gogiantsfan11

Hi All,

I am new to this and was wondering if someone can give me their opinion on what I should be doing differently. My goal is the best way to get two roundtrip first class airfare to Hawaii for fall of 2013. I just got the Chase Sapphire Premier card and my husband got the Chase Ink Bold so in three months we should have the combined 80,000 sign up bonus points. I also have the Bank of America Hawaiian Air and currently have 50,000 points on that card. Also have the jetblue american express at 100,000 miles. Marriott Chase at 315,000 points. Other points but not credit cards I have is Club Carlson at 220,000 points and Hyatt at 46,000 pts. I think I will stop using the Jetblue American Express and Marriott in lieu of the Chase Sapphire and Bold. Is there any other card I should add to this? Also, I think I can move the chase 80,000 points for 2 one way tickets to Hawaii... and the 50,000 HA points will get me 1 one way ticket back but I am falling short on the 2nd person. Any ideas how I can make that happen? Any input would be great... Thanks...

guv1976

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.1030 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

Welcome to FT!

From what city are you starting?

gogiantsfan11

Hi,
From the NYC area.. JFK or EWR.

MDtR-Chicago

Assuming you can find the availability, theoretically, you could redeem 75k AA miles to fly First on Hawaiian (or First/Business on AA).

And you could earn those miles by signing up for 2 AA cards with 50k bonus on the same day. (And thus minimize how much of the Ultimate Rewards points you need to use.)

See the thread over in the MilesBuzz! forum. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...ey-appear.html

Edit: Or, depending on where you want to stay when you get there, you might be able to turn that huge pile of Marriott points into a Travel Package with enough air miles on Hawaiian, United, or Delta to get there for both of you. https://www.marriott.com/rewards/usepoints/morepack.mi

Really going to need more specific info about your plans to know what's "best".

gogiantsfan11

Thanks.... I am spending a week in Kauai and a week in Maui.. and a few days in Oahu. In Kauai and Maui I plan on renting a house and a condo .. so, I dont think I would use my marriott points while there.. Maybe for the couple of days in Oahu.

I think my plan was to use the 80,000 pts from Chase sign up bonus to transfer to United and that would cover EWR to HNL one way first class for two . I am half way there with Hawaiian airlines and the 50,000 miles I already have. I was not sure the best way to try and get another 30,000 miles on Hawaiian air in the next couple of months.. Trying to find a credit card that transfers 1 to 1 to Hawaiian I guess?

MDtR-Chicago

Have your traveling companion sign up for the Hawaiian cards?

gogiantsfan11

The HA card is in my husbands name.. I tried to get it.. but since I am a stay at home mom.. no income I did not quailfy.

MDtR-Chicago

If he can withstand another credit pull, the best option is probably signing up for two Citi AAdvantage cards on the same day. That's 100k miles, enough to book first class for both of you.

AA will offer you mixed AA and HA redemptions to get you to Hawaii. You can search on their website for your dates to see some examples.

You can save the Hawaiian miles for later or use them for interisland flights.

Although, to answer the question you ACTUALLY asked... Starwood points transfer to HA miles 1:1 and if you transfer 20k you get a 5k bonus. The current signup offer for the card is 30k after $5000 spend.

So, if you got the SPG card and spent $5000, you'd have 35000 SPG points, which would transfer to Hawaiian as exactly 40000 miles.

gogiantsfan11

Thank you.. I will look into Citi Advantage and Starwood and see what I think works best.. Appreciate the help... Just press for time since I need to get all the points organized by this fall since I would like to travel next fall. Now, if I only could find a way to pay my son University of Michigan tuition by credit card.. I would be all set making the required amount spent...lol

gogiantsfan11

Which cards with Citibank would get me the 100,000 points.. I only see ones that are 30,000 per card.

MDtR-Chicago

For the AA cards, here is the thread: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...ey-appear.html

The first post has the 50k offers and there is a link to a post with detailed, step-by-step instructions on how to end up with 100k total.

For the SPG Amex: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...tarpoints.html

That offer is a limited time promotion ending Sept 4. You must be referred by someone who already has the card. On FT, check the signature line at the end of posts. People who can refer you will note it in their signatures. You'll have to send one of those people a private message to get a personalized link. (I think some of the bloggers may be posting links on their blogs as well?)

gogiantsfan11

MDTR-Chicago ... Thanks for the information.. I decide that I am going to go for the two Citi card pulls.. just not sure where I would have the best success.
Business card- just had one pull for the ink bold this month
Both in Husbands name.. But just got BOA Hawaiian Card (june) and Chase Sapphire(this month)
Or try to get one in my name even though I am stay at home mom? Any thoughts? Thanks..

guv1976

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.1030 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

If you do end up using AAdvantage miles for the Hawaii-NYC portion of the trip, you will pay 37,500 miles per person for First/Business. But for only 50,000 miles per person, you can get Hawaii-NYC, have a lengthy "stopover" in NYC, and then continue on to Europe or deep South America. In fact, you can get Hawaii-NYC (stopover) - near South America for only 30,000 AA miles (which is less than the 37,500 miles needed for Hawaii-NYC alone).

MDtR-Chicago

Please make sure you read the thread I linked in depth

You need to apply for two cards for the same person on the same day to end up with 100k miles. If you're going to put down $0 income for yourself, you probably won't be approved. So you probably want to let your husband apply.