I post a lot about aspirational trips booked with points (and minimal cash) and my experiences onboard, but how do I get there?

I have been in the points “game” since college (2010-2014), and have picked up a few important pieces of knowledge along the way. Two of the best pieces of advice I can give is that you don’t need to use a credit card everyday to make it worth having, and the cards with the highest annual fees aren’t necessarily the most rewarding.

I categorize credit cards/charge cards into three types:

1. Daily Use Cards
   • These are cards that I keep in my wallet and use regularly
2. Special Cases Use Cards
   • These are cards that I use for very specific types of expenses
3. “Drawer” Cards
   • These are cards that I keep in a drawer and use once or twice a year to keep them open

Everyday Cards are just that: cards I use everyday, or at least most days. I have four of them:

• American Express Blue Business Plus (No Annual Fee) – 2x Membership Rewards Points per dollar up to $50,000 per year.
  • This is the best non-category based business card on the market. The Citi Double Cash card is the closest personal card in earning power if you have a Citi Premier Card.
  • Fun Fact: you do not have to have a traditional business to have an Amex business card. If you have a blog or sell on eBay/Etsy, you can apply as a Sole Proprietor and use your income from your primary income source on your application.
  • Sign up here and receive 15,000 Membership Rewards Points when you spend $3,000 within the first 3 months of card membership. Use this link if you want to explore elevated signup offers on almost every Personal Amex card.
• Chase Sapphire Preferred Card ($95 Annual Fee) – 3x Ultimate Rewards Points per dollar on Dining (including apps like Doordash), 3x on Online Grocery Services (Instacart), 3x on Streaming Services, 2x on Travel (including hotels, airfare, Uber, etc.), and 1 point per dollar on everything else.
  • Sign up today and receive 80,000 Ultimate Rewards Points if you spend $4,000 in the first 3 months of card membership. The normal bonus is 60,000 points so this is a great offer as well!
• US Bank Altitude Reserve Card ($400 Annual Fee) – 3x Points per dollar on all mobile wallet purchases (Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay), 3x on Travel including hotels, airfare, Uber, etc.), and 1 point per dollar on everything else
  • Full disclosure: US Bank doesn’t have any points transfer partners and I am planning on closing this card later this year. The current bonus is 50,000 Points for spending $4,000 in the first 3 months of card membership.
• Bilt Rewards Mastercard (No Annual Fee) – 3x Bilt Rewards Points per dollar on Dining, 2x on Travel, 1x on Rent if you make 5 purchases per month, and 1 Point per dollar on everything else
  • There isn’t a signup bonus on this card, but it is still worth having due to an extremely strong set of Travel transfer partners, benefits like Cell Phone Protection, and even earning points on rent. Sign up here!

Finding First Class Award Availability on Japan Airlines is difficult. Finding it for only 80,000 AAdvantage Miles is nearly impossible.

I want to preface this by saying that this is not a deal you will come by often, but is all the more reason to have credit cards issued by multiple banks as each have their own transfer partner network. I have cards from all major issuers except Capital One, and I couldn’t have booked this trip without having a stockpile of American Airlines AAdvantage miles and Alaska Airlines MileagePlan Miles.

I was fortunate to hear about widespread Japan Airlines (JAL) Business Class award availability in January 2024 which can be booked via AAdvantage Miles (60,000) or MileagePlan Miles (60,000). I consider AA miles to be far less valuable than Alaska miles, so I checked the AA app first. I found plenty of availability out of Atlanta with stops in Dallas DFW or Chicago ORD, but one fare in particular caught my eye. A single flight pair from ATL -> DFW -> HND (the closer of the two Tokyo airports) showed a warning that my desired class of service (Business) wasn’t available on all segments, but was priced at 80,000 AAdvantage miles vs. the 60,000 miles I was expecting. I decided to drill in and found that it was the AA flight from ATL to DFW which was in economy (😭) BUT the flight from DFW to HND was operated by Japan Airlines and was a First Class fare! I knew that this was extremely rare, so I booked the flight before checking if I had a way to get home, or a hotel in Tokyo!

Once I had booked the flight, I decided to see just how much cash this exact ticket was selling for. I knew it wouldn’t be cheap, considering I redeemed roughly $1,120 worth of AAdvantage miles to grab the seat and Japan Airlines is known for 5 Star Service, but I wasn’t expecting it to cost a whopping $12,806.30 had I paid cash for it! That is an astounding 16 cents per point redemption which is almost unheard of.

Finding my way home proved to be a bit more challenging than I expected, but I managed to snag a Nonstop Business Class award ticket on Japan Airlines from Tokyo HND to San Francisco SFO by redeeming 60,000 Alaska Airlines MileagePlan miles. I probably could have found a routing using more miles in another program which would have allowed me to travel on to Atlanta, but I figured I would grab a quick flight to Vegas since I was going to be nearby anyways. This redemption was also bookable via the same amount of AAdvantage miles, but I had burned my stockpile on the first leg of the trip. Fortunately, I have a massive stockpile of Alaska miles due to their longstanding transfer relationship with Marriott (3 Marriott Points -> 1 Alaska MileagePlan mile) and some extremely generous bonuses when they were in the process of acquiring Virgin America. This fare was a slightly more reasonable $4,787, but I still ended up with an 8 cents per point redemption which is far more than the 2 cents per point that most people value Alaska miles at.

Earning the Miles I Redeemed

Neither American Airlines nor Alaska Airlines are direct transfer partners of the two largest credit card point “currencies”, being American Express Membership Rewards Points and Chase Ultimate Rewards Points, but there is a path transfer points there in a pinch. Both Amex and Chase allow you to transfer their points to Marriott Bonvoy Points at a 1:1 ratio, and you can then transfer Marriott Points to AAdvantage Miles or MileagePlan Miles at a 3:1 ratio (plus 5,000 additional miles per 60,000 Marriott Points transferred). That transfer doesn’t make sense most days, but would have allowed me to secure these flights by utilizing sign up bonuses on some of my favorite travel cards rather than signing up for the airlines’ own cobrand cards, which are not nearly as flexible.
Note: if you happen to already have Chase Ultimate Rewards Points, there is currently a 50% transfer bonus to Marriott Bonvoy for a limited time, which would provide a much better value. That being said, I don’t recommend transferring to Marriott without a booking or airline transfer in mind as they devalue their points periodically, sometimes without notice.

If you want a stash of transferrable points to have in case a deal like this comes up, look no further than the Platinum Card from American Express. For a limited time, if you use my referral link here, you can earn a massive 150,000 Membership Rewards Points sign up bonus and $200 in statement credits just for spending $6,000 in the first six months of card membership. The Platinum Card does have a whopping $695 annual fee, but there are a host of benefits which help offset it completely, and I will happily coach you through maximizing them. If you want a solid card with a lower fee, simply click “View All Cards with a Referral Offer” and then “Personal Cards” and you will see elevated sign up offers on both the Amex Gold Card ($250 Annual Fee with up to $240 a year in Uber and Grubhub Credits plus 4X points per dollar at Restaurants and Grocery Stores) and Amex Green Card ($150 with a free Clear membership and 3X points per dollar earning on Dining and Travel), which are both fantastic travel cards which allow you to transfer points to various airlines or Marriott if your desired airline isn’t a direct transfer partner.

Another solid option with a lower annual fee is the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card from Chase. If you use my referral link, you can earn 60,000 Ultimate Rewards Points when you spend $4,000 in the first three months of card membership. This card has a more modest $95 annual fee and has a strong 3X points per dollar earning structure on Dining, Streaming, and Online Grocery Purchases (like Instacart).

I prefer more flexible travel cards like those mentioned above, but you can earn AAdvantage miles from co-branded American Airlines cards offered by both Citi and Barclays. Personally, I prefer the Barclays AAdvantage Aviator card due to the extremely easy bonus (50,000 AAdvantage miles with your first purchase and payment of the annual fee). For MileagePlan miles, you can sign up for the Bank of America Alaska Airlines Card, which is currently offering a 70,000 mile signup bonus once you spend $3,000 in the first three months of card membership. The downside of these cards is that they lock you into earning one particular type of mile, and airlines are notorious for stealth devaluations of miles. The earning structures on these cards also tend to be much less generous than those of the premium travel cards offered by American Express and Chase.

I will report back once I decide on a hotel in Tokyo, but please let me know if you have any questions. I am always happy to provide recommendations for the best credit card strategy given your unique financial situation and travel aspirations, and I will never charge you. I just ask that you use one of my referral links if one of the cards I recommend works for you.

Note: I earn a referral bonus when you use some of the links in this article. Generally, my referral links offer you a better sign up bonus than what is publicly available. In the event that I know of a better public offer, I will share it with you as well so you can decide which you’d like to apply with. You won’t hurt my feelings, I promise!

Credit Card Points aren’t just for flights and hotels: you can even book a cruise!

For as much as I travel, I have never actually been on a cruise. Fortunately, due to an ongoing offer from Virgin Red, I was able to book an 8 Night Eastern Caribbean Virgin Voyages cruise for 100,000 Virgin Points and ZERO Cash. 100,000 points may sound like a lot, but you can easily earn them in a few months by meeting a sign up offer from American Express or Chase, both of whom transfer to Virgin Atlantic/Virgin Red.

What makes this offer truly special is that it requires ZERO cash. No port fees, no taxes, no gratuities, no crazy WiFi charges, AND you can bring a travel partner for free. Plus, the redemption already includes a Sea Terrace (aka balcony) room so you will be cruising in style!

Virgin Voyages is making waves in the cruise industry. Their ships are smaller than Carnival and Royal Caribbean, and they are adults-only which is a huge plus for me. They don’t do drink packages, and opt for a simpler model of making quality beverages affordable.

I have been meaning to sail with them since their launch, but Covid has always gotten in the way. Thanks to American Express’ extremely generous sign up bonus on the Platinum Card, I had more than enough points to book this cruise. In fact, they even had a 30% transfer bonus to Virgin Atlantic (sadly this has ended for now) so I actually only had to redeem 77,000 Membership Rewards points for this redemption, which is just over half of the whopping 150,000 Membership Rewards Points you will earn by applying with my referral link and spending $6,000 within 6 months of being approved.

While American Express is by-far my favorite rewards program and card issuer, you can also get a solid 60,000 point sign up bonus for spending $4,000 in the first 3 months via the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, which offers more flexible earning categories than the Amex Platinum with a comparatively minimal $95 annual fee. These do come at a cost, as the Platinum Card offers a host of benefits ranging from monthly streaming credits, cell phone insurance, and travel delay/cancellation benefits, plus access to Centurion Lounges, Delta Skyclubs (when flying Delta), and Priority Pass lounges.

Whichever card you end up with, you will be well on your way to redeeming your rewards for dream vacations using points earned from money you were going to spend on bills anyways. That is the beauty of my credit card strategy, I spend organically and still get to travel in style on the card issuer’s dime which is a win in my book!

The cruise I booked is now sold out, but there are plenty of options still available for redemption. And for reference, a shorter cruise in my same room is currently retailing for $4,100, which is proof of the incredible value of this redemption.

I’ll be posting about my onboard experience once I set sail on April 8th, but I would love to answer any questions you have about credit card rewards, my overall strategy, and the best card for you. I will happily provide any advice for free, and only ask that you use my referral links if you choose to go with a card from American Express or Chase.

IMPORTANT NOTE: when you apply for and are approved for cards using my referral links, the card issuer gives me some bonus points for referring you. Generally, my referral links are better offers than those that are publicly available, but if they aren’t, I will always point you to both options so you can decide which is best for you.

I recently traveled from Atlanta to Frankfurt, Germany completely in First and International Business class for less than $150 out of pocket thanks to a generous signup bonus and transfer promotion from American Express. Keep reading to see how I did it!

Full Disclosure: I receive a referral bonus from some of the application links that I share within this post. As always, I will let you know how good the offer is, and if there is currently a higher offer available via a different link. As much as I love referral bonuses, I want each and every one of you to get the best deal possible!

Booking the Flights

Booking an airline’s best Product (e.g. Singapore Airlines Suites, Emirates First Class, Lufthansa First Class) can be extremely difficult to do, so it requires a lot of patience, flexibility, and good timing. These airlines regularly charge $10,000-$15,000 for flights when passengers pay cash, so they tend to have extremely limited “award” availability.

Possibly the only good thing to come from the pandemic is that airlines became more flexible with both change/cancellation fees, and opened up additional award availability due to low demand for cash fares. This, combined with a fantastic mile transfer promotion from American Express combined to make this trip possible. In early December 2021, my absolute favorite travel site, One Mile at a Time published an article stating that Singapore Airlines had opened up Suites availability for flights from New York to Frankfurt throughout the Summer of 2022. Given the turbulent Covid-19 situation, I opted to search for the latest flights I could, and managed to find a flight with availability at the very end of July, and best of all, it was at the “saver” cost level of only 86,000 Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles plus $5.60 in taxes and fees. I couldn’t find saver level award availability in Singapore Suites on the flight home, so I opted to fly back in their new Business Class seat for another 72,000 KrisFlyer miles plus €117.97.

Singapore’s A380, the massive jet which operates with the Suites product onboard, has a very limited route network, so I was going to have to fly to New York JFK to catch my ride. Luckily, I still didn’t have to pay cash to get there as Virgin Atlantic allows me to book Delta-operated Domestic First Class seats for a much better deal than Delta’s own Skymiles program. I snagged a Roundtrip flight from ATL-JFK for 55,000 Virgin Atlantic Points plus $11.20 in taxes and fees.

Yeah, but how did you get those KrisFlyer and Virgin Atlantic Miles?

Great question, as I rarely pay cash for my flights, I have to “earn” the miles another way. Luckily, the three largest players in the Credit Card market, American Express, Chase, and Citibank, all partner with both of the programs I needed miles in, and fairly routinely offer transfer bonuses which give me even more value when I do choose to transfer. In this case, I only needed to redeem 132,000 Amex Membership Rewards points to cover the Singapore Airlines flights due to a 20% transfer bonus, and 40,000 Amex Membership Rewards points for the Delta flights due to a 40% transfer bonus to Virgin Atlantic.172,000 Amex Membership Rewards points may sound like a lot, and it is, but they are easier than ever to earn! I was able to earn enough points in one year thanks to the Amex Platinum’s generous 100,000 point sign up bonus for spending $6,000 in the first 6 months of having the card. That combined with the 5X Membership Rewards per dollar earning rate for Airline Tickets purchased from Amex Travel or directly with the airline and Prepaid Hotels through Amex Travel made it easy to earn them quickly. Now, the Amex Platinum Card doesn’t come cheap. The annual fee is a whopping $695 a year. But the card features benefits far beyond the point earning which make this much easier to pay. That being said, if you want another solid option with a more modest annual fee, the Chase Sapphire Preferred is a fantastic option as it earns 3X Ultimate Rewards Points per dollar spent on Dining, Travel, and online grocery delivery/pickup purchases like InstaCart and Publix In-Store Pickup. It also offers 5X points per dollar on travel booked through Chase Travel, similar to the Amex Platinum. Finally, you receive a 10% rebate on points earned each year on the card (excluding the signup bonus). This card currently offers a 60,000 Ultimate Rewards Points signup bonus when you spend $4,000 in the first 3 months of having the card. We have seen 80,000 and even 100,000 point (once) signup offers on this card before, but banks seem to be tightening up their signup offers due to rising interest rates.

One Important Note About Transferring Amex, Chase, or Citi Rewards Points to Airlines is that these transfers are final, so you can’t get your points back. Airlines in particular also have a nasty habit of devaluing their miles (I’m looking at you, Delta) frequently, so you don’t want to transfer them unless you have travel plans and/or there is a transfer bonus too good to pass up.

Traveling in Style

I’m going to get right to it. SIngapore Airlines Suites is the best airline product in the world, and their Business class is a close second. I knew it was going to be great, but I was not prepared for just how good it ended up being. Below are some images of the Suites product, including onboard dining which is hand-prepared for you by their signature “Book the Cook” program. In the spirit of keeping this post short, I will save the details about the service in both Singapore Airlines Suites and Business Class, including lounge access, amenity kits, and more for the next post, which should be up soon.

jetBlue Mint is hands down the best way to fly in the United States. From the day that the Mint service was introduced back in 2014, it was a game changer. jetBlue is a smaller carrier, and they obliterated the competition from “the Big 3” domestic carriers with a lie-flat business class seat, and in some cases, suite, for the same price that their competition was charging for economy on the routes Mint was introduced in.

Prices have risen in steadily on the Mint route network, which mostly consists of routes to and from Boston, New York City, Fort Lauderdale, which are all jetBlue’s main hubs, and several West Coast destinations, including Las Vegas, San Francisco, Los Angeles and a few others.

My Flight

Since there is no Mint service from Atlanta, I knew I needed to fly to Boston or New York to take my flight to Las Vegas. My first choice was New York, but the JFK – LAS flight was $1,049 one way (similar to Delta, United, and American’s pricing) but the BOS – LAS flight was an incredible $499, less than half of what the other carriers wanted for first class!

I booked my flight with my Platinum Card from American Express, which offers 5X Membership Rewards points on airfare purchased via Amex Travel or directly with the airline. I value Membership Rewards points at roughly 2 cents per point, so I earned a whopping 10% cash back on the purchase of my ticket. Right now, you can apply for the Platinum Card here, and if approved, you can earn 60,000 Membership Rewards points when you spend $5,000 within 3 months of being approved. You can also apply for any other personal or business Amex card through that same link, and we will both get a bonus if you’re approved!

Important Note: It is possible to get a 75,000 or 100,000 point signup offer for the Platinum Card using the Amex pre-qualified offer site or CardMatch tool, however I have never personally seen the 100,000 point offer.

The Flight

As a Mint passenger, you are the first to board the Airbus A321 aircraft, and as soon as you board, you see what sets Mint apart from other domestic Business/First class experiences. The cabin was spotless, the seats themselves are huge, and 4 of the 16 seats are individual suites with a door that you can open and close on demand for additional privacy. These suites also offer large amounts of extra space, and workspaces which are much more comfortable to use as a table top than the tray tables (which they have as well). I chose Seat 2A, and to say that my seat and suite were roomy is a true understatement. I spent most of the 30 minutes before takeoff exploring all of the storage spaces, power ports, and function of the seats, which recline fully flat (and anything in between), offer adjustable lumbar support, and even have a massage function. They are simply incredible.

My Mistake and The Crew that Saved the Day

I fly more than the average person, and use a seatbelt extender for my own comfort and safety. I verified with jetBlue that even though the seatbelts in Mint are inflatable, you can still use an extender (which just turns off the airbag). Now I have used these extenders dozens of times, and thought they were the most straight-forward part of my flight, but I managed to make mistake that could have ended my Mint adventure before I began. I buckled it backwards and jammed the whole mechanism.

I immediately started to freak out, and flagged down Vanessa, one of two flight attendants dedicated to assisting the 16 passengers. She could tell how embarrassed I was, and after some quick small talk and trying to fix it ourselves, said she would call a mechanic to hop on the plane and fix it. She told me to stay put, and offered to bring me as many drinks as I needed until he got there. I took her up on her offer and enjoyed a few RefreshMints, their signature Vodka Limeade drink. Luckily, the mechanic was nearby and made short work of the jammed seatbelt and we were able to take off without a delay. I give Vanessa a ton of credit, she was sincere, funny, and helped make me laugh throughout the ordeal, and told me I wasn’t “on her list… yet.” She really was funny, we joked around every time she stopped by my seat to check on me, and even showed me the approximately 8,000 different features of my seat, and suite. Colleen was amazing too, they took turns walking the cabin and brought us anything we needed, including some solid in flight headphones, real espresso drinks, and all the snacks and drinks we wanted.

Food and Beverage

The onboard menu is comprised of small plates inspired by Saxone + Parole in New York City. Since my flight was early in the morning, the options were breakfast inspired. I opted for the Nutella Stuffed French Toast, Pineapple with Lime and Sea Salt, Maple Glazed Bacon, and Baked Egg Frittata. The big winner was the french toast and pineapple, which were both bursting with flavor. The egg dish wasn’t particularly flavorful, and I think the bacon was great, but would have been better had it been stuffed in the frittata.

Overall Experience

This was easily the most comfortable I have ever been on a plane. For me, food/beverages, mile earning, and lounge access are important, but seat comfort and the in flight crew are much more important. The amazing seats, combined with the stellar interactions with Coleen and Vanessa made this a flight to remember. I am not sure jetBlue Mint is worth traveling to another city to hop on a flight, but if you’re eager to visit some friends in Boston or New York, it is definitely worth a long weekend. If you want the best business class product in the sky, then jetBlue Mint is the clear choice to make.

Since most of you have already done your holiday shopping, I figured I would give an update on what is in my wallet rather than recommending a card (don’t worry, I still have plenty of suggestions)!

New Additions: 

1. American Express Platinum Card [Unbranded] [$550 AF]
2. American Express [Rose] Gold Card [$250 AF]
3. American Express Gold Delta Skymiles Card [$0 AF First Year, $95 AF After]
4. Citi Premier Card [$0 AF First Year, $95 AF After]
5. Wells Fargo Propel Card [$0 AF]

Product Changes:

1. Chase Sapphire Reserve to Chase Freedom Unlimited [$450 AF to $0 AF]

Cancelled Cards:

1. American Express Gold Delta Skymiles Card [$0 AF First Year, $95 AF After]
2. Chase Southwest Premier Card [$99 AF]

Did you say you cancelled and opened the same card?!

I did. I cancelled my Gold Delta Amex when the annual fee came due back in April and didn’t think I would have it again. American Express has some very specific rules with their cards and sign up bonuses, called “Once per Lifetime.” The basic rule is that while you can sign up for a card “product” as many times as you want, you are only eligible for a new cardmember bonus once per lifetime. However, there are some ways around this rule, namely targeted offers.

I received an email from Delta/Amex offering me the same card with a 60,000 Skymile bonus for $1,000 in spend in 3 months, and there was no lifetime language mentioned in the terms and cardmember agreement that was linked to the targeted offer. Because of this, I hit the spend easily, and the miles should post to my account with no issue (if they don’t, I will update this post).

Elevated American Express Sign Up Bonuses

Right now is one of the best times of the year to sign up for an American Express card, as their referral offers are showing elevated sign up bonuses which are significantly higher than their normal counterparts if you apply directly. If you are in the market for ANY new cards, take a look and apply here!

Some definite winners are:

• American Express Platinum Card
  • 75,000 Membership Rewards Points when you spend $5,000 within the first 3 months
  • The standard signup bonus is 60,000 Membership Rewards Points for the same spend
  • I will note it is possible to be targeted for a 100,000 Membership Rewards Points offer, but I have never been targeted for it. You can check to see if you are via the CreditCards.com CardMatch tool
• American Express Gold Card
  • 50,000 Membership Rewards Points when you spend $2,000 within the first 3 months
  • The standard signup bonus is 25,000 Membership Rewards Points for the same spend
  • This is my new favorite card. It earns a whopping 4X Membership Rewards Points per dollar on spend at US Restaurants and Grocery Stores. When you can buy a gift card for almost any retailer at your local Publix, you can basically earn 4 points per dollar on ALL spend, which can offer an insane return
• American Express Everyday Card
  • 25,000 Membership Rewards Points when you spend $2,000 within the first 3 months
  • The standard signup bonus is 10,000 Membership Rewards Points for the same spend
  • This card also comes with 0% interest on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months, which can be very helpful for those unexpected expenses in life

If you only want one card in your wallet, consider the Hilton Aspire from American Express. 

When American Express announced that they were going to release a co-branded luxury hotel credit card with Hilton, I was less than thrilled. I am a Starwood loyalist, and haven’t stayed at many Hilton properties other than Hampton Inn, so I didn’t really know what they have to offer. However, when I read about the card, I realized it was a complete no-brainer to get, and effectively pays you to hold it every year, regardless of whether or not you use all of its benefits.

Here is a quick snapshot of what you get for your $450 annual fee:

• 100,000 Hilton points when you spend $4,000 within 3 months of account opening (one-time bonus)
• $250 per year incidental airline fee credit (calendar year)
• $250 per year Hilton resort credit (cardmember year)
• Free Weekend Night (cardmember year)
• Free Hilton Honors Diamond Status
• $100 property credit on certain stays
• Priority Pass Select membership (you + 2 guests)

The Aspire Card also has an extremely favorable earning Hilton points earning rate:

• 14 points per dollar on Hilton stays
• 7 points per dollar on (US) restaurants, flights, and rental cars
• 3 points per dollar everywhere else

I value Hilton points at roughly 0.5 cents per point, so you earn a whopping 7%  on Hilton stays (you will also earn an additional 20 points per dollar during stays due to your Diamond status, so a 17% overall return), 3.5% on dining, flights, and rental cars, and 1.5% on every purchase.

Maximizing your benefits

Taking advantage of your card benefits couldn’t be easier. The $250 airline incidental fee credit prohibits purchasing gift cards, but you are still able to do so with certain airlines (Delta and Southwest). I will be happy to tell you how, just chat or email me as it is a loophole that isn’t widely publicized to help keep it from being fixed.

The $250 Hilton resort credit is a little more tricky, as it can only be used at certain properties, which you can view at www.hilton.com/resorts. There are several Disney-area properties in Orlando, beachfront properties in Hawaii, and 2 hotels in Vegas which are eligible for the credit. And, as long as you use your Aspire credit card to guarantee your incidentals, you can use the credit on Hilton points stays! I booked a stay at the Tropicana Las Vegas for 18,000 Hilton points in December, and will have my whole $250 credit to enjoy while I am there.

After maximizing just these two perks, you are already at a $50 net credit without spending a dollar on the card (after credits are applied), so every other perk is just gravy. The Free Weekend Night certificate can easily be worth $300 if used at a nicer property, like the Roosevelt, a Waldorf Astoria hotel, in New Orleans (where I am using mine). The Hilton Diamond status allows you to have free breakfast at almost any property, and even offers complimentary suite upgrades based on availability. The Priority Pass Select membership allows you to relax and grab a drink before you enjoy your next flight courtesy of your airline gift card incidental fee credit. And the $100 credit on certain stays can get you a nice dinner, although it only applies at more expensive properties so you may not use it.

All in all, you can easily get $800 in value each year that you hold the card, which more than justifies the annual fee. Add in the insane earn rate on Hilton stays, and you have a contender for the best card in your wallet (I’m looking at you, Chase Sapphire Reserve). If you think the Hilton Aspire Card is a good fit for your wallet, you can apply here!

Everyone who travels regularly has a favorite hotel chain, and mine has always been Starwood Hotels due to their incredibly generous rewards program called Starwood Preferred Guest (or SPG). When I learned that Marriott Hotels International was acquiring SPG, I was less than thrilled. I had a stash of Starpoints, the SPG rewards currency, which I was planning to use next year for a First Class round-trip ticket to Australia, but because of the merger, members of SPG are now able to instantly convert their Starpoints to Marriott Rewards points at a 1:3 ratio. This favorable transfer rate allowed me an opportunity to get even more with my points through Marriott’s Flight and Hotel Travel Packages.

Flight and Hotel Packages allow you to trade in your Marriott Rewards Points for a 7 Night Award Certificate and a variable amount of airline partner miles. The chart below looks expensive, but the real value is in the airline miles that you get in addition to the certificate, as the higher level packages allow you to “purchase” extremely valuable miles for just 1 Marriott Point per Mile.

Through my American Express SPG Personal Card signup bonus, some strategic Starpoints purchases when they were on sale, extremely generous SPG promotions, I was able to amass 120,000 Starpoints since I started earning them last November. After a instant transfer to Marriott, I had the 360,000 points that I needed for my redemption: a 7 Night Marriott Category 8 Certificate, and 120,000 Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Miles.

I didn’t have any plans for the hotel certificate, but I wasn’t worried since it is valid for a year, and Marriott will extend it another year if you ask. But just like that, I got an invitation to a good friends wedding… in Puerto Rico! I went and checked the hotel that the wedding is at, and was shocked that the cash rates were $309/night + an 18% Resort Fee + Tax, but also noticed that it was a Marriott Category 8 Property. After a quick call to Marriott, I had 7 nights booked at the hotel for a flat $30 a night surcharge for my ocean view balcony room, instead of $3,209.01 for the cash price.

Other sites dive deeper in points valuations, but most value Marriott Rewards points at about 0.9 cents per point, so the 360,000 points I traded in are worth around $3,240. Even without the 120,000 Alaska miles that I acquired, I essentially broke even on the redemption. Once you include the miles, which are worth about 1.8 cents apiece, I ended up $2,130 ahead with my travel package. Not too shabby for 6 months of spending, a few hotel stays, and 2 calls to Marriott.

Shout out to the happy couple, Luis y Patricia! Can’t wait to see you in PR!

If you are just getting started in the points and travel game, check out my post on my favorite credit card here, and then apply for the Chase Sapphire Reserve (we will both get a bonus!)

It’s been a while since my last post, and wanted to send out an update of my current credit card inventory, as I have added a few cards to the list, and cancelled others.

New Additions:

1. Chase IHG Rewards Club Mastercard [$0 AF 1st Year, $49 AF After]
2. Starwood Preferred Guest Amex [$0 AF 1st Year, $95 AF After]
3. Barclaycard JetBlue Plus Mastercard [$99 AF]
4. Citi AAdvantage Gold Card [$0 AF 1st Year, $49 AF After]
5. Amex Everyday Card [$0 AF]
6. Amex Platinum Card for Mercedes Benz [$550 AF]

Product Changes:

1. Discover it to Discover Miles [Both $0 AF]

Cancelled Cards:

1. Amex Platinum Card for Charles Schwab [$550 AF]
2. Barclaycard CashForward Card [$0 AF]

While there are generally several reasons why someone would want to open a card, mine are almost always centered around a signup bonus. All of my new credit cards had an elevated sign up bonus when I applied for them.

A Note on Airline/Hotel Cards:

Airlines are notorious for devaluing their loyalty programs, so I plan to burn the miles I earned from my AAdvantage Gold Card (65,000 AAdvantage Miles) and Delta Skymiles Gold Card (60,000 Skypesos). I will hang on to the 60,000 TrueBlue Points that I earned from my JetBlue Plus Card, as they are currently a fixed value program, and I do not live near a JetBlue hub.

Coming Up Next: Card Issuer Rules and Limits

 

 

I’m going to defy general posting norms, and give you the summary of the Chase Sapphire Reserve Card first: Get. This. Card. This card offers incredible value, rewards, and benefits, and is hard to beat. Don’t let the $450 Annual Fee fool you, it pays for itself. It is by far my favorite card in my wallet.

Disclosure: If you click this link, you will receive the same offer Chase offers new card members (50,000 Ultimate Rewards Points after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months), and I will get a few points for referring you. Apply Here for the Chase Sapphire Reserve

So here are the basics of the Chase Sapphire Reserve Card:

• Annual fee is $450
• Rewards Structure
  • 3x Ultimate Rewards Points on Travel Expenses (Flights, Hotels, Car Rentals, Lyft/Uber)
  • 3x Ultimate Rewards Points at Restaurants (cafes, bars, fine dining, etc.)
  • 1x Ultimate Rewards Point on everything else
• $300 Annual Travel Credit
• Application Fee Credit for Global Entry or TSA Precheck (get Global Entry, it’s a better program and include free Precheck)
• Priority Pass Select Lounge Membership
• 50% Bonus on Ultimate Reward Value when booking travel through Chase

The annual fee may seem high, but it really isn’t. The $300 annual travel credit is incredibly easy to use. Put a hotel stay on your card (no need to book through Chase) and *bam* the charges are instantly offset via statement credit on your account. Works the same for Lyft and Uber rides. Essentially, your first $300 of travel expenses are free every year. Based on this, the annual fee is basically $150 a year.

The next big perks of the card are the Global Entry fee credit and Priority Pass Select membership. For Global Entry, simply sign up for the program online and use your Reserve Card to pay the $100 application fee, and you’ll receive a statement credit for it. As a note, this benefit can be used once every 4 years, but Global Entry lasts 5. The process of getting Global Entry (and by extension, TSA Precheck) involves applying online, undergoing a thorough background check and an interview at the airport with the feds. Once you do that, assuming you pass, you can use TSA Precheck lines for the next 5 years. For Priority Pass select, you simply request your PP card, and it shows up in the mail. Priority Pass is a much larger program abroad, but you can generally find a lounge at most major airports (e.g. The Club at ATL in the international terminal). Your membership will generally get you free entry into the lounge, and whatever libations your heart desires. I value this perk at at least $30 per lounge visit, and $50 if you have more than a drink or two while there.

Ultimate Rewards are an incredibly valuable “point” currency. Chase has 7 airline transfer partners, and 4 hotel partners, including Southwest Airlines, KLM/Air France, and Virgin Atlantic (and by extension, Delta), IHG, and Marriott (which can transfer to SPG). With these partners, you can transfer Ultimate Rewards Points into their respective points or miles and use them towards award travel. The points are also even more flexible because you can use them to book air travel or hotels with nearly every airline or hotel chain in the world using the Chase Travel Portal, and if you hold the Chase Sapphire Reserve card, your points are worth 50% more than paying cash!

With a program as generous and as easy to use as Ultimate Rewards, you will not find a better card in rewards per dollar spent. Other cards like the Platinum Card from American Express offer 5x points on airfare, but only 1x on restaurant purchases, which is many folks’ largest spending category per year (myself included). The 3x Ultimate Rewards bonus at restaurants has no cap, so your rewards potential is endless. The travel category is also very beneficial because you don’t need to book through Chase to qualify, which means you can also earn Hotel rewards points (like Marriott Rewards or SPG Starpoints) by booking through the hotel itself.

In my my first three months of card ownership, excluding my sign up bonus, I earned 19,000 Ultimate Rewards points (8,000 of which was thanks to the 3x multiplier on restaurants and travel expenses). Those points alone offset my $150 remaining annual fee, and then some. And that was just 3 months!

If you want the best credit card on the market, look no further and apply for the Chase Sapphire Reserve today. You won’t regret it.