british airways

Tag Archives for british airways.

6 ways I’d personally use 100,000 Chase points

by Harlan 4 Comments

use 100000 chase points

I’m bananas over the new offer to earn 100,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points with the Chase Sapphire Preferred card. (Here’s my recent post on this incredible offer with even more ways to redeem Chase points.)

Which got me thinking – how would I use 100,000 Chase points?

use 100000 chase points

I mean, I could always go back to Mexico

I love thought experiments like these. So while you might use them differently – there are so many ways and everyone has a different travel style – here’s what I’d get up to at this moment in time. We like the points!

How I’d use 100,000 Chase points

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Chase Sapphire Preferred 100K offer: It doesn’t get better than this!

by Harlan 6 Comments

Chase Sapphire Preferred 100K

Chase Sapphire Preferred 100K? Holy wow am I kicking myself. Chase keeps upping the ante on the Chase Sapphire Preferred. First 60K, then 80K, and now – 100,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. WOW.

I don’t think it’s going to get better than this. 100,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points are worth:

  • $1,000 in cash 
  • $1,250 toward travel booked through Chase (flights, hotels, cruises, car rentals, and excursions)
  • Potentially much much more when you transfer points to travel partners like Hyatt (my favorite), United, British Airways, Air Canada (coming later this year), and others
Chase Sapphire Preferred 100K

Get back to travel in a big way with the new Chase Sapphire Preferred 100K offer

If you’re eligible for this offer, this is your sign! There’s no end date yet – get it while it’s still around!

Chase Sapphire Preferred 100K offer – what to know

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Booked: Four all-inclusive nights in Cabo worth $2,600 for $202 + 145K points (1.8 cpp)

by Harlan 7 Comments

hyatt ziva los cabos

For the third year in a row, I’m heading to a Hyatt all-inclusive vacation in Mexico with an old friend from Chicago. The past two years, we’ve gone to the Hyatt Ziva Puerto Vallarta.

This year, we’re switching it up and visiting the Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos! I’ve never been to Cabo – and a look at all the restaurants at the hotel was all the convincing I needed.

We could’ve booked PVR again – it all lined up with points – but said nah, let’s visit a new property. After this trip, I will have been to all the Hyatt all-inclusives in Mexico with the exception of the Hyatt Ziva Cancun. And if it’s anything like the past two years, it’s going to be an amazing beach chill-out.

hyatt ziva los cabos with points

Y’all know I can’t pay out-of-pocket for this rn

But I have aggressive financial goals to raise my net worth to $500,000 in the next five years. So there was no way I’d remotely consider paying for this experience.

Instead, I used my points arsenal for flights on Alaska, American, Southwest, and United – and the Hyatt stay itself – with help from Chase Ultimate Rewards points and Amex Membership Rewards points.

Here’s how I saved $2,637 and paid a cool $202 out-of-pocket. A much better price!

Los Cabos with points 2020

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The Top Card for Beginners? Yeah, the Chase Sapphire Preferred

by Harlan 12 Comments

a man standing on a beach

I’m sure it’s happened to you at some point. A friend asks, “How do you do it?” Take all these trips to places like Hawaii, Tokyo and Osaka, Dublin, Barcelona, and more. How do you get free hotel rooms that cost hundreds of dollars a night?

“I want to travel like you do,” they say. “Where do I start?”

And you have that moment where you’re thinking, “Well for starters, using that debit card for everything you buy isn’t helping anything.” *cough*

You ask about their spending habits. “Do you shop online?” Definitely use a shopping portal – get free miles for clicking a link.

Chase Sapphire Preferred

You can stay at the Hyatt Ziva Puerto Vallarta for FREE with Chase Ultimate Rewards points

And sign up for dining rewards while you’re at it because you never know when you’ll get some extra miles in your account – especially if you live in a mid-sized to large city.

But as far as cards go… where to begin?

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8 Easy Tricks to Earn & Redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards Points

by Harlan 7 Comments

a group of pedal boats on a beach

This one’s for my friends who say, “I never earn enough points to get a travel reward,” or, “Points are useless once you have them.”

The truth is you don’t have to invest a ton of time into learning how to use your points. You can do well by using 1 or 2 tricks to earn and redeem for travel.

And if you do that, you will still come out way ahead of most people.

a man smiling in front of a bridge

I used Chase Ultimate Rewards points to stay in San Francisco this April

These “tricks” require very little finesse – just that you pay attention. Perhaps now is a good time to form a habit loop?

Even if these methods are ALL you ever learn, they’re an incredible place to begin. And once you’re comfortable, you can build from there – baby steps.

4 ways to EARN Chase points

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Chase Avios 100,000 Point Offers: Deals for the Rest of Us

by Harlan 9 Comments

a sign on a pole

Update: This offer is NO longer available. To see the latest credit card deals, click here. 

I’m down to the wire with card offers I qualify to get. Especially with Chase. But their Avios-earning cards are in the few NOT subject to the 5/24 rule.

If you live in an American or Alaska hub (because you can use British Airways Avios points on both airlines) – you should have one of these cards. That includes peeps in Dallas, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle, Portland… pretty much any place with lots of American or Alaska flights. Because on expensive routes, these points are the easiest way to save money.

Most everyone can apply. I got a Chase British Airways card in late 2017 – and definitely LOL/24.

avios 100k offer

I use Avios to visit Memphis, Austin, and Mexico on the cheap

More often in recent time, I’ve been redeeming Avios points. And when you sign up for a 100,000-point offer, you’re basically earning 6X points on the first $20,000 you spend within a year.

About the Chase British Airways 100,000 point deal

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Is the Chase British Airways Card Worth It for 50,000 Points? Maybe.

by Harlan 1 Comment

a group of bicycles parked on a brick road

Update: This offer is NO longer available. To see the latest credit card deals, click here. 

The tiered sign-up bonus for the Chase British Airways card ends on October 5th, 2017 – in one week! Until then, you can earn:

  • 50,000 British Airways Avios points after you spend $3,000 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening
  • An additional 25,000 British Airways Avios points after you spend $10,000 total on purchases within your first year from account opening
  • A further 25,000 British Airways Avios points after you spend $20,000 total on purchases within your first year from account opening for a total of 100,000 bonus Avios

Committing to spend $20,000 on a single card is a lot to ask. And it’s certainly not for most peeps.

chase british airways card

Fly to Amsterdam with British Airways Avios points and ride a bike

But it can be worth it to see this as a 50,000 point sign-up offer to spend $3,000 within the first 3 months – that’s much more reasonable. And forget about the other tiers.

50,000 points for that amount of spending it a respectable sign-up bonus. Especially because this card is NOT subject to the Chase 5/24 rule.

And a thank you to Ben for helping to unravel the numbers of this deal even more!

Pick up 50,000 British Airways Avios points

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Get 6X British Airways Avios Points Everywhere on $20K in Spend – Why I Caved

by Harlan 22 Comments

a screenshot of a credit card

Update: This offer is NO longer available. To see the latest credit card deals, click here. 

You might’ve heard a version of the infamous British Airways 100,000 points deal is back.

It’s a beast of a deal – there’s no doubt about that. And I mean that in a good way AND a bad way.

chase british airways 100,000

Maybe I’ll use my British Airways Avios to visit these ragtag streets in Barcelona again

There are many cons to accept with this deal: the minimum spending, the materiality of the points themselves, and a gigantic black hole of opportunity cost. But let’s call a spade a spade here: at this point I’m taking what I can get.

a credit cards on a marbled surface

I hated this card. Now I’m crawling back on hands and knees. My, how the winds have shifted

And 100,000 of any kind of points is nothing to sniff at. So I got the Chase British Airways card again – even after I brutally dumped it a little over 2 years ago.

A hard look at this 100K offer, OK

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Why & How to Add Your American Airlines Number to British Airways Award Flights

by Harlan 16 Comments

a close up of a ticket

I recently booked American Airlines award flights from Dallas to Albuquerque with British Airways Avios points. I booked it pretty fast and let my British Airways loyalty number auto-populate in the spot for “Membership Number.”

british airways american number

So easy to let this slide

It’s a “blink and you’ll miss it” type thing and easy to overlook.

But, if you have elite status on American Airlines, or certain AAdvantage credit cards with Barclaycard or Citi, you’ll want to change it.

Why to add your American Airlines number

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Just Booked a Trip for Next Weekend in 10 Minutes (Instant Transfers Save the Day!)

by Harlan 9 Comments

a cloudy sky over a red mountain

Also see: 

I’ll never forget the thrill and uncertainty of booking my first award ticket. I thought I’d show up to the airport and be turned away for not paying (or something like that). Can a flight really cost ~$11 when you book with… points?

That was a few years ago. But there’s still something so novel about booking award trips. Some of them are planned in advance, like my upcoming trip to Hawaii. And some are aspirational or in the future, like the Brussels Airlines flights I booked with Etihad miles.

Mmm, love the high desert

Love the high desert!

Long story short, I needed to spend a couple of days in New Mexico to get some work done there. Looking at my upcoming weekends:

  • Next one was open
  • After that, Austin for work
  • Labor Day weekend – nothing available with points
  • Hawaii

4 weekends = a month of plans. I started poking around and realized, holy crap, I’m gonna book this trip for next weekend!

Finding flights

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I Use Miles Because I Won’t Pay Revenue Prices… Right?!

by Harlan 10 Comments

Also see:

Correct me if I’m being thick because I definitely have my “forest for the trees” moments.

Meaning of value... are you in there? Oh, there you are.

Meaning of value… are you in there? Oh, there you are.

I read an article on Point Me to the Plane about a flight that got 2.5 cents per Delta mile.

Then the comments read: if you wouldn’t pay cash for the flights, that’s not how much the points/miles are worth.

But… I use points and miles for flights and hotels specifically because I won’t pay cash for them.

In fact, I’ve planned entire trips (like Hawaii, Paris, RTW/Australia, and Eurotrip 2014 in Lufthansa First Class) that I would’ve never paid for if it weren’t for points and miles.

a screenshot of an airline

I did NOT pay $7,243 for this flight… but I did pay 40,000 Avios + $453 in fuel surcharges. So what are the points worth?

I thought… that was the “point” of points and miles? 

Targeting aspiration AKA value

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Assessing the Benefits of FoundersCard

by Harlan 43 Comments

Also see: 

Update: You can lock in a FoundersCard membership for $295 a year through May 13th, 2016 when you sign-up with my link. This is $100 less than the usual rate!

So you guys know I’m been working toward FIRE (financial independence, retire early) lately. And part of that means ruthlessly cutting out extraneous spend.

So far, I’ve gotten rid of my gym membership, canceled credit cards that no longer serve me, and have cut back on my eating out (more trips to Costco!).

FoundersCard Benefits

You can stay

FoundersCard is $395 a year, which is a little “ouch.” I’m nearly due to the pay the annual membership dues again to keep the card for another year and I looked at it with an eye to cut it.

But, I’m going to keep it for another year.

Here’s why.

The AT&T Benefit

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