New finds for traveling better.

[dixonge]

9 cards! Would you share which ones?

A Chase Sapphire is a given, I guess. We also use United's explorer since we mainly fly that airline & one checked bag per person is free with the card. However, with the Sapphire, the bonuses are once every 4 years. The United card is more reasonable once every 2 years though they just raised their annual fee to $150 from $99.

Capital One Venture X (one for each)
Chase Sapphire Preferred
Chase Ink Business Preferred
AmEx Green (one for each)
AmEx Platinum
Barclays AAdvantage Aviator (one for each)

 

[brett]

Congrats on a great redemption. We fly Delta a lot and have yet to find a screaming deal using our Sky Miles. One of these days...

We do get great value out of our Amex Delta Reserve card. It's expensive but has great benefits and a companion ticket that we use for more expensive first class domestic flights. Used to be restricted to the contiguous U.S. states but can now be used to Alaska, Hawaii, and Mexico/Caribbean.

Agree that ICN is a very nice airport as is SIN.

Are credit card sign up bonuses offered in Canada?

This was the FIRST decent deal that we have found on Delta Sky Miles for YEARS!

Not a fan of the Delta program. It worked once for us.

 

[skyking1]

I'm flying (business class) to Munich in July. But my real goal is meeting up with a group in Lithuania 10 days later. So maybe a few days in Germany and then on to Warsaw or Prague before traveling to meet the group. Then at the end (in Helsinki), considering flying to Rome to take in the Vatican Museum and Sistine chapel before I head to Munich for my flight home. But that may change to stopping by Florence or taking a 10 day Greek Island cruise.

your post is the literal example of the tired phrase "It's all good". I hope to do that kind of retirement travel.
As to the OP:
The house exchange is something that really interests me. The flights and timing thing we had an encounter with while on Kauai with my auntie.
The AA flights out Sunday or Monday were high enough that we got two more nights at an available oceanfront unit in the same condo and it was a wash. That was our first foray into making a change on the fly like that.
The unit was a premium and a short walk with suitcases for the move.

 

[Lucie]

Thank you for sharing. I was thinking about this home exchange option for some time. Can you post a Referal link or email it to me? Thanks.

We belong to a home exchange program, with which we have been very pleased. HomeExchange - #1 home exchange community They allow for direct (reciprocal) exchanges or a “guest point” exchange. We have done both, but the guest point exchange allows you to earn points and then use them with other homeowners in places that you prefer. This allows for more options.

Here is a referral code which gets you an extra 250 guest points (enough for 1-2 nights)

Referral code: kathryn-092e8

 

[Gumby]

We just finished up our 15 day Great Mississippi River Road Trip. We flew to New Orleans, rented a car and, after a few days in the city, started driving north along the river, flying home from Minneapolis. This thread reminded me of a moment of panic at the New Orleans airport (MSY) where my credit card was initially declined at the Hertz rental counter. Fortunately, the agent suggested that I look on my phone to see if the issuer had sent me a fraud alert. Et voila, that was the issue. I approved the charge and everything proceeded smoothly from there.

 

[FIYes]

I agree that sign up bonuses are the way to accumulate points. Months ago ago someone on the forum recommended the Travel on Points website and I found it very helpful. I have in the past couple of years signed up for credit cards with annual fees. Prior to this I would only sign up for a no fee for the first year card. I have found the Chase Sapphire Preferred to be a good workhorse of a card. Again, I was clued into that by this forum. I carefully monitor our credit scores and find cycling through various cards doesn’t have a negative impact. It does take organization and discipline to effectively use points.

 

[athena53]

BTW, our credit scores are consistently in the low 800's and DW and I have more than 9 cards each. Pretty sure this game is only available/lucrative for U.S. citizens.

I started the churn game a couple of years ago and wish I'd done it sooner. I ended up with 5 credit cards with a total limit about equal to my annual income! You have to be very organized about paying them off on time, using the right card for the right purchases and closing down the ones you no longer need, but it really pays off. I got a boatload of AA miles signing up for their Executive Mastercard and renewed once, but closed it this year because I get lounge access on international flights anyway because I fly Business Class and I rarely fly domestically. I still have another AA card where I got a bonus for making a large donation to Stand Up to Cancer. No annual fee.

Edited to add: another deal. I needed to plan a family trip on Delta, which I rarely use. The card had no annual fee, included free seat selection and checked bags (great for 3 adults, 3 kids) and I met the minimum spend to get the bonus easily. No-brainer.

 

[Closet_Gamer]

With points, they may suddenly devalue them as well. Give me the cash.

I agree with the devalue risk, tho I do enjoy just having a pile of airline points. It allows me to often manage around airline price craziness. Many times I find that the dollar price and the points price have become disconnected.

It also allows me to jump on planes for small flights without even thinking about. I just did a round trip to see my mom for 21k points. I think the ticket price was like $500.

Plus, American treats award tickets as fully refundable. So, we often will use points to ensure we have a flight. When the time gets closer if we find a better option, we just cancel the award flight and get it all back.

 

[tenant13]

We used to do that, but you're missing out on the only *good* way to get points on credit cards:

Sign-up Bonuses

You can get 60,000 to 185,000 points depending on the day and the card. That's the only way to do it. In the last two years, starting in prep for our trip to France, we have earned 550,000 points over 9 different new cards. (in case you're wondering, our credit scores have risen across that time and tend to stay in the upper 700's/lower 800's) Originally I wanted them for business class on long flights. So far I've mainly used them for free hotel nights. You can stay at a Hyatt Park Place for 5,000 points. A lot of people doing this tend to save them for staying at fancy resorts for family vacation. Turns out that we travel a bit differently.

For our next big trip we fly Guadalajara to Lima, Peru (via Mexico City) using a Volaris annual pass, so the round trip is $500 for two people. Flights after that are mostly hopping around on shorter hauls. No real option for business class with points there. Easter Island might be business class on LATAM but we haven't finalized that yet, and won't be paying with points.

But the next time we go to Europe, or when we head to Japan, then definitely!

Travel hack for booking flights to Easter Island. Log in to LATAM Chile site and book from there - half price for Chileans (and peanuts for EI residents) . Pay with Amex OR if the site rejects your foreign card, call the agent and give them your pending reservation number.

That route often has bidding for business class seats (lie flat) and I got in both times bidding just a few $ more than a minimum (some odd number ending with 1 is best - most people bid in round numbers).

 

[tenant13]

I’m fully immersed in churning and travel on points 95% of the time. It’s great. This year I’m zig zagging all over the world - including Japan, twice.

As to home exchange, I actually just bought a brand new (still unfinished) condo in Puerto Vallarta and am planning to use it for that purpose. It was to diversify my portfolio and to have a fun “project” but I don’t like PV so I never intended to use it for myself. Home Exchange will be perfect.

 

[dixonge]

Travel hack for booking flights to Easter Island. Log in to LATAM Chile site and book from there - half price for Chileans (and peanuts for EI residents) . Pay with Amex OR if the site rejects your foreign card, call the agent and give them your pending reservation number.

That route often has bidding for business class seats (lie flat) and I got in both times bidding just a few $ more than a minimum (some odd number ending with 1 is best - most people bid in round numbers).

I had already done a full comparison of availability and price between US and Chile sites, but did not know about the bidding...interesting!

 

[bmcgonig]

Some of the business cards are very good. Chase had one that was 120k miles sign on after you spend something nominal. Also they give triple miles for travel expenses like Airbnb hotels etc. The miles transfer to many different airlines. And you really don’t need to have a business.