United MileagePlus Explorer 75,000 Bonus

Back in March, I wrote about the 55,000 mile United MileagePlus Explorer offer from Chase.  It's been a while since we've seen super compelling credit card offers especially from Chase.

Well now is the time to check your United MileagePlus account to see if you qualify for the a great new offer!  The new offer provides 70,000 Unites miles after spending $3,000 in the first 90 days.  You'll also receive 5,000 bonus miles for adding an authorized user and $50 statement credit.  All of the standard benefits (including 2 free United club passes) still applies.  The annual fee is not waived for the first year.  After meeting the spend requirements, you'll have 78,000 United miles for a cash outlay of $45.  The offer expires 6/30.

I wasn't targeted but Emily was.  She recently received the card (in March) and after a quick secure message to Chase with a couple of screenshots showing that she's been targeted, she was matched to the higher offer!

If you haven't had this card, I would highly recommend logging in to your MileagePlus account to see if you've been targeted.  I value the 78,000 miles at around $1,500.  The value of the club passes is around $45 (you could sell them on eBay for maybe $30 total) so essentially you're getting 78,000 miles for free.

As an example, roundtrip business class ticket to Europe on United runs 115,000 miles.  If you've had the card before, you can get the bonus again as long as it's been 24 months since you last had the product.

Easy 1,500 Amex Membership Rewards Points

Amex is out with a great new Amex offer which provides 1,500 bonus Membership Rewards points after spending $100 at a "Supermarket."  While this may be a targeted offer, both Emily and I had it on our accounts (just one account each)

I'm assuming that buying a gift card will work.  I've purchased one Whole Foods $100 physical gift card to see if it triggers the points.  Amex clearly states that an online purchase will trigger the bonus so we'll see.  I'll report back if that is indeed the case.

I value 1,500 MR points around $30 so think of this as a 30% discount on groceries.  Not bad.  You can check your Amex offers on the mobile app by clicking on "offers" or in your card account online by scrolling to the bottom of the page and looking at your available offers.

United Shopping Mall 1,000 Mile Bonus

United's online shopping mall is out with a solid bonus this week.  Spend $250 prior to June 5th and you'll receive 1,000 bonus miles.  That's in addition to the bonused spend through the mall and credit card spend.

Earn rates seem to be fairly low (most stores between 1 and 3 bonus miles) at the moment - much different than the bonuses we usually see during the holidays (5 - 15x).  That said if you are going to spend $250 on stuff this week anyway, you might as well take advantage.  A store offering 2x turns into 6x plus any points you'd receive from credit card spend.

Here are the full rules if you are interested.

The Three Best Credit Cards for Beginners

I am often asked "what is the best credit card to get."  The answer is typically "it depends."  Let's assume that you meet the minimum criteria to more aggressively apply for credit cards in order to earn points for award travel.

1)  You have a job that pays you money consistently
2)  You don't have credit card debt or carry a balance ever
3)  You desire to travel
4)  You have a high credit score (call it north of 720 - this one isn't a deal breaker but will certainly help)

Assuming you meet these four criteria,  here is where I would start:

Chase Freedom:

This is a great place to start as one of the most powerful points earnings cards comes with no annual fee.  The current bonus will net you 15,000 points after spending $500 in 90 days. The card enables you to earn 1x cash back for everyday purchases.  You'll get 5x on specific category bonuses each quarter which is an easy 30,000 points per year.  The kicker is that the cash back can be transferred to Ultimate Rewards points if you have the Chase Sapphire Preferred (or another Ultimate Rewards earning card such as a Chase Ink card)  making this one of the most powerful card duos on the market.  You can then leverage the Ultimate Rewards points to transfer your points to a variety of travel partners (United, British Airways, Hyatt, etc...).  When you redeem those points for travel you're likely to earn a return far greater than the 1% cash back.

Chase Sapphire Preferred:

As one of my first posts ever, I wrote about the value of the CSP.  The value proposition remains solidly in place.  Sign up for the card and you'll receive 50,000 Ultimate Rewards points after $4,000 in spend.  You'll also receive 5,000 UR points for adding an authorized user.  That makes the signup bonus worth 59,000 UR points.  You'll earn 2x UR points for spend in the travel and dining categories...which is most of my personal spend.  The 59,000 UR points can be combined with the 15,000 you earned from the Freedom card and the transferred to the partners mentioned above.  The annual fee (waived for the first year) is $95 but given the everyday earnings power of this card, I think it's worth keeping the card.

American Express Starwood Preferred Guest:

Many of you know that Starwood if my favorite hotel chain.  I've been an elite member for over ten years, I'm a current former stockholder and former employee.  I've also held this card in my wallet (and paid the $95 annual fee) for over ten years.  The signup bonus is pretty great - 25,000 SPG points after spending $3,000 in the first 90 days.

That means your total haul will be 28,000 SPG points.  That is enough for a couple of nights at a high end W or Westin.  You can also transfer the points (in 20,000 mile increments) to dozens of airline partners.  When doing so, you'll receive a 5,000 mile bonus meaning 40,000 SPG points will you get 50,000 airline miles.  While there are no category bonuses on the card (beyond spend at SPG properties and Uber) it  is worth keeping the card given the extreme value (almost 2.5 cents IMO) of SPG points.

If you and your spouse picked up these three cards each, you would have 164,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points and 56,000 SPG points.  You could leverage the UR points for roundtrip economy tickets to Europe on United.  Then leverage your SPG points to get 2-5 free nights at SPG hotels.  All for free.  If you are planning a honeymoon, a special anniversary trip, or just want to get away for a bit, this combination of cards will take you VERY far.

Where Should I Stay in Tokyo?

I'm headed to Tokyo later this year for a couple of nights.  I've been looking forward to visiting the city for a long time and certainly want to get the most out of the trip especially considering it's only two nights.  The trouble is, there are too many good hotel options!  I've essentially narrowed down my search to four properties.  The trouble is, putting the points puzzle together has been a bit of a challenge.

Here are my options in order of preference:

1)  Andaz Tokyo Toranomon Hills
2)  Park Hyatt Tokyo
3)  Conrad Tokyo
4)  Ritz Carlton Tokyo

So I'd love to stay at the Andaz Tokyo.  Prepaid cash rates are $500 USD/night AI.  Award stays are available at 25,000 points/night (no points + cash availability at the moment) but I am short on Hyatt points.  I could book one night with cash and one night with points but would prefer to save the cash if possible.  And I generally don't recommend booking prepaid rates especially a few months out.

The Park Hyatt Tokyo is my number two choice.  Cash rates are going for $646 USD/night so that is a no-go.  At 30,000 points per night, that's a lot of Chase Ultimate Rewards points.  Points + cash is available but at 15,000 points and $326 USD/night.  So I think the Park Hyatt is out.

The Conrad Tokyo is available at 80,000 points per night but I'm short by 75,000 points.  I could buy the points which would cost me around $375 USD but the point (get it) is to use points and save cash when possible.  Emily could pick up the Hilton HHonors Reserve Card and we could use a combination of one of those nights and points to book the 2 night stay.  So that's a legitimate low cost (only $95 annual fee for the card) option.

The Ritz Carlton Tokyo is available at 70,000 points per night.  We do have the points in our separate accounts (Marriott lets you pool points from spouse accounts) but it's my number four choice and I'd much prefer to stay at the Andaz.

I realize this in the scheme of things, this is not a significant life challenge.  That said, I'm usually pretty decisive but am struggling with this one.  I'm generally leaning towards waiting on points + cash availability opening up at the Andaz or using 50,000 total points (which I should have in a couple of months) and booking two award nights there.  I know there are other options (Westin, Grand Hyatt, Hilton, etc...) but for my first time in the city, I'd love to stay somewhere really great.

What would be your decision?  Am I missing anywhere that you'd reccomend?

SPG Business Card Increased Referral Bonus

I've written extensively about the American Express SPG card.  Amex also issues a business card version (which I currently hold) which offers most of the same benefits as the personal version.  The business version also provides club access when staying at Sheraton properties which can be a useful benefit.  While I'm content with my SPG Lifetime Gold status, when I was working on achieving Platinum status, the extra 2 stays/5 nights towards elite status were super helpful.

Amex is currently offering an increased referral bonus (up from 5,000 points) of 10,000 points for each approved referral.  That is a pretty outstanding deal considering a couple of referrals could net you a night at a St. Regis.

The referral offer is the same (25,000 points after spending $5,000 in the first 90 days) as the public offer for the cardmember.  Keep in mind that you don't have to be a full time business owner to be approved for the card.  You could be an eBay seller, a blogger, or do some consulting in addition to your full time job.  I've found that American Express is fairly liberal with approvals on these business credit (vs. charge) cards.

To see if you're eligible for the offer, login to your Amex account online and checkout your offers at the bottom of the page.  If you are interested in a referral from me, feel free to drop me a line.

My Strategy for Managing Cash While Traveling

People often ask me how I manage cash when traveling internationally.  It's not possible to use a credit card in every situation (Thai massage on the beach, cabs in many countries, etc...) so it's a good idea to have a cost effective way of getting cash when abroad.  The easiest way to get cash is from an ATM.  But most US banks will charge a fee when withdrawing cash from an international ATM.  Sometimes even two fees (a percentage of the transaction and a flat fee)!  Note that this posted originally appeared in 2014 - I've updated a couple of items for clarity.

Fortunately, there are a number of checking accounts which feature "fee-free" ATM withdrawals worldwide.  My primary checking account (Schwab Bank HighYield Investor Checking) comes with this feature.  When I withdraw cash from an ATM (in the US or abroad) I'm typically charged a $2 - $4 fee.  At the end of each month, I receive a deposit from Schwab for the fees charged during my ATM withdrawals.

Schwab Bank High Yield Investor Checking Features

Schwab isn't the only bank that provides this service.  The Points Guy has a great list of the best bank accounts for this purpose.  So there are lots of options.  Once I arrive at my destination, I typically withdraw enough cash (~$100 USD) to pay for the cab to the hotel and a few other snacks/waters/tips, etc with a few dollars left over...

Depending on where we are and what we have planned for the next day, I'll make another withdrawal.  The last thing you want is a ton of extra currency when you leave for him (although I always try to keep the equivalent of $1-$2USD as a souvenir ).  I end up making 2-3 withdrawals per country and incur somewhere between $6 - $12 in fees which are rebated at the end of the month.  Schwab has had this feature as part of their High Yield Checking account for years - hopefully it's not something they change anytime soon!