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Ixian posted:IRS fees are 2% or close enough (they contract with several processors). I wasn't doing my math based on points * multiplier * redemption option. I'm talking about the BofA Travel, with their top status you get 2.64% cash back. No variable redemption/transfer poo poo, just cash back. 1.87% on Pay1040 to pay my taxes. That's 77 basis points net on that transaction. I'm not advocating most people do it. Hell, I wouldn't have done it normally. But it DID make sense to do this year.
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May 19, 2017 02:29
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For Ultimate Rewards redemption, you can get silly good value out of Hyatt stays. Have 140k points set aside for a trip to Maui, Tokyo, or the Maldives some time in the next year. That 140k will get me 7 nights in Maui, add another 10k points (total of 150k) for 5 nights in Tokyo, or use that same 150k points for 6 nights in the Maldives. Respective cash values of $3843, $2480, and $4950.
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May 19, 2017 02:37
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Nur_Neerg posted:For Ultimate Rewards redemption, you can get silly good value out of Hyatt stays.
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May 19, 2017 02:45
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Ixian posted:Yes. It is the max, "ideal" rate you will get, at least according to sites like ThePointsGuy, etc. 2.1 cents per point isn't even remotely close to an ideal rate. It's a reasonable number based on the various redemption options and in general assumes that you either transfer to partners or take deals as straight redemptions are in the 1-1.5 range. An ideal rate would be like 10+ cents per point based transfer to airlines for first class tickets.
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May 19, 2017 02:45
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Star War Sex Parrot posted:This didn't change too much with the Hyatt rewards revamp in the last 6 months or so? My account still seems to work the same, and they make it ridiculously easy to check blackout dates and costs and everything. If the dates you're searching for won't show point options, there's just no availability, can play around with the calendar a bit to see when works.
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May 19, 2017 02:48
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Nur_Neerg posted:For Ultimate Rewards redemption, you can get silly good value out of Hyatt stays. Have 140k points set aside for a trip to Maui, Tokyo, or the Maldives some time in the next year. That 140k will get me 7 nights in Maui, add another 10k points (total of 150k) for 5 nights in Tokyo, or use that same 150k points for 6 nights in the Maldives. Respective cash values of $3843, $2480, and $4950. Thanks for breaking this down. We used a handful of points for a few nights for the Park Hyatt in Milan and I was wondering what to do with the rest.
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May 19, 2017 02:50
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asur posted:2.1 cents per point isn't even remotely close to an ideal rate. It's a reasonable number based on the various redemption options and in general assumes that you either transfer to partners or take deals as straight redemptions are in the 1-1.5 range. An ideal rate would be like 10+ cents per point based transfer to airlines for first class tickets. I was talking averages. Also show me where I can get business/first class with 10+ cents per Sapphire point and I will buy a ticket immediately if it is somewhere I am remotely interested in going. Transferring to Star Alliance airlines, at least, doesn't come close to that.
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May 19, 2017 03:34
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Nur_Neerg posted:For Ultimate Rewards redemption, you can get silly good value out of Hyatt stays. Have 140k points set aside for a trip to Maui, Tokyo, or the Maldives some time in the next year. That 140k will get me 7 nights in Maui, add another 10k points (total of 150k) for 5 nights in Tokyo, or use that same 150k points for 6 nights in the Maldives. Respective cash values of $3843, $2480, and $4950. The Andaz Tokyo isn't the absolute best location but that hotel is otherwise pretty much perfect.
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May 19, 2017 04:49
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Barry posted:The Andaz Tokyo isn't the absolute best location but that hotel is otherwise pretty much perfect. I was looking at the Park Hyatt in Shinjuku, but honestly haven't even really started planning that trip out yet.
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May 19, 2017 08:54
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Park Hyatt is a better location, Andaz is a better hotel, depending somewhat what your tastes and preferences are. I stayed at the Hilton Tokyo for a few days which is right next to the Park Hyatt and a really great hotel in it's own right.
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May 19, 2017 15:35
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If only Hyatt had the coverage of Marriott or Hilton, their rewards would make it so I'd never consider another hotel brand. Staying at Andaz this fall.
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May 19, 2017 22:13
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While we're on the topic, is the Hyatt in the Maldives as awesome as I think it is/worth the redemption?
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May 20, 2017 00:30
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My favorite Tokyo hotel is the Capitol Hotel in Chiyoda. It's not the absolute best location for walking - it's next to the Diet, which is a pretty staid area - but sits right on top of a major subway exit (Chiyoda) which thanks to being situated near government offices has easy access to pretty much everywhere. It's also a kick rear end hotel that doesn't cost nearly as much as similar 5 star properties in Shinjuku, etc. No points program though, other than its own. If you are part of Marriott rewards the Ritz-Carlton Tokyo in Roppongi Hills is excellent and often has killer point redemption's. Decent location too.
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May 20, 2017 00:41
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Barry posted:I stayed at the Hilton Tokyo for a few days which is right next to the Park Hyatt and a really great hotel in it's own right. I'm staying there in a week and I'm really looking forward to it! Still have my Hilton Diamond status match too. Ixian posted:My favorite Tokyo hotel is the Capitol Hotel in Chiyoda. It's not the absolute best location for walking - it's next to the Diet, which is a pretty staid area - but sits right on top of a major subway exit (Chiyoda) which thanks to being situated near government offices has easy access to pretty much everywhere. IMO the best hotel in Tokyo is any business hotel that has a beer vending machine at the end of the hall so you can get wrecked on Kirins at 300 yen a pop without even putting on your shoes. Incidentally this is what I was doing when I applied for my current job 
pig slut lisa fucked around with this message at 05:47 on May 22, 2017 |
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May 22, 2017 05:45
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pig slut lisa posted:I'm staying there in a week and I'm really looking forward to it! Still have my Hilton Diamond status match too. With Diamond you'll get access to the breakfast buffet which is totally outstanding.
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May 22, 2017 15:08
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So this morning I checked rewards flight at AA.com on a whim and found a nice round-trip from Europe to the west coast US for only 30k a trip in July and wanted to book it but I thought I'd think about it first. I just thought about it all day while at work and now I checked again and it's 60k/30k now. So the first question is does anyone with more experience with AA flights know if it's possible/likely that it might get reduced back to 30k? I'm sure it's just some kind of algorithm that changes dynamically right? Second, assuming it does go back down and I want to book it, what's the best way to get the most out of my rewards? I have 66k in my CSP card and 17k in my AA account. I've never actually used my CSP rewards before so I'm not sure how that works, but don't I use them to "buy" AA miles? So I'd just use it to buy enough miles to book my flight?
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May 22, 2017 18:12
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Boris Galerkin posted:So this morning I checked rewards flight at AA.com on a whim and found a nice round-trip from Europe to the west coast US for only 30k a trip in July and wanted to book it but I thought I'd think about it first. I just thought about it all day while at work and now I checked again and it's 60k/30k now. Algorithmically, flights are cheapest on Tuesday afternoons through Thursday mornings. The "fare" you'll see increases with increased marginal demand of the flight, including when you've searched that flight a couple of times. Airlines use cookies and other opaque pricing strategies to ensure they suck every marginal dollar out of you, so clear your cache, wait til Tuesday afternoon and the lower fare you saw might be back. Or it might not! 
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May 22, 2017 18:41
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EAT FASTER!!!!!! posted:Algorithmically, flights are cheapest on Tuesday afternoons through Thursday mornings. The "fare" you'll see increases with increased marginal demand of the flight, including when you've searched that flight a couple of times. Airlines use cookies and other opaque pricing strategies to ensure they suck every marginal dollar out of you, so clear your cache, wait til Tuesday afternoon and the lower fare you saw might be back. This is true for normal pricing, but isn't true for award flights in general. Normally airlines release a certain amount of seats for saver availability and that's it. Chase can't transfer to AA regardless so you'd need to do something else. asur fucked around with this message at 19:09 on May 22, 2017 |
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May 22, 2017 19:05
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Use Awardhacker.com
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May 22, 2017 19:13
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I have a good amount of points on AA, the problem is the limited amount of cheap SAAVER seats they offer. I need 3, and it seems like 2 is the most they have on the popular routes. It really devalues their points for me. Single guys can fly to dubai or wherever in first for the same amount of points i need to get three people to florida in steerage.
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May 22, 2017 20:01
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Baddog posted:I have a good amount of points on AA, the problem is the limited amount of cheap SAAVER seats they offer. I need 3, and it seems like 2 is the most they have on the popular routes. How far out are you booking? I guess the most popular routes I look at only have 12.5k point routes, but still.
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May 22, 2017 20:04
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Is it feasible to make a large (~$5k) purchase on a rewards card, then transfer that balance to a card with no transfer fees and an intro 0% APR offer? I'm not spending beyond my means, but I want to keep my emergency fund intact and spread the purchase out over a few months. Buying with the rewards card, then transferring, seems like a free benefit, but it feels like the kind of loophole that might've been closed by now. (For context, this would be with the freedom unlimited, 1.5% back that I'd move to ultimate rewards, then transferring to a Citi simplicity card.)
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May 23, 2017 03:22
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Cheston posted:Is it feasible to make a large (~$5k) purchase on a rewards card, then transfer that balance to a card with no transfer fees and an intro 0% APR offer? Edit: forgot the bonus is only 50k instead of 100k now.
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May 23, 2017 03:24
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Star War Sex Parrot posted:I have no input on the balance transfer stuff as I've never done it. But, if you're gonna spend that much, why wouldn't you open a CSR if the goal is UR points? Good question. Cheston, I'm unclear if you already hold the Freedom Unlimited and the Citi Simplicity or if you'd be applying to one/both.
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May 23, 2017 03:26
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Cheston posted:Is it feasible to make a large (~$5k) purchase on a rewards card, then transfer that balance to a card with no transfer fees and an intro 0% APR offer? They aren't going to let you do that. Conceivably you could try by paying with balance transfer checks instead but I doubt it. Also those usually carry fees. You aren't the first one to think of this and the final answer is probably buried somewhere in your cardholder agreement.
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May 23, 2017 04:44
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Ixian posted:They aren't going to let you do that. Conceivably you could try by paying with balance transfer checks instead but I doubt it. Also those usually carry fees. Could you elaborate on this? Cheston's post read like a textbook balance transfer to me, though I've personally never done one.
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May 23, 2017 05:22
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astral posted:Could you elaborate on this? Cheston's post read like a textbook balance transfer to me, though I've personally never done one. Going from one Chase card to another taking advantage of the promo/points/rates for both? Again, he/she'd need to read the cardholder agreement. I don't work for Chase but this seems unlikely. Transferring a balance from one Chase card to another doesn't seem like an event that would qualify as paying off the balance for points as Chase defines it. I have a CSR myself and the agreement clearly states balance transfers and cash advances do not count towards point redemption though it is unclear whether that applies to this particular scheme. Probably only one way to find out.
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May 23, 2017 05:34
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Ixian posted:Going from one Chase card to another taking advantage of the promo/points/rates for both? Again, he/she'd need to read the cardholder agreement. I don't work for Chase but this seems unlikely. Transferring a balance from one Chase card to another doesn't seem like an event that would qualify as paying off the balance for points as Chase defines it. Their balance transfer destination would be a Citi card, though, not a Chase card. It's true that same-bank balance transfers are generally not allowed. quote:I have a CSR myself and the agreement clearly states balance transfers and cash advances do not count towards point redemption though it is unclear whether that applies to this particular scheme. Probably only one way to find out. This just means that if you do a balance transfer (or cash advance) to your CSR, you don't earn points on the amount transferred (or advanced) like you normally would for a purchase. e: Looking back, I see what probably caused some misunderstanding - I read their phrasing of 'move to ultimate rewards' as poor wording for transferring the UR points earned from the freedom unlimited to a CSP or CSR to be able to redeem them at a higher value. I don't think they meant that they wanted to do more than one balance transfer. 
astral fucked around with this message at 05:50 on May 23, 2017 |
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May 23, 2017 05:37
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Oh! Yeah, my mistake. I have a CSR and a freedom unlimited- it's not a travel/restaurant purchase, so I get the most points (1.5/$) from buying with the freedom card and then moving the points over. I already met the requirements for both cards' sign up bonuses, this is just regular use. I don't have the Citi card yet- I'm applying for it once I'm sure this is a valid approach. But from what people have said it sounds okay? **poo poo, I just noticed the simplicity card has a balance transfer fee. 3%, thought it was free. Never mind! Might be worth it depending on the redemption but I'll probably just use the simplicity card directly. ***I've been meaning to get a Chase Freedom card anyways, and just noticed it has 0% APR for fifteen months, so I'm going to apply for and use that, unless a better deal comes to anyone's mind. Sorry for throwing the thread off! Cheston fucked around with this message at 09:04 on May 23, 2017 |
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May 23, 2017 08:45
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EAT FASTER!!!!!! posted:Algorithmically, flights are cheapest on Tuesday afternoons through Thursday mornings. The "fare" you'll see increases with increased marginal demand of the flight, including when you've searched that flight a couple of times. Airlines use cookies and other opaque pricing strategies to ensure they suck every marginal dollar out of you, so clear your cache, wait til Tuesday afternoon and the lower fare you saw might be back. Okay so I just checked again at work and it's dropped back down to 30k/30k. So it seems like that's fine except, asur posted:Chase can't transfer to AA regardless so you'd need to do something else. Well this is a problem. I thought CSP was so good because it let you transfer the points to anything? I just checked flights from within the CSP Ultimate Rewards page and yeah all the flights are either full price ($1500+) or costs 120k+ points. Plus it's a bit slow and doesn't let me do flexible dates which makes the site really unusable. So there's no way for me to buy cheap/free tickets for this then? e: this award hacker site is neat Boris Galerkin fucked around with this message at 12:33 on May 23, 2017 |
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May 23, 2017 12:29
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Boris Galerkin posted:Well this is a problem. I thought CSP was so good because it let you transfer the points to anything? I just checked flights from within the CSP Ultimate Rewards page and yeah all the flights are either full price ($1500+) or costs 120k+ points. Plus it's a bit slow and doesn't let me do flexible dates which makes the site really unusable. I remember being confused about this when I started with Ultimate Rewards. You can use your URs in three ways, two of which apply to travel. As this article says: quote:REDEMPTION OPTIONS #2 is the one that lets you apply your points to air travel on any airline (that you book through the Chase travel portal), but #3 is the one that offers the opportunity for the greatest value, especially if you want to book flights in premium cabins. An example: Let's say you want to book a Korean Airlines flight in first class from Los Angeles to Seoul and Korean is selling the ticket for $5,000 (just making up a number here). As a CSP holder, you could spend 400,000 URs at a value of $.0125 to buy the ticket. That's a ton of URs, although you don't have to worry about finding award availability. However, you could alternatively transfer your UR into Korean Airlines miles and book that same first class ticket for only 80,000 during an off-peak time. This is a much better value, although you have to make sure there's an award seat available for booking. Some airlines make a ton of award seats available whereas others are very stingy. It takes awhile to learn the trends and the realistic/common high value redemptions. I'd suggest reading this introductory series and then asking follow-up questions in here. e: Since you specifically mentioned AA, note that you can't transfer URs to AA miles. You can transfer URs to BA miles and use those to book AA flights since AA and BA are partners. BA's award chart is not really good for connecting flights but can offer a lot of value if you find award availability on direct flights, especially domestic.
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May 23, 2017 13:18
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Cheston posted:Oh! Yeah, my mistake. I have a CSR and a freedom unlimited- it's not a travel/restaurant purchase, so I get the most points (1.5/$) from buying with the freedom card and then moving the points over. I already met the requirements for both cards' sign up bonuses, this is just regular use. Yeah, if you factor in the bonus on the Freedom and its usefulness beyond the initial purchase/0% period, that's a much better plan - you get more in the short and long term that way. If you're near a branch, there's a small chance that you're pre-approved for a larger-than-usual bonus for the freedom: $300 (as 30k UR) instead of the normal $150 (as 15k UR). Talk to one of the sit-down bankers to find this out; just ask one of them if you are pre-approved for any credit cards. Otherwise, you should see if you have a friend or relative with the Freedom card to give you a referral signup link for the card - clicking their link gives you the same $150 (15k UR) bonus as the regular online signup, and they get some nice points for it. astral fucked around with this message at 17:02 on May 23, 2017 |
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May 23, 2017 17:00
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Ixian posted:I was talking averages. Also show me where I can get business/first class with 10+ cents per Sapphire point and I will buy a ticket immediately if it is somewhere I am remotely interested in going.
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May 24, 2017 19:01
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I need a credit card for a year of 0% interest (give or take on the time). Recommendations on the best one? Awards of course is a nice bonus. My standard card is Double Cash, I would likely go back to that once I pay off the new card.
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May 24, 2017 20:26
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Duckman2008 posted:I need a credit card for a year of 0% interest (give or take on the time). Recommendations on the best one? Awards of course is a nice bonus. Chase Slate is the go to for free balance transfers with 15 months of 0% APR and very easy to qualify for.
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May 24, 2017 20:28
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Duckman2008 posted:I need a credit card for a year of 0% interest (give or take on the time). Recommendations on the best one? Awards of course is a nice bonus. If you aren't doing a balance transfer: Chase Freedom & Freedom Unlimited both have an intro 0% interest period on purchases, as well as a $150 cashback signup bonus if you spend $500 or more on purchases in the first 3 months. Freedom Unlimited is 1.5% back on everything; Freedom is 1% back on everything with rotating 5% categories. If you go with either of these, you should see if you have a friend or relative with that card to give you a referral signup link for the card - clicking their link gives you the same $150 signup bonus as the regular online signup, and they get some nice points for it. Another good option for you might be the Discover It card: 0% purchase APR for 14 months, 1% back on everything with rotating 5% categories. Further, all cashback you earn within the first year is doubled on your first cardmember anniversary, making it effectively 2% back with 10% rotating categories for your first year. Note that Discover card acceptance is a bit lower than Visa/MC. With the Discover card, you can choose a (bad) $75 or so amazon money signup bonus by signing up through Amazon, but there's a much better deal: if you get referred to the card, you and your referrer each get an extra $50 in cashback immediately, and it even doubles so you'd get another $50 after a year. e: You can see the calendars for the rotating category cards here: https://creditcards.chase.com/freedom/calendar https://www.discover.com/credit-cards/cashback-bonus/cashback-calendar.html astral fucked around with this message at 20:43 on May 24, 2017 |
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May 24, 2017 20:40
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I assumed you were talking about a balance transfer. If you aren't, then Astral is 100% correct. If you need a referral link for either of the chase cards or Discover IT, I can post one for you. (It's not really necessary for the Chase, but it is the only way to get the $100 sign on for Discover.)
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May 24, 2017 20:45
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astral posted:If you aren't doing a balance transfer: This is perfect info. Yeah I'm not doing a balance transfer , and I still have my standard card, so I think the discover will be good. Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:I assumed you were talking about a balance transfer. If you aren't, then Astral is 100% correct. I will take a referral sir.
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May 24, 2017 21:51
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Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:I assumed you were talking about a balance transfer. If you aren't, then Astral is 100% correct. Bumping the thread to remind you that I need that referral for discover.
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May 25, 2017 14:38
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Duckman2008 posted:Bumping the thread to remind you that I need that referral for discover. Hey, sorry I didn't immediately respond. I have limited internet (phone) for the next few days. But once I get home I can get my card and generate a referral link. If someone else wants to snag the referral bonus to help you out, they can. If you don't mind waiting about 4 days, then I can get it for you. Apologies! I didn't realize that you needed it right now. (Traveling for Memorial Day weekend)
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May 25, 2017 15:06
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