How Many Credit Cards Do You Have?

[steve dave]

Kind of OT but not really. Say I use my points and get a $100 Home Depot gift card. Can I go to Home Depot and buy another stores gift card of the same value with that?  I'm doubting it, but they sell a bunch of other gift cards and this would solve my problem. I have looked at those exchange sites and they basically offer 85-90% of the gift card value.

I have no idea. you should just get a discover card or something btw.

[Dr Rick Daris]

Kind of OT but not really. Say I use my points and get a $100 Home Depot gift card. Can I go to Home Depot and buy another stores gift card of the same value with that?  I'm doubting it, but they sell a bunch of other gift cards and this would solve my problem. I have looked at those exchange sites and they basically offer 85-90% of the gift card value.

I have no idea. you should just get a discover card or something btw.

or just pay for cash and jeffyhaggle everything. but my god if these series of posts just isn't the most infuriating thing ever.

[Rams]

Kind of OT but not really. Say I use my points and get a $100 Home Depot gift card. Can I go to Home Depot and buy another stores gift card of the same value with that?  I'm doubting it, but they sell a bunch of other gift cards and this would solve my problem. I have looked at those exchange sites and they basically offer 85-90% of the gift card value.

yeah you should really stop asking about using your points for gift cards...or prepare to be pi'd I guess.

[steve dave]

this thread is here to help people. not to help them be complete dumbasses.

[Dr Rick Daris]

this thread is here to help people. not to help them be complete dumbasses.

i mean i suppose i could start that thread if we feel like it's needed.


Q. hey daris...
A. hit yourself over the head w/ a hammer

Q. hey daris...
A. run yourself over with your car

Q. hey daris...
A. convert all your credit card points to gift cards

[GoodForAnother]

is it better to book AA metal with Avios?  I ask because my work amex can transfer points to Avios but not to AA, and once I move to DFW, AA is prob going to be my go-to airline.

[Rams]

is it better to book AA metal with Avios?  I ask because my work amex can transfer points to Avios but not to AA, and once I move to DFW, AA is prob going to be my go-to airline.

it's great for short haul flights because avios has a distance based award chart.  shitty for international because there are huge fuel surcharges.

[Mikeyis4dcats]

is it better to book AA metal with Avios?  I ask because my work amex can transfer points to Avios but not to AA, and once I move to DFW, AA is prob going to be my go-to airline.

it's great for short haul flights because avios has a distance based award chart.  shitty for international because there are huge fuel surcharges.

correct, international flights (at least on BA) are horribad with fees and fuel surcharges  (like $600 to UK)

[GoodForAnother]

sweet, thx

[steve dave]

is it better to book AA metal with Avios?  I ask because my work amex can transfer points to Avios but not to AA, and once I move to DFW, AA is prob going to be my go-to airline.

it's great for short haul flights because avios has a distance based award chart.  shitty for international because there are huge fuel surcharges.

not true. the fuel surcharges are the same no matter what point you use. they are based on whose metal you are flying. if you are booking an AA flight (or Cathay Pacific, Qantas, Air Berlin, Japan Air, etc.) with Avios the fuel surcharge will be the same as whatever AA (or other airline) would have charged for using their own points. Availaibility is tough to find on some routes though. it's the same for using AA miles to book BA flights, there will be high fuel surcharges. There are some fuel surchages for flying into Europe but not like you would get flying on BA metal.

[Dr Rick Daris]

is it better to book AA metal with Avios?  I ask because my work amex can transfer points to Avios but not to AA, and once I move to DFW, AA is prob going to be my go-to airline.

it's great for short haul flights because avios has a distance based award chart.  shitty for international because there are huge fuel surcharges.

not true. the fuel surcharges are the same no matter what point you use. they are based on whose metal you are flying. if you are booking an AA flight (or Cathay Pacific, Air Berlin, Japan Air, etc.) with Avios the fuel surcharge will be the same as whatever AA (or other airline) would have charged for using their own points. Availaibility is tough to find on some routes though. it's the same for using AA miles to book BA flights, there will be high fuel surcharges.

yes to what sd said. if you use avios to fly AA and you should then you just pay the AA fuel charges, etc.  i really can't imagine anything better than living in dallas with gobs of BA points. maybe living in miami with gobs of them? i don't know. either would be pretty great. you could fly round trips to anywhere in mexico for 15k BA plus probably somewhere around $80. as long as there is a AA saver award (T code for us pros) available then you can book it. if not then you can book first class for three times as many points.


here. have fun....
http://www.britishairways.com/travel/avios-calculator/public/en_us

[steve dave]

is it better to book AA metal with Avios?  I ask because my work amex can transfer points to Avios but not to AA, and once I move to DFW, AA is prob going to be my go-to airline.

it's great for short haul flights because avios has a distance based award chart.  shitty for international because there are huge fuel surcharges.

not true. the fuel surcharges are the same no matter what point you use. they are based on whose metal you are flying. if you are booking an AA flight (or Cathay Pacific, Air Berlin, Japan Air, etc.) with Avios the fuel surcharge will be the same as whatever AA (or other airline) would have charged for using their own points. Availaibility is tough to find on some routes though. it's the same for using AA miles to book BA flights, there will be high fuel surcharges.

yes to what sd said. if you use avios to fly AA and you should then you just pay the AA fuel charges, etc.  i really can't imagine anything better than living in dallas with gobs of BA points. maybe living in miami with gobs of them? i don't know. either would be pretty great. you could fly round trips to anywhere in mexico for 15k BA plus probably somewhere around $80. as long as there is a AA saver award (T code for us pros) available then you can book it. if not then you can book first class for three times as many points.


here. have fun....
http://www.britishairways.com/travel/avios-calculator/public/en_us

Here are a bunch of examples with routes on partner airlines showing fuel surcharges and points

http://thepointsguy.com/2012/09/how-to-redeem-british-airways-avios-without-huge-fees/

Living in LA with a bunch of Avios would be pretty great. Spur of the moment weekend trips to Kauai for 25k RT.

[wiley]

I've used this thread as motivation to get into the cc/miles earnings.  But I've got a question if anyone might know off hand.  I'm flying to palau in spring/summer of 2015.  Would absolutely love to be able to go from zero to enough miles to fly for free.  Is this even possible in that time span (my research is pretty limited at this point in time).  The likely airline everyone is traveling is United. 

[steve dave]

I've used this thread as motivation to get into the cc/miles earnings.  But I've got a question if anyone might know off hand.  I'm flying to palau in spring/summer of 2015.  Would absolutely love to be able to go from zero to enough miles to fly for free.  Is this even possible in that time span (my research is pretty limited at this point in time).  The likely airline everyone is traveling is United.

Yes, aboslutely doable. You've left yourself enough time to get there (probably in business or first class if you want). Start getting UR points. Sapphire Preferred, Ink business cards, etc. When another 50k United offer comes up get that as well. I will be right back with points figures and class.

[steve dave]

Yeah, it's going to be 70k UA RT for each person in coach, 120k UA in Biz and 150k UA in 1st. One Ink Biz card will get you 50k+ UR points which are transferable to UA so this will be easy for you. If you have a spouse or someone else you need to get a ticket for and they are unwilling to play along it will be more difficult but still pretty pud if you don't mind flying coach.

[steve dave]

There's currently pretty decent availability for spring/summer 2014 so if you are even moderately flexible you have about a year to get these points. If you need exact dates you will want to book 330 days out just to be safe so work backwards from your travel dates to make sure you get the exact dates and flights you want.

[Mikeyis4dcats]

I've used this thread as motivation to get into the cc/miles earnings.  But I've got a question if anyone might know off hand.  I'm flying to palau in spring/summer of 2015.  Would absolutely love to be able to go from zero to enough miles to fly for free.  Is this even possible in that time span (my research is pretty limited at this point in time).  The likely airline everyone is traveling is United.

to fly economy it's 130k miles (plus $27.50 fees).     

The standard chase offer is 30k, sometimes 50 or 60k.  They are Chase cards, so they should be churnable within that time frame.    They also have seperate business cards, so you can also get those.

Should be doable, with a plan.

It's a 26hr flight though, so economy would suck.

*edit*  forgot about sd's point on UR transfers.     If you can make the spends, and flying solo, I'd go all out and blitz for first class.

[Mikeyis4dcats]

you can get the Ink or the Sapphire Preferred (40k)

https://applynow.chase.com/FlexAppWeb/renderApp.do?SPID=F2WT&CELL=6H8X&AFFID=Mq61XpD7Uis-QY4TP6ZMbAvXr6Q1vakLfg&pvid=a1273fc52013af10943109e9458038&jp_cmp=cc/271077/aff/3-10001867/na

[steve dave]

They are Chase cards, so they should be churnable within that time frame.   

[The Tonya Harding of Twitter Users Creep]

They are Chase cards, so they should be churnable within that time frame.   

steve when i read this i was like oh boy steve is gonna be so mad. should have gussed dubious tho.

[Mikeyis4dcats]

They are Chase cards, so they should be churnable within that time frame.   

while OFFICIALLY you are unable to churn, people do succeed.  Minimum I've read about is about 18mos though, from date of app.   I guess in retrospect as it's already November, a churn would be unlikely.   But he's got enough cards to choose from anyways.

[Mikeyis4dcats]

correction - in revisiting the topic, the Chase timeframe is from CANCELLATION to RE-APPLICATION, so a no go for that time frame.

[wiley]

Huge thanks guys, I've got stuff to work with now, and i'm going to shoot for 1st class now that i've got an idea what i'm working towards.

[Stupid Fitz]

this thread is here to help people. not to help them be complete dumbasses.

You guys are being pretty mean fwiw. Thought we were all friends here but guess not. Was just curious about getting some gift cards since I have no use for travel rewards. I'm sitting on a 1.2 million Marriott points, a few Hyatt, 120k member rewards, 50k chase, and a bunch if random airline miles I prob won't use. I normally just transfer to gift cards to buy fun stuff because I don't need/want any more travel rewards and I was just looking for the best way.

Eat one and 

[steve dave]

this thread is here to help people. not to help them be complete dumbasses.

You guys are being pretty mean fwiw. Thought we were all friends here but guess not. Was just curious about getting some gift cards since I have no use for travel rewards. I'm sitting on a 1.2 million Marriott points, a few Hyatt, 120k member rewards, 50k chase, and a bunch if random airline miles I prob won't use. I normally just transfer to gift cards to buy fun stuff because I don't need/want any more travel rewards and I was just looking for the best way.

Eat one and 

discover card, tho