Chase adds Virgin Atlantic as new transfer partner

Yikes! It's been a full month since my last post. I'm totally slacking...anyways, this is semi-old news as I received an email from Chase last week and it's been mentioned across the blogosphere, but Chase has added Virgin Atlantic as its newest transfer partner in its Ultimate Rewards program.

That means if you have a Chase Sapphire Preferred card or an Ink Bold/Plus card, you can now transfer your points to Virgin Atlantic at a 1:1 ratio.

This essentially provides a way to transfer Chase UR to Hilton points as Virgin Atlantic miles transfer to Hilton at a 2:1 ratio. Of course, Hilton has recently undergone a huge devaluation, so their points aren't as valuable as they used to be, but it's always great to have new options.

As far as flying on Virgin Atlantic itself with miles, I'm no expert but everything I've read says it not the best redemption due to high taxes and fees. For example, flying New York to London round trip in economy will cost 35,000 miles and up to 400 GBP which is about $600 USD.

However, Virgin Atlantic does have a number of airline transfer partners, including Virgin America, which has some decent redemptions on short-haul flights. Examples would include 10,000 miles from Los Angeles to San Francisco and 12,500 miles from San Francisco to Vegas.

I'd say it's definitely worth looking into to see if there are any transfer partners that help you get more bang for your buck (or miles, in this case).

Said goodbye to my CSP

I signed up for the Chase Sapphire Preferred Visa last year back when Chase was offering 50,000 points for spending $3,000 in three months (current offer is 40,000 points).

This is a wonderful card—not only is cool-looking thanks to the metal inside—it has benefits like no foreign transaction fees and the ability to transfer points directly to airline/hotel programs, including United, Southwest, British Airways, Hyatt, Priority Club and Marriott. The card gives double points on all travel and dining purchases and there’s a 7 percent annual points dividend on all new points earned on purchases throughout the year – even points that have been redeemed.

Why did I say goodbye? Well, the card’s $95 annual fee was coming due soon (it was waived the first year) and I just didn’t feel I used the card enough to justify paying that. In fact, I hadn’t made a purchase on it in six months.

I seriously considered paying the fee to keep it, however, back in November, I signed up for the Chase Ink Bold business credit card, which has a lot of overlapping benefits, including no foreign transaction fees and direct transfer to other reward programs. Now, you do need some sort of legitimate business to open this card (even small operations like freelance writing or selling on Amazon or eBay).

The Ink card also has some pretty awesome 5X categories, including at office supply stores and on cellular phone, landline, internet and cable TV (on the first $50,000 spent annually). Then there are 2X points per $1 on the first $50,000 spent annually at gas stations and for hotel accommodations when purchased directly with the hotel. This card is also $95 per year, but the first year is free.

Now I could have downgraded my card to the no fee regular Chase Sapphire card, however, I had read reports of some folks getting a bonus for both the Preferred Visa and MasterCard, so I wanted to give myself the opportunity to possibly open the MasterCard later this year. So I opted to cancel completely. I didn’t attempt a retention offer the way I did with Citibank, I simply requested to close my card and transfer the credit line to another one of my existing Chase cards.

My hope in transferring the credit line was that my credit score wouldn’t take a hit (sometimes cancelling a card can lower your credit score because it can increase your debt to credit ratio, even if you pay it off monthly). Also, I wanted some potential leverage in opening additional Chase cards. If given a low limit on a new card, Chase allows you to transfer some the limit from your existing cards.

So, while I’m sad to have said goodbye to my CSP, I hope we’ll meet again in the future.

Trip report: Clearwater Beach, FL--Selecting the hotel

This is post one of three about my trip to Clearwater Beach, Fl in August 2012.

Related posts

Flight, activities, costs

Hyatt Regency Hotel review

The hotel I chose for my stay in Clearwater Beach.

I gave careful consideration about whether to pay or use points for a hotel. Since I was not renting a car, I knew I wanted to stay on the beach to be walking distance from the action and not in the city, where hotels were slightly cheaper. There are plenty of cheapo motels in Clearwater Beach, but I ultimately decided free is always better for me.

Hotel chains with loyalty programs in Clearwater Beach and number of points per night to redeem an award

• Hyatt Regency (18,000, Category 5)
• Holiday Inn (25,000)
• Hilton (50,000, Category 7)
• Marriott Suites on Sand Key (30,000, Category 6)
• Sheraton Sand Key (10,000, Category 4)

I have no Hilton points, no Marriott points and I didn’t have any Starwood points at the time. So, it was between the Hyatt and Holiday Inn, which was a no brainer. The Hyatt took fewer points and was going for around $250 per night during my stay and the Holiday Inn was $150 per night. The Hyatt had a primo location near the pier and was just steps from the beach. It also had pretty good reviews on TripAdvisor.

So, I crossed my fingers and thank goodness, it was available! As an aside, I had zero points in my Hyatt Passport account so I called up Gold Passport and asked if award nights were available during the time I wanted to stay (in August). The rep confirmed there were, so I hung up, transferred the 36,000 points (two nights) from my Chase Sapphire Preferred Ultimate Rewards account to my Hyatt Gold Passport account (it was instantaneous) and booked my room. I was also able to book a Deluxe room which was larger than the standard Premium room. 

 

Freebie Roundup: Mooyah burger, 9 months of Shoprunner 2-day shipping, greeting card, Unreal candy and more

Free Mooyah Burger

"Like" Mooyah’s Facebook page, submit name and email, wait for coupon to appear in window and print. Coupon expires five days from “like.” Mooyah has locations in AR, CA, CT, KS, MT, TN, TX and VA.

Get 9 months (6 months+90 days) of free 2-day shipping from ShopRunner

You can get free 2-day shipping from these merchants through ShopRunner

ShopRunner provides free 2-day shipping from a number of online merchants. One of the merchants is newegg.com, which I find myself using frequently to purchase free after rebate items to help meet minimum spends on new credit cards, like the Chase Sapphire Preferred and my new Amex SPG card.

This is the direct link for six months of free membership. This promotion is for new members only. Deal is available until Aug. 31 or while supplies last. However, I signed up for a Cozi account here first since they are sponsoring the deal.

Add 90 days to your membership via ShopRunner Central

Go to your order history to find the free 90-day offer

You can get an extra 90 days for free by signing up for ShopRunner Central. After logging in, click “My Account” underneath your name at the top right corner. Then click “Track All Shipments and Orders” and you should see the offer for 90 extra days. Signing up for this extended my expiration date from February to May 2013.

From the FAQs

What is ShopRunner Central and why should I sign up?

ShopRunner Central is a free benefit to ShopRunner members that simplifies your shopping and organizes all your receipts in one place.

You will need an email account from Yahoo or Gmail in order to use ShopRunner Central. This apparently gives ShopRunner access to all of your emails so you may want to set up a “junk” email account for this or you can utilize the information from a post on fatwallet.com that describes how to revoke ShopRunner’s access to your email after extending your expiration date.

*The extra 90 days promo is for good for existing members as well as new members.

Cardstore: Free Personalized Greeting Card + Free Shipping

Cardstore.com has yet another free personalized greeting card offer with free shipping. Use coupon code CCK2248. Offer is available until Aug. 26.

Free sandwich from RaceTrac gas station

Join RaceTrac Insider for monthly coupons. This month’s coupon is for a free sandwich.

Free Unreal candy bar from CVS

"Like" the CVS Facebook page, enter your ExtraCare card number and email address, coupon will be sent to your email.

Possible $5 off coupon from cvs.com

I logged into my account on cvs.com and found a coupon for $5 in extra savings, redeemable in-store only and expires Aug. 26. I had the options to print or send to card, so I sent it to my card. So check your account for this coupon as well.

I didn’t see any minimum purchase requirements, just the usual fine print associated with all CVS coupons.

*Some restrictions apply. ExtraCare card must be presented to get these savings. Savings applied to total purchase with specified product. Excludes prescriptions, alcohol, gift cards, lottery, money orders, postage stamps, pre-paid cards and tobacco products. No cash back. Tax charged on pre-coupon price where required.

Free sample of Vi-Jon's Simply U Shampoo & Conditioner

Get a free sample of Simply U Shampoo and Conditioner from walmart.com. There is also a coupon available for printing for $1 off 2 bottles. You can also go directly to the sample form here.

Free sample of Purina Cat Chow Healthy Weight

Walmart.com also has a free sample of  Purina Cat Chow Healthy Weight. Or you can go directly to the sample form here.

Free 5x7 back to school print at Walmart

No coupon required, but you may want to print the pdf in case your associate isn’t familiar with the promo.

Good on instant or one-hour photo prints in Walmart Supercenters with 1-Hour Photo Centers.

Limit one per child.

Valid through the end of September.

Free (after rebate) printer/copy paper at Staples

Use this coupon to get two free reams of Hammermill CopyPlus Paper from Staples. You will pay $4.99 each plus tax in-store. Then go online and submit your information for an Easy Rebate. Your check will be mailed in 4-6 weeks. Make sure your cashier scans the coupon twice or print two coupons. Coupon valid until Aug. 25.

150,000 points in my Club Carlson account

My points from Club Carlson's Big Night Giveaway

The day after my stay at the Park Inn for Club Carlson’s Big Night Giveaway, I checked into the Country Inn and Suites near DFW airport.

Only this time, I didn’t stay the night. Still, the frugalista in me couldn’t stand to see the room go to complete waste, so I hung out for about an hour soaking up the A/C and watching the big flat screen TV. The mini-fridge and microwave are nice amenities.

Do you take "freebies" in the bathroom?

Extra pillow and blanket in the closet

My view of Airport Freeway from the window

  I had no issues with check-in or the room. I had a non-smoking room, but the hallway smelled of unpleasant cigarette smoke as I was leaving. Overall, this was a decent hotel that I’d probably consider staying at in the future should I need a room close to DFW airport. I would have liked to partake in the free breakfast, but was unable since I wasn’t staying the night.

Finally, I stayed at the Radisson. I expected this to be the nicest of the three, but I’d actually rate it the worst. The hotel looked dingy, but to its credit is undergoing renovations. The hallways were dark. The bathroom was quite small and the tub looked seriously worn. I could never connect to the free Wi-Fi. I’d definitely be hesitant to stay here again in the future, even after their renovations are complete.

Sleep Number bed was OK, but clearly old

Bathtub looked dingy

Small, awkward layout with toilet, tub (behind door)

Morning view of Central Expressway

 I spent a total of $228.51 or an average of $76.17 per night. Since I used my Chase Sapphire Preferred Card (2x points on travel), I should received 457 Ultimate Rewards points. I plan to use the Club Carlson points for a room that goes for $200-$300 per night in Europe.

All of my points posted within a few days of checking out (and I never checked out at the front desk, just left my keys on the nightstand). It’s so nice seeing those 150,000 points in my Club Carlson account. I can’t wait to redeem them!

Mattress run #2—44,000+ Club Carlson points

Back in May, I learned that the Carlson hotel chain was having a Big Night Giveaway promotion, basically a buy one, get one kind of thing. I signed up online to participate in each promotion of the three hotel chains (Radisson-50,000 points, Country Inn & Suites-44,000 points, Park Inn-44,000 points). Staying one night at each hotel would result in a total of 138,000 Club Carlson points, which could be redeemed worldwide.

Plus, I get 20 points per dollar on the room cost, 1,000 extra points for booking online, a 2,000-point “Welcome Next Stay” bonus and I previously got a 4,500 signup bonus from E-rewards (sign-up by invite only). So all told I should end up with at least 150,000 points.

Technically, the promotions are still available; however each hotel is only offering 15,000 points instead of 44,000 and 50,000. If you’ve got a trip coming up and one of these hotels work for you, I’d obviously sign up for the smaller bonus, but it’s no longer worth doing a mattress run.

Links to the promos are as follows

Park Inn

Country Inn & Suites

Radisson

*ParkPlaza also just announced a 50,000 point promotion, but there is only one in the U.S. (Minneapolis), so I didn’t sign up for it.

The three nights at the hotels I’ve selected in the Dallas area will run me about $230 (this helped to meet myspend on the Chase Sapphire Preferred as well). I was able to get each room through a 25 or 30 percent off promo.

Carlson hotels start at 9,000 points per night and go all the way up to 50,000 points. I plan to redeem some of the points for a night or two at a fancy Radisson Blu in Spain or Park Plaza in London, so I thought it was definitely worth an outlay of $230 to get rooms that cost way more than that.

My first stay for this promotion was at the Park Inn near Dallas Love Field for 44,000 points. I felt fortunate to have a Park Inn nearby, since there are only 10 of them in the United States.

I checked in about 11 p.m. on a Friday night. I had read the Trip Advisor reviews of this hotel and wasn’t planning on it being too nice. I had packed a bag to stay overnight, but if it was gross or creepy, I’ve would’ve turned around and went right back home after checking in.

My room was on the second floor. As I opened the door, I first noticed the light was on and there were towels and garbage in the vanity area immediately next to the door. I peered inside and didn’t see anyone, but the room had clearly been recently occupied. The bed was unmade and there were other pieces of trash strewn about.

I headed back downstairs and told the front desk clerk of the room’s condition. She said someone must have switched rooms and this was the second time that had happened that night. She gave me a free breakfast voucher for my troubles and reassigned me to a room on the 11^th floor.

The hallways were dark (borderline creepy), but the room itself was clean. The room certainly showed its age with peeling wallpaper. The lights were not easily accessible upon walking into the dark room. The pillows were also a bit too soft for my tastes. The air conditioner was extremely loud; it drowned out the TV every time it came on. The hotel’s amenities included an airport shuttle and free Wi-Fi.

King size Sleep Number bed with a complementary package of gummy bears, chair with ottoman

 

old tube TV, mini-fridge and microwave

The bath area was small, but serviceable.

I had a view of the pool from one window.

I got a nice view of the sunrise over IH-35 from the other window.

I ordered my free breakfast to-go the next morning and headed out around 7 a.m. They put my bill under the door with a note that I didn’t have to check out at the front desk, just leave my keys on the nightstand. I did call the front desk to let them I was checking out though just in case. Points posted the following Tuesday.

Inching towards cheap travel

Background

Prior to 2011, I found it a hassle to keep up with frequent flyer miles. It required I remember to put in a number every time I booked a flight and I wasn’t particularly loyal to any one airline so I couldn’t keep the miles from expiring.

In 2011, I decided I was going to try and be somewhat loyal to American Airlines. Since I live in the DFW area (one of their hubs), I always seemed to find reasonable airfares and non-stop flights to my destinations.

So, I joined the AAdvantage program. Soon after, my mailbox was bombarded with AA credit card offers every month or so. I usually read and then shred them. I wasn’t interested in a credit card with an annual fee (even though the fee was waived for the first year). Those offers kept increasing from 25,000 or 30,000 mile sign-up bonuses all the way up to 50,000 miles plus some other perks.

Changing my mind

I don’t remember how I came across it, but this blog post helped me change my thinking. After doing more Internet reading, I learned that many people sign up for airline cards, get the bonus and then cancel the card before fee is due. And credit card sign-up bonuses are the fastest way to get points and miles for cheap travel without actually flying.

So here I am today

I know my limits and am NOT willing to attempt to spend $10,000 in three or four months just to get a bunch of sign-up bonuses at one time. I also don’t want to mess up my credit by opening too many cards at one time. Did you know you can get a free credit score (not your real FICO score, but fairly close) at Credit Karma and Credit Sesame?

So far this year, I have opened three new credit cards for a total of 150,000 miles or points.

My 50,000 AA miles posted in June 2012.

• January 2012 Citi AAdvantage Visa—50,000 miles after spending $3,000 in four months, $150 statement credit and two Admirals Club lounge passes
• March 2012 Chase Sapphire Preferred—50,000 miles or hotel points after spending $3,000 in three months
• May 2012 Chase Southwest Airlines Visa—50,000 Rapid Reward points after first purchase

That is all I plan to do this year. More on my future plans to come.

My first mattress run

I recently completed my first of four planned “mattress run” hotel stays. A mattress run is a trip with the sole purpose of getting hotel points or taking advantage of a promotion. With a mattress run, you book a cheap hotel night, and in return you'll earn something far more valuable. Often times, people don’t even stay the night at the hotel.

Reasons why I booked this particular stay

• I am trying to meet the required spend ($3,000 in three months) on my Chase Sapphire Preferred card by the end of the month, so I can get 50,000 Ultimate Rewards points that I will redeem for future airfare or hotel stays.
• I signed up for a number of stackable Priority Club Rewards promotions that should net me a few thousand points for this stay.
• IHG Vacation Pay promotion $75 prepaid Master card

My stay at the Candlewood Suites near the Dallas Galleria

I selected the cheapest hotel that came up when I searched—it just so happened to be five minutes from my job, so it was easy to swing by and check-in after work on Friday.

At check-in the clerk thanked me for being a Priority Club Rewards member and handed me a welcome bag which included a bottled water, a package of Belvita breakfast biscuits and Axe hair gel. I was invited to spin the wheel for a prize and I won a $5 gift certificate to the Candlewood Cupboard (little convenience store inside the hotel where you pay using the honor system), which I redeemed for a small bag of Cheetos, peanuts and a bottle of orange juice.

The room itself was nothing special, but it was clean. Since this is an extended stay hotel, there was a small kitchen area with refrigerator, dishwasher, cooktop and microwave. 

There was a small desk, chair, tube TV and VCR/DVD player (DVDs were available at the front desk to borrow). 

Though I booked a stay for Friday and Saturday night, I only slept there on Saturday night. The bed was comfortable, and I slept well. The bathroom was clean and offered plenty of towels.

My total with taxes came to $131.06. I submitted the $75 mail-in rebate, which will bring my out of pocket expenses to $56.06. I expect to acquire a few thousand PC reward points through the promotions I signed up for, such as signing up for text messages.

Since I booked the reservation through Chase’s Ultimate Rewards Mall for 4 points per dollar, I should get an additional 524 UR points, plus the Sapphire offers 2x points (262) on travel, for a total of 786 UR points. I'm happy with that!