Konrad2012 Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 Actually everyone reading this thread should consider joining any loyalty programs they aren't a member of already in order to receive target offers. I have received: Marriott 70k point offer Hilton or Hyatt 60k and 80k offer United 50k offer A better Delta offer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mendelssohn Posted January 1, 2015 Author Share Posted January 1, 2015 1) Amex Blue AU (MS 2002). Husband is cardholder. We have ~60,000 MR points, and I don't see how to get more than 0.5 cents per point out of them. Can you transfer them to British Airways? If so, you can use BA to book flights on American. If not, then you need to think about redeeming those points, closing the card, and getting an Amex EveryDay. Or watch out for KLM 50% off specials. To get the most out of MR points, you need to transfer them into a frequent flier program and book award tickets. The best values are usually first/business class international tickets, although BA can be quite valuable booking domestic flights. How are you coming up with .5 cent a piece? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonathan03 Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 My strategy is a lot different than most but I have a few good cards. I fix and rent homes and use credit cards to take advantage of the 0% interest and cash back. So my goals are to find cards with a high limit that also have promotions every so often with 0% interest. The best ones I have are: Home Depot (obviously) 5% off or 0% interest for high purchases. Its not hard for me to spend $2 k there and no interest for 24 months. I don't think any other card does that anymore. I've had this card since 2011 and my limit is $35 k. Just be careful not to use the home depot installation services or you will pay 50% more to get no interest :-P Chase Freedom - 1% cash back or 2% cash back on bonus categories. Basiclly 1% all the time for me since I don't buy in the bonus categories often. I have a $30 k limit with them and their rate is 10.99% Captial One Venture - Even though this is a travel card I consider it a cash back card. There really aren't many deals I've seen with it for just travel. I got it for the 30,000 bonus points ($300 equivalent) to join and spend $3 k and it also has 0% interest for one year. There are different versions but mine has no annual fee and 1.5% cash back. They had one with an annual fee with 2% cash back. The travel points can be used the same for cash back which is nice. Citicards Diamond Preferred - They send me 0% balance transfer deals all the time, not just when joining. When I joined a few years ago there was no interest for 18 months. They also have some type of points system when I should investigate today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mendelssohn Posted January 1, 2015 Author Share Posted January 1, 2015 (edited) My strategy is a lot different than most but I have a few good cards. I fix and rent homes and use credit cards to take advantage of the 0% interest and cash back. So my goals are to find cards with a high limit that also have promotions every so often with 0% interest. The best ones I have are: Home Depot (obviously) 5% off or 0% interest for high purchases. Its not hard for me to spend $2 k there and no interest for 24 months. I don't think any other card does that anymore. I've had this card since 2011 and my limit is $35 k. Just be careful not to use the home depot installation services or you will pay 50% more to get no interest :-P Chase Freedom - 1% cash back or 2% cash back on bonus categories. Basiclly 1% all the time for me since I don't buy in the bonus categories often. I have a $30 k limit with them and their rate is 10.99% Captial One Venture - Even though this is a travel card I consider it a cash back card. There really aren't many deals I've seen with it for just travel. I got it for the 30,000 bonus points ($300 equivalent) to join and spend $3 k and it also has 0% interest for one year. There are different versions but mine has no annual fee and 1.5% cash back. They had one with an annual fee with 2% cash back. The travel points can be used the same for cash back which is nice. Citicards Diamond Preferred - They send me 0% balance transfer deals all the time, not just when joining. When I joined a few years ago there was no interest for 18 months. They also have some type of points system when I should investigate today. The bonus categories on the Freedom are 5%. Just FYI, those of us that transfer them to airline miles programs through one of the premium cards (CSP, Ink Plus) are getting up to 6+ cents per point. If you are looking for 0% offers, the Chase Slate should be on your list. Lowe's also offers 5% off and has special financing offers. For flat rate cash back, the Fidelity Amex or Citi Double Cash offer 2% cash back on everything. NASA FCU has a card that is 2% on everything after a low annual spend ($2K IIRC). You are correct. This is a cash back travel card, just like the Barclays Arrival card. Edited January 1, 2015 by mendelssohn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cappy Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 (edited) It's discussed how we can earn points and which cards to use to maximize our points and miles, but not how to use them in the best possible manner... Before I learned about points and mile redemptions, I just automatically assumed that each point or mile was worth a penny... I would see a bonus for 20,000 points and I got all excited about getting an extra $200! I decided to hold on to my rewards and I'm happy I did so.... Maximizing your miles and points are a must!!! This is an actual example from a hotel in NYC from last night. 12K SPG points with a value of 9.5 cents/Point I would've thought back in the day that this would've been worth $120 and if I didn't really care about hotels and I tried redeeming my points for something else the point program offered, I would've lost out BIG!!! Please Share The Ways You've Used Your Points/Miles to Maximize The Value Of Your Rewards... 1. Post Screenshot if possible (If no screenshot, post description) 2. Reward Program Edited January 1, 2015 by Captivated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mendelssohn Posted January 1, 2015 Author Share Posted January 1, 2015 (edited) Do we really need two of these? My intent is to cover this as part of the other thread. Edited January 1, 2015 by mendelssohn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andersons Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 Well, if I go to Amex Travel to book a flight with MR points, for my flight, the points are worth 0.5 cents. I calculate about the SAME value of 0.5 cents for merchandise and gift cards. How do you get more value than that from MR points? Even with cards that earn 2X points or 3X points for certain categories, that's 1-1.5% rewards. Why wouldn't I just use the Fidelity Amex 2% rewards for any spending less than 4X MR points? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RussInGotham Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 Well, if I go to Amex Travel to book a flight with MR points, for my flight, the points are worth 0.5 cents. I calculate about the SAME value of 0.5 cents for merchandise and gift cards. How do you get more value than that from MR points? Even with cards that earn 2X points or 3X points for certain categories, that's 1-1.5% rewards. Why wouldn't I just use the Fidelity Amex 2% rewards for any spending less than 4X MR points? Then the Blue card's MR points are restricted. I'd put that card in a drawer. Get an Amex with transferable MR points, like the EveryDay card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cappy Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 Do we really need two of these? My intent is to cover this as part of the other thread. The only reason I created this was because I felt this is a bit different.... I'm not trying to interfere with the thread you created, but this really could use a separate thread... Their is a difference between Maximizing the way you use your cards to earn the best value of your cards, but it's really important and how you use those points properly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mendelssohn Posted January 1, 2015 Author Share Posted January 1, 2015 Well, if I go to Amex Travel to book a flight with MR points, for my flight, the points are worth 0.5 cents. I calculate about the SAME value of 0.5 cents for merchandise and gift cards. How do you get more value than that from MR points? Even with cards that earn 2X points or 3X points for certain categories, that's 1-1.5% rewards. Why wouldn't I just use the Fidelity Amex 2% rewards for any spending less than 4X MR points? Don't book travel through Amex. Transfer points into an airline miles program and book travel through that program. Well, if I go to Amex Travel to book a flight with MR points, for my flight, the points are worth 0.5 cents. I calculate about the SAME value of 0.5 cents for merchandise and gift cards. How do you get more value than that from MR points? Even with cards that earn 2X points or 3X points for certain categories, that's 1-1.5% rewards. Why wouldn't I just use the Fidelity Amex 2% rewards for any spending less than 4X MR points? Then the Blue card's MR points are restricted. I'd put that card in a drawer. Get an Amex with transferable MR points, like the EveryDay card. Yeah, that's probably the issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mendelssohn Posted January 1, 2015 Author Share Posted January 1, 2015 That's part of maximizing rewards. I'm going to keep my discussion of this in the other thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cappy Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 That's part of maximizing rewards. I'm going to keep my discussion of this in the other thread. Ok... Sorry... I was just trying to useful.. I have a lot of reward questions coming up for you Mr. Reward Expert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mendelssohn Posted January 1, 2015 Author Share Posted January 1, 2015 That's part of maximizing rewards. I'm going to keep my discussion of this in the other thread. Ok... Sorry... I was just trying to useful.. I have a lot of reward questions coming up for you Mr. Reward Expert I don't consider myself an expert. There are a lot of people that know a lot more than me on CB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mendelssohn Posted January 1, 2015 Author Share Posted January 1, 2015 Just a reminder to anyone with MR points that the 40% bonus on transfer to BA Avios ends January 31. I'm still trying to decide if I'm going to move all of mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cappy Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 That's part of maximizing rewards. I'm going to keep my discussion of this in the other thread. Ok... Sorry... I was just trying to useful.. I have a lot of reward questions coming up for you Mr. Reward Expert I don't consider myself an expert. There are a lot of people that know a lot more than me on CB. I was only playing... Although, a strategy I could use some help with Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RussInGotham Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 Well, if I go to Amex Travel to book a flight with MR points, for my flight, the points are worth 0.5 cents. I calculate about the SAME value of 0.5 cents for merchandise and gift cards. How do you get more value than that from MR points? Even with cards that earn 2X points or 3X points for certain categories, that's 1-1.5% rewards. Why wouldn't I just use the Fidelity Amex 2% rewards for any spending less than 4X MR points? To clarify about the MR points, if they're transferable, they're worth more than a penny each. Transferring them to BA gets you Avios that should be worth $0.015+ each. So the 3x points categories are worth at least 4.5 cents each. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mendelssohn Posted January 1, 2015 Author Share Posted January 1, 2015 Well, if I go to Amex Travel to book a flight with MR points, for my flight, the points are worth 0.5 cents. I calculate about the SAME value of 0.5 cents for merchandise and gift cards. How do you get more value than that from MR points? Even with cards that earn 2X points or 3X points for certain categories, that's 1-1.5% rewards. Why wouldn't I just use the Fidelity Amex 2% rewards for any spending less than 4X MR points? To clarify about the MR points, if they're transferable, they're worth more than a penny each. Transferring them to BA gets you Avios that should be worth $0.015+ each. So the 3x points categories are worth at least 4.5 cents each. Don't trust points/miles values from the travel blogs. Remember that the value depends on how you use them. I personally would rather pay for a ticket than redeem for 1.5 cents each. I know you implied this with the +, but I wanted to clarify. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mendelssohn Posted January 1, 2015 Author Share Posted January 1, 2015 It looks like Cappy's spinoff thread was merged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cappy Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 I don't travel that often, but when I do, I usually go longer distances... NYC TO LA Or NYC To London, etc... I'm Looking to combine my points if possible and use primarily one airline.. I'm also looking for hotels and wouldn't mind giving up some miles or points to do so... CB is not important to me... I want to maximize my points to the fullest... Suggestions? Miles: Delta 30K Southwest 50K United 50K US Airways 85K Points: Thank You 20K Ultimate Rewards 50K Arrival 40K Hotels: SPG 10K Hilton (2 Free Nights) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mendelssohn Posted January 1, 2015 Author Share Posted January 1, 2015 Have you researched carriers on your route? UR points can be transferred to United. I was researching the possibility of using United miles to fly on Air Berlin the other day. You might see if Air Berlin flies that route. IIRC there are no/low fees and surcharges. I've only flown Air Berlin inside Europe, so I have no idea how they are on longer flights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cappy Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 Have you researched carriers on your route? UR points can be transferred to United. I was researching the possibility of using United miles to fly on Air Berlin the other day. You might see if Air Berlin flies that route. IIRC there are no/low fees and surcharges. I've only flown Air Berlin inside Europe, so I have no idea how they are on longer flights. The issue I have more is... My point/miles are so spread out.... I really wish I could combine some... Points.com does it, but it's murder what they do to convert them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mendelssohn Posted January 1, 2015 Author Share Posted January 1, 2015 Have you researched carriers on your route? UR points can be transferred to United. I was researching the possibility of using United miles to fly on Air Berlin the other day. You might see if Air Berlin flies that route. IIRC there are no/low fees and surcharges. I've only flown Air Berlin inside Europe, so I have no idea how they are on longer flights. The issue I have more is... My point/miles are so spread out.... I really wish I could combine some... Points.com does it, but it's murder what they do to convert them You have 100K between United and Chase UR. I suggest researching how to use those for a Europe trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cappy Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 Have you researched carriers on your route? UR points can be transferred to United. I was researching the possibility of using United miles to fly on Air Berlin the other day. You might see if Air Berlin flies that route. IIRC there are no/low fees and surcharges. I've only flown Air Berlin inside Europe, so I have no idea how they are on longer flights. The issue I have more is... My point/miles are so spread out.... I really wish I could combine some... Points.com does it, but it's murder what they do to convert them You have 100K between United and Chase UR. I suggest researching how to use those for a Europe trip. I would probably be better off transferring my UR Points to HYATT so I have some type of balance with Hotels... I read a while back that you could transfer UR points to Amtrak and Amtrak to SPG points... Do you know anything about that??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mendelssohn Posted January 1, 2015 Author Share Posted January 1, 2015 Have you researched carriers on your route? UR points can be transferred to United. I was researching the possibility of using United miles to fly on Air Berlin the other day. You might see if Air Berlin flies that route. IIRC there are no/low fees and surcharges. I've only flown Air Berlin inside Europe, so I have no idea how they are on longer flights. The issue I have more is... My point/miles are so spread out.... I really wish I could combine some... Points.com does it, but it's murder what they do to convert them You have 100K between United and Chase UR. I suggest researching how to use those for a Europe trip. I would probably be better off transferring my UR Points to HYATT so I have some type of balance with Hotels... I read a while back that you could transfer UR points to Amtrak and Amtrak to SPG points... Do you know anything about that??? No, but you're going to end up losing a lot if value when you start going through multiple programs like that. Sign up for some hotel rewards cards this year and use those points. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andersons Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 See if you can convert your Discover to an "it." That will get you a free TU 08 FICO every month where there is activity on the account. >The Platinum card is my husband's, and it does report HIS TU08 FICO, but not mine as an AU. Hmmm....typing this just made me realize I always manage the account by logging in as him. If I create/log in to my own AU account, will it show my score? I doubt it, because Discover never got my SS#, doesn't know my legal name, and doesn't report my AU to CRAs. You should able to get a free Eq 08 FICO from Citi, with any of their non-cobranded cards, in the coming months. >Thanks, good to know. Amex is supposedly rolling out Ex 08 FICO. >I read this somewhere and have logged in looking for it, but it's not available. This is also my husband's account so it would be his FICO, not mine. That Fidelity Amex won't help with D*, but it might become a prybar. You should open a cash management account with Fidelity too. > Really, they won't use my Amex MS date on an Amex branded account? I was afraid that the CLs looked to be on the low side. I am thinking about the CMA; we have a lot of household brokerage/403b accounts with Fidelity, and our Wells Fargo PMA has no value left after they eliminated the 100 free trades/year. Wells Fargo has been a horrible bank to deal with. The Chase Freedom is an excellent card to have. I'd avoid the Amazon card. Get the Sallie Mae card instead. 5% cash back on groceries, gas stations, and book stores. Amazon is usually coded as a book store. > Good to know, thanks. That Union Bank card looks awful in the second year. > Yes, I would plan to cancel it if I got it. Probably won't apply. TD is awful after six months. > Yes, but with no AF I was just looking at the signup bonus. Target is an excellent store. Their card, however, is CLI-challenged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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