PSA -Sapphire Reserve with 100K points bonus, LAST CHANCE is Saturday 3/11 at branch...

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Nov 8, 2012
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So I'm usually milking cards left and right - signing up all the time for new cards, etc...

I'll be honest when I say this: Offers lately have sucked. Am I alone here in this?

I haven't seen much for offers that have enticed me much at all, and for once instead of meeting a minimum spend requirement I've actually just been *gasp* using the cards I already have....
 

spacejamz

Lifer
Mar 31, 2003
10,781
1,386
126
if you rent a car with your chase points, do you get the same additional insurance benefits that you would get if you used the card?
 

deadlyapp

Diamond Member
Apr 25, 2004
6,582
698
126
if you rent a car with your chase points, do you get the same additional insurance benefits that you would get if you used the card?
I assume yes, because as a transaction in chase system it probably looks like an offset or discount onto the credit card.

However I found this:

https://millionmilesecrets.com/guid...timate-rewards-points-to-pay-for-your-rental/

I'd say as long as you use your card for the incidentals with the car (you'll be required to give them a CC anyways when you rent) you would be good.
 
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purbeast0

No Lifer
Sep 13, 2001
52,834
5,713
126
So I'm usually milking cards left and right - signing up all the time for new cards, etc...

I'll be honest when I say this: Offers lately have sucked. Am I alone here in this?

I haven't seen much for offers that have enticed me much at all, and for once instead of meeting a minimum spend requirement I've actually just been *gasp* using the cards I already have....
I was thinking about this last night myself. In January I plan on getting 2 SW cards for my wife, but until then I was thinking about getting another card in her name to hold us over until then. But I couldn't really find one that I wanted. I've just been milking my current SW cards because I fly with them and the points will come in hand anyways.
 

purbeast0

No Lifer
Sep 13, 2001
52,834
5,713
126
Just a heads up in case others didn't know...

I just applied for a Chase Sapphire Preferred to get the 60k points and was immediately denied.

I called in and the guy told me it was denied before even pulling my credit (so no credit hit) because I have used a Sapphire Preferred bonus in the past 4 years. It was actually the end of October 2015 so it's almost 4 years now. It used to be 2 years but now it's 4 and was changed like 2.5 years ago he said.

He also said that since I opened my Sapphire Reserve in Jan 2017, that MIGHT make it so I can't get the Reserve in November. But if I do apply, an get immediately declined, it won't be a credit hit because it will fail before.

So I might just try it out at the beginning of next month and see if it works or not.
 

brianmanahan

Lifer
Sep 2, 2006
24,202
5,608
136
i have such a problem spending points, i dunno why. i got the 100k bonus a few years ago and have earned 50k more, but finally just spent a little of them for the first time.

maybe i'll use the rest of them up on a fancy round trip to europe. always wanted to see what the experience is like once in my life. exterous photos of first class are nice, but it's just not the real thing.
 
Nov 8, 2012
20,828
4,777
146
i have such a problem spending points, i dunno why. i got the 100k bonus a few years ago and have earned 50k more, but finally just spent a little of them for the first time.

maybe i'll use the rest of them up on a fancy round trip to europe. always wanted to see what the experience is like once in my life. exterous photos of first class are nice, but it's just not the real thing.

This is why I like to go for cards that can always just do cashback. I go on plenty of trips (international and domestic) - so I would just rather get straight cash.

Can you potentially get more monetary value out of points? Maybe? But from what I see there are all kinds of restrictions for that.
 

purbeast0

No Lifer
Sep 13, 2001
52,834
5,713
126
This is why I like to go for cards that can always just do cashback. I go on plenty of trips (international and domestic) - so I would just rather get straight cash.

Can you potentially get more monetary value out of points? Maybe? But from what I see there are all kinds of restrictions for that.
Not sure what you mean. With CUR 1pt = $1.25 if used for travel. You definitely get more value out of points with CUR.

And then if you transfer em to United and you get one of the lowest fare deals (forget the name for it) you can get $800 flights for like 35k points.

With SW too, it's not even a comparison. Their points don't map 1:1 with dollars, but if you have a companion pass I mean you are potentially saving so much money with that alone. Every time I've flown to Grand Cayman (4x in the past 2 years) I've spent $285 in taxes only, whereas the flights were like $600/each which means it would be $1800 for us 3 and I saved $1515.

I'm looking at Aruba next month and I just priced out the 3 flights. It is $1745 if we were to pay for it. If I use points and companion pass, it will be $245 total + 70k points.
 

rcpratt

Lifer
Jul 2, 2009
10,433
110
116
Just a heads up in case others didn't know...

I just applied for a Chase Sapphire Preferred to get the 60k points and was immediately denied.

I called in and the guy told me it was denied before even pulling my credit (so no credit hit) because I have used a Sapphire Preferred bonus in the past 4 years. It was actually the end of October 2015 so it's almost 4 years now. It used to be 2 years but now it's 4 and was changed like 2.5 years ago he said.

He also said that since I opened my Sapphire Reserve in Jan 2017, that MIGHT make it so I can't get the Reserve in November. But if I do apply, an get immediately declined, it won't be a credit hit because it will fail before.

So I might just try it out at the beginning of next month and see if it works or not.
I didn't think you could hold both the Preferred and Reserve. You definitely can't get both bonuses.
 

ponyo

Lifer
Feb 14, 2002
19,689
2,811
126
i have such a problem spending points, i dunno why. i got the 100k bonus a few years ago and have earned 50k more, but finally just spent a little of them for the first time.

maybe i'll use the rest of them up on a fancy round trip to europe. always wanted to see what the experience is like once in my life. exterous photos of first class are nice, but it's just not the real thing.
I don't think you're good candidate for CSR card and would be better off with 2% straight cashback card with no annual fee. You don't travel and I doubt you're eating out enough by yourself to really take advantage of the 3% CB points for dining. CSR does have emergency roadside assistance ($50 credit per use/ 4 times a year) so it's sort of like having free AAA membership but I don't see how you're getting much benefit from paying $450 annual fee for CSR card since you don't really travel.
 

ponyo

Lifer
Feb 14, 2002
19,689
2,811
126
I didn't think you could hold both the Preferred and Reserve. You definitely can't get both bonuses.
I had both at the same time before. And I got both bonuses. I did downgrade the Preferred to another Freedom card since it was pointless to keep after getting the Reserve.
 

brianmanahan

Lifer
Sep 2, 2006
24,202
5,608
136
I don't think you're good candidate for CSR card and would be better off with 2% straight cashback card with no annual fee. You don't travel and I doubt you're eating out enough by yourself to really take advantage of the 3% CB points for dining. CSR does have emergency roadside assistance ($50 credit per use/ 4 times a year) so it's sort of like having free AAA membership but I don't see how you're getting much benefit from paying $450 annual fee for CSR card since you don't really travel.

yeah, i will probably cancel the card once i spend the points (ideally before renewal next year).

i actually used to travel a lot more but constant crazy work deadlines have made it way more difficult lately. until recently, i hadn't gotten time approved for a real vacation in almost 2 years.
 

ponyo

Lifer
Feb 14, 2002
19,689
2,811
126
I guess they changed the rules. I've mixed thoughts on all these changes and restrictions. I think it's good they're cracking down and trying to stop these bonus point churners who open credit cards just for signup bonus points. But it also seems like lot of perks on the cards are being downgraded and eliminated completely. Chase has been pretty good with their perks but Citi and Amex have been active with perk downgrades. But I'm sure it's coming to Chase cards soon too.
 

purbeast0

No Lifer
Sep 13, 2001
52,834
5,713
126
I too had 2 Sapphire cards at the same time, so the rules have definitely changed.
 

Exterous

Super Moderator
Jun 20, 2006
20,348
3,426
126
i have such a problem spending points, i dunno why. i got the 100k bonus a few years ago and have earned 50k more, but finally just spent a little of them for the first time.

maybe i'll use the rest of them up on a fancy round trip to europe. always wanted to see what the experience is like once in my life. exterous photos of first class are nice, but it's just not the real thing.

Technically those were all just nicer business class seats. International First seating can be much nicer than that but award availability is basically non-existent on dates we can travel. But you've been talking about a trip to Europe for a while. You should just go ;)

Can you potentially get more monetary value out of points? Maybe? But from what I see there are all kinds of restrictions for that.

Absolutely. I've priced out reasonable RT tickets in business class to places we've been and those were around $6,000 total to Oceania. Our crazier Africa flights would have been $12,000 for the cheapest option over a 4 month period although that was a weird routing to begin with. For the spending to get those points that would have been $400-500 in cash back from a 2% CB card. While yes I wouldn't have bought the $12,000 ticket we put the value (for us) of going to these places in a comfortable seat with leg and shoulder room at more than $500.

Maybe they changed the rules, but these are the current ones...

View attachment 11784

Ouch. It used to be 24 months.
 

Exterous

Super Moderator
Jun 20, 2006
20,348
3,426
126
I guess they changed the rules. I've mixed thoughts on all these changes and restrictions. I think it's good they're cracking down and trying to stop these bonus point churners who open credit cards just for signup bonus points. But it also seems like lot of perks on the cards are being downgraded and eliminated completely. Chase has been pretty good with their perks but Citi and Amex have been active with perk downgrades. But I'm sure it's coming to Chase cards soon too.

Yeah we had a run of perks being added as Citi and Amex tried to catch up to Chase over the last several years. Now I think they've all over-reached a bit and the pendulum is swinging the other way.

On the positive side the business card options are still free of most of these restrictions. There are fewer cards but, as long as you have an EIN, 3+ years of operations and a good credit score they don't blink an eye at approvals. At this point even if we didn't have a business I'd probably have started a tiny one just to get the card bonuses.
 

rcpratt

Lifer
Jul 2, 2009
10,433
110
116
On the positive side the business card options are still free of most of these restrictions. There are fewer cards but, as long as you have an EIN, 3+ years of operations and a good credit score they don't blink an eye at approvals. At this point even if we didn't have a business I'd probably have started a tiny one just to get the card bonuses.
I've been approved for various Chase/Amex business cards and never had to even show any of that information. All I needed was an SSN and a good credit score.
 

deadlyapp

Diamond Member
Apr 25, 2004
6,582
698
126
I've been approved for various Chase/Amex business cards and never had to even show any of that information. All I needed was an SSN and a good credit score.
Yeah, if you call it a sole proprietorship and keep the business name blank, they won't ask for anything.

I was dumb the first time and named my business something and they asked me to show proof of DBA, ultimately I got them to approve it with just an issued EIN which is free and easy to create.
 

purbeast0

No Lifer
Sep 13, 2001
52,834
5,713
126
Yeah I've gotten a few business cards and say I make like $3k/yr doing indie mobile development.

My current SW card literally says "INDIE MOBILE APP DEVELOPER" on it lol.
 

Exterous

Super Moderator
Jun 20, 2006
20,348
3,426
126
On the positive side the business card options are still free of most of these restrictions. There are fewer cards but, as long as you have an EIN, 3+ years of operations and a good credit score they don't blink an eye at approvals. At this point even if we didn't have a business I'd probably have started a tiny one just to get the card bonuses.
I've been approved for various Chase/Amex business cards and never had to even show any of that information. All I needed was an SSN and a good credit score.

:hmm:

And there are more credit offering companies than Chase and Amex

Yeah, if you call it a sole proprietorship and keep the business name blank, they won't ask for anything.

I was dumb the first time and named my business something and they asked me to show proof of DBA, ultimately I got them to approve it with just an issued EIN which is free and easy to create.

Companies will ask depending on the company, the card applied for and potentially how much credit you have with them already.
 

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
110,512
29,098
146
This is why I like to go for cards that can always just do cashback. I go on plenty of trips (international and domestic) - so I would just rather get straight cash.

Can you potentially get more monetary value out of points? Maybe? But from what I see there are all kinds of restrictions for that.

Yes, each point has a higher dollar value when used for travel vs. claiming it for cash back. ...you are actually losing money by choosing cash instead of airfare/hotels/whatever.
 
Nov 8, 2012
20,828
4,777
146
Yes, each point has a higher dollar value when used for travel vs. claiming it for cash back. ...you are actually losing money by choosing cash instead of airfare/hotels/whatever.

No I understand that - which is why I said it can have higher value... It's just you're often restricted to certain days of travel or certain times... or even doing a certain plane ride (e.g. not a direct flight)

Personally, I don't have problems finding cheap flights monetarily.
 

rcpratt

Lifer
Jul 2, 2009
10,433
110
116
No I understand that - which is why I said it can have higher value... It's just you're often restricted to certain days of travel or certain times... or even doing a certain plane ride (e.g. not a direct flight)

Personally, I don't have problems finding cheap flights monetarily.
There are several cards that offer better than 1x point redemption on travel that don't require transferring points/blackout dates/etc. The Chase Sapphire Reserve, for example, gets 1.5x value on travel booked through Chase's portal (Expedia). You can book pretty much anything at anytime at the same price you would find on other websites. Only budget airlines such as Spirit and Frontier are excluded.