I reviewed my sister’s credit cards and found out that the rewards programs that she has is not particularly rewarding.
- American Express HHonors Card. 0 annual fee and a new signup bonus until the end of November 2012. 40,000 points after spending $750 in the first three months and after spending $3,000 in the first three month’s she’ll receive an extra 25,000 points.
- Bank of America Hawaiian Airlines. $79 yearly annual fee, but she will close this card before it comes up. Because she was approved for a Visa Signature she will earn 35,000 miles after spending $1,000 within the first four months. From the terms and conditions:
Visa Signature cardholders will receive 20,000 bonus HawaiianMiles after first purchase and 2,000 anniversary bonus miles each year when their account is renewed. Visa Signature cardholders will also receive an additional 15,000 bonus HawaiianMiles after making $1,000 in net purchases that post to the account within four months (120 days) of the account open date. Platinum cardholders will receive 10,000 HawaiianMiles after first purchase and 1,000 anniversary bonus miles each year when the account is renewed. All miles earned with the card are awarded to the HawaiianMiles account of the primary cardholder.
To hit the $3,750 in spend for the AMEX, I advised her to purchase 5 $500 Visa gift cards from a local drug store. Assuming it is a Vanilla gift card, they charge a $4.95 fee on a gift card for a $20 to $500 card. Buying a $500 card will make the GC fee become 1%. This will hit $3500 and then have $250 left in spending. Through those purchases, she will hit at least 15,149 points (6 [buying from a drugstore for the bonus] x 5 [gift cards] x 504.95 [$500 gift card + $4.95 fee]).
The Hawaiian Air miles that she will receive can be transferred to her Hilton account at a 1 Hawaiian air mile to 2 Hilton Hhonors point. So the 35,000 miles will convert into 70,000 points.
In total, she will have at least 150,149 points and can stay at whatever Hilton.
