Category Archives: Chase

Earn Southwest Points With A New Mortgage

March 25, 2013Chase, Mortgage, Points, Rapid Rewards, Southwest AirlinesMichael W

Since flying Southwest at the end of December, I’ve written about being a big fan.
They also offer a really cool perk for kids, although it may be very hard to find.

I find Southwest points to be extremely valuable due to having Companion Pass status. This allows Kim to fly for free on any flight that I book using cash or points.
Companion Pass status is reached by earning 110,000 points in a year. I earned it by getting the Southwest Airlines Personal and Business credit cards. Each card came with a bonus of 50,000 miles after a minimum amount of spend. I earned the rest of the points needed by just using the credit cards to pay various bills.

Here is a way to earn some valuable Southwest Rapid Rewards Points by getting a new mortgage with Chase.
You can earn:

Mortgage Loan Amount Rapid Reward Points:
up to $249,999 12,500 points
$250,000- $500,000 25,000 points
$500,001 & higher 50,000 points
**Plus get 2,500 bonus points with a Chase mortgage on a new home purchase

The 2,500 bonus points are only available for new closed purchase mortgages for one to four family properties with residential mortgages.

Applications must be submitted by 4/21/13 to earn the bonus

Find out more details about this offer HERE

(Check for some credit card offers by clicking through my creditcards.com affiliate link at the top of the blog. If you are approved for a card through my link, I will receive a commission)

A Reminder From United: Book Flights With Your Explorer Card

February 27, 2013Chase, Credit Cards, Fees, MileagePlus, Save, UnitedMichael W

United sent out a friendly and useful postcard reminder in the mail:

To save on checked bags, always purchase your tickets with your MileagePlus Explorer Card.

I thought the information on the postcard could be a useful reminder for many and could also save you some money when flying with United.

A nice benefit you receive for paying for a flight with your Chase United MileagePlus Explorer Card is getting your first checked bag free as well as one for a companion traveling on the same reservation. You can save up to $100 for each round trip.

For our trip to South Dakota we booked an award flight from NYC using Kim’s United miles. Kim paid the taxes, $20 total with one of her cards.
We made the mistake of not using my United Explorer Card. We figured since Kim’s miles were being used, one of her cards should be used to pay the taxes. I also thought that since I was flying on the itinerary and had my Explorer card linked to my account, our checked luggage would be free.

Boy was I wrong!

When we got to the check-in counter, we were told each checked bag would be $25. I mentioned that I had the United Explorer card and was immediately told the rules. You must pay for your flight using the card to get the free checked bag benefit. This meant that our free award flight + tax was now going to cost us an additional $50 each. Not cool!

I quickly came up with a plan. I’d pay for our baggage fees with my Chase Ritz Carlton card. The card came with a very useful benefit, a $200 annual credit meant to be used for checked bags or other incidental airline fees. This softened the blow.

The lesson to be learned here is be sure to fully understand the benefits of your credit cards. It can definitely save you some money.

Had I realized that I needed to use my Explorer card to qualify for free checked luggage, I could have saved my $100 Ritz Carlton benefit for something else!

Thank you United for the reminder.

Three Strikes (Calls) And You’re Approved for the British Airways Card

September 24, 2012Avios, British Airways, Chase, Million Mile SecretsMichael W

In early July much of the credit card chatter was about our last chance to sign up for the Chase British Airways credit card 100,000 miles offer. I didn’t think much about getting in on this deal as Kim and I both received this offer when the card came out a couple of years back. We used our miles to fly in business class to Italy for 120,000 mile each. (Taxes were a bit high but we still found the deal and trip well worth it)

I started thinking about the possibility of getting the BA card again. I wasn’t sure if it was possible to get the card for a second time and I already was approved for a bunch of Chase cards this year. So I pretty much forgot about it.

About a week later I was doing my daily travel blog reading and came across an important piece of information on Million Mile Secrets: Emily gets the British Airways 100,000 Point Bonus for a Second Time!

I thought it over and decided to take a chance at getting the BA card. To apply for the offer, I had to do a mock flight booking with British Airways. This then brought up the offer to earn 100,000 British Airways Avios miles. The offer gave 50K miles after your first purchase. The annual fee of $75 was not waived. The second 50K were given after your first card anniversary by again making a purchase and paying the $75 fee.

If I was approved I would earn 100,000 BA miles after two purchases and $150 in fees. I hate paying fees (and rarely do) but the ease of no minimum spend to earn the miles really appealed to me.

There was another Chase BA offer to earn 100,000 miles- 50K after first purchase, 25K more after spending $10,000 and 25K more after spending another $10,000. The fee for this card was $95. This deal was not an option for me since I would NEVER put $20,000 on one card. How would I reach my minimum spends for future offers?!

After applying for the card I received an application needs further review message. I figured that I would wait a few days and call the Chase Retention Line (888-245-0625) to get a decision.

I called on July 14 and the rep put me on hold a few times before telling me that I was denied. The reason was too many applications & approvals within the last few months. I offered to close some of my old accounts but was told this would not work and that there was no way to “override” the system. I asked again and was told the same thing once again. I figured that it was time to take a break from Chase.

I decided to give Chase a call one more time the following morning. I went through the same conversation and was given the same info. This rep told me to show usage on my cards and suggested that I not apply for any more cards for 6 months.

I received a letter from Chase a few days later regarding my British Airways card denial. In the letter I had noticed that it suggested that I call back if I had any more information to share with them within the next 30 days. I tossed the letter aside and thought about calling again.

A couple of days later I filled out an application for the Chase BA card for Kim. She also received the pending status message but I figured she had a great shot at being approved since she only received one new Chase card in the last 6-8 months.
Sure enough after waiting a few days to call, Kim answered a bunch of questions and was APPROVED for the British Airways card.
All was not lost. In a little over a year, we would have over 100,000 BA Avios miles!

Fast forward a couple of weeks later… I was cleaning up some old papers & mail and came across my Chase BA rejection letter again. I reread it and focused on the “call again if you have any new info within 30 days” sentence…. One of my Chase accounts was closed a week or so back- I did have some new info!

On August 14, around one month from when this application process started I decided to give Chase one final call.

The reconsideration line was answered by a friendly representative and I had a feeling this was going to work out. I gave my application ID # and was placed on hold. Shortly after I was asked why I apply for so many cards. I gave my usual story how I like to keep different purchases with different cards to know how we are spending. I mentioned how each card also gave varying miles for each category (groceries, gas, travel etc). I also shared that we had some international travel coming up and I loved how the BA card does not charge foreign transaction fees (actually neither do some of my other cards!). She said that she understood why I wanted the card. I also mentioned my recently closed account and offered to close or move some credit from another card.

I was then asked which card I would like to move credit from and how much of a credit line I would like for the BA card. I suggested my Southwest card and was placed on hold. The rep came back on the line and told me the credit would have to be moved from my United Explorer card and that I was APPROVED!

By the middle of next August I will have another 100,000+ miles thanks to this amazing offer! Good thing that I did not give up and take no for an answer.

This just shows that you should never give up… In this case it took three calls and I was approved!

Now it’s time for that break from Chase credit card applications…until that next great offer!

Update on Credit Card Bonus Miles for 2012

April 24, 2012Bank of America, Barclays, Bonus, Chase, Citi, Credit Cards, Miles, Sign UpMichael W

In 2011 I earned 775,000 miles from credit card signup bonuses which I wrote about here.
Getting close to that amount of miles in 2012 is not going to be easy and is going to take some creativity.

I wrote about my first credit card that I received in 2012 and my strategy of only applying for cards with bonuses of 50,000 miles/ points or higher. (You can read that post here)

I’ve been waiting for a new card to come out with a huge bonus (let’s say 75,000- 100,000) but nothing has materialized as of yet. I decided recently to rethink my strategy and went ahead and applied for two cards with a sub-50K signup bonus. (more on this below)

Here are the cards that I have applied for in 2012 and the signup bonus that go along with them.
(I’ve only applied for five cards so far and was approved for all of them)

Chase Southwest Personal Card- 50,000 miles
Chase Southwest Business Card- 50,000 miles
Citi AAdvantage Business Visa- 50,000 miles
Bank of America Alaska Airlines Visa- 35,000 miles
Barclays US Airways Mastercard- 40,000 miles (potential for another 10-20,000)

Once I receive all of these bonuses, I will already be at 225,000 miles earned in 2012.
Not bad at all if you ask me!

Why did I decide to change my strategy?
The days are flying by in 2012 and we are almost into May. If I keep waiting for massive offers to come out, I might be waiting until next year. Nobody knows for sure what new card offers are on the way. By going for cards in the 35,00+ range, I will be replenishing my accounts as I use miles for travel over the course of this year. I was also getting way too antsy waiting for new cards!!!

I decided to apply for the Alaska Airlines card due to a few factors. I don’t really have any BOA cards. Most of the big offers over the last year have been from Chase and I don’t want to keep applying for their cards and get banned from cashing in on future offers with them. I’d also love to go to Alaska.
I decided to get the US Airways card for different reasons. One common factor is the lack of cards from Barclays. I recently cancelled my US Air card and wanted another way to add to my Dividend Miles account. By adding 40-50,000 miles, I should have enough for 2 flights to Europe. I also plan to play the US Airways Grand Slam again this year and having this card is an easy hit.

At this point I don’t feel confident that 2012 will bring me as many miles as last year from credit card bonuses. However, if I can get to 500,000 miles I will definitely consider 2012 a very solid and productive year!

First Credit Card of 2012- Chase Southwest Airlines- 50,000 Points Sign Up Bonus

January 29, 2012Chase, Credit Cards, Miles, Southwest AirlinesMichael W

In 2011 I earned an amazing 775,000 miles from credit card sign up bonuses. I detailed how I did this in a post on 1/3/12. (you can check it out here)

I’ve been thinking a lot about my 2012 strategy for credit cards applications. My plan is to only apply for cards offering a bonus of 50,000 miles/ points or more.
Hopefully there will be some huge, killer offers like the last couple of years. Somebody has to come out with a new 75-100K offer at some point. (or at least I really hope so)

To start off 2012 I decided to apply for the Chase Southwest Airlines Premier Card.
You can currently earn 50,000 bonus points after first purchase. That’s enough points for 2 free flights and worth the $99 membership fee in my opinion. If you decide to keep the card a second year, you receive 6,000 more bonus points which can be redeemed for a $100 “wanna get away fare” which covers the $99 fee.

I currently have 3 Chase credit cards so I did not think that I’d get instant approval for the Southwest card. I was planning to call Chase and move around some credit or possibly cancel one card if needed to get the approval.
To my surprise I did get instant approval and after one purchase (probably for $2), I will have 50,000 points with Southwest.

The approval screen

If you’d like to apply for the Chase Southwest Credit Card Click Here
(FYI-This is not an affiliate link and I DO NOT get any commission)

UPDATE: Priority Club- Earn 1,000 Points for 90-Second Video- Codes Still Working

December 24, 2011Chase, Priority Club, Video, VisaMichael W

I wrote about the Priority Club- Earn 1,000 Points for 90-Second Video offer a few days ago.

I was worried that these codes would stop working but as of yesterday, they are still working just fine. I have some codes left with more on the way!
(IHG had sent me a message through Twitter saying how these codes were for hotel guests and my codes had been deactivated)

After watching the video, I received an 80,000 points bonus offer to sign up for the
Chase Priority Club Visa Card. I signed up for the card last year so I didn’t take them up on the offer again as I figure I won’t receive the bonus a second time. I used a code for my wife and planned to sign her up for the card but she only received a 60,000 point offer…
This definitely surprised me. Had Chase decided to lower the offer so quickly???

I had a feeling the answer was no so I used another code with my account number (no I did not get another 1,000 point bonus) and after the video ended, what do you know- I had the 80,000 point credit card sign up offer again.

I am guessing the offers differ due to the fact that I am Priority Club Platinum, my wife is not. I took a gamble and signed her up for my 80,000 point offer. Hopefully they give her the full amount and not the 60,000 points!

Michael W Travels…

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