The Credit Card Rewards Game

[DaFace]

It came up a bit in the thread about spare change, but it seems like there are af few of us at least enjoy playing "the game." So here's a place to talk about earning strategies, brag about your favorite redemptions, get advice, etc.

[ptlyon]

GM mastercard

[KCUnited]

Chase Southwest + companion pass

Since its just the wife and I, it gets us pretty much wherever we want to go within the US for free.

Drawbacks are that travel is limited compared to other airlines and I'm cooling a bit on Southwest's model after spending time inside United's club.

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by KCUnited

Chase Southwest + companion pass

Since its just the wife and I, it gets us pretty much wherever we want to go within the US for free.

Drawbacks are that travel is limited compared to other airlines and I'm cooling a bit on Southwest's model after spending time inside United's club.

Just in general I've cooled on Southwest in the past couple of years. It never feels like their prices are anything special (especially since they're theoretically a low-cost airline). And I don't mind the seating model, but it always seems a bit chaotic. I'd rather just pick a seat in advance.

[KCUnited]

Originally Posted by DaFace

Just in general I've cooled on Southwest in the past couple of years. It never feels like their prices are anything special (especially since they're theoretically a low-cost airline). And I don't mind the seating model, but it always seems a bit chaotic. I'd rather just pick a seat in advance.

Yeah outside of A group, I've grown to hate the seating model. Plus with the increase in unruly passenger behavior, it seems to have gotten more chaotic in my experience. That's an industry thing but SWs model seems to amplify it.

Companion pass, free bags and living near a major connecting airport keeps me for the time being.

[Bearcat]

Originally Posted by DaFace

Just in general I've cooled on Southwest in the past couple of years. It never feels like their prices are anything special (especially since they're theoretically a low-cost airline). And I don't mind the seating model, but it always seems a bit chaotic. I'd rather just pick a seat in advance.

Yeah, I've actually used Spirit and others a few times now because the Phoenix to KC flights that used to occasionally be $100 one way on Southwest are now rarely even the $150 they got bumped to a few years ago. I've also found a couple of cheaper options on United and others that never would have been considered ~5 years ago.

I'll always prefer the lineup method over crowd the gate method though.

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by Bearcat

Yeah, I've actually used Spirit and others a few times now because the Phoenix to KC flights that used to occasionally be $100 one way on Southwest are now rarely even the $150 they got bumped to a few years ago. I've also found a couple of cheaper options on United and others that never would have been considered ~5 years ago.

I'll always prefer the lineup method over crowd the gate method though.

I prefer the "stay in the lounge until 20 minutes before departure and walk straight onto the plane after everyone's sitting down already" approach.

[DaFace]

I've mentioned it in other threads, but I think of myself as being "advanced" but not an "expert." My current setup includes:

• Chase Trifecta
  • Chase Sapphire Reserve (3x travel, lounge access, rental car insurance)
  • Chase Freedom Unlimited (3x dining, 1.5x everything else)
  • Chase Freedom Flex (5x rotating categories)
• Capital One Venture X (mostly for lounge access and the fact that it pays for itself)
• United Explorer (mostly because I wanted the sign-up bonus)
• Amazon Prime Visa (5x amazon)
• And a handful of others that I rotate through slowly. I'm not a "churner" per se, but I do sign up for a few cards a year for the bonuses.

[ThaVirus]

Originally Posted by DaFace

I'm not a "churner" per se, but I do sign up for a few cards a year for the bonuses.[/list]

So how do you handle the amount of extra cards you end up with? Close them out after a certain amount of time?

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by ThaVirus

So how do you handle the amount of extra cards you end up with? Close them out after a certain amount of time?

Yeah, pretty much. It's a common misconception that having a bunch of cards hurts your credit score. The danger is more getting to the point that you can't keep track of everything. I currently have 14 open credit cards and a credit score of 818 (according to Credit Karma). My score has actually INCREASED as I've gotten more into the game - mostly because I have like $250k in total available credit and never use more than like $5k of it.

But as for getting rid of a card that you don't need anymore, a few general guidelines:
-If there's no annual fee, you can just put it in a drawer forever if you don't want to risk a hit to your credit by closing it. Worst case they'll close it on you for inactivity.
-Try to keep a handful of cards forever (preferably cards with no AF). That will keep your average credit length up. Related to the above, if you have a long-term card that you don't really need, just put some minor annual expense on it (but be sure you're keeping track of it so you don't miss a payment).
-Another option is to "product change" a card. This mostly only works within card families, so you can't change an Amazon card for example, but Chase will let you change a Freedom to a Sapphire Preferred or Reserve, Capital One will let you change a Venture X to a Venture or Venture One, etc.
-Don't close a card in less than a year. They don't like that. But if you wait until your AF hits your statement at 12 months and THEN call them, you won't have any issue closing the card and getting the AF refunded.

Again, I'm not an expert at this stuff, but those are some of the ways I think of it.

[|Zach|]

Originally Posted by DaFace

I've mentioned it in other threads, but I think of myself as being "advanced" but not an "expert." My current setup includes:

• Chase Trifecta
  • Chase Sapphire Reserve (3x travel, lounge access, rental car insurance)
  • Chase Freedom Unlimited (3x dining, 1.5x everything else)
  • Chase Freedom Flex (5x rotating categories)
• Capital One Venture X (mostly for lounge access and the fact that it pays for itself)
• United Explorer (mostly because I wanted the sign-up bonus)
• Amazon Prime Visa (5x amazon)
• And a handful of others that I rotate through slowly. I'm not a "churner" per se, but I do sign up for a few cards a year for the bonuses.

This has been a good thread I am trying to get some perks built up after years of having a pretty simple no frills Quick Silver card that just gave me a little cashback.

I recently got the Capital Venture One and Chase Sapphire Preferred. These seem to match pretty well because I don't do an insane amount of travel but I get out and about when I can.

Venture One gave me a pretty easy to get 20k intro. I am starting in on the Sapphire Preferred which is 60k points after you spend 4k in 3 months which is not too bad.

The Chase Rewards Portal has a lot happening. Right now there is a 50% bonus for transferring Chase points into Marriott points which seems pretty big.

I need to work myself in the Chase trifecta but I started in the middle Just thinking about all of it and thinking about things I want do that it makes sense. It will be a while before I am comfortable diving in on something like Sapphire Reserve but who knows.

[Jewish Rabbi]

Originally Posted by |Zach|

This has been a good thread I am trying to get some perks built up after years of having a pretty simple no frills Quick Silver card that just gave me a little cashback.

I recently got the Capital Venture One and Chase Sapphire Preferred. These seem to match pretty well because I don't do an insane amount of travel but I get out and about when I can.

Venture One gave me a pretty easy to get 20k intro. I am starting in on the Sapphire Preferred which is 60k points after you spend 4k in 3 months which is not too bad.

The Chase Rewards Portal has a lot happening. Right now there is a 50% bonus for transferring Chase points into Marriott points which seems pretty big.

I need to work myself in the Chase trifecta but I started in the middle Just thinking about all of it and thinking about things I want do that it makes sense. It will be a while before I am comfortable diving in on something like Sapphire Reserve but who knows.

Regarding the transfer to Marriott points - leave everything in Chase currency until you are ready to use it. Hotel points are the least flexible and generally have the worst value.

[|Zach|]

Originally Posted by Jewish Rabbi

Regarding the transfer to Marriott points - leave everything in Chase currency until you are ready to use it. Hotel points are the least flexible and generally have the worst value.

Yea that makes sense it would feel risky to dump them without any plan to use them.

[DaFace]

My favorite redemption so far has been the Presidential Suite in Albuquerque, New Mexico (which usually goes for ~$750 per night). We paid 10k miles per night, which is about $100. It was completely over the top and unnecessary, but it was a lot of fun. This isn't my video, but it'll give you the gist:

[Dartgod]

Chase Freedom Unlimited. 1.5% cash back on everything. We don't travel a ton, so no real interest in those perks. We charge damn near everything and pay it off each month. We generally earn $1,000+ each year.