The companion pass is a great deal, but Chase has had 100k BA offers in the past so I'd be hesitant to sign up with "just" a 50k offer.

Well for PC points the obvious choice is your Chase PC card.

If you wanted elite status at other hotel chains, then certain cards would provide you with HH Diamond or SPG Gold (though this one is an Amex).

It is curious that nobody has evaluated your request in terms of "what are the most points I can get in any program" with a high spend. Chase BA card provides 1.25 avios a/k/a miles per $1 for everyday spending. I don't know of any other cards that beat the 1.25 ratio, excluding special category spending such as gas, restaurants, hotels, etc. Note that Chase Freedom and Chase Ink permit you transfer points to many programs, but I think the return is still 1 point per $1 for services such as roofing.

i thought spg amex gave 5 for 4, or 6 for 5 of transfer to airline, and they have a long list of airlines.

it has the problem associated with an amex card.

So, I will be buying a diamond in roughly Mid-February. My plan was to use my United MileagePlus Club Business Card and get 1.5 Miles per Dollar.

However, does anyone have any recommendations for a specific card I should get before the purchase to maximize rewards and/or sign up bonuses?

My order of importance for rewards is: 1. Airlines Miles/Points 2. Hotel Miles Points 3. Cash Back

I would consider any of them if the reward is good enough.

More Info: I will be spending about $6K. My credit score is currently a 788. I have a $0 Credit Card Balance on my Credit Report. I have lengthy enough credit history and limits that I should qualify for any card there is.


Your thoughts, opinions and guidance on this is greatly appreciated!

Chris

Hi Chris,

Once you decide on a card, check and see if your preferred store is hooked up to a cashback or points-earning shopping portal. More is more

when buying a diamond, ask if there is a cash discount. often it can be greater than 5% and sales tax isnot charged(another 10% here in CA) this discount far outweights the benefit of additional miles

I bought a rock last spring and most places gave a cash discount of 3-5%, so you might be better off paying cash. Try and work with them though. I asked if they'd let me put $2k on the card if I paid the rest in cash while still giving me the discount and they allowed me to.

Also, more importantly, do your homework on diamonds and the buying process.

I've got to spend recurring payments of approx $30K for services rendered to my company over the next year or so.
The other company doesn't take credit cards and I'm not willing to eat the extra fees for a CC payment either - so I pay by check.

What springs to mind is buying MO's with a debit card.
But it kinda looks unprofessional to hand over 30 of those, wouldn't it ?

Would there be other options to get at least some rewards out of these payments ?

Use bluebird to send checks:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/manuf...ebit-card.html

Using a single BB account you could earn 5,000 points on CC spend (using VRs) and then another transfer another 5,000 in from a checking account (for no points). I would doubt a $10,000 check and a $20,000 check would look unprofessional. 30 $1,000 MOs would appear questionable to most, if not unprofessional.

That said, if you used the right cards, paying the CC fee could be worth it. For example, cards that offer bonus points for hitting specific spend levels could end up being worth it, if used strategically. AMEX PRG offers 15,000 MR points after $30,000 in spend; the JPM Palladium offers 25,000 UR points after $100,000 in spend; Chase BA offers "Travel Together" ticket after $30,000 in spend; and the list goes on and on. You have to do the math on it, but I'd imagine there are some ways of making it worth it, depending on how you travel and what the fee is (I'm assuming ~2.7%).

Thanks ^
First of all, I'm not able to buy VR's any longer since my OD's have stopped carrying. There are no CVS's in my state either.
Second, I would be very uncomfortable buying 30K or even a partial recurring amount in Gift Cards - even if I were able to find the ones that can be loaded onto BB.
Tried with no go for a single $50 Mastercard GC just recently and from then on I just happen to dislike this GC game - IMHO just a waste of time & energy that ends in utter frustration.

However, coming to think of it, I will check out the possibility of my miles-earning Debit cards and load onto the BB @ Wallmart.
It will take spread-payments, but if the receiver is OK with that, what the heck!
Several BB accounts for others will move the monies even faster.

Then onto the CC's - of which I have a whole collection - and research what the spending offers are currently for big spenders

It would take 6 months just to load the money needed onto Bluebird. Not very practical.

I was hoping for ideas - hence this thread - do you have one ?

Hi,

I need to buy $10-$15k of office software licenses for my business. I can apportion the spend over a number of credit cards as I can buy 10-20 licenses at a time.

I have ink bold, would like to to get 5x bonus but I'll probably buy at cdw or dell for the lowest price. How do I figure out what chase considers office supply stores?

I've ordered one carlson premier card, hasn't come yet. I was thinking about meeting min spend on a number of cards:
- a carlson business card
- two Hawaiian air cards

or perhaps heading for the $21k spend on avios.

ideas?

tia

Can you have CDW or Dell do a charge for a few hundred bucks and see what category it posts as?