PainCorp

I thought this ended a week or so ago?

arsenalman

I am not picky either - Business Class will do for me . As you get into it, i am sure it gets harder to collect more points right? Due to the fact that you have burned through most of the other cards and you have less cards to apply for.

TheMilesProfessor

That's correct. I checked with the offer I was referring to. It's now just 50k after $1000 spending.

panamafever

Wow, so much great advice. Thanks, guys! I did find the 50k MileagePlus link so will definitely do that + ONE other Chase card...I'm torn between the Ink Bold (I'd have a hard time dealing with the questions in the reconsideration line) and the Sapphire Mastercard (I still don't know if I'll actually get the bonus for this one since I already have the Visa, and I keep hearing different experiences–some say to cancel the Visa first, others that they were told you can't do both, and others that you simply apply for the Mastercard).

As to NON-Chase cards, I'd love to start building miles toward a different airline. The SWA cards are Chase so they're out. I like the idea of doing the Citi AA and US Air 30-40k cards, but don't like the idea of paying the $89 annual fee for the US Air card. SO...any other suggestions for 2-3 NON-chase cards that build miles toward a specific airline but that don't have annual fees? Otherwise, I *might* bite the bullet on the AA and US Air cards. I'll also look at the AmEx cards; the main airlines I'd be interested in transferring to there are Delta and British.

Thanks!!!!

Mile-a-holic

You can apply for the personal PRG or Plat. Or the Bus Plat. Or any of the affiliated Amex (SPG, Delta, etc).

tshakur888

Just to add another data point:

pre-AoR
Score: 780-790
Most recent applications: Jan 2013 (Amex Platinum, Chase Sapphire Preferred)
Open credit cards: 12
Total CL: $92.5k

Approved:
Amex Business Platinum (No preset spending, 100k bonus w/ $10k spend, $450 annual fee)
Citi Aadvantage Platinum Visa (13k CL, 50k bonus w/ $3k spend, $0 first year)
Barclays US Airways (12k CL, 35k bonus w/ first purchase, $0 first year)
Chase United Explorer (4k CL*reallocated, 50k bonus w/ $1k spend, $0 first year)
Chase Ink Bold Business (10k CL, 50k bonus w/ $5k spend, $0 first year)

Pending:
Citi Advantage Gold Mastercard (30k bonus w/ $750 spend)

Total new CL: $35k
Total bonus: 285k points/miles
Total minimum spend: $19k (plan to pay income taxes and other upcoming professional expenses)

*I had 4 Chase cards pre-AoR and had to call in for approval. They would only allow me to reallocate from other cards, so I took that option.

For the AA Gold card, I came across some who had gotten instant approval w/ the AA Platinum card, same-day. But there were also people suggesting applying for the Platinum on day 1, and Gold on day 2. Hope that helps.

aarif1

Thanks for the data point. One question, is that Amex Platinum business offer a targeted offer, or something generally available that I just didn't notice?

PainCorp

Look at it this way for the US Air card. Its one purchase for 30-40k miles. Even if you have to pay the $89 AF (are there no more apps that waive it?) It's still worth the $90 for that many (potentially) AA miles.

Delta miles are kind of worthless, as are BA ones, unless you intend to use them on AA. The fuel surcharges are ridiculous.

PainCorp

Still not a bad bonus though, especially considering you can use them to book on AA. Hmm, I wonder if you use BA miles to purchase the ticket on AA metal, can you use AA miles to upgrade it?

arsenalman

Ok - i am going to try and finalize the 5 cards i am going to apply for. Aiming to get at least 250K points.
I have been trying to convince my brother to apply with me as well. He is scared of getting denied as his score is 715 on avg. Do you guys know out of the cards we have talked about above, which ones he would have a good chance of getting approved for?

Thank you

tshakur888

Yes, it was a targeted offer.

happy9zz

the Starwood Preferred Guest Card: I am thinking about this card. Great!

Hilton HHonors Reserve card: I dont have any plan for 2 or 3 years. So I think this card is not right for me. I am collecting Hilton points at CVS to max my 6x before it is discontinue even though I know that Hilton points is in devaluation.

US Bank has a FlexPerks Visa card: I am not familiar about this card. Do you know where should I find this information? Will this point be expired? Is there any annual fee for this card?

Chase: I love this Freedom. My first Freedom was cancel because I am abuse. However, I was lucky enough to transfer all my points to Hyatt ^_^. I am just received my United a week ago. So I am lucky I am not in blacklist . I will get Freedom card for my next churn.

British Airways: I really love 100,000 points. I hope British Airway still has offer 100,000 points when I do next churn.

Thank you very much for your help.

TheMilesProfessor

The US Bank FlexPerks visa has a $49 annual fee, but you can pay it with 3500 FlexPerks points, depending on how good a value you get in your points.

For more information:

There was a lengthy discussion on FlyerTalk when this card had a 33,150 offer last year around Olympics. This thread is quite long:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...us-no-fee.html

I have a short post that talks about the specifics of the card and how I redeemed FlexPerks for a trip to Cancun. May be useful to hear about experience actually redeeming the points:
http://themilesprofessor.com/2013/02...ewards-cancun/

And of course you can find info on the US Bank website, including the bonus categories that earn double/triple points.
https://www.usbank.com/credit-cards/...ks-travel.html

This is one of my favorite cards so let me know if you have any questions. I go into why on my post.

By the way, if you decide to apply for the card, it does give a 5000 point bonus for their refer a friend program. If you don't find someone you'd rather refer you by then, PM me and I would be happy to give you my FlexPerks number to enter in their refer a friend

arsenalman

Deleted Question.

arsenalman

Ok All -
I have applied for 4 cards (see below). I want to apply for ONE more - Any ideas. I want to do it today and get it done with. The below is what happened in the first round of AOR.

Citi AA (50K points - used the link which doesnt really state the amount, risky but most people stated its ok) - Approved
Chase Ink Bold Business (50k points) - Pending decision
Amex Business Gold (75k points) - Approved
Barclays US Air (40k points) - Pending decision

A couple of questions - should i be proactive and call Barclays and Chase to find out the decision?
I would love to apply for one more decent size card (40-50k). Any ideas?

Thanks.