Don in LA

I'm about to make a $60,000 purchase using a credit card and I want to maximize my value using one (or more) of the credit cards I have, or applying for a new one. I have the Hilton Amex, AA Mastercard, Chase Sapphire Reserve, and Costco Visa.

If I use the Hilton Amex, I get 180,000 Hilton points. Usable for a few nights at mid-tier Hiltons.
If I use the Chase Sapphire Reserve, I get 60,000 Ultimate Rewards points. Redeemable for about $750 in travel expenses.
If I use the AA Mastercard, I get 60,000 American Advantage miles. Worth a flight somewhere.
If I use the Costco Visa, I get $600 back.

I can also apply for another credit card (my credit score is well north of 700), and no matter what I do, I'll pay it all off either in advance or within the month, so there's no issue of finance charges.

I'm almost paralyzed about what to do here. Any suggestions?

guv1976

I believe that Chase Sapphire Reserve points are worth 1.50¢ -- not 1.25¢ -- each when redeemed for travel via the Chase Travel Portal. But if you travel, CSR points can be transferred to numerous FFPs, which might yield greater value.

There are credit cards out there that offer 2.0% cashback -- or more.

The AA card would get you not only 60,000 AA miles; it would also generate 60,000 Loyalty Points, which would get you very close to AAdvantage Platinum (oneworld Sapphire) elite status. You would need to earn 75,000 Loyalty Points between March 1 and February 28/29 to achieve AAdvantage Platinum.

Depending on exactly what you would be spending the $60K on, you might fall into bonus categories with some cards.

You could certainly qualify for a generous sign-up bonus on a new card by charging $3-5K within a few months.

What are your travel patterns? Do you mostly travel for leisure? Domestic or international? Economy Class or premium cabin? If you stay in hotels, Chase UR points transfer 1:1 to Hyatt, which can afford pretty good value.

Acidity

No matter what you decide; don't charge it to your CSR. If you want the UR points, get a Chase Freedom Unlimited, which earns 1.5x UR points per dollar (since you already have the CSR) which you can then transfer over to your CSR. This means that if you were able to charge the full 60k onto a CFU, you'd get 90K UR points, which can be used for $1350 in travel through the Chase portal (or potentially better if you transfer to a partner, ymmv).

TWA884

It will also generate an additional 10,000 Loyalty Points, for spending $40K on the card in the qualifying period, for a total of 70K points, just shy of qualifying for Platinum status.

rafi2k6

Why not apply for this card:
https://creditcards.chase.com/travel...anada/aeroplan

You'll get 70,000 points after spending $3,000 in the first 3 months, plus 1 point per dollar on all other purchases.
You'll earn something like 127,000 points after making the initial 60,000 purchase (70k points for the first $3k, 57,000 for the remaining $57k)

Plus, it has great earning rates in other categories.

127,000 Aeroplan points is enough for a round trip business class reward to Europe or even the middle east when on sale.
You can use CanadianCow's tool to help find award space: https://www.cowtool.com/

Edit: with your level of spend, you'll also earn Air Canada 35K status, which is Star Alliance silver.
If you intend to travel with United or other star alliance carriers on cash tickets in the next year or two, this can come in handy. You may even be able to attain 50K (Star Alliance gold) status!

Happy spending!

Schutzee

I never knew this trick. I spend $200,000 a year on my Ink card. If I run this spend thru the Freedom I'll net an additional 100,000 points? That would be awesome as I generally transfer UR to Hyatt and realize up to 3 cents a point.

Acidity

Assuming that's unbonused (1x) spend on the Ink card, yes you should net the extra 100k points. Holding any UR earning card converts the Freedom Unlimited from 1.5% cash back into 1.5x points. I don't hold any Chase business cards though, so it might be good to double check on the Chase forum for your particular use case.