ragnarkar

I started collecting sign-in bonuses a few months ago (Sept 2013) and here's what I've accumulated:

1) Delta AMEX: 30,000 Delta Skymiles. Applied in Sept 2013, Got 30K points in Oct 2013 (used up on Xmas trip).

2) Chase Sapphire Preferred: Applied in late Oct 2013, got my 40K points last week (after spending $3K)

3) Barclays Arrival World Master Card: Applied in late Nov 2013, got my 40K points last week and already started using them to redeem back some of my Christmas travel expenses.

4) Chase Ink Bold Business: Applied in mid Dec 2013, still working on it (spent about $3k out of 5k required so far.)

The way I see it is Ultimate Rewards have ultimate flexibility (no pun intended). They can be transferred to United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, British Airways, and countless other places. I still haven't gotten the sign-in bonuses from United, Southwest, or British yet so I plan on getting one of them, probably United.. the United card offers 30K miles as a sign-in bonus. If I get that and another Chase Ink Business card with its 50K bonus and combine it with the 30K United and 40K from my Sapphire, I can get:

40 + 50 + 50 + 30 = 170K United points which are probably more than enough for a round-trip to Europe for 2.

Please note I'm a very frugal person and I live on a budget of $1300 - 1800 a month.. but I try to maximize the rewards I get from the money I spend by strategically collecting rewards. I also purchase vanilla reload cards and also reimburse my partner with whom I'm splitting rent by paying her via Amazon Payments.

My questions:

1) When I run out of cards with big sign in bonuses for relatively little minimum spend (the low hanging fruit), what should I work on next to maximize my rewards? Would it be possible to get the no annual fee versions of some of my existing cards (i.e. Barclays Arrival) that offer lower sign-in bonuses?

2) My plan to get 170K United points via sign-in bonuses, assuming I get approved for the United card and the Chase Ink Business seems to work in theory but will I encounter any road bumps in practice?

3) What's life like when you've exhausted every practical source of sign-in bonuses? Some people talk about getting tons of Vanilla reload cards and paying the CC bills back with them (Manufactured spending) but it seems too cumbersome considering the $3.95 fee to buy the cards, and most cards only offer 1-2 miles per dollar. (I don't spend much money even though I have a lot saved up, and I'd rather pay full price for plane tickets to travel somewhere rather than rack up points by buying a lot of useless junk I don't need.)

Thanks.

pricesquire

You have awhile before you really hit all the low hanging fruit. I see glaring holes here....

1) USAirways card by Barclays ($1 spend..doesn't get much more low hanging than that).

2) I think SPG Amex if a very attainable goal for you, considering your monthly spend, and that you have half a year to get the bonus. (10k for 1st purchase, another 15k after $5k in 6 months)

3) Any of the Citi AA cards.

4) Tons of Hilton cards

5) IHG (1k in 3 mo)

6) Hyatt (1k in 3 mo)

7) United (1k in 3 mo)

8) Marriott (1k in 3 mo)

More that I'm too lazy to list...check out the Credit Card Offers thread (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...er-thread.html)

Also, everything should be considered a low hanging fruit if you're willing to MS/buy VRs. Personally, I don't buy VRs just to buy them...I buy them to hit bonuses.

Other observations: the prevailing theory is get miles, then spend them. This isn't exactly a saving game. But, you may want a strategy for how you're going about this (what kind of trips you want to take, business or economy, how many times a year, 1 person vs two, etc).

ckgunn01

You are far from the end. In the last year I got 4x AA cards, 2x ink cards, 1x united, 2x USAir, 2x virgin Atlantic (convert to hilton), 3x hilton cards, and 50k capital one. Last year was less than I got the year before. Next round will be Amex MR rewards cards ( personal and biz), Hyatt, delta, and looking at Hawaiian, virgin Atlantic and more hilton / aa cards.

waygora

Unite has explorer card in branch for 50k. Check that out before you apply.

ragnarkar

Thanks for the responses!

I've looked at the SPG (and other Amex cards) but on the application page, it says I can't get the sign-in bonus because it's only for new Amex customers.

Also, I'd rather avoid getting cards and miles from a zillion different smaller airlines if possible but it seems like some of their points can be redeemed for hotels (i.e. Hilton) as an alternative.. Basically, I don't want to end up having 30K to 40K in 5 different airline programs and need 50K for a roundtrip ticket (but if I can spend those miles on something else like Hotels, it may still be worthwhile.)

As for how I'm looking to spend my miles:

I'm going for quantity, not quality, as long as it's overseas flights. So I'd rather get 2 coach class overseas flights than 1 first-class flight. Ideally, I'd like to be able to take a round trip overseas trip for 2 to Europe or Asia every year with all or most of the ticket paid using miles. Keep in mind I spend only about $20,000 a year (not including travel) to maintain my standard of living although I have more than enough saved up when we decide to travel in the future.

ckgunn01

Don't under estimate transferable points and partnerships. For example SPG can be transferred to any airline essentially. Membership rewards and UR points can be sent to British airways to redeem for AA. Amex means new SPG or MR accounts, not new Amex customers overall. USAir points will become AA points. I would only look at secondary accounts like virgin, Hawaiian, etc if you want to combine into hilton points. Pretty easy to get both and two hilton cards for 250k+ hilton points with little effort. Despite deval, can get a vac hotel for that.

ragnarkar

After doing some research, it seems like I will be eligible for the full SPG sign-in bonus if I apply for it from an incognito window.. guess I'm gonna try that card next.. the card's too good to give up due to a BS excuse like not handing out the bonus to existing AMEX customers..

World-Wide

Also consider I wouldn't just jump on offers unless you need it for travel ASAP. Why jump on a 30K United offer when you can get 50K? Same goes for any airlines/hotels CC.

You got 30K Delta offer? Think 70K offer shows up sometimes maybe I am wrong.

But I try to max the offers I sign up for. Not getting a lower offer if a higher one was around before. I will just wait till the higher offer comes around. That is why I am not getting the AA CC. I still am upset with my self when I didn't get 2 times 75K offer from a while back. But I won't jump on a crappy offer now. I can wait.........lol

kpd905

There is a 50-55k offer for United. Don't waste your time with 30k offers.

2stepsbehind

I wouldn't bother with the spg now, this summer there should be a 30k offer

kpd905

The Virgin and Hawaiian cards all have annual fees, correct? And both of them transfer 1:2 HHonors points?

ragnarkar

About the "unexpected roadblocks" I mentioned earlier..

One of my main concerns going forward is the possibility that Chase will shut down one or more of my cards, taking away the rewards I've earned. I plan on spending money as normal (using Vanilla Reload cards every once in a while to pay for things that cannot be paid for using CC's.) Basically, I'll be hopping from one card to another every few months to meet minimum spends and stop once the spend is met.

(See http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/chase...solidated.html)

In the last 12 months, I've applied for and gotten 1 Personal card and 1 Business card from Chase.. but I plan on getting more from them:

Personal Cards: 50K United, 50K British Airways

Business Cards: another 50K Chase Ink, (maybe) 60K United Business Card if I still qualify for the bonus.

Fyi, my credit score is in the high 700s (it was in the low 800s a year ago before I started my Mileage acquisition spree.)

satman40

I have to wonder why you wasted your time with Delta Amex, Amex has a lot if decent cards,

ragnarkar

It was the very first card, FFS..

Do you expect to be competent on Day 1 upon starting a new sport?

flyer4512

I got denied the 15K using the icognito browser, I suggest using a referral link to apply