Advice on First App-o-Rama
 

Folks,

Trying to go for my first app-o-rama and thought would document the process and get the feedback from everyone.

So here's my goal:
Take our family of 3 to Thailand (Phuket) for one week in 2016
Use United or American to execute that. I currently have about 100k in both these airlines
Based on this I am thinking of getting miles and points by applying few cards. The question is this:

So the big question #1 what cards to select?

Step 1 - Card Selection
My thought is to get cards that give me flexibility in both AA and UA miles. And at the same time get some benefits like free checked baggage.

So looking for some feedback on this:

What do you think? Here's my plan:
Apply for 3 credit cards on the same day to earn 150k points/miles
Chase Sapphire - 50k + 5K
Citi Plat. Select AAdvantage - 50k
Chase Ink Plys - 60k
(Not Planning) - AmEx Green Card - 50k Membership Points (transferable to Avios... not sure)
So that's a total of 150k+ points. The minimum spend is going to be

What do you think?

Question: What are other cards to consider? - SPG AmEx - due to the merger, is that a good option? Citi Thank You point cards?

Question: Read about lot of previous spending tools are no longer working. Serve? Bluebird? Vanilla? Lot of mixed information out there. My plan was to get gift cards from stores like Office Depot, Kroger et al and use it on purchases. What is your favorite strategy recently?

Will update this post with Step 2 on Meeting Minimum Spending Requirement soon.

Free checked baggage only applies to domestic flights for at least some of the airline cards.

If you're trying for one specific trip for multiple people, I'd be careful about getting spread too thin across too many programs. For example, you can buy AA flights with Citi TYP points, but you can't combine TYP and AA miles (at least not easily, as far as I can tell). You might be better off getting a Citi Premier now and then a Citi Prestige later (or two different Chase or Amex cards), so your points are consolidated.

Also, keep in mind that once you're past five credit cards in 24 months, Chase won't approve you for any of their flagship cards (Sapphire Preferred, Freedom, etc.). If you like Chase's program, start with them.

Thank you for your feedback.

To your point, spreading myself too thin is exactly my concern.

So points and miles not being able to be combined... is that true about all points cards? :confused:

For example Chase Sapphire Preferred has 55k bonus (with 50k+5k), won't I be able to transfer these points to UA miles and then use the existing 100k miles to use 150k miles in total for a trip?

On the Chase point, once I have 5 Chase cards, I won't get another for 24 months.. is it? or total of 5 cards regardless of the bank?

Thank you for your help.

I'm not a Chase customer but my understanding is that Chase's points program is more flexible than Citi's when it comes to transferring points, transfer partners, etc.

As for Chase's so-called 5/24 rule, it's five total credit cards within two years, not five Chase cards. If there's a Chase card or two that you really want, I'd try to get it/them first. After five cards, you can still get Chase's co-branded cards (United Mileageplus, Hyatt, IHG, etc.), so you're not shut out from Chase completely. You just won't be able to get a Sapphire Preferred (CSP), freedom, etc.

OP,
I would not recommend applying for more than 1 Chase card per day. You may be successful but quite often Chase declines the 2nd card. Read the Applying for Chase cards in the Chase|U.R. forum. Yes, Chase UR can be moved to UA and other airlines/hotels. You need to do a lot of reading in the Chase|U.R. thread so slow down and get some education. :)

Apply for the CSP, a CITI card, an Amex card and maybe a Barclay card (search this forum for available Barclay cards) on the same day. But, if you have received 5 cards (any bank) in 24 months you may not get the Ink card. Chase is making things tough.

Don't apply for all of those on the same day unless you're absolutely sure you can make the required minimum spending. Depending on which of the cards are involved, one each from those four issuers could leave you needing to make over $10,000 in spending in 90 days. (The CSP, alone, requires $4,000.)