Just a data point on this; dining on my CSP coded as dining and qualified for 3x; shopping coded as shopping. I think we can extrapolate that packages will code as travel, since they’re sold through the hotel site, and we know that UT tickets code as travel, so unless there’s a great reason to do a package, for the purposes of a purchase eraser I’d do hotel from Disney (or UT) and tix from UT.
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This one isn’t points, per se, and may be obvious to people who have used TripIt for awhile - but this idea just occurred to me the other day when I was stalking Southwest airfares.
So, trying to save points, so I guess it does fit in this thread. 
I was able to score a TripIt Pro subscription for $24 in December (half price I think?), plus stacked on a cash back offer on one of the portals. I used it for a trip I took with DS to Miami - I’m liking the app very much. Reminders for check in times - helpful for Southwest, and are Borat voice very nice.
Automagic notifications of flight and gate changes came in several times well before the airline app notified me.
What is also cool in the Pro version are notifications for fare changes.
I’ve been watching some dates for a potential Orlando trip in the summer but the SW fares don’t seem to be budging too much for the times we can go.
I’ve created browser bookmarks to the SW monthly points calendar view and have been hitting them once or twice a day to save time looking things up.
But, as I was driving the other day, listening to The Land background loop and crunching possible itineraries in my head (as everyone here does, I’m sure) - it occurred to me that I could created several “fake” booked flights in my TripIt itinerary.
Then, these might trigger some fare reduction alerts and save me some mental cycles having to remember to check each morning. (I wouldn’t trust TripIt or any service 100% catching all changes, though.)
So, I chose a potential flight I’d like to take on July 1st and added it to TripIt using the $ price at that time without bothering to book it. This morning, an email and a notification on my phone - Voila!
When you click the button in the email, TripIt even walks you through the steps of getting the refund back.
Plus, you can see the alerts in your profile.
Pro Tip
TripIt is in the middle of what seems to be a slooow transition to a new interface that you can flip on and off. I like the new interface for the summary info, but only the “old” interface has several very useful bells and whistles, like an obvious alerts button, etc.
So, I tend to keep the old interface enabled unless I’m traveling and want the more streamlined new look.
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@JJT - I think you mentioned yesterday that you can combine Chase Freedom Unlimited points to the Chase Sapphire card and 
I can’t believe I didn’t know this!! I thought we had to keep them separate and now I’m THRILLED that I can combine them. Thank you!!! 
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Great!
For others reading this thread: The Chase Freedom cards are cash back cards - but if you have a Sapphire card it turns on their super power and value can be transferred to the Sapphire as Ultimate Rewards points.
The difference being: cash back is cash back, a penny is a penny.
But UR points can be used somewhere like Hyatt or an airline and if you play it right can get 3, 4, 5 or maybe more cents per point value out of them.
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I’ve been meaning to write up a few things I’ve worked on recently, but haven’t had a chance to get my thoughts together.
But, I do want to point out that the Chase Sapphire Preferred is up to an 80K sign up bonus (SUB) - and if you use a referral link from your friend, spouse, POSSLQ, or PSSSLQ you can tack on another 15K Chase UR to that.
There is a $4,000 spending requirement over 3 months to earn the SUB, so if you just earn 1 point per dollar spent, 80K + 15K + 4K = 99,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards. At a minimum 1.5 cents per point, those Chase UR are worth almost $1500 - and in reality could easily be worth twice that or more when used at transfer partners like airlines or Hyatt hotels.
I haven’t done an update to my own points gathering lately - have been busy since the last one!
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I think I finally hit a wall on chase. Waited 2 months to apply for another ink, and still no approval after either instant or almost instant so far.
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We’ve had to call recon for my wife twice now, and she was only 2/24! They are misreading credit reports and don’t discount authorized user cards unless you talk them through it.
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I think I’m 1/24 but this is my third ink in 6 mo…
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I didn’t know where to put this but since this is something regarding points I’ll start here. If anyone has a better thread in mind let me know…
I received an email a month or so ago from rewards for opinions. You can get southwest points for doing surveys. I know surveys can be time consuming but I only grab the high points ones and you get a 500 point sign-on bonus for completing your first survey. I waited for my points to actually show up on my Southwest account before posting. Just incase anyone is interested. All it costs is a little time. I do 1 or 2 a day while cooking dinner or sitting outside with the animals.
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I’ve tried it a few times, but found that more often than not the surveys would make me re-enter a lot of the info already in my profile, then would almost always tell me the survey was closed or I wasn’t in their demographic.
So, I’d end up with some small number of points (25?) after 20 minutes of lost time - and I am a fast mouse-clicker!
Could be I just have bad luck. 
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It happens to me too!
I have gotten some decent ones though, 275, a bunch of 50 and even if you just do the 1 for thr 500 points, its better than buying them, lol.
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This was my experience as well. I did get a few that I was able to trial some new merchamdise or food in exchange for an unbiased opinion. That was cool. However, as a whole the reward was not worth the effort most of the time.
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@JJT what’s the process if DH and I both have Chase Sapphire cards but want to apply again for the points bonus? I think he’s ok, time-wise. I’m probably not. Does he cancel and reapply? Try a different Chase card? I know he could qualify for a business one. I was looking at Amex too but I always back down after seeing the fees.
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The Sapphires have a 48-month requirement for earning the sign up bonus again - most other cards that have a time requirement are 24 months.
So, you can’t earn the SUB until 48 months from the time you last earned the bonus, NOT from the time you opened the card.
What the points people tend to suggest is once you hit the 48 months, downgrade the Sapphire to a Chase Freedom - usually the Freedom with Ultimate rewards, which is the original one but is no longer available as to new applications. The idea there is it keeps open the possibility you can still earn the SUB on the other active Freedom cards if you ever wanted to.
Then you wait (at least a week, probably better: a month), then re-apply for the Sapphire again.
Don’t forget to use your referrals back and forth to get another 15K UR out of it.
As for future card planning, I’d use the 10x Travel best cards list - that is usually a good order of operations in most instances. I’ve mostly followed it and have only deviated when there was a really good SUB on a card (Amex Plat) or I had a plan for other points (Marriott Boundless.)
When it comes to fees: don’t shy away just because they look large.
Most of the high fee cards have a ton of benefits that bring that $ amount down to something more manageable.
Example: My Amex Plat is $695, but I earned 150K MR on the SUB, 30K on my wife’s referral, plus the points from spending. You have to keep track of the perks to maximize, but annually there’s:
- $100 Saks credit
- $195 Uber/Uber Eats credits ($15 monthly, $30 in December)
- $200 Hotel credit
- $200 Airline credit
- Global Entry credit
- CLEAR Credit
- $20 Monthly Streaming
- Free Walmart+ (which in turn gets you free Paramount+ and 10 cents off every gallon of gas at Exxon)
things like airport lounge access travel insurance, make the card a money maker for you if you travel even a little.
Even if I don’t count the value of the ~200K MR I’ve earned via SUB and spend, I’l be ahead on the fee by more than $800 this year.
All of us likely value each of those perks differently, but worst case: pay the fee, earn the SUB, get the perks, and year 1 is absolutely a win.
At the end of the year when the next fee posts, call or chat to see if they offer a retention bonus - if you get a decent one you might decide to keep the card another year.
If not worth it to you, close it. (Also: with card like the Plat you can play the triple dip: some of the perks are calendar year and not card year, so with a single annual fee you might earn them multiple times. (See the Now or Later? section of this blog post for some info on that.)
Frequent Miler has a good spreadsheet where you can estimate what a card might be worth to you.
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Wow! So much great information. Thanks for taking the time to write this all out and share it.
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I’ve been noodling the financial incentives of points, card perks, etc. and thought “hey, the discussion has a search feature. Maybe I can find info thst isn’t too out of date.”
I was NOT surprised to see the post I needed was originated by @JJT. The school year is winding down and my focus is weaker than i care to admit. Thank you, for the time, research, and personal experience invested in this thread.
You. Are. My. Spirit. Animal.
(when I’m not end-of-year-teacher-brain-dead)
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I really started hitting the points hard about this time last year - no idea why I wasn’t really playing before!
So much free stuff to be had!
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Anyone looking to open new cards - 2 things:
Reports that the elevated Chase Sapphire Preferred (CSP) 80K Chase UR bonus may be ending soon, but no date known.
It is the easiest entry into the Chase transferable UR world at $95/yr (plus you get a $50 hotel credit booking through their portal - you have to have at least one premier Chase card to work the points magic, so its the CSP, the CSR (Higher annual fee but moar benefits), or the highest Chase Ink PREFERRED card, also $95.
(AVOID the Ink PREMIERE - it is a cash back only card and NOT Transferrable.)
If applying for the CSP or other cards - don’t forget to play the referral link game with your spouse, partner, friend, family if at all possible for extra points.
SECOND THING: PROBABLY DON’T APPLY TODAY
There’s a glitch with Equifax today where many people are listed as, Ummm, dead. In credit report world, anyway. Up side: NO MOAR MORTGAGE.
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Quick Update: the elevated Sapphire bonus end date has apparently been published: 9 AM EST on 5/25/2023.
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Anyone with Amex Platinum & Gold cards, a nice offer on some cards showed up for anyone thinking about Swolphin stays: Spend $300 or more at Marriott get $120 back. Expires 7/31/23.
FWIW: It showed up on my Platinum, both my kids’ authorized user Platinum cards, AND my wife’s Gold card. So, if taking a couple of trips this summer, could save some serious $.
Sadly for me: I have one prospective stay booked but in in August.
My stay is points + certificates, but if I just added a dinner charge to my resort charges I’d hit this easily.
Maybe the deal will show up again when this one expires!
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