just made 1k ,need help

Old Dec 3, 2013, 7:40 pm
  #1  
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just made 1k ,need help

hello., I hope i am posting this in the right place, and can get my question worded correctly.
Ok, My husband always flying united for work (company buys all tickets).We live in USA, and he flies to Thialand every 28 days, then home 28days. He just received his 1k mileageplus card. We have no credit cards to earn miles, points etc.. We are not interested in upgrades, will take standard seating.. What we want to know, is what is the best card to get to be able to earn enough miles to take our 4 kids on a vacation to the bahamas.?
I have a washer and dryer that broke at same time, but don't want to buy now, in case that could go towards the amount we need to spend in 3 months to earn the points..IF i didn't make myself clear, please ask anything you would like.. I read and research alot, but i get more confused..Thanks to anyone who takes the time to give us advice.
Trina0124 is offline  
Old Dec 3, 2013, 7:52 pm
  #2  
 
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Originally Posted by Trina0124
hello., I hope i am posting this in the right place, and can get my question worded correctly.
Ok, My husband always flying united for work (company buys all tickets).We live in USA, and he flies to Thialand every 28 days, then home 28days. He just received his 1k mileageplus card. We have no credit cards to earn miles, points etc.. We are not interested in upgrades, will take standard seating.. What we want to know, is what is the best card to get to be able to earn enough miles to take our 4 kids on a vacation to the bahamas.?
I have a washer and dryer that broke at same time, but don't want to buy now, in case that could go towards the amount we need to spend in 3 months to earn the points..IF i didn't make myself clear, please ask anything you would like.. I read and research alot, but i get more confused..Thanks to anyone who takes the time to give us advice.
What you want are three things. First, a credit card that rewards you with the most-possible miles in spending categories that you can take advantage of. Second, you want to try and get the 50,000 mile sign up bonus. You may have to settle for 30,000 miles, but 50,000 mile offers float around from time to time. And third, you want to convert as many of your routine cash expenses to credit card. Starbucks adds up. Groceries. Movies. Everything. And make sure it's his card, not yours, because miles he earns are worth far more than yours. As a 1K, any award ticket he "buys" inherits his status.

Sounds like you're looking for 35,000x4? The miles he's earning from his frequent BKK flights alone is going to get you that (in saver coach). If you're looking for first class, then you're going to need more.
Mike Jacoubowsky is offline  
Old Dec 3, 2013, 8:05 pm
  #3  
 
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there's a Chase Sapphire Preferred promo for 50K going on right now, 3 months, 3K spend. Chase UR points are 1:1 transfer ratio to UA miles. Click Here. actually, it's a 55K offer, but you'll need to add an authorized user too for the extra 5K points, which you may or may not want to do).

i think it's actually 6 pax (4 kids + OP + OP's DH), so there may have to be some searching for 6 award seats on the same routing round trip. so 210K for all if you can find saver. OP, if you haven't burned up any miles yet, you are most of the way there. the challenge may be finding saver award seats for 6 all on the same routing. at least you can get everyone into E+ if everything is booked on his miles due to his status.
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Old Dec 3, 2013, 8:10 pm
  #4  
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My vote is for the Chase Sapphire.
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Old Dec 3, 2013, 8:11 pm
  #5  
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6 award tkts all on the same flight is no easy task. I suggest OP that you also get a CC such as Citi Thank You or USBank Flex where the pts can be used to get a rev tkt. With Flex they give you 2x each month from 1 of these gas,grocery or plane tkts so if you spent 200 on gas, 321 on tkts and 175 on groceries at a reg supermkt, youd earn 200 & 175 x1 and 321 x 2. I only use my Flex for 1 of them and nothing else as I dont see 1x being that bgreat of a return.With Flex if you spend $10k you earn 20k which equals a tkt up to $400 if its $400.40 that needs 30k in pts, so if you can usually get a tkt for < $400 Flex will work. But they usually give you a bonus for getting the card so its way under $10k that yiou need to spend

another good CC is Barclays Arrival where everything is 2% back so when you have enough pts you purchase the tkt and then redeem your pts after the statement closes to pay for it

I also like the Amex SPG CC since theyw ill give you 25 tostart when you meet the Spend and when cashing out to move pts to your Airline every 20k you move earns you an extra 5k so its like 1.25 miles per $1, while Chase UA will be 1 per $1. Chase Sapphire gets you 40k when you meet the min Spend and that can be moved into UA 1:1 The Chase Inks give syou 50K.

again the problem isnt getting the needed miles its getting 6 seats using the miles on the same flight, tahst why I suggested those CCs where you earn pts which gets youa rev tkt.btw its best for husband to fly on the rev tkt since he will earn the most miles back
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Old Dec 3, 2013, 8:29 pm
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If you're concerned about points earning, I'd go with AMEX Plat. The points can be used as a dollar amount toward a ticket of your choosing. I use that when I need to combine award tickets with paid tickets minus AMEX redemption for group travel.

However, if you're a member of USAA, they offer 1.25% cash back credit cards. That's the best return I've seen from any rewards program.
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Old Dec 3, 2013, 9:27 pm
  #7  
 
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Thanks,
Your thread title gave me a much needed chuckle: just made 1k ,need help
It's an inside joke. Anyone flying UA enough to make 1K needs help

All of the advice given so far is good.
My personal choice is the Chase Sapphire Preferred.
Minimum 1 point for each dollar spent. Dining, airfare as well as other travel related charges earn 2 pts/$.
Those points can be transferred 1-for-1 for UA miles (or Korean and maybe others that don't get you to the Bahamas), Hyatt Gold Passport and other programs.
Or you can use those Chase "Ultimate Rewards" points as a discount towards "regular' (non-award) travel purchased on their travel website. It's the same concept as recommended above with the Amex Plat/Citi Thank You/USBank Flex cards. While this is generally not considered getting the maximum value for your "points", as others have said, getting "mileage" awards for so many seats on individual flight is going to be hard as few seats are released as "freebies". Using credit card points is buying regular seats, though you'd still probably want to find flights that discount fared seats available.
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Old Dec 4, 2013, 12:08 am
  #8  
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Originally Posted by rgrobins
If you're concerned about points earning, I'd go with AMEX Plat. The points can be used as a dollar amount toward a ticket of your choosing. I use that when I need to combine award tickets with paid tickets minus AMEX redemption for group travel.

However, if you're a member of USAA, they offer 1.25% cash back credit cards. That's the best return I've seen from any rewards program.
I like my AMEX MR Gold, but AMEX is not a good choice for UA awards, as the points do not transfer to UA. Also, buying a revenue ticket with points provides a much lower level of value than an award redemption. Finally, the Platinum is not a particularly good choice for points earnings because it does not bonus based on purchase category (unlike the gold card which gives 3x for airline purchases and 2x for gas and supermarket purchases).

I second the recommendations for Chase Sapphire. Great card for spending and earning. Great transfer partners. And Chase customer service is very good, probably second best only to AMEX.
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Old Dec 4, 2013, 6:29 am
  #9  
 
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I would go with the Chase Sapphire Preferred (either for you or your husband) so that you can transfer these points to his Mileage Plus Account.
I would also open a Chase Business Card (either for you or your husband) that can also be transferred to his Mileage Plus Account.
And if you need more points you can open the Chase Explorer Card (1 mile for every $ spent) or United Club Card (1.5 miles for every $ spent and United Club Access - which he already gets as 1K when flying intl).
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Old Dec 4, 2013, 6:33 am
  #10  
 
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I agree with a chase sapphire card.

You should also use the card to purchase your washer/dryer from the chase UR shopping mall or united online shopping portal (Under earn award miles on united's website).

Sears was recently offering 8 miles/dollar for purchases and I picked a new washer/dryer. At $1500 purchase price thats 1500 miles from chase and 12,000 miles from the shopping mall. Miles can add up real fast when you have purchases like that.
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Old Dec 4, 2013, 7:49 am
  #11  
 
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This is not the best use of miles IMHO. Not to question your choice of a vacation destination, but that is a 35K RT ticket per person = 210000 miles to take a family of 6 there. Depending on how you value miles, that is at least $8500 in miles if not more. You can *certainly* buy tickets for less to get there. I did a search for some random dates in February and tickets MSY-NAS were $380 each. Not only will it be extremely difficult for you to find 6 award tickets on the same flight, but you may have to fly significantly out of your way to do it.

If you timed your trip with one of your husband's trips to Thailand, you could go to Hawaii for fewer miles (5x award tickets at 40K each and your husband stopping in HNL en-route to BKK). While finding 6 tickets on the same flights will also be a challenge, it won't be impossible because United has many more flights to Hawaii than to the Bahamas and I've seen that MSY-LAX and MSY-SFO flights are often fairly open for awards.

Finally, worth noting in case your husband isn't aware, United is ending their service to BKK. He will still be able to fly United to Tokyo and connect from there on partner airline ANA, but it won't necessarily be as cost-effective or comfortable to do it (no Economy Plus, less 1K recognition etc). I'd encourage considering a look at Delta (MSY-NRT-BKK all on Delta metal is possible).
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Old Dec 4, 2013, 7:57 am
  #12  
 
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+1 on Chase Sapphire Preferred

Recently I added Chase Business Ink Bold with 50K bonus.

Earn 5X points per $1 on the first $50,000 spent annually at office supply stores, and on cellular phone, landline, internet, and cable TV services.

I spend about $500 per month on the last 4 categories = $6,000 per year. The 5x bonus adds estimated 24,000 points.
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Old Dec 4, 2013, 8:18 am
  #13  
 
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Other possibilities are Starwood American Express (transfer to multiple airlines at the rate of 20k Starwood points to 25k miles) and Barclays Arrival (2.2% "cash back" toward travel).
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Old Dec 4, 2013, 8:28 am
  #14  
 
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Here are the current promos with miles ...

Chase Sapphire (Bonus - 2013/12/04):

Earn 40,000 Bonus Points after you spend $3,000 in the first 3 months from account opening* - that's $500 towards airfare or hotels when you redeem through Chase Ultimate RewardsSM. Earn 5,000 additional bonus points after you add the first authorized user and make a purchase in the first 3 months from account opening. Automatically get a 7% Annual Points Dividend on all new points earned on purchases throughout the year - even points you have redeemed.

United Mileage Explorer (Bonus - 2013/12/04):
Start with 30,000 bonus miles after you spend $1,000 in the first 3 months your account is open. 5,000 additional bonus miles after your first Card purchase and adding an authorized user within 3 months of opening your account. Plus, earn 10,000 bonus miles every calendar year you spend at least $25,000 on your Card.

United Club Card - (Bonus - 2013/12/04):

$100 statement credit after your first purchase.

Go to chase.com and compare the cards for full details. The Club card will give you 1.5x per point, 2 points for every $1 on United, and will give your husband Club access if he doesn't have it (and with 1K status he will get $60 off).
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Old Dec 7, 2013, 3:14 pm
  #15  
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Thank you everyone for your time to post your replies . I couldn't log in the site for anything, so I just got it to work, and may have to re-read the replies a few times, i am a little confused, ok, ALOT confused.lol

Steve- That comment made me Laugh out Loud.. My husband feels the exact same way.



Ok, Not sure if i mentioned that his company pays for his flights?? And do i only earn miles for all purchases? Or only certain ones..
I will go back and re-read everything..
Thanks again, and sorry it took me so long to get back here

Last edited by Trina0124; Dec 7, 2013 at 9:05 pm
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