Chase Archives - Page 3 of 4

Apr 26 2015

Using Flexibility to Find Premium Award Space to Australia and New Zealand Part 2 (Skyteam)

I wrote last week about how, if you’re flexible enough, you can use United miles to get to Oceania in premium cabins. Today I’m going to write about how you can do something similar with Delta miles, though I should remind you that Kenny from Miles4More has already written extensively about the most direct routes to Australia on miles.

Like with United, the key to finding premium cabin award space is taking roundabout routings, namely, through Korea.

Getting to Australia Using Delta Miles

Aside from the highly preferable Virgin Australia option, you can route through Korea to get to Oceania using Delta miles as well – with no fuel surcharges so the prices are good. Now that Delta has vastly improved its award search engine, you can pretty much find flights you want in business class to Australia or New Zealand (as long as you’re willing to route through Korea).

The costs of these flights are 80,000 miles in business class each way plus taxes and fees – the same as United. I had more trouble finding return itineraries than outbounds. There seem to be options with China Southern as well.

Korean Air flies from Seoul to Sydney, Brisbane, and Auckland, here are some sample itineraries through ICN (all searches for two people):

You can basically try to get to those three cities in Oceania through ICN on Korean Air from any airport they fly from. They fly to ICN from ATL, ORD, DFW, IAH, LAS, LAX, JFK, SFO, SEA, YYZ, YVR, and IAD. I did quick searches from these airports and found premium cabin space from ORD, LAX, JFK and IAD, but there was economy space from all those other airports. It’s worth searching from all of those airports if you want to fly business to Oceania!

One other thing to note – Delta has some weird blackout rules for Korean Air dates that more or less coincide with Korean Air’s peak travel times. The peak times for 2015 and 2016 can be found here.

Screenshot of Korean Air peak times you need to be aware of

It’s worth taking a look at this Flyertalk thread to see people’s different experiences regarding peak times (the short version is it seems like if a flight is during a peak period you can see it on delta.com but cannot book it).If you’re trying to book for those dates, you won’t be able to book on Delta – though you have another option.

Getting to Australia Using Korean Air Miles

You can book any of the Korean Air space that you find on Delta using Korean Air miles (obviously). The upside of this is Korean Air is an Ultimate Rewards transfer partner, the downside is it levies fuel surcharges. But it can be helpful in a pinch or if you need to fly during peak periods (which are more expensive on Korean though).

The cost to route from North America to Australia on Korean Air is 97,500 miles each way during off peak time AND , so it’s more expensive as well.

While the booking process for partner awards on Korean Air is super cumbersome, to book Korean metal it’s pretty straightforward. The biggest issue is that you can’t search award space on koreanair.com unless you have enough miles to book the award – do not under any circumstances transfer from Ultimate Rewards until you know the space is there. To get around this, search on delta.com (like above) or use Expertflyer (paid subscription).

If you find space, you could transfer miles over from Ultimate Rewards and then book. In my experience, the lag time is around two days (though I’ve seen them go through in as little as one). This makes me a little paranoid – I’m always afraid the space will disappear (though Korean is admittedly generous). If you’re willing to do a little extra work, there’s a way around this.

Call into Korean and tell them you want to book a bonus ticket (their term for award ticket). Feed them your flights and then tell them you need to transfer miles over and want to put them on hold. The last time I did this, they put the flights on hold for a month!

So that’s how long you have to transfer your miles over and book (or make up your mind). As long as all flights are on Korean Air you can just complete your booking online and not deal with the faxing nonsense necessary for partner awards.

Korean Air is pretty generous, I saw two or three business class seats on a bunch of days using delta.com. I think they might open up even more seats to their own members if you’re booking through Korean Air.

Final Thoughts

Like I said at the top, Virgin Australia is the best way to get to Australia on miles. But if everyone has booked the space thanks to Kenny’s post or if you don’t have Delta/Virgin America miles, there are still other options as long as you’re willing to go the long way around (also be aware some of KE’s business class is still angled so do your research). If you’re using United or Korean Air miles – book a stopover in Korea and hit two continents in one trip! Bottom line – though the quickest way between two points is a line, being willing to go outside the box can yield great results too. Happy booking!

Apr 20 2015

Using Flexibility to Find Premium Award Space to Australia and New Zealand

Kenny has written extensively about how Virgin Australia is a bit of a gold mine for travel to Australia/Oceania using Delta or Virgin America miles. Virgin Australia remains the single best way to get to Australia in a premium cabin, provided you have a way to position to the West Coast (since domestic space can be tough to find on DL).

Virgin Australia is definitely the way to go, but if you can’t find space and you’re willing to tolerate some extra time in business class there are other options to get to Australia/NZ. In fact, you can find space using two alliances! The key to the space? Funnily enough, it’s Korea.

Korean Air (Delta or Ultimate Rewards partner) and Asiana (United partner) both are pretty generous about business class award space, specifically on their A380 JFK-ICN routes. I’ve pointed out Asiana’s JFK-ICN award space before but noticed while working for a client that Korean Air is equally generous. The key here is that both Delta and United will allow you to route through Asia to get to Oceania.

In today’s post, I’ll focus on getting to Australia using Star Alliance on Asiana, and later in the week I’ll discuss using Korean Air and Skyteam.

Getting to Australia Using United Miles

Getting to Australia using United miles on Asiana is pretty straightforward. Sometimes, you can just find it through a straight search. For example, if you search JFK-SYD you can find a flight like the following:

Two seats to Sydney via Seoul using United miles on Asiana

You can go to Auckland as well, usually connecting through Sydney.

The mixed cabin is only an economy leg from SYD-AKL, everything else is business

However, sometimes the itinerary through Korea won’t come up automatically. In that case, search for the award space one segment at a time – ensuring that you are spending less than 24 hours in Seoul (anything greater would be considered a stopover – doable if you are booking a round trip but not on a one way. So yes, if you’re booking a round trip you could spend some time in Korea in one direction!).

After you have found the space, run a multi-city search cherry picking for the flights that you know are there (be sure to be careful about the dates you put in). The multi-city itinerary should price at the same cost as a one way, 80,000 miles plus taxes and fees.

160,000 miles is for two people, so 80,000 each (as it should be)

In a worst case scenario, you can call in to book the ticket. If you are trying to avoid the phone fee, you can book one leg online and then use the 24 hour cancellation/change policy to call in and add the segment that you want.

I searched routes from the United States to ICN and found the following:

– There seems to be decent to good business class space availability (except in December) on the flight from ORD-ICN, but it seems you have to use the multi-city itinerary search to piece it together as below. The tougher leg to find business class space in is ICN-SYD, but there are also options to connect through Bangkok on Thai

Again, the price is 160K due to searching for 2 people

– Space is great between SFO-ICN, though some of those flights are on UA metal (save 10,000 miles get a lesser product)

– Space is equally great between SEA-ICN

– As far as I can tell, JFK, ORD, and SFO all feature lie flat business class seats, while the SEA flight is angled flat

– From ICN, Asiana flies to SYD (flat beds as far as I can tell) and this is what availability looked like in Aug-Nov.

Space from ICN-SYD for Aug-Nov. 11 months out looks pretty good too

11 months out space looks really good, and there is pretty great coach availability as well. From SYD you can catch an Air New Zealand flight to NZ – usually in coach but good enough for the shorter flight.

Final Thoughts

Getting to Australia is tough, but routing through Asia can help you get there in a premium cabin. If you book a round trip, you can even stopover in Seoul if you’d like. United miles are your best Star Alliance bet here due to the lower fuel surcharges, but on Aeroplan it’s also 80,000 miles and $300 in taxes and fees each way. Though space isn’t rampant, it’s a lot better than most direct premium class flights. Also note all my searches were for two seats – you might have better luck if you’re only looking for one. Next time I’ll take a look at the Korean Air space doing the same thing – it’s even a shade better.

Nov 21 2014

Avoiding Talking to Phone Representatives for Credit Card Transactions

I have no interest in using these when I don't have to — I have no interest in using these when I don’t have to

I’m not a big fan of calling the credit card companies for any reason. I don’t like being on hold, I don’t really like talking on the phone in general, and for some reason even though I’ve been doing this for years calling in gets me all stressed.

Because of this, whenever possible, I try to get things done online via secure messaging or chats. This is especially useful when doing transactions for my wife – the only thing I hate more than calling the credit card companies is having to bug my wife to call.

This is by no means a comprehensive list, but I’ve been cleaning up my accounts and wanted to share some of the things I successfully took care of online. I’d also love to hear what everyone else has pulled off online in the comments – the more I can avoid calling the better!

Chase – Consolidating credit lines

A few months back I asked Jess to call to cancel one of her Chase cards. Like a good soldier, she made the call and also requested that the credit line be transferred to a new card. Like a bad officer, I didn’t do thorough research and just had her transfer to her Chase Sapphire card which ended up having a gigantic credit line – one so big that they did another credit check on her (doh!). n00b move by me, if she had spread the line out amongst other cards more they wouldn’t have done the pull.

Taking care of moving credit lines around was quick and painless online

Anyway, I want to cancel that card soon, but since I’ll be trying to preserve THAT credit line I don’t want to risk her getting another pull. So I wanted to spread that big credit line out to her other two cards. Wanting to avoid asking her to call (and annoying her), I decided to see whether I could move the lines via secure message. Low and behold, I sent a secure message detailing the exact credit lines I wanted on the three cards and they consolidated them for me. So simple, and I didn’t have to talk to a human being. Score!

Citi – Canceling a card

I almost always call to cancel cards to try to get retention bonuses, but deemed Jess’ business card unnecessary to keep (it doesn’t help her personal credit so it wasn’t really worth it). I secure messaged through Citi to see if they’d cancel my card – and they did without even confirming!

The day after I sent the secure message I logged in and saw this – nice

I found out because the next time I logged in the account was completely gone. I kind of wish they had confirmed (so be careful), but we cancelled the card without talking to an agent, waiting on hold, or anything. I never got to read the secure message they sent back confirming because the account was closed, but we eventually got a letter in the mail a week or two later.

Bank of America – Sending out a new card

I recently downgraded my Virgin Atlantic Mastercard to a BankAmericard Cash Rewards card. I received the disclosures and all that in the mail but never received the card. I fired up a secure chat on the Bank of America website because in the past I’ve found that I have to navigate WAY too many menus to talk to a human for my liking on the phone with them.

Wow when I was trying to take a screenshot I found this. Didn't even need to chat! — Wow when I was trying to take a screenshot I found this. Didn’t even need to chat!

Anyway, we chatted about what had happened, and then the CSR asked me if I just wanted them to issue me another card. I sincerely was like, “Wow you can do that?” I thought they’d want me to call or something. Anyway I confirmed my address and some other personal details and my new card was on its way.

Final Thoughts

My general motto is why talk when you can type, so taking care of this nitty gritty stuff via secure message or chat really works for me. These were three things I didn’t know I could do online before I tried – so I’d love to hear what other people have managed to take care of online. The less I need to talk the better – teach me your ways in the comments, please!

Oct 22 2014

A Comparison of 0% Introductory APR Credit Cards

Disclosure: I receive no compensation for any links from this post. I found them on Google. They aren’t compensating me for name dropping them either. Messing with 0% APR Cards is dangerous – be responsible and be careful.

One day I’ll get to part two of my credit card tier list. In the meanwhile, a friend of mine asked me if I knew of any good 0% introductory APR credit cards, no annual fee cards so I promised him I’d do some research for him. I generally don’t even think about these things because I don’t believe in ever carrying a balance – but his reasoning for wanting that leeway sounded generally sound and he doesn’t want to take any balances he may build up past the introductory period (though the danger of not paying it off in time is always there). He was looking for rewards cards, though not necessarily the travel variety.

A couple of big bolded warnings before I get to my research.

– Carrying a balance is always dangerous: The credit card industry is built on people wanting to spend more than they can afford. Even at a 0% intro APR, it’s dangerous to keep a balance if you’re not disciplined and don’t pay it off in time.

– Carrying a balance on a rewards card is even more dangerous: When I started doing my research, I saw some 0% intro APR cards that had no rewards at all. In my head I was like, why the heck would anyone get one of those? But then I realized my paradigm is different – I never carry a balance and I just see credit cards as a means of getting rewards. However, if you don’t have the discipline to pay off in full (or are carrying a balance because you need to during the intro 0% period) – having a rewards card is risky. Simply put, you are “getting” something while still carrying a balance and that could tempt you to keep spending on the card and add to that balance. On the cards with no rewards, you’re basically getting nothing in return so you might be prone to pay it off quicker.

– Applying for credit cards can be dangerous even for the fiscally responsible: Those of us heavy into the miles and points game generally have systems to make sure we don’t miss payments and always pay in full, but even the bets of us make mistakes. I certainly do. There have been a lot more posts on this matter recently, these two are two that I remember catching my eye (sorry to others I’ve missed).

So if you’re going to apply for a 0% APR card – make sure you have the discipline to use that “free” loan correctly – pay it off before the interest kicks in. Otherwise you might find yourself in trouble. Please be responsible. I haven’t included affiliate links for any of these cards – this is my pure, objective research that I thought might help responsible people in specific situations (like my friend). Make good choices!

The Card Contenders and My Analysis

Google has an interesting card comparison tool (that leaves out Capital One and Chase for some reason). I used it to narrow down everything to seven cards: AMEX Everyday, BankAmericard Cash Rewards, Blue Cash Everyday by AMEX, Capital One VentureOne Rewards, Chase Freedom, Citi Double Cash, and Discover it. My criteria were sign up bonuses and/or high rewards earning – I also included Double Cash because that’s the card my friend specifically asked me about. All these links are the best offers I could find online. I’ve made a chart comparing the cards:

I’d say one card doesn’t really fit all, though I have some favorites. I’ll quickly run down the pros and cons that I see for each card (if I were applying personally).

I’ve stated before that I’m not a huge fan of Amex EveryDay, but if you are looking to transfer to airline partners like Delta or British Airways that might be the card for you. Some tips on how to redeem those pesky miles if you’re interested. There’s a version with an annual fee as well that’s slightly more lucrative.

The Bank AmeriCard Cash Rewards card has the benefit of an easy to clear sign up bonus, though it’s earning power doesn’t really blow my mind. 3X on groceries is nice – but how much groceries do you really buy? And since this post is for people looking for 0% APR cards I wouldn’t recommend Manufactured Spending in any way shape or form – too tempting. Not that 3X is a gamechanger anyway.

I feel the same way about Blue Cash as I do the Bank AmeriCard Cash Rewards – just nothing amazing enough to make me really want it. I like it even less for my friend because the 0% period is only six months. I’d prefer the version with an annual fee that offers 6X at grocery stores.

The Capital One VentureOne card has the benefit of no foreign transaction fees if you travel a lot, but 1.25X is a mere pittance in the rewards world AND Capital One takes your credit from all three agencies. Hard pass.

I'll hand it to Citi, the card looks pretty slick even though I don't like it — I’ll hand it to Citi, the card looks pretty slick even though I don’t like it

Originally when my friend asked me the question, he was leaning towards Double Cash due to the 15 month 0% APR and I said it probably was a good card for him. But the lack of a sign up bonus and the whole “1% when you buy and 1% when you pay off” thing really turns me off. I’d like this card more if there was a sign up bonus but I can’t currently find one.

Chase Freedom and Discover it are probably my favorite cards out of the bunch – they both offer 5X rotating categories and 1X on everything else. I’d give Freedom the edge right now because it has a sign up bonus and I like Chase as a bank (it’s good to build a long term relationship with them) – but Discover has the benefit of no foreign exchange fees and its bonus categories tend to dovetail more with my personal spending.

Final Thoughts

For the responsible miles and points enthusiast who is paying their balances off in full – most of these cards are probably niche cards that have specific uses. However, if you’re looking for a 0% APR card, I’d lean towards Freedom or Discover it. Hopefully the chart is helpful as you start your research – I’m sure some people will find cards that better suit their needs. It bears repeating – if you need the 0% loan – truly evaluate how important that is to you and be careful about how much of a balance you build up. Fiscal responsibility is more important than few rewards here or there. Anyway, to my buddy – hope this helps! Make good choices!

Oct 07 2014

Credit Card Cancellation for Beginners

Word of warning: If you’re not paying off your credit card balances in full every month, ignore this – pay them off and cancel those cards immediately until you get to a place where you can. Being stuck in debt is not acceptable collateral damage in the miles and points game

Feel free to move along if you’re a pro at this game, though it’s possible you’ll learn something new. This post is geared more towards the casual or newer points enthusiasts out there. I deemed it necessary because the other day a friend told me they had “transferred all of their Ultimate Rewards points to United and cancelled their Chase Sapphire Preferred card.” While not a bad move, I just want to make sure people know the options they have when canceling a card. Although I may be risking the wrath of George writing a post like this, the fact is there are beginners out there so if you fall into that category this post is for you!

Background Info you should already know alert!

Two large parts of your credit score is your average age of accounts and your credit utilization. Average age of accounts is a function of how long your cards have been opened, credit utilization is the ratio of credit used (money you put on your cards) vs. credit extended to you (your credit limits). So if you cancel a card, you are at lowering your credit utilization and eventually you might hurt your average age of accounts as well (though closed accounts still contribute until they drop off in 10 years). More details here if you’re interested.

Trying to get the bank to waive the annual fee

When you are thinking about canceling a card, I generally call a month or two before the annual fee is going to hit. I simply tell the agent the truth – I’m thinking of canceling my card because I feel like the annual fee outweighs the benefits I get from the card.

This likely will get you sent over to a retention specialist who often will offer you something to keep the card. This could be a straight up fee waiver, or a waived fee after a certain amount of spending or purchases, etc. etc. Sometimes you even get bonus points – if you google “retention offer ______ flyertalk” you’ll usually see what’s out there.

"Premium" cards come with an annual fee that may or may not be worth it — “Premium” cards come with an annual fee that may or may not be worth it

No retention offer? Another thing to consider before canceling

Remember a lot of the premium credit cards that have annual fees have no-fee versions. Consider downgrading to one of these versions before outright canceling. This will increase your average age of accounts AND preserve your credit line (and thus help your credit score in the long run).

Still going to cancel? Don’t lose your points

If you have an airline co-branded credit card, your miles are safe if you transfer. If you have a cash back card, I’d cash out before canceling. If you have a transferable points card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred – my suggestion is to just transfer all your points to another Ultimate Rewards points card – even something like the Chase Freedom. This keeps your points flexible – when you get another “premium” Ultimate Rewards card you’ll be able to transfer them to travel partners again.

Why not just transfer points to a partner before canceling?

This is something you can do and is what my friend did. In his case it’s not too bad because he has a redemption in mind. But my general rule of thumb is flexibility is key. Even though Matt wrote that he hasn’t been able to use that flexibility for Membership Rewards (semi-opposing view here) – I find flexibility is one of those things you miss when you don’t have it.

Take my friend for example. He transferred his points to United because he wants to use them to go to Asia next year, that’s a great plan. But what if he needs a short haul flight to JFK for an emergency or he feels like taking a spontaneous trip to Charlotte (OK he’s not that type of guy but let’s just pretend for sake of argument). Well, his points are stuck in United so he won’t be able to transfer them to Avios (which would be the cheapest thing).

Transferable points give you flexibility that you shouldn't give up willy nilly — Transferable points give you flexibility that you shouldn’t give up willy nilly

But, he says, I don’t have a premium Ultimate Rewards card anymore! Sure – but IF you need it you can get that in like two weeks. If you just downgraded the Sapphire you could even just reupgrade it and it’d take even less time. Plus, he’s married so his wife could get one too and he could just transfer to her. Anyway – I’m all about options. In a worst, worst case scenario – he doesn’t find his tickets to Asia and now his UR points are stuck in United. He has the Chase Freedom so he could have at least used them for cash.

Final Thoughts

Hopefully this highlights some of the things you should be thinking about when canceling a card. I recognize that people play this game at different levels – so different folks are going to come to different conclusions about what’s best for them. Just make sure you’ve thought out your strategy before you do something rash and you should be coming out ahead time after time.