I love credit cards so much!

[Lvsdisney]

EXPENSE...........RETAIL COST....REDEMPTIONS...ACTUAL COST



Hyatt Hotel.........$737.58.............2400 UR..............$0.00

I'm not familiar with UR, yet... so I am curious how you got the hotel for so little points? Was that due to converting them? Would LOVE to get the same mileage out of my (future) UR!

 

[peel]

Thanks for the awesome report! I liked your formatting too, made it easy to read the numbers. Please do add a hotel review on that thread

Oh glad to hear that, I think it might look funky on a phone though.

 

[peel]

I'm not familiar with UR, yet... so I am curious how you got the hotel for so little points? Was that due to converting them? Would LOVE to get the same mileage out of my (future) UR!

LOL, now I see why @Albort was asking. I missed a 0 in there! Editing now!

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

@peel 2400 UR for 4 nights at a hyatt?

3 nights, 4 days.

I'm not familiar with UR, yet... so I am curious how you got the hotel for so little points? Was that due to converting them? Would LOVE to get the same mileage out of my (future) UR!

I think that's a Cat2 property - shouldn't that be 24,000?

EDIT: I see you caught it now haha!

 

[peel]

I think that's a Cat2 property - shouldn't that be 24,000?

EDIT: I see you caught it now haha!

Yep, I need to get off the computer!!!

 

[Albort]

I'm not familiar with UR, yet... so I am curious how you got the hotel for so little points? Was that due to converting them? Would LOVE to get the same mileage out of my (future) UR!

hehe, i was thinking the same...

 

[speedyfishy]

So what other budget or general finance sites do you all read? I'm looking to get a handle on our retirement plans this summer. DH and I have probably five or six from various jobs, which we probably should have rolled over to our current plans, but for one reason or another that never happened. I'm wondering whether we should roll them over now or open new accounts to consolidate them.

I think when you leave a job you can roll over to an IRA. Does your current plan have a low expense ratio? I think if it’s low it would make sense to roll it over to your current plan. I’m not an expert but I lurk on the FIRE Reddit thread. If you post in the daily question thread there I’m sure someone could help you out.

 

[calypso726]

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

@calypso726 might be able to help

It depends on which airline you are looking to use or if you are intending on paying with points. If paying with points, it depends on how many points you have to play with and which cards you have. If the flight is say $1000 RT and you are paying with UR points via a CSR account then you would need 66,667 UR points to pay for the flight. If you don't have a CSR and all you have is CSP or CIP then you need 80,000 UR points. With MR you would need 100,000 points. If you have an Amex Platinum business card, you'd still need 100k MR but in a few weeks after paying for the flight with your 100K MR points you'd get 35K put back into your account.

If you are transferring 1:1 to an airline -

UR transfers to United (instant), Air France (instant), British Airways (instant), Singapore (12 - 24 hours), Virgin Atlantic (instant), Korean (instant), Iberia (instant), Aer Lingus (instant)

MR transfers to Delta (instant), Air Canada (instant), Air France (instant), Alitalia (instant), ANA (48 hours), Singapore (12-24 hours), British Airways (instant), Cathay Pacific (48 hours), Emirates (instant), Etihad (3 business days), Iberia (~48 hours), Virgin Atlantic (instant), Hawaiian (instant)

Some of the airlines listed above would allow you to book flights to Europe directly on the airline. Some, you'd have to use the miles to book on a partner airline.

Before choosing which currency to use MR or UR it is important to discover which airline you will likely be flying and how many miles you will need to fly that airline directly or via a partner award. Once you know that, then you want to get an idea of what a flight might cost and if it will be less points to get the flight by an award ticket or by paying with points. If you decide paying with points is more desirable, then you need to decide if you would be able to amass more points faster/easier with Chase or with Amex and go from there.

We value both fairly equally. But I am far more conservative about spending MR points than I am about spending UR points. Currently we have a little over 408,000 MR points and a little over 565,000 UR points. Our MR points come mostly from credit card sign up bonuses. Our UR points come from spending on bonus categories. We are /24 and the last time either of us got a Chase UR card was the CSR before the loophole we used to get it closed. This was September of 2016. We are both resigned to the fact that we will never be able to churn any Chase card. Ever. We love Chase and are quite happy with the cards we have and we have no intention of every rocking that boat for any reason.

Personally, I find it easier to accumulate UR points but that is because we have 3 CF cards between us and max them out each quarter. We each have our Ink+ and use it to purchase Disney gift cards for 5x at office supply stores. Most of our UR earning comes from purchasing Disney gift cards. We just booked the Japan ABD that was released last week with the post trip Disney park package. It is easy enough to look up the info on ABDs website so it is no big secret what the trip costs. Opening day price for this trip for the two of us was a little over $25,000. We intend to pay for it with Disney gift cards at 5x so that trip alone is going to earn us 125K UR points for next year. Add DVC dues on 1300 points, annual passes, a Disney cruise here and there and you get the idea. I won't think twice using our UR points because I know they will be replenished soon enough. MR points on the other hand, I always pause before using them.

I think it is important to take into account not only which points you might use and how you might use them but also, how easy or how hard is it to accumulate those points. This will depend on your ?/24 status and your spending patterns. I hope this helps

 

[disneymagicgirl]

I've seen that as well. But check the cash prices when booking direct. Some prices on the UR portal are HIGHLY inflated!!

I noticed that with some flight I found too.

 

[pillow]

I noticed that with some flight I found too.

I've had good luck with car rentals, and SOME tours. But boy you really need to shop the tours. Just read a good example of this yesterday - http://milenomics.com/2018/05/this-...rs-through-the-chase-ultimate-rewards-portal/

I don't mind paying slightly more to use UR, but some of the prices are such that you'd be better off taking the 1% cash back and paying out of pocket. Or just leave the UR alone and pay with a travel erasing card perhaps.

 

[trenty]

It depends on which airline you are looking to use or if you are intending on paying with points. If paying with points, it depends on how many points you have to play with and which cards you have. If the flight is say $1000 RT and you are paying with UR points via a CSR account then you would need 66,667 UR points to pay for the flight. If you don't have a CSR and all you have is CSP or CIP then you need 80,000 UR points. With MR you would need 100,000 points. If you have an Amex Platinum business card, you'd still need 100k MR but in a few weeks after paying for the flight with your 100K MR points you'd get 35K put back into your account.

If you are transferring 1:1 to an airline -

UR transfers to United (instant), Air France (instant), British Airways (instant), Singapore (12 - 24 hours), Virgin Atlantic (instant), Korean (instant), Iberia (instant), Aer Lingus (instant)

MR transfers to Delta (instant), Air Canada (instant), Air France (instant), Alitalia (instant), ANA (48 hours), Singapore (12-24 hours), British Airways (instant), Cathay Pacific (48 hours), Emirates (instant), Etihad (3 business days), Iberia (~48 hours), Virgin Atlantic (instant), Hawaiian (instant)

Some of the airlines listed above would allow you to book flights to Europe directly on the airline. Some, you'd have to use the miles to book on a partner airline.

Before choosing which currency to use MR or UR it is important to discover which airline you will likely be flying and how many miles you will need to fly that airline directly or via a partner award. Once you know that, then you want to get an idea of what a flight might cost and if it will be less points to get the flight by an award ticket or by paying with points. If you decide paying with points is more desirable, then you need to decide if you would be able to amass more points faster/easier with Chase or with Amex and go from there.

We value both fairly equally. But I am far more conservative about spending MR points than I am about spending UR points. Currently we have a little over 408,000 MR points and a little over 565,000 UR points. Our MR points come mostly from credit card sign up bonuses. Our UR points come from spending on bonus categories. We are /24 and the last time either of us got a Chase UR card was the CSR before the loophole we used to get it closed. This was September of 2016. We are both resigned to the fact that we will never be able to churn any Chase card. Ever. We love Chase and are quite happy with the cards we have and we have no intention of every rocking that boat for any reason.

Personally, I find it easier to accumulate UR points but that is because we have 3 CF cards between us and max them out each quarter. We each have our Ink+ and use it to purchase Disney gift cards for 5x at office supply stores. Most of our UR earning comes from purchasing Disney gift cards. We just booked the Japan ABD that was released last week with the post trip Disney park package. It is easy enough to look up the info on ABDs website so it is no big secret what the trip costs. Opening day price for this trip for the two of us was a little over $25,000. We intend to pay for it with Disney gift cards at 5x so that trip alone is going to earn us 125K UR points for next year. Add DVC dues on 1300 points, annual passes, a Disney cruise here and there and you get the idea. I won't think twice using our UR points because I know they will be replenished soon enough. MR points on the other hand, I always pause before using them.

I think it is important to take into account not only which points you might use and how you might use them but also, how easy or how hard is it to accumulate those points. This will depend on your ?/24 status and your spending patterns. I hope this helps

Thank you! This is all very helpful. I can get UR points easier than MR and have nowhere near enough of either. This info helps me with a strategy as the [hopeful] trip is in 2019 or 2020.

question - You mention - ...you want to get an idea of what a flight might cost and if it will be less points to get the flight by an award ticket or by paying with points. I know how to pay with points -both directly with airlines and through the Chase or Amex portals. What do you mean by "award ticket?"

 

[jujubiee4]

I haven’t booked yet, but have researched and many of the excursions for our Alaska cruise are available in Chase portal with URs.

THis is interesting i never knew that. Thanks for letting me know for any future cruises we might take

 

[Lain]

Our travel party is just DH and I.

What you said about ending in Kyoto/Osaka makes so much sense. Did you then fly out of Kyoto/Osaka or go back to Tokyo and fly out from there?

We are definitely planning on buying the JR pass. I think we plan on using the trains quite a bit to get around because then we can rely on ourselves since we don't know a lot of Japanese.

I'm not sure how we are going to do flights yet. DH thinks we should fly into and out of Tokyo no matter what and then take the train back and forth from Osaka. I feel like that will waste more time, but it may be easier/cheaper.

We flew into Tokyo Narita (NRT) and out of Osaka Itami (ITM), but that was because we arranged our itinerary such that we wouldn’t be backtracking back to Tokyo. We spent something like 10-11 days in Japan, 6 nights in Tokyo and 4 nights in Kyoto, with a lot of day trips on local rail lines and Shinkansen, before leaving Kyoto to fly out of Osaka. I know some basic Japanese, but no where near conversational; it really wasn’t a problem touring the country with just my (not yet) wife and me. All the Japan Rail maps and signs are in Japanese and English, and we were always able to find someone who spoke some English.

I recall you wanted to spend 4 nights in Tokyo, 4 nights in Osaka, and 5 at Tokyo Disneyland. You could arrange your itinerary so that you start your trip with Tokyo, then take the Shinkansen down to Osaka, then back up to finish off your trip at Tokyo Disneyland. Although this does involve backtracking, travel by Shinkansen (Hikari train) is included with your JR Pass and it’s “only” 3 hours between Osaka and Tokyo.

I’d agree with what @calypso726 suggested early. My hunch is that you’ll find more flight options in and out of Tokyo than Osaka. But you should start playing around with some mock bookings on Google Flights by plugging in your local airports or ORD to/from Tokyo Narita (NRT) and Haneda (HND) or Osaka Itami (ITM). This will give you a general sense of what airlines fly to and from these airports and offer routes, times and days that might work with your plans. Once you have a better idea which airport you’re traveling from and to, you can plug them into awardhacker.com and see the airlines that service those airports, how many miles you can expect to need for award seats, and what credit card points program to focus on to earn the points that’ll transfer to miles on the airline of your choice.

 

[3 DD love princesses]

That makes sense. Would we be able to get the CIP just from my nannying and our band that we play in on the side?

Apply under sole proprietor using your ssn. I would make sure your income is at least $1000 and you can use your total household income on the next section.

 

[jujubiee4]

I really hate that im not able to view what my 5/24 status is at Credit karma . They took the date
filter off. There use to be another link to old interface that showed and now that option seems to
be gone.

*never mind upon further review it looks like they are already listing
them in order...u just have to click each one.

 

[3 DD love princesses]

Are there any downsides to getting a Disney Visa Card?

I would use this as a last resort since there are many other cards to get before this one. Chases 5/24 rule makes this one last on my list.

 

[3 DD love princesses]

I really hate that im not able to view what my 5/24 status is at Credit karma . They took the date
filter off. There use to be another link to old interface that showed and now that option seems to
be gone.

*never mind upon further review it looks like they are already listing
them in order...u just have to click each one.

You can also sign up for chases free report

 

[jujubiee4]

Well I looked and the good news is i have 5 coming off soon this year.

The bad news is i opened FIVE cards in 2017. I would have been 0/24 this year.....

Why oh Why did i have to chase down bonuses? What really chaps me is
the Alaska air card that I just got they have devalued it. That was
a waste. Amex blue is eh..I have to constantly call asking where my MR's are at.

I will have to sit it out longer for any more Chase cards.......unless an offer I can't
refuse comes up

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Well I looked and the good news is i have 5 coming off soon this year.

The bad news is i opened FIVE cards in 2017. I would have been 0/24 this year.....

Why oh Why did i have to chase down bonuses? What really chaps me is
the Alaska air card that I just got they have devalued it. That was
a waste. Amex blue is eh..I have to constantly call asking where my MR's are at.

I will have to sit it out longer for any more Chase cards.......unless an offer I can't
refuse comes up

Bummer! Are you thinking about hitting some AMEX Biz cards? What about a Marriott Biz from Chase?

 

[calypso726]

I'm not sure how we are going to do flights yet. DH thinks we should fly into and out of Tokyo no matter what and then take the train back and forth from Osaka. I feel like that will waste more time, but it may be easier/cheaper.

@Haley R - All of the different Chase cards sounds confusing to me so hopefully you can help clear some of that up. I guess I am just worried about the AF with those bottom cards you mentioned. Are we able to use the UR pretty much anywhere? For example, we are wanting to stay at the Hilton Tokyo Bay and try to get at least one night at the MiraCosta. Would we be able to use points for those?

@Haley R As for the AFs the way to look at it is like this. I want you to give me $680. In return, I’m going to give you $5,900. Now that seems far less worrisome. Now, I understand there are some folks who still won't be comfortable with that idea and we don't judge here. If that is the case, then you need to stick with no fee cash back cards and you might be able to get $500 - $800 or so with about 5 or 6 different credit card applications.

I went on to the UR portal and picked May 25th for one night at Hilton Tokyo Bay. The cash price is about $181. If you paid that with the CSR the $300 travel credit would kick in so that night would be free and you'd still have $119 to put towards the following night. If you decided to pay with UR points instead the point cost is 12,093. Your 5 nights would be free for you and DH if you both have the CSR.

Miracosta doesn't sow up on the UR portal, but there are many things that don't and you have to call and ask if they can book the resort. I know Disney cruises don't show up but they can be booked with UR points.

Thank you! This is all very helpful. I can get UR points easier than MR and have nowhere near enough of either. This info helps me with a strategy as the [hopeful] trip is in 2019 or 2020.

question - You mention - ...you want to get an idea of what a flight might cost and if it will be less points to get the flight by an award ticket or by paying with points. I know how to pay with points -both directly with airlines and through the Chase or Amex portals. What do you mean by "award ticket?"

@trenty - An award ticket is a flight that is booked with frequent flier miles. Using United as an example: I looked for a UA flight from EWR-LHR next year departing March 1 returning March 9. United has award flights at the saver level and it would be 60k round trip and $188.61 in taxes and fees. When I check the UR portal, the same flight is available for $618 or 41,247 UR points through the CSR account. In this case, I'd say book through the UR portal.

Now, if I'm booking for myself and the Plane Princess, economy won't be an option. So I check for flights on United and find acceptable business class saver award flights which would cost me 130,000 United miles and $335 in taxes and fees. When I check the UR portal for the same flights to pay with UR points it would cost me 288,000 UR points. For this scenario I don't want to pay with points. I want to book and award ticket. I would transfer 130,000 UR points to my United frequent flier account so that I could have 130k United miles. They would transfer instantly and I'd book the award flight on United's website using my frequent flier miles and pay the taxes and fees using my CSR to get 3x.