How Many Credit Cards Do You Have?

[Trim]

Got an offer for 30K+ Alaska Air miles with their BofA card.  Any value in Alaska air?  Thoughts?

I got mine when it was 50K, but that seemed to be pretty lucky.  You get a cheap companion fare each year.  It'd be great if you and LSOC decided to come visit.

[sys]

is the annual fee waived?  i wouldn't pay a fee for 30k.

[steve dave]

Standard Alaska offer is 25k. They rarely waive the fee. But, it is extremely churnable and usually has no spend requirement. The miles are also really valuable because they partner with a lot of airlines (both delta and aa)

[Pete]

Standard Alaska offer is 25k. They rarely waive the fee. But, it is extremely churnable and usually has no spend requirement. The miles are also really valuable because they partner with a lot of airlines (both delta and aa)

Is it possible to combine their miles with other miles, or would I have to have enough Alaska miles to acquire a full ticket?

[steve dave]

Standard Alaska offer is 25k. They rarely waive the fee. But, it is extremely churnable and usually has no spend requirement. The miles are also really valuable because they partner with a lot of airlines (both delta and aa)

Is it possible to combine their miles with other miles, or would I have to have enough Alaska miles to acquire a full ticket?

enough for a full ticket. you can't combine them. there are probably better opportunities for you out there now than this but there are a lot of people that get the 25k card like very 3 months and just hoard those miles. they have good/cheap routes to hawaii which is nice. oma added alaska service to seattle and portland and I've considered starting to acquire them but haven't pulled the trigger yet. If I got the 50k offer trim got (or I lived in SEA) I definitely would.

[Pete]

The revenue thing is weird. I have had them approve them with very limited revenue (like $1k a month or something) and as a start up operation with zero revenue. They have been assholes about the Ink/CSP/Freedom lately though. Agree with rick daris about calling the reconsideration line. I've usually been able to talk their phone jockey's into doing whatever I want.

Pete, the number is 800-453-9719

Here's a blog post talking about it:

http://travelsort.com/blog/credit-card-denied-call-these-reconsideration-phone-numbers

They still denied me saying that goEMAW doesn't have sufficient revenue to support the credit line.  I either need to be more creative with my estimates, or people need to start patronizing our very fine advertisers and buying their products!

[Pete]

Standard Alaska offer is 25k. They rarely waive the fee. But, it is extremely churnable and usually has no spend requirement. The miles are also really valuable because they partner with a lot of airlines (both delta and aa)

Is it possible to combine their miles with other miles, or would I have to have enough Alaska miles to acquire a full ticket?

enough for a full ticket. you can't combine them. there are probably better opportunities for you out there now than this but there are a lot of people that get the 25k card like very 3 months and just hoard those miles. they have good/cheap routes to hawaii which is nice. oma added alaska service to seattle and portland and I've considered starting to acquire them but haven't pulled the trigger yet. If I got the 50k offer trim got (or I lived in SEA) I definitely would.

How are they able to get the card that quickly?  Do they just cancel as soon as the 25K bonus hits their account?  Isn't there some mechanism that prevents them from re-applying so quickly?

[steve dave]

iirc you can have multiple alaska cards at once. also, I believe the points actually credit before you get the card. there is not spend requirement, just approval (at least that's how it used to be).

[Trim]

The revenue thing is weird. I have had them approve them with very limited revenue (like $1k a month or something) and as a start up operation with zero revenue. They have been assholes about the Ink/CSP/Freedom lately though. Agree with rick daris about calling the reconsideration line. I've usually been able to talk their phone jockey's into doing whatever I want.

Pete, the number is 800-453-9719

Here's a blog post talking about it:

http://travelsort.com/blog/credit-card-denied-call-these-reconsideration-phone-numbers

They still denied me saying that goEMAW doesn't have sufficient revenue to support the credit line.  I either need to be more creative with my estimates, or people need to start patronizing our very fine advertisers and buying their products!

Don't use goEMAW as your biz.  You, as an entrepreneur w/your hand in lots of side business operations aside from your regular employer, are the business.  gE is just one of those side ops, but doesn't need to be listed in your application, just given as an example if you're having to talk somebody on the reconsideration line through why Pete needs a biz card.

[Trim]

iirc you can have multiple alaska cards at once. also, I believe the points actually credit before you get the card. there is not spend requirement, just approval (at least that's how it used to be).

I think that's right about the points posting immediately, at least the ones that come w/getting approved for the card.  I had a minimum spend to hit to get the additional 25K of my 50K offer.

I haven't tried churning it, because I need to chill until next spring when I can get another sapphire, but I will a lot once I've gotten past that.

[steve dave]

The revenue thing is weird. I have had them approve them with very limited revenue (like $1k a month or something) and as a start up operation with zero revenue. They have been assholes about the Ink/CSP/Freedom lately though. Agree with rick daris about calling the reconsideration line. I've usually been able to talk their phone jockey's into doing whatever I want.

Pete, the number is 800-453-9719

Here's a blog post talking about it:

http://travelsort.com/blog/credit-card-denied-call-these-reconsideration-phone-numbers

They still denied me saying that goEMAW doesn't have sufficient revenue to support the credit line.  I either need to be more creative with my estimates, or people need to start patronizing our very fine advertisers and buying their products!

Don't use goEMAW as your biz.  You, as an entrepreneur w/your hand in lots of side business operations aside from your regular employer, are the business.  gE is just one of those side ops, but doesn't need to be listed in your application, just given as an example if you're having to talk somebody on the reconsideration line through why Pete needs a biz card.

I use gE and other businesses as my biz. I only use my own SSN and set it as sole proprietorship. I have done a lot with zero (start up operation) or $1k a month as income.

[sys]

pete, a couple of things that business pete could do are buy and sell coins on the internet and breed snakes.  these businesses are proven winners.


on the alaska thing, flyertalk thinks there's a 1k spend, but also a 100 statement credit that more than offsets the annual fee.  with the statement credit, that's an adequate deal, if you're out of other ideas.  at least it's a non chase, non citi card.

[Trim]

The revenue thing is weird. I have had them approve them with very limited revenue (like $1k a month or something) and as a start up operation with zero revenue. They have been assholes about the Ink/CSP/Freedom lately though. Agree with rick daris about calling the reconsideration line. I've usually been able to talk their phone jockey's into doing whatever I want.

Pete, the number is 800-453-9719

Here's a blog post talking about it:

http://travelsort.com/blog/credit-card-denied-call-these-reconsideration-phone-numbers

They still denied me saying that goEMAW doesn't have sufficient revenue to support the credit line.  I either need to be more creative with my estimates, or people need to start patronizing our very fine advertisers and buying their products!

Don't use goEMAW as your biz.  You, as an entrepreneur w/your hand in lots of side business operations aside from your regular employer, are the business.  gE is just one of those side ops, but doesn't need to be listed in your application, just given as an example if you're having to talk somebody on the reconsideration line through why Pete needs a biz card.

I use gE and other businesses as my biz. I only use my own SSN and set it as sole proprietorship. I have done a lot with zero (start up operation) or $1k a month as income.

That worked the first time I did it w/an SPG biz, but not since.  My INK has my name as the name and my name as the biz right below it.  I just had to call them and explain that I do side jobs and need a card to put those expenses on and my gE expenses.

[Phil Titola]

I had "Powercat Designs" (we were going to change the world in designing stuff)  with no income on an ink card with my ssn... No issues. The time I tried with a business tax ID which was a real business, it was much more difficult to get the card approved. Took like 3 weeks due to address differences, etc... And that was a legit business.

[Mikeyis4dcats]

I've been CEO of a lot of deck building companies.

[Pete]

Standard Alaska offer is 25k. They rarely waive the fee. But, it is extremely churnable and usually has no spend requirement. The miles are also really valuable because they partner with a lot of airlines (both delta and aa)

Is it possible to combine their miles with other miles, or would I have to have enough Alaska miles to acquire a full ticket?

...there are probably better opportunities for you out there now than this...

LAY 'EM ON ME!   

[michigancat]

Also, I'm going to hate the new United dollar-based mileage earning. I have enough miles for silver in 2014 but not enough dollars (and probably won't). My last trip earned me 17122 miles on a $920 ticket, which ain't gonna happen next year.

I'm flying from SFO to Singapore and am going to get 1900 rough ridin' United miles. eff

Wait, did you get a $400 RT to Singapore?

$800 one way on discount economy, and I guess I miscalculated because I don't have a United ticket. I'll actually get about 4k miles because discount economy now only accrues half the miles, but still sucks.

https://www.united.com/cms/en-us/marketing/custcomm/promotions/pages/airlinepartnerdetails.aspx?itemid=304

STRATEGY TIME:

since I booked this so late, they wouldn't let me choose seats until 72 hours before departure. now only middle seats +back row are available. Do I pick a middle section middle seat now or hope for a window/no back row at check in?

[mocat]

what do you have to lose by waiting?

[michigancat]

what do you have to lose by waiting?

back row

[Pete]

SD,

I am thinking about going for the British Airways Visa Signature® Card: 50,000 Avios as my next card.  My thinking here is around the benefits of Avios that you mentioned earlier to me, and my ability to move my UR Chase points and MR Amex to British Airways as well, and really have some good options for both domestic and international flights.

Thoughts?

[Pete]

SD,

I am thinking about going for the British Airways Visa Signature Card: 50,000 Avios as my next card.  My thinking here is around the benefits of Avios that you mentioned earlier to me, and my ability to move my UR Chase points and MR Amex to British Airways as well, and really have some good options for both domestic and international flights.

Thoughts?

A follow up question...

Tell me what you think of this plan...Since SPG points also transfer to British Airways, and since the SPG card has a higher than normal bonus right now (according to Lucky's site), I am considering applying for the SPG and a British Airways card in the same day, perhaps with another one or two, to minimize any impact to credit that any of them see...but my credit is score is really good, so I am not concerned about that too much.  Thoughts?

[Dr Rick Daris]

just booked a bunch of southwest january flights from mci to cun for less than 14k roundtrip. hot damn you guys.   

[Tobias]

who did you submit your vacation request to?

[Dr Rick Daris]

who did you submit your vacation request to?

that's a great question. i have to submit work schedules 90 days in advance. so i have not technically submitted my schedule for january yet. because of this i do not need to submit any kind of vacation request. when i submit my january schedule, i will simply tell them to block those days off. interesting, huh?

[Tobias]

my god this gets more incredible with each passing day