Chase Sapphire Preferred

Airfare Deals: Jumping But Not Biting

The School Calendar Rules Travel Time
We are no longer tied to the school calendar.

My daughter graduated from high school this June (hooray!), so we are entering a new phase of life.

For the first time in 13 years, our travel plans will not be dictated by the public school calendar.

As parents well know, travel during school breaks and over the summer is considered high season in terms of airfare and hotel rates.

Flights and hotel rooms are expensive and award availability is limited.  Parents with kids in school simply don’t have the same flexibility as free agents.

We are not quite empty nesters because my daughter is living at home while attending community college.   My husband is looking forward to retirement soon.   That will expand our opportunities for leisure travel.

There are lots of places we want to go, with Japan at the top of the list.

Bargain Flights are Back!

Have you noticed that the airwaves these days are filled with airfare deals?

My inbox and twitter feed are chock full of amazing airfare bargains.

Getting in on these deals requires you to act fast and to have schedule flexibility.

But the deals are fantastic!

  • $99 to Europe.
  • $500 roundtrip to Asia.
  • $19 for domestic flights.

Check out these recent offerings posted by The Flight Deal:

The Flight Deal is One Source for Bargain Fares
The Flight Deal is One Source for Bargain Fares

In terms of frequent flyer miles, I have a stash of American Airlines and United miles, as well as some British Airways and Southwest miles.

My strategy going forward is to spend down my miles balances and to focus on cash back opportunities.

Growing Your Travel Savings Account

Earlier this year, I opened Capital One’s Venture Card.  This card earns 2 times points on all purchases.  Rewards points can be redeemed for travel expenses.

I also opened a Chase Sapphire Preferred Card early this year.  This card earns 2 times Ultimate Rewards Points on restaurants and travel.  These points can be transferred to the several airline partners or cashed out for statement credits.

Cash Back is King

I plan to concentrate my spending on the Venture card, with the exception of most travel purchases that will go on the Sapphire card.  Cash back is still king, but Ultimate Rewards points can be used as miles or cash.

Both the Venture card and the Chase Sapphire Preferred card carry annual fees, which are waived the first year.  I have heard it is easy to get the fee waived on the Venture card.  That is not the case for the Sapphire Preferred, so I will probably will probably cancel that card when the fee comes due.

In the meantime, I will be accumulating points in my “travel savings accounts.”  These points are a lot more liquid than miles, it part because they are good for any bargain tickets you may grab, and also because partial redemptions are possible.

Has your points collection strategy changed, in light of the raft of cheap flights?

 

 

How I Leveraged My Bathroom Renovation Into a Spring Break Trip to Florida

Spring Break in Florida
Spring break in Florida, here we come!

Our 40-year old townhouse is in desperate need of repairs.

What with the original bathrooms, and leaks springing left and right, it was past time to take action.  Of course if you defer your home repairs like we did, you find yourself facing some major expenses all at once.

Luckily, I met Carlos the contractor when I was out walking the dog one day.  Carlos can fix anything and is super nice and flexible.  Our arrangement was that we would pay Carlos for the labor, and that we would purchase the materials.

Since I knew we would be racking up charges, I saw this as an easy way to meet the minimum spend requirements on some new travel rewards credit cards.

My Travel Rewards Credit Card Applications

My remodeled bathroom
My remodeled bathroom

It had been over six months since I had applied for a travel rewards credit card, and there were several cards with large sign-up bonuses on my wish list.

Purchasing materials for the home renovation would be an easy way to meet hefty initial spend requirements.

Warning — if you don’t pay your credit cards in full and on time every month, you should not be in this game!

Barclay’s U.S. Air Dividend Miles Card

The Barclay’s U.S. Air Dividend Miles credit card was offering 50K bonus miles after the first purchase and payment of the annual fee.  This card was on the verge of retirement due to the US Air – American Airlines merger.  I had applied once before, and was not approved, so this was my last ditch effort to rack up 50K miles before the merger.  I applied, and was denied once again, for having too many recent credit card applications.  Fortunately, the bank did not do a hard pull of my credit report, so no skin off my back.  This card is no longer being offered.

Chase’s Sapphire Preferred Credit Card

The Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card offers 40K bonus points after completing a minimum spend requirement of $3,000 within the first three months.  You can get an additional 5,000 Ultimate Reward Points by adding an authorized user.  Ultimate Rewards points are great because they are easily transferred to a variety of frequent flyer programs.  The card pays two times points on travel and restaurants.  There is a $95 annual fee that is waived the first year.  I wrote yesterday how I used 45,000 Chase Ultimate Reward points earned from opening the Sapphire Preferred credit card to finance our Amtrak Auto Train trip to Florida.

Capital One’s Venture Card

The Capital One Venture rewards card offers 40,000 bonus points to new applicants who meet a minimum spend of $3,000 within the first three months.  The card pays two times points on all purchases, and carries a $59 annual fee which is waived the first year.  After meeting the initial spend requirement, I had 46,000 points which could be used to offset $460 in travel expenses.  The Venture card is not a favorite among travel bloggers — which I think is crazy because it has a decent sign-up bonus, earns a great rate on all spending, allows flexible redemptions for travel expenses (while still earning frequent flyer miles on your purchases.)  I have read numerous reports of people having success in getting the annual fee waived, sometimes for two years in a row.

Gift Card Purchases for Home Improvement Stores

The last method I used to accrue free travel to Florida was to purchase gift cards for Home Depot and Lowes at an office supply store with my Chase Ink Bold business credit card.  The Ink Bold card earns 5x Ultimate Reward Points for purchases at at office supply stores like Staples and Office Depot and Amazon.  My contractor used these gift cards to purchase supplies for the renovation, and we used the cards to order plumbing parts, medicine cabinets, light fixtures and more.  When possible, we shopped through an online shopping portal to earn extra points and miles for our purchases.

A “Free” Trip to Florida for Spring Break

My daughter is graduating from high school this year so this was our last chance to take a spring break trip together.  She asked if she could invite a friend to come along, a request that was easy to accommodate thanks to miles and points.

Our trip was not completely free, of course.  But through the strategies outlined above, and prior accrual of points, we were able to enjoy our round trip travel on the Auto Train and four out of five nights hotels in Florida for free.

To compare current credit card offers, click here.  If you need a good contractor, drop me a line.

Catch the Auto Train to Florida Via Amtrak Guest Rewards

Amtrak Auto Train Station in Lorton, Virginia
Amtrak Auto Train Station in Lorton, Virginia

The best thing about the Amtrak Guest Rewards program is that the points redemptions have a fixed cost.  That is, the cost of a trip paid with points does not vary in accordance with demand.

There are blackout dates on popular travel days when you cannot redeem your points for travel.  But if you can work around those dates, you can find great value.

We recently returned from a spring break trip to Florida on the Amtrak Auto Train.  This was a great adventure and a lot of fun, because we were able to use our points to reserve sleeper compartments.

Travel Free on the Amtrak Auto Train with Miles and Points

The auto train departs from the Lorton, Virginia station south of Washington, DC every day at 4 p.m.  It arrives in Sanford, Florida, near Orlando, the next morning by 10 a.m.  Your car travels with you.  If you pay $50 extra for priority off-loading of your vehicle, you can be on your way within minutes of arrival.

Cost of the Auto Train: $1,435 or 4,500 ponts?
$1,435 or 4,500 Amtrak Rewards points?

I traveled to Florida in style with my daughter, her friend, and our Honda Civic Hybrid for 45,000 points.  The car transport costs 15,000 points one way, and a “roomette” sleeping compartment, which sleeps two, costs 15,000 points.  Since there were three of us traveling, we required two compartments.

I was able to instantly transfer 45,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Amtrak, to get the trip for free.  The points were earned by opening a Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card.  The cash value of the points was $450.

Because we were traveling in “high season,” we received three times that value for our points.  The cost of the one-way trip paid in cash would have been $1,435.  The cost is less at other times of the year — but if you have kids in school — your vacation times are dictated by the school schedule.

I do believe I have discovered the best value in the world of miles and points for budget domestic travel.  It’s not exotic or foreign, but it is a whole lot of fun.

What’s It Like Traveling in a Roomette on the Auto Train?

Yeah Florida!
Hurrah Florida! It was great to catch some rays after the long winter.

If you are traveling in a sleeping car, you have the services of a porter to make up your bed at night, and to assist you with you bags.  You can eat in the dining car, or they will bring your meal to your room, complete with a white tablecloth.

The roomettes are very well designed.  Each compartment has a closet to hang your coat, some storage shelves, curtains for full privacy, clean towels, an electrical outlet, and a night light.  The porter makes up the lower bunk with fresh sheets, a futon like mattress pad, two pillows, and a blanket.  The bed is quite comfy, and the lower bunk offers a view of the scenery whizzing by.  I didn’t try the upper bunk, but it is fairly spacious, and certainly comfortable enough for kids.

There is a drink station in each car for free coffee, tea, and hot chocolate.  The sleeping cars are double decker.  If you are on the upper deck, you will likely have to go downstairs to use the bathroom, though some sleeping cars have a bathroom on the upper level.  There is a small shower with an adjacent dressing room on the lower level, if you are so inclined.

The dining car on the auto train.
Meals are included in the ticket price. My daughter and her friend enjoyed breaking up the trip with a visit to the dining car.

There are several dining cars to accommodate guests, and a lounge car with limited WiFi passwords.

A full dinner is served in the dining car.  The dinner service offered bread, salad, ice tea, a choice of five entrees, dessert and coffee.  The food was quite decent.  There is also a continental breakfast of orange juice, coffee, cold cereal, warm muffins, and bagels.

Both meals are included in your fare.

The auto train features Disney movies in the lounge car in the evenings.

The negatives:  no WiFi in the sleeping cars; small bathrooms with tiny sinks, loud announcements in the morning calling you to breakfast.

It was great to arrive in Florida refreshed and ready to start our vacation!

Do you have any questions about the Auto Train?  Ask away in the comments!