Tag Archives: United Airlines

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My First Experience Booking an Award Ticket with Singapore Airlines Miles (Flying on United Airlines)

Good morning everyone, a few weeks ago, I wrote Transfer Times to Singapore Airlines from Chase Ultimate Rewards, AMEX Membership Rewards, Citi Thank You Points, and SPG Starpoints.  In that post, I learned that transfers to Singapore Airlines were not instant and vary by transferable points program.  Nothing is worse that transferring points to miles and waiting for the miles to post.  It can be extremely nerve racking and frustrating to keep refreshing your Singapore Airlines account and seeing no change.

Long story short, I needed to book a very short notice award ticket for my friend from Germany back to the US.  And by short notice, I mean less than 24 hours between request and flight departure.  I did not have enough Singapore Airlines miles to book a one way from Europe to the US (which costs 27,500 Singapore Airlines miles), so I initiated a transfer from Citi Thank You Points around 8am PT.  I was hoping the Singapore Airlines miles would post within a few hours, but that did not happen.  I checked every few hours after that, but still no luck.  Right before I went to bed (around 11pm PT), I checked one more time, but still no luck.  I went to bed and set my alarm for 5:30am PT.  Luckily I heard my alarm go off and saw that the miles posted to my account (almost 24 hours after after initiating the transfer).

27,500 Singapore Airlines Miles

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AMEX Offers for Dropbox, Adobe, Sleepys, Timberland & More

Good morning everyone, a few days ago I wrote New AMEX Offers: $50 Off $200 RocketMiles.com, $30 Off $150 Lowe’s, and More.  I have a few new AMEX Offers to share, including Dropbox, Adobe, Sleepys, Timberland, 1800Flowers.com, Vital Choice Seafood and Organic Food, Puritan’s Pride, and Oak Hall.  None of these offers are great for MS unless you are considering Frequent Miler’s post on converting Discover cash back to frequent flier miles.

Dropbox AMEX Offer

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Convert Marriott & Ritz Carlton Points to United Airlines Miles (2.24:1 Ratio)

Good morning everyone.  A few days ago, I was in an interesting predicament.  I found an awesome United Airlines award, but I did not have enough United Airlines miles to book the award. *gasp* Worse though, I did not have enough Chase Ultimate Reward Points either. *double gasp* I’m not sure if you have been in this situation before, but it is not fun.  Here are some of the options I considered:

  • Converting SPG points to United Airlines miles at the 2:1 transfer ratio
  • Paying to transfer United Airlines miles from my grandparents’ account
  • Buying United Airlines miles directly from United Airlines
  • Begging United Airlines to “help a friend out”

Before I did anything drastic or embarrassing, I remembered that Marriott and United Airlines have a crossover relationship, whereby you can transfer miles into points or points into miles.  Here is the Travel Rewards page on Marriott’s website.  Marriott partners with many other airlines, but they have an exclusive relationship with United Airlines where you can get a “20% discount when you convert Marriott Rewards points to United MileagePlus award miles.”

I crunched the numbers and the transfer ratios range from 4:1 down to 2.24:1 (Marriott Points to United Airlines miles).  Since I needed around 25,000 United Airlines miles, I selected the 4th option (56,000 Marriott Points = 25,000 United Airlines miles).

Convert Marriott Points to United Airlines Miles

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My Unsuccessful Chase Sapphire Preferred Reconsideration Call, Visit, and Tweets

Good morning everyone.  A few weeks ago, I did an 8 card App-O-Rama.  One of my top credit cards to apply for was the Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card.  I previously opened a Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card back in August 2012 which I then downgraded to the Chase Sapphire (Basic) Credit Card in August 2013 which I then converted to the Chase Freedom Credit Card in November 2013.  Since I received the sign up bonus back in August 2012, I waited the necessary 24 months to reapply.

When I first received the Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card, the sign up bonus was 40,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards Points after spending $3,000 in 3 months.  The current sign up bonus is 40,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards Points after spending $4,000 in 3 months.  Long story short, I was low on Chase Ultimate Rewards Points (aren’t we all?) and I had waited long enough to reapply, so I was ready to apply for my second Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card.

Side note: Doctor of Credit and a few other blogs and forums are reporting that Chase has really cracked down on approving applications for people that have more than 5 credit inquiries total during the last 2 years.  I (foolishly) ignored those warnings and insisted that my previous 3 years with Chase, 16 total approved Chase credit cards (8 currently open), and reconsideration call skills would be enough to get approved for the Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card.

Spoiler alert: it wasn’t enough.   Continue reading

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ExitFares Combines the Search Power of The Flight Deal, Airfare Watch Dog, and Other Airline Deal Websites

(Hat Tip to Paul for the CN Traveler article)

Good morning everyone, I recently learned about a new travel website called ExitFares which aggregates all the best airline deal sites like The Flight Deal, Airfare Watch Dog, and many smaller sites.  After you create a free account, you can receive daily emails with only deals from your chosen cities.  I selected Los Angeles and San Francisco and received 9 flight deals on the first day.  If you are interested in checking in out, please create an ExitFares account.

ExitFares Home Page

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