# Paid MF with new Chase Sapphire Reserve card for $600 credit



## hvanv0405

Anyone else recently sign up for the Chase Sapphire Reserve card (with the $300 annual travel credit)?

I went ahead and prepaid $300 now with card and plan to pay remaining balance when due in 2017 (possibly end of Dec to post on Jan statement).

Based on credit per calendar year the "Travel Credit" should provide me $600 off my MF  *CHEERS*


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## gmarine

I just got the card too. Great intro bonus of 100K points for the $450 annual fee.   You should make sure that the maintenance fees will go through coded as travel so it is eligible for the rebate. Not all maintenance fees go through coded as travel.


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## PearlCity

I got it too! Excited to use it!


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## hvanv0405

gmarine said:


> I just got the card too. Great intro bonus of 100K points for the $450 annual fee.   You should make sure that the maintenance fees will go through coded as travel so it is eligible for the rebate. Not all maintenance fees go through coded as travel.



I've used my SPG AMX past few years and those all posted as Travel - Lodging


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## Helios

hvanv0405 said:


> Anyone else recently sign up for the Chase Sapphire Reserve card (with the $300 annual travel credit)?
> 
> I went ahead and prepaid $300 now with card and plan to pay remaining balance when due in 2017 (possibly end of Dec to post on Jan statement).
> 
> Based on credit per calendar year the "Travel Credit" should provide me $600 off my MF  *CHEERS*



Good to know...I may try it with the Ritz Carlton card equivalent benefit.


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## pharmgirl

hvanv0405 said:


> Anyone else recently sign up for the Chase Sapphire Reserve card (with the $300 annual travel credit)?
> 
> I went ahead and prepaid $300 now with card and plan to pay remaining balance when due in 2017 (possibly end of Dec to post on Jan statement).
> 
> Based on credit per calendar year the "Travel Credit" should provide me $600 off my MF  *CHEERS*



Thinking about getting this, when is $450 annual fee due? Immediately?
How are 100,000 pts redeemed?


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## hvanv0405

pharmgirl said:


> Thinking about getting this, when is $450 annual fee due? Immediately?
> How are 100,000 pts redeemed?



The fee is pretty much being added immediately. . .some people have seen it on their account before the card arrives.

Mine posted about week after getting the card.

*I can confirm the MF charge works for the "Travel Credit".  The $300 I prepaid posted over the weekend and the $300 credit was instantly applied as well.*

The 100K are Ultimate Rewards with Chase, and can be redeemed or transferred from your account for various options.

Maybe check out this link if not familiar wiht UR's http://thepointsguy.com/2016/06/redeeming-chase-ultimate-rewards-maximum-value/

**You get the 100K after spending $4k within 3mo of opening card.


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## duke

I got it too!  

This card makes Starwood AmEx worthless.  Besides the $300 per calendar year travel credit you ALSO get 3x Points AND the 3x points are worth 1.5 cents to purchase travel.  SO, that is $300 per calendar year AND 4.5 cents towards travel.  Much more valuable than Starwood AmEx!

Oh, and did I say you get 100,000 points to sign up and those points are worth 1.5 cents each for travel purchases so the sign up bonus is worth $1,500.  

This card is awesome.  3x points on all travel AND *timeshares* (specifically says in the terms).  3x point on all restaurants.

The annual fee is $450 (posts immediately) but you get $300 back on travel purchases "each calendar year" which INCLUDES PAYING TIMESHASE MAINTENANCE FEES so the net fee is actually $150.  The Starwood AmEx fee is $95 so diff is $55 for all this benefit.

Oh yeah, includes Primary rental car CDW AND Priority Pass Airline club entrance for you and your guests!

The FlyerTalk boards are nuts about this card.


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## LisaRex

Love this card! Will be getting it soon.


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## Helios

I read today that the CC is so popular they ran out of the plastic...


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## nokaoi9

Another sucker soon to be happy customer.  I signed up today.


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## triangulum33

duke said:


> I got it too!
> 
> This card makes Starwood AmEx worthless.  Besides the $300 per calendar year travel credit you ALSO get 3x Points AND the 3x points are worth 1.5 cents to purchase travel.  SO, that is $300 per calendar year AND 4.5 cents towards travel.  Much more valuable than Starwood AmEx!



Sounds like a great deal!  I've become so loyal to the SPG AMEX, it would be really hard for me to cancel.


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## Ken555

I'm also considering applying for this card...looks good and likely the final nail in my SPG cards...


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## artringwald

Looks tempting, but can the points only be used with these?

British Airways Executive Club
Flying Blue AIR FRANC KLM
Korean Air SKYPASS
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards®
United MileagePlus®
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
Hyatt Gold Passport®
IHG® Rewards Club
Marriott Rewards®
The Ritz-Carlton Rewards®

We usually have to fly Delta or Alaska.


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## scootr5

artringwald said:


> Looks tempting, but can the points only be used with these?
> 
> British Airways Executive Club
> Flying Blue AIR FRANC KLM
> Korean Air SKYPASS
> Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
> Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards®
> United MileagePlus®
> Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
> Hyatt Gold Passport®
> IHG® Rewards Club
> Marriott Rewards®
> The Ritz-Carlton Rewards®
> 
> We usually have to fly Delta or Alaska.



Air France/KLM is a Delta partner, and British is an Alaska and AA partner. You can use the points on those airlines to book travel on the partners. I've used the BA Avios to fly on AA metal (at a far cheaper rate than the corresponding AA award ticket would have been).


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## am1

I was declined.  Too many cards opened within 2 years.  I could upgrade the regular chase sapphire card that I have but no sign up bonus.


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## LisaRex

I was tempted to open up another card with an *okay* bonus a few months ago, but resisted.  Glad I did so that I was free to take advantage of a really great offer.  It's on par with the 115,000 point bonus I scored a few years ago with the Cap One card.  


I've already been using my Chase Sapphire Preferred card religiously for years as it gives me the best options for travel.  Love the ability to rent cars with points as it really cuts down on the out of pocket $ I was spending for vacations.   This one offers similar benefits for only a bit more in annual fees.


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## scootr5

am1 said:


> I was declined.  Too many cards opened within 2 years.  I could upgrade the regular chase sapphire card that I have but no sign up bonus.



Yes, they're sticking hard to their "max of 5 cards opened in the last 24 months" policy. My new one should be coming today (not sure if it will be the metal one like my CSP or the temporary plastic one). I'm going to downgrade my regular Sapphire preferred to a Freedom card.


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## duke

artringwald said:


> Looks tempting, but can the points only be used with these?
> 
> British Airways Executive Club
> Flying Blue AIR FRANC KLM
> Korean Air SKYPASS
> Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
> Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards®
> United MileagePlus®
> Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
> Hyatt Gold Passport®
> IHG® Rewards Club
> Marriott Rewards®
> The Ritz-Carlton Rewards®
> 
> We usually have to fly Delta or Alaska.



In many cases you will find that purchasing the tickets via Chase at the value of 1.5 cents per point is a better deal.  In addition, you get to EARN mileage on the purchased ticket!  Tickets can be purchased on ANY airline through Chase.

For me, flying LAX --> Maui is same cost using miles/points or purchase through Chase.  But by purchasing, the tickets are always available for the flights we want AND we EARN mileage for flying on paid ticket!


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## Ken555

duke said:


> In many cases you will find that purchasing the tickets via Chase at the value of 1.5 cents per point is a better deal.  In addition, you get to EARN mileage on the purchased ticket!  Tickets can be purchased on ANY airline through Chase.
> 
> 
> 
> For me, flying LAX --> Maui is same cost using miles/points or purchase through Chase.  But by purchasing, the tickets are always available for the flights we want AND we EARN mileage for flying on paid ticket!





How does this compare with using Avios? I'm able to get LAX-HI flights for 12,500 Avios each way, which I collect using the BA Chase cc. Can you get a round trip flight to Hawaii using Chase points and the new card for less than $25,000 in spend?


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## DavidnRobin

interesting thread...
As our annual fee is due, I called the AMEX SPG Customer Rep number (from FlyerTalk forum), 1-800-452-3945, and while they claimed they will not waive $95 fee - they did give me a $100 credit for keeping the account. (Told them the reason to leave was due to split from Costco)
So... I kept the card - though the Chase Sapphire looks good with the travel bonus.

YMMV - I have a long standing with AMEX SPG, and have primarily used this in the past (pre-Costco split), so they can see my spend rate ($30-40K per year).  I also signed up for the Costco VISA since we get our gas there as well as shopping.


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## scootr5

Ken555 said:


> How does this compare with using Avios? I'm able to get LAX-HI flights for 12,500 Avios each way, which I collect using the BA Chase cc. Can you get a round trip flight to Hawaii using Chase points and the new card for less than $25,000 in spend?



Not to go too far off topic, but is that with the "new" Avios chart? I was considering trying for Hawaii for August 2018. It's about 80,000 on UA from ORD to HNL roundtrip, 320K for four of us. I could go round trip on Southwest to LAX for about 25K, and then round trip LAX to HNL on BA/AA for 25K that would make the trip doable at 200K (heck, I'm halfway there with the new card).


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## Helios

DavidnRobin said:


> interesting thread...
> As our annual fee is due, I called the AMEX SPG Customer Rep number (from FlyerTalk forum), 1-800-452-3945, and while they claimed they will not waive $95 fee - they did give me a $100 credit for keeping the account. (Told them the reason to leave was due to split from Costco)
> So... I kept the card - though the Chase Sapphire looks good with the travel bonus.
> 
> YMMV - I have a long standing with AMEX SPG, and have primarily used this in the past (pre-Costco split), so they can see my spend rate ($30-40K per year).  I also signed up for the Costco VISA since we get our gas there as well as shopping.



I had the same experience.  Customer since 04, called to cancel, they said why don't you stay and we'll give you $100 statement credit.  Right after the first  person who picked up the phone had said Amex never waives the anual fees. They recognized the amounts I put on the card.  I will not say the amounts since I think it is actually obscene to mention how much goes through my SPG and Hilton Cards.  Many times the amount mentioned above...

Chase loves my spending even more and has waived 2 2016 CC fees already...


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## Ken555

scootr5 said:


> Not to go too far off topic, but is that with the "new" Avios chart? I was considering trying for Hawaii for August 2018. It's about 80,000 on UA from ORD to HNL roundtrip, 320K for four of us. I could go round trip on Southwest to LAX for about 25K, and then round trip LAX to HNL on BA/AA for 25K that would make the trip doable at 200K (heck, I'm halfway there with the new card).





The "new" chart didn't affect many, if any, AA routes. It's still just 12,500 Avios from LAX-HI on AA using BA Avios.

FWIW, I'd pay for a domestic flight to LA and then use Avios since it's likely to be more valuable to use points for the more expensive routes.


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## scootr5

Ken555 said:


> The "new" chart didn't affect many, if any, AA routes. It's still just 12,500 Avios from LAX-HI on AA using BA Avios.
> 
> FWIW, I'd pay for a domestic flight to LA and then use Avios since it's likely to be more valuable to use points for the more expensive routes.



Good to know. I flew ORD-DCA a couple of times for 9000 avios round trip, and that's now 15000.


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## DavidnRobin

There is a wiki thread (or whatever it's called) on FlyerTalk that lists experiences with the AMEX SPG annual fee. 
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/star...l-fee-retention-bonus-starwood-amex-card.html

 Glad I called -  almost cancelled straight out.  I was going to go with the Chase Sapphire, but do not need more cards (or points) to track.  Probably a wash - for now.

Now... what do with 18K Avios... ?


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## Helios

Very interesting.  

Wondering how to get the fees waived for Amex Plat, Chase Ritz, and Chase  Saphire...


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## LisaRex

So yesterday I got text alerts that my "regular" Chase Sapphire card was compromised.  Discovered someone tried to charge $200 at a Sears Roebuck about 75 miles east of where I live.  So I had to cancel it, which was a bummer cause it's my "Go To" card these days.  (And I was not looking forward to the process of editing all the Auto Pays I had connected to it.)

Literally 30 minutes later, a FEDEX dude delivers an envelope.  I open it up and it's a Chase credit card.

I was thinking, "Now THAT is good customer service."  Then I realize that it was my brand new Chase Sapphire RESERVE card, the one that I applied for the day before.  

Still excellent customer service, but not as good as a 30 minute turn around.  Which, if you had any idea how much I put on my Chase card, would still be a win-win for Chase and me. 

Anyway, I just input my new Reserve card for all those Auto Pays, just in time for the 15th, when most of my auto payments are due.  Good thing cause I need to spend $4000 to trigger my 100,000 bonus.


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## gmarine

I combined RCI deposits using the new Chase Sapphire card and the charge went through as travel with an instant credit.


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## duke

Ken555 said:


> How does this compare with using Avios? I'm able to get LAX-HI flights for 12,500 Avios each way, which I collect using the BA Chase cc. Can you get a round trip flight to Hawaii using Chase points and the new card for less than $25,000 in spend?



Difference is that all flights and times can be purchased.  AA flights or AA flight using Avios need to be released and if you noticed recently they release very few.  This really matters for Maui or Kauai flights.  Seems to me that best will be to use Chase UR points with Chase Reserve card at 1.5 cents to purchase tickets you want at times you want and earn mileage on the purchased tickets.


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## duke

DavidnRobin said:


> interesting thread...
> As our annual fee is due, I called the AMEX SPG Customer Rep number (from FlyerTalk forum), 1-800-452-3945, and while they claimed they will not waive $95 fee - they did give me a $100 credit for keeping the account. (Told them the reason to leave was due to split from Costco)
> So... I kept the card - though the Chase Sapphire looks good with the travel bonus.
> 
> YMMV - I have a long standing with AMEX SPG, and have primarily used this in the past (pre-Costco split), so they can see my spend rate ($30-40K per year).  I also signed up for the Costco VISA since we get our gas there as well as shopping.



David:  With this new Chase Reserve card, the only use for Costco card is GAS and COSTCO purchases.  NOT restaurants or travel.

Chase Sapphire Preferred is NOT a good deal now that Chase Reserve is available.

Study this as it is a great deal.


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## Gaozhen

We also applied for the Chase Sapphire Reserve the day it came out - the 100k bonus is amazing, the primary rental car insurance great, the travel insurance better than most other cards (except our old chase card), Premier Pass for lounges a great value, and the points transfer is fantastic. For those that fly Delta, Korean Air also lets you book Delta with points. Looks like our Citi Prestige is going to be obsolete. 

We need to buy airfare to Alaska for the holidays, and airfare to Phoenix for a trip, and our ski passes, so the $4000 spend is going to be hit asap. :whoopie: 

Yes the annual fee showed up before it arrived BUT the day it arrived I booked Phoenix, and bam, within 24 hours (or less) the $300 credit popped up. Annual fee now $150


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## Ken555

duke said:


> Difference is that all flights and times can be purchased.  AA flights or AA flight using Avios need to be released and if you noticed recently they release very few.  This really matters for Maui or Kauai flights.  Seems to me that best will be to use Chase UR points with Chase Reserve card at 1.5 cents to purchase tickets you want at times you want and earn mileage on the purchased tickets.





Choosing random weekend dates in March, the least expensive nonstop to Maui is currently $759 from LA (and that's not even direct with the airline, so likely more with Chase). Assuming I earn one point per dollar spent on this card, which appears to be most applicable to me though there will be exceptions of restaurant and travel at the higher rate, that means I need more than twice the amount in spend (at the 1.5 points travel redemption rate) as compared to Avios, which was my only question (availability is a related, but separate, concern). 

$759 is 50,600 points with the 50% bonus redemption via their travel site.

If my spend is strictly those categories that earn three points per dollar, then this would require spending $16,867 for this ticket which would be a great redemption value. However, that's not realistic for many of us though I can see myself using this as the go to restaurant and travel card (though I'm still liking my 2.1% benefits from Barclaycard for travel).

Even if I spend some on travel and restaurant to earn three points per dollar, the bulk of my spend will only earn a single point each. 

It's early and my math skills take time to wake up, but am I incorrect?

It seems to me that, availability concerns aside, Avios is still a much better redemption option for LA-HI on AA. The risk of availability and limitation on options with Avios is a question that each of us might assign a different value.

All that said, I'm still leaning toward getting this card if only for the first year for the included 100,000 points since that alone would get $1500 toward travel, which is still worthwhile even after the net annual fee.


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## DavidnRobin

duke said:


> David:  With this new Chase Reserve card, the only use for Costco card is GAS and COSTCO purchases.  NOT restaurants or travel.
> 
> Chase Sapphire Preferred is NOT a good deal now that Chase Reserve is available.
> 
> Study this as it is a great deal.



Hi Duke: Thanks for the clarification on the CC name. I was referring to the Chase Reserve card - I will look into it, but now that I have an essentially no fee SPG AMEX for a year, and the Costco VISA - not sure if I need more cards (and points) to track.

Is it correct that an additional card is $75 for member (Robin) of household?


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## duke

DavidnRobin said:


> Hi Duke: Thanks for the clarification on the CC name. I was referring to the Chase Reserve card - I will look into it, but now that I have an essentially no fee SPG AMEX for a year, and the Costco VISA - not sure if I need more cards (and points) to track.
> 
> Is it correct that an additional card is $75 for member (Robin) of household?



Hey David:  Yup, they charge for the AU because it's an additional Priority Pass.  In this case, you don't need for Robin as you travel together and this PP includes free guests.

Best to get another Reserve card in her name for an additional 100,000 bonus points worth $1,500.

Use this new Chase Reserve card to pay your Timeshare maintenance fees for 3X points at 1.5 cents which is much better than SPG AmEx.  Get 2 for you both now (near time to pay TS maint fees) so you can each each attain the $4k spend in 3 months and receive 200,000 bonus points.


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## nokaoi9

I received my card yesterday.  Due to the shortage of materials, I received the temporary plastic one.  I'm still on the fence whether or not to add an authorized user or not.  I visited the priority pass site last night and it looks like the cost to access the lounges are $27 for the card holder and $27 per guest.  Is this correct or am I missing something?  Also, if the authorized user and I will be traveling together in most cases, is there much benefit in adding them?


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## duke

nokaoi9 said:


> I received my card yesterday.  Due to the shortage of materials, I received the temporary plastic one.  I'm still on the fence whether or not to add an authorized user or not.  I visited the priority pass site last night and it looks like the cost to access the lounges are $27 for the card holder and $27 per guest.  Is this correct or am I missing something?  Also, if the authorized user and I will be traveling together in most cases, is there much benefit in adding them?



Guests are free when they are with you so you don't need an AU additional card.


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## GrayFal

nokaoi9 said:


> I received my card yesterday.  Due to the shortage of materials, I received the temporary plastic one.  I'm still on the fence whether or not to add an authorized user or not.  I visited the priority pass site last night and it looks like the cost to access the lounges are $27 for the card holder and $27 per guest.  Is this correct or am I missing something?  Also, if the authorized user and I will be traveling together in most cases, is there much benefit in adding them?


There are different levels of priority pass.  The one you get with reserve is free for members and guest


duke said:


> Guests are free when they are with you so you don't need an AU additional card.


If you don't add the AU, that person mostly likely will not be covered for the travel insurance benefit, car insurance, etc.  I frequently travel without my husband so would want the coverage for myself as well.


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## GrayFal

GrayFal said:


> There are different levels of priority pass.  The one you get with reserve is free for members and guest
> 
> If you don't add the AU, that person mostly likely will not be covered for the travel insurance benefit, car insurance, etc.  I frequently travel without my husband so would want the coverage for myself as well.



This is what I found out on the points guy site. 


"A more reliable way to get guest lounge access is to add your travel companion as an authorized user on your card account. Authorized users get their own Priority Pass membership with the Sapphire Reserve and Platinum Card, as well as the Citi Prestige Card. All three cards charge a fee to add users, but secondary cardholders may be eligible for other benefits that offset the cost. If you don’t travel with the same companion regularly, another option is to cover guest lounge access with" .... Other cards 

https://thepointsguy.com/2016/09/second-priority-pass-membership/

I am currently filing a claim for my daughter with chase Sapphire and can do this because she is an authorized user on the card.  So $75 is worth it for me to get the benefit.


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## Gaozhen

nokaoi9 said:


> I received my card yesterday.  Due to the shortage of materials, I received the temporary plastic one.  I'm still on the fence whether or not to add an authorized user or not.  I visited the priority pass site last night and it looks like the cost to access the lounges are $27 for the card holder and $27 per guest.  Is this correct or am I missing something?  Also, if the authorized user and I will be traveling together in most cases, is there much benefit in adding them?



My husband and I are each going to get the reserve card, initially at least, for the bonus. (Well, we'll get the second after the first hits the spend limit.) And we may keep them both - when you factor in the travel credit the fees for each card is only $150/year, so $75 more than adding an AU, and you both get PP when traveling separately and primary travel/rental insurance etc.


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## duke

Gaozhen said:


> My husband and I are each going to get the reserve card, initially at least, for the bonus. (Well, we'll get the second after the first hits the spend limit.) And we may keep them both - when you factor in the travel credit the fees for each card is only $150/year, so $75 more than adding an AU, and you both get PP when traveling separately and primary travel/rental insurance etc.



AGREED!

ALSO, Paying timeshare maint fees with Reserve card earns 3x travel points.  Best deal here:whoopie:  Much better than starwood AmEx.:hysterical:


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## DavidnRobin

Any ideas on how much longer the sign-up bonus will last?


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## rickandcindy23

> This card makes Starwood AmEx worthless. Besides the $300 per calendar year travel credit you ALSO get 3x Points AND the 3x points are worth 1.5 cents to purchase travel. SO, that is $300 per calendar year AND 4.5 cents towards travel. Much more valuable than Starwood AmEx!


This is what I am thinking as well.  I cannot convince myself one way or the other.  I do know I have a lot of starpoints built up right now.  I keep wondering how the SPG card is going to treat my SBP MF's in the future.  This year, I did get 2X points, but what about next year?  

The Ultimate Rewards Portal is my favorite place to book travel, but I do a lot of manufactured spend, so I am a bit on the wild side from the rest of you.


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## nokaoi9

I made a payment towards 2017's MF's earlier today.  Do you know how long it typically takes for the $300 credit to show up?


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## Helios

I ordered one for the DW.  She was approved immediately.  Now, I am debating to get an additional one for me but they want $75 (I think)..Not sure since I have other CCs I am using now...

Everybody seems to be loving this CC.  According to TPG, Starwood CC is still better for spending categories other than Saphire 3x...


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## rickandcindy23

> Everybody seems to be loving this CC. According to TPG, Starwood CC is still better for spending categories other than Saphire 3x...



I think Starpoints + cash for the upper echelon of hotel categories is a good value.  But I rarely stay in hotels.  

I asked about hotels for an upcoming Europe trip here on TUG and people thought it odd I would want to stay at Americanized hotels, instead of the more charming hotels, which aren't Hyatt, Holiday Inn, Carlson, Hilton, or Starwood, apparently.


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## Helios

duke said:


> Use this new Chase Reserve card to pay your Timeshare maintenance fees for 3X points at 1.5 cents which is much better than SPG AmEx.  Get 2 for you both now (near time to pay TS maint fees) so you can each each attain the $4k spend in 3 months and receive 200,000 bonus points.



A word of caution about this, WSJ and HRA maintenance fees post as "Miscellaneous Retail".  SBP and SVV post as "Travel".  So, saying that paying your MF qualifies for the 3x points and for the $300 is not correct.  

At least that's how mine posted, YMMV...


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## Helios

rickandcindy23 said:


> I think Starpoints + cash for the upper echelon of hotel categories is a good value.  But I rarely stay in hotels.
> 
> I asked about hotels for an upcoming Europe trip here on TUG and people thought it odd I would want to stay at Americanized hotels, instead of the more charming hotels, which aren't Hyatt, Holiday Inn, Carlson, Hilton, or Starwood, apparently.



Agree, cash + points is my favorite.  That applies to Hilton, Marriott, and Starwood.  Too bad this is not possible at all properties.  I would like to know what's the logic behind this.  Probably desirability of the property in the given season...


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## duke

Helios said:


> A word of caution about this, WSJ and HRA maintenance fees post as "Miscellaneous Retail".  SBP and SVV post as "Travel".  So, saying that paying your MF qualifies for the 3x points and for the $300 is not correct.



All my maint fees posted as Travel - Lodging.  Checked last year end amex summary on line.  very easy to check as it shows catagories.

WMH, SMV, WPORV, VV.


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## Helios

duke said:


> All my maint fees posted as Travel - Lodging.  Checked last year end amex summary on line.  very easy to check as it shows catagories.
> 
> WMH, SMV, WPORV, VV.



Would Chase post transactions differently than Amex?  

Like I said, in my case, SVV and SBP posted as travel, but WSJ and HRA did not.  So, don't assume yours will post as travel blindly...it seems it can be assumed that your properties plus SBP are a safe bet.

Also, can the posting transaction category change over time?  Probably...


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## Westnick

Helios said:


> Would Chase post transactions differently than Amex?
> 
> Like I said, in my case, SVV and SBP posted as travel, but WSJ and HRA did not.  So, don't assume yours will post as travel blindly...it seems it can be assumed that your properties plus SBP are a safe bet.
> 
> Also, can the posting transaction category change over time?  Probably...



Who determines what category it's listed under? The CC company or the resort?


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## tschwa2

I think it is the resort.  One thing I want to point out so far, all the ones mentioned that haven't gone in as travel have been outside of the US 50 states.  WSJ is a US territory but regulations might be a little different.  HRA is the Bahamas and I wouldn't be surprised if the way it goes through has to do with a way for the government to tax the transaction at a higher rate because sometimes it seems like the government does everything it can to find ways for Atlantis guests and Harborside owners to pay as much tax as possible on the belief that anyone who stays there is super wealthy and needs to support the local economy more.


 I used to own a timeshare in Scotland and they processed my MF as Dining/Restaurants.  For the first two years of ownership I would get calls from my CC fraud department asking if I was out of the country (in Scotland) and charged $900 at a hotel restaurant.  I was shocked the first year until I realized what it was.  The second year I was annoyed because I called the CC to expect the charge.

If my supposition is wrong about outside the US 50, I will revise this post so as not to confuse anyone with incorrect info.

Per Cindy's post below there are US resorts who do not put MF under the travel category so you do need to be aware and check each one if you are uncertain.


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## rickandcindy23

It's definitely the resort that determines the code.  Foxrun doesn't get 2X on my Chase Ink Plus; however, some of the other generic resorts do get 2X.  

3X is so great!  I charge a lot of MF's per year, and restaurants are 3X too.  I have used another card for 2X at restaurants.  This is going to be my main credit card for most expenses.


----------



## DavidnRobin

AMEX SPG categorizes WSJ-VGV MFs as: Travel - Lodging
(same for WKORV, WPORV, and WKV)

How Chase Sapphire Reserve categorizes WSJ is unknown.


----------



## GrayFal

duke said:


> I got it too!
> 
> This card makes Starwood AmEx worthless.  Besides the $300 per calendar year travel credit you ALSO get 3x Points AND the 3x points are worth 1.5 cents to purchase travel.  SO, that is $300 per calendar year AND 4.5 cents towards travel.  Much more valuable than Starwood AmEx!
> 
> Oh, and did I say you get 100,000 points to sign up and those points are worth 1.5 cents each for travel purchases so the sign up bonus is worth $1,500.
> 
> This card is awesome.  3x points on all travel AND *timeshares* (specifically says in the terms).  3x point on all restaurants.
> 
> The annual fee is $450 (posts immediately) but you get $300 back on travel purchases "each calendar year" which INCLUDES PAYING TIMESHASE MAINTENANCE FEES so the net fee is actually $150.  The Starwood AmEx fee is $95 so diff is $55 for all this benefit.
> 
> Oh yeah, includes Primary rental car CDW AND Priority Pass Airline club entrance for you and your guests!
> 
> The FlyerTalk boards are nuts about this card.



Duke noted that if specifically mentions timeshare ... I think a call to chase is in order to get the WSJ and Harborside maintanance fee correctly categorized.


----------



## DavidnRobin

Hopefully, the CSR card has the same designations as AMEX SPG that lists for WSJ-VGV (and for WKORV, WPORV, WKV):

VSE VIRGIN ST JOHN CONDO
8801 VISTANA CENTRE DR
ORLANDO FL 32821-6354
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (THE)
Additional Information #
TIMESHARES
Reference #
Category: Travel - Lodging

...considering our MFs at WSJ are ~$4800


----------



## GrayFal

DavidnRobin said:


> Hopefully, the CSR card has the same designations as AMEX SPG that lists for WSJ-VGV (and for WKORV, WPORV, WKV):
> 
> VSE VIRGIN ST JOHN CONDO
> 8801 VISTANA CENTRE DR
> ORLANDO FL 32821-6354
> UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (THE)
> Additional Information #
> TIMESHARES
> Reference #
> Category: Travel - Lodging
> 
> ...considering our MFs at WSJ are ~$4800


The info you posted is good ammunition if it is mis-categorized by chase. I have paid my BG Maint Fee with Chase and it came thru as travel - lodging. The Points Guy has stated if you have a problem with wrong category to contact CS, I will find out if he recommends Ultimate Rewards CS or Chase CS....one was definitely more responsive than the other.


----------



## scootr5

GrayFal said:


> The info you posted is good ammunition if it is mis-categorized by chase. I have paid my BG Maint Fee with Chase and it came thru as travel - lodging. The Points Guy has stated if you have a problem with wrong category to contact CS, I will find out if he recommends Ultimate Rewards CS or Chase CS....one was definitely more responsive than the other.



I would guess Chase CS, as they are the ones feeding the info over to the UR portal. Chase CS via secure message has always been great for me.


----------



## Xtracto

Anyone have an idea if a Marriott timeshare resale purchase would fall under the travel category?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Helios

Westnick said:


> Who determines what category it's listed under? The CC company or the resort?



Not sure.  I imagine the CC Company because two of My properties post as Travel and the other two do not.


----------



## JudyS

I have been hearing about this card everywhere, and am salivating over it-- but my income is currently nowhere near high enough to get approved.   Guess I'll have to make do with my "regular" Chase Sapphire card. Oh well, that's a "First World problem"!

As for how to use Chase Ultimate Rewards - they can be used many ways. The name "Ultimate Rewards" is pretty accurate. (Although one UR point is not worth as much as one StarPoint.)


----------



## gmarine

JudyS said:


> I have been hearing about this card everywhere, and am salivating over it-- but my income is currently nowhere near high enough to get approved.   Guess I'll have to make do with my "regular" Chase Sapphire card. Oh well, that's a "First World problem"!
> 
> As for how to use Chase Ultimate Rewards - they can be used many ways. The name "Ultimate Rewards" is pretty accurate. (Although one UR point is not worth as much as one StarPoint.)



They arent going to actually check your income. As long as you have very good credit you should be able to get the card.


----------



## duke

JudyS said:


> I have been hearing about this card everywhere, and am salivating over it--
> 
> (Although one UR point is not worth as much as one StarPoint.)



One UR point is worth (MINIMUM) 1.5 cents if you have the Reserve card.  Chase UR portal CLEARLY defines worth for booking travel at 1.5 cents if you have this card.


----------



## nokaoi9

I paid a portion of my 2017 SVV MF's on Saturday.  I checked today and the $300 credit had already posted.  Very impressed.


----------



## rsackett

artringwald said:


> Looks tempting, but can the points only be used with these?
> 
> British Airways Executive Club
> Flying Blue AIR FRANC KLM
> Korean Air SKYPASS
> Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
> Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards®
> United MileagePlus®
> Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
> Hyatt Gold Passport®
> IHG® Rewards Club
> Marriott Rewards®
> The Ritz-Carlton Rewards®
> 
> We usually have to fly Delta or Alaska.



It depends what you are asking.  You can use the points to buy tickets on Delta, and others.  You CAN'T transfer the Chase points to Delta as frequent flyer miles.  On the airlines listed above you can.

Ray


----------



## okwiater

If you're concerned about whether your MFs will be classified as Travel, just pay $1 and wait for it to appear on a statement.

Keep in mind, AMEX categories have no bearing on Chase categories. In many/most cases they will align, but merchants can and do code transactions differently when submitting to different payment processors. DON'T expect that you can show Chase an AMEX bill and get them to reclassify the transaction for you.


----------



## Helios

okwiater said:


> If you're concerned about whether your MFs will be classified as Travel, just pay $1 and wait for it to appear on a statement.
> 
> Keep in mind, AMEX categories have no bearing on Chase categories. In many/most cases they will align, but merchants can and do code transactions differently when submitting to different payment processors. DON'T expect that you can show Chase an AMEX bill and get them to reclassify the transaction for you.



Agree.  I have seen this with 2 Amex, 3 VISA, and 2 MC.  Transactions from the same provider can be classified differently.

I imagine the Saphire Reps will be willing to work with you to reclassify transactions.  But, it is not given.


----------



## hvanv0405

nokaoi9 said:


> I made a payment towards 2017's MF's earlier today.  Do you know how long it typically takes for the $300 credit to show up?



I dont know if anyone replied yet here but the credit shows up the same time the charge posts to account.


----------



## rickandcindy23

JudyS said:


> I have been hearing about this card everywhere, and am salivating over it-- but my income is currently nowhere near high enough to get approved.   Guess I'll have to make do with my "regular" Chase Sapphire card. Oh well, that's a "First World problem"!
> 
> As for how to use Chase Ultimate Rewards - they can be used many ways. The name "Ultimate Rewards" is pretty accurate. (Although one UR point is not worth as much as one StarPoint.)



Chase may not approve you immediately, but they may eventurally approve the card but will take some of the credit line from your regular Sapphire card. 

Does anyone know how long this card is going to be available for the 100K bonus?  

I already get 1.25 X through the UR portal with our Chase Ink Bold and Chase Ink Plus cards.  The 1.50 is just a bit more, but the 3X is 50% more.  

I will have to un-freeze our credit reports to get this card.  What a pain, as I just got approved for the Hyatt card and went through the process of un-freezing for that one.


----------



## farsighted99

*Paid MF with new Chase Sapphire Reserve card*

I just got this card in the mail. It was a regular plastic one, and there was an enclosed note that said it was just temporary and that I would receive the regular card (made of something else, apparently) later because the card was too popular.

At any rate, I just bought into the Nanea timeshare in Maui and still have to pay off the balance.  I've been using my SPG card but still have a chunk to pay off. Can you use this Chase card for that and get the $300 credit? 

I know this thread mentions the MF, however, I imagine it goes to the same place. But I haven't paid one yet...  since the property is still being built.

Also, I suppose I could use this card for the $4000 spend (I still have more than that to pay off the purchase of the timeshare).... however, I've been getting 2X SPG points on the Amex card; and SPG points are worth 2.2 cents a point....

Using the CSR card, I'd get 3X if they consider buying a timeshare as travel...

Anyone tried this yet?


----------



## rickandcindy23

Welcome to TUG!  

I have no idea if your loan balance would be marked as travel or lodging.  Are you getting bonus points for paying this loan with your Starwood card? What is the category you see next to your payment?


----------



## farsighted99

rickandcindy23 said:


> Welcome to TUG!
> 
> I have no idea if your loan balance would be marked as travel or lodging.  Are you getting bonus points for paying this loan with your Starwood card? What is the category you see next to your payment?



actually, I looked at the last auto payment on the SPG Card that I made towards the balance of the timeshare, and it's coded "Travel - Lodging".  Got a bonus which added up to double points.  

I would imagine it's probably the same on the Chase card then.

Paid to HRE E/A FOR NANEA


I had the SPG card already and decided to use it for the downpayment. They are charging me monthly until I pay it off. Which will be soon because of the ridiculous interest rate.


----------



## DavidnRobin

farsighted99 said:


> actually, I looked at the last auto payment on the SPG Card that I made towards the balance of the timeshare, and it's coded "Travel - Lodging".  Got a bonus which added up to double points.
> 
> I would imagine it's probably the same on the Chase card then.
> 
> Paid to HRE E/A FOR NANEA
> 
> 
> I had the SPG card already and decided to use it for the downpayment. They are charging me monthly until I pay it off. Which will be soon because of the ridiculous interest rate.



^^^^ good first posts ^^^^ welcome to TUG
You bought Nanea from VSE? and loan?

The MFs do get 2X on AMEX SPG - but CSR ?

I doubt if a Loan payment would qualify since the loans are sold off (or whatever they do that business...) and get reclassified - but you never know? Maybe there is a short term prior to loan being transferred.

When I bought EOY WPORV in 2007 - I paid with AMEX SPG.  Got 2X SPs 
Good point about CSR for paying for a VOI (TS week/points) - but there is always that issue with buying from VSE and resale value is <20%... 

I am going with okwiater's suggestion: going to pay $100 towards the MF for each VOI when I get the card.


----------



## GregT

All,

I missed this thread when started and only found it from Marriott board talking about Sapphire card. 

So, am I thinking about this correctly - if I have $15K in MFs and all classify as Travel (an assumption) than I would earn 45K Chase points (URs?) would could be converted to 45K BA points (Avios?) would could then be redeemed for whatever I could get with 45K Avios  (almost two Hawaii tix on partner Alaska?)

Did I synthesize this all correctly?

Please advise and thank you!

Best,

Greg


----------



## DavidnRobin

GregT said:


> All,
> 
> I missed this thread when started and only found it from Marriott board talking about Sapphire card.
> 
> So, am I thinking about this correctly - if I have $15K in MFs and all classify as Travel (an assumption) than I would earn 45K Chase points (URs?) would could be converted to 45K BA points (Avios?) would could then be redeemed for whatever I could get with 45K Avios  (almost two Hawaii tix on partner Alaska?)
> 
> Did I synthesize this all correctly?
> 
> Please advise and thank you!
> 
> Best,
> 
> Greg



If MFs are considered travel - likely (AMEX SPG does at 2x) - then you are correct.  However, no one here has yet to confirm (for VSE).  I am going w/ highly likely... IMO
I do not know Avios conversions, assume as you stated.


----------



## scootr5

GregT said:


> All,
> 
> I missed this thread when started and only found it from Marriott board talking about Sapphire card.
> 
> So, am I thinking about this correctly - if I have $15K in MFs and all classify as Travel (an assumption) than I would earn 45K Chase points (URs?) would could be converted to 45K BA points (Avios?) would could then be redeemed for whatever I could get with 45K Avios  (almost two Hawaii tix on partner Alaska?)
> 
> Did I synthesize this all correctly?
> 
> Please advise and thank you!
> 
> Best,
> 
> Greg



Correct, plus the bonus 100,000 ultimate rewards points, which converts to Avios at 1:1 ratio, and a $300 statement credit toward the travel expensed spend. You essentially end up with 145,000 Avios for $150.


----------



## GregT

Thank you both -- this is a very interesting promotion!

Best,

Greg


----------



## Helios

Chase is quick.  Applied on Sunday.  Card arrived on Tuesday.  I'll meet min spending today.  And the rest is history...probably only travel expenses will go in this one.  Will use the TSA Pre and Travel credits, so, the effective fee this year will be 50 if I don't include other associated benefits.


----------



## scootr5

GregT said:


> Thank you both -- this is a very interesting promotion!
> 
> Best,
> 
> Greg



Also Greg, if you (or anyone) are not interested in keeping the card long term, the $300 travel credit is _per calendar year_. 

Apply now, complete your plan as above. Next year pay the same maintenance fees again (perhaps a bit early, but), apply for and get your free included Global Entry card, transfer the Ultimate Rewards points to BA and you've got 190,000 Avios with Chase paying _you _$150. You can then cancel the card before the second annual fee hits.


----------



## Ken555

scootr5 said:


> Also Greg, if you (or anyone) are not interested in keeping the card long term, the $300 travel credit is _per calendar year_.
> 
> Apply now, complete your plan as above. Next year pay the same maintenance fees again (perhaps a bit early, but), apply for and get your free included Global Entry card, transfer the Ultimate Rewards to BA and you've got 190,000 Avios with Chase paying _you _$150. You can then cancel the card before the second annual fee hits.





Now this is an interesting method to redeem value out of this card for those of us inexperienced with using the Chase portal for travel. This type of solution is a real possibility for me, since I've had excellent results with Avios (to date).


----------



## PearlCity

DavidnRobin said:


> If MFs are considered travel - likely (AMEX SPG does at 2x) - then you are correct.  However, no one here has yet to confirm (for VSE).  I am going w/ highly likely... IMO
> I do not know Avios conversions, assume as you stated.



Greg, I can confirm that Worldmark MFs are considered travel as I've used the Chase Sapphire Preferred (before the Reserve came out) and it was coded as travel.


----------



## dominidude

scootr5 said:


> w*ith Chase paying you $150*. You can then cancel the card before the second annual fee hits.



scootr5,
Will Greg get the $300 travel credit this year and next, prior to paying the second annual fee?

How do you know when Greg will get the second travel credit prior to the second annual fee? 

It seems to me that if Greg cancelled the credit card before paying the second annual fee, that Chase would take back the second travel credit.


----------



## scootr5

dominidude said:


> scootr5,
> Will Greg get the $300 travel credit this year and next, prior to paying the second annual fee?
> 
> How do you know when Greg will get the second travel credit prior to the second annual fee?
> 
> It seems to me that if Greg cancelled the credit card before paying the second annual fee, that Chase would take back the second travel credit.



Yes, he will. According the terms:$300 in statement credits annually ("annually" means the year beginning with your account open date through the first December statement date of that same year, and each 12 billing cycles starting after your December statement date through the following December statement date).

Statement credit(s) will post to your account the same day your travel category purchase posts to your account and will appear on your monthly credit card billing statement within 1-2 billing cycles.​
The credits posts immediately. The annual fee will be charged 12 months after account opening. You'll get $300 travel credit for 2016, $300 for 2017 (could get credit for anything paid in January 2017).

You will not pay the annual fee again as long as you cancel the card prior to your anniversary date.


----------



## DavidnRobin

I just charged part of our 2017 MFs on the CSR for WSJ-VGV, WKORV, WPORV and WKV - I will follow-up with transaction designation when charges go through.

If these go through designated as Travel by CSR - then will get one for Robin as well.


----------



## rickandcindy23

Just an FYI, all of our RCI and II exchange fees post as 2X on our Chase Ink Bold and Chase Ink Plus.  I am going to love getting 3X.  

I have to wait a day or two to apply for the card for a house refi we are currently doing.  I am anxious to get the card and the 1.5X on the UR Portal for maintenance fees.  

We used our UR points for RT First Class, Oak-Lih on Alaska, 3/18-4/1/2017, and we paid 129,280 points for two tickets (not each ticket).  The ticket would have cost us in cash, $814.  I know this because I booked my mother-in-law's flight in cash on her credit card.  

We spent 140,000 Starwood points for our trip this month RT on Hawaiian, First Class, Oak-OGG.  

It was a lot easier to earn the 129,280 points vs. the 140,000 points with Starwood.


----------



## DavidnRobin

UR = Ultimate Rewards (?)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## scootr5

DavidnRobin said:


> UR = Ultimate Rewards (?)



Yes, that's correct.


----------



## dsmrp

I was initially on the fence, but applied and got approved yesterday.
I will break even on the card annual fee by paying my MFs and using the Chase redemption rates (3X travel & 1.5x thru Chase Portal).
I got the card mainly for the bonus.

For now will not put DH on as an authorized user because his charge spending is far, far less, and could go on the Costco card for restaurants.  I do almost all of the travel planning and pre-spend for us, and he pays the bills (what a deal )
 I'm not sure  the auto CDW protection would apply if I reserve and pay for car rental, but he is primary driver.  Probably not, but I will ask Chase.

I probably could have gotten by just as well for our expenses getting the Sapphire Preferred card, but it was such a good bonus :whoopie:


----------



## farsighted99

dsmrp said:


> I was initially on the fence, but applied and got approved yesterday.
> I will break even on the card annual fee by paying my MFs and using the Chase redemption rates (3X travel & 1.5x thru Chase Portal).
> I got the card mainly for the bonus.
> 
> For now will not put DH on as an authorized user because his charge spending is far, far less, and could go on the Costco card for restaurants.  I do almost all of the travel planning and pre-spend for us, and he pays the bills (what a deal )
> I'm not sure  the auto CDW protection would apply if I reserve and pay for car rental, but he is primary driver.  Probably not, but I will ask Chase.
> 
> I probably could have gotten by just as well for our expenses getting the Sapphire Preferred card, but it was such a good bonus :whoopie:



Nah.  The Sapphire Reserve card is really impressive. i have lots of cards, and this is one of the best ones ever. You get $300 travel credit off almost any travel (Amex has only certain categories you have to use the get the credit, and you have to pick an airline and then you can't change it), that knocks the price down to $150 right there. 3X for any travel charges is about as good as it gets. And 3X for restaurants/fast food. Global Entry/TSA is free (I think you can use it for any one, not just you); and the lounge visits with Priority Club are pretty good (though I use the AA lounges through my Citi Executive Card).  There are zillion benefits, just check it out.  This is an amazing card and you should get your $150 worth (the balance after the travel credit) from all the other benefits they have.  I also have the Costco card, but not because I wanted it; I had the Amex version and ended up with the Citi Costco now. I never used it much anyway.

The only big negative is they (Chase) charge $75 per AU (authorized user) which I consider bulls**t...  so we only got one, and I'll have to apply again for mine later.  They apparently are enforcing the 5/24 rule (if you don't know what it is, google it)...  so I find it really annoying we only have one person with the card.  Oh well, as soon as I can apply, I'll get another large bonus (hopefully the 100K bonus lasts for a few months)...

The 100K Chase Ultimate rewards is really a fantastic deal. Say you want to buy a ticket for $1500.  You use your 100K miles and that takes care of it (you get 1.5X for airline tickets).  AND you still get all your airline miles too (the airlines consider those tickets as "cash").  I usually just book them online at Ultimate Rewards, but you can talk to an agent if you want...

Great card.  That's why there is all the buzz on this one.


----------



## rahulgopi

I already have Ink, Freedom and Saphire Preferred from chase.  When I got the Chase Saphire Reserve card yesterday, I converted my Saphire Preferred to Freedom Unlimited to avoid paying $95 annual fee for CSP.   Besides Freedom unlimited have 1.5 points for everything, so it is useful for all the items that gives 1 point per $ on all the other chase cards.


----------



## applekor

Does anyone know-  if I have a chase ink card and sign up for the reserve card and then cancel the ink. Do I loose the ur points I have from my ink card or do the points transfer to the new acct?

Also, Are gas station charges considered travel?

Thanks,
Tom


----------



## scootr5

applekor said:


> Does anyone know-  if I have a chase ink card and sign up for the reserve card and then cancel the ink. Do I loose the ur points I have from my ink card or do the points transfer to the new acct?
> 
> Also, Are gas station charges considered travel?
> 
> Thanks,
> Tom



You can move the points from one card to another. You would do that before you cancelled the ink card.


----------



## rahulgopi

applekor said:


> Also, Are gas station charges considered travel?



Gas is not travel.  Chase Freedom have 5 points for GAS atleast 1 Quarter.  Also ink have 2 points on GAS.  

Instead of canceling the ink you may convert it to the non fee version - ink cash.


----------



## applekor

Thank you both for the info.


----------



## duke

rahulgopi said:


> Gas is not travel.  Chase Freedom have 5 points for GAS atleast 1 Quarter.  Also ink have 2 points on GAS.



Citi COSTCO is 4% for Gas (any gas station and items purchased at gas stations).

Also, to note, Chase Freedom card is 5 UR points for COSTCO purchases next 3 months so with also holding the Chase RESERVE you get 1.5 cents per UR point which equals 7 1/2% cash back at COSTCO.  Plus if you are an Executive Member you get and additional 2% cash back.  Stock up!


----------



## rickandcindy23

Why would you get 1.5 through the UR portal for anything purchased on Chase Freedom?  Are you saying that because you have the Reserve, we could now use the portal for 1.5 for our Chase Ink cards?  I don't understand the logic, and I am using pretty good at understanding UR.  

I literally have a spreadsheet to make sure we pay for things with the right card.  Gas with Costco Citibank Visa; restaurants with Hyatt; MF's with Chase Ink and Chase Bold; car rentals with Chase Ink and Chase Bold, etc.

I still do a lot of UR transfers to Southwest.  It's ideal for us to use SW for almost everywhere we go.  

If they don't do 1st class to Maui and Kauai, I won't be using them for Hawaii.  Too bad, but their planes are not comfortable enough for a long flight like those are.


----------



## davevt98

rickandcindy23 said:


> Why would you get 1.5 through the UR portal for anything purchased on Chase Freedom?  Are you saying that because you have the Reserve, we could now use the portal for 1.5 for our Chase Ink cards?  I don't understand the logic, and I am using pretty good at understanding UR.
> 
> I literally have a spreadsheet to make sure we pay for things with the right card.  Gas with Costco Citibank Visa; restaurants with Hyatt; MF's with Chase Ink and Chase Bold; car rentals with Chase Ink and Chase Bold, etc.
> 
> I still do a lot of UR transfers to Southwest.  It's ideal for us to use SW for almost everywhere we go.
> 
> If they don't do 1st class to Maui and Kauai, I won't be using them for Hawaii.  Too bad, but their planes are not comfortable enough for a long flight like those are.



That is correct.  If you have the reserve, all UR points are worth 1.5 even if earned from other sources. 

You also need to look into using Flying Blue for Hawaii.  They offer 25k round trip flights, even from the east coast.


----------



## NNerland

My understanding is you would need to move your Ultimate Rewards from your other cards to the bucket for your Reserve card.  It is simple to do but that is how you get 1.5 - redeeming from that bucket.   You can move rewards between anyone in your HH or family or someone on account.

If you ever want to cancel Reserve card just move the UR points to another card with a lower fee or no fee.

But the UR portal knows the card they are linked to.


----------



## farsighted99

duke said:


> Citi COSTCO is 4% for Gas (any gas station and items purchased at gas stations).
> 
> Also, to note, Chase Freedom card is 5 UR points for COSTCO purchases next 3 months so with also holding the Chase RESERVE you get 1.5 cents per UR point which equals 7 1/2% cash back at COSTCO.  Plus if you are an Executive Member you get and additional 2% cash back.  Stock up!



I get gas gift cards from eBay (mostly BP).  I get $100 GC for $92; and only buy them when they are having an eBay Bucks promotion. Right now it's 10%.  So that's like $83 for $100 worth of gas.  Though most of the time it's like 6%, but still. (eBay Bucks is targeted to people who buy stuff from eBay, though).  

Plus you can pay for the gas card with a credit card that gives you double (like Citi Double card)...  2% more. And 1% more using a portal.

I have a Freedom card too, but I used it up for bonuses until Oct.  But I'll use it to shop at Costco starting Oct 1st. 5% for shopping at Costco is pretty good.

And yeah, I have a spreadsheet too!


----------



## davevt98

farsighted99 said:


> I get gas gift cards from eBay (mostly BP).  I get $100 GC for $92; and only buy them when they are having an eBay Bucks promotion. Right now it's 10%.  So that's like $83 for $100 worth of gas.  Though most of the time it's like 6%, but still. (eBay Bucks is targeted to people who buy stuff from eBay, though).
> 
> Plus you can pay for the gas card with a credit card that gives you double (like Citi Double card)...  2% more. And 1% more using a portal.
> 
> I have a Freedom card too, but I used it up for bonuses until Oct.  But I'll use it to shop at Costco starting Oct 1st. 5% for shopping at Costco is pretty good.
> 
> And yeah, I have a spreadsheet too!



Very smart.  Before ebay changed the terms, you could buy ebay gift cards at Staples, earn 5% with the Chase Ink, use the ebay gift cards to buy gas cards when there is a ebay bucks promotion and get discounted gas cards.  

Unfortunately, Ebay just changed the terms and ebay gift cards are no longer able to be used to purchase gift cards on ebay.  They are allowing it until October 13th.

I just saw an article about paying maintenance fees with certain credit cards for free nights.  Did anyone else see this?  Similar to the discussion at hand.


----------



## DavidnRobin

DavidnRobin said:


> I just charged part of our 2017 MFs on the CSR for WSJ-VGV, WKORV, WPORV and WKV - I will follow-up with transaction designation when charges go through.
> 
> If these go through designated as Travel by CSR - then will get one for Robin as well.



Good news - WSJ-VGV, WKORV, WPORV, and WKV MFs are considered Travel by CSR. Already received $300 travel credit.


----------



## tschwa2

Harborside also went through as travel.  I received my $300 credit but I haven't been charged the $450 annual fee and it isn't showing that I earned any UR's for the CSR yet.  I heard someone mention that the $450 hit the card before the card arrived.


----------



## DavidnRobin

tschwa2 said:


> Harborside also went through as travel.  I received my $300 credit but I haven't been charged the $450 annual fee and it isn't showing that I earned any UR's for the CSR yet.  I heard someone mention that the $450 hit the card before the card arrived.



I haven't had the $450 fee hit yet either.

I signed Robin up - funny, she has a higher limit than me even though I put my income in as higher than hers.

Now to sign-up for Global Entry or TSApre - do I understand correctly, Global Entry gives TSApre as well?


----------



## Westnick

DavidnRobin said:


> I haven't had the $450 fee hit yet either.
> 
> I signed Robin up - funny, she has a higher limit than me even though I put my income in as higher than hers.
> 
> Now to sign-up for Global Entry or TSApre - do I understand correctly, Global Entry gives TSApre as well?





That is correct. Global Entry includes TSA pre.


----------



## DavidnRobin

Westnick said:


> That is correct. Global Entry includes TSA pre.



Thanks - I just signed up for GE and paid the $100 fee with the CSR that is reimbursed. Hopefully will get an appointment soon at SFO.


----------



## jeff01

I can confirm the $300 credit works for SBP Palmetto, the credit posted the same day as the charge and the maintenance fee payment earned 3x points.

Sep 14, 2016 BROADWAY PALMETTO MAINT.
Sep 14, 2016 TRAVEL CREDIT $300/YEAR


----------



## regatta333

DavidnRobin said:


> Thanks - I just signed up for GE and paid the $100 fee with the CSR that is reimbursed. Hopefully will get an appointment soon at SFO.



Is the GE covered only for the card holder?


----------



## scootr5

regatta333 said:


> Is the GE covered only for the card holder?



Yes, that's correct. Edit - it's not specific to the card holder, but only one is covered every 4 years.


----------



## okwiater

Just be aware that if you have 5 or more new accounts on your credit report within the past 24 months, Chase will deny you. Turns out they count HELOCs and Authorized User cards towards that total, as I found out the hard way


----------



## pacman777

regatta333 said:


> Is the GE covered only for the card holder?



I read on another credit card forum that it does not have to be the card holder that applies for GE. It can be anyone. They just apply the credit to whatever global entry fee shows up on the card no matter who its for.


----------



## farsighted99

okwiater said:


> Just be aware that if you have 5 or more new accounts on your credit report within the past 24 months, Chase will deny you. Turns out they count HELOCs and Authorized User cards towards that total, as I found out the hard way



That probably means they count the Credit inquiry that was made for the Vistana Time Share. That sucks!


----------



## rickandcindy23

farsighted99 said:


> That probably means they count the Credit inquiry that was made for the Vistana Time Share. That sucks!


Doubtful, unless it was done through Chase.  Was the loan through Chase?  It's not really about the number of credit inquiries; it's about the number of Chase cards one has applied for and received over the last two years.  

Just apply and see if it goes through.


----------



## gmarine

I just got the Sapphire card. I've got more than 5 Chase openings in the last two years and more than a dozen cards overall so the limits dont apply to everyone.


----------



## DavidnRobin

5/24 rule

http://thepointsguy.com/2016/07/unfortunate-expansion-chase-524-rule/


----------



## Helios

The 5/24 rule seems to be enforced pretty closely.  Some people are exempt because they are Chase Private Clients (min $250K held in Chase accounts).

Some may get lucky...


----------



## Helios

pacman777 said:


> I read on another credit card forum that it does not have to be the card holder that applies for GE. It can be anyone. They just apply the credit to whatever global entry fee shows up on the card no matter who its for.



I think this is correct.  I don't think they have a way to tell who applied, the charge posting does not show the name of the person who applied.  At least not mine...


----------



## Helios

As a side note, Chase refunds the 100 GE fee the same day.  And, this fee is independent of the $300 travel credit.


----------



## gmarine

My experience is that the CC companies are more concerned with the total amount of outstanding credit than they are with the number of credit cards. 

 I was recently denied a Citi card when I applied online. I called the reconsideration number provided and I was told I was denied because I had 6 other Citi cards with very high amount of total credit. They asked permission to take some credit from one card and apply to the new card and the new card was then approved. 

If you get denied always call and find out why you were denied. I churn credit cards for miles/points all the time and the only time I've been denied has been for the reason I mentioned above.


----------



## hjtug

Sounds good.  How does it compare with other cards?  We use Capitol One Venture.  It earns two points for every dollar charged and points are worth 1 cent toward any travel expenses as recognized by the card.  Our Wyndham maintenance fees are considered travel expenses.


----------



## rickandcindy23

hjtug said:


> Sounds good.  How does it compare with other cards?  We use Capitol One Venture.  It earns two points for every dollar charged and points are worth 1 cent toward any travel expenses as recognized by the card.  Our Wyndham maintenance fees are considered travel expenses.



We abandoned the Capital One Venture a few years ago.  I build points pretty quickly with the other cards, but we do a lot of credit card spend each year for our chimney cleaning business, and we do own a lot of timeshares.  And I do manufactured spend, too, while it works.  

I can easily see our manufactured spend process ending at some point.  The credit card company could stop 5X points for office supplies (or just drop us from the credit card for maxing out that benefit), Staples could stop selling Visa Gift Cards, our local store could stop selling MO's.  There are other things, too, that could stop our procedure (the bank could stop taking MO's).  It's a fragile system.  One step depends upon the rest of the steps, and it's not easy to do, either. 

With our Manufactured Spend and timeshares, and travel expenses, restaurants, groceries, utilities, and everything else we charge, we easily spend $250K on our credit cards each year.  $100K of that is MS.  That's 500K points per year.   

It works now, but it could all end at any time.  I posted earlier in this thread what UR points have done for us in our travels to/from Hawaii, and a Southwest ticket of $100 is only about 6,000 points.  100,000 points is a lot of Southwest flights.  100,000 points transferred to Hyatt will get us a lot of nights in San Francisco, that's for sure.  

It's difficult to compare credit cards one to another, which is why I have a spreadsheet.  It's kept me sane because I can have a column explaining the value of points with each card, so I can refresh my memory when I wonder what card to use for a purchase.


----------



## Helios

rickandcindy23 said:


> We abandoned the Capital One Venture a few years ago.  I build points pretty quickly with the other cards, but we do a lot of credit card spend each year for our chimney cleaning business, and we do own a lot of timeshares.  And I do manufactured spend, too, while it works.
> 
> I can easily see our manufactured spend process ending at some point.  The credit card company could stop 5X points for office supplies (or just drop us from the credit card for maxing out that benefit), Staples could stop selling Visa Gift Cards, our local store could stop selling MO's.  There are other things, too, that could stop our procedure (the bank could stop taking MO's).  It's a fragile system.  One step depends upon the rest of the steps, and it's not easy to do, either.
> 
> With our Manufactured Spend and timeshares, and travel expenses, restaurants, groceries, utilities, and everything else we charge, we easily spend $250K on our credit cards each year.  $100K of that is MS.  That's 500K points per year.
> 
> It works now, but it could all end at any time.  I posted earlier in this thread what UR points have done for us in our travels to/from Hawaii, and a Southwest ticket of $100 is only about 6,000 points.  100,000 points is a lot of Southwest flights.  100,000 points transferred to Hyatt will get us a lot of nights in San Francisco, that's for sure.
> 
> It's difficult to compare credit cards one to another, which is why I have a spreadsheet.  It's kept me sane because I can have a column explaining the value of points with each card, so I can refresh my memory when I wonder what card to use for a purchase.



Wow, I read one of your previous posts where you mentioned MS and was wondering what the amount was.  Sounds like you are pro or semi pro......I always thought it was too much work, so I never did it.  From what I have read and seen, it seems this may end soon.  USPS is shutting this MO process and stores are not willing to sell GC paid with CC...enjoy (exploit) while it lasts I guess...

Would you mind sharing what is the percentage you pay in fees to get $1 MS  all in...


----------



## rickandcindy23

> Would you mind sharing what is the percentage you pay in fees to get $1 MS  all in...



It's a process and takes time.  We don't use USPS.  We don't go into stores to buy cards.  We do go into a grocery store and buy MO's.  

I get a lot of points free, so I have to separate what we get for paying MF's and such, so MS, alone, $89.50 for 15K points.  15K points gets a flight on SW worth $240.  It's worth it to us.  Chase Ink Bold and Chase Ink Plus get 5X at office supply stores.


----------



## farsighted99

rickandcindy23 said:


> We abandoned the Capital One Venture a few years ago.  I build points pretty quickly with the other cards, but we do a lot of credit card spend each year for our chimney cleaning business, and we do own a lot of timeshares.  And I do manufactured spend, too, while it works.
> 
> I can easily see our manufactured spend process ending at some point.  The credit card company could stop 5X points for office supplies (or just drop us from the credit card for maxing out that benefit), Staples could stop selling Visa Gift Cards, our local store could stop selling MO's.  There are other things, too, that could stop our procedure (the bank could stop taking MO's).  It's a fragile system.  One step depends upon the rest of the steps, and it's not easy to do, either.
> 
> With our Manufactured Spend and timeshares, and travel expenses, restaurants, groceries, utilities, and everything else we charge, we easily spend $250K on our credit cards each year.  $100K of that is MS.  That's 500K points per year.
> 
> It works now, but it could all end at any time.  I posted earlier in this thread what UR points have done for us in our travels to/from Hawaii, and a Southwest ticket of $100 is only about 6,000 points.  100,000 points is a lot of Southwest flights.  100,000 points transferred to Hyatt will get us a lot of nights in San Francisco, that's for sure.
> 
> It's difficult to compare credit cards one to another, which is why I have a spreadsheet.  It's kept me sane because I can have a column explaining the value of points with each card, so I can refresh my memory when I wonder what card to use for a purchase.



stayed away from Manufactured Spend and card churning (mostly).  Seems like I can do quite well with just trying to put everything I buy on credit cards.

It is practically a part-time job though. You really have to pay attention which card to charge what on.  However, this year both of us went to Hawaii for free from the midwest, and I did go to London twice and only had to pay the taxes. And two trips to San Francisco and Dallas thrown in..  so this "hobby" can be lucrative.

You also have to have a good income and a good credit history.

A bit annoyed though it's getting harder to get good credit card bonuses.  Looks like it's only going to be a couple of cards a year now....  I still have a lot of those AVIOS from those Chase British Airways cards when they gave 100K Avios as a bonus. Both of us got them, and I still have a lot of them left...  (of course, I added a lot more to them).  Used some to fly to Inverness from London a couple weeks ago.  Really love those 100K bonuses.


----------



## farsighted99

rickandcindy23 said:


> It's a process and takes time.  We don't use USPS.  We don't go into stores to buy cards.  We do go into a grocery store and buy MO's.
> 
> I get a lot of points free, so I have to separate what we get for paying MF's and such, so MS, alone, $89.50 for 15K points.  15K points gets a flight on SW worth $240.  It's worth it to us.  Chase Ink Bold and Chase Ink Plus get 5X at office supply stores.



I buy gift cards on eBay, ONLY when they have the 4X-10X eBay Bucks and only when the cards are discounted. If you buy Paypal Digital Gift Cards you get 5X by using the Chase Ink Plus card for the the gift cards.  I bought one yesterday for Macy's:  was $105 for $100 - less $10 eBay Bucks - less $1 for the portal and $5 for using the Chase Card.  saved $21.    of course, eBay Bucks are only issued every quarter and you have to wait to spend them.  But no problem.

Not sure why Chase counts Paypal Digital Gift Cards as a 5X item but they've been doing it for quite awhile.

I still have quite a few eBay Staples GC that I got probably 15% off on average so I don't use the ink card much for Staples these days.


----------



## Helios

rickandcindy23 said:


> It's a process and takes time.  We don't use USPS.  We don't go into stores to buy cards.  We do go into a grocery store and buy MO's.
> 
> I get a lot of points free, so I have to separate what we get for paying MF's and such, so MS, alone, $89.50 for 15K points.  15K points gets a flight on SW worth $240.  It's worth it to us.  Chase Ink Bold and Chase Ink Plus get 5X at office supply stores.



$89.50 for 15K UR via MS and then using for travel seems like an extremely good return, congrats!  Sounds like you figured a way to streamline the logistics also...


----------



## rickandcindy23

Helios said:


> $89.50 for 15K UR via MS and then using for travel seems like an extremely good return, congrats!  Sounds like you figured a way to streamline the logistics also...


Our Hyatt hotel stays are usually 8K, so we pay $48 for a hotel room (no taxes) in Santa Clara, CA, near SJC airport.  It's a great value.  

None of my kids will do it.  It's bizarre to me, they are in their late 30's, all three of them.  But it does take time, and something mom does for a hobby is not all that smart, apparently.


----------



## okwiater

DavidnRobin said:


> 5/24 rule
> 
> http://thepointsguy.com/2016/07/unfortunate-expansion-chase-524-rule/



Thanks for the link. My experience is that the 5/24 rule was applied based on the number of new accounts from all issuers, not just Chase accounts. And, they counted AU accounts and Equity LOCs towards the total. I asked for reconsideration since excluding those from the total brings me under 5.


----------



## GrayFal

okwiater said:


> Thanks for the link. My experience is that the 5/24 rule was applied based on the number of new accounts from all issuers, not just Chase accounts. And, they counted AU accounts and Equity LOCs towards the total. I asked for reconsideration since excluding those from the total brings me under 5.





gmarine said:


> My experience is that the CC companies are more concerned with the total amount of outstanding credit than they are with the number of credit cards.
> 
> I was recently denied a Citi card when I applied online. I called the reconsideration number provided and I was told I was denied because I had 6 other Citi cards with very high amount of total credit. They asked permission to take some credit from one card and apply to the new card and the new card was then approved.
> 
> If you get denied always call and find out why you were denied. I churn credit cards for miles/points all the time and the only time I've been denied has been for the reason I mentioned above.


Where would you find the reconsideration number for chase? I was not denied outright but was not confirmed immediately either.  I want to follow up. I would be happy to shift the credit from a few infrequently used cards to the new chase sapphire reserve. 
Thx

And it can happen to anyone 


For me, the past month has caused major FOMOP (Fear of Missing Out on Points). While I’ve been happy that TPG readers have been pulling in millions — if not billions — of Ultimate Rewards points, I’ve felt like I’ve been missing out on something. I applied for the Chase Sapphire Reserve the first day it came out and was finally approved last Friday. That period of 18 days that I had to wait from application to approval was a very dark time for me. During that period, I was followed by TPG readers taunting me on Snapchat and Twitter with their flashy new cards and crisp approval letters.

Read more: http://thepointsguy.com/2016/09/how-i-got-the-chase-sapphire-reserve/#ixzz4KbprqSxo


----------



## okwiater

GrayFal said:


> Where would you find the reconsideration number for chase?



The direct # is 888-609-7805.


----------



## GrayFal

okwiater said:


> The direct # is 888-609-7805.



Thanks


----------



## DebBrown

I applied thanks to you enablers.  I got the wait 7-10 day message but see the card in my account today.  I think I applied a week ago.  I have a United Chase card and it appeared online with that card.  I thought I might get denied since I have a lot of other cards  (Have been meaning to close some) but got a 33k limit.  GrayFal, maybe just wait it out.

Deb


----------



## GrayFal

DebBrown said:


> I applied thanks to you enablers.  I got the wait 7-10 day message but see the card in my account today.  I think I applied a week ago.  I have a United Chase card and it appeared online with that card.  I thought I might get denied since I have a lot of other cards  (Have been meaning to close some) but got a 33k limit.  GrayFal, maybe just wait it out.
> 
> Deb



Interestingly I just went on chase and there was a link that said "Chase has the right card for you" and it links me to an application for chase Sapphire reserve    So maybe you are right and I will just wait it out


----------



## annac113

Helios said:


> I read today that the CC is so popular they ran out of the plastic...



I ended up getting the plastic version too! Chase sent me a letter saying to use it temporarily until they have the metal version available. Amazing that Chase didn't even spend any advertising money on this card - all from word of mouth!


----------



## rickandcindy23

We were considering the American Express Platinum, but I couldn't justify the expense for the benefits offered.  This one is so much better.


----------



## Helios

annac113 said:


> I ended up getting the plastic version too! Chase sent me a letter saying to use it temporarily until they have the metal version available. Amazing that Chase didn't even spend any advertising money on this card - all from word of mouth!



The power of an outstanding signing bonus and good benefits.


----------



## Helios

rickandcindy23 said:


> We were considering the American Express Platinum, but I couldn't justify the expense for the benefits offered.  This one is so much better.



I am interested in this CC.  Will probably switch my SPG to Plat.  

The Ritz CC is also a good one if you are interested in Marriott Plat after spending $75K per CC year.  Their airport lounge benefits are better than the Saphyre.


----------



## DavidnRobin

annac113 said:


> I ended up getting the plastic version too! Chase sent me a letter saying to use it temporarily until they have the metal version available. Amazing that Chase didn't even spend any advertising money on this card - all from word of mouth!



Robin just got her CSR tonite - metal...
mine... plastic

already charged the $300 travel credit, and GE for both.
now to work on that 2x $4K spend...


----------



## Helios

DavidnRobin said:


> Robin just got her CSR tonite - metal...
> mine... plastic
> 
> already charged the $300 travel credit, and GE for both.
> now to work on that 2x $4K spend...



Did your Annual Fee post right away or does it take a while to post?


----------



## gmarine

rickandcindy23 said:


> We were considering the American Express Platinum, but I couldn't justify the expense for the benefits offered.  This one is so much better.



Here is a way to get an Amex platinum with no fee for the first year. You do not have to be an Ameriprise customer. I'm not an Ameriprise customer and I got the card about two months ago, no fee and includes the $200 airline credit, GE fee and all other Amex platinum benefits. 

https://www262.americanexpress.com/...m-american-express/apf-002/carddetails#/cshop


----------



## scootr5

Helios said:


> Did your Annual Fee post right away or does it take a while to post?



Mine has not posted yet.


----------



## gmarine

Helios said:


> Did your Annual Fee post right away or does it take a while to post?



I received my card August 25th, the annual fee posted on September 1st.


----------



## DavidnRobin

Helios said:


> Did your Annual Fee post right away or does it take a while to post?



Annual fee has not been posted yet on either card.


----------



## okwiater

okwiater said:


> Thanks for the link. My experience is that the 5/24 rule was applied based on the number of new accounts from all issuers, not just Chase accounts. And, they counted AU accounts and Equity LOCs towards the total. I asked for reconsideration since excluding those from the total brings me under 5.



It took a few days but my request for reconsideration was approved. They manually reviewed and excluded the AU and LOC accounts which brought the total number under 5.


----------



## Helios

DavidnRobin said:


> Annual fee has not been posted yet on either card.



CC was received on Thursday, no fee yet...GE credit was issued within 24 hours.


----------



## farsighted99

OK, so I still have a loan with VSE for my Nanea Maui property that I purchased in June (which I am planning to pay off soon).  And we have this Starwood Sapphire Reserve card.  I made a test payment for $100 and was pleased to find out it was considered in the Travel Category.  

The payment was made to:  HRE INC E/A FOR NANEA and I got 3X on points:  300 points. It shows right on the transaction statement on the online account once it gets out of pending. Which is worth 450 points towards airline tickets.  I also received a $100 credit for the yearly travel bonus so that was cool.

I made the same payment to my SPG Card. From past payments it looks like I get 2X the points...  200 SPG points.

Now I think at the moment the SPG points are worth more than the Ultimate Rewards Points (SPG points are usually considered twice as valuable as other points), but the merger with Marriott becoming final on Friday,  I'm not sure what to think.

Or I could just hedge and place 1/2 of what I owe on one card and the other half on the other.

I imagine the MF works the same way (from what other people have said).


----------



## farsighted99

gmarine said:


> I received my card August 25th, the annual fee posted on September 1st.



Just make sure you don't include that $450 fee towards your spend ($4K).


----------



## farsighted99

The Marriott/SPG Merger has closed.

SPG points have just been valued at 3X Marriott points. Yay!  Could have been worse.

http://thepointsguy.com/2016/09/linking-marriott-and-spg-accounts/

Marriott points are valued by The Points Guy at .07/point.  SPG points valued at 2.5/point.   Close enough.

Think this new Chase card gives you more value, IF you buy airline tickets with the Ultimate Rewards points.  1.5 x 3 =  4.5 UR points (with airline tkts).


----------



## SandyPGravel

Could someone share how fast the turnaround was after you applied for this card until you received it?  

Thanx


----------



## DavidnRobin

SandyPGravel said:


> Could someone share how fast the turnaround was after you applied for this card until you received it?
> 
> Thanx



2 business days for both of us.  One was received via FedEx and the other UPS.


----------



## SandyPGravel

Thank you!  Hope that holds true for us too.


----------



## Helios

SandyPGravel said:


> Could someone share how fast the turnaround was after you applied for this card until you received it?
> 
> Thanx



Applied Sunday night.  Received CC via UPS Tuesday at 10 AM.


----------



## Negma

Did you get an e mail saying they received the application. I have had some Widows 10 issues. Filled out the form and pressed submit, had a quick, "we will confirm your information" (2 seconds)....then nothing. Thoughts?


----------



## Helios

Negma said:


> Did you get an e mail saying they received the application. I have had some Widows 10 issues. Filled out the form and pressed submit, had a quick, "we will confirm your information" (2 seconds)....then nothing. Thoughts?



For DW card the approval was immediate, so no email.  Mine was not, I think because I had just received the JP Morgan Ritz CC.  It took 7 days for the email to acknolowge they received my application.  It took 2.5 weeks for the approval.  No email, I found out today I had been approved while looking at Chase online.  I expect to get my CC and meet min spending tomorrow. The rest is icing on the cake...


----------



## alwysonvac

GrayFal said:


> Where would you find the reconsideration number for chase?* I was not denied outright but was not confirmed immediately either.*  I want to follow up. I would be happy to shift the credit from a few infrequently used cards to the new chase sapphire reserve.
> Thx
> 
> And it can happen to anyone



Same thing happened to me. 
I got the message  "_We'll let you know of our decision through U.S. mail within the next 30 days. Please don't resubmit this application while waiting for our decision_."

I've been a Sapphire Preferred cardholder for a few years now but I just took advantage of a Chase United Card mail offer three months ago. I didn't call. I just waited.

9/6 Submitted online application and got the 30 day wait message with an email confirmation.
9/26 Received an email welcoming me to Chase Sapphire Reserve
9/27 Received the card in the mail (not the temporary plastic one)


----------



## rickandcindy23

We both applied for and received our Reserve cards.  I am so excited, and just in time to pay a lot of maintenance fees.


----------



## Helios

How many people received the plastic card originally and then received the "metal" card?  DW got the plastic card a couple of weeks ago and has not received the "metal".  I got the "metal".  

I am calling it "metal" because I don't consider it "metal".  I am being sarcastic because the material does not compare to the Ritz card.  That's the real deal for metal cards, IMO.


----------



## rickandcindy23

Our cards look like metal.  

When we received our Chase hotel credit cards, IHG and Hyatt, they show on the same page with the same account log-in.  

My Chase Ink Plus and Rick's Chase Ink Bold are both business accounts, and those are the only two accounts we have with Ultimate Rewards.  I am wondering if Chase will choose not to combine our Reserve cards with our business accounts.  I assume Chase won't allow us to transfer those points from the business card account to the Reserve personal account.  I would love to transfer from the Ink at 1.25 to the Reserve at 1.5.


----------



## Helios

rickandcindy23 said:


> Our cards look like metal.
> 
> When we received our Chase hotel credit cards, IHG and Hyatt, they show on the same page with the same account log-in.
> 
> My Chase Ink Plus and Rick's Chase Ink Bold are both business accounts, and those are the only two accounts we have with Ultimate Rewards.  I am wondering if Chase will choose not to combine our Reserve cards with our business accounts.  I assume Chase won't allow us to transfer those points from the business card account to the Reserve personal account.  I would love to transfer from the Ink at 1.25 to the Reserve at 1.5.



I am not familiar with the Ink.  I have the United cards (personal and business) and they show up in the same page.  They both deposit miles to the same account.


----------



## nokaoi9

Does anyone know when the $450 annual fee post to your account?  I'm going on six or seven weeks with the card and the fee still hasn't posted.  I scheduled a payment to pay off the current balance on the card, and tacked on the extra $450 for the fee.


----------



## Helios

nokaoi9 said:


> Does anyone know when the $450 annual fee post to your account?  I'm going on six or seven weeks with the card and the fee still hasn't posted.  I scheduled a payment to pay off the current balance on the card, and tacked on the extra $450 for the fee.



No, we got one card about 3 weeks ago and another three days ago.  No fees yet.

GE app fee and travel credits post right away.


----------



## klpca

I received my card on the 30th of September and paid my Seapointe maintenance fees on the same day. The charge, the travel credit, and annual fee posted on the 2nd of October. I'm kind of jealous of those of you who haven't been charged the annual fee yet!


----------



## melissy123

We paid our Shell maintenance fee ahead of time, to book a week for next year, on the Chase SP card, and it shows up as "real estate."  Called in to Customer Service and they said it shows up as a sale of real estate not maintenance fees, but they will report it up and maybe it will get corrected.


----------



## LisaRex

Use Chase Reserve card to pay for my $85 TSA prescreening to get a Known Traveler number.  FYI, rep said that the charge will automatically be credited in 2-3 business cycles. 

I made an appointment for GOES back in July, but the earliest interview time wasn't until Jan '2017.


----------



## Helios

LisaRex said:


> Use Chase Reserve card to pay for my $85 TSA prescreening to get a Known Traveler number.  FYI, rep said that the charge will automatically be credited in 2-3 business cycles.
> 
> I made an appointment for GOES back in July, but the earliest interview time wasn't until Jan '2017.



The appointment dates are interesting.  I made our GE appointments last weekend and Philadelphia's earliest date was in January.  Houston has dates in October.


----------



## DavidnRobin

See GE thread in Vacation Travel Information forum

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1930805&postcount=243


----------



## Henry M.

When I got my GE, I made my reservation at an intermediate airport during one of my trips. At that time, I found an opening in Atlanta and had a trip around the timeframe. 

Recently, my wife got Global Entry. We had a trip planned going through JFK so we allowed extra time to go to the GE office during our layover there. My son got a relatively fast appointment at DFW and also went during a longer than normal planned layover.


----------



## Helios

Helios said:


> No, we got one card about 3 weeks ago and another three days ago.  No fees yet.
> 
> GE app fee and travel credits post right away.



Actually, I just checkeg and both cards had the fees applied o 10/1.  The first one came on 9/10 and the second one on 9/30.  

Perhaps fees are charged the first day of the month after you get the card?


----------



## Helios

emuyshondt said:


> When I got my GE, I made my reservation at an intermediate airport during one of my trips. At that time, I found an opening in Atlanta and had a trip around the timeframe.
> 
> Recently, my wife got Global Entry. We had a trip planned going through JFK so we allowed extra time to go to the GE office during our layover there. My son got a relatively fast appointment at DFW and also went during a longer than normal planned layover.



Do they keep these appointments pretty close to the stated timeframe?  Wondering if I will be safe in a 1 hr connection.


----------



## Henry M.

In the cases I am aware of, the appointments were pretty much on time. We actually arrived early for my wife, but had to wait until pretty much her appointed time. There were others ahead. It took only 15 or 20 minutes to go through the process. This was at ORD.

Having said that, if I were doing this, I'd try to allow for a longer time in case there are unforeseen delays. Depending on where you are going, a one hour layover may not be enough. First, it sometimes takes a while to find the Global Entry office. It might take a while to get there and back to your gate. We had to ask a couple of times to find the right place to go to. The offices are not hidden, but there aren't signs all over the airport directing you to them.

The offices I've been to are outside of the secured area. You have to allow for going back through the sometimes long security lines to catch your next flight.

Planes start boarding 30 minutes prior to departure for domestic flights, and 45 minutes for international flights. Thus, a 1 hour layover is really a 30 minute break to go get your appointment done before the next flight starts boarding.

I would be leery of trying to do this with less than 90 minutes between my appointment time and the departure time of my next flight. I'd also want my scheduled arrival at the airport to be 30 minutes before my appointment time to have enough time to find where I need to go. Thus, a 2 hour layover would be my minimum. You might feel comfortable with less. It is all in how risk tolerant you are! You can always reschedule if you miss your appointment for some reason.


----------



## Helios

emuyshondt said:


> In the cases I am aware of, the appointments were pretty much on time. We actually arrived early for my wife, but had to wait until pretty much her appointed time. There were others ahead. It took only 15 or 20 minutes to go through the process. This was at ORD.
> 
> Having said that, if I were doing this, I'd try to allow for a longer time in case there are unforeseen delays. Depending on where you are going, a one hour layover may not be enough. First, it sometimes takes a while to find the Global Entry office. It might take a while to get there and back to your gate. We had to ask a couple of times to find the right place to go to. The offices are not hidden, but there aren't signs all over the airport directing you to them.
> 
> The offices I've been to are outside of the secured area. You have to allow for going back through the sometimes long security lines to catch your next flight.
> 
> Planes start boarding 30 minutes prior to departure for domestic flights, and 45 minutes for international flights. Thus, a 1 hour layover is really a 30 minute break to go get your appointment done before the next flight starts boarding.
> 
> I would be leery of trying to do this with less than 90 minutes between my appointment time and the departure time of my next flight. I'd also want my scheduled arrival at the airport to be 30 minutes before my appointment time to have enough time to find where I need to go. Thus, a 2 hour layover would be my minimum. You might feel comfortable with less. It is all in how risk tolerant you are! You can always reschedule if you miss your appointment for some reason.



Good to know, thanks.  My upcoming connections will not work then.  My connecting flights are in big birds and one of them after clearing immigration and customs (I'll be wishing I had GE).  I always like having plenty of time for that pre flight Moscow Mule.


----------



## GrayFal

GrayFal said:


> Where would you find the reconsideration number for chase? I was not denied outright but was not confirmed immediately either.  I want to follow up. I would be happy to shift the credit from a few infrequently used cards to the new chase sapphire reserve.
> Thx
> 
> And it can happen to anyone
> 
> 
> For me, the past month has caused major FOMOP (Fear of Missing Out on Points). While I’ve been happy that TPG readers have been pulling in millions — if not billions — of Ultimate Rewards points, I’ve felt like I’ve been missing out on something. I applied for the Chase Sapphire Reserve the first day it came out and was finally approved last Friday. That period of 18 days that I had to wait from application to approval was a very dark time for me. During that period, I was followed by TPG readers taunting me on Snapchat and Twitter with their flashy new cards and crisp approval letters.
> 
> Read more: http://thepointsguy.com/2016/09/how-i-got-the-chase-sapphire-reserve/#ixzz4KbprqSxo





alwysonvac said:


> Same thing happened to me.
> I got the message  "_We'll let you know of our decision through U.S. mail within the next 30 days. Please don't resubmit this application while waiting for our decision_."
> 
> I've been a Sapphire Preferred cardholder for a few years now but I just took advantage of a Chase United Card mail offer three months ago. I didn't call. I just waited.
> 
> 9/6 Submitted online application and got the 30 day wait message with an email confirmation.
> 9/26 Received an email welcoming me to Chase Sapphire Reserve
> 9/27 Received the card in the mail (not the temporary plastic one)



Submitted 9/20 and got the 30 day wait with an email confirmation. 
Checked my account 10/5 and saw the reserve card listed with my others. 
Still have not received the Welcome email or the cards but glad I got approval.


----------



## Born2Travel

Mine took 2-3 days after I got the Welcome email.  And about 2.5 wks from application date.


----------



## rickandcindy23

Our fees were charged immediately.  I also paid MF's immediately.  I am anxious to see if they all post as 3X.  If so, I am going to have a lot of UR points at the end of next year.  

I am dumping the Starwood card.  This card is so much better.


----------



## elleny76

Can I open this CC and use those points to book travel vacation through chase portal for my nieces as 16y/o as gifts?  or my name has to be in each tickets_traveling?

thanks









hvanv0405 said:


> The fee is pretty much being added immediately. . .some people have seen it on their account before the card arrives.
> 
> Mine posted about week after getting the card.
> 
> *I can confirm the MF charge works for the "Travel Credit".  The $300 I prepaid posted over the weekend and the $300 credit was instantly applied as well.*
> 
> The 100K are Ultimate Rewards with Chase, and can be redeemed or transferred from your account for various options.
> 
> Maybe check out this link if not familiar wiht UR's http://thepointsguy.com/2016/06/redeeming-chase-ultimate-rewards-maximum-value/
> 
> **You get the 100K after spending $4k within 3mo of opening card.


----------



## DavidnRobin

DavidnRobin said:


> I haven't had the $450 fee hit yet either.
> 
> I signed Robin up - funny, she has a higher limit than me even though I put my income in as higher than hers.
> 
> Now to sign-up for Global Entry or TSApre - do I understand correctly, Global Entry gives TSApre as well?




First purchase Sept14, $450 charged on Oct1, due Oct28
Got 3X for MFs that went towards the travel credit.
GE appointment - late Mar'17 :annoyed:


----------



## Helios

DavidnRobin said:


> First purchase Sept14, $450 charged on Oct1, due Oct28
> Got 3X for MFs that went towards the travel credit.
> GE appointment - late Mar'17 :annoyed:



Wow, march.  I was upset with January.


----------



## duke

Is it worth it to get GE if I really only need Pre Check?


----------



## DavidnRobin

duke said:


> Is it worth it to get GE if I really only need Pre Check?



Not sure with this ridiculous wait in NorCal, but too late now. You can't see wait list until paid, and payment is non-refundable.  Also, the GEOS site is too cluggy to see if there is a random opening sooner.
We are going to wait until March - do not need GE before then and only TSA once (which we seem to get normally anyway).


----------



## duke

DavidnRobin said:


> Not sure with this ridiculous wait in NorCal, but too late now. You can't see wait list until paid, and payment is non-refundable.  Also, the GEOS site is too cluggy to see if there is a random opening sooner.
> We am going to wait until March - do not need GE before then and only TSA once (which we seem to get normally anyway).



TSA Pre Check wait time is next day.  Just pre-enrolled.  Pay when you get there as well.


----------



## Negma

When I first enrolled for this card the website and my computer did not cooperate. I called chase and they said they never received the application.

I of course applied again and I checked this time to verify they received the application and they did. I was on the road and when I got home I had a letter to call Chase. They were verifying it was me, sent a code to my phone and boom, approved. Like some others, showed up right away on my chase application.

I received the card today (3 days after the call) via UPS. It will be our number one card for travel and dining.

One question- Doesn't it still make sense if you want Starwood points to pay maintenance fees on the SW Amex since it is 2:1. I know this card gives 3:1 but for Marriott that then goes 3:1 Marriott to starwood. So $1000 on Chase would equal 1000 starwood points and $1000 on SW Amex would be 2000 SW points. Correct? Yes Chase points more versatile.


----------



## duke

Here's my analysis of maximizing SW Amex vs Chase Sapphire Reserve:

1.  SW Amex - Spend $45,000 at SW maintenance fees/timeshare/hotel:  Get 2X points = 90,000 SPG.  Transfer to Marriott get 270,000 Marriott points.  Use for Flights and Nights get 7 nights at hotel you would not want to stay at and 132,000 United Miles.

2.  Chase Reserve - Spend $45,000 on Travel get 135,000 UR points to use for travel at $1.5 cents = $2,025.

What would you rather have 132,000 United miles or $2,025.

I understand you won't spend this much on maintenance fees but the analysis maximizes both and therefore yields a valid comparison to make a decision.

(for me it's a wash - as both would get me 3 coach tix LAX -> Maui.  But I am getting so tired of the airlines not releasing the direct flights I want that it is much easier to purchase the tickets using the UR points and also earning mileage on the flight.)


----------



## rickandcindy23

> Transfer to Marriott get 270,000 Marriott points. Use for Flights and Nights get 7 nights at hotel you would not want to stay at and 132,000 United Miles.



Just trying to figure out the value of SPG to UR points myself.  

Can you explain that?  What's bad about the hotel?:rofl:


----------



## duke

rickandcindy23 said:


> Just trying to figure out the value of SPG to UR points myself.
> 
> Can you explain that?  What's bad about the hotel?:rofl:



Category 1 - 5 Marriott:

•AC Hotels (1)
•Autograph Collection (1)
•Courtyard (21)
•Fairfield Inn & Suites (8)
•Marriott Hotels and Resorts (5)
•Residence Inn (21)
•SpringHill Suites (4)
•TownePlace Suites (6)

Nights and Flights:
http://www.marriott.com/rewards/usepoints/morepack.mi


----------



## triangulum33

duke said:


> Here's my analysis of maximizing SW Amex vs Chase Sapphire Reserve:
> 
> 
> 
> 1.  SW Amex - Spend $45,000 at SW maintenance fees/timeshare/hotel:  Get 2X points = 90,000 SPG.  Transfer to Marriott get 270,000 Marriott points





Why not use the SP to stay at a SW hotel?



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## GrayFal

*You will be getting your metal card soon.*

From TPG

There’s no doubt that the new Chase Sapphire Reserve Card is one of the best consumer credit cards to hit the market. From its 100,000-point sign-up bonus, incredible bonus categories and other perks like a $300 travel credit, the card is a no-brainer for any traveler. But, Chase was surprised with just how popular the card was, resulting in a shortage of the metal the card was made out of. As an alternative for the time being, Chase resulted to issuing newly approved cardholders plastic versions of the card. And just about a month after the initial reports of a shortage, Chase has confirmed that the metal cards are back in stock and being shipped to new cardholders.

In addition, for new cardholders who were shipped a plastic version upon approval, Chase is automatically sending them metal version. A Chase representative confirmed that within the next couple of days, plastic CSR cardholders will receive an email with a tracking number for when the new card will arrive — no need to call and request a replacement



Read more: http://thepointsguy.com/2016/10/csr-metal-cards-back-in-stock/#ixzz4N3KnSyLb


----------



## regatta333

*Lounge Access*

My husband got his card several weeks ago, but I just now noticed that you actually have to enroll for the Priority Pass Select lounge access.  I only just did that and apparently the membership card will take 2-3 weeks.  Is this card needed to gain access to the lounge or can you just show the Sapphire reserve credit card to gain access?

We are travelling tomorrow, so if the membership card is required, I guess we are out of luck.


----------



## YYJMSP

regatta333 said:


> My husband got his card several weeks ago, but I just now noticed that you actually have to enroll for the Priority Pass Select lounge access.  I only just did that and apparently the membership card will take 2-3 weeks.  Is this card needed to gain access to the lounge or can you just show the Sapphire reserve credit card to gain access?
> 
> We are travelling tomorrow, so if the membership card is required, I guess we are out of luck.



You need the physical PP card, but some lounges appear to let you just use the number if you have it.  Just explain that the physical card hasn't arrived yet.


----------



## Negma

regatta333 said:


> My husband got his card several weeks ago, but I just now noticed that you actually have to enroll for the Priority Pass Select lounge access.  I only just did that and apparently the membership card will take 2-3 weeks.  Is this card needed to gain access to the lounge or can you just show the Sapphire reserve credit card to gain access?
> 
> We are travelling tomorrow, so if the membership card is required, I guess we are out of luck.



There is a Priority Pass app you can use if you have your account number. The app has a digital card you can use to access the lounge. We used the digital card 4 months ago when travelling. I have Priority pass through Amex Platinum (but that is another story)


----------



## regatta333

YYJMSP said:


> You need the physical PP card, but some lounges appear to let you just use the number if you have it.  Just explain that the physical card hasn't arrived yet.



Thanks.  I discovered by calling Chase that if you just pay for the lounge, they will credit the fee (up to two times) after the charge posts if you call in to request it after the fact.  As it turns out, the lounge access will not work for us on this trip as they do not have a Priority Pass lounge in the terminal from which we are departing.


----------



## DavidnRobin

Most of the PP lounges are best situated for international travel.


----------



## SeattleJohn2

*Why the long face?*

I signed up for the Chase Sapphire reserve card about 10 days ago but haven't received it yet. Iow long should it take for the card to get here? I think the email confirmation said 5-7 days. If it will be longer than that, is there a way to get the CC info direct from Chase? I have a couple of flights I'd like to buy with the card but don't want to wait too long.

Thanks!


----------



## nokaoi9

SeattleJohn2 said:


> I signed up for the Chase Sapphire reserve card about 10 days ago but haven't received it yet. Iow long should it take for the card to get here? I think the email confirmation said 5-7 days. If it will be longer than that, is there a way to get the CC info direct from Chase? I have a couple of flights I'd like to buy with the card but don't want to wait too long.
> 
> Thanks!



I'd call and follow up.  I'm pretty sure I applied and received the card in under a week.


----------



## DavidnRobin

Ours came in 2 business days - delivered by UPS/FedEx


----------



## regatta333

DavidnRobin said:


> Ours came in 2 business days - delivered by UPS/FedEx



Ditto for both our cards.


----------



## Helios

regatta333 said:


> Ditto for both our cards.



Same here, two cards with two different application timelines.


----------



## SeattleJohn2

Mystery solved! Registered on 10/6, cards delivered on 10/7. Wife put package in with junk mail 

Time to pay some maintenance fees and airline tix to Cancun!


----------



## elleny76

Hi, Where can I find the link to enroll to the Priority pass lounge access? tx



regatta333 said:


> My husband got his card several weeks ago, but I just now noticed that you actually have to enroll for the Priority Pass Select lounge access.  I only just did that and apparently the membership card will take 2-3 weeks.  Is this card needed to gain access to the lounge or can you just show the Sapphire reserve credit card to gain access?
> 
> We are travelling tomorrow, so if the membership card is required, I guess we are out of luck.


----------



## scootr5

elleny76 said:


> Hi, Where can I find the link to enroll to the Priority pass lounge access? tx



Go to the Ultimate Rewards section of the Chase website, and it's under Earn Points -> Card Benefits.


----------



## SeattleJohn2

What is included in the Priority Pass? Evidently it is a Select membership. Can someone confirm the pass is unlimited for my guests and I? That is, no restrictions on the # of visits in a given year? Or the # of guests I can bring in? (I found that info here: http://travelsort.com/blog/chase-sapphire-reserve-priority-pass-select-lounge-access-and-faq). If this is the case, what a great benefit!


----------



## elleny76

My charge of $400 is pending but shows as "BELLA FLORIDA CONDO"..? will this be OK?





Helios said:


> A word of caution about this, WSJ and HRA maintenance fees post as "Miscellaneous Retail".  SBP and SVV post as "Travel".  So, saying that paying your MF qualifies for the 3x points and for the $300 is not correct.
> 
> At least that's how mine posted, YMMV...


----------



## elleny76

Can you share how the payment of the timeshare was cat in the bill?   thanks




nokaoi9 said:


> I paid a portion of my 2017 SVV MF's on Saturday.  I checked today and the $300 credit had already posted.  Very impressed.


----------



## Helios

In case you haven't seen it, Amex Plat Business is offering 100K MR points...


----------



## elleny76

Never mind..it showed up today as credit..:whoopie:




elleny76 said:


> My charge of $400 is pending but shows as "BELLA FLORIDA CONDO"..? will this be OK?


----------



## Julian926

Is the $300 travel credit per account?  So if I get the card and then add my wife to the same account, we wouldn't both get credit?

Or...

My wife gets the card by applying for it. We both pay the SVV maintenance fee by half and both get credit?


----------



## DavidnRobin

Julian926 said:


> Is the $300 travel credit per account?  So if I get the card and then add my wife to the same account, we wouldn't both get credit?
> 
> Or...
> 
> My wife gets the card by applying for it. We both pay the SVV maintenance fee by half and both get credit?



The 2nd one - need separate accounts.


----------



## Julian926

DavidnRobin said:


> The 2nd one - need separate accounts.




Thanks!

Can you combine Ultimate rewards with a spouse?


----------



## chrono88

Julian926 said:


> Thanks!
> 
> Can you combine Ultimate rewards with a spouse?


Yes, you can combine ultimate rewards with any member of your household.


----------



## Julian926

chrono88 said:


> Yes, you can combine ultimate rewards with any member of your household.




Thanks! Just got approved.


----------



## seascapemvy

gmarine said:


> I just got the card too. Great intro bonus of 100K points for the $450 annual fee.   You should make sure that the maintenance fees will go through coded as travel so it is eligible for the rebate. Not all maintenance fees go through coded as travel.





hvanv0405 said:


> Anyone else recently sign up for the Chase Sapphire Reserve card (with the $300 annual travel credit)?
> 
> I went ahead and prepaid $300 now with card and plan to pay remaining balance when due in 2017 (possibly end of Dec to post on Jan statement).
> 
> Based on credit per calendar year the "Travel Credit" should provide me $600 off my MF  *CHEERS*


I got my card and am happy with it for one year only.  I was looking at the travel options and found the cost of flying on United Airlines way more expensive usinh Chases points than taking the 1,000 in cash and buying the tickets with case on my Chase United card which also givew me free 1st bag for both my wife and I.  However for one year I make out getting $100 for our TSA pass and $300 towards  timeshre maintenance fees.


----------



## Julian926

Not a biggie, but are they still issuing plastic cards due to running out of metal? Or do you get the nice box with the metal card now?


----------



## seascapemvy

Julian926 said:


> Not a biggie, but are they still issuing plastic cards due to running out of metal? Or do you get the nice box with the metal card now?



Mine came in a brown UPS envelope and it was metal


----------



## Sandy VDH

i'm considering this too, as it is a good time of year to easily hit minimum spend with MFs due.  Plus I did go back and check with my Chase Sapphire Preferred to see which timeshares in the past have been correctly classified as Travel.  All but 1 of my MFs was correctly classified.  So those MFs should also earn 3X points. 

So basically between the 3X points earning and the 1.5X bonus for spending on travel, this yields a 4.5% rebate IF YOU USE IT TO BOOK TRAVEL, which I do.  I usually use it to buy airfare.  I like to do that if I need more Airlines miles, because buying the airline ticket with Ultimate Reward Points actually earns you Airline miles.  If you are using reward tickets, you earn nothing.  So it helps me collect more air miles for business class tickets for long flights.


----------



## okwiater

Julian926 said:


> Not a biggie, but are they still issuing plastic cards due to running out of metal? Or do you get the nice box with the metal card now?



Mine is metal, too. But honestly, although the weight of the metal card is nice, I'd probably just prefer plastic. The metal ones scratch easily when they're run through a card reader, and collect lots of greasy fingerprints when handled by a waiter or waitress. My card is only about a month old and it hasn't worn particularly well as compared to a high-quality plastic card. Plus, disposing of it will be a PITA.


----------



## farsighted99

okwiater said:


> Mine is metal, too. But honestly, although the weight of the metal card is nice, I'd probably just prefer plastic. The metal ones scratch easily when they're run through a card reader, and collect lots of greasy fingerprints when handled by a waiter or waitress. My card is only about a month old and it hasn't worn particularly well as compared to a high-quality plastic card. Plus, disposing of it will be a PITA.



I got the plastic one and haven't received the metal one.  But who cares?  

As long as I get my points, I'm happy.


----------



## okwiater

farsighted99 said:


> I got the plastic one and haven't received the metal one.  But who cares?
> 
> As long as I get my points, I'm happy.


Exactly!!!


----------



## MPERL

*Cashing in points*

Can you use the bonus points to purchase a ticket on any airlines or only a few. I fly mostly American Airlines.


----------



## Sandy VDH

I'm past considering, I've applied, played around with Chase cards that had $0 balance on the card but lots of limit. 

So I moved limits and closed some cards and ended up with $45K limit on my new Reserve card.

I have credit score in the 800s, so I'm not really worried about any hits with closing cards.  Kept limits open, so credit to limit ratio will not change.


----------



## Sandy VDH

MPERL said:


> Can you use the bonus points to purchase a ticket on any airlines or only a few. I fly mostly American Airlines.



I think it is ANY airline through the travel portal, as it is just a booking engine.  Airline is NOT a factor.  That is one of the nice things about these rewards, very flexible.


----------



## rickandcindy23

The portal has been great.  The car rentals are actually lower in dollar amount, but I can always choose to spend UR over dollars, it's up to me.  If you have some Ultimate Rewards, but not enough to pay for a ticket in full, you can use the points you have + cash.  So if you decide to close the card, you can always book something with the remaining points.  

The dollar cost of airline tickets is the same in the portal as with Kayak.  I have been very pleased with the portal, much happier than my SPG booking portal.  

I guess I am a huge Chase's portal because we have so many points in UR and Southwest with our Manufactured Spend.  With Ink Bold and Ink Plus, the two of us have built well over 1.5 million points in less than 3 years.  

Chase has Southwest as a customer, and we have transferred hundreds of thousands of UR points to SW.  5,000 points equates to about $100 with SW.  So these 100,000 bonus points are worth a lot of flights with SW.


----------



## Quilter

duke said:


> In many cases you will find that purchasing the tickets via Chase at the value of 1.5 cents per point is a better deal.  In addition, you get to EARN mileage on the purchased ticket!  Tickets can be purchased on ANY airline through Chase.
> 
> For me, flying LAX --> Maui is same cost using miles/points or purchase through Chase.  But by purchasing, the tickets are always available for the flights we want AND we EARN mileage for flying on paid ticket!



Booking through Chase travel is something I've never done.   I book with miles.  

Would this work in my situation:   Using miles for trip to Italy in Business class.   Flying on LH through UA.   Cost is 70K per person each way so 280K miles.  The $ amount for the trip is $6900 for each person on the outbound and $5000 on the return.

I'd appreciate any insight about doing such a trip through Chase travel.


----------



## rovitm

rickandcindy23 said:


> The portal has been great.  The car rentals are actually lower in dollar amount, but I can always choose to spend UR over dollars, it's up to me.  If you have some Ultimate Rewards, but not enough to pay for a ticket in full, you can use the points you have + cash.  So if you decide to close the card, you can always book something with the remaining points.
> 
> 
> 
> The dollar cost of airline tickets is the same in the portal as with Kayak.  I have been very pleased with the portal, much happier than my SPG booking portal.
> 
> 
> 
> I guess I am a huge Chase's portal because we have so many points in UR and Southwest with our Manufactured Spend.  With Ink Bold and Ink Plus, the two of us have built well over 1.5 million points in less than 3 years.
> 
> 
> 
> Chase has Southwest as a customer, and we have transferred hundreds of thousands of UR points to SW.  5,000 points equates to about $100 with SW.  So these 100,000 bonus points are worth a lot of flights with SW.




Wow.  What is the secret to accumulating so many points?


----------



## rickandcindy23

rovitm said:


> Wow.  What is the secret to accumulating so many points?



We get 5X points at office supply stores with Chase Ink Bold and Chase Ink Plus.  We love those two cards.  We buy Visa Gift Cards at Staples and liquidate them to money orders, then deposit those into our business checking accounts.


----------



## Quilter

Quilter said:


> Booking through Chase travel is something I've never done.   I book with miles.
> 
> Would this work in my situation:   Using miles for trip to Italy in Business class.   Flying on LH through UA.   Cost is 70K per person each way so 280K miles.  The $ amount for the trip is $6900 for each person on the outbound and $5000 on the return.
> 
> I'd appreciate any insight about doing such a trip through Chase travel.



Answered my own question:  I went to chase.com and tried the travel portal for the first time.

This is the same flight I booked with 140,000 miles.  When paying through the portal or with $$ it is much different checking round trip vs. booking one way.   The round trip comes up less than at one way.   Why is that?

Price
4 SEATS LEFT AT
$5,565.36
or
445,228 pts
Round-Trip Per Person
Airline Information
United Airlines
UA6006*
UA8826**
UA9086***
* Flight UA6006 Operated by UA MESA AIRLINES DBA UNITED EXPRESS
** Flight UA8826 Operated by UA DLH LUFTHANSA
*** Flight UA9086 Operated by UA DLH LUFTHANSA
Departure
Detroit
2:50 PM
DTW
Thursday, Nov 24
Duration
15hr 30min
2 Stops
Arrives next day

Arrival
Venice
12:20 PM
VCE
Friday, Nov 25


----------



## Sandy VDH

I think you get a better bang using airline miles rewards for Business and First Class reward tickets, provided you can get discounted mileage rewards.

You do better on Chase portal for economy priced tickets.

Check both, and compare.


----------



## Helios

Quilter said:


> This is the same flight I booked with 140,000 miles.  When paying through the portal or with $$ it is much different checking round trip vs. booking one way.   The round trip comes up less than at one way.   Why is that?



Weird airline pricing schemes.  I have seen that a couple of times.  

I have also seen that adding two more segments (before and after your desired flights) actually lower the price.:hysterical:


----------



## Helios

Sandy VDH said:


> I think you get a better bang using airline miles rewards for Business and First Class reward tickets, provided you can get discounted mileage rewards.



I agree, for premium tixs miles are better.  Hopefully you can get the saver awards.  

As an example, I just got 4 F tixs IAD-LHR-CDG in BA for 170,000 roundtrip.  But BA does get you with high fuel surcharges...


----------



## Quilter

Helios said:


> Weird airline pricing schemes.  I have seen that a couple of times.
> 
> I have also seen that adding two more segments (before and after your desired flights) actually lower the price.:hysterical:



Interesting.   Can you give an example of what you mean?  Thanks


----------



## Quilter

Sandy VDH said:


> I think you get a better bang using airline miles rewards for Business and First Class reward tickets, provided you can get discounted mileage rewards.
> 
> You do better on Chase portal for economy priced tickets.
> 
> Check both, and compare.



Thank you.   That confirms what I thought.  Just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something on the travel portal.


----------



## Quilter

Helios said:


> I agree, for premium tixs miles are better.  Hopefully you can get the saver awards.
> 
> As an example, I just got 4 F tixs IAD-LHR-CDG in BA for 170,000 roundtrip.  But BA does get you with high fuel surcharges...



170,000 for all 4 or each one?

I booked B seats DTW-IAD-FRA-VCE for 70,000 one way.   (Could have booked DTW-FRA-VCE but want to fly in a 747).  Another 70,000 for the return VCE-FRA-DTW.   That was the MileSaver rate.


----------



## rickandcindy23

Quilter said:


> Thank you.   That confirms what I thought.  Just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something on the travel portal.



The UR portal only works for airfare you would otherwise pay for with cash, which you can purchase with points instead, points you already have saved in your account.  I cannot imagine having enough points for $20K in First Class airfare.  That would be a crazy amount of points.  I think some people can do it, but transferring points to a partner, like United or British Airways, would almost certainly be preferable.  First Class to Maui for us is different.  $808 RT at times from Oakland, which equates to a huge savings for us with our Chase UR points.


----------



## Quilter

rickandcindy23 said:


> The UR portal only works for airfare you would otherwise pay for with cash, which you can purchase with points instead, points you already have saved in your account.  I cannot imagine having enough points for $20K in First Class airfare.  That would be a crazy amount of points.  I think some people can do it, but transferring points to a partner, like United or British Airways, would almost certainly be preferable.  First Class to Maui for us is different.  $808 RT at times from Oakland, which equates to a huge savings for us with our Chase UR points.



Even at the round trip rate of $5,000 the trip to Italy would take 1,000,000 UR points for 2 tickets.   

$800 for a RT in F.   Wow!   It would be a far reach for me to think that fares like that would happen from DTW-VCE on the days I needed


----------



## Helios

Quilter said:


> Interesting.   Can you give an example of what you mean?  Thanks



As an example, you may pay less if you go on United First EWR-IAD-HNL-IAD-EWR than IAD-HNL-IAD.  Both IAD and EWR have 767400 with international configurations going to HNL once a day.  I have seen this with many other routes and airlines.


----------



## Helios

Quilter said:


> 170,000 for all 4 or each one?
> 
> I booked B seats DTW-IAD-FRA-VCE for 70,000 one way.   (Could have booked DTW-FRA-VCE but want to fly in a 747).  Another 70,000 for the return VCE-FRA-DTW.   That was the MileSaver rate.



Per Person RT. 4 tickets at the same price using AA miles in BA 747400.  I wanted to try the second deck, but I found the F tixs for all of us and decided to stay downstairs.  Also, I don't like the rear facing Biz window seats upstairs.


----------



## Helios

Quilter said:


> Even at the round trip rate of $5,000 the trip to Italy would take 1,000,000 UR points for 2 tickets.
> 
> $800 for a RT in F.   Wow!   It would be a far reach for me to think that fares like that would happen from DTW-VCE on the days I needed



800 RT in F from OAK to Hawaii sounds nice.  I wish I could say the same, it's about $15K for the 4 of us from EWR but in 767400 with flat seats and AVOD.


----------



## Helios

Helios said:


> 800 RT in F from OAK to Hawaii sounds nice.  I wish I could say the same, it's about $15K for the 4 of us from EWR but in 767400 with flat seats and AVOD.



Or 740K miles plus about $80...


----------



## rickandcindy23

Here is the math for UR points:

$808 ticket (including all fees and taxes) cost us 64,640 points.  This was at 1.25X UR.  We now have 1.5X UR, so we would do better with the new Chase Sapphire Reserve portal.  64,640 was about 48,480 spend, but now that spend would get me 72,720 for the same spend at 1.5X.  

But a lot of my maintenance fees will result in points at 3X (at least $70K annually).  

Manufactured spend is about $6/1,000 points.  That makes the ticket  about half price for us: 64,640 X $6/ 1,000= $387.84.  It pays to MS.  We only do about $100K per year at 5X.


----------



## Helios

rickandcindy23 said:


> Here is the math for UR points:
> 
> $808 ticket (including all fees and taxes) cost us 64,640 points.  This was at 1.25X UR.  We now have 1.5X UR, so we would do better with the new Chase Sapphire Reserve portal.  64,640 was about 48,480 spend, but now that spend would get me 72,720 for the same spend at 1.5X.
> 
> But a lot of my maintenance fees will result in points at 3X (at least $70K annually).
> 
> Manufactured spend is about $6/1,000 points.  That makes the ticket  about half price for us: 64,640 X $6/ 1,000= $387.84.  It pays to MS.  We only do about $100K per year at 5X.



Did I misread your post?  Did you say your MF are $70K?

Enjoy MF while it's around...


----------



## rickandcindy23

Helios said:


> Did I misread your post?  Did you say your MF are $70K?
> 
> Enjoy MF while it's around...


Yep, they are that high.  We own a lot of Wyndham points and Sheraton weeks, too.


----------



## farsighted99

rickandcindy23 said:


> Here is the math for UR points:
> 
> $808 ticket (including all fees and taxes) cost us 64,640 points.  This was at 1.25X UR.  We now have 1.5X UR, so we would do better with the new Chase Sapphire Reserve portal.  64,640 was about 48,480 spend, but now that spend would get me 72,720 for the same spend at 1.5X.
> 
> But a lot of my maintenance fees will result in points at 3X (at least $70K annually).



How do you get 3X out of maintenance fees?  I only get 2X (supposedly gold)... Are you Platinum?  Just curious.


----------



## Helios

rickandcindy23 said:


> Yep, they are that high.  We own a lot of Wyndham points and Sheraton weeks, too.



Those are some high MFs.  

BTW, my second MF reference was supposed to be Manufactured Spending.


----------



## rickandcindy23

farsighted99 said:


> How do you get 3X out of maintenance fees?  I only get 2X (supposedly gold)... Are you Platinum?  Just curious.


Chase Sapphire Reserve gets 3X on MF's.


----------



## Sandy VDH

Here is the card info....

https://creditcards.chase.com/a1/sapphire/reserve


----------



## melissy123

rickandcindy23 said:


> Here is the math for UR points:
> 
> $808 ticket (including all fees and taxes) cost us 64,640 points.  This was at 1.25X UR.  We now have 1.5X UR, so we would do better with the new Chase Sapphire Reserve portal.  64,640 was about 48,480 spend, but now that spend would get me 72,720 for the same spend at 1.5X.
> 
> Cindy, do you have to transfer your old points to the new portal to get the 1.5X instead of the 1.25X?


----------



## Sandy VDH

melissy123 said:


> Cindy, do you have to transfer your old points to the new portal to get the 1.5X instead of the 1.25X?



Im not Cindy, but I can answer.  You can transfer the UR points between any of your UR accounts.  So I earn on Ink, Freedom and Sapphire, but move them all over to Sapphire to book travel and use UR rewards.


----------



## melissy123

Sandy VDH said:


> Im not Cindy, but I can answer.  You can transfer the UR points between any of your UR accounts.  So I earn on Ink, Freedom and Sapphire, but move them all over to Sapphire to book travel and use UR rewards.



Thank you!


----------



## tschwa2

Freedom has a much more limited UR program.  I don't think they can be transferred into the other UR accounts.


----------



## DavidnRobin

If 3x on UR and worth 1.5c/UR = 4.5c/UR
If 2x on SP and worth 2.25c/SP = 4.5c/SP

other than optimizing or maximizing their Spend - aren't these the same (approx.)?


----------



## duke

DavidnRobin said:


> If 3x on UR and worth 1.5c/UR = 4.5c/UR
> If 2x on SP and worth 2.25c/SP = 4.5c/SP
> 
> other than optimizing or maximizing their Spend - aren't these the same (approx.)?



No, The value in UR is "real" in that you can use that amount to purchase any travel.  The value in SP is "opportunistic" in that that you need to find a use.


----------



## lily28

tschwa2 said:


> Freedom has a much more limited UR program.  I don't think they can be transferred into the other UR accounts.



You can transfer UR from Freedom to sapphire preferred or reserve.  I just did that last week


----------



## DavidnRobin

duke said:


> No, The value in UR is "real" in that you can use that amount to purchase any travel.  The value in SP is "opportunistic" in that that you need to find a use.



So the opportunistic value is higher since we get about 4-5c/SP upon redemption and not 2.25c/SP (I used that figure for SP as the approx. consensus value)


----------



## Sandy VDH

DavidnRobin said:


> So the opportunistic value is higher since we get about 4-5c/SP upon redemption and not 2.25c/SP (I used that figure for SP as the approx. consensus value)



The main difference is SP vs UR, is UR you can PURCHASE any airline or hotel that is in the portal and get 4.5% on every TRAVEL (including TS MFs spend) and Dining spend.  With SP are you limited to just use points on Hotels and/or affiliated point transfers to other airline programs.  

Whereas UR you can purchase ANY travel, NOT just one chain or airline, provided you can find it in the portal to book.  Now I just noticed AC flights were not in there but no problem with UA or AA.  When you purchase these as flights or hotels you actually earn points on them. 

Now I think business and first reward you might be better off getting from the airlines,  but for basic coach fares the portal works just fine. 

So to me the key is flexibility and NOT being forced into a single hotel or airline system.


----------



## DavidnRobin

I understand the difference, but if I need/want to stay at a Marriott/Starwood hotel (which we do for NYC and NorCal)... is using MRs or SPs a better value than reserving using UR points?

I have plenty of both URs and SPs to use for the two of us - so deciding whether to pay remains VSE MFs with CSR or SW AMEX.
~250K UR
~150K SP
(and ~150K AA miles)


----------



## Sandy VDH

I have a tendency to use rewards for dream trip hotel and airfare, AND when frequent flyer points are not low enough and fares are. 

I don't use hotels as much unless I am traveling for work.  Then I try to stay at one of the big chains if possible.  Since I am usually not paying for it I don't worry about it.

Some examples...

So Hotel points I have I used in Maldives and French Poly for $1.5k to $2K a night hotel rooms. Best use of points in my opinion in MOST, but not all cases.  You have to consider what the local price is vs the hotel rating.  Some places it makes sense to use a reward over a purchase. 

So Airline points I use for Bus/First Overseas or expensive HI or Caribbean flights.  Paid 25K for one way First/Bus Class fare that is otherwise $1000 I paid 15K for a one way flight that was $790 in coach.  

I used the portal for a $685 flight that is now about $457 in UR $$.   It is not available as a reward because Silver Airlines is one leg from FLL to the Bahamas (TCB airport). For 25K in points I could fly to FLL then pay $314 in UR $$ for FLL to TCB.  But that makes NO sense, 25K for $140 worth of value.  That makes NO sense, just buy the airfare in UR$$ instead.

So pick and choose the point values that get the most bang for the buck for you.


----------



## Sandy VDH

DavidnRobin said:


> I understand the difference, but if I need/want to stay at a Marriott/Starwood hotel (which we do for NYC and NorCal)... is using MRs or SPs a better value than reserving using UR points?
> 
> I have plenty of both URs and SPs to use for the two of us - so deciding whether to pay remains VSE MFs with CSR or SW AMEX.
> ~250K UR
> ~150K SP
> (and ~150K AA miles)



Based on your profile where all of you TS are in program, and in that program they may earn extra points for that branded card, well then I can see why you say who cares abour UR.  But some of us own multiple programs.  Me, I own Hilton, Wyndham, HICV, and some other non point units.  So for me Sapphire Reserve and UR makes much more sense.


----------



## rickandcindy23

DavidnRobin said:


> I understand the difference, but if I need/want to stay at a Marriott/Starwood hotel (which we do for NYC and NorCal)... is using MRs or SPs a better value than reserving using UR points?
> 
> I have plenty of both URs and SPs to use for the two of us - so deciding whether to pay remains VSE MFs with CSR or SW AMEX.
> ~250K UR
> ~150K SP
> (and ~150K AA miles)


UR Points transfer to Marriott 1:1.  YMMV on value, but of course you can transfer to Starwood from Marriott.  

I don't use UR points for hotels much.  I have transferred to Hyatt some.  Hyatt has hotels in places I go, and they are very reasonably priced.


----------



## DavidnRobin

Sandy VDH said:


> Based on your profile where all of you TS are in program, and in that program they may earn extra points for that branded card, well then I can see why you say who cares abour UR.  But some of us own multiple programs.  Me, I own Hilton, Wyndham, HICV, and some other non point units.  So for me Sapphire Reserve and UR makes much more sense.



I never said 'who cares about UR' - we have 2 CSR cards and ~250K UR (or will soon).  I was wondering which offers more value, and responding to difference between opportunitistic and real value.  When putting factors based on points, then it is the value ($) of those points that matters when using these factors because it is more than just 2x, 3x, or 4x (etc.) those points.  Thus my comparison between the consensus value of points - whether SP, UR, MR or airline miles.


----------



## rickandcindy23

David, you can play a bit in the UR Portal, and perhaps you can judge the value for what you need.  

For example, I need a car rental for Kauai.  The UR Portal has a good price for a car, better than Costco, so I am going to pay for the car through the portal with UR points.  If I get a better deal at Costco, I just need to cancel the UR Points rental within two business days of our first day.  

Hotels vary so much in price, sometimes the best value is in using points.  But I wouldn't use 16,000 UR points (transferred from UR to a hotel chain) for a hotel room I can get for $154 + tax.  That would not be wise.  But I could use my UR points through the portal to get that same hotel.  

Every time I need to make any travel arrangements, I do the math and check to see what hotel points are for the date, and then compare to the cost of the hotel in dollars.  

The worst value for hotel points is definitely Holiday Inn.  The points are very high, when compared to Hyatt.  I just got an email from Hyatt saying they are changing their system.  Not good.    I have paid 8,000 Hyatt points for a hotel room that would have cost me $350+ tax.  I didn't even pay the tax for that room.  That is what I love about Hyatt.

One thing for sure, I see other systems like Barclay's Arrival, and I just know I would be better off not even trying to learn a new currency.  I know UR well, and I am sticking with it.  I didn't have a great experience with SPG for value.


----------



## DavidnRobin

rickandcindy23 said:


> David, you can play a bit in the UR Portal, and perhaps you can judge the value for what you need.
> 
> For example, I need a car rental for Kauai.  The UR Portal has a good price for a car, better than Costco, so I am going to pay for the car through the portal with UR points.  If I get a better deal at Costco, I just need to cancel the UR Points rental within two business days of our first day.
> 
> Hotels vary so much in price, sometimes the best value is in using points.  But I wouldn't use 16,000 UR points (transferred from UR to a hotel chain) for a hotel room I can get for $154 + tax.  That would not be wise.  But I could use my UR points through the portal to get that same hotel.
> 
> Every time I need to make any travel arrangements, I do the math and check to see what hotel points are for the date, and then compare to the cost of the hotel in dollars.
> 
> The worst value for hotel points is definitely Holiday Inn.  The points are very high, when compared to Hyatt.  I just got an email from Hyatt saying they are changing their system.  Not good.    I have paid 8,000 Hyatt points for a hotel room that would have cost me $350+ tax.  I didn't even pay the tax for that room.  That is what I love about Hyatt.
> 
> One thing for sure, I see other systems like Barclay's Arrival, and I just know I would be better off not even trying to learn a new currency.  I know UR well, and I am sticking with it.  I didn't have a great experience with SPG for value.



Thanks for all of the great information - I figured the responses would be 'depends'.
You are right - I will need to play with the portal.

Costco prices vary tremendously - I have rentals coming up in Maui that now has the vehicles at twice the rate I originally reserved (a while ago).

I have had some excellent values using SP in UK/EU and US (which I have previously posted) and being merely SPG Gold.  But, now just going to burn through them (NYC in Fall 2017) and change over to UR.


----------



## VacationForever

I am just catching up on this email thread.  I think the attractive part about the card is the bonus.  I cannot get around my head as to whether I should get this card, other than getting the bonus for the first year.

Costco Visa gives me 3X on dining, 4X on gas and the card is free.  My SPG Amex not only gives 5X on MF (2X for use of card, 3X for spending at the hotel), but also is able to transfer to Marriott Rewards at 3X.  SPG Amex also now gives 2X on Marriott hotel spendings, after the merger.  SPG Amex charges me $65 a year (they sent me a mail apologizing for the confusion about fee increase... indicating that there is no increase for me... I think that is because I put about 100K a year on that card).  I am contemplating giving up my Marriott Visa since I no longer use it as between SPG Amex and Costco Visa, I have my rewards covered.  I travel only on first class or business class, and usually use my Marriott points to convert to airline points to do so through use of travel package, and reading the above it sounds like the UR portal does not provide good deals on first class or business class tickets.  

Am I missing anything?


----------



## lily28

I also got the email that I will get 2x starpoints for Marriott hotel using Starwood Amex. If I use the Starwood American Express to pay for maintenance fee on my Marriott timeshares, will I get 2x starpoints too?  If yes, I can get potential 6 Marriott points per dollar spent, which would even better than the chase sapphire reserve.


----------



## VacationForever

lily28 said:


> I also got the email that I will get 2x starpoints for Marriott hotel using Starwood Amex. If I use the Starwood American Express to pay for maintenance fee on my Marriott timeshares, will I get 2x starpoints too?  If yes, I can get potential 6 Marriott points per dollar spent, which would even better than the chase sapphire reserve.



That is what I am thinking... how can we verify this?  It is 5X MRPs currently on Marriott Visa to pay for Marriott MF.


----------



## dioxide45

lily28 said:


> I also got the email that I will get 2x starpoints for Marriott hotel using Starwood Amex. If I use the Starwood American Express to pay for maintenance fee on my Marriott timeshares, will I get 2x starpoints too?  If yes, I can get potential 6 Marriott points per dollar spent, which would even better than the chase sapphire reserve.





sptung said:


> That is what I am thinking... how can we verify this?  It is 5X MRPs currently on Marriott Visa to pay for Marriott MF.



I will know by next weekend if we get 5x points paying for our Starwood MF on DWs Marriott Chase card. I paid our SVV fees and her statement rolls next week. If that works, I would think it would work the other way around.

You can always pay a small payment on the Starwood Amex card and wait to see how it posts before paying in full.

If you can get 2 StarPoints per dollar, that is the better way to go since 2 StarPoints=6 Marriott Reward points.


----------



## rickandcindy23

> Am I missing anything?


Probably.  UR points are not the same as 4X on gas and 3X on restaurants as a cashback program.  

If I spend $5,000 on restaurants and get 3% back with Citi Costco, that is a whopping $150 in cash back.  

With Chase Sapphire Reserve, $5,000 X 3 = 15K points.  If 100K points is valued at $1,500 through the portal, then 15K is worth quite a bit more than $150.  If I am doing the math correctly, 15,000 points is worth around $225. 

Who said the portal is not worth much?  It's like checking Kayak for the best airfare, it's sometimes better than Costco for car rentals.  You can use the points instead of cash.  

I posted earlier about my airfare savings flying first class to Hawaii from the coast.  It was $808 cash, but I used points.  I thought I got a smokin' deal, and it was at 1.25 UR points, and now I can get 1.5 UR points.  Math is not my forte, believe me, but I can figure this stuff out, and it's amazing.  



> Here is the math for UR points:
> 
> $808 ticket (including all fees and taxes) cost us 64,640 points. This was at 1.25X UR. We now have 1.5X UR, so we would do better with the new Chase Sapphire Reserve portal. 64,640 was about 48,480 spend, but now that spend would get me 72,720 for the same spend at 1.5X.



If I transferred points to an airline, I would probably only get one award seat in first.  That's all Alaska and Hawaiian seem to have for award seats.  I assume United is the same.  Then I have to pay for one seat.  I can pay through the Chase UR Portal for that second seat, but it could be a lot of points that way, depending on the cash price of that seat.  

So you get 5X paying your Vistana MF's with your SPG Amex?  That is a heck of a deal.  I only get 2X.  I am dumping the SPG card for this one.


----------



## VacationForever

rickandcindy23 said:


> Probably.  UR points are not the same as 4X on gas and 3X on restaurants as a cashback program.
> 
> If I spend $5,000 on restaurants and get 3% back with Citi Costco, that is a whopping $150 in cash back.
> 
> With Chase Sapphire Reserve, $5,000 X 3 = 15K points.  If 100K points is valued at $1,500 through the portal, then 15K is worth quite a bit more than $150.  If I am doing the math correctly, 15,000 points is worth around $225.
> 
> Who said the portal is not worth much?  It's like checking Kayak for the best airfare, it's sometimes better than Costco for car rentals.  You can use the points instead of cash.
> 
> I posted earlier about my airfare savings flying first class to Hawaii from the coast.  It was $808 cash, but I used points.  I thought I got a smokin' deal, and it was at 1.25 UR points, and now I can get 1.5 UR points.  Math is not my forte, believe me, but I can figure this stuff out, and it's amazing.
> 
> 
> 
> If I transferred points to an airline, I would probably only get one award seat in first.  That's all Alaska and Hawaiian seem to have for award seats.  I assume United is the same.  Then I have to pay for one seat.  I can pay through the Chase UR Portal for that second seat, but it could be a lot of points that way, depending on the cash price of that seat.
> 
> So you get 5X paying your Vistana MF's with your SPG Amex?  That is a heck of a deal.  I only get 2X.  I am dumping the SPG card for this one.



My issue is that I rarely ever pay for air tickets or hotel stays.  I use points from SPG, Marriott, and airline points (Delta, Hawaiian, United...)  So the 1.5X bump using UR redemption for travel may not be something that I could benefit from.  I may apply and then transfer the 100K to my Marriott account.   $150 Net membership fee a year is pretty rich.  I figure if I use SPG Amex, transfer at 3X Marriott Points, then redeem travel package may still come out ahead.  I have been "gaining" a couple of thousand $ each time I redeem for travel package.


----------



## rickandcindy23

Again, my figures already included the 3X points.  I need to think about this from the basic spend:   

$16K in MF's = 48,000 points, then using them as UR portal points, I get 72,000 points.  That is enough for $1,080 in airfare.  That is an amazing realization, a real light-bulb moment for me.  

And the Citi Costco doesn't pay enough for me.  I use it for gas for 4X, and nothing else.  But maybe I should be using another card for gas.  I need to look at all of my cards again.  I might as well figure out the best card for every purpose.  

The $450 fee - $300 for travel (my MF's cover it), means I get lounge access (probably insignificant) and primary car insurance with the card (that saves $25 over the SPG Amex each car rental) because it's included.  Plus, I can be generous with the kids and get pre check for them with the cards. We each have one.  

Again, how do you get 5X for Vistana MF's with Amex?  I have the Amex SPG, so I am curious.  I could try to charge a small amount to the card and see, I guess.


----------



## casmsw

I purchased part of a United ticket with my points (I have gold status with United) and they would not upgrade me (even though there were seats) saying it was "free" ticket (it actually cost me $400 in cash + some points-I was buying 6 tickets so the savings was considerable but still). It was a huge hassle..so it does not always work in your favor to pay with points..also the agent considered it "international" even though it was U.S. to Cancun which it states on the united site is not in terms of upgrades..


----------



## rickandcindy23

casmsw said:


> I purchased part of a United ticket with my points (I have gold status with United) and they would not upgrade me (even though there were seats) saying it was "free" ticket (it actually cost me $400 in cash + some points-I was buying 6 tickets so the savings was considerable but still). It was a huge hassle..so it does not always work in your favor to pay with points..also the agent considered it "international" even though it was U.S. to Cancun which it states on the united site is not in terms of upgrades..



This is why I buy First Class tickets to start.  But I also only have status with Alaska, along with about a million other people.  I just buy when the seats are cheap, and using the points, as I said above, makes a lot of sense for us.  But again, we have a lot of MF's to pay, so the card's fee is a no-brainer for us.  

I have a cousin named Chris who just moved to Medford, OR, and I know he owns timeshare and probably does have status with an airline or two. I know it would be like finding a needle in a haystack......


----------



## VacationForever

rickandcindy23 said:


> Again, how do you get 5X for Vistana MF's with Amex?  I have the Amex SPG, so I am curious.  I could try to charge a small amount to the card and see, I guess.



I actually don't look at my starpoint activities.  But I pulled this off the Amex SPG site today and that's why I thought 5X. 
https://www.americanexpress.com/us/credit-cards/site/card/starwood-preferred-guest/25330


----------



## Helios

sptung said:


> I actually don't look at my starpoint activities.  But I pulled this off the Amex SPG site today and that's why I thought 5X.
> https://www.americanexpress.com/us/credit-cards/site/card/starwood-preferred-guest/25330



I don't follow the statements that closely...however, I think you only get 2 points per MF dollar because MF spending is not consider to be a stay.


----------



## rickandcindy23

Helios said:


> I don't follow the statements that closely...however, I think you only get 2 points per MF dollar because MF spending is not consider to be a stay.


This is my understanding as well.


----------



## Helios

sptung said:


> Costco Visa gives me 3X on dining, 4X on gas and the card is free.  My SPG Amex not only gives 5X on MF (2X for use of card, 3X for spending at the hotel), but also is able to transfer to Marriott Rewards at 3X.  SPG Amex also now gives 2X on Marriott hotel spendings, after the merger.  SPG Amex charges me $65 a year (they sent me a mail apologizing for the confusion about fee increase... indicating that there is no increase for me... I think that is because I put about 100K a year on that card).  I am contemplating giving up my Marriott Visa since I no longer use it as between SPG Amex and Costco Visa, I have my rewards covered.  I travel only on first class or business class, and usually use my Marriott points to convert to airline points to do so through use of travel package, and reading the above it sounds like the UR portal does not provide good deals on first class or business class tickets.
> 
> Am I missing anything?



I've been going through the same analysis lately.  I don't have the Costco card so I won't comment on that.  I mainly use the Amex Biz Plat, Amex SPG, Amex Hilton Surpass, JP Morgan Ritz, and Chase Sapphire Reserve.  The card I use every time is based on maximizing rewards and benefits based on yearly charges.

For instance, Amex Biz Plat is used for $5,000+ single purchases (several of those per year because of Biz and tuition).  Amex Hilton Surpass for Hilton, Gas, Supermarkets, and other purchases to meet minimum $40,000 required to maintain HH Diamond.  JP Morgan Ritz is mainly a benefits card which pays for itself, but I may use it to maintain Ritz Plat status if I know I will loose for the following year ($75K min spend) but thankfully the merger covered me for now because of 5* Elite.  Chase Sapphire for travel and restaurants.  Amex SPG for everything else.  I have many other CC with waived/no fees which I just keep for credit score purposes.

My personal travel is very well covered with the various reward currencies this way.  Biz travel generates a significant amount of my personal travel expenses because of the amount of rewards it generates.  I even cash in surplus rewards via my Biz.

Regarding F tixs, I think mile redemption is def the way to go.  Or just buy it if it's a must.  Getting upgrades is not what it used to be, speacially on busy routes...


----------



## VacationForever

I did break down and apply for a Sapphire Reserve card last night.  I looked at the UR portal and checked a few flights that I had already booked and did not find the airlines that I prefer to use.  

When I fly, non-stop flights trump all other flights for me.  
1.  The result did not return Hawaiian Airlines which would have been a non-stop flight.
2.  I take some direct domestic flights on the west coast of US and Southwest usually flies non-stop.  Southwest was not returned as an option.
3.  I am flying back from Europe (one-way) next Spring on DeltaOne (first class) and it only cost me 80K Delta miles (already redeemed) or around USD4.7K in cash.  Other airlines were shown on the portal or >300K UR points. 

I also checked rental car for an upcoming trip.  I have a full-size car reservation with Costco for about $20 per day for 2 weeks.  UR returned me with more than double that rate for a full-size car. 

My conclusion so far is that UR travel redemption is a no-go for me, so the 1.5X is just fluff (for me).  

I will stick with the 3X for dining and possibly use for some travel.  SPG Amex is still the card for me to use for travel booking and all other daily charges.  After a year, I will cancel the card and revert to Costco card or Marriott Visa for dining.


----------



## farsighted99

rickandcindy23 said:


> Chase Sapphire Reserve gets 3X on MF's.



I was thinking you were talking about SPG points.  Yes, you do get 3X on Sapphire Reserve.




sptung said:


> I actually don't look at my starpoint activities.  But I pulled this off the Amex SPG site today and that's why I thought 5X.
> https://www.americanexpress.com/us/credit-cards/site/card/starwood-preferred-guest/25330



I was confused about this too.  But I have been paying my Vistana mortgage with SPG, and only get 2X, which all comes from the Amex SPG card. I think the 3X points only come when you have a hotel stay (and 5X, I don't understand at all).   I haven't stayed at an SPG hotel since I got my card earlier this year.  I usually stay at Hiltons.    Though might be soon, since I'm getting all these points now.  

When I look on my SPG account, I only see bonus points generated from the Amex card, so I doubt MF is more than 2X.


----------



## rickandcindy23

1. I booked my last flight to Kauai nonstop, through the portal on Hawaiian Air. Hawaiian is bookable through the portal.

2. You can transfer the points directly to Southwest, and that makes the value of the 100K more like $1,750, instead of the $1,500 through the portal.

3. The UR Portal is based on cash prices.  

If I could even get a single seat on Hawaiian or Alaska with 40K points, it's hard to do, RT would be 80K points, which I have transferred from SPG in the past.  My SPG gets the 2X on MF's.  That is a $40K spend at 2X Starwood fees.  I would love to be able to book two of those seats, but they don't allow for two award seats on flight, initially.  I cannot wait for them to open another award seat to book, so I have to pay cash for one seat.  Kind of annoying.  With timeshares being weekends, I need to fly weekends to Maui.  There is huge competition for those seats, especially during whale season. 

The realization of the impossibility to get two seats from Denver to Maui with award miles made me rethink my plan.  I started looking at First Class seats from the coast, finding the cheapest ones, then booking with the UR portal, way ahead of time, to get the low-cost seats.  Then we fly Southwest to the coast, spend a night on the way there and on the way back, all with points.  It's been working great.  But honestly, I miss the Alaska  companion code, which worked for First Class seats to/from Denver wonderfully.  Now it's just economy, and I am so spoiled.


----------



## VacationForever

farsighted99 said:


> I was confused about this too.  But I have been paying my Vistana mortgage with SPG, and only get 2X, which all comes from the Amex SPG card. I think the 3X points only come when you have a hotel stay (and 5X, I don't understand at all).   I haven't stayed at an SPG hotel since I got my card earlier this year.  I usually stay at Hiltons.    Though might be soon, since I'm getting all these points now.
> 
> When I look on my SPG account, I only see bonus points generated from the Amex card, so I doubt MF is more than 2X.



My bad.  But still, at 2X Starpoints for MF, it gets converted to 6X Marriott Reward Points, which is where I do most of my point redemption for air miles anyway through travel package.  If you use Sapphire Reserve, you only get 3X when convert the points to Marriott or 4.5X using the UR travel booking portal.


----------



## VacationForever

rickandcindy23 said:


> 1. I booked my last flight to Kauai nonstop, through the portal on Hawaiian Air. Hawaiian is bookable through the portal.
> 
> 2. You can transfer the points directly to Southwest, and that makes the value of the 100K more like $1,750, instead of the $1,500 through the portal.
> 
> 3. The UR Portal is based on cash prices.
> 
> If I could even get a single seat on Hawaiian or Alaska with 40K points, it's hard to do, RT would be 80K points, which I have transferred from SPG in the past.  My SPG gets the 2X on MF's.  That is a $40K spend at 2X Starwood fees.  I would love to be able to book two of those seats, but they don't allow for two award seats on flight, initially.  I cannot wait for them to open another award seat to book, so I have to pay cash for one seat.  Kind of annoying.  With timeshares being weekends, I need to fly weekends to Maui.  There is huge competition for those seats, especially during whale season.
> 
> The realization of the impossibility to get two seats from Denver to Maui with award miles made me rethink my plan.  I started looking at First Class seats from the coast, finding the cheapest ones, then booking with the UR portal, way ahead of time, to get the low-cost seats.  Then we fly Southwest to the coast, spend a night on the way there and on the way back, all with points.  It's been working great.  But honestly, I miss the Alaska  companion code, which worked for First Class seats to/from Denver wonderfully.  Now it's just economy, and I am so spoiled.



I agree with you that it is getting harder to get reasonable First Class award seats to Hawaii.  I put in LAS - HNL and the portal did not provide me with any Hawaiian Airlines option.


----------



## YYJMSP

farsighted99 said:


> I was confused about this too.  But I have been paying my Vistana mortgage with SPG, and only get 2X, which all comes from the Amex SPG card. I think the 3X points only come when you have a hotel stay (and 5X, I don't understand at all).   I haven't stayed at an SPG hotel since I got my card earlier this year.  I usually stay at Hiltons.    Though might be soon, since I'm getting all these points now.
> 
> When I look on my SPG account, I only see bonus points generated from the Amex card, so I doubt MF is more than 2X.



I think MFs are 2x.

If you're staying at a SPG hotel and you're paying for the room with your SPG AMEX card issued in the US (we Canadians get less points!), and you're SPG elite, you'll get 2x (AMEX card) + as much as 4x (2/$ standard plus 1/$ bonus for Gold/Platinum + 1/$ bonus for Platinum75+), so that adds up to as much as 6x.  

That doesn't include all kinds of bonus points on top of that (SPG Gold/Platinum amenity of up to 500SPG points, Make-A-Green-Choice of up to 500SPG points per night, various promotions, etc).  It's not unusual to actually get 15x+ depending on what's applicable.


----------



## farsighted99

YYJMSP said:


> I think MFs are 2x.
> 
> If you're staying at a SPG hotel and you're paying for the room with your SPG AMEX card issued in the US (we Canadians get less points!), and you're SPG elite, you'll get 2x (AMEX card) + as much as 4x (2/$ standard plus 1/$ bonus for Gold/Platinum + 1/$ bonus for Platinum75+), so that adds up to as much as 6x.
> 
> That doesn't include all kinds of bonus points on top of that (SPG Gold/Platinum amenity of up to 500SPG points, Make-A-Green-Choice of up to 500SPG points per night, various promotions, etc).  It's not unusual to actually get 15x+ depending on what's applicable.



I figured as much. I'm a gold (from my Amex Plat card, which gave it to me, though I also get it from Vistana for buying a timeshare)...  maybe I'll start staying in SPG's hotels ... though it hard to give up those free breakfasts from the Hilton!  Depends on where I'm going too.  I did stay in an Aloft awhile ago in Dallas, but didn't have the SPG card at the time.

15X on some hotel stays sounds a bit crazy though.


----------



## YYJMSP

farsighted99 said:


> 15X on some hotel stays sounds a bit crazy though.





I routinely stay at a particular SPG2 Sheraton for work at about $100/nt.  For a 3nt stay, that would currently generate on a $300 charge:



AMEX SPG card (assume a US-registered card) - $300 x2 = 600



SPG Plat75+ - $300 x4 = 1200



SPG Plat amenity - 500



Make A Green Choice - 2x 500 = 1000



Current SPG promotions

 - 600 (double base points)

 - 3x 5000/15 (5000 after staying 15nts charged to an AMEX) = 1000



That's a total of 4900 SPG points, or just over 16x



That's more than enough points to get a free room at that same hotel, so my return is basically 33%+ in this particular situation.


----------



## duke

DavidnRobin said:


> I understand the difference, but if I need/want to stay at a Marriott/Starwood hotel (which we do for NYC and NorCal)... is using MRs or SPs a better value than reserving using UR points?
> 
> I have plenty of both URs and SPs to use for the two of us - so deciding whether to pay remains VSE MFs with CSR or SW AMEX.
> QUOTE]
> 
> David:
> 
> I have been going over the same question.
> 
> My decision is UR points because booking airfare from LAX to OGG or LIH non-stop is difficult using mileage.  Not easy to get the flights I want.  So, by having the UR points I am assured to be able to get the specific flight and ALSO earn mileage on that flight.
> 
> I agree with you that if used for hotels then SPG is better and same with Marriott conversion using "flights and nights" which we will do in January to get the Southwest companion pass.


----------



## BEV

*Other bank card that does similar duty*



hvanv0405 said:


> Anyone else recently sign up for the Chase Sapphire Reserve card (with the $300 annual travel credit)?
> 
> I went ahead and prepaid $300 now with card and plan to pay remaining balance when due in 2017 (possibly end of Dec to post on Jan statement).
> 
> Based on credit per calendar year the "Travel Credit" should provide me $600 off my MF  *CHEERS*



I have the BOA card Travel rewards= no annual fee...
But any major travel pymt that is made with it goes into a running list, and you have 1 yr to apply a substantial amt of it to the Stmt Credit in the future.

  Of my T/S portfolio-- I think only ONE of them is allowing pymt via credit card anyways... so haven't tried it out on the Rewards (TRAVEL) card yet--did do a Cruise pymt to RCL tho... and was happy with my 'return'.


----------



## TrojanRickus

I was able to prepay $300 now and planning on paying $300 on january statement.  Also my global entry had to be renewed so not a bad deal.


----------



## DavidnRobin

Better to spend 12000 SPs or 12000 URs for the same hotel room?
Or pay $170?

Asking in fuzzy math terms - if SP = 2 cents, then what is UR worth?

Are there taxes/fees associated with using URs at hotel (unlike SPs)?


----------



## rickandcindy23

David, UR points transfer to Marriott, Hyatt, IHG hotels.  If you transfer points over to any of those hotel chains, there are no taxes on the hotel room with the points.  There would be taxes on a hotel paid for by UR points directly through the portal, but those taxes would also be paid by UR points.  

Have you been able to check the portal and see what's available?


----------



## DavidnRobin

rickandcindy23 said:


> David, UR points transfer to Marriott, Hyatt, IHG hotels.  If you transfer points over to any of those hotel chains, there are no taxes on the hotel room with the points.  There would be taxes on a hotel paid for by UR points directly through the portal, but those taxes would also be paid by UR points.
> 
> Have you been able to check the portal and see what's available?



Interesting... thanks.

I need to look at this more closely. I did not know I could transfer UR to MR points - I see the transfer rate is 1:1

I transferred 12000 SP to 36000 MR (using 3:1 conversion) and then made a 35000 reservation (1 nite) at a Marriott Courtyard.

The cost of this hotel room is $170

Using the UR portal costs 12872 UR (worth $193 based on UR portal)

At a 1:1 transfer rate and cost of 35000 per nite - transferring UR to MR is not a good deal. It looks like the portal wins.

I would prefer not to use cash as I have both SP/MR and UR points.

I consider SP to be worth 2c/SP (my fuzzy math) - so is UR worth ~1.5c/UR?

It looks like I should cancel the SP/MR reservation and make a UR reservation.  But use UR portal or transfer to MAR?
{answered my own question - use portal - unless I missed something}

Update - cancelled MR reservation (35K MR) and used UR portal to reserve same room for 12872 UR.

Transferring UR to MAR would cost 35K UR points - that is costly!
35K UR transferred to MR, or ~13K UR thru UR portal for same room - that is quite a difference!

btw - finally received my 'metal' CSR card


----------



## rickandcindy23

I booked a hotel in Oakland, near the airport, Hampton Inn and Suites.  This is for our trip back to the mainland from Maui, 4/1-4/2.  This is what it says:

Total trip cost: $177.43
Points redeemed: 11,828
Total points value: $177.43
Total paid: $0

Bonus!  I was able to enter my Hilton Awards # into the reservation, so I will get the points.  I like that part.


----------



## DavidnRobin

I edited post above...
The transfer from UR to MR is not a good deal (35K MR for Courtyard - Santa Rosa). The UR portal is much less (12872 UR valued at $193.08 - incl tax) for same room that has cash price of $172 (incl tax).

Thanks for the help.  UR Portal wins.
Now to transfer those 36K MR back to 12K SP...


----------



## rickandcindy23

I love the UR portal, but for some reservations, transferring is still a good deal.  I transferred 8,000 UR points to Hyatt in August and booked the Hyatt Santa Clara for one night.  It would have cost me $351 + tax per night.  Using the hotel points was better than using UR points.  It's worth checking every option.  You can save yourself a lot of money by taking a little time.  It's my hobby, and I love it.


----------



## DavidnRobin

Sort of tangental - when we checked in to Courtyard-Marriott (Santa Rosa, CA) last weekend, the Front Desk mentioned that our reservation appears as if it came via Expedia. The reservation did not have my Marriott number (Gold) associated with it, even though I had added it during the UR portal reservation. Next time, need to confirm with hotel that they have Marriott number (or for any Hotel system used). We did not get any Marriott Gold benefit (which I think was just a bottle of free water...)

Overall, the UR portal was by far the best deal as using hotel points (either Marriott or Starwood) is not a good value. Although, important to investigate all methods.  We are planning a return in December - and same deal - best to use UR thru the portal (by far). Although, we will not be staying at the Courtyard not time. Another great aspect of UR postal is that it opens up dozens of hotels to stay at and not limited to just the franchise hotel.

Note: For those than stay at Courtyard-Marriott in Santa Rosa (CA) - request an odd number room - the even number rooms face the train tracks behind the hotel - and now with the SMART train about to begin - it is going to be busy with train horns as they is a train crossing nest to the hotel.


----------



## elleny76

I went to chase portal and sow a nice 40k from JFK to Rome. I went away to consult my Dh and forgot about it then I came back next day and its double of points! Does this makes sense? I am so sad..I should have book right away. Is this normal ? how is your experience with this portal?


----------



## Sandy VDH

The portal usually only reflects what is available from airline and hotel sites.  They usually have the same prices, but not always.  Check on the original airline site.  check again with portal.  If it is available with the airline still and not on the portal for some reason, it may be worth calling them.  also remember southwest is available but only via phone calls and not via the portal. 

I love that the when using the portal I get 1.5 X my point value with the CSR card.  I also love that I earn points with that purchase.  It often can be cheaper, but as other have posted spend a few minutes to investigate your options and be prepared to pull the trigger.


----------



## VacationForever

My experience with the portal does not match what many of you reported.  Airfare is listed at least 50% too 100% higher in a few random checks.  An example is that I looked at Hawaiian Airlines from LAS to HNL.  Through Hawaiian Airlines it is about $1809 (first class) but through the portal for the same flights it was $3744.   Also, if you look at points it costs 249K UR points vs. 160K Hawaiian Airlines points.  I am so not a fan of the UR portal, jack up rates based on my experience.


----------



## Sandy VDH

As stated previously, first class is almost always a better deal as straight up airline reward points, especially if you can get them as saver miles and not regular miles, I have never seen an exception to that except perhaps on a fare error or a crazy discount.   This is my nearly exclusive use of my frequent flyer miles, long haul biz class (Maldives, French Poly, Seychelles, Australia, Greece, England), usually trans Atlantic or Pacific.   I have used first to HI or to the Caribbean as well on occasion.  I have shorter flight in 2 weeks on AA,  one way was 25K, which is good value for an $800 fare IMHO  I have used 150K for biz to Australia, 120K Biz to Seychelles, ( I forget what other were), but frequent flyer miles are the way to go for biz or first.

I personally have never looked up first class fare on the portal, but I have plenty of experience with AA and UA economy on the portal.  Every time about 30 or 40 times to date, with 1 exception, the portal was exactly the same price as the airline website.  Using the 1.5 multiplier on points also brings down the point use.  I do compare options and take the lowest currency.  

I have also checked using BA's Avios points for AA flights *Domestically*.  Often they will come up as less points than AA directly for a reward, but again compare against paying using the 1.5X multiplier in the UR Portal.  You can book online in BA, but flights must be milesaver to appear in BA rewards booking.  In the UR portal you can transfer points 1:1 to BA, so another option Domestically, but not worth the points for first, only economy seems to be the sweet spot.  BA is just another option for Domestic flights on AA using UR.


----------



## elleny76

Sandy VDH said:


> As stated previously, first class is almost always a better deal as straight up airline reward points, especially if you can get them as saver miles and not regular miles, I have never seen an exception to that except perhaps on a fare error or a crazy discount.   This is my nearly exclusive use of my frequent flyer miles, long haul biz class (Maldives, French Poly, Seychelles, Australia, Greece, England), usually trans Atlantic or Pacific.   I have used first to HI or to the Caribbean as well on occasion.  I have shorter flight in 2 weeks on AA,  one way was 25K, which is good value for an $800 fare IMHO  I have used 150K for biz to Australia, 120K Biz to Seychelles, ( I forget what other were), but frequent flyer miles are the way to go for biz or first.
> 
> I personally have never looked up first class fare on the portal, but I have plenty of experience with AA and UA economy on the portal.  Every time about 30 or 40 times to date, with 1 exception, the portal was exactly the same price as the airline website.  Using the 1.5 multiplier on points also brings down the point use.  I do compare options and take the lowest currency.
> 
> I have also checked using BA's Avios points for AA flights *Domestically*.  Often they will come up as less points than AA directly for a reward, but again compare against paying using the 1.5X multiplier in the UR Portal.  You can book online in BA, but flights must be milesaver to appear in BA rewards booking.  In the UR portal you can transfer points 1:1 to BA, so another option Domestically, but not worth the points for first, only economy seems to be the sweet spot.  BA is just another option for Domestic flights on AA using UR.



_____________________________________________
Sandy, it was the best price overall , not even on the direct airlines website got that price . I had several airlines at that moment from where to choose 40k R/T and boom it went away in 1 day (sad!) Now all is double/triple points and checking the airlines they are even more expensive.  I have $1600 or 109k points. How do I use the money instead of the points? I have seen in the guru pages some good deals. Can I buy there with my chase CC and then credit it as $1600? not sure how this cc works with money and points. Thanks


----------



## Sandy VDH

elleny76 said:


> _Can I buy there with my chase CC and then credit it as $1600? not sure how this cc works with money and points. Thanks



In order to use the UR points you MUST book travel on the portal.   Only way to do it.


----------



## Mauiwmn

The 100k UR sign up bonus ends Jan 11th.   Will change to 50k UR bonus.  Anyone waiting to get the card should apply soon.  Chase said card was extremely popular and they took a big write off last quarter for all the sign up bonuses.  Doubt they will offer the 100k UR bonus points anytime in the near future.


----------



## tjk144

Does anybody know if RCI exchange fees and/or membership fees qualify for the Chase Sapphire Reserve travel credit?


----------



## VacationForever

tjk144 said:


> Does anybody know if RCI exchange fees and/or membership fees qualify for the Chase Sapphire Reserve travel credit?


Most likely yes.  It treats my II exchange fees as travel, and applies credit to it.


----------



## Talent312

tjk144 said:


> Does anybody know if RCI exchange fees and/or membership fees qualify for the Chase Sapphire Reserve travel credit?



My RCI exchange fee was classified as travel.

.


----------



## am1

135k points added to my account today.  Not bad for a first month.  Now waiting for the 2017 $300 statement credit to post.


----------



## rickandcindy23

My II fees and RCI fees show up as 3X.  I am thrilled with that.  At least the high fees get 3X.


----------



## DavidnRobin

I put our MFs on the CSR vs. the AMEX SPG as in past. About same value, but UR portal offers more choices.


----------



## elleny76

DavidnRobin said:


> I put our MFs on the CSR vs. the AMEX SPG as in past. About same value, but UR portal offers more choices.


Hi, I already use the 100K points with my CSR and will try to avoid the AF of $450 for 2017. What is the best way to cancel this cc or to downgrade? if the option is downgrade what is the best chase cc to choose to do so. thanks


----------



## LisaRex

elleny76 said:


> Hi, I already use the 100K points with my CSR and will try to avoid the AF of $450 for 2017. What is the best way to cancel this cc or to downgrade? if the option is downgrade what is the best chase cc to choose to do so. thanks



The easiest way to cancel is to send them a note via the C/S email on the Chase website.  No sense canceling it before the next AF is due, however, because the card comes with some great benefits that you may want to use until the year is up.  The rental car primary insurance coverage, for example, is a very useful benefit.

Also, remember that you get the $300 travel credit every calendar year, so the cost after that is $150/year.  Given its increased points per dollar spent, I'll be keeping this card, even if I have to pay for secondary cards for my family.

Recommending the "best" credit card is hard to do as everyone's spending habits and travel habits are different.  I always look for the card that gives me the most points in restaurants, travel, grocery stores, and home improvement stores, as that is where the bulk of my big spending is.   Then I look for a card with built-in consumer protection, such as primary on rental cars or extended warranties.  Before I got the Sapphire Reserve, my "go to" card with Chase Sapphire Platinum, which is $95/year.  Well worth it for use of the chase travel portal, where I can book everything from airfare to activities via points.  Rental cars can be especially good deal when you use points. I'm talking 35,000 points for a week's SUV rental on Grand Cayman.  That's a good return given I got double points for travel and restaurants.

When I was paying college bills, I also liked the CapOne Venture (?) card because I got double miles on everything, including the semi-annual tuition bills.


----------



## duke

Best "Downgrade" is to Chase Freedom Unlimited - 1.5 ultimate rewards points per $. No annual fee.
Best all around card is Fidelity Investments Rewards 2% cash back on everything.  No annual fee.

However, keeping Sapphire Reserve costs only $150 (as Lisa said) after $300 travel credit and you get Primary Rental Car Insurance and 3x points which are worth 1.5 cents each for a 4.5% return.


----------



## rickandcindy23

I am never cancelling the Chase Sapphire Reserve.  We pay a lot of MF's, and 3X for almost all of them, plus any travel we do at 3X.  And when we need to renew our PRE, we will have our cards for that.  I told our son and daughter-in-law we could pay their PRE as well.  Maybe I am wrong on that, but their last name is the same, so why not?  

It's the Starwood Amex I am going to cancel, unless I can make sense keeping it.


----------



## tschwa2

rickandcindy23 said:


> I am never cancelling the Chase Sapphire Reserve.  We pay a lot of MF's, and 3X for almost all of them, plus any travel we do at 3X.  And when we need to renew our PRE, we will have our cards for that.  I told our son and daughter-in-law we could pay their PRE as well.  Maybe I am wrong on that, but their last name is the same, so why not?
> 
> It's the Starwood Amex I am going to cancel, unless I can make sense keeping it.


You get the Pre benefit every 4 years when you pay for the PRE or Global entry- it doesn't matter who it is for.  




> Global Entry or TSA Pre✓® Application Fee Statement Credit
> To be eligible for this statement credit you must use your Chase Sapphire Reserve℠ card to either complete the Global Entry application and pay the $100 application fee, or complete the TSA Pre✓® application and pay the $85 application fee. A statement credit will be processed after the Global Entry program application fee OR TSA Pre✓® application fee (whichever program is applied for first) is charged to your Chase Sapphire Reserve℠ card. You are entitled to either: one (1) $100 statement credit per account, OR one (1) $85 statement credit per account, every 4 years in connection with the Global Entry or TSA Pre✓® program application fee. The statement credit will be posted to your account within 24 hours of the Global Entry or TSA Pre✓® program application fee being charged to your card. You are responsible for payment of all charges until the statement credit posts to the account.


----------



## VacationForever

rickandcindy23 said:


> I am never cancelling the Chase Sapphire Reserve.  We pay a lot of MF's, and 3X for almost all of them, plus any travel we do at 3X.  And when we need to renew our PRE, we will have our cards for that.  I told our son and daughter-in-law we could pay their PRE as well.  Maybe I am wrong on that, but their last name is the same, so why not?
> 
> It's the Starwood Amex I am going to cancel, unless I can make sense keeping it.


For the 1x purchase like grocery store or pharmacy and doctor's office, SPG is a better card.  I am keeping all my cards and will cancel my husband's Chase Reserve when the year is up, and add him as a supplemental card holder.


----------



## rickandcindy23

VacationForever said:


> For the 1x purchase like grocery store or pharmacy and doctor's office, SPG is a better card.  I am keeping all my cards and will cancel my husband's Chase Reserve when the year is up, and add him as a supplemental card holder.


What do you do with the points?  Booking airfare directly through the Starwood portal is not a good deal for me.  I used to transfer points to Alaska, but I can rarely get a 1st class ticket to Hawaii from the coast for 40K, and so I buy those tickets using UR points.  I notice the same thing with Hawaiian Airlines.  It's just tough to get those 40K FC seats.  

Which airline is worth of those points?  Or do you use hotels in the system?  I would love to know how to get value out of that card, because it's getting close to cancel time.  If I can get value from it, I will keep it.  

I have a Capital One Venture, 2X cash back on everything.  A $2,000 spend gives me $40 back.


----------



## VacationForever

rickandcindy23 said:


> What do you do with the points?  Booking airfare directly through the Starwood portal is not a good deal for me.  I used to transfer points to Alaska, but I can rarely get a 1st class ticket to Hawaii from the coast for 40K, and so I buy those tickets using UR points.  I notice the same thing with Hawaiian Airlines.  It's just tough to get those 40K FC seats.
> 
> Which airline is worth of those points?  Or do you use hotels in the system?  I would love to know how to get value out of that card, because it's getting close to cancel time.  If I can get value from it, I will keep it.
> 
> I have a Capital One Venture, 2X cash back on everything.  A $2,000 spend gives me $40 back.


The best use is to convert to Marriott points for 3X points and then book a travel package.  I have booked several travel packages...transferring the airline side of the travel packages to Hawaiian Airlines, Delta Airlines and United.  I don't travel on Southwest unless they are the only non stop option for my destination. I have booked First Class round trip seats on Hawaiian twice,  First class on Delta (round trip to New York, one way from Rome to US), United round trip to Asia etc...

For the hotel side, I have used on Westin in Seattle, Napa and Florence, Marriott in San Jose, Rome, New York and Singapore, Sheraton in Singapore, just to name a few recent stays.
I don't pay for airline tickets or hotel stays anymore.


----------



## Westnick

Just FYI. The chase sapphire reserve card with 100k bonus points is still available. The branch manager at chase informed me of that. They are no longer offering it online. You have to go to the local branch to get that promotion. Offer ends march 12. Just in case anyone is still interested.


----------



## DavidnRobin

So...
somewhat tangential, but have an update on CSR UR and AMEX SPs usage - for us.

I had converted SPs to AA miles last Aug during their promotion and was able to finally able to use those miles to book SF-NYC for 100K AA miles in 1st Class for the both of us. 25K each way.

Then used SPs to stay at Le Parker Meridien NYC by Central Park - 100K for 6nites  (hopefully get some Gold love).

 I looked into using UR points, but the SP usage was a way better deal (for our needs - location) than using UR points.

This turns into a relatively inexpensive trip to NYC basically on SPs. Finally get to take Robin to NYC (her 1st time).
And great to reduce points as not to hold them too long.
Now to use those UR points - at least not forced to use for travel.

Our GEOS interview is finally coming up...


----------



## rickandcindy23

Still tickled pink with this card and will never let it go.  Chase will have to get mad at me and cancel it, if we are taking too much for granted here.  We have over 300K miles in each of our accounts currently, and I have spent a bunch on First Class tickets out of Oakland to/from Hawaii for our next two trips.  

I transfer our points from the other Chase Ink cards to get 1.5, instead of 1.25.  We do about 500K points on those ink cards.  

I am hoping to get first class seats through United, or some other airline, for a trip to Europe next year.  I don't even care what time of day we travel, since it's first class, and I don't care what day of the week we go, since we are staying in hotels and going on a Viking River cruise in the middle of the trip.  

I have to use the portal for the trip, so United seems a good choice, but there is also British Airways.  The fuel surcharges our daughter pays for her European trips via BA seem crazy to me, but they use two companion passes to fly the kids free with them.  

Where do you think my miles are best used?


----------



## VacationForever

rickandcindy23 said:


> Still tickled pink with this card and will never let it go.  Chase will have to get mad at me and cancel it, if we are taking too much for granted here.  We have over 300K miles in each of our accounts currently, and I have spent a bunch on First Class tickets out of Oakland to/from Hawaii for our next two trips.
> 
> I transfer our points from the other Chase Ink cards to get 1.5, instead of 1.25.  We do about 500K points on those ink cards.
> 
> I am hoping to get first class seats through United, or some other airline, for a trip to Europe next year.  I don't even care what time of day we travel, since it's first class, and I don't care what day of the week we go, since we are staying in hotels and going on a Viking River cruise in the middle of the trip.
> 
> I have to use the portal for the trip, so United seems a good choice, but there is also British Airways.  The fuel surcharges our daughter pays for her European trips via BA seem crazy to me, but they use two companion passes to fly the kids free with them.
> 
> Where do you think my miles are best used?


If you transfer the points directly to United, you can get the first class tickets for fewer points... 

We only fly first or business...  we are planning on blowing through 700K UA points, several courtesy of Chase, for our round trip Polaris business class on United to Asia, for a cruise there...


----------



## elleny76

rickandcindy23 said:


> Still tickled pink with this card and will never let it go.  Chase will have to get mad at me and cancel it, if we are taking too much for granted here.  We have over 300K miles in each of our accounts currently, and I have spent a bunch on First Class tickets out of Oakland to/from Hawaii for our next two trips.
> 
> I transfer our points from the other Chase Ink cards to get 1.5, instead of 1.25.  We do about 500K points on those ink cards.
> ?




That's a lot of points..cool!   I got my 100K points and I booked 15 days to go 2 countries in Europe but only economy flight for my complete family.( First class was 170k miles just 1 person)  I am still happy about it but would love to collect more points (500K points is a dream!)


----------



## rickandcindy23

Unfortunately, the card I used to get the 500K points per year is no longer available.  I just hope Chase lets us keep the card because it's been the absolute best card for building points and miles.  5X on office supply, phones, cable and satellite and internet.  We buy Visa gift cards at Staples online to get the 5X for office supplies.  Very fragile system we are exploiting.  We have been doing it for about 3 years.  Now we are just hoping the card gets renewed next month and doesn't have reduced benefits.  That would break my heart.


----------



## farsighted99

rickandcindy23 said:


> Unfortunately, the card I used to get the 500K points per year is no longer available.  I just hope Chase lets us keep the card because it's been the absolute best card for building points and miles.  5X on office supply, phones, cable and satellite and internet.  We buy Visa gift cards at Staples online to get the 5X for office supplies.  Very fragile system we are exploiting.  We have been doing it for about 3 years.  Now we are just hoping the card gets renewed next month and doesn't have reduced benefits.  That would break my heart.



You mean the ink card?  I doubt they are dropping that. I have a couple of those (an INK Cash, and an INK Plus).  I think you are grandfathered in, though they might not offer it to new users.  I usually don't bother buying GC for only 5% extra, since there is usually a fee, but I guy a lot of office supplies at Staples.  I also pay the phone, cable, etc. with it.  The gift cards from PayPal Digital Gifts which they sell on eBay give you that 5% plus you can usually get a gift card that has a hefty discount.


----------



## rickandcindy23

farsighted99 said:


> You mean the ink card?  I doubt they are dropping that. I have a couple of those (an INK Cash, and an INK Plus).  I think you are grandfathered in, though they might not offer it to new users.  I usually don't bother buying GC for only 5% extra, since there is usually a fee, but I guy a lot of office supplies at Staples.  I also pay the phone, cable, etc. with it.  The gift cards from PayPal Digital Gifts which they sell on eBay give you that 5% plus you can usually get a gift card that has a hefty discount.



5% is not what it is, though.  It's 5X.  5X is different from 5% cash back.  I have the old Ink Bold MC and Ink Plus Visa.  If I buy a $300 gift card at Staples, $308.95 purchase X 5 = 1,544.75 points for the $8.95 fee.  1,544.75 points is worth a lot in SW or in the UR portal.  It's worth about 3X what we pay.  If you have the 5% cash back, that is different.  I am no math wiz, believe me, but I know the value or UR points, either transferred or using through the portal. 

100,000 UR points = $1,500  so 1,500 points = $22.50.  1,544.75 points = $23.17.  The $8.95 fee on the card also gets 5X. That is nearly 3X the value.  SW value is slightly higher, though not much.  Totally worth it to me.  We do our max $50K spend per year on those cards, so 500K points annually.  I haven't paid a dime for airfare in four years.  I always use points through the portal or SW.


----------



## Jason245

rickandcindy23 said:


> 5% is not what it is, though.  It's 5X.  5X is different from 5% cash back.  I have the old Ink Bold MC and Ink Plus Visa.  If I buy a $300 gift card at Staples, $308.95 purchase X 5 = 1,544.75 points for the $8.95 fee.  1,544.75 points is worth a lot in SW or in the UR portal.  It's worth about 3X what we pay.  If you have the 5% cash back, that is different.  I am no math wiz, believe me, but I know the value or UR points, either transferred or using through the portal.
> 
> 100,000 UR points = $1,500  so 1,500 points = $22.50.  1,544.74 points = $23.17 That is nearly 3X the value.  SW value is slightly higher, though not much.  Totally worth it to me.  We do our max $50K spend per year on those cards, so 500K points annually.  I haven't paid a dime for airfare in four years.  I always use points through the portal or SW.


Assuming all your spend is on gift cards you have around 1.4k in fees a year for that 50k (or 2.8k if you have two cards). 

The real question to ask is how do you spend 100k per year or liquidate those gift cards... 

Currently I buy amazon gift cards on the ink from office depot to get a nice discount on my subscribe and save stuff.. and I use the chase saphire reserve for normal amazon spend (price protection insurance payments usually exceed the 7 percent benefit on non subscribe and save items).. that being said.  I can only legitimately spend about  2400 a year on amazon subscribe and save, and 2k a year or so on cell and TV.





Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk


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## rickandcindy23

Jason245 said:


> The real question to ask is how do you spend 100k per year or liquidate those gift cards...


We take the gift cards to Walmart and get money orders with them.  It's easy to do in Colorado.  Then we deposit those to our checking account at the credit union.  They are as good as cash.  We have had zero problems doing this over the last four years.  I didn't think of this myself.  I got the idea from Flyertalk.

Our fees are substantial, but as I said, we get almost 3X the value.  It's easy to do and worth the effort for us.  Our son does the same with his old Chase Ink Bold.

It's 500K points, which is worth $7,500 through the UR portal and more through SW.

If we did the 100K spend entirely with gift cards (some is Dish Network, cell phone, internet), it would be a cost of $2,896 for 500K points.  We transfer the points to Chase Sapphire Reserve at 1.5X.  That makes a difference, too.


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## farsighted99

yeah, you are right, it's points not cash back, so it is a bit more valuable if you have a Chase Sapphire Reserve.

I don't like doing what is basically called Manufactured Spend (in other words, you aren't really buying anything, just moving money around). It's too much like money laundering.  I'm nervous about being flagged for that.  If it works for you, great.  Though I think the credit card companies are trying to come up with a way to nix that type of stuff ...  if they figure it out they can yank your points back.

I had a real fantastic offer from American Express in Jan. for their business cards where I could buy $1250 worth of stuff at Sam's Club at one time and get 20% credited back ($250) for each transaction (we had the offer on several cards) and I bought half Sam's Gift cards and the other half Vanilla Visa cards.  However, I decided to use the Visa cards paying bills and buying stuff, and I still have a lot left of the Sam's gift cards...  I made quite a bit of money...  but that kind of stuff makes me a bit nervous.  Plus the outlay of cash was pretty brutal.  I know I could sell the Sam's cards online, but I don't want that hassle.  So I'll just use them at Sam's.  One thing, you can use them to buy liquor.


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## VacationForever

"Money laundering" is way too much work and makes my head hurt just reading it.  

We have 4 cards that we use.  Chase Sapphire for dining and non-Marriott/SPG/Vistana travel spending.  SPG Amex for the 1X type of spending - doctor's, groceries, and SPG/Vistana MF and stays.  Marriott Visa at Marriott stays and MF.  I think we can get rid of the Marriott Visa but maybe next year.  Costco Visa for Costco and gas.  Costco Visa is the only free card.  Marriott's free night pays for itself only if I can use the night.  I have been letting it go unused.


----------



## Jason245

rickandcindy23 said:


> We take the gift cards to Walmart and get money orders with them.  It's easy to do in Colorado.  Then we deposit those to our checking account at the credit union.  They are as good as cash.  We have had zero problems doing this over the last four years.  I didn't think of this myself.  I got the idea from Flyertalk.
> 
> Our fees are substantial, but as I said, we get almost 3X the value.  It's easy to do and worth the effort for us.  Our son does the same with his old Chase Ink Bold.
> 
> It's 500K points, which is worth $7,500 through the UR portal and more through SW.
> 
> If we did the 100K spend entirely with gift cards (some is Dish Network, cell phone, internet), it would be a cost of $2,896 for 500K points.  We transfer the points to Chase Sapphire Reserve at 1.5X.  That makes a difference, too.


Walmart has gotten finicky in south Florida with that.  But it is a solid liquidation meathod until walmart says no (I have known people banned from Walmart money centers).. 



Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk


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## rickandcindy23

Money laundering is illegal, people, while this is not.  How is it like money laundering?  If I sold pot I grow in basement and then deposit it in our chimney cleaning business account, which is a legitimate business, but selling pot isn't, THAT would be money laundering.  

It isn't illegal to buy gift cards with credit cards, or the stores wouldn't do it.  It is not illegal to buy a money order with a Visa Gift Card, or the stores wouldn't do it.  And it's not illegal to deposit money orders into a bank account.  It's not money laundering, and it's not kiting either.  

There are dozens of threads on flyertalk for anyone interested in doing what we do.  It's profitable and almost too easy.  It is fragile, however.  Fragile because my credit union could start limiting MO deposits.  Walmart could stop selling money orders with debit cards.  Staples could stop selling VGC's.  And finally, Chase could put an end to 5X on office supplies, or they could just shut down our accounts.  So far, so good.  But I don't take anything for granted, nor would I buy $20K in gift cards at once.  I buy six at a time, liquidate, then buy another six.


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## dioxide45

_mon·ey laun·der·ing
noun_

_the concealment of the origins of illegally obtained money, typically by means of transfers involving foreign banks or legitimate businesses._
It certainly isn't money laundering by definition.


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## farsighted99

rickandcindy23 said:


> Money laundering is illegal, people, while this is not.  How is it like money laundering?  If I sold pot I grow in basement and then deposit it in our chimney cleaning business account, which is a legitimate business, but selling pot isn't, THAT would be money laundering.
> 
> It isn't illegal to buy gift cards with credit cards, or the stores wouldn't do it.  It is not illegal to buy a money order with a Visa Gift Card, or the stores wouldn't do it.  And it's not illegal to deposit money orders into a bank account.  It's not money laundering, and it's not kiting either.
> 
> There are dozens of threads on flyertalk for anyone interested in doing what we do.  It's profitable and almost too easy.  It is fragile, however.  Fragile because my credit union could start limiting MO deposits.  Walmart could stop selling money orders with debit cards.  Staples could stop selling VGC's.  And finally, Chase could put an end to 5X on office supplies, or they could just shut down our accounts.  So far, so good.  But I don't take anything for granted, nor would I buy $20K in gift cards at once.  I buy six at a time, liquidate, then buy another six.



Actually, I said "it was TOO MUCH LIKE money laundering" not that it WAS money laundering.

You might want to read this article from the travel blog Miles to Memories:

http://milestomemories.boardingarea.com/money-orders-manufactured-spend/

I think it's fine except for the Money Order part.  I'd use the Visa cards for bills and purchases, but to each his own.


----------



## rickandcindy23

Right.  My daughter-in-law is an internal auditor for Wells Fargo and told us not to deposit $10,000 into our accounts at once.  That is what raises a red flag and results in a report to the IRS.  

There are people on Flyertalk doing $50-60K per month.  That would be a mistake, imho, but they do it for years and years and don't get shut down.


----------



## zsn

farsighted99 said:


> I think it's fine except for the Money Order part.  I'd use the Visa cards for bills and purchases, but to each his own.



This isn't unlike the "million miles for one-dollar coins" operation people were running until the Mint shut it down a few years ago (please seek the assistance of the Google-machine, for those unfamiliar with this). It's too much work to do it just for the sake of miles, but if you have a business of some sort where you're making a lot of purchases at disparate locations then it's well worth it.

To echo some sentiments expressed earlier, we used to have the Chase Sapphire Platinum as well ($95 AF; two users) and I got the Sapphire Reserve last year, as I do a lot of travel for business and use my personal card (we aren't big enough for a Corporate card, yet). Having put over $12k already this year the AF is well worth it for me to get the additional points. Here are the downsides: for normal household purchases it only gives 1 point/$ and an additional card is $75. So, we downgraded the Platinum to Unlimited (1.5 points/$), no AF for two users. A new downside emerged: the Unlimited charges 3% for foreign transactions. But my spouse rarely travels by herself and so this works for us. We use the Reserve for travel and dining and Unlimited for everything else. Depending on the ticket price we either buy directly from the UR portal or transfer points to UA Mileage Plus and buy an award ticket (120k miles gets a RT Business Saver to Europe - no way that's $1800!). If I consolidate the Unlimited points into my Reserve balance it behaves like Reserve points (1.5 c/point vs. 1.25 c/point)!


----------



## VacationForever

zsn said:


> UA Mileage Plus and buy an award ticket (120k miles gets a RT Business Saver to Europe - no way that's $1800!).



Where do you find award tickets that are so cheap?  When I priced out between Rome and West Coast, it was 150K United points each way per person.  In the end I went with Delta, which at that time was only 80K each way, although now it has gone up to 125K.

Round trip to Asia on UA is 350K UA points per person.


----------



## zsn

VacationForever said:


> Where do you find award tickets that are so cheap?  When I priced out between Rome and West Coast, it was 150K United points each way per person.  In the end I went with Delta, which at that time was only 80K each way, although now it has gone up to 125K.
> 
> Round trip to Asia on UA is 350K UA points per person.



A little bit of flexibility of timing and destination.......although UA has suddenly upped the Business Saver to 70K each way (used to be 57.5k each way). We try and travel during the shoulder-season and also a little flexible on location (e.g. if we want to go to Switzerland, then we look at not only Zurich, but also Basel, Milan, Geneva, Munich etc). Also, we try to to open-jaw based on availability and then plan our Europe travel accordingly. Instead of Rome, try Milan - the cities without cruise ship calls tend to have better availability. Planning well in advance helps as well.

Having said that, your point is well-taken. The availability is rather horrendous in the premium cabins. "Standard Awards" are atrociously priced.


----------



## Helios

zsn said:


> A little bit of flexibility of timing and destination.......although UA has suddenly upped the Business Saver to 70K each way (used to be 57.5k each way). We try and travel during the shoulder-season and also a little flexible on location (e.g. if we want to go to Switzerland, then we look at not only Zurich, but also Basel, Milan, Geneva, Munich etc). Also, we try to to open-jaw based on availability and then plan our Europe travel accordingly. Instead of Rome, try Milan - the cities without cruise ship calls tend to have better availability. Planning well in advance helps as well.
> 
> Having said that, your point is well-taken. The availability is rather horrendous in the premium cabins. "Standard Awards" are atrociously priced.


Recently I've seen both saver values.  Doesn't it depend on the flight being on UA metal vs Partner Airlines?


----------



## VacationForever

Helios said:


> Recently I've seen both saver values.  Doesn't it depend on the flight being on UA metal vs Partner Airlines?


I don't like Partner Airlines as most of the time you don't get seat assignments.  I like to play it safe and book the seats when I book the flight.  I have already budgeted 700K round trip for 2 for an Asia cruise that we are taking in 2019.


----------



## Helios

VacationForever said:


> I don't like Partner Airlines as most of the time you don't get seat assignments.  I like to play it safe and book the seats when I book the flight.  I have already budgeted 700K round trip for 2 for an Asia cruise that we are taking in 2019.


I hear you about the seat assignment.  I am like that.  However, when I can snag a saver seat in F (or Biz) in Lufthansa I won't think about the seat assignment.  That becomes irrelevant very soon.  That is an example of Parther Airline with a far better product than Polaris.


----------



## VacationForever

Helios said:


> I hear you about the seat assignment.  I am like that.  However, when I can snag a saver seat in F (or Biz) in Lufthansa I won't think about the seat assignment.  That becomes irrelevant very soon.  That is an example of Parther Airline with a far better product than Polaris.


I must have missed something.  Why is seat assignment on partner airline becoming irrelevant soon?  I thought the new Polaris is wonderful - it is like being in a small cubicle...


----------



## Helios

VacationForever said:


> I must have missed something.  Why is seat assignment on partner airline becoming irrelevant soon?  I thought the new Polaris is wonderful - it is like being in a small cubicle...


To clarify, you said "I don't like Partner Airlines as most of the time you don't get seat assignments." I responded that securing a seat assignment is irrelevant to me if I get a Lufthansa F or Biz seat.  

Polaris is nice, but, IMO (and many others) Polaris is not as nice as Lufthansa F or B.  It pains me to say it, but i don't think UA (and the other 2 big US airlines) are not in the same league as Lufthansa.  Middle Eastern and South Asian airlines are even better.  I think Polaris is put to shame when compared to F Emirates, Singapore, Etihad, and Qatar.  Just my opinion, I wish I could trade my UA 1.5M+miles for my 0.5M+ Lufthansa miles.

On the flip side, the 4 of us crossed the pond in BA F for Easter.  The Concorde Room and overall service is nice, but the seat is just slightly better than AA Flagship Biz.  More privacy, but the seat itself was somewhat of a let down.  Although, the turndown service is nice.  The pajamas are pretty poor quality...


----------



## VacationForever

Helios said:


> To clarify, you said "I don't like Partner Airlines as most of the time you don't get seat assignments." I responded that securing a seat assignment is irrelevant to me if I get a Lufthansa F or Biz seat.
> 
> Polaris is nice, but, IMO (and many others) Polaris is not as nice as Lufthansa F or B.  It pains me to say it, but i don't think UA (and the other 2 big US airlines) are not in the same league as Lufthansa.  Middle Eastern and South Asian airlines are even better.  I think Polaris is put to shame when compared to F Emirates, Singapore, Etihad, and Qatar.  Just my opinion, I wish I could trade my UA 1.5M+miles for my 0.5M+ Lufthansa miles.
> 
> On the flip side, the 4 of us crossed the pond in BA F for Easter.  The Concorde Room and overall service is nice, but the seat is just slightly better than AA Flagship Biz.  More privacy, but the seat itself was somewhat of a let down.  Although, the turndown service is nice.  The pajamas are pretty poor quality...


So you are saying you don't care if you don't get seat assignment if you get Lufthansa F or B?  I know the current Polaris is not good.  But starting end of this year the new Polaris looks very nice.  It will be much like the Singapore Airlines First Class where the door closes on the seat and you are essentially in a private cubicle.  So are you saying even with the new Polaris you think it is inferior to many of the other international airlines?  I just flew back on DeltaOne from Rome on Airbus and that was quite nice.


----------



## Helios

VacationForever said:


> So you are saying you don't care if you don't get seat assignment if you get Lufthansa F or B?  I know the current Polaris is not good.  But starting end of this year the new Polaris looks very nice.  It will be much like the Singapore Airlines First Class where the door closes on the seat and you are essentially in a private cubicle.  So are you saying even with the new Polaris you think it is inferior to many of the other international airlines?  I just flew back on DeltaOne from Rome on Airbus and that was quite nice.



"So you are saying you don't care if you don't get seat assignment if you get Lufthansa F or B?" Correct

Delta One Suite in the A350 and actual Polaris in the 777300ER will be suites with "door".  I still don't think they will compete with Singapore's A380 F Suite.


----------



## VacationForever

Helios said:


> "So you are saying you don't care if you don't get seat assignment if you get Lufthansa F or B?" Correct
> 
> Delta One Suite in the A350 and actual Polaris in the 777300ER will be suites with "door".  I still don't think they will compete with Singapore's A380 F Suite.



Yeah, but Singapore First Class costs waaay more points that UA Polaris...


----------



## Helios

VacationForever said:


> Yeah, but Singapore First Class costs waaay more points that UA Polaris...


That is true, won't argue that.


----------



## okwiater

First world problems...


----------



## elleny76

700k points , 1 million points? where people get this points? it might be some kind of business involved because with my normal daily life I wont even get that a year. I have open every cc on earth for bonuses. Love traveling and point and miles are always welcome but I am running out of CC bonuses.


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## VacationForever

elleny76 said:


> 700k points , 1 million points? where people get this points? it might be some kind of business involved because with my normal daily life I wont even get that a year. I have open every cc on earth for bonuses. Love traveling and point and miles are always welcome but I am running out of CC bonuses.



You had PM me previously on wanting to fly first class from Europe back to the United States and I sent you in great details of how to I got my points to fly first class from Rome back to the West Coast here.

Basically, between credit cards and hotel points we can hobble together points.  We convert some timeshare weeks to hotel points (Vistana and Marriott) when we are short.  Occasionally we buy hotel points when there is an offer. We don't do what Cindy does as it is too much work.  We only fly First Class or Business Class, unless Southwest is the only airline that flies non-stop.  Non-stop and fewer stops are very important to us.  We also do not go out of the way to other cities just because they require fewer points, it is too much work.


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## rickandcindy23

We are currently building points for a European trip next year.  I would love to get 1st or Business Class via points, and with staying in hotels, I think we can accomplish for the cheaper seats.  We plan to do a river cruise and hotels before and after the cruise.  I am so looking forward to it.  Got to get a new hip first.


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## Helios

okwiater said:


> First world problems...


Very true...


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## Helios

elleny76 said:


> 700k points , 1 million points? where people get this points? it might be some kind of business involved because with my normal daily life I wont even get that a year. I have open every cc on earth for bonuses. Love traveling and point and miles are always welcome but I am running out of CC bonuses.


In my case I do it the hard way, by credit card spending.  A lot of my points come from business related expenses (the bulk of them).  I estimate I get about 2M - 2.5M points that go into several airlines and hotel programs.  It takes discipline to maximize earnings, I wish my wife listened to me and used the right card for each category/transaction, I would do much better but she values convenience (uses whichever card she gets first).

Occasionally (rarely) I convert unused weeks to SPG points or Hilton pesos.

I agree with @VacationForever that manufactured spending ala @rickandcindy23 is too much work.  However, Cindy seems to know how to work the system and works well for her.  Cindy has mentioned it is a fragile system and it is not feasible in all areas.


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## VacationForever

Helios said:


> In my case I do it the hard way, by credit card spending.  A lot of my points come from business related expenses (the bulk of them).  I estimate I get about 2M - 2.5M points that go into several airlines and hotel programs.  It takes discipline to maximize earnings, I wish my wife listened to me and used the right card for each category/transaction, I would do much better but she values convenience (uses whichever card she gets first).



Ha!  You are like me when it comes to cc use.  We don't have a business but our expenses are high.  I know which ones to use for each type of expenses.  My husband can never remember and kept using the "wrong" card.  When he is with me, he will turn to me and ask me "which card". LOL  We also don't chase after credit card bonuses.  We have only done that with Chase Sapphire Reserve cards recently.


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## Julian926

Here's a good article about optimizing Chase Ultimate rewards points. 

https://thepointsguy.com/2017/05/maximize-chase-card-trifecta/


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## elleny76

VacationForever said:


> You had PM me previously on wanting to fly first class from Europe back to the United States and I sent you in great details of how to I got my points to fly first class from Rome back to the West Coast here.
> 
> Basically, between credit cards and hotel points we can hobble together points.  We convert some timeshare weeks to hotel points (Vistana and Marriott) when we are short.  Occasionally we buy hotel points when there is an offer. We don't do what Cindy does as it is too much work.  We only fly First Class or Business Class, unless Southwest is the only airline that flies non-stop.  Non-stop and fewer stops are very important to us.  We also do not go out of the way to other cities just because they require fewer points, it is too much work.


Thanks for your tips.. But 1 million points every year?  that's very difficult if I have just a regular job. I tried to pay everything with cc but still not even close. I am touring 2 countries in Europe soon but flying coach no way closed to book first class. (3 of us here). The truth is I am running out of CC bonuses..lol


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## elleny76

Julian926 said:


> Here's a good article about optimizing Chase Ultimate rewards points.
> 
> https://thepointsguy.com/2017/05/maximize-chase-card-trifecta/


That's my morning reading along with coffee  but  " when he says he loves Chase "I love that the categories are broad and I end up maxing out the $150,000 limit every year."...lmao  $150,000 spending is not happening in my house.


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## Julian926

I think the points guy is referring to the Ink Preferred, which is a business card. That $150k may be easy to spend if you have a business.


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## VacationForever

elleny76 said:


> Thanks for your tips.. But 1 million points every year?  that's very difficult if I have just a regular job. I tried to pay everything with cc but still not even close. I am touring 2 countries in Europe soon but flying coach no way closed to book first class. (3 of us here). The truth is I am running out of CC bonuses..lol


We don't get a million points per year.  We have been putting about 100K on the SPG card a year and that translates to 300K Marriott points.  Marriott points have travel packages which will yield hotel nights and about 132K UA or 120 Delta points.  We also use Marriott card for Marriott spending but that is not much.  We often convert Marriott timeshare week(s) to 125K Marriott points and Vistana timeshare to SPG points - not good use of MF but sometimes we are just travelled out or if we are running low on points and have no use for the week.  We have already chalked up more than 300K Chase Ultimate points between 2 cards in the first 4 months.  I have not been able to find "deals" on the Ultimate reward sites.  They are all more expensive (for me) than booking directly from the airlines using airline points.  Those points can be converted to Marriott or United points.  

Then the small potatoes.... when shopping online, I log onto United or Delta and buy stuff through their shopping site which brings to the vendors' sites.  You get points for doing that.  For example, I bought a pair of washer / dryer for my son's new home... and received almost 2000 points from the site, plus the points on the cc.  I shop Home Depot, Lands End, Macys... all that way and get points from the airline sites.  Every little bit counts.


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## rickandcindy23

The signup bonus on the Chase Ink Preferred is worthy of consideration.  Transferred to the Chase Sapphire Reserve portal, you get a minimum of $1,200 value from that card.  It's also a a good way to up your points for those award seats to/from Europe. 

We do $100K spend on Chase Ink Plus and Ink Bold, and we are heading into a banner year with the Chase Sapphire Reserve.  Right now we are looking to a $130-150K spend on our Chase Sapphire Reserve, each and every year.  Love my cards.


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## farsighted99

rickandcindy23 said:


> The signup bonus on the Chase Ink Preferred is worthy of consideration.  Transferred to the Chase Sapphire Reserve portal, you get a minimum of $1,200 value from that card.  It's also a a good way to up your points for those award seats to/from Europe.
> 
> We do $100K spend on Chase Ink Plus and Ink Bold, and we are heading into a banner year with the Chase Sapphire Reserve.  Right now we are looking to a $130-150K spend on our Chase Sapphire Reserve, each and every year.  Love my cards.



I really love the Chase Sapphire Reserve and I think that's my favorite one to use (especially travel) unless I get more from another in certain categories.  I also like the Citi double card, but that's cash back, not points. Amex has a 2X card that I'm thinking about getting, but I have too many Amex cards, so will probably have to cancel one that I'm not really using much.  I use the Ink Plus for anything that gets 5% and we have an Ink Cash for our business.  I use the Amex SPG card for the timeshare stuff and any SPG hotel related purchases...  (though by next year it might not be an Amex card anymore if they merge the charge card with Marriott).

Right now I have two cards that are being discontinued (Fairmont & Citi Hilton) and I'm really annoyed about that. The Fairmont hotels are really nice and the card had great benefits, but it will be gone by 8/15. They are replacing it with a Sapphire Preferred, but I don't want that one since the Sapphire Reserve is so much better. Hilton is going to Amex, I hear, but details are slim at the moment.  The Costco Amex card got moved to Citi last year (though in that case, I think it worked out better, since you get 2X back at Costco and with Amex it was only 1X)...  I hate all these hotel mergers and credit card changes; you end up with product changes with no bonuses...  Meh.

The Chase Sapphire Reserve is a fantastic card with great benefits and the 1.5X flight ratio is really great.  I hope that lasts for a long time (it's almost too good to be true).


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## rickandcindy23

farsighted99 said:


> The Chase Sapphire Reserve is a fantastic card with great benefits and the 1.5X flight ratio is really great. I hope that lasts for a long time (it's almost too good to be true).



I agree!  Domestic flights are so easy to book through the portal, and flights to Hawaii from the coast are cheap points.  Then Alaska gives me miles when I book through the portal.  I am building points on points.  It's wonderful.  I hope that doesn't change.


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## YYJMSP

Helios said:


> It takes discipline to maximize earnings, I wish my wife listened to me and used the right card for each category/transaction, I would do much better but she values convenience (uses whichever card she gets first
> .



this sounds EXACTLY like us.

the extra confusion gets brought in to the equation when the rules change because of some special promotion


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## duke

Helios said:


> In my case I do it the hard way, by credit card spending.  A lot of my points come from business related expenses (the bulk of them).  I estimate I get about 2M - 2.5M points that go into several airlines and hotel programs.



If you used a cash back card (Fidelity 2% or Alliant 2.5%) ........


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## rickandcindy23

Most people do not use their credit cards as they could.  Insurance is something people just automatically pay by check, but you can pay with a credit card and no additional fees.  We have American Family Insurance and pay with a credit card.  Just think of anything and everything you could be paying with a card and put the checkbook away.


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## Helios

Julian926 said:


> Here's a good article about optimizing Chase Ultimate rewards points.
> 
> https://thepointsguy.com/2017/05/maximize-chase-card-trifecta/


This is a good one.  I find it hard to implement because of putting all your eggs in one basket.  I value SPG and Amex MR points also.


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## Helios

duke said:


> If you used a cash back card (Fidelity 2% or Alliant 2.5%) ........


Those are good returns, but I can do better with UR, MR, or SPG.


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## Helios

VacationForever said:


> We don't get a million points per year.  We have been putting about 100K on the SPG card a year and that translates to 300K Marriott points.  Marriott points have travel packages which will yield hotel nights and about 132K UA or 120 Delta points.  We also use Marriott card for Marriott spending but that is not much.  We often convert Marriott timeshare week(s) to 125K Marriott points and Vistana timeshare to SPG points - not good use of MF but sometimes we are just travelled out or if we are running low on points and have no use for the week.  We have already chalked up more than 300K Chase Ultimate points between 2 cards in the first 4 months.  I have not been able to find "deals" on the Ultimate reward sites.  They are all more expensive (for me) than booking directly from the airlines using airline points.  Those points can be converted to Marriott or United points.
> 
> Then the small potatoes.... when shopping online, I log onto United or Delta and buy stuff through their shopping site which brings to the vendors' sites.  You get points for doing that.  For example, I bought a pair of washer / dryer for my son's new home... and received almost 2000 points from the site, plus the points on the cc.  I shop Home Depot, Lands End, Macys... all that way and get points from the airline sites.  Every little bit counts.



The shopping portals can really help with the double dipping.


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## Helios

YYJMSP said:


> this sounds EXACTLY like us.
> 
> the extra confusion gets brought in to the equation when the rules change because of some special promotion


I hear you.


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## rickandcindy23

I just made a home purchase at JC Penney last night and received 3X points.  Two days ago, I bought my Bath and Body Works stuff through the portal and received 2X.  It pays to use those discount codes that come in the mail to purchase online through the portal.  Same exact price but bonus points.


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## farsighted99

rickandcindy23 said:


> I agree!  Domestic flights are so easy to book through the portal, and flights to Hawaii from the coast are cheap points.  Then Alaska gives me miles when I book through the portal.  I am building points on points.  It's wonderful.  I hope that doesn't change.



I think all the airlines see the tickets from Chase as cash sales (even though you are using points to buy the ticket). So as long as you add in your frequent flyer number, you should get points.  Which is great, though airline points don't seem to be worth much anymore.


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## farsighted99

Helios said:


> Those are good returns, but I can do better with UR, MR, or SPG.



I use the Citi double card for items that only get 1 point. Although I'm thinking of applying for this new Amex card that gives you 2X MR.  It's a business card.  I guess they figure they are getting clobbered by these other 2% cards...


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## Born2Travel

I am about to book our first flight through the portal.  It's great to hear we also receive ff miles but I was wondering about the free luggage allowance that we usually get with airline cards.  I assume we will have to pay luggage fees when using the portal to book?  I need them to add Amazon to the shopping stores   I use it when I can, but probably order more through Amazon than online stores.


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## farsighted99

Born2Travel said:


> I am about to book our first flight through the portal.  It's great to hear we also receive ff miles but I was wondering about the free luggage allowance that we usually get with airline cards.  I assume we will have to pay luggage fees when using the portal to book?  I need them to add Amazon to the shopping stores   I use it when I can, but probably order more through Amazon than online stores.



If you have a credit card that gives you free luggage allowance (like Amex DL Plat, or American Barclay AA Aviator) you should still get the free bag even though you don't charge the ticket on that card. However, you have to have that airline credit card number attached to your reservation (they have to know that you have the card).  I did this recently on a trip to Dallas on AA last year, I used miles for a free ticket; brought the card with me and when I checked in for the flight the airline check-in agent did it for me.  You have to be careful though with the cards; not all affiliated credit cards give the free bag. So just check with the credit card first to see if they give you the free bag as a benefit.

Obviously, if you use that Airline Credit Card to pay for your ticket, there is nothing to do.


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## zsn

farsighted99 said:


> I think all the airlines see the tickets from Chase as cash sales (even though you are using points to buy the ticket). So as long as you add in your frequent flyer number, you should get points.  Which is great, though airline points don't seem to be worth much anymore.



Correct, and partially correct. When you get airline miles for the ticket the airline miles tell only part of the story (mostly useless). However, the second layer is the all important PQM (on United, known by other monikers elsewhere). Those, my friend, still count for something!!


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## Helios

zsn said:


> Correct, and partially correct. When you get airline miles for the ticket the airline miles tell only part of the story (mostly useless). However, the second layer is the all important PQM (on United, known by other monikers elsewhere). Those, my friend, still count for something!!


I have mixed feelings about PQM.  Some years I like the old way of getting elite and some the new.


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## Helios

farsighted99 said:


> If you have a credit card that gives you free luggage allowance (like Amex DL Plat, or American Barclay AA Aviator) you should still get the free bag even though you don't charge the ticket on that card. However, you have to have that airline credit card number attached to your reservation (they have to know that you have the card).  I did this recently on a trip to Dallas on AA last year, I used miles for a free ticket; brought the card with me and when I checked in for the flight the airline check-in agent did it for me.  You have to be careful though with the cards; not all affiliated credit cards give the free bag. So just check with the credit card first to see if they give you the free bag as a benefit.
> 
> Obviously, if you use that Airline Credit Card to pay for your ticket, there is nothing to do.


Isn't this perk Airline dependent? I think this may only apply to AA.  With UA and DL you may need to pay with the Airline CC.  Not sure...


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## farsighted99

Helios said:


> Isn't this perk Airline dependent? I think this may only apply to AA.  With UA and DL you may need to pay with the Airline CC.  Not sure...


I think most of them that have the bag perk do this...  I haven't paid for a bag in years and I use mostly free tickets.  Er... except for a trip I took to Barbados recently (used Chase UR points).  Apparently the free bag is for domestic only on AA, so if you go to certain places in the Caribbean, it's not free.  And most international flights give you free bags anyway.  However, check first.


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## rickandcindy23

When we pay for our 1st class tickets through the portal, Alaska give 1.75X miles.  It's based on mileage, so a trip with 2,457 miles gets bonus of 1,843.  That is for 1st class seats.  It's a great bonus.


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## rickandcindy23

Just got billed $450 for our third year on our two Chase Sapphire Reserve credit cards.  No hesitancy here.  We love these cards.  I will get the credit on the next statement, once I start paying those maintenance fees for Marriott and the rest of Vistana.  

I love this card.  We literally have flown free for three years because of this card.


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## Sandy VDH

This is my go to card.  I also use the freedom card 5% quarterly bonus and move those points over to my SPR card, which gives me a 50% bonus when booking through the portal.  

Hotel bookings I have used, but these look like they are booked through a third party and perks do not apply. 

Air booking however act like they are bought on a CC and earn points with no issue.  Since I am Lifetime Platinum status on AA, I have been picking AA over UA lately, since 2 bags are free for me.   I have to pay for bags on UA.


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## duke

rickandcindy23 said:


> Just got billed $450 for our third year on our two Chase Sapphire Reserve credit cards.  No hesitancy here.  We love these cards.  I will get the credit on the next statement, once I start paying those maintenance fees for Marriott and the rest of Vistana.
> 
> I love this card.  We literally have flown free for three years because of this card.



AND, free PRIMARY rental car insurance.
AND, all the insurance and protections apply to air tickets and rental cars booked with Chase UR Points just by paying the taxes or using the points.


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## triangulum33

I looked at our credit spending including travel, dining, etc and not considering annual fees, the *SPG AMEX looks like it would net us 30-35% more points*.  It looks like the fact that CSR gives 1pt on everything besides travel and dining, while AMEX gives 2pts.  We put a lot of non travel/dining expenditures on our card.

I dont see us using the airport lounges or TSA discount either.


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## applekor

triangulum33 said:


> I looked at our credit spending including travel, dining, etc and not considering annual fees, the *SPG AMEX looks like it would net us 30-35% more points*.  It looks like the fact that CSR gives 1pt on everything besides travel and dining, while AMEX gives 2pts.  We put a lot of non travel/dining expenditures on our card.
> 
> I dont see us using the airport lounges or TSA discount either.



Remember that the two points  you get on the spg card are less than one point in the CSR card.  They watered down the points with the Marriott merger. They really should have given 3 points on all other spending but they didn’t. It now takes 3 times as many points to book a room with Your spg card then it did before August..


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## rickandcindy23

triangulum33 said:


> I looked at our credit spending including travel, dining, etc and not considering annual fees, the *SPG AMEX looks like it would net us 30-35% more points*.  It looks like the fact that CSR gives 1pt on everything besides travel and dining, while AMEX gives 2pts.  We put a lot of non travel/dining expenditures on our card.
> 
> I dont see us using the airport lounges or TSA discount either.


Marriott points are no longer valuable to me.  I cannot get enough value from the Amex SPG card to make it worth our while.  

I would do the math for you, but TPG does the math: https://thepointsguy.com/guide/monthly-valuations/


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## triangulum33

Deleted double post.


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## triangulum33

Ok, I understand.  I was assuming you would be converting Chase to Marriott pts.

TPG screenshots in this article about the Chase travel portal appear to be getting $.01 - .015 per point value on flights that were search through the Expedia/Connexions portals.  
Where does the $.02 value he shows come from?  Booking other types of rewards besides travel?


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## BK2019

Does the Chase Sapphire Preferred/Reserved still provide the travel multiplier on TS maintenance fees?


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## GrayFal

BK2019 said:


> Does the Chase Sapphire Preferred/Reserved still provide the travel multiplier on TS maintenance fees?


Yes. 3x


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## Mulege

The annual Sapphire Reserve fee went up to $550 per year. AE Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card is still $450 with many of the same benefits. 70,000bonus points.


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## CaliSunshine

The Chase 100K offer is ending soon, if you'd rather do that. Still, 3x UR is valued by TPG at around 6 cents per dollar, vs. 6x Marriott at around 4.8 cents per dollar.


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## Sandy VDH

My renewal does not come around until November, so I got another year basically at the lower fee.  Not happy about the increase, as the additional benefits offered I am not sure I will get back the extra $100 it costs.  But I do far exceed my fee in terms of what I get out of it. 

I figure my eating on travel days at the restaurants in the airport using the Priority Pass card benefits, over the course of a year makes up for the increase in fees for me at least.  I have used Lyft discounts but I have yet to use Doordash benefits.


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## BK2019

CaliSunshine said:


> The Chase 100K offer is ending soon, if you'd rather do that. Still, 3x UR is valued by TPG at around 6 cents per dollar, vs. 6x Marriott at around 4.8 cents per dollar.



When UR points are transferred to TPG do the points transfer 1:1 but TPG just values them higher or is there a multiplier at the time of transfer.


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## CaliSunshine

UR transfer to Bonvoy is 1:1, which is a bad transfer for most people. But there are better ones with airlines and with Hyatt.


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## Gordgeous

For any Canadians reading this, I can confirm the Amex Canada Mariott Bonvoy earns 5 BV points per Canadian Dollar spent on your Vistana/Marriott maintenance fees.

At least it did for me with my newly acquired SDO VOI and first set of annual fees paid last month.

People are likely aware, but Interval International fees do not qualify as Marriott spend on the Canadian Amex despite II being owned by Marriott. Would be very nice if that changed in the future.


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