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Amex again revamps its iconic Platinum Card with an amazing 125K + 15x points bonus; Chase Aer Lingus or Iberia 100K points with $5K spending; Chase United Business 150K miles with $20K spending

7/4/2021

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There have been quite a few exciting recent offers:
  • The iconic Amex Platinum Card got revamped to increase the annual fee from $550 to $695 and add four new categories of annual credits ($200 for prepaid hotel via Fine Hotels & Resorts or the Hotel Collection, $179 for CLEAR membership, $300 for Equinox memberships, $240 for digital entertainment access).  On top of that, it now comes with an amazing signup bonus of 125,000 points + 15x points on dining & small businesses for 6 months, arguably the best ever in history.  The revamp, however, didn't change its position on our Top 10 List.
  • Amex Business Platinum Card doesn't receive a full revamp with the annual fee being kept at $595 but receives $179 CLEAR credit for free.
  • Following Chase British Visa, now Aer Lingus Visa and Iberia Visa also have a 100,000 point offer with an easy $5,000 spending requirement.  This is also considered the best offer ever on either card.
  • Chase United Business Visa now offers 150,000 miles with a $20K spending requirement within 6 months.  For those who could meet the spending requirement, this is undoubtedly the historical high.
  • Chase United Explorer Visa now offers 70,000 miles with an easy $3K spending requirement.
  • Chase Freedom Flex and Freedom Unlimited have an elevated 20,000 points + 5x on groceries for 12 months offer.

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Chase Sapphire Preferred 100K points, British Airways Visa 100K points (with $5K spending), and Citi's new Custom Cash Card review

6/11/2021

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  • Chase Sapphire Preferred is having an amazing 100,000 Ultimate Rewards points offer with a $4K spending requirement.  The annual fee is not waived.  This is the best deal we have seen since 2011 when there was a 100K offer with the first year annual fee waiver.
  • It has been reported that there is a slightly better offer in branch only - 100K points with the first year annual fee waiver.  Check with your local Chase branch to see if the better offer pulls up.
  • Chase British Airways Visa also offers a historical best: 100,000 Avios points with a $5K spending requirement.  This is much better than the previous 100K offer with a much higher $20K spending requirement or another current offer (50K + a Travel Together Ticket with $20K spending).  The last time we have seen a 100K offer with a reasonable requirement was in 2011.
  • Citi has introduced a new 5% cashback card without an annual fee Custom Cash Card and our review is up.  Different from Citi Dividend (discontinued to new applications), Chase Freedom Flex, or Discover it which offers 5% cashback on quarterly rotating categories and requires enrollment each quarter, Custom Cash automatically gives you 5% cashback from the categories you spend the most each billing cycle from the eligible list: restaurants, gas stations, grocery stores, select travel, select transit, select streaming services, drugstores, home improvement stores, fitness clubs, live entertainment.  There is a spending cap of $500 in each billing cycle to receive 5%, which is actually similar to competitors' $1,500 quarterly spending cap.  Generally we think this new card might be the best 5% cashback card in the market right now due to the flexibility and generous eligible categories.​​

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Capital One enhances the frequent traveler miles/points transfer feature for Venture and Spark Miles

4/25/2021

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Capital One (C1) Miles can always be redeemed for travel, gift cards, charity, etc. at a fixed value of 1 cent per Mile.  In late 2018 Capital One introduced the frequent traveler miles/points transfer feature with 12 partners and a transfer ratio of 1000 C1 Miles : 750 frequent traveler miles/points for most partners, and while we welcomed the change we thought the transfer ratio is lower than the mainstream competitive programs such as Amex Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, and Citi ThankYou.  Last week, Capital One announced the addition of British Airways, TAP Air Portugal, Turkish Airlines, and Choice Privileges to its transfer program and the increase of the transfer ratio to 1000:1000 for 9 partners (AeroMexico, Avianca, Cathay Pacific, Etihad, Finnair, Qantas, TAP, Wyndham, and Choice).  Among the 1:1 transfer partners, Avianca, Cathay Pacific and Etihad probably offer better value, while you may still find some value in Air Canada and Turkish which keep the old 1:0.75 transfer ratio.  We have updated our featured review Marriott vs. MR vs. UR vs. TY vs. C1 vs. CR covering the major programs that allow points transfer to frequent traveler miles/points to include C1 Miles in the comparison.

​This enhancement substantially increases our value for C1 Miles from previously 1.1 cents to now 1.3 cents a piece.  Capital One Venture Card (personal) and Spark Miles Business Card, both with an $95 annual fee and returning 2x Miles on everything, have become very powerful for general spending with 2.6% travel rewards based on our valuation.  They compare favorably to other high returning cards for general spending with the transfer feature: Citi Double Cash (no annual fee, 2x points = 3% rewards, requiring a premium ThankYou card to activate the transfer feature), Amex EveryDay Preferred ($95 annual fee, 1.5x points = 2.25% rewards, requiring at least 30 transactions per month to achieve 1.5x), Amex Blue Business Plus (no annual fee, 2x points = 3% rewards up to $50K spent annually), Chase Freedom Unlimited (no annual fee, 1.5x points = 2.25% rewards, requiring a premium Ultimate Rewards card to activate the transfer feature), and Chase Ink Unlimited Business Card (no annual fee, 1.5x points = 2.25% rewards, requiring a premium Ultimate Rewards card to activate the transfer feature).

As a result, Capital One is now rated #6 Best Credit Card by Dr. Credit Card and also #4 Best Credit Card for Rewards.  Our Top 10 list also saw the climbing of Amex Platinum and Amex Gold due to their increased signup bonuses and for Platinum the addition of cellphone protection coverage earlier this month.  This is the before and after comparison of our Top 10 list.
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Chase introduces more temporary bonuses to its credit card portfolio for November and December 2020

10/31/2020

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Chase has introduced temporary benefits on more of its credit cards.  In a recent post, we covered Chase Sapphire series, Ink series, and Freedom series.  Now select cardmembers will receive the following category bonuses between 11/1/2020 and 12/31/2020; you need to activate the offer through a link in the promotional email or at chase.com/mybonus directly.
  • 5x miles/points on Amazon.com and groceries, up to $1,500 in combined spending per month, for United Airlines cards, Southwest RapidRewards cards, Brith Airways Visa, Iberia Visa, Aer Lingus Visa, Marriott Bonvoy cards, and Ritz-Carlton cards.
  • 5x points on Amazon.com and 3x on groceries, up to $1,500 in combined spending per month, for Hyatt cards and IHG Rewards cards.
  • 10x points on Marriott portfolio hotels, up to $3,500 spent per month, for Marriott Bonvoy cards and Ritz-Carlton cards.

In addition, not from Chase or Amex, the following hotel program policies are recently announced:
  • Marriott: annual free night certificates expiring before 12/11/2020 will be valid until 1/31/2021, and those expiring between 12/11/2020 and 7/31/2021 will be valid until 8/1/2021.  These cards earn annual free night certificates: Amex Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant, Amex Marriott Bonvoy Business, Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless, and those Marriott/Ritz-Cartlton/SPG cobranded cards issued by Chase or Amex that are no longer accepting new applications.
  • Hyatt: annual free night certificates with an expiration date between 3/1/2020 and 12/31/2021 will be valid until 12/31/2021.  Chase World of Hyatt Visa and Hyatt Visa earn annual free night certificates.

Finally, to track all the COVID-19 related temporary credit card benefits, please visit our featured review which has been under continuous update with the most recent updates highlighted in cardinal.
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Chase Sapphire Preferred 80,000 points ($1,000 in travel rewards, or 80K miles of United, Southwest, JetBlue, Singapore, British, Hyatt, etc.)

9/14/2020

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Chase just brought us an improved signup bonus for Sapphire Preferred:
  • 80,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points (=$1,000 travel rewards via Chase, or 80K miles/points of United, Singapore, British, Flying Blue, Southwest, JetBlue, Hyatt, etc.) after spending $4,000 within 3 months of new account opening.  Note that there is no more first annual fee waiver as before.  
  • This bonus is not available if you currently have a Sapphire card (Sapphire, Sapphire Preferred, or Sapphire Reserve) or have received signup bonus from any Sapphire card in the past 48 months.  
  • Based on anecdotal reports, this card is subject to Chase's 5/24 rule (you won't be approved for this card if you have opened 5 or more new accounts within the past 24 months; any new account with any issuer will count, not just with Chase; new accounts include most credit cards and charge cards but exclude non-Chase business cards and store charge cards). 
  • The historical high of the signup bonus for this card was 100,000 points, but it was many years ago in 2012.  This 80K points offer is the best bonus we have seen since 2012.
  • Sapphire Preferred is a great card to pair with the newly enhanced Chase Freedom Unlimited which offers 5x points on travel through Chase, 3x on dining & drugstores, and 1.5x everywhere else, because you might move points earned from Freedom Unlimited (which is ineligible for miles/points transfer) to Sapphire Preferred's account so they become eligible for miles/points transfer as well as the 1.25 cents per point fixed-value travel redemptions, greatly improving Freedom Unlimited's value.
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Amex, Chase, and Citi bring COVID-19 related adjustments to credit card products

5/2/2020

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COVID-19 pandemic has obviously changed consumer behavior big time, and it makes sense that credit card issuers are making adjustments accordingly.  This post summarizes these adjustments from Amex, Chase, and Citi.

American Express
  • For those who open a credit card (personal or small business) between 12/1/2019 and 5/31/2020, the period to meet spending requirement to receive signup bonus will be extended for three months.
  • Platinum Card (personal): up to $320 in statement credits on select U.S. streaming services and U.S. wireless phone services (up to $20 per category per month, from May through December 2020); cardmembers that renew between April and December 2020 will receive $200 in statement credits for Amex Travel (Amex's travel booking portal, from August 2020 to December 2021).
  • Business Platinum Card: up to $320 in statement credits on wireless phone services and U.S. shipping (up to $20 per category per month, from May to December 2020); up to additional $200 in statement credits on Dell purchases in U.S. (up to $100 from 5/1/2020 to 6/30/2020; up to $100 from 7/1/2020 to 12/31/2020) - this is on top of the $200 Dell credits that are already part of this card's benefits; select cardmembers will also receive a $200 credit when they renew between May and November 2020.
  • Green Card: up to $80 in statement credits on U.S. wireless phone services (up to $10 per month, from May through December 2020).
  • Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card: earn 6x points on U.S. supermarkets, up to $7,500 in purchase, from May through July 2020); $300 Marriott statement credits can now be used towards U.S. restaurants, from June through August 2020).
  • Marriott Bonvoy Business Card: select cardmembers will receive a $59 credit when they renew between May and December 2020.
  • Hilton Aspire Card & Hilton Surpass Card: earn 12x points on U.S. supermarkets, up to $7,500 in purchase, from May through July 2020; bonus points earned through these credit cards from May to December 2020 will be considered base points for determining Hilton elite status; unexpired free weekend night certificates as of 5/1/2020 and newer certificates issued until 12/31/2020, will be valid for any night of the week, and those issued between 5/1/2020 and 12/31/2020 will be valid for 24 months (instead of 12 months); in addition, Hilton Aspire's $250 Hilton resort credits can now be used towards U.S. restaurants, from June through August 2020.
  • Hilton Business Card: select cardmembers will receive a $50 credit when they renew between May and December 2020.
  • Delta SkyMiles Reserve, SkyMiles Platinum, SkyMiles Gold, SkyMiles Blue cards: earn 4x miles on U.S. supermarkets, from May through July 2020; select Business SkyMiles Reserve cardmembers will receive a $125 credit when they renew between May and December 2020; select Business SkyMiles Platinum cardmembers will also receive a $75 credit when they renew between May and December 2020.

Chase
  • For those who open a new credit card (personal or small business) from January through March 2020, the period to meet spending requirements to receive signup bonus will be extended for three months.
  • Sapphire Reserve Card: annual fees will be reduced from $550 to $450 for those who renew the card from 4/1/2020 through 7/31/2020; earn 5x points on groceries, up to $1,500 in purchases per month, from 5/1/2020 through 6/30/2020.
  • United Club Infinite Card, United Club Card, United Presidential Plus Card: earn 5x miles on groceries, up to $1,500 in purchase per month, from 5/1/2020 through 6/30/2020.
  • Marriott Bonvoy Boundless, Bonvoy Bold, Marriott Rewards Premier: earn 6x points on groceries, up to $6,000 in purchase, from 5/1/2020 through 7/31/2020.
  • The following cards will earn 3 points or miles on groceries, up to $1,500 in purchase per month, from 5/1/2020 through 6/30/2020: Sapphire Preferred Card, United Explorer Card, United MileagePlus Select Card, Southwest RapidRewards (RR) Plus Visa, Southwest RR Premier Visa, Southwest RR Priority Visa, British Airways Visa, Iberia Visa, Aer Lingus Visa, World of Hyatt Visa, Hyatt Visa, IHG Rewards Club Premier WEMC, IHG Rewards Club Select MasterCard, and Disney Premier Visa.

Citi
  • For those who open a credit card (personal or small business) between 12/1/2019 and 5/31/2020, the period to meet spending requirement to receive signup bonus will be extended for three months.
  • Citi Prestige: the annual $250 travel credits can now be used towards groceries and dining, from May to December 2020.
  • Citi AA Executive: cardholders that renew after 3/31/2020 will receive a $225 statement credit, which equals to half of the annual fee.
  • Citi AA Platinum Select: the annual $125 flight discount certificates (after $20K annual spending) that are expiring between 3/31/2020 and 5/31/2020 will be extended for 6 months.
  • CitiBusiness AA Platinum Select: the annual $99 companion certificates (after $30K annual spending) that are expiring on 12/31/2020 will be extended for 6 months.
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Amex revamps its iconic Platinum Card (now rated #8 Best Card) and brings back the 100K offer for Business Platinum Card

10/7/2016

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Weekly update first. Several pages have been updated.  In addition, there are a few updated signup offers including Amex Platinum Delta SkyMiles 70K miles + 10K MQMs + $100 credit (for both personal and business versions), Amex Gold Delta SkyMiles 50K miles + $50 credit (for both personal and business versions), Amex Hilton Surpass 100K, Amex Hilton 75K, and Citi Hilton Visa 75K; like always, please check out our Promotions page for details. 

Now the biggest news of the week - to respond to Chase Sapphire Reserve, Amex revamps its iconic Platinum Card, both the personal and business versions, and the changes were effective October 6, 2016.  Also Amex brings back the amazing 100K offer for the Business Platinum Card.  Please head over to our Amex Platinum Card Review for everything you will need to know about it, including the 100K offer for the business card.  Here we will highlight the changes.

Amex Platinum Card (personal): 5x Membership Rewards (MR) points on airfare booked with airlines or through Amex Travel website.  When you book airfare via a third party Online Travel Agency such as Expedia, Travelocity, Ortiz, most likely you will be charged directly by the airline so you will still receive 5x points.  Note previously, this card gives 2x points on certain travel (airfare, prepaid hotels, vacation packages, cruise) booked through Amex Travel, and the booking fees are waived for Platinum members.  Looks like this feature is still available but the airfare will earn 5x instead, while other travel continues to earn 2x.  The last thing to note is that while Amex Platinum has the highest level of travel protection among all Amex cards, it still trails behind Citi and Chase in this regard, as Amex doesn't cover family members or award tickets and doesn't offer Trip Cancellation/Interruption, Trip Delay, or Baggage Delay coverage.  This factor might make some travelers use Citi Prestige or Chase Sapphire Reserve for 3x airfare instead of 5x on Amex Platinum.

While Amex Platinum's $450 annual fee may seems hefty, when you make use of the $200 annual airline credit, the effective annual fee becomes $250.  Most savvy card members probably won't use this card for general purchases, as there are better alternatives out there, such as Amex EveryDay Preferred, Amex SPG, Fidelity Visa, Citi Double Cash, just to name a few.  However, the October 2016 enhancement turns this card into a powerhouse for bonus rewards - 5x airfare is the highest among all miles/points cards.  Using our current conservative value of 1.5 cents per MR point, you are getting 7.5% cash equivalent rewards on airfare purchases.  You only need to spend $4,600 a year on airfare to beat the $250 effective annual fee and 2% cashback, because $4,600 x (7.5% - 2%) > $250.  You will need to spend $8,400 a year on airfare to beat the $250 effective annual fee and a miles/points card that offers 3x on airfare such as Amex Premier Rewards Gold, Chase Sapphire Reserve, Citi Prestige, because $8,400 x (5 - 3) point/$ x 1.5 cent/point > $250.  After that, you essentially receive all Platinum Card's great travel perks for free, such as unlimited access to Delta, Alaska, Centurion, and many more domestic and international lounges, Fine Hotels and Resorts, Hilton/SPG/Marriott Gold, and many others.  If you frequent Delta or Alaska and/or depart from a city where there is a Centurion Lounge, this card offers unparalleled value.  If you frequent Hilton Worldwide, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Marriott International, and/or luxury hotels, this card could also be hugely valuable.

With this important enhancement and its already impressive perks (rated #2), signup bonus (currently 40K), and protection, Amex Platinum finally makes to our Top 10 Best Credit Cards list, even surpassing the other two longtime favorite MR cards - Amex Premier Rewards Gold and Amex EveryDay Preferred.  As a result, the previous #10 Chase United Explorer Visa falls off the list.  Please see below the screenshots of the list before and after October 6, 2016.

Amex Business Platinum Card: (1) 1.5x points on each purchase of $5,000 or more, (2) 50% points rebate when using the "Pay with Points" option, essentially making MR points fixed value at 2 cents a piece, when buying First or Business Class tickets with any airline through Amex Travel, and Economy Class tickets with your selected airline also through Amex Travel.  So the 100K signup bonus of Business Platinum Card is worth at least $2,000!  

Note that you may still choose the other valuable redemption option to transfer MR points to miles/points of several frequent traveler programs, and keep in mind that our current value of MR points for using that option is 1.5 cents a piece, lower than the "Pay with Points" option.  However, these two options are very different in nature, I personally will choose the transfer option even with lower on-paper value, as I know I won't be using my hard earned cash/points to buy international long-haul First or Business Class tickets outright, while transferring points to miles of a frequent flyer program will allow me to have such tickets at a very reasonable rate.  Let's see an example of a recent flight I took: the one-way Suite Class on Singapore Airlines between Tokyo Narita and Los Angeles retails at about $8,000, and if I were to use the "Pay with Points" option, I will need a whooping 400,000 MR points - at exact 2 cents per point value.  However, if I would transfer 74,000 MR points to Singapore miles, I would be able to book this award ticket with the miles + $130 taxes and fees, as long as I find an available seat.  In fact, I did not use my MR points but I transferred my Citi ThankYou points to Singapore miles and I was able to secure not only one seat but two.  If I do math on paper, the value of MR points will be more than 10 cents per point; however, my personal conservative value of them is still around 1.5 cents, as I am willing to pay $1,250 for this ticket (74,000 points x 1.5 cent/point + $130 = $1,250).

Let's come back to see what the changes mean for Business Platinum Card member.  Earning 1.5x points on large purchases (>$5,000) will of course help some members.  However, the enhanced "Pay with Points" is more interesting to most members, as this makes Business Platinum Card a 2% rewards card for general spending with a $250 effective annual fee.  In addition, it opens up opportunities for other MR cards to become more valuable as MR points will be pooled together automatically.  For example, EveryDay Preferred will return staggering 9%, 6%, and 3% rewards for grocery, gas, and general purchases; the personal Platinum Card will return 10% rewards for airfare; Premier Rewards Gold Card will return 6% and 4% rewards for airfare and gas/grocery/dining.

© 2016 DrCreditCard.net  All rights reserved.
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Chase Sapphire Reserve Visa Infinite is finally here with an incredible 100K points bonus and officially rated #1 Best Credit Card by Dr. Credit Card

8/23/2016

4 Comments

 
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The wait is totally worth it!  It has been rumored for several months that Chase would introduce this high-end Sapphire in August with a 100K points signup bonus - and now everything has come true.  Please see our review for the new Sapphire Reserve Visa Infinite for details of this new favorite.  Here is the new card in a nutshell:
  • 100,000 points after spending $4,000 within 3 months of new account opening.
  • The annual fee is $450, but with the annual $300 travel credit that covers all expense in travel category (the industry first), it effectively becomes $150, a merely $55 more than Sapphire Preferred.
  • 3x points on travel and dining - if you spend more than $3,667 per year in the bonus categories, you will beat the $55 difference in annual fees, and choosing the Reserve over Preferred is a no-brainer.
  • Travel perks include Priority Pass Select for airport lounges, hotel privileges at Relais & Chateaux through Visa Infinite and at over 1,000 luxury hotels through Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection and Visa Signature Hotel Collection , Visa Infinite car rental privileges, Global Entry application credit, primary rental car collision coverage, and waived foreign transaction fees, etc.
  • It offers the highest level of consumer and travel protection among all Chase cards.

Sapphire Reserve is now ranked #1 in signup bonus, #3 in rewards, #9 in perks, and #3 in protection, among all credit cards.  By a large margin, it beats Citi Prestige to become the new #1 Best Credit Card by Dr. Credit Card!  Let's look at side-by-side comparison of the old (left) and new (right) lists of Top 10 Best Credit Cards by Dr. Credit Card:
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There are several changes: (1) Chase Sapphire Preferred uncrowns Citi Prestige, while Barclays Arrival Plus WEMC falls off the Top 10 list; (2) Citi ThankYou Premier falls from #2 to #6 due to its disappearing signup bonus; (3) there are some minor adjustments due to some changes in signup bonus and perks.

The last thing to know before applying Sapphire Reserve is that the so-called Chase 5/24 rule seems to be strictly enforced for online applications: if you have 5 or more new accounts opened and shown on your credit report in the past 24 months, including credit cards from all banks, possibly mortgages, loans, lines of credit, and even accounts as authorized users, you will get denied automatically by Chase.  There are reports which indicated (1) applying in Chase branch when you pre-qualifies for the card or (2) applying as a Chase Private Client may bypass the 5/24 rule.

© 2016 DrCreditCard.net  All rights reserved.
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Amex Platinum Card 100K public offer coming back! (our value $1,250 after considering the annual fee)

5/9/2016

3 Comments

 
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This is the best signup offer so far this year - our value is $1,250!  

​American Express Platinum Card has always been one of the best cards for perks and protection.  The regular signup bonus is 40,000 points, and through this special offer, you will receive 100,000 points after spending $3,000 within 3 months of new account opening, if you don't have or have never had this product before.  Our current value for Membership Rewards points is 1.5 cents a piece, and the card comes with a $450 annual fee which is not waived for the first year.  However, you may receive up to $200 annual airline incidental credit.  So our valuation for this signup bonus is 100,000 points x 1.5 cents/point - $450 +$200 = $1,250.  That is why this offer is currently listed as #1 on the best promotions page.
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Application Landing Page
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Five Years of Earning and Redeeming Miles/Points with Credit Cards - My Personal Story

3/10/2016

3 Comments

 
Hello, this is Sean aka Dr. Credit Card.  This is probably the most interesting post I have written since I started this website and blog in 2011.  Most previous posts were about credit card offers, and a few were my analysis of value (and changes) of miles/points.  I never really talked about how to use miles/points, since I figure that is really up to each individual to decide.  What works for me might not work for you.  However, I have been debating about that approach a lot.  I was already touching on the value of miles/points quite a few times as it is inevitable, and each time I tried to make it clear that it was our valuation and “your mileage may vary”.  Basically the value comes down to how much I would pay for an airline ticket or a hotel night if I don’t have miles/points, rather than how much the airline/hotel charges.  For example, if a round trip long haul business class ticket retails at $6,000 but will cost 120,000 miles to redeem, my miles value is not 5 cents per mile ($6,000/120,000 miles), but rather 1.8 cents per miles since I am willing to pay ~$2,200 for that ticket.  I have realized many of you got confused about that part, and I think sharing some personal experience may help you understand it better and also showcase how credit card offers could be extremely lucrative.

Note that many of the programs I used in the examples have devaluated or were even discontinued after our trips, but I think the moral of the story is how credit cards enabled me and my family to have some amazing experience that we wouldn’t have afforded otherwise.

Earning: 38 cards, 2.5M miles/points, and 12 free night certificates in five years

In the past five years, between my wife and I we opened 38 new credit card accounts, and earned about 2,500,000 miles/points in 18 different programs, plus 12 free night certificates.  These miles/points were all from signup bonuses and did not include the miles/points we earned through spending or other program promotions.  Since 4 of the cards offered free nights in lieu of miles/points as signup bonus, we earned an average of ~74K miles/points per card for the remaining 34 cards.  All these may seem a lot, we are not considered aggressive at all - we each opened about 2 cards every 6 months to ensure our credit scores stayed excellent - in fact our credit scores gradually improved over these years.  There are many people out there, including some of our readers, opened much more cards per year.  If you visit our Deals page, you will see that all offers we recommended have at least 40K miles/points bonus, and over the years there have been quite a few offers in the 75K-100K range.  What I am trying to say here is that if we could do it, you can do it.  

Experience: long haul first class/business class flights, luxury hotel rooms/suites, and many amazing memories

I will use some of our most amazing miles/points redemptions as case studies.  They are not in order of time/card/program, but rather random.

  • Cathay Pacific Business Class Los Angeles-Hong Kong-Denpasar (Bali) round trip - 100,000 British Airways (BA) miles + $450 in fuel surcharges and taxes per ticket.  Retail value: $6,150 per ticket.  Our value: $2,250 per ticket at 1.8 cents per mile.  How did we get the miles?  Chase BA Visa Signature always have had great signup offers and back then we each received 100K miles upon opening new accounts.  BA is also a transfer partner of Amex Membership Rewards (MR), Chase Ultimate Rewards (UR), and Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG), we transferred about 100K MR points to BA miles to complete three bookings that required 300K BA miles.  Needless to say, that was great value, but note that it was before the major devaluation of BA miles and now the same trip will cost much much more.  The trip allowed my wife, me and our 2.5 years old to go back to China, to spend time with families and to visit the amazing tropical island Bali in Indonesia.  The 15-hour transpacific flight is pretty tough in economy class - we have been there several times.  In comparison, Cathay Pacific offers one of the best business class products out there, and its flatbed equipped mini-suite makes a complete different experience.  We rested well and enjoyed decent food and champagne along the way.  A BA award ticket allows two stopovers in a round trip, so we actually took the Hong Kong-Denpasar flight two weeks later, which lasted 4.5 hours and for the first time in my life I wished that I stayed on the plane longer.  It was interesting that on this relatively short route Cathay actually operated a three-cabin Boeing 747, just as the one on a transpacific route.  After we were seated in the business class cabin, the purser Eva came over to introduce herself and politely asked if we would like to be upgraded to first class for free since the cabin was quite empty.  Of course we took her offer!  Not only the first class suites were more spacious and better padded, the service we received from Eva and other flight attendants were so attentive that we were totally not used to it!  I immediately understood why Cathay Pacific has constantly been rated as one of the world’s best airlines.  
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Welcome Drink "Cathay Delight" on Cathay Pacific Business Class
  • Shanghai-Los Angeles-Salt Lake City-Los Angeles on United Airlines Business Class + Los Angeles-Seoul-Shanghai on Asiana Business Class - 90,000 US Airways (US) miles + $100 in taxes and fees.  Retail value: $6,400 per ticket.  Our value: $1,900 per ticket at 2 cents per mile.  It was for my inlaws - they came over to the U.S. to help with our kids several times and the 13-hour flights in economy class surely weren’t much fun and that is why I thought if I could find availability we should use our miles to put them in business class once in awhile.  Obviously that was before the American-US merger and 90K in business class between continental U.S. and East Asia was a great bargain.  How did we get the miles?  Both my wife and I signed up Barclays US Airways MasterCard and each received 40,000 miles.  That gave us a good head start, and we also earned tens of thousand of US miles through various promotions (through the program or credit card) including acquiring miles at 1.1 a piece through US Airways’ amazing transfer promotions.  So it wasn’t hard to have a total of 180,000 miles to get two awards tickets booked.  My inlaws were amazed by the flights, and even though both airlines have flatbeds in long haul business class, both my inlaws agreed that Asiana offered better seats and food than United did and it was totally worth an extra stop in Seoul.  It isn’t surprising, since Asiana has constantly been rated as one of the best airlines when it comes to in-flight dining and its business products are highly regarded by travelers.
  • Xiamen-Hong Kong-Shanghai-Los Angeles-Hong Kong-Xiamen on American Airlines and Cathay Pacific First Class - 120,000 US Airways miles + $100 in taxes and fees.  Retail value: $16,000 per ticket.  Our value: $2,500 per ticket at 2 cents per mile.  The only segment on American was from Shanghai to Los Angeles, and short haul segments were in business class since first class was not offered.  For a short period time before US Airways frequent flyer program merged into American’s, US miles were particularly valuable since they could be used not only on Star Alliance partners (such as United and Asiana in the previous example) but also on oneworld partners (such as Cathay Pacific).  The awards tickets were for my parents - it is the same thinking as in the previous example - we couldn’t be more thankful to them and always feel guilty that they need to travel this long distance at their ages.  Since I couldn’t find availability in business class, I just went one step further to put them in first class.  Only on the return leg I could find two first class seats on Cathay so I used American on the outbound leg, understanding that their first class products were pretty mediocre.  How did we get the miles?  We did it again with US miles - as explained previously we had a decent size balance of US miles even after burning 180K for my inlaws and at the time of booking, we were short of 70K miles.  I thought it wasn’t a big deal since US Airways is a SPG partner and I could easily transfer some SPG points.  However, I made a huge mistake that I transferred my SPG points to my wife’s US Airways account, which isn’t allowed.  I almost kicked myself when I found out - even though I knew I would get those miles back I just didn’t have time to hold the awards which were hard to come by.  Luckily there was a promotion going on allowing me to purchase US miles directly at 1.88 cents per mile and I immediately purchased 70K miles.  Then I finally had the 240,000 US miles to complete the bookings.  My parents were very excited to take the flights and agreed that Cathay Pacific’s first class products blew American’s out of the water.  My mom also enjoyed the Krug champagne on Cathay Pacific so much that she drank a little too much.  When asked how she liked her first experience of caviar, she thought it was salty and not very impressive. :)   
  • Tokyo-Los Angeles one way on Singapore Airlines Suite Class - 74,000 Singapore Airlines (SQ) miles + $130 in taxes and fees.  Retail value: not available since the revenue ticket is sold in round trip and it costs $14,000 per round trip.  Our value: $1,300 per ticket at 1.6 cents per mile.  This is actually a flight my wife and I will take in June, so I don’t have the first hand experience yet.  However, these awards are highly sought after since this product is considered one of the best first class products in today’s sky.  Suite class is nothing but a glorified first class product exclusively available on A380 and obviously much nicer than Singapore’s regular first class found on other aircrafts.  Each suite has a sliding door, and the two middle seats can be transformed into a full size bed if the couple occupy them elect so.  We reserve two middle seats and are very excited to see how it all turns out.  Unlike its regular first class products, Singapore won’t release any suite class seats to its partners so you can’t book them using AA or BA miles, and that is why we booked using SQ miles.  How did we get the miles?  It is actually not hard at all to collect SQ miles, since SQ is a partner of four major programs that allow points-to-miles transfer: SPG, UR, MR, and Citi ThankYou (TY).  I transferred 130K TY points, accumulated from signup and spending on my Citi Prestige, and 20K UR points to get enough SQ miles for our bookings.
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Sunset over Pool at the Fairmont Kea Lani
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Executive Suite at the Fairmont Orchid Hawaii
  • Maximizing Chase Fairmont Visa Signature - eight free nights in fabulous suites and more.  We love this card!  Upon opening a new card and meeting the spending requirement, you will receive two free night certificates and four $25 breakfast certificates; the Fairmont Premier status come with the card gives you five additional certificates: one suite upgrade, one room upgrade, one third night free, and two $25 dining/spa.  Our first Fairmont experience was at the Fairmont Kea Lani in Maui.  Both my wife and I signed up the Chase Visa, so that we enjoyed four nights in a 800 sq. ft Garden View Suite for free, which retailed over $550 per night, and we used the $150 certificates toward breakfasts.  Since the basic room type at this resort is a suite, the suite upgrades only got us one category up, which was better than nothing.  The resort has three beautiful pools, and the beach in front of the resort has some finest sands on the island.  After about a year, I planned another Hawaiian vacation involving using the ongoing benefits of the card.  My wife canceled her card but I renewed mine with a $95 annual fee.  I also charged $12K on the card during my first year to receive another free night certificate.  I booked two nights at $329 each in a basic room at the Fairmont Orchid in Big Island Hawaii through Amex FHR (which will be discussed in more details later) to receive complimentary breakfasts and a $100 spa credit, then applied the Third Night Free and the Visa Free Night certificates to get another two nights, and finally used the suite upgrade to get us in a 1,000 sq. ft Executive Suite which retailed at $799 per night.  So our total cost for four nights in this suite, $80 breakfast credits, and a $150 spa credit all came down to a mere $660 plus taxes - amazing value.  The resort is beautiful with newly renovated rooms and two pools which we never used, since we spent most time on the beach and in the shallow ocean water in the bay.  We also celebrated our five years old’s birthday at Brown’s Beach House.  After having great experience with the Chase Fairmont Visa, I had my wife apply for this card again late last year, as soon as I heard that the Grand Del Mar in San Diego, which has been constantly rated as one of best resorts in California and in the entire country, joined the Fairmont chain.  Per Chase T&C, you will receive the signup bonus again if you are not a current cardholder and the last time you received the bonus was more than 2 years ago.  Needless to say, when we visited the Fairmont Grand Del Mar earlier this year for our anniversary, we enjoyed two nights in a 1,000 sq. ft Prado Suite and $150 breakfast/dining certificates, all complimentary from Chase.  The suite retails at $1,000 per night and is beautifully appointed in a classic Italian decor with two bathrooms.  Our dining experience at Amaya, their main restaurant, was also amazing.
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Prado Suite at the Fairmont Grand Del Mar
  • Park Hyatt Paris and Park Hyatt Tokyo - two free nights from Chase Hyatt Visa Signature.  They are for our upcoming June trip.  I wanted to used both free nights at Park Hyatt Paris but I couldn’t find any availability other than one night so I decided to use the other at Park Hyatt Tokyo.  Paris hotels are notoriously expensive, let alone one of the most luxurious properties in the city.  A basic room at Park Hyatt Paris retails at $1,150 per night at the time of our visit.  Park Hyatt Tokyo is a property that defines a new era of luxury Tokyo hotels since 1990s, and a basic room retails at $575 per night at the time of our visit.
  • JW Marriott Shenzhen - 90,000 Marriott points for 7 nights.  This five-star business oriented hotel in Shenzhen was a Category-3 hotel at the time of our visit back in 2012, and is now a Category-5.  Retail value: $200 + taxes per night.  Our value: $89 per night at 0.8 cent per point.  How did we get the points?  We signed up Chase Marriott Premier Visa Signature as well as JPM Ritz-Carlton Visa Signature, and it was not hard to pool a lot of Marriott points (Ritz-Carlton points are essentially Marriott points).  The hotel totally lived up to the five-star rating in terms of rooms, service, and food & beverage.  Thanks to the Marriott/Ritz-Carlton Gold status come with my JPM Ritz-Carlton Visa, we also got complimentary access to the Executive Lounge, which provided meals throughout the day and was much better than most hotel lounges in the U.S.
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Executive Lounge at JW Marriott Shenzhen
  • Eight nights at four Radisson Blu hotels in France - 25,000 to 35,000 Club Carlson points per night.  These are also for our upcoming trip in June, and I booked awards nights before the June 2015 devaluation from Club Carlson and the US Bank co-branded credit card.  Now the same award night will require double or even triple points.  Retail value per night: Radisson Blu Le Metropolitan in Paris $436, Radisson Blu Champs Elysees in Paris $523, Radisson Blu Nice $376, Radisson Blu 1835 Cannes $326.  Our value per night: Radisson Blu Le Metropolitan $175, Radisson Blu Champs Elysees $175, Radisson Blu Nice $125, Radisson Blu 1835 Cannes $175, based on 0.5 cent per point value.  How did we get the points?  We both signed up US Bank Club Carlson Visa Signature, and each received 85,000 points at signup and an additional 40,000 points upon the first anniversary.  In addition, we also had some left over points from previous Club Carlson promotions.  It was not hard to pool 260,000 points for these bookings.  These Radisson Blu are all five-star business oriented hotels, which while not the most luxurious in their cities should be pretty nice I will assume.
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Panorama View Room at Park Hyatt Aviara Resort
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View from Terrace Suite at the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas, an Autograph Collection Hotel
  • Above are just some examples of how we used hotel points and credit card free nights for our hotel stays, and we have done much more during the past several years, from luxury to budget hotels.  In addition to using points and free nights, we also leveraged Fine Hotels and Resorts (FHR) and other similar programs when paying “cash” for hotel stays.  FHR is an Amex program dedicated for its Platinum Card and Centurion Card members.  It covers more than 800 luxury hotels and resorts worldwide, including chains such as Four Seasons, Ritz-Carlton, Mandarin Oriental, Peninsula, St. Regis, Park Hyatt, Waldorf Astoria, Rosewood, Fairmont, Aman Resorts, Six Senses, Banyan Tree, and many individually managed hotels.  Through FHR, you pay the same Best Available Rate as you would when booking directly with the hotel or through a third-party agent, but you receive exclusive perks: daily complimentary breakfasts for two, room upgrades upon availability, guaranteed 4pm check-out, and a hotel specific amenity (usually once per stay) such as a $100 dining/spa/hotel credit, a complimentary lunch or dinner for two, or 50-minute massage treatments for two.  In addition, many FHR hotels regularly participated in 3rd Night Free or 4th Night Free promotions.  There are several similar programs, including Virtuoso (not tied to a bank/credit card, but you need to find a Virtuoso agent to work with you), Signature Travel Network (similar to Virtuoso), Ensemble Travel Group (similar to Virtuoso), Visa Signature Luxury Hotel Collection (for Visa Signature card members), World Elite Luxury Hotels and Resorts (for World Elite MasterCard members), etc.  Now I will give a few examples how we leveraged these benefits for our stays.  Park Hyatt Aviara Resort - Panorama View Room retail value $300 per night & our value $70 per night.  I booked a basic room for three nights at $250 per night, and the benefits we received included a two-category room upgrade, the third night free, daily buffet breakfasts for two (retailed at $50, our value $30), waived resort fees ($25 per night), a $100 resort credit per stay, a $25 F&B credit per stay, and welcome amenity in the room.  You do the math.  Highlight of the hotel: friendly staff and impeccable service.  The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas, an Autograph Collection Hotel - Terrace Suite retail value $280 & our value $100.  The view is the key - if you are in the right side of the hotel you will enjoy the best view of Vegas.  I booked a $230 suite that doesn’t have the famous fountain view, but I knew the next category would guarantee a view.  In fact, they upgraded us three categories to the Terrace Suite which not only has a gorgeous view but is a larger suite of over 900 sq. ft.  We also enjoyed check-in at the VIP lounge (to bypass the long line), buffet breakfasts for two at the Wicked Spoon (retailed at $48, our value $30), a $100 spa credit which my wife used toward manicure and pedicure.  Highlight of the hotel: gorgeous Bellagio Fountain and Strip view.  Four Seasons Residence Club Aviara - 1BR Residence retail value $595 & our value $120.  I booked a basic room at $260, and received a $75 breakfast credit (our value $40), a $100 F&B credit which we used toward dinner, and a one-category upgrade to the beautifully appointed residential suite of over 1,200 sq. ft.  Highlight of the hotel: one of best hotel suites I have ever stayed in to date.  Taj Campton Place, a member of The Leading Hotels of the World (LHW) - Deluxe Room retail value $300 per night & our value $132 per night.  I booked a basic room for four nights at $250 per night, and received the fourth night free, a one-category upgrade, daily $60 breakfast credits (our value $30), and a $100 F&B credit which we used toward lunch.  While the hardware was probably not up to the five-star or LHW standards in my opinion, the service must have been among the best we have received in a U.S. hotel and could be on par with a good luxury hotel in Asia.  If you wonder, yes, Asian hotels are mostly better in service than the U.S. hotels.  Hotel Park City, a member of LHW at the time of our visit and now an Autograph Collection Hotel - Luxury Suite retail value $299 & our value $45.  I booked a basic suite for $179 and received a three-category upgrade to a huge 1 BR suite of over 1,400 sq. ft, a $16 breakfast credit, and complimentary 50-minute massage treatments for two (retail value $200+, our value $120).  Highlight of the hotel: rustic and understated luxury in a beautiful surrounding.  Casa Marina Key West, a Waldorf Astoria Resort - Ocean View with Terrace retail value $449 & our value $140.  I booked a basic room for $279 and received a three-category upgrade to a recently renovated room in the historical wing with a huge terrace overlooking the resort pools and ocean, a $100 breakfast credit (our value $40), and a $100 resort credit which we used toward dinner.  Highlight of the hotel: the resort’s main restaurant Sun Sun, which offers great seasonal food in a open air ambience and an amazing sunset view.
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Residence Suite at Four Seasons Residence Club Aviara
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Lobby at Hotel Park City
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