Hi, I'm Beth from Cleveland Ohio. We've been into CC mileage collecting for 7+ years through CC's but we've started to get deeper the past 3 years.
Back in the day we would order $ coins, with a 6% cash back with First National of Omaha, but we would legitimately use the dollar coins for all our cash spend.
For domestic flights, we love SW with the companion pass, International=United (stopovers etc), so naturally chase is our best option.
We started getting into MS a few months ago for a Wells Fargo 5% back card at gas & drug stores (6mo). We've been able to knock $1,800 off our mortgage with ($350 cost). I use AMZ pymts for min spend req.
June was our biggest application month with 8 different cards.
I'd like to get more into hotels. I usually try to find deals on hotels or do rate matches. (I just submitted a Marriott Renaissance Aruba price match this evening)
We currently have ~1mil miles, diversified over several airlines. We like to burn our miles. We don't feel the need to fly first class. We'd rather take more friends of family with us with those miles.
My companion pass ends 12/31, so I will need to get Jeff one that we can switch over to using.
Our friends all think we are crazy and think this takes too much effort, but it is a hobby that pays off in free travel!
I love beaches and snorkeling. Jeff loves skiing.
So, we normally end up doing 4 ski trips/year (which is great w/ SW & the 2 free bags)
along with Caribbean beach trips. We also try to do an International trip each year.
I'm 12 years out of college and doing a career change from business/supply chain to the world of education....so although I have summers open, the other dates I have available for travel are restricted to peak travel holiday time frames. My husband works for an insurance company and gets 5, soon to be 6 wks a year.
I also need to figure out what to do with 3 lingering 401k accts from my previous employers
I look forward to learning with you and sharing what I find.