Ultimate rewards points can be converted into other rewards programs such as United, Air France, British airways, Hyatt, and Marriott if you want to go that route
Finally bit the bullet with the Reserve. Spent the past weekend in Seattle where I paid over $70 in Uber fares and thought, that could've been reimbursed by the Reserve. Then I spent 50 minutes in airport security and thought to myself, it would be nice to get TSA Precheck and have that fee reimbursed. I applied and was approved with a limit of $18,200 today. High for me, but my buddy applied a few hours later and got a $26,000 limit. Seems like they're handing out high limits with this card, which makes sense obviously with it being a premium card. I immediately transferred over the 17,000 points I had from my Chase Freedom card so I could get 50% more. Nice boost. Since I already fly for free I'll most likely use all of these points on hotels.
Spent some time there last week. Thought it was alright, but I don't think I've been in another lounge, so I don't have anything to compare it to. The bartender was making strong pours, so that was solid. It definitely beats sitting out with the masses unless you're looking for some Popeye's chicken. At IAH, the Priority Pass Lounge is co-branded with KLM. It was alright too and had similar food/snack offerings. Didn't get any booze though.
Are you sure that they "downgraded" your Delta Amex Platinum and didn't cancel it? I had the same call with them and at the very end I heard the word "cancel" and was like "wait what did you say?" Turns out I couldn't downgrade outside of the Delta co-brand family without "cancelling" my card.
I think it's nice to have points with different hotel chains because you can't always get everything in every city. e.g. there might be a good Hilton Hotel in Innsbruck but not Munich; if all of your eggs are in one basket, you're limited to where you can go on points. If you have a lot of Amex and Chase points, you can be pretty flexible by transferring them into travel partners.
Similarly, I never seem to have enough hotel points to cover a week long stay at a resort, but having a few points with 2-3 different programs was money a couple years ago when I was going to a wedding every other weekend. Could always get a night or two in a low category property in whatever random town the wedding was in.
How long does it take for points to post after a statement close? My bill was due yesterday and I paid in full in advance, but my points haven't posted. (not my signup bonus, just my normal points.)
So do most married couples who keep up with rewards cards do this? I always thought there were rules about only one signup bonus per household but I guess that's not the case?
Just got the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® card with 50,000 sign up AAdvantage points. I put $3,000 in rent on my credit cards every three months and I feel like I might just get a new card every three months to do that. Any reasons why I shouldn't?
every three months would mean 8 cards every 24 months, so I should be fine between all the companies I think. But good point
Chase makes it new accounts total. Not just from them. GF missed out on the reserve because of the Amex Starwood offer
Amex Platinum must be feeling the hurt from the CSR. I just got an email from them saying all flights will be worth 5X points moving forward.
some good news for those with plastic CSR cards http://thepointsguy.com/2016/10/csr-metal-cards-back-in-stock/ Update 10/14/16: A Chase representative told TPG that the reissue of metal cards for cardholders who previously received plastic won’t be happening until the beginning of November.
Considering the prevalence of the Preferred and now Reserve I feel like there's less, "omg your card is metal!?" now so I don't get it either.
I got my card yesterday. I guess it's metal as it does say "Contains Metal DO NOT SHRED." However, it doesn't seem heavy at all.
simply the novelty of having a metal card. edit: also my wallet's leather would conform to the raised plastic numbers, whereas the metal card does not include the raised 16 digits on the front.
This may have already been discussed, but with the SPG and Marriott merger, i see you can now transfer points between the two. Anybody that currentlbhas one card planning to double up on welcome Bonus with the other card or do they have stuff in place to prevent that? Edit: nevermind, looks like they changed SPG welcome offer from points to 2 free nights.
Just an FYI for anyone in similar situation. I got CSP in May, CSR in August. Now that my CSP is irrelevant, asked customer service rep what sort of product change options I had. Rep said I could change to no-fee CSP and move credit line to CSR. Asked about product change to Freedom Unlimited, rep said CSP was too fresh to get that benefit, suggested I call back one month before the CSP annual fee hits and I should be able to get the Freedom Unlimited.
i already have the freedom as well. love that card want to use the freedom for 5% quarterly categories, CSR for dining/travel, and freedom unlimited for everything else to get the 1.5% xfer all of that UR to the CSR to get that 1.5x benefit on travel bookings.
This is good to hear. I got the Preferred somewhere around the same time as you and was thinking about going to the Reserve instead but wasn't sure what options I'd have with the Preferred
Airbnb doing +20% bonus on gift card purchases (caution may be targeted offer). Maxes out at $50 usd. Probably a good idea if you're travelling soon and are trying to maximize your CSR travel credit.
Word to the wise: I just downgraded my Sapphire Preferred to the Freedom Unlimited and I received a pro-rated refund on last year's CSP annual fee. I wasn't expecting that. In other words, no reason to wait to downgrade your CSP.
how long have you had your CSP? I've only had mine for 6 months, so I wasn't able to get Freedom Unlimited when I asked to product change
Spent my $4k last month, miles showing up and everything now - just got approved for one with my wife also. $3,000 in free travel combined - that's pretty awesome.