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

[purbeast0]

Sometimes, I wish my spending was higher to justify getting an opening bonus for many a new card. We're looking at an overseas trip next March - my wife wants to go to Japan, but we have a few backup ideas for some places in Europe if flights are too ridiculous.

Though, I did just open up a Bilt card to pay my rent (no transaction fees for rent, and my corporate landlord is a Bilt member) - get 1 point per dollar in rent as long as there are at least 5 transactions per statement period (and 3x points on restaurants, 2x on travel), and they allow 1:1 point transfers to United and AA. That should at least help build up some miles for a flight or two with a major airline given monthly rent in the Boston metro area.

I mean most people who are adults can easily get these "spend $xx in y months" bonuses by just putting all of the spending you can on a credit card. They aren't hard to hit. They are typically like less than $1k/month if you were to go to full term.

Then once you get that bonus, get a new card and eventually cancel the first one. I always cancel cards before or at the annual mark when they charge me. Every time I have requested to have the fee removed they gladly remove it too.

I haven't paid for a flight in like a decade aside from taxes/fees, and aside from during covid, I fly like 3-5 times a year. I've saved easily over $20k in flights. I saved $1500 alone on 4 flights going to Grand Cayman in November using SW points and companion pass. I just had to pay $360 in taxes for 4 tickets. Also flown to Roatan, Florida, and Belize this year, all using either United points or SW points.

 

[purbeast0]

I've got 3 cards we use -- we don't use debit cards for shit:

• Lowe's
  • Use: Exclusively at Lowe's for 5% discount
  • Originally got this 2 years out of school for 12mo 0% financing for a large purchase
• Chase Amazon Prime
  • Use: Amazon and Whole Foods (...and Costco)
  • Originally got this to combine with a Prime Day deal for my NAS -- points are pretty excellent at WF and Amazon
• Amex Gold
  • Use: Everything with exception to Amazon, Whole Foods, Lowe's
  • The points on this are fantastic. I could probably use them for something more useful, but having it linked to our Amazon account and use them to buy stuff I'd normally feel guilting purchasing lol

I have been looking around at other alternatives to the Amex Gold. We travel a fair amount in a normal year -- the United cards seem somewhat attractive, but also the Capital One cards seem a great value. I'm not opposed to a higher annual fee if the juice is worth the squeeze.

On United's site you can find some VERY good deals on their "saver" flights that will be the lowest points you can use. We have a United hub close by so we fly them a lot to places that SW doesn't fly to. I'm glad SW flies to a lot of places in the Caribbean we like to go now.

 

[Exterous]

Anyone know what the best new card offers are to get CUR right now? Or United points?

We are flying to Italy next summer and most likely will try to fly United and since CUR points can be converted directly to United points, I'm down with either of these. These cards will be in my wife's name who hasn't gotten rewards in 24+ months so I'm open to getting 2 cards with different offers, one after the other too.

And then next year we'll open 2 SW cards in her name to get those points + companion pass.

Non-business Chase UR cards are a bit more challenging of late in terms of UR points generation. If you can get a business card you could do the Chase Ink Unlimited (75,000 points on $7500 spend. It says 'cash back' but these ARE Chase UR points) or Chase Ink Business Cash (Same offer). If your spending is really high there is the Chase United Business card with 150k miles after $20k in spending in 6 months.

If that doesn't work and you want to travel on Star Alliance (United) then Capital One has made some pretty big entries into the points and miles space. They don't transfer to United so you can't top off your United points bank but they do transfer to both Aeroplan and LifeMiles. Even better its stupid easy to combine household Capital One personal and business card points.

There are pros and cons to all three programs. IME Aeroplan can't see all the award space United can - which is, to some extent, because United card holders get access to additional award space (XN and JN fare buckets). But sometimes I just can't get the same options to show up. Aeroplan does allow stopovers for 5k points though which can be a huge benefit if you have the time and flexibility for that. Yes United has the excursionist perk but that has almost become a liability given the constant changing of flight schedules. To the point that I chose NOT to use it for our trip to Norway next year. LifeMiles should show the same award space but their website search is much more of a PITA than United's and doesn't always seem to return award space properly. On the positive side that same jankiness leads to interesting opportunities.

Sometimes, I wish my spending was higher to justify getting an opening bonus for many a new card. We're looking at an overseas trip next March - my wife wants to go to Japan, but we have a few backup ideas for some places in Europe if flights are too ridiculous.

Though, I did just open up a Bilt card to pay my rent (no transaction fees for rent, and my corporate landlord is a Bilt member) - get 1 point per dollar in rent as long as there are at least 5 transactions per statement period (and 3x points on restaurants, 2x on travel), and they allow 1:1 point transfers to United and AA. That should at least help build up some miles for a flight or two with a major airline given monthly rent in the Boston metro area.

For Japan if you can find award space on ANA (the difficulty of which depends on luck and desired departure city) Virgin Atlantic miles are a great option which can be transferred to from Amex, Chase and Citi. ANA miles used to be a good value but they adjust fuel surcharges based on oil price which is....a tad high atm. Virgin Atlantic miles can offer ok value on Delta award flights....if you can find space. Delta is ridiculously stingy with international award space these days

Alaska, AA, United, and Aeroplan are all roughly tied for second to Japan depending on your location and luck. Personally I still get the best general utility out of United miles. It might not always be the cheapest award redemption to a specific city and Star Alliance carriers to Europe are average in terms of business class seat and service but I'm more likely to actually find seats available on them than OneWorld or SkyTeam. If you have a ton of date flexibility that might not matter but we have some pretty rigid dates to work within

 

[Exterous]

I have been looking around at other alternatives to the Amex Gold. We travel a fair amount in a normal year -- the United cards seem somewhat attractive, but also the Capital One cards seem a great value. I'm not opposed to a higher annual fee if the juice is worth the squeeze.

After spurning their lackluster program for years they made some huge program changes around the launch of the Venture X card. I've built up a good pile of points with them now and am looking forward to the opportunities of their transfer partners. You won't find the common US airline names here so it takes more work to get value out of them but, with a little time and effort, that means you can get bigger redemptions out of the points

 

[Exterous]

Reserve is back up to 80,000 points from its more normal 50k-60k.

 

[JM Aggie08]

How does this stack up against the Amex Platinum? I know the Amex has +$250 in annual fees compared to the Chase.

 

[Exterous]

How does this stack up against the Amex Platinum? I know the Amex has +$250 in annual fees compared to the Chase.

They have different airline transfer partners with Chase getting the edge in US domestic carriers IMO. But Amex has some airlines that have interesting if a little niche premium redemption opportunities.

Chase has better rental car coverage and flight delay lost\delayed luggage coverage while Amex includes medical evacuation coverage just for having the card (Slight caveat: Something like MedJet Assist lets you make the decision if you need to be airlifted out while Amex will rely on a Doctor's assessment for that. But the coverage is included for you and traveling family members)

Amex Offers can have some really good deals at times with certain vendors. Like $50 off any purchase at Dell of over $100. Its usually in the 15-25% off if you hit close to the spend threshold but occasionally they'll be offers like $35 off $35 of spend with a merchant. Rarely they have even have some offers of $100 off $100 at places like Dell or Home Depot

I think Chase has a better Priority Pass membership included which includes a fair number of restaurants at airports compared to Amex. Amex has some additional lounge partners though like Delta Sky Club (if flying Delta), Plaza Premium lounges and their own Centurion Lounges

Chase has a $300 travel credit vs Amex $200 hotel + $200 airline credit. The airline credit is a bit of a PITA to use though

Chase Luxury Hotels and Amex Fine Hotels and Resorts are pretty close to interchangeable. Pretty close to the same portfolio and price although sometimes one hotel is cheaper through one platform or the other.

Amex also comes with Marriott Gold (marginal utility) and Hilton Gold (a little better than Marriott).

There are some other credits and inclusion differences between the two but those are the bigger differences

 

[deadlyapp]

They have different airline transfer partners with Chase getting the edge in US domestic carriers IMO. But Amex has some airlines that have interesting if a little niche premium redemption opportunities.

Chase has better rental car coverage and flight delay lost\delayed luggage coverage while Amex includes medical evacuation coverage just for having the card (Slight caveat: Something like MedJet Assist lets you make the decision if you need to be airlifted out while Amex will rely on a Doctor's assessment for that. But the coverage is included for you and traveling family members)

Amex Offers can have some really good deals at times with certain vendors. Like $50 off any purchase at Dell of over $100. Its usually in the 15-25% off if you hit close to the spend threshold but occasionally they'll be offers like $35 off $35 of spend with a merchant. Rarely they have even have some offers of $100 off $100 at places like Dell or Home Depot

I think Chase has a better Priority Pass membership included which includes a fair number of restaurants at airports compared to Amex. Amex has some additional lounge partners though like Delta Sky Club (if flying Delta), Plaza Premium lounges and their own Centurion Lounges

Chase has a $300 travel credit vs Amex $200 hotel + $200 airline credit. The airline credit is a bit of a PITA to use though

Chase Luxury Hotels and Amex Fine Hotels and Resorts are pretty close to interchangeable. Pretty close to the same portfolio and price although sometimes one hotel is cheaper through one platform or the other.

Amex also comes with Marriott Gold (marginal utility) and Hilton Gold (a little better than Marriott).

There are some other credits and inclusion differences between the two but those are the bigger differences

I've found that the CSR "pay yourself back" has really given it an edge for me, getting the same redemption as travel in areas where I spend more (dining, etc). Tied with other chase spend (Ink business card, freedom card) it's hard to beat the overall trifecta. I keep eyeballing the amex card but I'm so tied to United now that the delta privileges and redemption aren't valuable enough for me.

 

[purbeast0]

Not really related to a CC (I actually just got an Ink Business card working on 100k bonus points now) but related to rewards.

I got something in the mail today about $900 from Chase if I 1.) open a checking account and setup direct deposit and 2.) if I open a savings account and deposit $15k in there.

Now I have absolutely no reason to get a new bank as I have been with Capital One before my local bank was bought out by them like 25 years ago, and I've never had problems.

But I was wondering if anyone has ever opened an account like this JUST to get the bonuses, and then move the money back after getting the bonus. Like is there any downside to do it, other than the time/effort used to create the 2 accounts and move money around?

 

[Charmonium]

@Perknose OMG, once you leave they'll be on you like hybrid skeeter-piranha. No wait, like a crazy dark matter gf. Wait, wait. I can do better. Like a cartoon cloud raining sadness. Yeah, that's the ticket.

 

[Brainonska511]

Not really related to a CC (I actually just got an Ink Business card working on 100k bonus points now) but related to rewards.

I got something in the mail today about $900 from Chase if I 1.) open a checking account and setup direct deposit and 2.) if I open a savings account and deposit $15k in there.

Now I have absolutely no reason to get a new bank as I have been with Capital One before my local bank was bought out by them like 25 years ago, and I've never had problems.

But I was wondering if anyone has ever opened an account like this JUST to get the bonuses, and then move the money back after getting the bonus. Like is there any downside to do it, other than the time/effort used to create the 2 accounts and move money around?

I've done this with a savings account or two in the last year, just to get some bonuses from AmEx and Discover. I don't think there is much downside if you're not a frequent bank account churner.

The main reason I don't bother with any sort of checking account bonuses is that many checking accounts have hoops to jump through to avoid fees, then I have to switch direct deposit, eventually switch it back.... Nevermind too that the direct deposit eligibility windows for these bonuses may be short and an employer may be slow to swap the direct deposit over.

 

[Exterous]

The main reason I don't bother with any sort of checking account bonuses is that many checking accounts have hoops to jump through to avoid fees, then I have to switch direct deposit, eventually switch it back.... Nevermind too that the direct deposit eligibility windows for these bonuses may be short and an employer may be slow to swap the direct deposit over.

Some of them do have PITA requirements ($X in direct deposits per month, Y debit card swipes per month etc etc) or a high average monthly balance to avoid fees. Or there is an early account closure fee if you close it within 90 days. But some are pretty easy. Just a direct deposit or two and you're done. So moral of the story is to read the offer fine print. I usually do a few a year

 

[purbeast0]

Some of them do have PITA requirements ($X in direct deposits per month, Y debit card swipes per month etc etc) or a high average monthly balance to avoid fees. Or there is an early account closure fee if you close it within 90 days. But some are pretty easy. Just a direct deposit or two and you're done. So moral of the story is to read the offer fine print. I usually do a few a year

Can you wire money between the two banks?

I am not trying to with draw thousands of dollars in cash just to deposit it right back into the new savings account if I were to do it.

I will check out the fine print though I didn't even think about closing something early having a fee or anything.

 

[Brainonska511]

Can you wire money between the two banks?

I am not trying to with draw thousands of dollars in cash just to deposit it right back into the new savings account if I were to do it.

I will check out the fine print though I didn't even think about closing something early having a fee or anything.

The few external accounts I have allow external transfers between them. Anywhere from 1 day to 4 days to complete.

 

[purbeast0]

The few external accounts I have allow external transfers between them. Anywhere from 1 day to 4 days to complete.

Okay cool. Capital One and Chase are pretty big so I'd think they offer that.

 

[Brainonska511]

Okay cool. Capital One and Chase are pretty big so I'd think they offer that.

Can confirm Capital One works. I use that for myself (with joint ownership with my spouse), and can transfer to her checking account at BOA with no problems.

 

[Charmonium]

You can always Zelle yourself. And no, that doesn't mean something else. You'll just have to check if there's a max to how much you Zelle w/in 24 hours.

If it's more that several hundred, then you can gradually close the account with transfers over a period of days.

 

[Muse]

I will check out the fine print though I didn't even think about closing something early having a fee or anything.

I generally wonder that on a cash bonus offer. For instance, funding a brokerage trading account. How long do you have to leave the cash there (in cash or equities, etc.) to avoid penalty for "early withdrawal." CD's always have stuff like that going on, which is why I don't do them. There are online savings accounts with pretty high APR's, not that far behind CD's.

 

[Shmee]

I did something like this a while back with US Bank, I think I got a $100 bonus or something for starting an account.

 

[purbeast0]

Anyone know if the business cards count against the 5/24 limit for personal cards?

Like if I have 4 personal cards and 1 business card opened in the past 24 months, will I be able to get the bonus if I were to open a new Chase card right now?

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

But I was wondering if anyone has ever opened an account like this JUST to get the bonuses, and then move the money back after getting the bonus.

Discussion - Just Earned Me 'Nother Quick $100

Bank bonuses are cool. Open an account, do a little dance, get free money. Some are kind of involved with direct deposits, ATM/Debit transactions, high balances and so on. This one was simple. Open, fund with a minimum of $50 within a month, get $100 bonus soon after. I was looking for a...

forums.anandtech.com

I've pulled in almost $2,000 this year alone in bank and credit card bonuses. Should be another $350 next week or two from another checking account.

And it's all from moving the same few hundred dollars between banks.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

The main reason I don't bother with any sort of checking account bonuses is that many checking accounts have hoops to jump through to avoid fees, then I have to switch direct deposit, eventually switch it back....

ACH Push and Pull works just fine.

Bank B wants $1,000 in deposits to avoid fees each month. But for whatever reason, you don't want to keep more than say $500 in there.

Bank A has your larger balance. So you set up automatic scheduled ACH transfers, one to move $1,100 in to Bank B and another to pull that same $1,100 back from B to A a week later.

I've done that several times to meet minimums and keep an account open long enough to avoid early closing fees.

Another thing to keep in mind is that many banks have somewhat hidden ways to let you avoid fees. In some cases, the account holder has to be over 65. Others require the account holder to be enrolled in college. Others waive all monthly fees for military or veterans.

 

[Muse]

Yeah, I have two checking accounts, not sure why. One is my long standing (decades) and I have all my auto-pays on that one. The other was free checking for life at Union Bank of California, but they started trying to charge me monthly fees. I complained and they waived my fees. Then they started charging me again. I reminded them it was supposed to be free checking for life. Rinse, repeat. I finally gave up. They waive monthly fees if I deposit at least $500 into the account monthly, so I set up automatic transfer of $500 from one of my online savings accounts.

Union Bank became US Bank recently. Don't know why I keep the account... well, one reason is they give me a safe deposit box for a yearly charge of $15, which is way better than my other bank, Chase, which IIRC was $50 last time I checked (several years ago). Also, the lines are shorter and it's a little closer to where I live, although I seldom need to go to a bank. I put a backup of my NAS in the SDB occasionally.

 

[Exterous]

Anyone know if the business cards count against the 5/24 limit for personal cards?

Like if I have 4 personal cards and 1 business card opened in the past 24 months, will I be able to get the bonus if I were to open a new Chase card right now?

Most don't but a few do. Capital One reports them on personal credit for at least some of their business cards and I think a few smaller banks do. The other big companies typically don't. Occasionally a business card is reported or you as an Authorized User gets reported which can push you up over the 5/24 limit. But you can often get them removed and then try again

 

[purbeast0]

Most don't but a few do. Capital One reports them on personal credit for at least some of their business cards and I think a few smaller banks do. The other big companies typically don't. Occasionally a business card is reported or you as an Authorized User gets reported which can push you up over the 5/24 limit. But you can often get them removed and then try again

Sorry if I wasn't clear - I am referring to just Chase credit cards and the 5/24 rule. I opened a Chase Ink Business Preferred this past summer and wondering if that counts against something.

I also got a United Explorer Mileageplus flyer in the mail to get a 65k bonus. I know for a fact I got a United card in the past 24 months, however there was nowhere on the flyer that it says anything about not getting the bonus if I have opened a card in the past 24 months. But, it also has a link to go to and I'm guessing it may say it somewhere in there in the fine print.

Also, what is the best way to find out exactly which cards you have opened in the past 24 months? Is it just to get one of those free credit report and try to just figure it out that way?