This week I am going to cover just how valuable airline miles and hotel points can be. The mere fact that I have not paid for an international airline ticket since 2005, flown first and business class, and saved thousands of dollars puts a new meaning on the word valuable! It can be time consuming to keep track of all the best credit card and bank account offers out there, but if you follow some of my advice, you will be well on your way to maximizing everyday purchases. There are also full time bloggers who make it easy for you to stay up to date on these offers.
Currently I have six points/miles credit cards open, and they have earned me over 300,000 points in the last six months. Now before you worry about "ruining" your credit score by opening and eventually closing cards, you must know that I have had a 750 credit score and excellent credit history. The only time your credit score will take a minor hit, is when you close a card and your score goes down about 6 points for a couple months, then right back up. This is why I close a few cards at one time, usually when the annual fee is about to be charged. So instead of getting the 6 point hit on each card, I only get hit for 6 points once.
With all of that out of the way, I will unveil the two credit cards in my wallet I am currently earning sweet bonuses on.
American Express Starwood Business Card: Starwood is by far my favorite hotel brand, with Le Meridien, The W, St. Regis, and their luxury properties all included. Right now, Amex is offering 25,000 star points after you spend $5000 in the first 6 months. Just to give you an idea of what that can get you, you can book a nice 4 star Sheraton in times square for 12,000, or the 5 star Hotel Danieli in Venice for 15,000. Starwood also gives you the option of using both points and cash, which I always choose because it save me some of my precious points, and is a great deal. This Amex card does offer 30,000 bonus star points once in a while, so if you are not in a hurry, I would wait fr the better off.
https://www304.americanexpress.com/credit-card/carousel-landing/starwood-preferred-guest?ccsgeep=28000&openeep=43213&psboth=CCSG_Google_PA_SPG_Broad&ti=0
Chase Ink Business Bold: This is one of my favorite cards because you can transfer Chase ultimate reward points to any number of airline and hotel partners. Currently Ink has two cards, the bold and plus, and each will give you 50,000 ultimate reward points after spending $5000 in the first 3 months. I plan of transferring some of those points to United to book my annual ski trip in Aspen, a ticket that would normally cost $800 round trip from O'hare. If you are a fan of the Park Hyatt( who isn't!), you can redeem 44,000 ultimate reward points for two free nights at any Park Hyatt in the world, a potential $1600 value!
https://applynow.chase.com/FlexAppWeb/renderApp.do?SPID=F5QS&CELL=6H8X&AFFID=xDpEzOEw4a4-1LZR.f9oc_n5lqrs6tmJuQ&pvid=F517191842&jp_cmp=cc/289065/aff/3-10002010/na
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