combined online advertising and travel spends puts me over the limit on the ink card so im only getting 1 point instead of the 3 for some of it. ive thought about getting the business amex gold to shift some advertising/travel spend to get the 4 points but im not sure i want to deal with amex. i already accumulate bonvoy points, united points and now i have a bunch of hyatt points also. i enjoy that chase points dont lock me into a specific hotel/airline program (i know amex wont but still its 1 more program to manage).
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Old 01-18-2020, 04:12 PM
 
26,181 posts, read 21,481,737 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptainNJ View Post
im currently accumulating points using chase ink, sapphire reserve and freedom unlimited. i used the chase portal recently to buy some plane tickets. its definitely a good deal since you get the extra 50% value from the points. im happy with it.

one issue that i have is that my combined online advertising and travel spends puts me over the limit on the ink card so im only getting 1 point instead of the 3 for some of it. ive thought about getting the business amex gold to shift some advertising/travel spend to get the 4 points but im not sure i want to deal with amex. i already accumulate bonvoy points, united points and now i have a bunch of hyatt points also. i enjoy that chase points dont lock me into a specific hotel/airline program (i know amex wont but still its 1 more program to manage).

Can you pick up a second ink card? I’ve seen some online posts that it works. If you have the current card on your ss# or tax Id you can self refer for the other ss#/tax id and pick up the referral bonuses plus the sign up bonus and expand your limit that way
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Old 01-18-2020, 04:17 PM
 
26,181 posts, read 21,481,737 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by eddiehaskell View Post
I played the credit card rewards game for years, but now that I’m retired I’ve sorta simplified things and went with the Costco Visa...4% on gas year round and 3% on restaurants/travel. If one of my cards has a useful 5% category I’ll use that — otherwise it’s a card that gives 2% on everything.
We appreciate all your contributions to the credit card rewards point threads over the years
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Old 01-18-2020, 04:18 PM
 
Location: NJ
31,771 posts, read 40,580,083 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lowexpectations View Post
Can you pick up a second ink card? I’ve seen some online posts that it works. If you have the current card on your ss# or tax Id you can self refer for the other ss#/tax id and pick up the referral bonuses plus the sign up bonus and expand your limit that way
i guess i may as well take a crack at it since that would be my ideal scenario.
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Old 01-18-2020, 04:21 PM
 
26,181 posts, read 21,481,737 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptainNJ View Post
i guess i may as well take a crack at it since that would be my ideal scenario.
It seems to work with at least what I’ve seen on the various chase card groups. I’m no where near the limit but with my ink card any gift card I can get at office supply stores turns into a min 7.5% discount when combined with my csr. I normally use Uber/amazon/Starbucks in this group and add in others where appropriate
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Old 01-18-2020, 05:59 PM
 
Location: Niceville, FL
13,258 posts, read 22,752,433 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by james777 View Post
No, rules are changing constantly, but as far as I can see, two of the three US legacy carriers will not accept AMEX points. Below is an outdated post which may help you. That website will provide you with hours more of fun reading.
But if you really want to use MR points to fly American, you can transfer them to BA/Iberia (Avios) or Cathay Pacific and book vis oneworld codeshare. If you want to fly United, MR points transfer to alliance partners Air Canada, Singapore, and ANA.

Similarly, if you want to use Chase points to book a domestic Delta flight, you can transfer them to Air France/KLM Flying Blue or Virgin Atlantic. (Though note that booking Delta domestic routes with those can be a little fussy and requiring calling customer service) Access to American in the Chase ecosystem is also via BA/Iberia.

Chase is the only issuer of credit cards that generate points into the Southwest program. I find Southwest to be a perfectly adequate airline but am not overly fond of its award program because award ticket price is so very much tied to cash purchase price and I like to play arbitrage a bit with my award tickets.
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Old 01-18-2020, 06:38 PM
 
Location: On the East Coast
2,361 posts, read 4,858,873 times
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If you want a lot of info I suggest subscribing to The Points Guy newsletter. Everything you would want to know about points cards and how to cross use them. He does have an affiliation to some but seems to talk about a lot of different ones. Plus keeps up to date with changes and new card incentives and how many you can apply for.

I don't charge as much any more, and don't travel as much, so we just went with Chase Freedom Unlimited. It works for low spenders who just want cash back.
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Old 01-18-2020, 07:40 PM
 
12,547 posts, read 9,886,683 times
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Originally Posted by Lowexpectations View Post
We appreciate all your contributions to the credit card rewards point threads over the years
I take it you saw them on another forum? Hehe.
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Old 01-19-2020, 05:35 AM
 
4,717 posts, read 3,251,941 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by james777 View Post
In my thirty years of getting credit card rewards, I have found it is easier to use a couple of cash back credit cards than to be constantly opening and closing accounts and transferring points to get travel rewards. I use the Double Cash card from Citi, which gives me 2% cash back on everything. It has no annual fee, but it does have a foreign exchange fee for purchases made outside the US. It also has Citi's fraud protection, which is probably the best in the industry. It's also a MasterCard, which is accepted everywhere, whereas AMEX is not. Capital One and Barclays have no annual fee cards which do not charge fees for purchases outside the US.

However, if you are a business traveller, or frequent certain airlines or hotels, it may well pay you to go the travel rewards route.
I agree. My business travel included a lot of flights on AA and stays at Marriott and Hilton properties, so it made sense to have their credit cards. Now I'm a "free agent" and can book what suits me so I'm better off with straight cash. I have lifetime Gold status on AA and that doesn't get me much these days EXCEPT for the ability to choose my seat and check a bag at no charge. Both come in handy on domestic flights. I also save on credit card annual fees- have gotten them from about $400/year to zero.

And yes, programs change. Citibank cut way back on the travel-related perks. If you try and book a Hilton reward stay in a luxury property in the center of one of the desirable European capitals, they'll have only "premium rooms" available at rates that give you a tiny fraction of value per point redeemed compared to a Hampton Inn in Chicago. An unrestricted Business Class seat to Europe was 100,000 miles on AA 5 years ago. Now it's more than double that. They can change the rules at any time. And they do.
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Old 01-19-2020, 08:06 AM
 
Location: Chandler, AZ
3,285 posts, read 2,649,441 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptainNJ View Post
im currently accumulating points using chase ink, sapphire reserve and freedom unlimited.
Why not the Freedom for the quarterly 5X category?

Quote:
one issue that i have is that my combined online advertising and travel spends puts me over the limit on the ink card so im only getting 1
So shift your spend to the Freedom Unlimited for 1.5X at least.
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