Update on Recent Citi AAdvantage Executive Application

As I wrote about here and here, I applied for the Citi AA Executive card with a 75,000 and $100 statement credit.  Three days after I applied (and was approved) Citi bumped the public offer to 100,000 miles and a $200 statement credit for $10,000 in spend.  Unfortunately timing I guess.  So I emailed Citi last night to see if they would honor the "better" offer.

Surprisingly, they offered to honor the "better" offer without increasing the minimim spend requirement.  So (factoring in the $200 statement credit) I will now earn 100,000 AA miles for $250.  Not a bad deal given that the miles can be used for a roundtrip business class ticket to Europe!  This is one of the best deals I've seen in a long time and I'm glad I was able to take advantage of it.

The full text of the response is shown below:

Better Citi Executive AAdvantage Bonus - 100,000 Miles

The Citi Executive World MasterCard AAdvantage offer I posted about over the weekend just got even better.  Via The Points Guy at this link, you can earn up to 100,000 American Airlines miles after spending $10,000 in three months.  The offer also comes with a $200 statement credit reducing the annual fee to $250 for the first year.

I've had a few people ask me if they should pull the trigger on the offer (I already did on Saturday at the lower bonus).  I absolutely think you should.  These types of offers only come around a few times a year so if you have plans to book a trip on American (or OneWorld partners) this could be a huge help.  The minimum spend threshold is steep but there are ways to minimize the impact.  The offer likely won't last long so take advantage if you can.

Sorry for all the posts on the same (or similar) topic.  I will try to mix it up over the next couple of weeks.

Meeting Minimum Spend Thresholds with Amazon Payments

Over the last week, I posted a few times on my latest round of credit card applications here, here, and here.  One of the common questions around periodically signing up for credit cards centers around the minimum spend thresholds (i.e. spend $3,000 in 90 days to get xyz).  At first, I had no idea how some people would obtain five new credit cards requiring them to spend $15,000 in 3 months.  Were they actually spending $5,000 per month or were they figuring out other ways to meet the threshold?

One trick I've learned over the last year is leveraging Amazon Payments.  Amazon has a payments service where they will allow you to send up to $1,000 in a calendar month to another person with their own (Amazon) account...on a credit card...for free.  So on the first of each month I send $1,000 to Emily and she sends $1,000 to me.  This process takes us about five minutes per month.

Fly to Hong Kong in First Class for $350

Last weekend, I completed my quarterly round of credit card applications.  Perhaps it was fortuitous timing or just luck that a phenomenal offer came out yesterday.

Via The Points Guy and available at this link you can earn 75,000 American Airlines miles for spending $7,500 in the first 90 days.  You can also earn an additional $100 statement credit by spending $100 on American Airlines within the first year.  The annual fee is $450 and is not waived for the first year so this certainly won't be for everyone. 

The card does get you Admirals Club Access (and USAirways clubs given the merger) which is a nice perk if you fly American a lot...especially given that membership can cost up to $475.

When these offers come around, if you are in a position to apply, you have to do so quickly.  In many cases, the offers are pulled quickly (sometimes hours) so if applying for the card makes sense, don't think just apply.  In this case, there was some speculation that offer was targeted but early reports proved that not to be the case. 

Since I had just completed my quarterly apps a few days earlier, I decided to apply.  Here are a few of my thoughts on why I pulled the trigger:

• Yes, $450 is a VERY steep annual fee.  
• Yes, $7,500 in spend in 90 days is a lot.  But there are some tricks to getting to that amount without "spending more" than you normally would that I'll share in a future post.  
• 75,000 miles will get you three (3) round trip economy tickets on American to anywhere in the US.  So if you live in NYC and want to travel to LA, this will get you there and back three times.  
•  I value AA miles at $.02 each so the bonus with the spend will net you 82,500 miles worth $1,650 for $350 in "cash."
• 75,000 American miles is a ton.  67,500 will get you one-way to Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific First Class. 

For me the value is really in "buying" a one-way first class ticket (last bullet above) to Asia for $350 cash (annual fee - statement credit).  Everyone will think about it differently but that was my logic.  I applied for the card last night, received a notification that I needed to call to verify a few pieces of information, and was approved in 5 minutes.  I was able to verify the offer with the super nice Citi CSR and was on with my weekend. 

100 Free Hyatt Gold Passport Points for 10 Seconds of Work

Hyatt is offering 100 free points as a gift for Chinese New Year.  Looks like it's supposed to be targeted but I tried it yesterday and my points (and Emily's) have already posted.  I value Hyatt points at a $.02 so this is like getting a couple of bucks for free.  The "activity" from the 100 points posting also resets the clock on points expiration.  Offer expires 2/15 but will probably get pulled sooner than that.

Some people scoff at spending the time to claim these offers but over time they really add up so I always try to take advantage if it's not too inconvenient/onerous to get the points.  In this case it's really 10 seconds as you just have to enter your Gold Passport # and hit submit.  If for some reason you don't already have a Hyatt account, you can sign up here and then grab the bonus.

My Latest Round of Credit Card Applications: Results

Over the weekend, I applied for the following cards (read this post first if you haven't already).  This was one of the easiest rounds of applications ever.  I was done in less than 30 minutes all all three cards were auto approved onscreen.  It's not always this easy - sometimes you have to fight for an approval by calling the issuer and explain why you want the card.  In some cases I've had to move credit lines around when I have multiple cards with the same issuer to obtain an approval.  But at the end of the day, the banks want to approve vs. decline and keep you as a customer.  Agents are typically super friendly, knowledgeable and genuinely want to find a way to earn/keep your business.

I managed to grab screen caps of 2 of the 3 but missed on the Amex Surpass upgrade.  I'm always shocked at the credit lines these companies doll out. 

Barclays Arrival Auto Approval

Alaska Airlines BofA Auto Approval

All in, I value the points/cashback earned on these cards at $1,190.  Not my best haul but after a couple years of doing this, there aren't unlimited earning opportunities.  I am looking forward to diversifying my point mix a bit and earning Alaska miles definitely plays into that strategy.  I hope to be riding on the Emirates A380 one day soon!!  Stay tuned for the next round of applications in 90 days or so.

My Latest Round of Credit Card Applications - January 2014

As I discussed in this post, I apply for a new round of credit cards every 90 days.  Remember, this is not for you if you are a) working on improving your credit b) planning on applying for a loan such as a mortgage in the near future or c) if you periodically carry a balance on your cards.  The rewards that you'll gain in these cases will be heavily offset by either not being able to qualify for the lowest lending rate (due to recent inquiries on your credit report) or actually paying interest if you carry a balance.  Each application will typically ding your credit 2-5 points (those inquiries fall off over time and your score will go back up) thus the reasoning for applying for cards every 90 days on the same day.  The inquiries fall off roughly at the same time and on the day you apply, the other banks don't see that you applied for a card earlier in the day.  My FICO score has only approved over two years of doing this every quarter.  Before this round of applications, my score ranged from 765 - 780.

Now that the disclaimer is out of the way...My quarterly "churn" happened to be this past weekend so here's an overview of the cards I applied for and why.  I'll provide an update on the results later in the week.

1)  Bank of America Alaska Airlines Visa Signature(R) Card

This card offers 25,000 miles upon approval.  Meaning no minimum spend required.  The card does offer an annual fee of $75 which is not waived for the first year.  I've been meaning to start stocking up on Alaska Miles since they introduced their partnership and award chart with Emirates.  For 100,000 miles, you can fly (one-way) from the US to the Middle East in First Class on the Emirates A380.  Not a bad way to travel especially when you know you can shower on-board.  I value Alaska miles at $.02 each making the sign-up bonus worth $500.

Earn Over 7x on Restaurant Spend with Dining Programs

A great passive way to earn extra miles is to sign-up for the dining program of your favorite airline.  All the major airlines (United, American, Delta) have very similar dining programs based on the Rewards Network platform.  Here's how it works:

• Sign-up for the dining program of your choice to grab the sign-up bonus (after first dine) that will earn you 1,000 miles on American or United and 2,000 on Delta
• Sign-up both you and your spouse/significant other to double the bonus and double the future earnings
• Add your favorite credit cards to your profile (I use the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card to earn 2.14x points on restaurant spend - all in the sign-up will take you about 5 minutes
• Search for your favorite restaurant/bars to actively seek out an establishment that will earn you points or just go out as your normally would and once in a while you will randomly go to a place that earns you extra miles
• You will earn 3x miles for each dine until you reach 11 dines in a calendar year.  At that point, you will be a "VIP" and earn 5x miles for each dine.  Add that to the 2.14x points you would earn on the CSP card and you would be earning >7x points

Earn 1,000 bonus miles by joining the AA Dining Program

 That's it!  A couple real world examples from the past couple of years:

•  My old office was a block away from a great lunch spot that also had great coffee.  I probably went 2 times per week.  I had no idea they were part of this program until I checked my United statement last year and had earned over 1,500 miles with bonuses
• On Saturday, Emily and I went to the new Richard Sandoval concept called La Biblioteca.  There is also one in NYC.  This is a cool spot with a ton of tequila and happy hour (even on Saturday) until 7.  They are also part of the United dining program.  So we had dinner and drinks there before a movie.  The check was about $70 and with my CSP and "VIP" status, I'll earn almost 500 miles for the dinner.

This is a super easy way to pad your miles and points balances through passive spend.  Just set it and forget it and watch the miles roll in.

Lufthansa First Class Terminal Review

Lufthansa's Frankfurt First Class Terminal is often regarded as one of the nicest lounges in the world.  It's not really a lounge as it's in a separate building from the terminal.  The terminal has everything you could possibly want during a layover or before a longhaul flight including shower suites, jacuzzi suites, a sit down restaurant, a full bar with a ridiculous selection, a water bar, areas to relax, day rooms to sleep, and a cigar bar!

Lufthansa First Class Terminal (FCT)

But the best part is that they will drive you to the plane.  Yep...they will drive you from the terminal through the airfield zig-zagging between 747s and A380s and take you right up to your aircraft.  We were lucky enough to experience all of the above during our recent trip to Istanbul and Dubai (read this post first if you haven't already).  So sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride...

How Many Miles Did We Earn in 2013?

I keep a pretty organized (happy to share if you'd like just let me know below) spreadsheet containing a ton of information about my mileage earning.  It also helps me keep track of our credit card applications, minimum spend required, etc...this is very much a team effort as Emily earned roughly 48% of the total.

I looked back at the spreadsheet this morning and summarized it below.  We earned almost 1.7 million miles and points last year with almost 90% of that coming from credit card bonuses.  We applied for (and were approved for all but one) 24 credit cards in 2013.  Read this post first if you are new to the concept of earnings points/miles through credit card bonuses.

The rest of our earnings were a mix of goodwill from service issues, promotions and other random sign-up bonuses.

We earned over 500,000 Hilton points which (enough after their devaluation) is good enough for 6 nights at the Conrad in the Maldives.  This property can retail for over $1,500 per night so that is almost $10,000 in value!

We have already burned the 321,500 American Express Membership Rewards points we earned to fly Singapore Airlines Suites Class back from Bali in July.

Conrad Maldives

This doesn't include the miles we earned by flying/staying which amounted to another 225,000.  We also purchased a handful of miles (25,000) during a couple of promotions across the year and earned around an additional 150,000 or so miles and points for our "everyday" spend including category bonuses and shopping portal bonuses.

All in, that is over 2 million miles and points generated during 2013!  So where do things stand in terms of point balances now?  According to Award Wallet, we have over 1.6 million miles "in the bank."  We are planning a few trips for later in the year so hopefully we'll be able to put them to good use very soon.  All in all, it was a very good year in terms of earning and burning!

Earn 8 United Miles per Dollar at Sephora

Through the United Shopping Mall, Sephora is offering 8 points per dollar until Monday evening.  I recently wrote a post about how to earn miles through the various online shopping malls so read that first if you haven't already.  This is the highest Sephora earnings rate I've seen in a long time.  I don't shop at Sephora often (Emily takes care of that for us) but in addition to being a "makeup store" they do sell a wide variety of everyday stuff for men (shaving cream especially travel sizes, cologne).

I have had success going through the United mall (Your Mileage May Vary - YMMV) and buying an eGift card first.  Then using that e-gift card to redeem for the actual products.  This may or may not work everytime (the terms explicitly say it won't work) but it is worth the extra five minutes to potentially earn 16 United miles per dollar.  Just make sure you spend over the e-gift card amount the second run through (so buy a $50 eGift card and spend $55 total so $5 ends up on your credit card) as this tends to ensure your miles post properly. 

I value United miles at 2 cents each so if you get miles for both the e-gift card and your purchase, that would be 32% off at Sephora...a store that rarely has discounts or sales.  This is a great deal especially if you were planning on buying something at Sephora this weekend anyway.

Where do you want to go this year?

Over the last couple of years, I've helped a handful of people plan trips using their points and miles.  Everything from award searches to specific lounges in airports (one of my favorites in Tokyo reviewed by One Mile at a Time) to thoughts on activities in cities to how to redeem various types of points and miles.

St. Regis Bali - the trip I am most looking forward to in 2014

So as you think about your travel plans for the year, I'd love to help you out with suggestions on how to redeem your miles and points for a dream trip.  It could be a honeymoon, anniversary trip, or a"regular" vacation (domestic or international).

It's a big world...where do you want to go in 2014?

Send me an email at evan dot berlin at gmail dot com (or post in the comments below) containing the following information:

• Where do you want to go?
• When do you want to go?
• How many people?
• Mileage/Point balances that you have now or expect to have before booking
• Purpose of the trip?
• Travel style?  Do you prefer coach or business class?  Hostel or luxury hotel?
• Any other pertinent details?

I'll highlight my thoughts via posts around trip planning and booking for a couple of the best submissions!

Starwood Preferred Guest Card Overview

I recently wrote about why the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card is one of my favorite cards for everyday spend.  Another one of my favorite cards is the Starwood Preferred Guest(R) Credit Card from American Express.  Starwood owns many brands that you are likely familiar with including Sheraton, Westin, W, and St. Regis.  Many people believe that SPG points are the most lucrative given their organic value and transferability to a number of airline programs.

I've had this card for 10 years and over the last decade, SPG has become my favorite hotel loyalty program.  I have held top tier Platinum (requiring 25 stays or 50 nights in a calendar year) for 4 of the last 7 years which has provided some outstanding benefits.  While this card offers limited bonuses for category spend, it is an outstanding addition to your wallet.  If I am not putting category spend (like dining or travel) or trying to hit a sign-up bonus, I am putting spend on this card.

Here's why:

1. Current sign-up bonus offers 25,000 total SPG points after spending $5,000 in the first 6 months
2. When redeeming four nights, Starwood offers the fifth night free thus reducing the amount of points required by 25%
3. 2 stays and 5 nights toward elite status which gets you 20% to SPG Gold and 10% to SPG Platinum
4. When transferring 20,000 points to partner airlines, (here is the list) SPG offers a 5,000 point bonus so each transfer of 20,000 nets 25,000 miles
5. $65 annual fee waived for the first year
6. If you spend $30,000 in any calendar year, you will be awarded SPG Gold which is the mid tier status offering free internet, additional bonus points for hotel stays, and free upgrades
7. Earn 1 point per dollar for all spend and 2 points per dollar at Starwood hotel properties including hotel restaurants

Review: Lufthansa A330 First Class Dallas to Frankfurt

We spent Thanksgiving traveling to Istanbul and Dubai.  We were originally scheduled to fly from Denver to Houston on United and then direct to Istanbul on Turkish Airlines.  About a week prior to our scheduled departure, a couple of first class seats opened up on Lufthansa (new first class configuration) from Dallas to Frankfurt.  So I called United and changed our flights to route from Denver to Dallas to Frankfurt to Istanbul. We ended up with a three hour layover in Dallas which was plenty of time to explore the newly opened Centurion Lounge which we were able to access with my American Express Platinum Card.  After arriving in Frankfurt the next morning, we would have a few hours to enjoy the Lufthansa First Class Terminal (post on this coming soon) before a short three hour flight to Istanbul on Lufthansa.  After a few days, we'd fly Turkish Airlines from Istanbul to Dubai.  On our way home, we were set to fly Turkish from Dubai to Istanbul and then Istanbul to Houston.  Our final segment was in United First from Houston to Denver the following morning.  Here's a visual of the itinerary:

In total, the itinerary cost 127,500 miles and $70 per person in taxes and fees.  Not a bad deal considering the cash price for each ticket was selling over $12,000!

Miles & Points vs. Cashback

A lot of people have asked me why they should switch from a cashback (or a debit card) to a miles/points earning credit card.  Everyone is in a different situation but generally speaking, all of us like to travel in some capacity.  You might like to travel to weddings, family gatherings, business travel, domestic vacations, international vacations, or all of the above.  Here are my thoughts on why you can derive so much more value from leveraging the variable valuation of points and miles cards for your everyday spend.

The top cashback card on the market right now is the Barclays Arrival(TM) World MasterCard.  The annual fee is waived for the first year ($89 thereafter) and offers a 40,000 point sign-up bonus and 2% cashback on everyday spend.  In addition, you can get an additional 10% back on your travel "redemptions" effectively making the rebate 2.2% back on spend.  So once you're received the signup bonus, you are capped at a 2.2% return on your spend because cashback is cashback.  You can't redeem the "points" for something that varies in cost like a plane ticket or a hotel night. And that is the best deal on the market (ignoring periodic 5x bonuses that Chase Freedom and Discover cards offer in specific categories).

Getting Started: Buying Miles & Points

This is the fifth in a series (post one, two, three, and four) of posts on getting started earning, managing, and redeeming points and miles.

One easy way to “top up” your accounts is to buy miles direct from the airline.  Many of you likely have accounts with many of the major US carriers.  From time to time they will sell you miles at a discount.  I recently purchased a few miles from United to top up my account for an award for about 2.1 cents (I value them at 2 cents each so paid only a small premium) apiece. 

United miles are expensive but are often sold at a discount

It costs (until 2/1/2014) 100,000 miles to redeem for a roundtrip United business class ticket to Europe.  Let’s say you currently have a total of 80,000 miles (easy to rack up quickly) in your United and Chase Ultimate Rewards (transferable to United) accounts and want to go to Paris.  You need 20,000 additional miles for the award ticket in business class.  In this example, you could purchase the incremental miles needed for $420 and fly business class or shell out roughly $1,250+ for a roundtrip coach ticket.  Seems like a no-brainer, right?

Right now, through January 31st, American is running a promotion where you can purchase (buy 45,000 get 15,000 free) miles for 2.27 cents each.  It costs 67,500 miles to fly (one-way) from Chicago to Hong Kong in Cathay Pacific First Class.  In most cases, this is a $5,000 - 10,000 ticket.  As you can see below, you can outright buy the American miles for $1,457.50 and redeem them for a Cathay one-way First Class award. Cathay First is supposed to be fantastic.  Ben has a great review over at One Mile at a Time.  We haven't flown it yet but hope to in 2014.

Not a reality for everyone as that is a pretty big cash outlay and you still need to get back from Asia.  But it's a great illustration of how buying miles from time to time can be a great deal!

Buy 68,000 miles from AA for $1,457.50

Keep an eye out (on this blog) for notifications about new "buy miles" promotions.  There is rarely a price in which I would speculatively purchase miles but if you have a desire to go somewhere and are short miles, this is a great way to get you there.

Getting Started: Miles & Points Blogs

This is the fourth in a series (posts one, two, and three) of posts on getting started earning, managing, and redeeming points and miles.  There are a handful of outstanding miles and points blogs that I subscribe to and read almost everyday.  They all make it pretty easy for you to bookmark, subscribe via email, follow on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook.  Each blog takes a slightly different approach to travel.  But they are all interesting and full of detail on deals, award redemptions, and trip reports for dozens of hotels/airlines.  Reading these blogs has been super helpful in earning miles, figuring out how to redeem for the best hotels/flights and see a trip report of a flight or hotel so I know what to expect.

Here's a recap of my favorites:

1. Ben writes the One Mile at a Time blog.  He's 23, travels hundreds of thousands per miles a year in first class.  Has amazing trip reports of his travels.
2. Brian writes The Points Guy which is a really done beginner and intermediate blog.  Tons of posts on all airlines and hotel chains.
3. Gary writes View from the Wing and has super insightful posts about the travel industry in general as well as miles and points.  He's a CFO so also posts on the economics of the industry which is fascinating.
4. Scott and Amol write Hack my Trip.  Also focused on economics and trip reports.
5. Summer writes Mommy Points which is focused on family travel.  Her blog will likely be helpful to many of you as you try to navigate traveling with a little one as well as reducing your spend on vacations now that you have more people to travel with!

Obviously, your favorite blog should be this one, but there's lots of content out there and it's always helpful to get multiple opinions on something.  Happy reading!

How to Get 25% off at Starbucks

Like most people, I need coffee in the morning.  Like most people, I get a significant percentage of that coffee from Starbucks.  Since our new office is a 4 minute walk instead of a 2 minute walk, I've reduced the frequency of my trips but I still go quite a bit.  It can definitely get expensive so here's a quick overview of how to easily save 25% on your coffee this quarter.  This might seem complicated at first but it's really pretty simple...

• If you haven't already, sign-up for the Starbucks Rewards program.  You can download the app on  your phone, reload your card on the fly, and even pay with your phone.  It is awesome.  You can even keep track of your "points" within AwardWallet.  When you get to 30 purchases within a year, you get "Gold" status.  Many of you probably have already achieved this level of addiction  

Starbucks has a great rewards program

• Make sure you have an Ultimate Rewards earning card like the Chase Sapphire(R) Preferred Card   
• Get the Chase Freedom(R) Card.  Many of you probably already have this card.   I actually don't have this card but Emily does so I will be taking full advantage of this opportunity. 
• Activate the 5x quarterly bonus which for Q1 2014 is Starbucks (also gas and movie theaters). 

5x points on gas, movies, and Starbucks this quarter

• Load your Starbucks card with your Chase Freedom card and go get some coffee!
• As long as you are Starbucks gold, for every 12 purchases, you get a free one.
• Redeem your free Starbucks reward for something better...like an Evolution Juice which is $5
• Transfer your 5x "cashback" from your Freedom card to your Ultimate Rewards account

Here's how the math works:

• 5 points per dollar x 2 (two cents per point) = 10% back
• Spend $3 per coffee x 12 = $36...get a free drink worth $5 = 13.9% back

Total rebate = 23.9%

Obviously this depends on the price of the coffee you purchase and what you get with your free reward but it's a nice discount on something you all likely purchase several times per week.  Let me know if you have any questions!

Sometimes a Cancelled Flight Can Be a Good Thing

During our recent trip to London, we received an email from United at 11:40PM on New Years Eve.  Our 9:20 AM flight from London to Houston had been cancelled.  Well that sucks.  A few minutes later, we received an email informing us that we had been re-booked on the 11:40 AM flight.  That was good news but now we were going to have a super tight 1:10 connection in Houston.  There wasn't much we could do so we enjoyed the rest of 2013, set our alarms for two hours later, and "slept in" a bit.

Our flight to Houston was fine (review coming) except for the fact that Emily has a gluten allergy and I had requested a gluten free meal.  But that meal was sitting on our originally scheduled flight...back in Houston.  So she was kind of out of luck in terms of food.  Thanks to Global Entry, we somehow made our connection even with checked bags.  The flight from Houston to Denver was on an internationally configured 767-300 so we had lie flat beds for the two hour flight.  Pretty sweet...except the entertainment system didn't work and had to be constantly reset by the crew.

Why I Love the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card

The most "abused" card I have in my wallet is the Chase Sapphire Preferred(R) card.  Beyond the awesome look (name on the front, numbers on the back) and feel (this card is heavy) the CSP has some outstanding benefits.  There are certainly more benefits but here are my top 10:

1. The current sign-up bonus is 45,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points after spending $3,000 in the first 3 months
2. 2x points on travel and dining
3. 3x points on dining on the first Friday of each month through the end of 2014
4. A 7% annual dividend on all points earned including the sign-up and category bonuses
5. $0 annual fee for the first year, $95 thereafter
6. The ability to transfer Ultimate Rewards points between accounts (super useful for couples/families to consolidate balances)
7. Access to the Ultimate Rewards Mall for additional earning opportunities
8. Awesome transfer partners including United, Marriott, Hyatt, British Airways, and Korean Air
9. Most points transfer instantly so you can locate your award and then transfer the points
10. No foreign transaction fees when traveling abroad (typically 3%).  You can also get the card with a chip (like mine below) so you can use it in Europe.  Many places won't accept the card without the chip.

My "abused" CSP

If you don't already have this card, you should get it right away (post on getting started) and put it in your wallet.  For most people, these are the most lucrative category bonuses.  Approximately 50% of my spend falls into the travel or dining category.  Travel is pretty broad and includes airfare, hotels, rental cars, parking, etc...I have this card linked to my Uber account as those charges count as travel.

Here's a quick example if you get the card today:

• Spend $2,000 per month, 50% on travel and dining
• You would earn 3,000 points per month in spend (36,000 total for the year)
• 45,000 bonus points in month three for hitting the new cardmember bonus
• The 7% dividend would pay out 5,670 points at the end of the year

In total, you would earn 86,670 Ultimate Rewards points.  This doesn't take into consideration the 3x "First Friday" or any additional points earned through the Ultimate Rewards Mall.  Those points could be transferred to a variety of different partners but let's use a real world example.  You could transfer the points to Hyatt and redeem for 4 nights at the Park Hyatt Istanbul where we stayed in November.  When we stayed, the hotel was selling for $380 USD per night.  The hotel is a Hyatt category 5 and requires 20,000 points per night or 80,000 total.

So you would be getting $1,520 in "value" from $12,000 in spend.  That is a 6.33% return!  Pretty solid redemption and a great way to get a luxury hotel stay for managing your everyday spend efficiently. 

London Edition in the NYT

Given my review this morning...there was a really timely piece about the London Edition in the New York Times over the weekend.  It's a great summary of the hotel, the partnership between Ian Shrager and Marriott, and the way the hotel market (specifically the luxury/boutique) is changing. 

It will be interesting to see how Marriott continues to evolve this brand (and others) with so much competition...especially from Starwood.  I'm looking forward to staying at the new hotels in the pipeline.

Review: London EDITION

Introduction

United 787 BusinessFirst Houston to London

London EDITION

United 767 BusinessFirst London to Houston

We arrived at Paddington Station via the Heathrow Express and were out to the street and in a cab in about five minutes.  Definitely the quickest way to get into London.  The drive from Paddington took about ten minutes in light traffic given that it was Sunday.  The hotel is located in the Fitzrovia area which is a really cool part of London's West End close to parks, shopping, and a ton of bars and restaurants. 

We made our way into the gorgeous lobby where Emma checked us in and sent us on our way.  We had been upgraded to a Superior Room which at 301 square feet, was still pretty good size for a big city hotel room.  The room was warm with wood walls and a clean white bathroom.  Very similar to Ian Shrager's other project (Public) in Chicago.

The best part of the London Edition was definitely the public spaces.  Ian Shrager doesn't seem like the type of guy to partner with conservative Marriott but the relationship clearly works because the hotel is beautiful. Everything from the decor to the music to the lighting was just perfect.  The service was friendly and warm but a bit indifferent at times.  We were there over the holidays and saw many of the same staff working long hours so perhaps they were a bit burnt out. 

2013 Year in Review - Hotels

I spent some time over the holidays compiling a few stats from 2013.  We stayed in some awesome hotels (and had some great flights) all over the world.  There was less business and more personal travel  I ended the year with 55 total nights across Starwood, Hyatt, Hilton, and IHG.  About 8 of the nights were business travel and I earned 10 total "night credits" with my Starwood American Express credit cards.  I closed out the year with four "mattress runs" to re-qualify for Starwood Platinum for 2014.

The four incremental stays brought me to 25 nights and cost about $250.  I'll have more on on the value of Starwood Platinum in a future post but for me...the combination of the renewal gift, free internet, upgrades, and free breakfast during each stay for the next 14 months far outweighs the $250 spent to re-qualify at the end of this year.

Here are a few of the highlights and pictures from 2013:

Getting Started: Online Shopping Portals

This the third in a series (posts one and two) of posts on getting started earning, managing, and redeeming points and miles.  Everyone shops online and it’s one of the best ways to earn incremental points and miles.  Most airlines (United, American, Southwest, etc…) have shopping portals that enable you to earn points by clicking through their affiliate links.  Many Chase issued cards also have their own shopping portal through Chase Ultimate Rewards called the Chase Ultimate Rewards Mall.

Sample United Shopping Offers

It’s really simple…click through one of the links above, login using your AA/United/Southwest/Chase credentials, find a retailer, click through to their website and shop as you normally would online.  During an especially big promotion earlier this year, we spent a few hundred dollars at eBags when they were offering 35 miles for each dollar spent.  We earned over 10,000 miles in about ten minutes buying Christmas presents and a new suitcase for Emily.  

Holiday Shopping yielded a ton of AA miles

In some cases you can “double dip” to really maximize the points earned.  I’ve been able to go through a shopping portal to buy a gift card earning 4x points.  Then I used that gift card to pay for something I was going to buy anyway through the same portal earning another 4x points.  Everyone has a different “valuation” for how much their miles are worth.  I value most of my airline miles at $.02 each.  So earning an incremental 8 miles per dollar spent is like getting 16% off your purchase for a few minutes of work.

Follow me on Twitter!

Just linked the blog with my twitter account so follow me on twitter (@allrightpoints) so you can get real time updates on posts.  You can follow me by clicking the button on the right hand side of the blog.  Super helpful when something timely gets posted.  Hope you are all enjoying your cold and snowy Saturday...we are here in Colorado.

Getting Started: Award Wallet

This is the second in a series of posts (Here is the first) on getting started earning, managing, and redeeming points and miles.  One question I often get is “how do you keep track of your points?”  I have over thirty points/miles accounts all with different usernames and passwords.  Emily has another twenty or so accounts.  That is 50+ unique numbers, usernames, and passwords to manage representing 1,500,000 miles and points.  That would be pretty impossible without some sort of system.   
 

Easily add/manage multiple accounts

Award Wallet is a free service (there is paid version as well that provides some incremental functionality) that enables you to manage all of your accounts (for your family as well) in one place.  Part of making this work is staying super organized.  AwardWallet makes that part really simple and easy.  Award Wallet enables you to add all of your accounts, keep track of the balances, automatically update balances, add your travel planes, and see which points/miles are about to expire.  You can even add things like Opentable or Starbucks to your account.

It's a pretty intuitive (create an AwardWallet account, add the usernames and passwords for your miles/points accounts and that's it) system but please let me know if you have any questions on getting setup!  It's a similar process to setting up Mint or any other financial aggregation system.  There are a few airlines that have prevented AwardWallet (i.e. United and American) but you can manually update your balance - something I do on a monthly basis.

Keep track of accounts, account numbers, status, balances, and expiration dates