it's earl, he's always in the wrong thread

1/25/2016 10:11:45 AM

I need this thread to come to light!

Marriott, Southwest, Cruises....money back...where do I go? Lead me the ways!

1/28/2016 6:38:18 PM

if you look further up the thread, someone was complaining about how their credit score dropped significantly when they applied for a car loan.


because we all know people want to drive a car aren't going to pay back their loans

1/28/2016 10:17:16 PM

Shouldn't drop THAT much. You'll gain it back. Just don't take out a car loan right before applying for a house loan.

Completely paying off a car loan will also drop your credit score (because it looks like closing an account).

[Edited on January 29, 2016 at 11:28 AM. Reason : s]

1/29/2016 11:27:34 AM

Generally inquiries made within a certain time period only count as 1 as far as scoring is concerned which helps those shopping for mortgage/auto financing. Drop was probably a mix of things: inquiry, new credit account and decrease in average age of accounts.

1/29/2016 11:38:16 AM

free markets don't consider something like "account age" thats a modern day "old money" oligarchist policy.

this is part of what we mean we say its a "rigged system".

1/29/2016 2:46:33 PM

^^ I think you are right. Age went down, etc.

1/29/2016 7:40:46 PM

https://creditcards.chase.com/a1/southwest/50kPremierBizNonAEP?CELL=6RHZ

in case anyone want this.

1/31/2016 7:50:51 PM

Quote :

"Completely paying off a car loan will also drop your credit score (because it looks like closing an account)."

Ugh I was worried this was gonna be true. My car is due to be paid off in the next few months right before buying a house haha

Shit like that is so fucking stupid to me. Congrats you have shown you can make payments on time for 5 years and even paid it off a little early. We are gonna reward you by dropping your credit score since you dont have that bill you have to pay every month anymore.

[Edited on February 1, 2016 at 8:35 AM. Reason : fuckers]

2/1/2016 8:34:09 AM

Quote :

"Completely paying off a car loan will also drop your credit score (because it looks like closing an account)."

Minimally, I'd wager. What does it affect exactly, the average age of your credit accounts? If so I doubt that would move the needle much for most people who have a number of older credit accounts. If it's your only account then maybe.

Though I don't think that's it...

Quote :

"After you pay off the car loan it will continue to show on your credit for up to 10 years which helps your AAoA (Average Age of Accounts) and credit length history."

2/1/2016 9:27:43 AM

^It shows as a closed account similar to closing a line of credit or credit card. I doubt the impact is that large but it's still there.

Sure it varies a bunch. This guy explains it well:

https://www.creditkarma.com/question/my-credit-score-was-on-a-steady-increase-i-paid-off-my-car-loan-and-now-it-dropped-to-690

Quote :

"You paid off a loan, thus reducing your open lines of credit, impacting your average age of credit, reducing the number of ongoing payments, and changing the mix of installment vs. revolving credit. Thus, your score will almost always likely drop after you pay off a loan that has been in good standing. And, if you did not have many credit lines to start, the effect will be even more dramatic. And, yes, the scoring system does punish you for paying off debts that are in good standing."

Obviously not implying paying off a car loan is bad.

[Edited on February 1, 2016 at 10:17 AM. Reason : s]

2/1/2016 10:03:50 AM

What is dumb is I paid off the remaining 6,500 by trading in to Capital one to New car loan immediately which is 32k through PNC at 5.5% (From what I have been told I should re-finance at the end of the year)

I got my FICO yesterday and it is 750.
I went through this thread and picked the best ones.
I have the Barclays Arrival Plus Premiere now. 6K limit.
Revolving Credit line
$6,000.00
Repeat payment status
Not scheduled
Standard purchase APR1
20.24%
Cash advance APR
25.49% https://home.barclaycardus.com/cards/barclaycard-arrival-plus-world-elite-mastercard.html
Essentially will get a 400 dollar travel credit to use. Like that one!

I have the Southwest Chase Card which I have already spent 2K on to get my 50,000 bonus points. For some reason I didn't know about the 99 annual fee up front. Thought it was waived. oh well. Already earned 1,761 .8 points plus the 50K so close to 51 K in a month of awards/points. I applied for the business one 50K to go along with it, but I keep getting told it won't count towards companion and then I am told it will.... (DISCUSS) This would pay for itself ya know?

I have the Marriott Chase card which I have already spent 1,500 on to get my 70,000 bonus points. I also have earned almost 2,863 points already with this card with more Marriott stays coming.


I got the Discover IT card and found out they are very conservative on amounts they said (3K)
But this offer is amazing... 5% Cash Back
5% cash back in categories that change each quarter, up to the quarterly maximum when you sign up **. Plus 1% cash back on all other purchases.
5% Cashback Calendar


Redeem Any Amount, Any Time
You can redeem your cash back for any amount at any time2 And your cash back never expires.

New! Double All Cash Back Your First Year
We double all the cash back you've earned at the end of your first year – only for new cardmembers.7

NO annual fee and I have 0% APR on purchases and transfers which is pretty awesome right?




As I said in an earlier thread I have the First Citizens Rewards Card for 18K. I am essentially going to transfer all balances here for the 0% APR offer.

The PNC Card with 1.75% cash back which i use every single day and then paid off or transfer to the above First Citizens.



I bought furniture from rooms to go and was accepted 1,500 with NO interest for 3 years on a chair that was 850 bucks...(payments of 18.00 a month)--any strategy with a retail card besides using the no interest part?

To NOTE I was denied the Best Buy card by citi and the AMEX Blue card (both because of too many inquiries---so I learned that lesson)

2/2/2016 6:34:37 PM

just talked to Chase about getting my annual fees reversed (or some kind of point promotion to offset them) - there was no budging. I called and explained that I'd like to cancel my Sapphire because the annual fee just wasn't worth it for me, etc, but I was bluffing because I actually really like the card. Was very nice, wasn't "threatening", and she just said she had NO options to do that, and she wishes she could. I then was transferred to the business line for my Ink card and the same thing. Ended up cancelling the business Ink.

Not sure how you guys are successful in getting your fees reimbursed - I'm batting .000 (even with AMEX)

2/3/2016 1:00:20 PM

Haven't been able to get them to waive the annual fee outright on my Ink Plus but have had good luck getting them to give 10k pts for like $3k spend the past couple years when the annual fee came due. That reminds me that I need to call and check this year since it just posted on 2/1. Guess I'll do that tomorrow and see how it goes.

2/3/2016 3:42:41 PM

^^^ Eugh, where to begin. First of all, don't bother with retail cards. I mean, unless you're really cash poor it's just a waste. Also it sounds like you're just sporadically applying for cards on a whim. Don't do that. Most of the cards you listed here either suck (PNC) or shouldn't be bothered with unless you've gotten many other cards first. To put it in perspective the Marriott was my 30th credit card and discover IT was my 50th which I only got for the $150 sign up bonus. 70,000 Marriott points are crap. I actually just xferred mine to United since I know I'd never use them. You would have been way better off by getting the chase ink/bold/sapphire or another one of their southwest cards which most definitely do count towards the southwest comp pass, which I've gotten twice. As far as AMEX is concerned, the 100k platinum bonus comes around sporadically. The 50K gold (personal and business) are also solid and then I'd go for Starwood after that.

2/3/2016 6:16:58 PM

Quote :

"70,000 Marriott points are crap. "

If you don't ever stay at a Marriott...if you stay at a Marriott/Ritz for vacation then they're great. I usually redeem mine for 1.7-1.8 cents per point so 70k points is $1,260. In my case I'd rather take 70k Marriott points over 50k Chase points. Obviously 70k Chase points would be the best as you can transfer Chase to Marriott.

2/3/2016 7:18:34 PM

I have so much to learn.

And they wouldn't accept my business card application but gave me 15K for both personal marriott and southwest.

2/4/2016 2:07:55 AM

^, You need to check out flyer talk and spend 60 hours over the next couple months reading up if you have a sizable interest in the game. There is nothing PNC has that isn't pure garbage all else equal. Most anything outside Chase/Citi/Cap1/Barclay is garbage. I'm not giving up a hard pull without $400 worth of compensation on an AF card which all the decent cards are. I have two cards with no AF to keep my history long, but that's about it.

^^, with regards to your ratios, if you're comparing the cash price solely to that specific Marriott, then your 1.7x probably checks out. My ratios always get calculated from the cheapest comparable option. So if it takes say 25K per night at the Marriott resort, and my cheapest comparable cash option is $300 a night (based off the area) then it is less than your 1.7x. For instance I went to NYC and stayed at a 25K UR a night Hyatt in December when it's higher cash rates in NYC but two days before my travel I saw 4 star hotels for $360 a night on Hotwire within a few blocks of where I stayed. I could have cancelled, gotten my UR back, and booked Hotwire but the 1.44x ratio wasn't worth the hassle. I usually do better than 1.44x but this was fine, had it been $300 a night on Hotwire I may have pulled the trigger. (I think it was actually cheaper than $360 on Hotwire the day of travel but you couldn't cancel at the hotel I was at the day of, they had a two day in advance policy)

^^^^, CSP AF never gets waived. Most people have decent luck with the Ink however, or some point compensation.

[Edited on February 4, 2016 at 10:16 AM. Reason : .]

2/4/2016 10:10:48 AM

See for vacation I'm not looking for the cheapest option I'm looking for the nicest hotel and best ratio for my points so yeah all my stays I usually get close to 1.7 a point or better.

It's not one particular Marriott either. I've used points for Marriotts across the US and the world and easily get 1.7+ per point. I've stayed in London for 45k points per night where the same room was 425GBP/night (1.6 with the conversion). The Barcelona Arts hotels (basically their Ritz) the rooms were going for 1400 euros a night ($1820 US at the time). It was 90k points per night or 2 cents per point (probably my best so far). Also stayed at the Ritz in Beavercreek for 1.9 centers per dollar. Various hotels in NYC, San Francisco, and other US cities and gotten close to that ratio.

So to your point sure if you're looking for the cheapest hotel then you'll get a smaller ratio but for vacation I'm looking for nice hotels to get the best value for my points on and in that case Marriott points are great!

2/4/2016 10:39:15 AM

My point was the cheapest comparable, not the cheapest when I determine my ratio. On a cash basis, if Hotel X and Y are both in NYC/San Fran/Chicago or wherever and X goes for $450 a night, and then a comparable comes along at some point before the free cancellation on Hotel X and I can get Y for $300, then it changes it for me. I guess it's highly subjective but two identical star hotels within 6 blocks of one another are comparable for my purposes in a place like NYC, especially since it's likely I'm familiar with the hotels in question and can make the comparison.

I could book the Park Hyatt NYC for 30K points which is usually $900 a night in NYC during high demand times. I could also book a comparable hotel for 20K that goes for $400 a night. The 3x for the Park is a solid high ratio, but I'm actually spending more than I would against the 2x ratio for the alternative. Again, I'm using the cheapest comparable, not the cheapest. The subjective part is what does one consider comparable? In a large city like NYC, you can find many different hotels of nearly identical value within several blocks that are hundreds of bucks cash value apart in price leading up to your travel. I can't speak to the European areas you mention.

[Edited on February 4, 2016 at 11:29 AM. Reason : .]

2/4/2016 11:28:10 AM

Makes sense. I'm also loyal to Marriott for the lounge access, ~20 points per dollar earn, great room upgrades, etc. So it sounds like you'd pick a comparable hotel whereas I usually stick with Marriott for the benefits.

--Plus on top of that I stick with Marriott because I'm earning 20 points/dollar spent. I'll stay in NYC for a week and get 15-20k points easy. Not to mention the 30k+ promotions they have quite frequently (stay x nights in x months). I guess overall if you travel for work and also use earned points for vacation then sticking with a particular brand is always the best as you'll acure points way faster.

---I guess my point is there's a different methods that work for different people based upon if they travel for work, what type of hotels they prefer to stay in, and where they travel.

[Edited on February 4, 2016 at 11:48 AM. Reason : s]

2/4/2016 11:34:56 AM

Was going to mention park Hyatt but meb beat me to it. Maybe Marriott gives better redemption rates abroad but locally I haven't found anything good. Also find that it was easier to accumulate chase pts via credit card sign ups vs Marriott. 70k pts for a $1200 hotel night is great but I'm not flying internationally for just a one night stay.

2/4/2016 12:53:03 PM

Eh, tpg only values Marriott at .7 and the top tier hotel is 50% more pts than Hyatt so still not convinced.

2/4/2016 1:06:11 PM

I didn't say I only stayed there one night. Usually internationally it's multiple nights at various places. I've found similar redemption rates at ski resorts and large cities across the US (especially at boutique/resort hotels).

Quote :

" Also find that it was easier to accumulate chase pts via credit card sign ups vs Marriott."

You must not travel for work. The fastest way to accumulate points is through credit card spend and night stays period. I get waaaaay more points via spend on hotels and travel compared to the tiny sign up bonuses you get from credit cards. I'll go to NYC for a few weeks a month and easily get 50-75K points PLUS the 30k-50k quarterly promotions that Marriott does. That's only for one month.

Quote :

"Eh, tpg only values Marriott at .7 and the top tier hotel is 50% more pts than Hyatt so still not convinced. "

Again it all depends on status and where you stay. It's not black and white. If you don't travel for work, don't have hotel status and only accrue points via sign up bonuses then sure it's completely different than if you're frequently traveling for work, have status, and accrue much more points via spend and promotions.

--Also which top tier hotel are you referring to? Sure a Ritz Carlton is 90k points...but it's a Ritz (and technically outside the Marriott 1-9 hotel scale). The top tier Marriott hotels are usually only 40-45k points.

[Edited on February 4, 2016 at 1:17 PM. Reason : s]

2/4/2016 1:11:32 PM

It's important to note work stuff. It's all "free" for work people, so it's of no consequence which chain it is I presume. With regards to earning more points due to paid stays at said chain that is true of any hotel credit card. Hyatt and Marriott are comparable to me (domestically) which is subjective I suppose, so the 20-30K Hyatt redemptions are much better than the Marriott 40-50k.

If you have 4 night business stays, booking with the Citi Prestige will get you the 4th night refunded. I listed several of the other benefits of the Prestige earlier ITT but work stays of 4 nights make the prestige a slam dunk. The AF is more than cancelled out by the bennies. I'd have to crunch the numbers based of any one individual situation but I can't think of anything to beat the Prestige if you have 4 night stays.

2/4/2016 3:16:27 PM

Well I got the "no promotions at this time" spiel from the Chase Ink rep when I called. No issues the past 2 years but guess they've tightened things up. The 5x on phone and cable/internet more than cancels out the annual fee each year so guess I'll see what Bruce's new process is and whether it's worth it to keep it for Ultimate Rewards access.

2/4/2016 3:56:53 PM

^^Makes sense and truthfully I can't remember the last time I stayed at a Hyatt as usually Marriott has more properties in a particular location. They also seem to have a lot of boutique and resort/vacation hotels too which is nice.

I didn't know about the Prestige card. I'd lose the 50% point bonus I get with the Marriott card but for an expensive hotel getting that 4th night refunded sounds great.

So in regards to points earned per dollar at a Hyatt versus a Marriott (comparing a 20-30k Hyatt redemption to a 40-50k Marriott redemption). I get 20 points per dollar at a Marriott I believe. For Hyatt you get 5 points per dollar plus a 30% bonus for diamond members. That's 6.5 points. With a Hyatt card I believe you get 3 additional points.

I guess my point being if I'm getting 20 points per dollar and you're getting 9.5 points per dollar then wouldn't I get my 45k point redemption twice as fast as you? That more than makes up for the lower points needed to redeem a Hyatt stay. Or am I missing something?

For example I spend $2,250 and get 45k Marriott points and stay at the Vail Marriott over a holiday. You spend $2,250 and get 22,500 Hyatt points and the Beaver Creek Hyatt is 30k points to redeem a night so you still need 33% more points to stay the night...

[Edited on February 4, 2016 at 4:26 PM. Reason : queue synapse for Vail reference]

2/4/2016 4:17:17 PM

If you're getting 20x on Marriott stays it's a slam dunk, but that is customized to your situation(?) I thought Marriott was 5x on Marriott stays, perhaps you reached a level where they give you 20x because of all the work stays? Otherwise, if there's a hotel card where any Schmoe can spend $2,250 to receive a top of the line stay, I will be applying asap.

I should say that individuals that don't travel would have no need for any hotel card other than a quick churn because of the signup bonuses. If your work is footing the bill for travel it's basically being turned loose in a candy shop to pick out your favorite when selecting which hotel card you want (or I guess maybe your work selects it for you but it's still all good since it's "free").

When David and I are talking about Hyatt vs. Marriott, we are talking about our Chase UR conversion (Freedom/CSP/Ink), not the actual Hyatt and Marriott cards.

[Edited on February 4, 2016 at 4:45 PM. Reason : .]

2/4/2016 4:33:47 PM

No we've kind of all picked Marriott after many heated battles. Haha. We had some Starwood folks but then Marriott bought them.

Quote :

"If you're getting 20x on Marriott stays it's a slam dunk, but that is customized to your situation(?) I thought Marriott was 5x on Marriott stays, perhaps you reached a level where they give you 20x because of all the work stays? Otherwise, if there's a hotel card where any Schmoe can spend $2,250 to receive a top of the line stay, I will be applying asap. "

Again it's depedant on if you travel. With both the Marriott and Hyatt examples I was assuming you had the highest status levels at each hotel (which is easy even if you only travel 25-50% for your job). Platinum for Marriott and Diamond for Hyatt. Marriott you get 10 points per dollar spent no matter what (compared to 5 with Hyatt). So you can take status out of the equation and you still get twice as many points at Marriott. With platinum at Marriott you get another 50% bonus then if you have the Chase Marriott card you get another 50% bonus (so 20). With Hyatt it's only 30% for Diamond and another 3 points per dollar for the Hyatt CC (last time I checked - so 9.5).

Coworkers and I have had many debates about the different hotel brands. It's hard to beat Marriott just because of the sheer quantity of points you can earn and how many properties they have around the world.

Quote :

"When David and I are talking about Hyatt vs. Marriott, we are talking about our Chase UR conversion (Freedom/CSP/Ink), not the actual Hyatt and Marriott cards. "

Gotcha. Yeah if you stay frequently at a hotel you want to use the hotel card. In my case I get a 50% bonus on points earned plus additional benefits (10 free qualifying nights a year, 1 free hotel stay a year, and a few others). So in my $2,250 example 11,250 of those points were earned purely from having the Chase CC.

[Edited on February 4, 2016 at 4:42 PM. Reason : s]

2/4/2016 4:40:42 PM

Looking to add a new credit card to the collection, one specifically with travel benefits since i'll be doing more international travel in the next year or two.

The leading contender is the Venture Card via Capital One (I currently don't have any capital one cards). The Venture card offers a 2 miles x dollar, and 40,000 miles bonus if you spend $3,000 in the first 3 months, which I'm a bit worried about doing. $59 annual fee, which I typically like to stay away from.

The Venture One card offers 1.25 miles x dollar spend, 20,000 mile bonus for $1,000 spend in the first 3 months (easy to do). No Annual fee.

Both are Visa Signature, and no FTF which is important (currently my only FTF free card is the Discover IT, which only has limited acceptance in Colombia where i'm going).

I've also looked at the Barclays travel card, which looks almost identical to the Venture but with a $90 AF.

Recommendations? Credit is excellent.

2/5/2016 12:23:31 PM

Quote :

" The Venture card offers a 2 miles x dollar, and 40,000 miles bonus if you spend $3,000 in the first 3 months, which I'm a bit worried about doing. $59 annual fee, which I typically like to stay away from."

So I've never had the Venture One card but here's my 2 cents. They say 2 points per dollar spent but you can only redeem points for $0.01 cents per point. So 50k points is $500. Period. (I think that's how it works?).

Chase points for example are more valuable IMO. You can either book directly through Chase and get $0.01 cents/point (but an additional 20% off) so a $1000 flight only takes 80k points instead of 100k OR you can transfer those points to like United and get an even better deal.

It's always best to look directly at the airline and see if they have a better deal than Chase. For example if you can get an economy saver flight then you're looking at potentially an $800-1000 flight for only 50k points (e.g. 2 25k international legs). Now your 50k points (that you transferred from Chase to United) are worth almost twice as much.

With the Venture card you can't transfer points to an airline or elsewhere which IMO makes them a lot less valuable.

2/5/2016 12:36:36 PM

Thanks for this insight. I know absolutely nothing about transferring points from Chase.

I have the Chase Freedom card that I use pretty regularly, so those points could be transferred? I guess I need to read up on these.

2/5/2016 12:45:32 PM

Yeah I almost mentioned the Chase Freedom card.

So here's an example:

Buy $5k in a quarter on groceries and get 5% back or 25k points. You can redeem them for a flight directly on Chase's site for 20% off so you get a $313 flight for ~25k points. Decent deal (1.3 cents/point).

OR

Transfer those 25k points directly to United and get a domestic economy saver flight for 25k (2x domestic legs). The cash value of this flight could be $500+ dollars. So right there you've gotten 2 cents/point.

With the Venture Capital one card you get 2% on everything so let's say you get the same 25k points (you'd have to spend $12,500). The only option you have is to buy a flight at $0.01 cents a point. So you'd be limited to only $250 to spend on a flight. Less than the $313 directly through Chase and half if you book directly with United.

For earning points a combination of the Chase Preferred and Chase Freedom card is always good. If you want airline specific benefits (priority boarding, free checked bag, etc) then you'll need to get an airline specific card. All depends on what type of travel you want to do.

2/5/2016 12:58:21 PM

You can get an Uber and redeem it every day for 90 days with the Venture to exhaust rewards.

2/5/2016 1:17:55 PM

You can't transfer chase points by just having the chase freedom.

2/6/2016 10:06:07 PM

^Yeah I don't have it so I wasn't sure. You can transfer it to Chase Sapphire though right? Then transfer outside Chase?

2/7/2016 2:04:11 AM

Looks like I may have to start using my Chase Freedom card more (i've been using my discover since they are doubling points earned in the first year).

I'd love to have a card that doesn't have a Foreign Transaction Fee, so maybe i'll look into the VentureOne card since it doesn't have an Annual Fee, and after hitting the $1,000 spending limit switch back to the Chase Freedom.

2/7/2016 10:05:44 AM

I'd almost go with the Chase Sapphire. 2 points on travel and dining (real points not Venture points) plus no foreign transaction fees. Plus from what I understand you can then transfer your Freedom points to Sapphire to get 1:1 transfer outside Chase (Marriott, United, Amazon, etc).

--They're also offering 50K Chase points right now for the signup bonus. That's an international round trip on United right there.

[Edited on February 7, 2016 at 11:44 AM. Reason : s]

2/7/2016 11:43:03 AM

Yea I was looking at that card, but honestly i'm not sure if I could hit the $4,000 limit in 3 months (even with all the tricks you can use). If I knew I could it the $4,000 limit, i'd make the $95 AF a bit easier to swallow.

The normal points are really that great, I can earn alot more by just using my Chase Freedom. Maybe combined they are good?

Still on the fence about what to do.

2/8/2016 2:50:10 PM

Yeah I don't remember it being $4000 over 3 months when I signed up. Maybe it was $3000? Combined they certainly are great as you can transfer points from Freedom to Chase.

2/8/2016 11:49:49 PM

So Can we really not transfer Marriott earned points to Southwest? And if I can, how do I make it work for me to get the companion flight? They turned down my business yet gave me 15k for personal....

2/10/2016 12:46:55 AM

I have 100K in marriott points. I don't think I can or want the Southwest Plus or Business and I have premiere.
I have 60K in Southwest points. SOOOOO to go along with above.... 90K of my marriott = 60K i need for Southwest Companion. Should I do this or not? I was looking to use my southwest points for some flights and then marriott for the 4 night stay with a free night off points....

Tell me gurus...because I do know if I hit 110K now then companion all of 2016 and 2017..my question is....how do I get it again in 2018 since I don't fly 100 times a year?

Lastly....when I do companion for me and the gf I would split the fair evenly for both of us to make it super cheap or I will pay for it. and when I select my buddy I'll have him venmo a little less than what the flight would cost covering almost all of mine and he comes along. Any other ideas?

2/11/2016 2:30:48 AM

Is Marriott to SW ratio 3:2 ??? That sounds too good to be true. UR also can come into play toward topping off points to achieve Companion pass, couple articles out there for that as well. Regarding your last issue, SW gives you a finite # of switcharoos on the companion pass, so you just can't go: you/gf, you/buddy, you gf. you/buddy the entire time period you have the companion pass . I think it's like 3 switches per year or per calendar year so you have to be a little strategic. I hope I understood your last point correctly ???

[Edited on February 11, 2016 at 10:46 AM. Reason : .]

2/11/2016 10:41:16 AM

I can transfer my Chase points 1:1 to Marriott and I can also transfer my Chase points to Southwest 1:1 so in some ways Marriott to Southwest is 1:1 but unfortunately you can't transfer Marriott or Southwest BACK to Chase. That would be nice.

--Also funny thing happened on my American flight yesterday. Coworker pays $51 for group 1 + the first row of seats behind 1st. I check in 4 hours before the flight and get assigned the seat right next to him because it's the last available one (also with group 1 boarding). Had that happen a few times. Airlines are really trying to get you to buy seats even though you already have a ticket.

[Edited on February 11, 2016 at 5:10 PM. Reason : s]

2/11/2016 5:07:47 PM

Even the three people above me can't answer. I really don't know if it is 3:2 for marriott to Southwest, but is that good or not?

My dilemma would be free for me and the wife to fly her anywhere and I pay but then have to pay for hotel, or just use the points for the free flight give up on companion and use points for hotel....

OR save all this for a grand vacation?

2/12/2016 1:06:59 AM

^ You desperately need to read up on the companion pass on other sites like FT as mentioned earlier, I can go ahead and tell you have plenty of work to do to achieve 110K SW points in a calendar year.

There is no such thing as Chase UR to SW to count toward SW Companion Pass, otherwise everyone would do it because any yahoo can get 110K UR. You must first go through Marriott or Hyatt from Chase to get Companion pass if we are talking about transferring points. Marriott is the best at 270k because you get 7 Cat 1-5 nights in addition to 132k RR which DO count toward CP (which is 110K RR in ONE calendar year). Besides that, the amount of people who do the companion pass without the 50K (or multiple creating 100k) signup bonus for one (or two) of the SW cards is very low, so you may as well just forget it unless you have some sick 20x ratio mentioned above by Neo on his Marriott spend (That would be $13,500 spend at Marriott to equal 270K Marriott points for transfer to RR).

Again, there is plenty of literature online that will break down the SW CP and in your situation can't afford to not look at it to understand the terms of conditions of it. SW CP doesn't fall out of the sky, there is work involved and I wouldn't even begin to think about it until I had all the knowledge around it in your situation. Plenty of people who got SW card in December, completed $2k of initial spend instantly, card (unknowingly) ends statements one week later still in Dec, had 50K bonus of new SW card hit on same day, only to realize the terms are CALENDAR year, not 12 months of your cycle.

2/12/2016 9:55:12 AM

Quote :

"Even the three people above me can't answer. "

Wish I could help but I rarely fly SW.

Quote :

"unless you have some sick 20x ratio mentioned above by Neo on his Marriott spend (That would be $13,500 spend at Marriott to equal 270K Marriott points for transfer to RR)"

I think I hit 300k+ Marriott points Q2 of 2013 due to night stays plus their promotional signup bonuses. Was awesome.

Heh Marriott just renewed my Platinum again and I didn't even earn it last year. Just got my United Silver email too (status match from Marriott). Wonder why.

--Just checked my status. 690,548 points and 291 nights over the last ~5 years. Not horrible.

[Edited on February 12, 2016 at 10:38 AM. Reason : s]

2/12/2016 10:12:27 AM

I guess you are calling SAG and myself idiots because I called and they said transferrable partner points DO work towards companion, so mind you why would I for example not be able to use enough of mine that turn into 110K at SW. And yes I have done MORE than enough reading.

2/12/2016 9:07:37 PM

Just got Hyatt Diamond.

I've received about 88 priceless surprises from IHG averaging about 600 pts per entry.

"transfers from Ultimate Rewards do not count as Companion Pass-qualifying points, nor do purchased points or points transferred from a friend or family member’s account."

Read more: http://thepointsguy.com/2015/09/how-to-earn-the-southwest-companion-pass-for-almost-two-years/#ixzz404I23zQJ

[Edited on February 13, 2016 at 12:14 PM. Reason : ]

2/13/2016 11:59:34 AM

Landon Kara Patterson • 3 months ago
SPG doesn't transfer to Southwest. Ultimate Rewards transfers don't count, but there are some transfers from hotel programs that count (I think Marriott is one of them). You get a terrible exchange rate though


So no one knows unless they have tried.

2/15/2016 1:39:09 AM