Flight prices

[Marblehead]

Fellow Planners,

We fly out of a small regional airport to Philly (American) or Newark (United) and their listed tickets in coach are pricey. We get around it two ways. We charge all our monthly paid in full expenses against Cap1 Venture card. That racket up 2 points/$1 spent. Cashing points cab be cash or travel with no blackout dates. It cost us about 60,000 points for two tickets on United this year. The other trick that we've used is the 50,000 miles signing bonus for charging $3,000 in the first three months of an airlines credit card. We flew to Jamaica last winter and we're flying round trip to SFO this fall and Barcelona next winter. That's 3, free round trip fares for 2 people in less than 12 months!

Cash in on your monthly expenses and charge them to a good rewards card. As good planners know, prior proper planning prevents piss poor performance!

[captaind]

MissG and I each have Southwest Visa Premier.

R/T nonstop from Orlando has moved from as low as 7,000 points to 13,896 for my booking for August. Taxes are paid with cash at 135.00 pp

We still have 54,000 and add points every cycle.

Cap

[booger]

Nice to see all the peeps taking advantage of the credit card sign up bonuses. You can fly first class to Jamaica with one sign up bonus, if you do a little reading. This does not apply to all travelers, as a lot of the credit card offers only cater to US customers. Sadly, I can fly cheaper to Asia in premium cabins than I can to Jamaica with miles/points. Though if you plan far enough out you can usually get some seats at saver levels. United has been my best redemption from California, with both their flights as well as their partnership with Copa. American Airlines award availability is horrible for their own redemptions.

[Mike_D]

Yeah, I'm getting pretty frustrated with American's rewards program. For my next trip to MBJ, I was able to scrounge up enough miles for a one way coach ticket (MBJ to PHL) and had to pay cash for the rest (RT would've been over 50,000 miles). I had been riding on the US Airways/AA Barclays Mastercard since 2012, but now I'm not sure its worth the annual fee. I'm definitely planning to get a Venture card and will probably sign-up for the AA Citi card, just for the 50,000 bonus miles. I would like to cancel the AA Barclays card before they charge my next annual fee, but need to make sure they don't take away my miles along with it.

[captaind]

Yeah, I'm getting pretty frustrated with American's rewards program. For my next trip to MBJ, I was able to scrounge up enough miles for a one way coach ticket (MBJ to PHL) and had to pay cash for the rest (RT would've been over 50,000 miles). I had been riding on the US Airways/AA Barclays Mastercard since 2012, but now I'm not sure its worth the annual fee. I'm definitely planning to get a Venture card and will probably sign-up for the AA Citi card, just for the 50,000 bonus miles. I would like to cancel the AA Barclays card before they charge my next annual fee, but need to make sure they don't take away my miles along with it.

Mike,

I'm very sure the miles are only available as long as the card is "active"

Cap

[booger]

Yeah, I'm getting pretty frustrated with American's rewards program. For my next trip to MBJ, I was able to scrounge up enough miles for a one way coach ticket (MBJ to PHL) and had to pay cash for the rest (RT would've been over 50,000 miles). I had been riding on the US Airways/AA Barclays Mastercard since 2012, but now I'm not sure its worth the annual fee. I'm definitely planning to get a Venture card and will probably sign-up for the AA Citi card, just for the 50,000 bonus miles. I would like to cancel the AA Barclays card before they charge my next annual fee, but need to make sure they don't take away my miles along with it.

Mike,
Once the miles hit your advantage account they will not be clawed back. You just need to use them before they expire, which is after 18 months of no activity I believe. You can get the Citi card now with a 60,000 mile promo, or double up and get both the consumer and business version for 120,000. Or better yet, you and the misses both double up and you end up with 240,000. PM me if you have any other questions.

[Jamerican71]

I love the Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card. 100,000 sign on points after $3k in 3 months (easy for me with my annual timeshare maintenance fees). Then you get 3x points for dining out and travel. Southwest and United are one of their travel partners. I use this card and my Southwest Credit Card and I am set for my Jamaica travels.

[Mike_D]

Mike,
Once the miles hit your advantage account they will not be clawed back. You just need to use them before they expire, which is after 18 months of no activity I believe. You can get the Citi card now with a 60,000 mile promo, or double up and get both the consumer and business version for 120,000. Or better yet, you and the misses both double up and you end up with 240,000. PM me if you have any other questions.

Thanks Booger - great advice! I now have a few options to look into. I'll let you know if I have any questions.

It would be great if I could channel the wife's spending into some Advantage miles. I think I need to get her on one of these cards!