Tuesday’s Deals

  • Starwood points, as I say constantly, are probably the best around. Only Ultimate Rewards can give them a half-decent argument. So if you don’t have an SPG Personal or Business card, now’s the time to do it. The bonus was increased to 30,000 points once last year and it’s on again now until September 3.
  • The limit of buying Vanilla Reload and prepaid cards from CVS is now up to $5,000 per day. How exactly do people struggle to meet minimum spends these days?
  • Earn up to 12,000 Southwest points buying Marriott gift cards.
  • Southwest now flies to Puerto Rico and is giving away a trip there. You can also win a trip to New Orleans.

Fun Opportunity From Starwood

At the time of this posting, there are only 19 of these packages left. Use a very reasonable 2,500 SPG points to play softball at Wrigley Field this Friday.

Happy Weekend

Before I run through the deals of the day, I want to do a quick response to yesterday’s post. I got a bunch of emails asking what my strategy is with credit cards after I open them. Here’s my thoughts:

  • I kept all the old no-fee cards that I’ve had in my wallet for years open. Why do people close these? It’s a big help keeping your Length of Credit History in good shape. 
  • I do close the majority of my mile/point cards with annual fees. I keep them open at least 6 months and typically cancel them before the 1-year mark.
  • Yes, as some of you wrote, the Bank of America and Barclays cards can be much more “churnable” than the Citibank/Chase ones.
  • When it’s time to close a card, I do occasionally downgrade to no-fee cards if they give me the option. And when they offer me a spectacular retention bonus to keep the card, I always consider it.
  • Certain cards make sense to keep open beyond the first year. A lot of this depends on personal preference and your comfort level paying fees. I talked about this topic recently. 
On to today’s deals:
  • Starwood’s fun Pay Your Birth Year promotion is back, and their Take Two promo is on the way. See if you qualify for their targeted free night after a stay deal here.
  • 250 free Virgin Atlantic miles for downloading their toolbar.
  • 100% bonus buying US Airways miles is fine, but the same bonus on underrated Lifemiles is better.
Enjoy your weekend!

My Application History

People always seem to ask about my latest credit card applications. Others ask about my past cards. I guess that makes sense, but for mostly schedule reasons, I actually think of myself as a lightweight. Still, here’s everything, from 2011 until my latest batch. I apply for a new round of cards every 3 months (sometimes I’m a few days late, but I try to do it every 91 to 95 days). You’ll see that each round is limited to one card per issuer. The exception is the occasional Business version of a card. I’ve made plenty of mistakes along the way and could have definitely earned more miles if I stayed more organized and put some more time into this. Still, all in all, I’ve made millions of miles and points from doing very little work. Hard to complain!

No application links in this post, but I’ll have a new Top 25 Credit Card post for you in a couple weeks.

January 2011:
American Airlines Visa (Citibank)
American Airlines Business (Citibank)
United Airlines (Chase)
US Airways (Barclays)
Hilton Honors (American Express)

3 Months Later:
Continental Airlines (Chase)
Virgin Atlantic (Bank of America)
Venture (Capital One)
Gold Premier Rewards (American Express)

3 Months Later:
British Airways (Chase)
Hilton Honors (Citibank)
Starwood (American Express)
Choice Hotels (Barclays)
Hawaiian Airlines (Bank of America)
Hawaiian Airlines (Bank of Hawaii)

3 Months Later:
Alaska Airlines (Bank of America)
Thank You (Citibank)
Marriott (Chase)
Gold Rewards Business (American Express)

3 Months Later:
Southwest (Chase)
Hawaiian Airlines (Bank of America)
Hawaiian Airlines (Bank of Hawaii)
US Airways (Barclays)

3 Months Later:
Ritz Carlton (Chase)
Delta (American Express)
American Airlines MasterCard (Citibank)
Alaska Airlines (Bank of America)

3 Months Later:
Starwood Business (American Express)
Hyatt (Chase)
Southwest Business (Chase)
Virgin America (Barclays)

3 Months Later:
Southwest (Chase)
American Airlines Business (Citibank)
Club Carlson (US Bank)
Upgraded Hilton Card To Hilton Surpass (American Express)
Platinum (American Express)
Frontier Airlines (Barclays)

3 Months Later:
US Airways (Barclays)
Ink Bold (Chase)
Virgin Atlantic (Bank of America)
Club Carlson Business (US Bank)

3 Months Later
Fairmont Hotels (Chase)
Hilton Reserve (Citibank)
Platinum Delta Business (American Express)
Alaska Airlines (Bank of America)

10% Off Codes From American Airlines

Act fast, since these are limited. Get a 10% code for up to 2 passengers here. It’s a quick “video game” and the code gets emailed to you.