Monthly Archives: February 2020

Why I Love My Chase Sapphire Reserve

Posted on February 19, 2020 by Caroline Lupini. 1 Reply

If you’ve been in the market for a new credit card, chances are you’ve stumbled across some information about the famed Chase Sapphire Reserve (CSR). In fact, this credit card has lately been catching a little more attention than usual due to a few changes in its benefit structure, but we’ll get to that a little later.

I manage a collection of 30+ credit cards and they’re all beneficial to me in some way (otherwise there’s no point in keeping them) but I never leave home without my trusty CSR in tow. I’ve always liked the overall Chase awards structure, but that combined with the CSR earning potential and slew of benefits really bumps this card up to the next level. Here are some of the reasons why I love my Chase Sapphire Reserve.

The Earning Potential

The CSR functions as a basic 3X card for the categories that CSR is built for: travel and dining. Every other purchase will earn 1X points. Are there other credit cards that are better suited for earning points? Definitely. However, my largest purchases generally fall into the travel and dining categories anyway, and Chase is pretty lenient with their definitions of “travel” and “dining” purchases.

For example, travel purchases include anything that could possibly fall under the umbrella of travel. This includes several different modes of transportation and accommodations including hotels, hostels, homestays, and Airbnbs. Continue reading →

Alaska Airlines Buy One, Get One Free Promo (Must Attend San Jose Sharks NHL Game on 2-27-2020)

Posted on February 19, 2020 by Grant. Leave a reply

Good morning everyone, I hope your week is going well. I love going to hockey games and cheering on my local San Jose Sharks hockey team. If you live in the Bay Area and are a hockey and Alaska Airlines fan, here is a deal for you. If you go to the New Jersey Devils at San Jose Sharks hockey game on Thursday February 27 at 7:30pm at SAP Center, you will receive a Buy One, Get One Free voucher for an Alaska Airlines flight – you just need to pay the taxes and fees on the second ticket. According to StubHub, tickets to the game are currently selling for less than $20, but I usually buy my tickets a few minutes before the game starts for a few dollars cheaper. This is pretty similar to the yearly San Francisco Giants & Alaska Airlines deal for BOGO tickets.

If you are not a local, I recommend staying at the AC Hotel by Marriott San Jose Downtown (category 4, 20k-30k points / night) or the Hyatt Place San Jose/Downtown (12k points / night). Both hotels are a short walk away from the SAP Center and there are several good restaurants in the area.

a blue rectangular sign with white text and a shark

Image source: https://www.alaskaair.com/ondemanddiscount/ssl/discountcodeclaim.aspx?campaignid=ec6588

Continue reading →

What are your Valentine’s Day & President’s Day Travel Plans?

Posted on February 13, 2020 by Grant. 8 Replies

Good afternoon everyone. I apologize for not blogging much the last 2 weeks. My real job (day job that pays the bills) has been really busy the last 2 weeks and I haven’t had the energy to write on my blog. Laura and I are going to a wedding next weekend, so we don’t have anything special planned this weekend. I’m very excited to spend Valentine’s Day with my wife (our first Valentine’s Day as a married couple) and we are going out to dinner tonight (Thursday) to avoid the craziness of Friday.

With that said, I wanted to hear what my readers are up to for Valentine’s Day and President’s Day this weekend. If you have any special plans or just spending a relaxing weekend at home, I would love to hear about it. Share your thoughts in the comments section. Happy Valentine’s Day from the Thomas’ and have a great weekend everyone!

5 Things You Should Know Before Getting the Chase Sapphire Reserve

Posted on February 6, 2020 by Caroline Lupini. Leave a reply

The media has been abuzz since the Chase Sapphire Reserve was first announced in 2016, and with the recent annual fee increase, many people are wondering if this card is still the premium card it once was. If you haven’t yet taken the plunge, there are a few things that you might want to know before applying. Here’s a complete rundown of one of my favorite credit cards: the Chase Sapphire Reserve.

Yes, there’s an annual fee, but…

…it comes with a ton of perks, which I’ll talk about in detail later. In fact, the Chase Sapphire Reserve annual fee has been the talk of the town over the past few weeks because Chase just upped the annual fee from $450 to $550. Honestly, this change hasn’t been as catastrophic as some folks projected it to be; the extra hundred bucks is peanuts compared to the benefits and entitlements that Chase already had. Chase has added partner benefits to offset the bump, and they’ll be more useful for some people than others. Either way, if you take advantage of your card benefits, you’ll easily end up saving more than $550 per year.
Continue reading →

What’s in Grant’s (iPhone) Wallet?

Posted on February 5, 2020 by Grant. 3 Replies

Good morning everyone, I hope you had a great Super Bowl weekend. I was down in Orange County enjoying the warm weather, but now I am back up in the chilly Bay Area. I’ve been wanting to write about this topic for a while, but my final motivation was reading 2 Frequent Miler articles: What’s in Nick’s wallet? and What’s in Greg’s wallet? The first thing you should know about me (if you already didn’t know) is that I am a millennial and I live in the Bay Area, so I can go weeks without using cash. For that reason, my wallet is built into my iPhone XS case. I use the Urban Armor Gear (UAG) iPhone Case ($30 on Amazon) that has room for 4 cards: my drivers license and 3 credit cards. Which 3 credit cards do I carry with me on a daily basis and which credit cards do I have in my ApplePay Wallet?