Marriott Travel Packages

It’s always a struggle when I want to link to another blog. Why? Because I meet so many bloggers who are such douchebags. In this case, a reader sent me a great article and I happen to like LoyaltyLobby. I don’t have any personal experience with these Marriott Travel Packages but they look awesome. Some of you are sitting on 100,000+ Marriott points, and this seems like a great option in your situation. Good post. Good blog. MileNerd out.

Which Cards To Keep Open

I was asked this question by a reader (Steve W.) last weekend. He wanted to know which credit cards I thought were worth keeping open and paying an annual fee on. Obviously, the answers will vary depending on your personal use. If you are an especially big spender, you’re going to have different benefits available. You can look at the Top 25 post from Thursday for links to all cards, and my thoughts on this question are below:

  • Chase Ink – The main card for most of us, so this is an obvious choice to keep open. 
  • American Express Platinum – The benefits are pretty much as good as it gets, but the $450 annual fee is big. With $200 a year in airline fee reimbursements, you do get almost half of it back. The lounge access is incredible, the free $100 towards Global Entry is cool, and the Fine Hotel and Resort benefit is underrated. Could be worth keeping. 
  • Chase Hyatt, Marriott, Priority Club, and Fairmont – Worth keeping for a lot of people because of the free annual free night on each card.
  • Citibank Hilton Reserve – Same as above. Annual free night makes it worth considering.
  • US Bank Club Carlson – Similar reason. 40,000 bonus points each year.
Some choices that are a little more iffy:
  • Barclays US Air – This one has been a debate in the past. 10,000 anniversary miles, a companion pass, and 5,000 mile discounts on bookings made it an interesting choice. Instead, I just ended up churning it a few times.
  • Chase Sapphire – Some people value the 2x points on travel and dining enough to leave it open. The 7% annual dividend on all points earned might put this over the top for you.
  • Citibank American and Chase United – For those who value the free checked bags and some annual miles, these might be good options. Not enough for me, personally.

500 or 1,250 Southwest Points

  1. Simple. Use one of your spam email addresses to sign up here. 500 points in 10 seconds. Bam.
  2. If you don’t have a Southwest account yet, get 750 more points here. Bam bam.

Wednesday’s Stuff

  • Up to 40,000 Citi ThankYou points for checking accounts.
  • Multiple readers emailed to say $500 Visa gift cards are back in their local Office Depots. This has spread quickly so you should look first thing in the morning. It’s one of the best things going. An easy way to meet minimum spends and 5 times the points with Chase Ink cards. Unload easily with your Bluebird cards.
  • If you’re going to Office Depot, try to pick up your free book of stamps with any $75 purchase.
  • I got the result of my Global Entry interview. I’m approved! It should be a huge time and headache-saver on international trips. And the TSA Precheck will be great on domestic flights. Looking forward to keeping my laptop in the bag and shoes on my feet!