Bink

Yes, me too. I'm too lazy to go back and check but seem to recall Tonrob saying he had something like 40 credit cards. Kudos for keeping that amount in check.
I have 5 in the US and 2 in the UK and have decided that's plenty for me! It's easy to see how you could get into trouble with credit cards. I have access to circa $75k or so across them all

tonrob

We'll meet the minimum spend on the cards the day each one arrives in the mail!

tonrob

I've eased up on the posting in here a bit lately. I know the thread's had a lot of views but I don't really know whether any of this stuff is of use to anyone. I know it's not all useful for all expats, as a lot (but not all) of what I'm doing requires a reasonable credit rating. I've tried to make a point of responding to questions as they're asked and selectively posting fresh deals as they've arisen, but have refrained from posting many new general "hints and tips" type stuff as it takes time to produce and isn't worth it if no-one's benefiting from it.

So - if you're reading this - should I bother carrying on? Do you have any questions yourself? Would you like to see more info on how to make the most out of certain programmes?

Let me know and I'll try to focus on those areas. I've probably only shared a fraction of what I know/do but it's difficult unless I know what people are interested in finding out.

Bink

Yes, please carry on!
The most useful things to me is maximising a particular programme (for me United, BA and Marriott are the most interesting as I already make a lot of trips with them for business so would like to maximize my personal gain on those programmes).

You also sent me some very very helpful tips on how to meet minimum spend requirements to trigger bonuses (the BA $30k spend in particular!) and I think information of that kind would be very useful to people.

Bob

I'm interested. Not so much for myself as we've got meh credit and are broke, but the missus does have a couple of cousins who live way out there in the midwest kind of area who fly a lot for family/work things, so info here has helped them out

Especially stuff for converting hotels into air miles and back, for best bang.

tonrob

Thanks for your words of encouragement - I'll try to post more.

Funny you mention Marriott - I'm just about done with them now as they have just announced yet another devaluation of their programme. It seem like every year they not only shift a whole bunch of properties into a higher category, but they also then introduce a whole new category that's one higher than they had previously.

Now they've gone and announced a new category 9 for which they're charging an outrageous 45,000 points a night and into which most decent properties in New York, London and Paris have fallen into. It also makes their free night certificates worth even less, such as the Cat 5 annual free night with the Chase Marriott card and their quarterly Cat 4 "Megabonus" nights. I must just find a Fairfield Inn somewhere deep in the Mid-West for that these days.

They're still good for discounted gift cards, which helps if you have to stay with them, but unless I happen upon some of the ever-more-fleeting good Friends & Family deals then Marriott and I are going to part ways.

Hilton and Starwood remain in my good books, and Club Carlson and I are new best mates following the introduction of their new US Bank co-branded card (85,000 sign-up bonus plus one free night per award booking) and other great deals (e.g. triple points during Q1 2013). Of course which places you visit can have a big bearing on which programmes are useful.

GeoffM

It's certainly helped me - thanks! I understand about not posting absolutely everything as there's probably new stuff very regularly. Maybe just comment on the exceptional deals every now and again?

RICH

Most of this stuff goes way over my head and budget, but I appreciate the resource, and having somewhere to ask novice questions.

gatsbygirl8

Hi tonrob,
I've been reading your posts about miles, deals, etc. for a couple of years now, and I've found them very interesting. I've been trying to get my head around it all, but I'm still working it out. If you don't mind, I'd be grateful if you could point me in the right direction. This July, my in-laws in the UK have offered to pay for our family (me, husband, 4-year-old and baby) to fly to the UK for my father-in-law's birthday. They will transfer the funds to our US account and we will book the flight here. We live on a tight budget so this is a very big deal to us. We haven't been back to the UK since moving here 3 years ago. I don't want to waste the opportunity to earn so many miles with our family all flying, but I'm completely confused on which card and air carrier would be best for us. Neither of us travels for business, so we don't need hotels or domestic flights. We just want to try and earn as many international miles as we can to help with future flights to Europe. We used to travel with AA a lot back when we were dating, but lately the best prices have been with US Airways and BA. We're flexible though. Also, we both have a good credit rating so approval shouldn't be a problem. Any suggestions?

tonrob

Hi gatsbygirl

Happy to try to help if I can! I'll be traveling myself from Sunday onwards for 10 days and won't have much time for reading/posting, but let's see where we get before then.

Some questions:

1. Do any of you have any mileage programme accounts at the moment (with any existing balances?)
2. Which airports would you consider flying from and to? (And do you already know which carrier(s) your choices are effectively limited to?)
3. What type of tickets will you be buying for the July flight? (e.g. discounted economy, fully flexible economy, business class etc.)
4. You say that you don't travel for business so have no need of miles that could be useful for domestic US travel. Is that correct? No chances of any family holidays within the US?
5. You say "earn miles to help with future flights to Europe". Do you mean just the UK, or did you have other countries/cities in mind? (And will those trips likely be with the whole family or just you and your husband?)
6. You mentioned credit ratings - I assume you are open to apply for credit card(s) to earn miles to supplement those you earn via the July flights - is that right?

Sorry to bombard you with so many questions, but the answers will make a difference to the things I might say/suggest.

tonrob

Ask away!

gatsbygirl8

Thanks so much for your help!

Some questions:
1.Do any of you have any mileage programme accounts at the moment (with any existing balances?) I don't think so. We used to have accounts with AA and United, but all our old miles are gone now. I did sign up for BA just before we flew to the USA, but our miles never showed up on my account. I figured I must not have signed up correctly. So, no miles with anyone right now.
2.Which airports would you consider flying from and to? (And do you already know which carrier(s) your choices are effectively limited to?) Our ideal airport would be BHX, but we're flying from St. Louis and don't want more than one connection with two little kids. We're open to Manchester or Heathrow if necessary. We will be renting a car for our trip, so driving from the airport isn't a problem.
3.What type of tickets will you be buying for the July flight? (e.g. discounted economy, fully flexible economy, business class etc.) Cheapest possible, so probably discounted economy. However, I would love to use this trip as a starting point to accumulate miles/points so that we can start to use upgrades in the future.
4.You say that you don't travel for business so have no need of miles that could be useful for domestic US travel. Is that correct? No chances of any family holidays within the US? We might go to Chicago once or twice a year, but that's about it. With our finances so tight right now, regular holidays really aren't an option for us.
5.You say "earn miles to help with future flights to Europe". Do you mean just the UK, or did you have other countries/cities in mind? (And will those trips likely be with the whole family or just you and your husband?) Just the UK for now. We would like to visit Europe more (we have family in Austria), but I figured we would either drive from the UK or book something with easyjet separately. I assumed that would be easier and cheaper.
6.You mentioned credit ratings - I assume you are open to apply for credit card(s) to earn miles to supplement those you earn via the July flights - is that right? We are, but probably just 1-2 each. I remember your recommendation about a 50,000 mile intro offer if you put $3,000 on the card in the first few months. I thought since we'll have the money for the tickets up front, that could be a good way to get miles and immediately pay off the card.

Mallory

Gosh TonRob, you've helped me no end! I enjoy playing around with the cards, and have had some good deals. Which card do you think is the giving the most bonus miles (for not spending thousands of dollars)? I saw you mention Chase Sapphire, is that one good to go after?

coastieexpat

I think this a great resource, please carry on, you have shared some very sound advice. I for one had pretty much discounted using miles /points for hotels......but you steered me in the right direction with the Chase/Hyatt/Amex rewards. ( I just booked the Vendome and Madeline in Paris ).

BTW. BA is having a 6 day sale , I typed in SFO to LHR to MAN in Club World ( Business class ), it came to around $1750.00 , then 10% off for using the BA card, ( I think you still get a discount for AARP if you don't have the card).

Pretty good deal for around $1600.00. ( with discount ).

Travel by 23rd March to April 5th.

coastieexpat

Oops ! Sorry , the above fare is for one way, I made a mistake

Seemed too good to be true