Tag Archives: Alaska Airlines

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My June 2016 App-O-Rama Results: 155,000 Miles/Points and $650 AT&T Phone Credit

Good morning everyone, TGI Friday!  Earlier this week, I wrote My Upcoming App-O-Rama Credit Card Strategy – I need your Feedback!  I really appreciate all the great feedback you guys gave me and I did my best to incorporate that advice into my App-O-Rama strategy.  Last week, my “good” “friend” Julian (aka Devil’s Advocate) over at Travel Codex wrote this post: A New and Better Way To App-O-Rama.  In that post, he describes his “Elongated App-O-Rama” strategy where he applies for several cards over a period of days, instead of applying for several cards within minutes of each other (like any sane person would do).  Like any good friend, I listened to his advice and did exactly what he said I adamantly disagreed with his thought process and continued with my App-O-Rama strategy as before.

The one piece of advice that was super helpful to me was knowing which credit card company pulls from which credit bureau.  Luckily, my friend Emery has credit monitoring services from all 3 credit bureaus and he told me which credit bureau each credit card company pulled from.  Depending on your state, the information will differ, but since we are both in California, the data is reliable:

  • US Bank – TransUnion
  • Barclays – TransUnion
  • Citi – Experian
  • Bank of America – Experian
  • Comenity – ?

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My Upcoming App-O-Rama Credit Card Strategy – I need your Feedback!

Good morning everyone, I hope you had a great Father’s Day weekend.  It’s been about 3 months since my last (mini) App-O-Rama.  I successfully got a Chase Ink Plus Business Credit Card and my second Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve Credit Card back in mid March.  The sign up bonuses have both posted, so now it’s time to think about my next credit cards.  I received the following targeted offer for the US Bank Korean Air Skypass Visa Signature Credit Card that comes with 40,000 Korean Air Miles after spending $2,500 in 3 months ($80 annual fee).  What other credit cards am I considering?  Scroll down to find out.

I never considered signing up for the US Bank Korean Air Skypass Visa Signature Credit Card before now, but here are the card benefits.  I asked on Twitter if this was a newsworthy credit card offer and several people said it was the highest sign up bonus they have seen for this credit card.

Targted US Bank Korean Air Offer 3

The currently available public offer is 15,000 Korean Air Miles after your first purchase, so 40,000 Korean Air Miles is a much larger sign up bonus.  I’m not sure if the Korean Air award chart has had any/many devaluations in the last few years, but this Travel is Free post from 2014 has several great uses for Korean Air Miles.

Standard US Bank Korean Air Credit Card Offer


The next credit card I am considering is the Bank of America Amtrak Guest Rewards World MasterCard that comes with 20,000 Amtrak Points after spending $1,000 in 3 months ($79 annual fee).  I went on 2 great Amtrak sleeper bedroom trips (Coast Starlight from Seattle to Los Angeles and California Zephyr from Denver to San Francisco) but I haven’t touched the new Amtrak Guest Rewards (AGR) 2.0 program.  Since each Amtrak Point is worth 2.9 cents per point (CPP), the sign up bonus is worth $580 in Amtrak travel.  I have my eye on the Empire Builder route from Seattle to Chicago (or vice versa).

Bank of America Amtrak Rewards Landing Page

If I get instantly approved for the above credit card, I might go for the Bank of America Alaska Airlines Business Credit Card.  I have 150,000+ Alaska Airlines Miles, so I am not in a big hurry to earn more, but if given the chance to earn 30,000 Alaska Airlines Miles, I will not turn down the opportunity.

Bank of America Alaska Airlines Business Landing Page


Since I have practically every Citi credit card available, my options are limited.  I have had my eye on the Citi AT&T Access More MasterCard that comes with a $650 cell phone credit after spending $2,000 in 3 months ($95 annual fee).  I currently have the iPhone 6S, but I know the iPhone 7 is coming out soon.  Can I wait a few months to purchase the iPhone 7 after the initial 3 month sign up period ends or do I need to purchase the new phone during the first 3 month period?  I don’t do much manufactured spend (MS) anymore, but the 3x online shopping might come in handy from time to time.

Update: thanks to Emery for the Flyertalk link. regarding the Citi AT&T Access More MasterCard.  14. Does the phone purchase offer expire?

The minimum spending requirement expires in 3 months. The phone purchase requirement is indefinite. It says “now or later”.

“You may redeem the Phone Offer using the link at any time after your Card account opening.”

“Offer is valid for a one time statement credit up to $650 for one eligible phone, is not transferrable and so long as your card account is open and current,does not expire.”

Citi ATT Access More Landing Page


I was recently approved for a Chase Ink Plus Business Credit Card in mid March, but I am eyeing the Chase Southwest Airlines Premier Business Credit Card that comes with 50,000 Southwest Airlines Miles/Points after spending $2,000 in 3 months ($99 annual fee).  Since Southwest Airlines Miles/Points are worth roughly 1.4 CPP, this sign up bonus is worth $700 in Southwest Airlines travel.  Does anyone know if this Chase business credit card is affected by the Chase 5/24 rule?

Chase Southwest Airlines Premier Business Landing Page


A few months ago, I did a status match to Virgin America gold elite status and have a few upcoming flights on Virgin America.  I like their 2 credit cards issued by Comenity Bank, but I need to decide which credit card is better.  For the record, each Virgin America Mile is worth 2.2 CPP.  Here are the 2 credit card options:

  • Comenity Virgin America Visa Signature Credit Card comes with 10,000 Virgin America Miles after spending $1,000 in 3 months ($49 annual fee) (10,000 Virgin America Miles = $220)
  • Comenity Virgin America Premium Visa Signature Credit Card comes with 15,000 Virgin America Miles after spending $1,000 in 3 months ($149 annual fee) (15,000 Virgin America Miles = $330)

Both credit cards provide a $150 discount off a companion ticket every year and earn 3x on Virgin America flights.  I don’t really care about elite status, so the status points do not mean anything to me.  The one big perk of the premium credit card is the ability to cancel or change flights for free (you just pay the difference in airfare or have the canceled flights credit your Virgin America travel bank for future flights).  Since the premium credit card has a 5,000 mile higher sign up bonus (worth $110) plus the ability to change or cancel flights for free makes the premium credit card worthy of the $100 higher annual fee.

Last but not least, I am considering apply for the Barclays Arrival+ World Elite MasterCard.  Why?  I am 0/6 on Barclays credit card approvals, so I want to see if that streak can be broken.  I need to spend $3,000 in 3 months to get the 40,000 Barclays Arrival points sign up bonus, which is worth $400 in travel (no annual fee the first year).   Is this currently the best Barclays credit card to apply for?

Barclays Arrival Plus Landing Page

I left out American Express since I am currently waiting for a good offer on the American Express Platinum Business Charge Card.  I currently have the personal platinum charge card, but I have never had the business charge card.  Is there any other increased sign up bonus I am missing?  If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.  Have a great day everyone!

P.S. If you are interested in applying for any of the credit cards mentioned in this post, please check out my credit card affiliate links.  Thank you for your support and good luck with your application!

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Rainy Weekend Trip to Portland, Oregon using Citi Thank You Points, British Airways Avios & Club Carlson Points

Good morning everyone, happy Friday!  I am heading to Portland, Oregon tonight for a short weekend trip.  I wanted to go over Memorial Day Weekend, but I thought about the trip too late and the prices were too high and the award availability was not available.  Therefore, I am going this weekend.  I like to plan 2 holidays in advance, so right now, I recommend people start making plans for Labor Day Weekend in early September.  People are only thinking about Memorial Day Weekend and Fourth of July Weekend, so now is the time to start planning your Labor Day Weekend trip.

Anyway, a few months ago, I wrote about a Bad use of Alaska Airlines $99 Companion Ticket & Codeshare American Airlines / Alaska Airlines Booking with Citi Thank You Points.  In that post, I showed how I booked an Alaska Airlines flight, that was a codeshare with American Airlines, with my Citi Thank You Points for 1.6 cents per point toward the paid ticket.  15,012 Citi Thank You Points is worth $240.19, which is a pretty good price for 2 one way tickets from SFO to PDX.

Citi TYP Booking AA Codeshare AS SFO-PDX

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Bad use of AS $99 Companion Ticket & Codeshare AA / AS Booking with Citi Thank You Points

Good morning from rainy San Francisco.  I hope you all had a great (sunny) weekend.  Since I was stuck inside most of the weekend, I did some travel planning (I do that anyway even if the weather is great).  I booked a quick weekend trip to Portland in mid May and I even found Alaska Airlines saver award space for the return flight from PDX to SFO at a convenient time (not 6 or 7am).  After calling British Airways several times and finally getting through after hearing the busy dial tone 5+ times, I booked the return flight using British Airways Avios.  It was not the greatest redemption ever, but I had British Airways Avios to burn.

For the outbound flight from SFO to PDX, I searched on Google Flights and found a few decent flight times and prices.  Since I am traveling with my roommate, I needed to get 2 tickets.  I have access to a few Alaska Airlines $99 companion ticket codes (the codes are transferrable and can be booked by anyone).  Here is the standard price for 2 one way tickets:

SFO-PDX AS No Companion Ticket

And here is the price with the $99 Alaska Airlines companion ticket.  As you can see, the price with the companion ticket is 43 cents higher than booking the flights without the companion ticket.  I decided to save the companion ticket for a future flight and researched other flight options.

SFO-PDX AS Companion Ticket Continue reading

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2016 New Years Resolutions: Blog, Travel & Life

Good morning everyone.  It is now January 2 and I am sure half of the New Years Resolutions are already broken.  I’m not sure if reading about anyone else’s New Years Resolutions is better than making/breaking your own, but we will give it a shot in this blog post.  “Experts” say that writing down your resolutions will increase the likelihood of them happening, so I’m sure typing them and sharing them with the world will make them practically guaranteed.  For simplicity, I divided my resolutions into 3 sections: blog, travel, and life.  Enjoy :)

Blog Resolutions

In 2015, I had almost 1.2 million total page views.  Divide that by 12 months and you get 100,000 total page views per month.  Divide that by 30 days and you get 3,333 total page views per day.  My goal for 2016 is to average 5,000 total page views per day, which would be 150,000 total page views per month, and 1.8 million total page views in 2016.  Achievable?  Definitely!  It will only take a few more blog posts per month.  I consistently tell myself to write 1 blog post per day, but that is too ambitious at times.  I will go with 5 blog posts per week and see what happens.  I will continue to answer as many reader comments, questions, and emails as possible and hopefully redesign the site’s appearance and enhance the mobile layout.

2015 Site Stats Summary

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