FUCK...Citi must have changed that somewhat recently...I guess I'll just use that on travel now

EDIT: It looks like all the cards that have the availability to get $100 worth takes 10,000 points, but anything lower and it's not .01 per point. So Lowe's and Home Depot don't have $100 cards, which is bs, but Macy's, Sears, TJ Maxx, etc. etc (46 total cards) you can get $100 for 10k points

[Edited on May 9, 2013 at 2:28 PM. Reason : asdf]

5/9/2013 2:17:20 PM

I have a semi-related question as to card usage while abroad. Im headed to Europe this summer and i'm trying to figure out what card to use.

SECU Cards (Debit, Credit, or Global) - 1% for transactions conducted in two currencies and 0.8% for transactions conducted in one currency (could someone please explain this for me, i read on MMS that you normally want the card charged in local currency).

Citi AA Amex - 3% FTF

(Coming soon) Chase Forward - 3% FTF

Obviously the lowest fee is to use one of the SECU cards. But if something was to happen and my card was to get hacked, is it just as easy to have the money refunded by them as it is through a credit card agency?

Also, as far as converting money goes, how do y'all normally do it? Wait until you arrive and withdraw it from an ATM (using SECU Debit or Global Card), or put things on your credit card, or what? I definitely planning on avoiding the crazy airport exchange rates.

Thanks for any help!

5/9/2013 2:33:38 PM

^^ thanks for doing the additional research. annoying they don't have those $100 cards for Home Depot and Lowes. How did you find the 46 cards which are available in $100 values?

Quote :

"Wait until you arrive and withdraw it from an ATM "

That

5/9/2013 2:38:30 PM

No, it's not just as easy.

[Edited on May 9, 2013 at 2:38 PM. Reason : ^^]

5/9/2013 2:38:34 PM

^^On the left hand side there's a filter for point value, so I bumped the minimum up to 10k points...so any card left at that point should qualify

note: I didn't click on every card to make sure what I'm saying is correct, just spot checked a handful of them and it held up

5/9/2013 2:41:09 PM

If you get the Citi Preferred card, it gives you access to the better redemption options in your ThankYou account. That's about all the card is good for, so it might be a good card to move to if you're converting from a card with annual fee or something.

They even put GCs on sale, occasionally. Last year they had $50 Amazon GCs for 4500 points, which was pretty sweet.

[Edited on May 10, 2013 at 8:22 AM. Reason : b]

5/10/2013 8:20:19 AM

Quote :

"I average $5,000 a year in grocery stores (what do you all spend there?), so with my 3% back I'm getting $150 a year, 6% would net me $150 additional, minus the $75 fee. So I was thinking about getting the card just for groceries, but I think I'll pass..."

$300 - $75 > $150

I don't see why you wouldn't get it.

[Edited on May 12, 2013 at 12:31 PM. Reason : .]

[Edited on May 12, 2013 at 12:32 PM. Reason : From the numbers on the Amex site ~6k a year in groceries.]

5/12/2013 12:28:21 PM

Quote :

"$300 - $75 > $150"

For sure, but I already use one card for restaurants and another for gas and groceries...i guess it's not worth $75 a year to me to have to use yet another card, and use a different card for each of those categories.

5/13/2013 12:23:47 PM

Annual Fees

5/13/2013 6:59:59 PM

saw this posted on slickdeals, looks like this is a deal that pops up every once in a while. Only valid May 14-17

75,000 AMEX Membership Rewards points with $10,000 in purchase within 4 months of the card membership.

3x pts on airlines (Priceline Express deals: considered as air fare in AMEX MR system)
2x pts on gas, shipping, adversitising.
1x pts elsewhere

http://cc.ebay.com/americanexpress-LTO?customid=eZSEOrywEeKTFaYqsUvgHAGy83_K0lY3_0_0_0&pub=5574652453&afepn=5337259887&campid=5337259887&afepn=5337259887

Bonus ID: A3ZA
Offer valid for applicant who doesn't have AMEX Business Gold, Green or Platinum within the past 12 months.
Offer valid for from May 14 through 17, 2013
Annual fee waived for the first year, then $175 afterwards

5/14/2013 12:11:19 PM

That's their standard offer for 10K spend. synapse and I managed to get the same thing with 5K spend.

5/14/2013 12:23:51 PM

Sweet. Just sold ~60,000 chase UR for ~$900 not too shabby.

5/14/2013 3:53:21 PM

hmm...where? Currently sitting on ~124k

5/14/2013 3:59:01 PM

Bruce/flighthunter/info@buyingmiles.net

5/14/2013 4:05:36 PM

Was just looking at that site. Guess I'll submit a quote once the statement closes tomorrow. https://sellmyrewards.com lists a similar redemption rate as you got. Looks like they bumped up the rates from their faq since the calculator there lists 1.7c per point so that's a little over $2100 for 124k.

Quote :

"Q: how much will i get paid for my chase UR points? A: it depends how much you sell us at a time. from 10,000 to 24,999 1.1 cents 25,000 to 49,999 1.2 50,000 to 74,999 1.3 75,000 to 99,000 1.4 100,000 to 249,999 1.5 250,000 and up 1.6"

5/14/2013 4:15:47 PM

I told him I had a referral, so he most likely decided to give me a good rate, or perhaps, like you said, he may have raised them. Apparently there's some "big Jewish holiday" coming up

[Edited on May 14, 2013 at 4:18 PM. Reason : calc on his website says $900 for 60,000 chase UR]

5/14/2013 4:17:03 PM

So annoying trying to value pts. I do so little international travel, I'm thinking about dumping them all sans Southwest.

5/14/2013 4:19:20 PM

MMMMMMmmmm sweet sweet cash

American Airlines 93780 $1150.00
United 51211 $660.00

I have over 150K delta miles but his offer was barely over 1-1 so I decided to hold off for now.

5/14/2013 5:14:19 PM

As did I. 50000 miles for about $640

5/15/2013 10:05:08 AM

Where'd you get that rate for delta miles?

5/15/2013 10:26:51 AM

Sorry - those were AA miles.

5/15/2013 10:38:13 AM

Got a quote from the buyingmiles guy for $1800 for just under 128k points. Sellmyrewards lists ~$2200 so think I'll look into that one.

5/15/2013 10:40:58 AM

^What miles?

So many sites I feel like we need to create a comprehensive list and rank em.

5/15/2013 10:44:39 AM

Chase Ultimate Rewards.

5/15/2013 10:45:48 AM

Wish I had all those pts back I redeemed for 1%

5/15/2013 10:53:22 AM

With my luck, I'll get shut down as soon as I transfer it since you're technically only supposed to transfer to yourself or a spouse.

5/15/2013 11:01:34 AM

Yeah, it's my first xfer for Chase. I'd def stick to making a large xfer than making lots of small ones. I was also pretty insistent I get the money first.

5/15/2013 11:11:09 AM

$150 PNC bank credit hit early. Wish the banks had more sign up rewards.

5/15/2013 11:12:50 AM

^Banks are usually too much of a hassle for me. Although Citi does have a 40k point bonus going on right now...

[Edited on May 15, 2013 at 12:26 PM. Reason : f]

5/15/2013 12:26:38 PM

You mean a citi bank account?

5/15/2013 3:11:21 PM

Anyone want to PM me your name as a referral for Bruce the Flight Hunter?

5/15/2013 10:58:25 PM

PM Sent

5/15/2013 11:01:49 PM

^^^yes, Citi Gold Checking.

5/16/2013 9:27:35 AM

Link?

5/16/2013 10:41:43 AM

Should I go ahead and close my Amex Premier Gold/Southwest cards so I can churn them sooner?

I've had both for about 2 months

[Edited on May 16, 2013 at 9:55 PM. Reason : ]

5/16/2013 9:43:48 PM

I'd open a southwest business and then use the old one as leverage if you get denied.

5/16/2013 11:12:48 PM

I tried that early, but Chase was being weird because the account had been open less than a year.

5/17/2013 9:48:54 AM

ha go figure. As soon as I transfer the points to Bruce for $1900, I finally get a message back from the sellmyrewards people offering $2032 for 127k Chase UR points. And damn those payfal fees.

5/17/2013 10:29:56 AM

Got an offer in the mail for 50,000 AmEx points after spending $1,000 in three months. Annual fee waved for the first year; $175 a year after that.

Would this be a good offer to start with or should I look for something better. I have zero experience with this sort of thing. How many points would I need for a normal $350-$550 flight? It would be great if I could roll this into a free flight to go snowboarding out west next winter.

I'd probably cancel it after 11 months and look for another offer to avoid that $175 annual fee. Any caveats I should be aware of?

Do most gas stations, grocery stores, and online retailers accept AmEx?

Quote :

"That's their standard offer for 10K spend. synapse and I managed to get the same thing with 5K spend."

I could spend 5k in four months for 75000 points if that deal came along again.

[Edited on May 22, 2013 at 1:27 PM. Reason : s]

5/22/2013 1:19:10 PM

50K pts will pretty much get you anywhere round trip for free domestically.
No caveats, but be sure you xfer/spend your pts before you cancel.
Almost all large business accept amex.
The 5K/75K deal seems to pop up sporadically for very short time periods.

5/22/2013 1:33:29 PM

Doing some reading about it on Slickdeals forums. Is the 75k point deal always on the Business Gold card or do they offer it on personal cards? I see a lot of people are getting away with using their SS# for the TIN.

5/22/2013 1:43:29 PM

^ that's what i did.

and damn i would love to get 50k points for $1k spend.

5/22/2013 1:55:40 PM

Ditto.

5/22/2013 1:58:29 PM

Seems like a good enough deal. I wish I didn't know about the 75k/$5k deal now. I guess I could always apply for the 75k/$5k deal if it pops up in the next few months.

5/22/2013 2:02:19 PM

i formed and LLC for some contract work and i could have sworn that the credit card offer that came in the mail yesterday was the amex business gold...and i'm fairly certain it was 75k

maybe not, though...maybe it was only 50k

does 50k get you only one round-trip ticket?

5/22/2013 2:03:03 PM

It all depends where you fly, time of the week, holidays, etc.

5/22/2013 2:35:03 PM

75K amex pts just hit

5/23/2013 5:36:31 PM

any stellar personal credit card deals right now?

5/25/2013 6:56:34 PM

MMS has been doing a series on Barclays Lufthansa 50,000 mile card, but I haven't looked into it too much.

Just spent 20 minutes on the phone with Hilton support and their customer service easily rivals AMEX for the best I've ever received. When you look at AXON, GLON, seasonal rates, fifth night free, and their entire pts reevaluation, it's convoluted as fuck.

5/25/2013 7:14:43 PM

^Saw that - I wanted to get it - but I'm not sure if I can cash out the points or transfer to other programs.

5/25/2013 10:16:59 PM