credit cards

Did Southwest let Chase declare their points are worth less than 1 cent each?

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My wife has the Southwest Priority Card until the annual fee goes up next year. She just got a spend promo from Chase. These are pretty typical and usually provide 5x points for spend in certain categories. We always sign up for them, but usually can’t max them out unless it’s something good like Amazon spending. I guess you could say I am pretty well-versed on these and the fine print.

We currently have several cards with gas, grocery, and restaurant deals from 3x to 5x, but this new Southwest one caught my eye.

As you can see, it is 4% up to $40 through September. I thought, well, that is pretty good and easy to max out, even if we buy most of our groceries at Walmart, which doesn’t count. But then I read the fine print.

OK, still 4% back up to $40, so doing my public school math, that is $1,000 to get $40, I’m in, or at least I’ll register. But then it dawned on me…why? Why cashback, why not points or miles? Now I know Freedom does this as cash back, but it really ends up being points.

Maybe I’m dumb, but since we prefer airline credit cards, wouldn’t you think Chase would assume we want miles or points instead of cash? If I just wanted a cash rewards card, I’d just do that. I’m sure I’m reading too much into all this, but it will be interesting to see how we earn this bonus. Of course, it takes 6 to 8 weeks because, well, it’s 2025.

My conclusion on this is if they want to pay us 4% cash back instead of the typical 5x points, does that mean Southwest points are worth less than 1 cent each? My reasoning is that if this were 5x points, I’d earn 5,000 points, not $40 for the same $1,000 spend on this card.

If my math is correct, 5,000 points at $40 is about .008 per point.

Next time, Chase, just give me points, it’s a game, not real life, to me in this space. I’m trying to earn a vacation here, not $40.

I’d even add that if I had $40 in Southwest points, which we now know is 5,000 points, I’d be spending them only on Southwest, so the cost for them to provide that 5,000 worth of service would likely be worth less and give them more profit. I suppose Chase doesn’t see it that way.

Are the Changes to Citi AAdvantage Business World Elite Mastercard a game changer?

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I have a couple of small businesses and like all good churners I have a few business credit cards for those purposes. This includes the Citibank American Airlines Work Elite Mastercard. It’s always been an OK card with decent earn rates towards American Airlines AAdvantage miles and the sign-up bonus was good. It’s good for small businesses where you can add and manage additional cardholders. To me, it was about like their other personal platinum-flavored cards. It usually offers a SUB of around 70,000’ish miles and a low annual fee. Earns 2x on some things like telecommunications and 2x on gas as long as you only want 1x loyalty points for that with the other 1x being “bonus” miles only. Yawn.

This card is not to be confused with the Barclay Aviator Business card but yet it’s about the same.

So why are we talking about this card now and how could it be a game changer for a few select people chasing status or benefits?

They are changing this card and how it’s going to reward you.

Citibank just released changes to this card as follows:

Enjoy your new, exclusive AAdvantage Business™ membership benefits as a Citi® / AAdvantage Business™ cardmember, now available to you and your Authorized Users.

 
 What’s new 
 
 • We’ve updated our name to Citi®/ AAdvantage Business™ World Elite Mastercard® to better reflect the new value of your added benefits with the AAdvantage Business™ program. You will not be immediately reissued a new card with this change. 
 
 • With your AAdvantage Business™ membership, miles your company earns from eligible purchases made with the Citi® / AAdvantage Business™ card will now accrue to your AAdvantage Business™ account. They can be distributed to any registered employee at no cost, for use on flights, upgrades, car rentals and more. 
 
 • Each registered cardmember, the Primary and any Authorized Users, earns Loyalty Points toward status from eligible purchases made with the Citi® / AAdvantage Business™ card in their name. 
 
 
 • As a Citi® / AAdvantage Business™ cardmember, your company enjoys waived program requirements. Your miles are always available for you to use, no need to meet the $5,000 spend and 5 traveler minimums. 
 
 Same great benefits 
 
 • Continue to earn 2X miles on eligible American Airlines purchases, 2X miles at telecommunications merchants and cable and satellite providers, and 2X miles on car rental merchants and at gas stations 
 
 • Earn 1 mile for every $1 spent on all other eligible purchases made with your Citi® / AAdvantage Business™ card. 
 
 • As the Primary Cardmember, you’ll continue to enjoy your first checked bag free on domestic American Airlines itineraries, plus preferred boarding on American Airlines flights. 
 
 If you haven’t already, invite your Authorized Users and employees to register with your AAdvantage Business™ account and start earning miles for your business right away. Authorized Users must register to participate in the AAdvantage Business™ program, or their card account may be closed. Visit the travel management portal to get started.

So what? Well, look at the fine print. “In Theory” it seems that your employees (or other additional cardholders in 2-player mode) will earn 1x loyalty points on purchases but as the “business owner,” you will also earn 1x loyalty points on those purchases. While higher-level cards may earn high-level spending bonuses this is pretty sweet but not unusual.

But…Imagine if you will, you have a small business and you have your wife, your college student child, and your deadbeat cousin, and some actual, good employees all spending on this card. It “seems” like “In Theory” that all that cash flow going through those employee cards you would earn extra loyalty points plus business points for what they are doing daily like buying gas. Imagine you have a thriving small business where you have 10 or 20 employees doing this. Citi includes a graphic on this as well to prove my point.

Here it is again from their FAQ:

“Miles earned from the Primary Cardmember and Authorized Users post to the company’s AAdvantage Business™ account. Each card member (Primary and employee) earns Loyalty Points on their card purchases. Loyalty Points earned by the Primary Cardmember post to the Primary’s AAdvantage® account. Loyalty Points earned by the employee post to the employee’s AAdvantage® account.”

Now, maybe it’s not the big of a deal as a standard additional cardholder on your personal account would also contribute to your loyalty points but this allows you to have many employees contribute from the way I read this.

If you are looking to sign up and get the best sign-up bonus for such a card I’d suggest checking out the Frequent Miler blog’s “Best Offers” page as a good place to start your research.

Why Amex Platinum Fine Hotels and Resorts Benefit is worthless to me.

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So I found myself at 7pm on 12-31-22, once again trying to figure out a way to use the American Express Personal Platinum card Fine Hotel and Resorts $200 annual credit. For those living under a rock, this benefit is supposed to be a way to claw back some of the overpriced annual fee. It is basically as useful as most hotel discount rates. I’d compare it to the IHG Ambassador free weekend night benefit but less useful due to the limited locations for the average person.

So I sound really negative but here is why. If you look at the entire list of FHR or Hotel Collection locations there are entire states and major cities without a single location. The Proud Money blog has a nice list for example. Sure California, New York, and Florida all do pretty well but 1 location in Indiana and none in Kansas are just a few examples of holes in this program. This doesn’t even mention locations all over the world that either lack any locations or only have a few (which are all super expensive of course).

Ok so I’m mad I couldn’t figure out how to use this again for the 2nd year in a row and 2023 isn’t looking promising. Maybe I’m just bitter so I’ll give you an example of why this program isn’t worth anything to me.

This is a summary from the Amex website that makes this sound awesome. I’ll overlook the fact that it’s now 2023 and Wi-Fi, like Color TV, should be included at all hotels for free anyway. In some odd way, Amex is promising “strong coffee” but I assume that comes at a price.

Amex promises extra benefits on FHR 1-night prepaid stays or Hotel Collection 2-night stays in addition to the $200 rebate. You can book it far in advance and get the benefit once per calendar year so you could book your 2022 benefit into 2023 and then use the 2023 credit as well. This all sounds good but unless you are already planning to pay for a stay at one of these higher-end properties it might not be your best rate, by far.

So one potential location that would have worked for me is an upcoming trip to Israel that I’m considering so I checked Israel. I was in luck as there are several properties there that could work. Let’s compare the rate for one.

A web search finds the IHG Intercontinental Tel Aviv for $314 per night on Google Maps. Now, this isn’t 100% fair since the $314 is a prepaid 3rd party OTA site and doesn’t include taxes most likely but even the IHG website has it for less than about $350 a night for most nights. But let’s look at the Amex website. Keep in mind that as an IHG member with just about any status at all you will earn bonus IHG points., late check-out, etc. so this offsets any Amex 5x benefits except for the food credit which is usually around $100 if you want to eat at the hotel while in Tel Aviv.

$415 seems high compared to the $314 on Google? Weird that this is around a $100 difference, huh… Now I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt that not all FHR properties are like this. I have found a few that are about the same but at the end of the day, you still aren’t getting the best rate. No such thing as a free lunch as they say.

For this hotel, I could also use around 60,000 IHG points for a free night which I could likely buy at around .5 cents per point or less so about $300. Since I’m an IHG Ambassador status person I’ll likely skip the Amex benefit but this is just one example of many that I’ve found.

I’ve been able to use the $200 airline credit at less than $200 in value for misc junk like miles and such. I’ve also made good use of the Saks $50 credit but I bought stuff I really didn’t need at a store I don’t love, at prices that are much too high so I don’t value that at $100 per year. I think I’m going to have to downgrade my Platinum card for 2023 back to Gold so I at least get 4x at restaurants.

Bottom line: Are there some deals and value to be found with this benefit? Sure, but not for most people, and certainly not for me. When combined with the higher fees and the new 2023 limits on Centurion Lounge access the Amex Platinum card is no longer worth it to me.

$100 Statement Credit off $550 for Chase Sapphire Reserve, targeted?

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I just got a secure message through my Chase account regarding the upcoming $550 annual fee on my CSR. “We recognize this is a difficult time for everyone. As a way to help, we’re providing you a one-time $100 statement credit toward the 2020 $550 annual fee on your Reserve credit card. On an upcoming billing statement (based on your renewal date), you’ll see a $550 charge for the annual fee, followed by a $100 statement credit. We will continue to bill the $550 annual fee in 2021. Because this credit only applies to open Reserve accounts, if you’ve closed your Reserve account or traded to another credit card before your renewal, you will not receive the $100 statement credit. We know COVID-19 has affected people in many different ways. Please check chase.com/StayConnected for updates and helpful ways to stay connected to your accounts.

I wasn’t super worried about the increased fee as I still get value out of the travel credits, insurance and increase in Ultimate Rewards points redemption but had considered closing my account. This is enough to keep me a customer for another year. I don’t find much value in the new Doordash or Lyft credits as I will only use those when I travel but neither service is available in my rural town, yet.

Chase

My state of mind on hotels today

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So I was reading the Travel with Grant blog today and he states how he is in a funk over hotel programs. I agree and attempted to give my 5 cents. Why because it’s free. Not I’m not a troll on Boardingarea. Well maybe I’m sort of a big fan that is opinionated.

So I share some thoughts on most hotel programs below. Keep in mind that I travel 100 to 125 nights a year on business plus vacations and cruises so yes my dogs hate me. My wife travels 75 to 100 nights as well. She is a real IHG Spire loyalist as am I and am a Spire Ambassador (sounds impressive) but I also branch out with Hilton and Marriott a lot. We both hold Silver status with Marriott and I have Diamond with Hilton as well as Gold with Radisson.

Radisson used to be better but 40k a year is worth keeping the card for an odd night or so plus Gold status. I love Radisson Blu hotels and have stayed at a lot of them all over the world.

Hyatt, I love love them but…not enough properties. So I don’t want to waste my stays there.

Marriott, I want to love them, they have properties everywhere, but it’s too hard to earn top tier status. But…once you do you can earn United Silver. But…the free night certs are limited and expire too quickly. I’ve got about a dozen stays in with them this year so far but as a Silver i wonder why I’m not at other chains where my status is higher.

SPG, you should have already moved your points over to Virgin to Alaska when you had the chance. They also have too many places where the hotel selection it too eclectic and it’s not my thing. Points super valuable but a bit hard to rack up quickly in my world.

IHG, I love IHG. They have properties everywhere, well they are weak in Hawaii (come on IHG). As an IHG credit card holder you get a real free night cert that you can use for a year. In addition they have good promos. I also like buying up in points or cash to Intercontinental status for the free night rebates or status share and free weekend BOGO cert although it’s not always the best deal. The IHG card also gives you Platinum status which is a nicer level than some others.

Choice Hotels. They have been going down hill for years. The Cambria properties offer some hope and I really like them but they don’t have Cambria hotels in most areas. In general they are a fancy Wyndham motel or an Ex-IHG,Marriott,Hilton property. The card is OK I guess but I’m not a fan in general.

Wyndham…..They have lied to me many times on promotions and have for years. They have a few good properties but unless you work on a transient labor crew and are forced to “do time” in Super 8’s  or HOJO’s then they are not a good place to be, trust me.

Best Western. They are like an honest Wyndham with slightly better rooms or maybe equal with Choice. The future is bright for them as they seem to be putting in a real effort to improve the hotels but unless you do business travel in a region where they are all over it’s not my first, second or third choice and I’m Diamond with them (don’t ask).

Hilton. You’ll notice they are lumped at the bottom. If it wasn’t for nicer hotels they would be even with Choice or Best Western. They have devalued SO much I’m not sure where the bottom is. I want to love Hilton but they don’t love me back. The Hampton’s are a weak HIX and they devalue faster than I can earn points and I’m a Hilton Diamond. Sure they offer free breakfast and free wifi but isn’t that like free HBO and air conditioned rooms? They also did away with the double dip in another devaluation. 2017 may have seen some of my last stays with Hilton as I watch my Hilton points currency burning in front me faster than I use it. It’s like the Wiemar Republic of the hotel points world. Maybe I’ll start referring to their points as HHonormarks or RReichmarks.

So bottom line is use the cards from the random hotel chains for the perks and odd location awards but Marriott or IHG should be your future until they follow Hilton to the Neverland Ranch. The dynamics change for certain types of travelers I know and I don’t think everyone will agree with me. Just my personal opinion based on my experience and how I’ve been treated by these programs over the years. Plus I’m biased. Now IHG go build some Hawaii properties so I can go there on vacation already 🙂

My advices is to put most of your day to day spend on a good card like Chase Sapphire Reserve and forget doing much spending on hotel cards unless you need the hit to earn a promo, etc. Churn these cards to get points unless your a business traveler and if you are pick the best one that works for you everywhere you go or want awards.

Notice I have no affiliate links in my post so I’m trying to be as honest as I can about my feelings on these properties but keep in mind that I’m a bit biased to IHG in general. 20171218_1448131057734389.jpg

Simple tip for multiple email sign-ups

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One thing I run into with points and miles is the need to have various email addresses for accounts. Stuff like contests, E-miles accounts, etc. One simple tip I saw today HT to CavemanCircus is:

You can use @gmail.com and @googlemail.com interchangeably. Perfect for signing up to a website twice without setting up two accounts.

 

 

Hacking Citibank EMV chip card in France videos

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So I’m online today confirming my new Citi Costco card and decided that I have no life and clicked on the EMV chip card videos.  The first one on train travel in France cracked me up. I was expecting (or maybe not expecting) them to show me some work around for the train kiosks since Citi fails to let you use Chip & Pin. Check it out. Pay close attention to how they give you the Hack to be able to buy train tickets, it’s awesome.

Citi Credit Card with EMV Chip Technology Citi.com

There are also 3 other videos that will teach you some other good travel hacks using your Citi card in France.

How to shop in France and confuse the shop keeper

Have a man show you how it’s done

How to impress two women with your “French” skills

Oh and my review of the new Costco Citi card that kicks in on 6-20-16. It’s awesome except it charges foreign service fees of 3% 😦

Of course the smart folks in the videos won’t fall for the Dynamic Currency Conversion I’m sure….

 

 

 

My attempt to get the other 10k SPG points from AMEX

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I recently got the SPG Amex card with the 25,000 bonus points. They are now offering 35,000 SPG points. I used the Amex live chat feature to see if they would pony up the other 10,000 points or would call my bluff on canceling my card. Here is what happened

amex chat 1

Amex chat 2

amex chat 3

Amex chat 5Amex chat 4

Oh well. I’ve never had good luck with American Express. I guess I need to keep my business with Citi, Chase and BofA who treat me way better.