I love credit cards so much!

[SouthFayetteFan]

Unbelievable. I got home today and there was a letter from Chase in my mailbox, but it was a Guide to Benefits for my newly issued CIP!!

Unfortunately, the letter isn’t dated, but they just shut me down on Monday, so I don’t know what their thought process is.

We are leaving town on Friday and I hope that letter gets here before then or it is going to drive me crazy. I asked if they could email or fax me a copy and she said I had to wait for it to come in the mail and she couldn’t see a copy of it in my file to tell me what it says. Not sure I believe that.

I’m sorry we can’t even provide any good guidance - this is a weird one... I’m frustrated for you and I can’t imagine how you feel right now

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

I looked but can’t find it.

I’d just click @speedyfishy’s name and read the last 20ish comments. It didn’t go well.

 

[Ngwira]

I’d just click @speedyfishy’s name and read the last 20ish comments. It didn’t go well.

Thanks. Found it.

 

[Ngwira]

I looked but can’t find it.

Never mind. Found it.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Thanks. Found it.

Yeah - it was super unfortunate on many counts.

 

[Albort]

Picking strawberries sounds like fun!

I went through the process on Award Hacker to act like I was booking a 16 day trip. I then transferred over to United's website. I am playing around with April 15 to May 1 (almost getting close to the dates we actually want). Here is what I'm seeing:
View attachment 327552
It's in and out of different airports in Tokyo, but that's actually okay because we will start or finish in Disney (the opposite will be spent in the city of Tokyo with Kyoto in between the two). Hopefully, that makes sense. It's showing me that it will be 230,000 miles plus $130.22 for taxes and fees. I'm not sure how the miles relate to using the Chase rewards, though. I guess what I'm asking is I'm not sure how many points we would need for 230,000 miles.

I'm still a little confused about the MPE card. Would we use that card and the Chase rewards?

how many URs do u have?
having MPE will give u more flight options than currently displaced.

 

[miztressuz]

Woohoo! 2nd Chase bank bonus posted today, this one was for the savings account. Opened 3/2, got the 15k deposited within the 10 business days (I think we did it in 5), and got the $200 listed in pending today 6/5. Should be available in the next day or so.

Excellent timing as we just spent part of the night scheming for the next bonus(es) to use that money for

 

[Lain]

Picking strawberries sounds like fun!

I went through the process on Award Hacker to act like I was booking a 16 day trip. I then transferred over to United's website. I am playing around with April 15 to May 1 (almost getting close to the dates we actually want). Here is what I'm seeing:
View attachment 327552
It's in and out of different airports in Tokyo, but that's actually okay because we will start or finish in Disney (the opposite will be spent in the city of Tokyo with Kyoto in between the two). Hopefully, that makes sense. It's showing me that it will be 230,000 miles plus $130.22 for taxes and fees. I'm not sure how the miles relate to using the Chase rewards, though. I guess what I'm asking is I'm not sure how many points we would need for 230,000 miles.

I'm still a little confused about the MPE card. Would we use that card and the Chase rewards?

So a few things:

Haneda (HND) is actually closer to central Tokyo than Narita (NRT) and will cost you less to commute into the city.

The MPE is issued by Chase, but earns you United MileagePlus (UA) miles. Chase-branded cards like the Sapphire, Ink, and Freedom lines earn Ultimate Rewards (“UR”) points, which can be transferred to United miles at a 1 point to 1 mile ratio; or redeemed through the Chase travel portal at a 1 point = $0.0125 value on the CIP (and CSP) or a higher 1 point = $0.015 value on the CSR. In the first option, you are converting UR points to UA miles and using the miles to book award travel with United directly. In the second option, you are treating UR points as cash (subject to your card’s redemption value, the CSR makes the points worth more) and using them to pay for the flights on the Chase travel portal (think of this like Expedia). You have to decide which option uses less points.

So using your screenshot, I think I’ve found the cash value of the tickets vs. the points needed to book the same tickets as award seats.

Your dummy RT economy booking for two is $2,839.42 with taxes and fees, which will cost you 227,154 UR points if you book it through the Chase portal using your CIP (1.25x redemption bonus), or 189,295 UR points if you book it using a CSR (1.5x redemption bonus).

The same flight if booking award travel with United directly is 230,000 UA miles + $103.22. So for this particular flight, booking through the Chase travel portal will be cheaper (less points and out of pocket cash for taxes and fees).

However, I noticed the reason why your award flight is costing so many points is because your DSM>HND leg is 80k UA miles! If you book a Saver Award, it’s only 35k UA miles each way, or 140,000 UA miles + $103.22 for 2 R/T economy tickets, which is waaay less than what you’d pay in UR points on the Chase travel portal.

Then it occurs to me that you might not be seeing the 35k UA miles Saver Awards because those are, as you can see, “exclusively available to you as a MileagePlus Chase cardmember,” which goes back to why having the MPE can really come in handy when booking award travel.

If, say, you and DH each got the MPE cards, even at the lowball public offer of 40k UA miles, then you’d have access to this increased Saver Award availability and each of you would only need to transfer about 30k UR points into 30k UA miles to book a R/T 70k UA miles economy Saver Award.

Hope this helps more than it confuses.

 

[speedyfishy]

@speedyfishy If you get a chance to pull your credit report next month, I’m still definitely interested in hearing whether that Barclays card shows up as personal or not! I think that promotion ends 7/29.

Will do. I got the hardpull on transunion, but don’t see the account. I don’t know how long it normally takes to show. My last personal card was in December and I wasn’t watching my reports frequently then.

 

[pillow]

So, I just found out that DS19 and DD17 will have the same Spring Break next year. (this year it was 2 different weeks). So, excited to plan a trip and not have to worry about taking either of them out of school. DS is currently at our local Community College and DD is now a Senior in High School. So, next fall DS will be going to a 4 year college and DD Will be going away also. So, who knows when the dates will line up again.

So, currently I have about 220,000 UR's (after CIP Spend on DH's card), 431,000 Marriott and about 175,000 Southwest. Kind of want to hoard the UR's for later and hoping to get CIP for me later this year. I have CP for SW until end of this year and DH has until end of next year. So, only 3 flights to pay for.

So, one of the places I am lookint at is the Marriott Stellaris in Aruba. Has anyone been there? Looks awesome from the pics. We have been to Aruba a few times on cruises so only for a day. We would have to fly from MSP to FLL then FLL to Aruba and back in order to fly SW. And of course the times don't match up to fly both places the same day. So, now looking at maybe the AMEX Hilton Businesss card with the 125,000 bonus. Figured we could use that for the 1 night there and back in FLL. Any other suggestions or ideas.

Also looking for any other ideas for WARM places to go using the points I have. Thanks.

Southwest flies to Costa Rica (direct from FLL) and spring break is the dry season, which is a perfect time to go. We loved loved loved it there! We used UR’s for hotels (mostly) and SW points to fly.

Also if spending a night in FLL, check Hyatt. We transferred 7,500 from UR to Hyatt and booked Hyatt Place there.

There are several Marriotts at Costa Rica beaches + the Hyatt Papagayo at only 15k Hyatt pts. We wanted to explore other areas so didn’t do either but I was tempted.

Edited: or maybe 8,000 Hyatt? It wasn’t much. I love Hyatt Place for cheap overnights.

 

[Haley R]

how many URs do u have?
having MPE will give u more flight options than currently displaced.

We haven't had our first "official" statement yet, but our next payment will give us 2,312 UR. We just started our CIP card so we really haven't built up a lot of points yet.

 

[pillow]

SW does fly there. I think you would connect through Houston to land in LIR. There are a few nice marriotts there.

BWI to FLL to SJO.

Or LIR direct to BWI

 

[Artygal90]

@Artygal90 2005 vs now is sooooo different now haha. things have changed a ton.
do u remember what airline you flew?

Yes! It feels like just a few years ago but then I do the math and feel old D: I think it was Singapore Airlines, maybe, since Singapore was our final destination? I didn't book the flights myself. I've flown them since and had good experiences, so they must have upgraded in the intervening....13 years.

 

[pillow]

Any experience with Intercontinental NY Times Square? I have an IHG free night that’s still good at any property, this one is 70k/night. Looking to stay a night in late December before the NCL Cruise that goes to Florida and the Bahamas. The Kimpton was my first choice but rooms only accommodate 2 (we need 3).

We’re staying there in 3 weeks. I’ll take pics and do a review on the hotel thread. Really looking forward to it!

 

[Haley R]

So a few things:

Haneda (HND) is actually closer to central Tokyo than Narita (NRT) and will cost you less to commute into the city.

The MPE is issued by Chase, but earns you United MileagePlus (UA) miles. Chase-branded cards like the Sapphire, Ink, and Freedom lines earn Ultimate Rewards (“UR”) points, which can be transferred to United miles at a 1 point to 1 mile ratio; or redeemed through the Chase travel portal at a 1 point = $0.0125 value on the CIP (and CSP) or a higher 1 point = $0.015 value on the CSR. In the first option, you are converting UR points to UA miles and using the miles to book award travel with United directly. In the second option, you are treating UR points as cash (subject to your card’s redemption value, the CSR makes the points worth more) and using them to pay for the flights on the Chase travel portal (think of this like Expedia). You have to decide which option uses less points.

So using your screenshot, I think I’ve found the cash value of the tickets vs. the points needed to book the same tickets as award seats.

Your dummy RT economy booking for two is $2,839.42 with taxes and fees, which will cost you 227,154 UR points if you book it through the Chase portal using your CIP (1.25x redemption bonus), or 189,295 UR points if you book it using a CSR (1.5x redemption bonus).

The same flight if booking award travel with United directly is 230,000 UA miles + $103.22. So for this particular flight, booking through the Chase travel portal will be cheaper (less points and out of pocket cash for taxes and fees).

However, I noticed the reason why your award flight is costing so many points is because your DSM>HND leg is 80k UA miles! If you book a Saver Award, it’s only 35k UA miles each way, or 140,000 UA miles + $103.22 for 2 R/T economy tickets, which is waaay less than what you’d pay in UR points on the Chase travel portal.

Then it occurs to me that you might not be seeing the 35k UA miles Saver Awards because those are, as you can see, “exclusively available to you as a MileagePlus Chase cardmember,” which goes back to why having the MPE can really come in handy when booking award travel.

If, say, you and DH each got the MPE cards, even at the lowball public offer of 40k UA miles, then you’d have access to this increased Saver Award availability and each of you would only need to transfer about 30k UR points into 30k UA miles to book a R/T 70k UA miles economy Saver Award.

Hope this helps more than it confuses.

I actually was able to see the 35K on the returning flight. I must not have looked hard enough for the departing flight lol. I was backwards on the airports, too. I thought HND was closer to Disney and NRT closer to the city, but by train HND is actually closer to both. It would be nice if we could fly in and out of HND to save the hassle of trying to get used to two different airports. I think for the most part I understand how it works. I was a little confused by the difference between using UA vs UR, but I think I get it now. We basically will just need to see which one is cheaper when we are able to book tickets for our dates.

Is 35K a pretty good deal? It seems way cheaper, like you said, than the 80K. I'm not sure if I should be waiting for an even cheaper one or if I should try to book them when we have enough points. The problem is we just started our CIP so I hope the flights will still be available when we have enough UR to book.

 

[pillow]

Not to temper the enthusiasm here but one comment on Reddit said this: Lurker says, "not currently". Which means no. Timeline of "future" is always sketchy. Not that I'm not hopeful too.

Until there is a defined "this will go into affect on XX date" this just seems like a rumor to get people to keep their cards open and hope, LOL!

Hey a girl can dream . . .

 

[Lain]

I actually was able to see the 35K on the returning flight. I must not have looked hard enough for the departing flight lol. I was backwards on the airports, too. I thought HND was closer to Disney and NRT closer to the city, but by train HND is actually closer to both. It would be nice if we could fly in and out of HND to save the hassle of trying to get used to two different airports. I think for the most part I understand how it works. I was a little confused by the difference between using UA vs UR, but I think I get it now. We basically will just need to see which one is cheaper when we are able to book tickets for our dates.

Is 35K a pretty good deal? It seems way cheaper, like you said, than the 80K. I'm not sure if I should be waiting for an even cheaper one or if I should try to book them when we have enough points. The problem is we just started our CIP so I hope the flights will still be available when we have enough UR to book.

The Saver award is United's lowest "cost" mileage award, so 35k UA miles is as good as you'll get one way to or from Japan. You're not going to find a cheaper award seat than Saver, and Saver awards are capacity controlled so there's limited inventory per flight, then you'll be paying the standard award miles or cash. Your flights could get "cheaper" if the cash fare goes down, which will mean less points when booking through the Chase travel portal.

 

[wendow]

@pillow Did you change your avatar? It looks the same, yet different

 

[Lain]

@pillow Did you change your avatar? It looks the same, yet different

She did!

(Wasn’t the old avatar in front of the Diamond Head sign?)

 

[Albort]

The Saver award is United's lowest "cost" mileage award, so 35k UA miles is as good as you'll get one way to or from Japan. You're not going to find a cheaper award seat than Saver, and Saver awards are capacity controlled so there's limited inventory per flight, then you'll be paying the standard award miles or cash. Your flights could get "cheaper" if the cash fare goes down, which will mean less points when booking through the Chase travel portal.

@Haley R There is a 3rd option if you do not want to to get the MPE. awardhacker doesnt show it for some unknown reason. But you can also transfer to Virgin Atlantic which i think requires 70k RT for ANA. This of course, may require you to find your flight to/from ANA destinations... so perhaps you can do a double trip or something. Go to Disneyland?