Tag Archives: United Airlines

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

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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

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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

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(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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CleverLayover Search Engine: Find Cheap Flights and Really Long Layovers

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(Hat Tip to Paul for finding this CN Traveler article)

Good morning everyone, I just learned about a new search engine for finding cheap flights.  But there is a catch… you usually end up with a long really long layover/stopover at 1 or more airports.  According to the article: “Launched last month by students at Harvard Business School, the new site searches routes to and from the world’s 500 largest airports—in Europe and beyond—to ‘combine two round trip tickets from non-partner airlines to find the cheapest fares.’ ”  Some people might see layovers/stopovers as a waste of time, while others see it as an added bonus where they can explore the city for a few hours/days.  Without further ado, let me show you how CleverLayover works…

Enter your round trip flight details into the search box.  As of right now, you can only search for round trip flights, no one ways or multi-city searches.

Clever Layover Home Page

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Winners Announced for RV Driving Distance and Poll Question Regarding US Bank FlexPoints

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Good morning everyone, thank you to the 92 of you who entered my latest contest for a chance to win one of 3 $10 Amazon eGift Cards.  I asked you to guess how many miles I drove in the RV from Los Angles to Denver and the correct answer is 1,789 miles.  The digital odometer only goes up to 1,000, but I can assure you the distance was 1,789 total miles driven.

1789 Miles Driven in RV

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