Let’s talk about Credit Cards, Travel Points and Airline Miles
Understanding how to effectively use credit cards for travel rewards can unlock a world of free flights and luxury experiences.
By all means, this post is not an in-depth lesson on which credit card is the BEST. However, it will give you a brief overview to jumpstart your path towards travel hacking through credit card points.
Now which one(s) you apply for, depends on what your objectives are (i.e. domestic vs. international travel, hotel pts/status, car rental pts/status, southwest vs other airlines etc).
For instance, if you plan to do more domestic traveling and are bringing a companion, then obtaining a companion pass via Southwest would be a good strategy since it would mean getting 2 flights for the price of 1 ticket. And if you have ultimate rewards points through chase, then you could potentially (depending on the amount of pts you have) pay for a Southwest ticket using just pts, and just pay roughly $10 per person for a round trip ticket to cover the taxes. As an example, last summer, my husband and I both got a Southwest credit card roughly 6 months before we planned to travel that had a sign up bonus of spending $3K within 3 months and then we had the companion pass until Feb 2023. So when we were planning a trip to FL, we transferred our Chase Ultimate reward points that we already had to Southwest at a 1:1 pts to rapid reward Southwest points and then used those points to buy our 2 tickets and then we had the companion pass so 2 of our kids flew free with us. We had Ultimate reward points still to cover the cost of the airline ticket for our 3rd child. The total out of pocket cost for the round trip flight from CA to FL was roughly $50 for the 5 of us to cover the taxes.
Now to travel internationally, that takes some more searching for airline rewards and looking at which US airline is part of which airline alliance (Star Alliance, One World or SkyTeam) so you can see which pts would be compatible with which airlines. It might be best to master flying within the USA before attempting to use pts to fly internationally, but that’s up to you.
Some other tips. Chase has an “unspoken” 1/48, 5/24 and a 1/30 rule. The 1/48 rule is that they will only approve 1 Sapphire credit card (Preferred or Reserve) within 48 months and you can only hold 1 type of Sapphire card. They will not allow you to have a Sapphire Reserve AND a sapphire Preferred at the same time. The 5/24 months rule is Chase will automatically reject your credit card application if you have 5 credit cards within the last 24 months. And the 1/30 rule is that they will only approve 1 credit card within the same 30 days. This means they would not approve you for example, the Chase Sapphire Reserve and the Chase Southwest Plus credit card within the same 30 day period. To note, other credit card companies do not have these rules. Because of this, people try to max out on 5/24 with Chase branded credit cards first before getting something else outside of Chase, like the Capital One Venture X, American Express Platinum, or a Citi Card. But of course, it all depends on what you need and your specific situation. Sometimes, having one of the non-Chase cards take up a 5/24 slot is worth it. Just have to way the pros and cons.
Also, it’s important to look at the annual fee, and based on the card benefits that are offered via the card, decide if it justifies the annual fee. Lastly, make you look at what the sign-up (SUB) offer entails. For instance, at the time of this post, Chase is offering 60,000 points if you spend at least $4,000 in the first 3 months of the account opening. For some, charging $4k in 3 months would be relatively easy. For others, if they have a low spend per month, this may be challenging. The important thing to remember is you never want to charge extra to meet a SUB. If you naturally spend $2K per month, on utilities, food, day care etc, then you could easily meet the SUB in about 2 months. However, if you only spend about $1K per month, then you would have a more challenging time to meet this SUB.
Below are some referral links you can use to check out what some of the current credit card offers are: (Please note, if you do sign up for one of these credit cards and get approved, I will be receiving a referral bonus. Thank you for your support).
Chase Sapphire Reserve:
Earn 60,000 bonus points with Chase Sapphire Reserve. I can be rewarded, learn more.
Chase Sapphire Preferred:
Earn 60,000 bonus points with Chase Sapphire Preferred. I can be rewarded, learn more.
Chase Southwest:
Limited-time offer: Earn Companion Pass through 2/28/2024 plus 30,000 points with any Southwest Rapid Rewards personal Credit Card. Business owners can earn up to 80,000 bonus points with Southwest Rapid Rewards business Credit Cards. I can be rewarded too, learn more.
Capital One Venture X:
American Express Platinum:
Apply for an American Express Card with this link. With your new Card, you could earn a welcome bonus and your friend could earn a referral bonus. Terms Apply. \
Alright, now go get those points and travel the world.
Until Next time,
