Your Beginners Questions Answered – Ask Away!

I’ve done some research on Cathay Pacific…5 stopovers, right…and at least one open jaw. But whose points to use to get the lowest rate if I want to start in Sydney and work my way north to Beijing. Most advice insists I start in Singapore. I can’t believe that necessary according to CP.

I mean bank teller at my small bank

Should I worry when the cashier asks why I have so many money orders (5 = $2500). It’s happened twice in six months. Different one each time. Are they genuinely only curious?

I am planning a trip to Bali . I am working on miles to fly first class. I live in Michigan , Detroit is my major airport. What airline or partners should I be targeting? I would love to fly Cathy pacific. I was thinking either American air or united. I have almost 200,000 chase points. I appreciate any input.

Shawn, I know you might have this answered in one of your articles, but I could not find it. Do you know which banks will combine multiple hard pulls into one when people apply for multiple credit cards from them within a short period of time such as one week?

Shawn, can you help me wrap my head around Alaska Airlines miles? I know they are not a part of any alliance but they are partners with Delta, AA and british airways. How is that possible? Also should i not be investing my points in any of them separately but pooling them into alaska in a similar fashion as a MR or UR credit card? How do i even do that, is there a downside?

Hey Shawn! I was recently approved for the AMEX Platinum card (first year fee waived) and am considering cancelling my Premier Rewards Gold Card. Problem is, my Gold card is my oldest and most established account (30+ years). Will cancelling the Gold Card hurt my credit? Thx!

Hello Shawn, I’m looking to book flights using my AA miles to Hawaii for next summer. Which transfer partner will give me the best value (least miles needed)? How should I search and Book? Do I need an account with that transfer partner? We’re a family of 4 so will travel economy in order to stretch the miles.
Thanks so much for taking our questions!

Hey Shawn, I was able to successfully use the $99 US Airways Mastercard Barclaycard Companion tickets for a flight next month. With the recent re-branding of US Airways Clubs to AA Admirals Clubs, do you know the Admirals Clubs will accept the US Airways Club vouchers that came with the now closed US Airways Mastercard.

Thank you.

Hey Shawn,
Which Visa or MC gift cards work well with AMEX CC’s spends to be unloaded through RedBird? I need to do a large amount of AMEX spending to get 150k points?

Hi Shawn,

I am new to the MS world and worried about being shut down by Chase/Amex. Do you know the spend limit of each card such that I can fall off the radar? Can you also share your experience to spread balance across your credit cards?

Thanks!

A lot of travel blogs recommend applying for a business card, without a business identification number. How does applying for a business card effect your personal credit score/if at all? How do they determine an approval? For example, a month ago, I did an AOR but I’ve since learned that the Chase Ink sign up bonus is likely disappearing. Is it worth trying to apply for a business card, if it may be likely I’ll get denied (because of my recent credit pulls)?

My wife and I have several Hilton weekend night certs (from Reserve) and several IHG free nights( from anniversary bonus and the last promotion). What is the expiration policy on these? Do these expire if not used in a year or does a reservation need to be made within a year with the actual stay being sometime later than one year? Thanks.

One friend asked me this question, but I have no idea. Is there a tool we can use to find out how many miles we need for redeeming a ticket from point a to point b on a certain day for all the major airlines?

I’ve been using Chargesmart to pay my mortgage in order to get the companion pass using my SW premier cc and meet min spend on new cards. It’s worked perfectly with no problems. Today I got an error “502 Bad Gateway”. I’m not sure if it’s my computer or the site. Is the Chargesmart site still active? Does Evolve Money work the same way? I’ve never used them and wouldn’t want cash advance fees or any problems. Don’t mind the fee since it’s a simple one step process.
Thanks in advance!

When you decide to close a credit card, after a year or two, should you try and transfer your credit to another card with the same bank or just close it and lose that credit line? Haven’t seen this addressed for sure, maybe it’s common sense? Thanks for answering questions.

Can I use my Citi Executive card to pay for my husband’s Global Entry application and get reimbursed? I’m not sure if this can only be done for the card members own application.
Thanks in advance!

I have some Virgin America miles expiring June 30th. I would rather not have to purchase 500 miles for $30 just to keep them alive. The old Uber 800 point deal expired, the Silvercar promo option is expensive, shopping with points can take too long to post and I cant transfer points to my account via Points.com. I also dont have Amex miles. Any tricks you can think of to get some quick points on the card?

Hi, Shawn,
One question has bothered me a lot. When I upgrade a card or downgrade a card, how will this affect my age of credit history??

Can I buy paypal mycash cards and then use my PPBDMC to load Redbird and earn an extra 1%?

i used to have serve. i would load via cc. transfer money to bank account. pay cc. and get my minimum spend and my miles.

then that died.

so i was just about to start redbird’ing

then that died.

i NEVER spend that much per month to meet minimum spend.

so how, these days, do you suggest meeting minimum spend requirements, not via normal daily expenses, but in ways similar to how i used to do it via serve?

thanks!

Are secondary cards on American Express Platinum accounts eligible for the $200.00 Airline credit?

Where do I sign up for my own referral code for Silvercar?

Thanks for offering this opportunity to ask questions. Is there a database or article available that lists airlines and the credit cards associated with them that earn points for that particular airline? I am interested in CC that earn points for American Airlines and Delta.

This may need a private reply.

Shawn, boy, am I a beginner! I started following travel blogs about a year or so ago, and I am not sure what I have really gleaned about MS. I purchased a One Vanilla GC at CVS with a credit cared and had it activated at the register. At the same time, I purchased a Serve Card (no purchase fee promotion at the time) with a credit card, where it was activated. A lot was going on at the time with problems of reloading at Wal-Mart so I never did anything with them and still have them unused.

We cannot use a charge card to pay our mortgage, and our bills are paid by auto debit from a bank account or a charge card. I do not see the benefit of buying gift cards or using Serve (or others) cards. Do you have to use a specific store gift card in that store? And if you can buy a store card with a credit card, what is the benefit of using that GC in a store rather than just buying the merchandise in that store with a credit card and getting points or miles?

I know this is a lot to answer. But I just don’t see what you do with gift cards. Can you buy money orders with them somewhere and then deposit them in your bank for a cash deposit? Can you just put them directly into a bank account? I am kind of at a loss, and when I discuss this topic with friends, they are clueless, as well.

Any info would be helpful, but I am sure most of your followed would be way beyond me. Thanks!

Shawn,

Can you unload an American Express Gift Card besides just regular spending?
I am under the impression that RedCard at Target now does not accept them.
Thanks for all the great info.

Hi, when you’re going through Shop through Chase, do you get bonus points if you’re buying something with a GC? Do I have to use a Chase credit card to get bonus points?

Hi Shawn, I’d like to request an article on how and where to start planning a vacation. I’ve read tohe first step is to decide first where we want to go. Then look for the airline with flights that’ll take us there. Right now, I’ve got MS pat down and I’ve stashed my CB earnings. I’ve churned a few hotel CCs for points good for 2 or 3 night stays but I haven’t started on airline miles. I saw an article on Singapore Airlines First class cabin and I’m encouraged to save Krisflyer points for that in the next 2 years to experience flying first class. I’d be grateful if you can post an article on this subject. TIA

I would like to use Bluebird to pay tuition for my daughters (yes, two tuitions). I’ve been loading BB with GSc but am a little unsure as to whether everything can just sit there until August, when I write two large checks. Then repeat the process in December. Does BB have a ceiling on check amounts? Would doing this raise any red flag? Thanks!

Why does it seem that people prefer to get $200 VGCs from Staples rather than $500 ones from a grocery store? My guess is that office does have a lower limit, thus requiring $200 max. My other guess is that people like earning 5x UR points rather than whatever grocery bonus. Is this accurate? If so, then I think I’m just better off going the easier route of 5 $500 VGCs from grocery to max out my Redbird daily load, rather than 12 $200 ones from office supply stores.

Am I missing something?

Hi,
My MS started in April 2015 & I do 10 K / month with BB & RB, and thats usually done by 10 of the month and I have to wait until next month to start over.
Is there another way to do MS so as to increase the monthly load?
Looked into AGC and other stuff but having issues redeeming Vanilla GC & buying stuff and selling on Amazon / Ebay.
Any help will be appreciated.

For business credit cards such as Ink, if i dont have a business setup yet is it ok to to use it to pay normal bills to hit the minimum spend requirement? I know the terms say not to but what is the downside to doing this?

Hello, I was wondering how to find all the point breaks for HI…..are they only 5,000? I thought there were different levels? Also same questions about Hilton’s program point stretchers……they dont make it easy to find the list of course I could be looking right at it !!! thank you

What do you do with old credit cards you’ve signed up for? I’m sure you don’t keep them ALL, so what are some general rules about when you get rid of them and for what reasons?

Hi. When going through a shopping portal, does the portal know if you return something after you’ve bought online. (Other than a credit card portal where you have to use that card for payment.). Thanks!

I have both Chase Ink Bold and Plus coming up for renewal. I am only planning on keeping one. Would you suggest that I keep the Bold since it is not offered anymore, that way in time I can try for another Plus card after 24 months ? Cancel outright or a different strategy ? I appreciate all the help and really enjoy your posts !

Can you still open a Citibank checking account and fund it with a credit card? If so, what type of Citibank account do I want to open (link?), and which credit cards could I fund it with?

Is there a tool/blog/forum/website that lists the general availability (at least from a historical perspective) of award space in various cabins on X flights during Y times of the year?

Thanks for helping us. I do not have Redbird, I just signed up for Serve, reading below, is that the best choice for me?

I need to spend $2k more for Chase Sapphire for 45k points, $3k for Venture for 40k miles, AMEX PRG $1k for 50k points, and $2.5k for Penfed AMEX for a measly 20k points.

I honestly didn’t choose the Venture for rewards, I heard they were handing out 50k limits, well I got a high limit at 22.9% so I will never use that card. So for this card I should just use the 40k miles then cancel do you think? Should I get minimum spend done with VGC and Serve?

I was ecstatic to get AMEX PRG and with such a low minimum spend I thought the best way to do this was load $1k to Serve using PRG and pay bills? I know I will miss out on the 1000 extra points. What do you think of that strategy? Would you go for extra 1000 points and not load directly to Serve?

I will use Chase Sapphire for daily spending and easily meet that minimum so no question about that card.

The Penfed AMEX card at 20k points has a large spend of $2.5k for such a low reward. I guess the strategy for this card would be VGC’s and Serve?

In various blogs and FB postings, I see lots of abbreviations I’m not familiar with. For ex., the previous post contained : MO, MS, GC. Could you please give me meaning of the most used ones? Thanks.

Hi Shawn,
I’ve been doing the Redbird and Bluebird method of MS, and have often thought about MO’s at Walmart. The problem is that Kate never seems to work with that option, and the last time I selected MO’s on the screen, the machine alerted someone to come look at what I was doing, even though that part wasn’t working (as usual). Do I just go up to the money center and use GC’s? If so, do I split payment? I’m really not looking to go heavy duty, but 2-3k per month would be great. TIA.

Hey Shawn,
What’s the maximum number of authorized users you can add to American Express Credit Cards? Is there an age limit for authorized users. I’m thinking of adding my 7 and 16 year old? Yep for the Smart & Final offers.