I love answering questions from my readers and want you to travel for less!
Please leave a comment below — or e-mail me at daraius@millionmilesecrets.com — with any requests, travel anecdotes, or topics which you’d like me to cover on the blog.
I’d be delighted to make your travel dreams a reality!
I have earned and redeemed millions of airline miles and hotel points to travel the world for free. Now I'm blogging to help more people do the same! 
Excellent tips and advice! I’ll try both of those sites. I hear you about xmas time. But with school break and work break it is the least disruptive time. But we have to deal with crowd and higher rates:(
@Sabeena - That’s what it would suggest, but I don’t know if that is enforced or not.
@Rob – Thanks for reading! The Hyatt Regency in Maui is a top category 6 Hyatt hotel which costs 22,000 Hyatt points per night. You can get 2 free nights with the Chase Hyatt credit card. You can also transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Hyatt, so the 40K Chase Sapphire Preferred bonus or the 50K Chase Ink Bold or Ink Plus can also help get you there.
Starwoods hotel has the Westin in Maui for 12K points a night, and you get the 5th night free if you redeem for 4 nights. The AMEX Starwood card has a 30K sign-up bonus until September 4. I’d research the hotels and see which one you prefer before applying for the cards.
@Peter – Saver awards have limited availability, so I try to book them as soon as possible. If you close your United card account, the miles don’t expire. Rather United’s regular expiration policy comes into effect, which says that your miles will expire if you go 18 months without any activity. It is really easy to have some activity in your United account.
@vrt @DLuke – It will be hard without the credit card bonus, but much better to wait until the refi is over. I like VRBO, but don’t have any other ideas for Whistler. You can usually try to find a conference in an expensive city and use the conference to get the hotel rate down, but I don’t know of any conferences in Whistler!
@ROB - US Air is a member of Star Alliance, so you can redeem them for travel on Star Alliance airlines including United. However, US Air miles are not transferable.
US AIRWAYS MILES FROM BARCALEY CARD 40k offer
is that US AIRWAYS MILES REDEEMABLE FOR GIFT CARDS?
does the mile ever expire?
Hi Daraius!
This question was probably asked before, but I was not able to find it with its reply.
Do you have any link for business accounts on the Chase Explorer with up to 65,000 miles.
Thanks in advance.
first off, I love your travel website! I just have to say what is on my mind, sorry. But…Hey can you post another picture of your GF? I mean, the 5, 345,598 picture you placed here is not enough? Also you should change your website “about me” section to “about my girlfriend and the many pictures I take of her all over the world for free.”
Hi Daraius, is there a way to transfer AMEX reward points from one account to another? thanks Your blog is great, especially all the details on your honeymoon in Paris. My wife and I are going next summer to the London Hyatt Churchill and Park Hyatt Paris ( 4 nights each in a suite) all covered by Chase Ultimate Reward points. Thank you!
Re: concered. This blog is a venue for Daraius to share his reviews on travel and miles. As many have said before, if you’re unsatisfied with this blog it is not only your right, but you should stop reading it. A sarcastic comment posted on a public forum is not only rude but could potential be hurtful to the people you’re talking about.
Daraius, I like the shorter pages with clicks to “older” and “newer” comments. However the link on the emails I get do not go to the pages where the comment is on. ie. The email I got from the Kara post took me to a page somewhere back in, I think. June 2012. Then I had to go to “newer comments” about 5 times to get to the latest comments.
Daraius,
What’s your take on the Avianca (TACA) LifeMiles option to purchase miles at 50% off? I joined before the deadline and so I am eligible. They do have some decent options for redeeming miles. Have you any experience with this?
Hey Darius – I’m trying to book a ticket for my parents to Pakistan. I have Amex MR points, Chase UR points, BA avios, and AAdvantage points. Do you have any suggestions on the best way to book a ticket?
Hi,
I have over 3 Million Points in Amex CORPORATE membership Rewards program. at the time I signed up I wasn’t told that I won’t be able to transfer out to airlines and was promised that it’s the same as the normal membership rewards program.
Anyway, i’m stuck now with over 3 million points and am trying to get the maximum of it. any ideas?
@HG You can pay $75 to link your Corporate account to your Personal account (that’s what I did). Then, you should be able to transfer your points to airlines.
Hi D,
Thanks as always for your insights – I’m trying to use up my 2 AA Admiral Club passes (from the Citi AAdvantage card) and 2 United Club passes (from the United Explorer card). A couple questions:
(1) For the Admiral Club passes, are they still valid if I cancel my AAdvantage credit card? My passes expire 12/31, but I plan to cancel my card before the annual fee hits in late October.
(2) For the United Club passes, can they be used for U.S. Air Club lounges?
Thanks!
Hello,
I have reading your blog regularly and inspired am trying to book the vacation of my dreams.
I am trying to book a trip to Europe next summer for myself and my family using United miles. I have figured out the flights and route.
I have united silver status valid till end of next year.
Is there any benefit to booking now with the united explorer credit card for the trip in summer next year? I applied for the card in May of this year and do not plan to renew when the annual membership comes due.
My basic challenge is should i use the united explorer that will be closed by the time my trip starts next year OR am i better off paying the taxes on the award ticket with a no annual fee card that i will definitely have open next year. Since I already have united silver membership , is there any benefit of booking the trip with my explorer card?
Appreciate if you can solve this for me.
thanks
Pria
Darius,
I just returned from France where I used a Citi-issued AT&T Universal MasterCard to rent a car, which unfortunately suffered about 1200 Euro in collision damage. I had accepted an inexpensive insurance package from the car rental company that limited my liability for collision damage to 1350Euro. (I passed on a quite expensive no-deductible collision plan because I vaguely remembered some sort of credit card coverage as a back-up.) Citi has just told me that my credit card coverage would have paid for the damage had I not purchased the insurance, but since I did, they will pay nothing. It seems to me they should be glad that their/my exposure was limited to 1350. Does this sound right to you? Many thanks.
Before you go overseas, get the documentation on how Credit Card auto rental insurance works and take a copy (or have on your computer/ipad). Usually the specifically say to DECLINE any insurance when you rent the car. Follow the information exactly. If you buy other insurance even from the vendor, I think it voids your Credit card coverage. Did you not even go back and check the “benefit language” after your collision? If so, you should have seen this.
D,
Can you please point me to the best available offer for the Amex Platinum?
Thanks.
i just got an email from the AAdvantage program saying that i can receive up to a 25% mileage bonus if i ‘gift’ my miles (transfer them to another account)…
think any readers might be interested in being my “friend” and trading 100K miles back and forth (it’s limited to 100K miles out and to 100K miles in during a calendar year)??? we’d each get a 25K bonus if we maxed out transfers to each other…….
@Robbie – it’s not worth it. Transferring miles costs $250 per 25,000 mile transfer. So, transferring 100,000 miles would cost $1,000. Your 25,000 mile bonus would, therefore, cost 4 cents per mile… far more than any valuation of AA miles I can think of.
Hi Daraius, I travel extensively for work. I have been signing up for every hotel/rewards program I come in contact with. Collecting the points. All of my travel expenses are reimbursable. The company generally picks the hotels so there’s rarely any uniformity on a specific chain. They book and pay for the flights and I have been getting the miles for them. I get $350 a week in per-deim to eat. They reimburse me for hotels, baggage fees, busses, things I purchase for a job ect. Trying to find a card to put all of these expenses on that will give me the best bang on their buck. I want to start here and then possibly start using another card for my personal spend later. Credit score is 790+ Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!
Used your links for 2 CC apps.
Thanks!
I have a companion ticket on BA and am looking at going to Greece. With the companion, if we want first class, can we just use extra miles for one ticket and the other one would just be taxes? First class vs business, can you explain difference, is first worth the extra miles in your opinion? Also, are there any miles/ points that we could use to book a Mediterranean Cruise? Thanks.
@Juli I have done the BA companion free voucher twice. A personal choice, but the Business Class is great with lie down beds, access to great clubs in Heathrow during connection, good food and service and decent entertainment screen. I do not think you can get away from paying the very high taxes/fees on B.A. to Europe (cannot use miles, I think). Usual cost is in the $800 per person RT. I would price First as they may be more. And if you stay in the UK over 12 (?) hours as a layover, they are even higher. By the way, BA award seats are difficult to find on their site when trying to do different routing. Try each leg on its own and then you may have to call (and they may charge you for that)
Hi Darius, last August 14, 2012, a 50,000 united miles was transferred from my United Mileage Plus account to a Marriott account. The big problem was I did not authorize the said transfer! I do not even have a Marriott account at this time. I found out about this transaction last 08/25/2012.
I contacted United through the phone and I was told at 1st to call Marriott myself. I thought that was ridiculous. I called again and another rep. told me that she will forward my issue to another service to investigate. I also emailed United on 8/25/12 (mileageplus@united.com) and they replied on 09/02/12 stating:
“Thank you for contacting the MileagePlus Service Center. We apologize for our delay in responding. We’re experiencing a higher volume of e-mail than normal and we’re working on responding as quickly as possible.”
I called United’s rep. again last 09/07/12 and was told to wait another 48 hours. I emailed them again this morning to follow up. Right now, i am just frustrated and dissatisfied @ United Mileage Plus customer service. I am afraid that the 50,000 United miles is a gonner.
Any advice would appreciate it. Thank you and keep up your great work here.
BTW, I did change my pin number. I am just baffled why only a 4 digit pin is required to sign into United Mileage Plus.
Regards,
Loven
@ROB – The miles expire after 18 months, but there are cheap ways to keep them alive.
@JP – Unfortunately, the Chase Explorer business card doesn’t offer the 65K miles.
@concered – She’s my wife and you’ll usually see her only in the trip reports.
@Phil – That sounds like a great vacation! You can’t transfer AMEX MR from 1 account to another, but you can transfer them into someone else’s frequent flyer account.
@SAPMAN - I’ll look into that. Thanks for letting me know!
@Frank - I don’t have any experience (as yet), but this is a good deal for flights you know you’ll take soon. I wouldn’t stockpile miles and expect this opportunity to last long.
@Basil Siddiqui – Ethiad flies to Karachi so using AA miles could be the best option. Gulf Air is also a partner of AA so you could use them too. Saudia is a Delta Skyteam partner, so you could use Membership Rewards to fly them, but could be harder finding the local Delta flights in the US to the Saudia departure city. Or you can transfer Chase UR to United and book on Turkish or Thai to Karachi.
@Matt – Yes, the passes are still valid after cancelling the card. You can’t use the United pass in a US Air club.
@Pria - Thanks for reading! I sent you an email.
@Justin – Sorry to hear about the accident. Unfortunately, what Citi told you is true. You have to decline the rental company’s insurance to be eligible for the CDW on your credit card.
@JettyBoy – The Mercedes Benz AMEX Platinum is the best offer available for 50K MR points.
@Brad - The best card for travel would be the Chase Sapphire Preferred which offers 2X points on all travel and dinging, so will fit in best with your travel plans. Thanks for using the links on the blog!
@Juli – With the BA Travel Together Ticket, you pay the amount of Avios points for just 1 ticket, and a companion can fly free with you. In my experience, First Class is better than business class because it is more private and you get a better service and access to better lounges in London.
@Loven – Sorry to hear about that. I’d continue to email them and perhaps even write them a letter.
Hi
How do I pay my mortgage using a credit card so I can get the miles? I tried cash advance but very expensive, I tried Western Union but they don’t take credit cards.
Thanks
Larry
@L – You can use Chargesmart to pay your mortgage, but there is a small fee (but much less than cash advance fees which aren’t worth it).
Darius,
thanks for your great ideas….I have a weird question…Is it possible to pay your taxes with another’s credit card? Like if you are the primary holder of the account, but you have a second card with person 2 name on it…..they use the credit card with their name, but
really the account is under your name.
Does my question make sense? In fact does the tax payment have to come from the tax payer? Have any thoughts?
thanks,
robin
Hi Darius,
You are definitely very organized with all your finance, job, blog and personal life. I guess you invented by now the most efficient way to keep track of all credit card opening/renewal dates, payments to reach sign-in bonuses, etc. I think only about spreadsheets and calendar reminders. Could you suggest anything else?
Thank you.
@Sapman and Darius,
I got on the BA website and tried to look at booking Dallas to London and then London to Athens, of course no availability. I never get any where unless I put in a stopover to London, am I doing something incorrectly? So I tired to put in the leg from Dallas to London and then a leg from London to Athens and it said using the companion ticket the flight had to originate in the US. We actually just got back from a trip to London using the companion ticket because I could not get anything else to work and finally just decided to go to London and call it good. We are very open in where we could fly to next year because we would like to take a cruise and we could just take it from wherever we are able to use the tickets. Any advice or help would be GREATLY appreciated. Darius, I also live in KS, don’t you wish MCI was a BA hub?
@robin - You can use anyone’s card to make the tax payment. However, you have to enter the taxpayer’s name and social security number to ensure that the payment is credited to the right account.
@Tatyana - Actually, I use Excel and outlook reminders as well. I also use AwardWallet to track my mileage balance and Mint, but that’s about it.
@Juli - A BA route from MCI would be nice! What dates are you trying to travel around?
Hello
Appears the SW 50K offer has expired, the landing page appears, but an message stating the offer no longer exists appear after trying to apply…I am so bummed.
@Juli Some options (not sure what you tried) LOOK up individual segments you can get with Avios miles (not using the 2 ofr 1 voucher). ie. DFW-LHR and then LON (all airports) to Athens. If you see openings and cannot book on line, call them. they may charge you, but tell them you cannot do on line and they may waive. Also, although you will not save mile, look for LON to Athens in economy and link that to your Busn. to LHR. I had to use economy from Madrid – LHR last year. They would not upgrade later when award seats opened up even though I used Busn. Avios miles. But 2 hr. coach is not so bad. In any case, call them once you have reviews your options. They have better access to info.
Other plan is to fly to LHR and get an el cheapo flight (Ryan Air, EZ Jet, Air Berlin) on to Athens. (not with miles). Often these flights are very cheap, BUT study the restrictions such as bag fees before booking.
Also watch if you need to change airports in London. This can be 4 hr. or more if using public transport. Also a day on return if not on BA in case flights run late.
Of course, train service in Europe is very good (from/to London) – but not too cheap if going long distances.
Hi. Thank you for writing and maintaining an excellent blog with very helpful information. My mom asked me a question this morning, and while I did not know the answer, I told her that I knew who would!
She is flying AA on 10/4 DEN-DFW-MAD-Venice. She has a purchased coach seat and was wondering if she could use some of her 50,000 AA miles to upgrade to business, at least for the DFW-MAD leg. She is on Flight 36 and it shows that there are 9 business seats left.
Do you have any suggestions/options?
Thank you.
@Willaim – It will be back in a few months!
@SAPMAN - Great tips! Thanks for sharing.
@Kim – You have to pay miles AND cash to upgrade a paid coach seat to business, so it usually is better to just book an award seat using miles. That said, you may be able to upgrade by calling AA. Good luck! http://www.aa.com/i18n/AAdvantage/redeemMiles/upgradeAwards.jsp
D- My year is up on the Saphire and I do not want to pay the $95 annual charge. I am am an authorized user on my wife’s Saphire which has not yet got the first 7% bonus and I plan on keeping my Ink Bold after my first year because of business expenses. My question for anyone is, can I get any additional points or a reduced fee from Chase when I call to cancel – in which case I would be inclined to keep the card for one of my continuing Chase cards. Thanks for any that reply with their experience!
Daraius, looking for some advice:
I have many cards – about 18 right now, but I am about to give up a Delta personal card as it’s fee is due. I am sure they would let me keep it if I wanted, but I’d rather get a different AMEX card and move over the credit line. What would you suggest for an AMEX that has a low or no initial fee but a decent bonus. I would love something like the latest Business Gold MR card, but it needs to be a personal one.
What would you recommend? I have Starwood already.
@Marriott Marty – Many folks haven’t been able to get an incentive offer to keep the Chase Sapphire Preferred, but it doesn’t hurt to ask. You only really need 1 Chase transferable point card, so cancelling the Sapphire shouldn’t matter as long as you have the Ink Bold. Just be sure to transfer the points before cancelling.
@Frank – I’d suggest the AMEX Hilton card which offers a 40K sign-up bonus and is fee free which means that you can keep it for a long time and not worry about it. The Premier Rewards Gold has the fee waived for the 1st year, but the sign-up bonus is very low (only 25K points).
Thank you. I’ll wait for up to a month before I am forced to do it – maybe a better AMEX offer will come by, otherwise I’ll take your suggestion.
I started to apply for the US Air Mastercard with 40K bonus, using the link in Hot Deals. Once you get into the app, however, it says it is only for Dividend Miles members with Chairman’s Preferred Status. Does anyone know if that is in fact required, or if they actually issue the card without that? Would very much appreciate quick response because it is part of an AppO I started today!!
@JimmyLovesTahiti - Emily and I got the 40K without having any elite status with US Air.
But haven’t you had yours awhile? Did you get the same language on the app? Has anyone applied on the current app and got the card without being US Air Chairman’s Preferred Status?
@JimmyLovesTahiti – It had the same language when I applied. You’ll get the points since they don’t check your elite status.
So I have a question. I did my first round of applications in June with all 6 apps being approved. Based on what I have read it is safe to wait 90+1 days before the next application(s). I have that day marked on my calendar but had a little issue today. I previously carried some travel cards and one of them was coming due for the annual fee soon. I was planning on using the card as a bargaining chip with my next applications. From what I understood, based on when the last fee was charged, my anniversary was October 1st. I was confused when my Marriott account was credited with the annual free night. I called to either get the fee waived or cancel the card and consolidate my credit; however, after telling the rep I wanted to cancel the card he just said “ok it is canceled”. I told him I wanted the credit line combined with my BA card and he said he couldn’t. The next rep was able to reinstate my account saying it would be on my credit report that my account was closed and reinstated. I was concerned that it would impact my credit score, especially because it would end my history on that card, but he said it would not interrupt my payment history or impact my credit score. I was wondering 1) if anyone else has seen anything like this and 2) will this impact the likelihood of approval for my next set of applications?
@Jon – I don’t more about your specifics, but I suspect you will be fine during the next rounds of apps, though you may need to call the reconsideration line to get approved.
Hey Darius. I would like your expertise
. I applied for the AMEX SPG business in August shortly before the 30000 promotion came out. I emailed them under the topic of SPG and they declined the match the additional 5000 points. Is there another method to have someone over there do so for me??
@cory – Unfortunately, there’s not much else to do. AMEX has been very reluctant to match offers lately.
With all these cards and apps and ss numbers flying around what is the best way to protect your identity/credit? I’ve done some research and concluded that real-time access to all three credit files that you could check often looks like the best. How do you do that yourself? The monitoring services are ok but seem to come into play after the initial damage is done, and are spotty at even catching anything. I’ve had Debix (now All Clear) since back when it froze your credit files, which none of the companies seem to do anymore, and you had to give creditors a code so they could check your file (which seems good to me). Now I’m lucky if I get an alert once every 4-5 new cards. A recent online app failed when I clicked submit and I had to call a 1-800 number which ended up being in the Philippines. The app was approved but I had an uneasy feeling after I hung up. Any help?
I really enjoy your blog and thanks to miles and points enjoyed a few free trips and hotel stays. One thing I don’t see mentioned much, which I think lots of people might want to know more about is the best way to use miles for renting cars. I see deals on earning points for car rentals but there isn’t much out there I have seen on travel blogs about the best way to rent cars using points or if there are good loyalty programs for the rental agencies.
Any thoughts or recommendations?
Hey Daraius!
I received a targeted Citi offer in the mail for 30,000 points to open a checking account, make a direct deposit for two consecutive months, and spend $750 on the debit card. I can easily swing the requirements, but after that I would cancel the account, because I wouldn’t want to pay $30/month to keep it open.
So $60 for 30,000 didn’t sound half bad. Then I read the comments here: http://boardingarea.com/blogs/viewfromthewing/2012/07/08/up-to-30000-american-airlines-miles-for-new-citibank-checking-account/
Now I’m reconsidering. Any experience in this matter? Or any advice?
Hi Daraius. Can you please send me a referral for Bank Direct? Do you get 2 referral if I open a CD as well? Do you know if I can open 2 checking accounts (one for my wife and one for me. Website says limited to 2 AA products, but does not specify if it can be 2 checking or not). If I can have 2 checking, please send me 2 referrals!
@toesinthesand – I don’t use identity protection services, so I have much to say. I do check my credit reports every few months, but aren’t too worried about identity theft.
@Mike Pawlik – It usually isn’t great to use airline miles to rent cars, because you usually have to pay the taxes and fees. However, Capital One & Citi Thank You points don’t charge the taxes and fees so could be a good choice. I’ll dig into this a bit deeper. Thanks for the suggestion!
@Jacob – You will get a 1099 tax form, but you can always dispute the valuation. However, that could be tricky and time consuming. For what it is worth, I usually skip these offers.
@SP – I just sent you one – thanks!. I don’t think you can have 2 checking accounts if you each apply jointly, but you may be able to get one separately. That said, Bank Direct is very good at tracking accounts, so your miles could vary. I believe you can open a CD once you have your account set up.
I just got my USAir card, and I was reading through the terms. It states that you have to spend money on the card every month for six months in order to qualify for the awards. Just wanted to pass that info along so people don’t think that once you meet the minimum spend to get the 40k miles in three months you can throw the card in a box!
I cannot find the page with the United Awrds Card you are talking about your link goes nowhere and I cant find it on Chase my new card says “Mileage Plus Card” it was renewed in September
@Lara - Barclays may cancel the card in 6 months if you don’t use it, but I haven’t heard of that actually happening to anyone. Some banks cancel cards after 12 to 24 months, but perhaps Barclays is different.
@Stewart - The Chase website has been down today, but try it tomorrow.
This is all new to me and I live internationally. I really need to travel back to the US more often but am restricted due to cost of airline tickets. Ive had an AMEX SKYMILES card for about 10 years. It has taken that long to build up enough points to use it twice for single tickets within the US and I still don’t have enough points for a free international flight.
Any suggestions on this card? Also I tried calling AMEX and spoke to an impatient Cust serv rep who wasn’t interested in helping me about a month ago. My husband has the main card and me and our daughter have addl cards for the acct. is it possible to get them to combine all our points over to my husbands SKYMILES acct? Finally what is this medallion qualifying points that shows up on each of our cards for 10,000 each? What are those good for.
Just don’t feel like we are getting anywhere with this card…
@Brenda- Delta miles are hard to use. How many miles do you have? All miles from additional cardholders should go to the main cardholder’s Delta account. Medallion Qualifying Points count towards elite status on Delta – you need 25,000 MQM for the lowest level Silver status.
If you apply for a card and they announce a new promotion within a few weeks, can you talk the card company into giving you that new promotion? For instance, I opened a USAir card and got 30k miles after my first purchase, but the new offer is 35k (or even 40k, depending on the link). If I contact Barclay’s will they increase my award miles?
To answer your question one card has 130K miles, the other two cards attached to the same AMEX skymiles acct has 54K miles. We use this card for business expenses, so we easily charge and payoff 3-5K monthly. We travel internationally about 3 times a year and stay in our share of hotels, plus I book colleagues airline tickets on my AMEX to/from the US. Sounds like I need to change credit cards. After reading your blog sounds like the Ink business might be the one to look into. What is a good card that gives great points for hotels? I see your blog about Hyatt, but we don’t travel that “well” so to speak, we are more like Comfort Inn type spenders
. I’d like to see my points stretch on a 3 star hotel versus using all my points on a 4 or 5 star hotel. Really appreciate any advice!
Hi,
Any suggestions how to get the 55,000 mile offer for obtaining the United
Mileage Plus Explorer card .
Best I can do is 30,000 and after $10,000 spent and additional 10,000 miles.
Was the 55,000 miles targeted ?
Many thanks,
Burt
@Lara – With Chase you usually can, if you applied for the card in the last 93 days. However, other banks don’t have such generous policies, but it doesn’t hurt to ask. The 40K offer has been on the blog (under Travel Credit Cards) for over a year!
@Brenda – Delta miles are hard to use at the low award level. But you can also get 1 cent per mile towards tickets, so 130K miles should get you $1,300 towards airfare on any Delta flight. Hyatt has Hyatt places for fewer points, but they aren’t in all locations. The American Express Business Gold lets you earn Membership Rewards Points which you can then transfer to Choice hotels. You will earn 3x points on airfare and double on gas and advertising. The Chase Ink Bold points transfer to Priority Club, Hyatt, and Marriott, but I’d check the amount of points required for lower category hotels in those chains. Another choice to investigate is the American Express Starwood card. I’d do dummy searches on the Starwood website and see if there are hotels which you’d like to stay in.
@Burton Goldstein - You can apply for the regular version and then asked to be matched to the 65K version. As always, your miles may vary, but a reader got matched yesterday.
My family of 4 are flying Hawaiian airlines roundtrip to Hawaii next July.
I had to book 2 one-ways because flying into Maui and home from Honolulu.
On the way home, I saw first class for 2 people for 40,000 miles so I booked it.
My question is whether you think HA will refresh two 1st class tickets
back to 40,000.
It is currently back to 80,000. If they don’t, I’ll book the other 2 tickets
in coach for 20,000.
My other question is whether airlines let families switch half way between
the 2 coach travelers and the 2 1st class.
@Mark – It depends on whether they expect the flight to be sold out or not. If it is a full flight, there is little incentive to release seats at the lower level. I’d suggest booking in coach now and then calling to pay the additional miles if a 1st class seat opens up (there could be a change fee). Most US airlines have strict policies about not switching between cabins, but it usually depends on the flight attendants.
Hi Daraius,
Were you able to transferr money/ earn miles using skrill? How is it compare to Amazon Payment? It was mentioned that you would try it out a few weeks ago? Please share the experience if you could.
Thanks
I have a 12 hour stop over in Switzerland on Monday. My husband and I with our boys.(3 and 6) Any ideas of what to do? Thanks!
@drunekenboat - Thanks for the reminder. I haven’t tried, but will experiment with it soon.
JS- If it is Zurich, you could take the train into town and explore the area by the train station and waterfront.
I want to apply for the Chase United Mileage Plus card to get the 50k UA miles. However, I received a Chase Sapphire preferred last month. Some points and miles aficionados recommend opening only one new personal account per bank every 60-90 days. Have you found this to be true as well? I’d really love to get the UA miles bonus but also don’t want to get denied! Thanks for your advice!
I read a few blogs (including yours) on the topic of using Chase Ink (which carries a 5% rebate in Ultimate Reward points) to buy Visa gift card from office supplies shops. According to these blogs, because of the activation fee, it is always better to buy the $500 ones. The problem I have is that I visited two OfficeMax’s in my area (San Jose), and the largest amount their Visa gift cards carry is $100. I was wondering if your other readers have had similar encounters? Are $500 Visa gift cards difficult to find? Thanks!
@Lara - If you don’t have many Chase cards you could get approved for 2 within 3 months, but would have to call the reconsideration line to get approved.
@best_daddy – In Kansas they tons of $500 cards available, but I know it varies by location.
Does it make any difference how close to the date you try to book a tkt, i.e. a month in advance, easier/harder to get a tkt. I am waiting for miles to show up and that won’t happen until November probably and then hope to travel a month after that, around xmas…… just wondering…thank you..
@carl- XMas is always a tough time to get low-level awards because lots of folks are traveling.
Hey Daraius,
I currently have two citi Hilton cards and an Amex Hilton card (not the reserve or surpass). I have had them about 4 months. How long would you recommend I wait if I was going to try and churn? Also, should I cancel the cards first or no?
@Brandon - You can’t get the AMEX Hilton card again for the sign-up bonus immediately. But you should be able to get 2 Citi Reserves or 2 Citi regular Hilton cards.
Daraius,
There’s a BIG caveat in reaping the benefits with the United MP Chase Explorer card . If you already have another flavor of a Chase MP card you do not qualify for all the mileage bonuses. Instead, you get to pay the $95 and only get the two club passes, and 2 for 1 miles on tickets. I’ve been doing battle with them since Mar 12 when I upgraded. I still haven’t received the 2 for 1 on a ticket I purchased and I had to pay for my bags. It was hard to tell that I had priority boarding since more than half the plane got called before me. Buyer Beware!!!
G. Michael
I signed up for Chase Continental card last year for 50K miles. This year when the fee came due, i requested chase to degrade it to no fee continental card which earns 1 mile/2 $. They send the card i asked for and told me to keep using the the old one until i receive the new one. I received the new card, but looks like Chase forgot to cancel the old one. Now it is more than 2 months, but the old card is still working. Do you think i should call Chase and remind them to cancel the old card or i should keep it for the next time when i apply for the new chase card; it might come handy then? What do you say?
@G. Michael – You usually never get the sign-on bonus for upgrading the card, but may get the sign-on bonus again if you apply for a different flavor of the card separately.
@Rajnish – I’d keep it for future leverage, unless a fee is coming due on it.
Daraius,
If I have to mett a lot of spending requirements on AMEX but most of the bills I have to pay are with VISA or MasterCard, how is the best way to use my AMEX card(s) to pay these bills? Like using AMEX to buy VISA prepaid cards maybe?
Thanks.
@Frank - You can use the AMEX to buy Visa or MasterCard gift cards. Or you can buy a re-loadable AMEX card and cash out via an ATM and use cash for your other bills. –> http://boardingarea.com/blogs/frequentmiler/2012/05/01/one-card-to-rule-them-all/
Thanks, D, I do have the AMEX Prepaid and use it but don’t want to abuse it anymore than I do already …
The VISA Gift cards – what’s the best way to buy them?
One more thing: most of my coming expenses that must go on a VISA will be $1000 to $1200 each and cannot be split up. Will that work with these VISA gift cards?
Also, I broke down and just got the Citi Hilton Reserve card through your link – couldn’t wait as I must pay $3000+ on a VISA next week, Thank you!
@Frank – Thanks for using our link! I usually buy $500 gift cards from the grocery store or gas station with the Freedom with the 5X category bonuses, or with the Ink cards at an office supply store. I then register them online so that I can use them to top-off pre-paid card. Other options could be to use it (Visa/MC gift cards) to fund the Wells Fargo (& other prepaid) cards. However, these cards have transaction limits of around $500 to $600, so you’d either have to withdraw money from the ATM or buy money orders with them, and write a personal check from your bank account to pay the upcoming expenses. Frequent Miler has a post today on other pre-paid card options.
Yes, I have just been reading frequent Miler. Thanks.
Daraius, these all seem to be debit cards. I need a prepaid Visa or MasterCard. Is there such a thing?
@Frank – See this post –>http://boardingarea.com/blogs/frequentmiler/2012/09/26/vanilla-reloadables/#comments
I believe you can reload them with the Vanilla Visa cards. There are pre-paid Visa and MasterCard in grocery stores or gas stations, but I usually find them for $500 or lower, which won’t work for you. However, you *may* be able to load a prepaid debit card with the $500 gift cards and then withdraw funds from an ATM or get a Money Order for your purchases.
This is a valuation question. AA has a promotion where you can earn over 100k miles by flying from the US/Canada to Europe in certain fare classes. Today I received an offer from BA which is similar, but includes Open Skies as a partner and you get the bonus in Avios instead of AA miles. Which do you think is more valuable, Avios or AA miles?
Sorry, I meant CREDIT card rather than DEBIT card.
Daraius, have you heard of the AirTran VISA credit card, by Chase?
I just received a limited time (1 week) offer and I’d like to know what you think of it:
- 2 ROUNDTRIP FLIGHTS after you spend $2,000 in the first 3 months
- 2 BUSINESS CLASS UPGRADES after your first purchase
- Introductory Annual Fee of $0 for the first year, then $69
- 2 A+ Rewards Dollars per $1 spent on AirTran Airways and Southwest Airlines® purchases made directly with the airlines. Plus, earn 1 A+ Rewards Dollar for every $1 spent on all other purchases. 1,200 Rewards Dollars equals 1 credit, and 16 credits can be redeemed for a ROUNDTRIP FLIGHT
- 2 Anniversary Credits every year after your Cardmember Anniversary
Redeem flights on AirTran and Southwest to over 90 destinations worldwide.
@Lara – I personally value AA miles more than BA because AA doesn’t charge fuel surcharges on many routes. But BA avios are valuable for short distance flights, so it depends on how you will use the miles.
@Frank – I beleive the cards which Frequent Miler has listed are prepaid cards which can be used as debit cards. Thanks for the tip on the Air Tran card. I’ll post on it tomorrow, but it is good if you already have the Southwest Companion pass. Otherwise, wait for the Southwest 50K offer again since the points have more flexibility than credits.
This A+ offer appears to be targeted. I have signed up for an A+ account some weeks ago, no action on it yet. I do not have any Southwest cards at present (probably the only Chase cards I don’t have right now), though my wife has the companion pass for us until December 2013.
It seems like a really good deal to me – what do you think?
@Frank, I received the same offer also. Am curious what Darius says about it. It does seem pretty good. When I live, at the present, AirTran flys but not Southwest.
@Frank – In that case, it could be worth it for your wife to apply for the Air Tran card when the offer becomes public soon, and you can apply for the Southwest card later this year or early next year to get the Companion Pass.
@Juli – It is a good offer, but Air Tran will disappear after the merger, so may not be of use to you afterwards if Southwest doesn’t fly to your city. That said, it should be at least another year before Air Tran disappears, so you’ve got time to use the credits.
Well, my wife didn’t get the offer
But maybe if she gets an AirTran account she will get an offer. But I think I can transfer my A+ credits to my SW account if I need to and keep saving those. My plan is to get myself the companion pass in 2014 when my wife’s expires (if it’s still around) and we use SW a lot as we are on the west coast and basically fly all mainland trips with SW anyway.
hey Darius. I had some friends sign up for the 20000 point bonus for the barclay’s nfl card. Any chance if I can have it matched to the 40000 offer? If so…what’s the best way to contact them?
darius, the link INTRODUCTION isnt working for me……could you ck it out please?
@cory – I don’t believe that Barclays’ will match the offer, but it doesn’t hurt to call and ask.
@karen cagle – Thanks for letting me know about it. I’ll fix it tonight.
extended warranty
90 day return
purchase protection.
These benefits apply to any amex logo cards issued by any issuer like CITI, BOA
or mostly/only those amex cards issued by amex itself?
or the 3 benefits on amex cards issued by amex itself is superior?
@ROB – Each card has different benefits, so read the fine print closely. Usually, AMEX’s converage is superior.
Hey Daraius,
I’m heading to the Admirals Club lounge for the first time in a few days. What should I expect? I’ve read widely different stories about free drinks (alcoholic) and food, and AA’s website isn’t particularly clear. Thanks!
@ DARIUS
I think you didn’t understand what i mean. I know each cards have different benefits but what I am talking about is only the AMEX CARDS, WHICH ARE KNOWN TO HAVE 3 SPECIFIC BENEFITS.
They are:
extended warranty
90 day return
purchase protection
Are those 3 benefits available on any amex cards no matter who the issuer is or it is only on those amex cards issued by amex itself?
@MK – You can buy sandwiches or eat the free fruit or nuts/pretzels. I believe tea and soft drinks are free, but I haven’t ordered booze at an Admiral’s Club so I don’t know!
@ROB – It is unlikely that the Citi and Bank of America cards have those benefits.