I love credit cards so much! v7.0 - 2025 (see first page for add'l details)

[calypso726]

WWYD?

A few weeks ago I booked our flights on miles/points to LAX in August 2026 for the start of our 4 Disney Parks + Asia trip.

I booked Delta Comfort seats (row 12) from FLL to LAX non-stop for 14,400 miles each, totaling 28,800 Delta miles + $11.20. I thought that was a reasonable redemption.

I was playing around on seats.aero tonight while I should have been sleeping and found American Airlines Business class seats (row 2, 'cause I don't like row 1) from MIA to LAX non-stop for 32,500 miles each, totaling 65,000 AA miles + $11.20. The AA flight is 2 days earlier than the Delta one, so we will need 2 extra hotel nights in the Disneyland area (6 nights instead of 4 nights).

I went ahead and booked the AA flight while I decide which reservation to keep.

I prefer flying out of MIA because it is closer to where we are. The Delta flight is at 8am on a Friday from FLL about 45 mins away, without traffic. The AA flight is at 7am on a Wednesday from MIA about 15 mins away, without traffic, and there won't be traffic at that time. If the highway is congested due to an accident, we can still get there on local roads.

Adding 2 nights in Anaheim isn't ideal but hey, 2 extra nights of vacation? I could live with that. We have flexible schedules.

I think the only thing that is holding me back on just going with the AA business class flights is that 65k AA is a lot of miles on nothing special business class seats. They are just wider seats at the front of the plane. If they were any other miles or points, I would be okay but AA miles are hard to earn and I only had 70k in my account to begin with. OTOH, what could I have done with just 70k AA miles? It is not enough miles for 2 people to fly internationally in business.

The flight is about 6 hours. Which one to keep? Delta Comfort or American Business? And should I keep looking even after I pick one? Are there better redemption on cross country flights than around 30K/pp?

TIA

As an AA hostage that flies out of FLL and MIA, I would keep the Delta flight in this case. Especially if you are hoping to accumulate more AA miles for something better down the line. If you really don't have a use for them and won't in the near future then I'd burn them.

AA saver flights can be had for international business class in lie flat seats at 57.5k miles pp each way. If you are flying in/out of Miami to/from Europe that's a nearly 9 hour flight. If you have a flexible schedule, you can simply search the award calendar for saver flight availability to/from different places and plan a trip around that.

So, what to do with 70k AA miles? Well, here is what we did/are doing as we were in the same boat as you a couple months ago and quite low on AA miles. We both got the Citi Strata Elite card for the 100K bonus. Between the bonus and ability to double dip the perks on year one it was absolutely worth it. Citi points now transfer to AA so Citi is now far more useful to me.

The AF is $595. However, the splurge credit for AA or Best buy at $200 per year brings that down to $195 between 2025 and 2026. Amazon and Disney gift cards at Best Buy is what we did and will do again in January. The $300 hotel credit for a two night stay booked through Citi travel is also coming in handy for next year. There are accommodations I need to book for trips next year (Christmas markets in Strasbourg) that do not have options for using hotel free night certs or points that I am willing to burn. They are on Citi travel and I will book two nights this year when the calendar opens up for my dates next year and then in January book another two nights. That's $600 that I don't need to spend now.

Surprisingly the $200 ($100 Jan-Jun and $100 Jul-Dec) a year Blacklane credit will be useful. I had not even considered it as a factor when we got the card. I compared pricing for scheduled pick ups from LAX to Grand Californian in Disneyland between Uber and Blacklane and they were similar for our needs on an upcoming trip. That's another $100 we don't need to spend. Even when Blacklane is more expensive, like in NYC, the $100 credit still saved our out of pocket cost for something we were going to do anyhow.

Then there are the 4 AA lounge passes which is nice since we travel with friends fairly often and can use those to get them in the lounge. We have AA lounge access with DH's Citi Executive card. This was also not a factor in choosing to get the card. It was the bonus, hotel credits and splurge double dips. As for on going spending, we use it for the 6x dining on Friday and Saturday Citi nights between 6 pm and 6 am.

Anyhow, that's one way to pick up 109K AA miles with one card and mitigate the AF the first year since non cat spend is 1.5 points per dollar. Between that and what you have that is 3 flights in international business saver lie flats. A second card gets you 5 of those flights. I would absolutely purchase that airfare and those seats at $595 each, but I'm not so its "free" which is how I girlmath/Disneymath this scenario

Another passive way to earn AA miles and keep what you have from expiring is to sign up for the Shell Fuel Rewards program. You can enter your phone number at the pump and earn 3x AA miles per gallon. When the pricing for gas is reasonable at Shell we pair this with the Upside app and also get cash back on top.

 

[calypso726]

I just stayed at one less than a month ago, and it was fantastic. I had to tell Chase it was part of Hyatt. I think you're thinking of SLH (which I miss). The points are dynamic, and from the two properties I tried, I didn't think it was a good value.

I was bummed when I saw SLH was leaving Hyatt. Then, I was very pleased to see Hilton picked them up. I am really looking forward to using our Aspire FN certs at an SLH in Paris next month, Le Narcisse Blanc. I've heard good things.

 

[Twilghtsprkle]

Yes, EDIT bookings need to by prepaid. As long as you book and pay by 12/31/2025, it will use the 2025 credit.

Here is the DP you are looking for about the annual $300 travel credit.

P2 had $300 of TC left. We booked an EDIT hotel with $250 cash and the rest with 2x boosted points. He got the $250 EDIT credit once the $250 hotel charge posted AND he also got $250 of travel credit posted. So, you will definitely double dip on the credits.

We could have paid $500 cash for the hotel and then the rest with points but we wanted the 2x boosted points on the EDIT hotel booking. That was worth more than the cash credit at 0.02/point.

Hope that helps.

I am now waiting until 1/1/2026, so I can book more EDIT hotels. While the credits are good on overpriced hotels, it is the boosted points in combination that make the deals so sweet.

I had my eye on Hyatt Globalist status for many a year reading about everyone's trip reports but I think with access to the Chase EDIT and the Amex THC/FHR, it makes more sense for ME to forget about status or loyalty to any brand for now. If Chase does away with having point boosts on EDIT hotels, I may need to rethink things.

Chase does not have much of a presence in HK with EDIT hotels, so I think I will use Hyatt points (transferred from Chase) to stay in a Club room at the Grand Hyatt TST.

This is exactly what I needed to hear. I didn’t want Chase taking the TC before the EDIT credit for a hotel. We’ll be using some of the TC this year, but the charge won’t be until 12/30. I found a decent hotel for a weekend in Boston on but we wouldn’t go until next year. Just not enough time this year since we need to force older DD to practice driving every weekend through the beginning of January when her test is.

Of course my husband could end up with a business trip that willuse up his TC but it doesn’t look like that’ll happen before year end.