Joining The dAArk Side: Taking Advantage of DEQM

I have been questioning myself when I will join the dAArk side. However, the pain of starting from the scratch with no upgrades is too much to bear. Unlike UA, AA mid tier status has to pay for their upgrade by stickers. I either make Executive Platinum(EXP) or nothing. I missed the EXP challenge earlier this year because I wasn't a 1K back then and I have been waiting for a good opportunity since.

For better for worse, AA went bankrupt. For the next few years, there will be a ton of good promos for customers since they are trying to retain customers who are afraid that their miles/tickets will disappear. And the first round is Double Elite Qualifying Miles systemwide from now till  Jan 31. The deal is so sweet that I'm taking advantage by flying 50k miles in Jan. This is the first time I fly this much in one single month and it's beyond craziness:)

I will be flying PHL-SEA 10 times. Here's the cost breakdown:

$340 x 10= $3400

10% discount from buying AA gift card from Costco

2% as a costco executive member

Total: $2992 ~ 3CPM

Although it is not the best deal, I will qualify EXP for half the time and I will also meet my AMEX Starwood card spending requirements so this works out very good for me.

I will get:

EXP status till Feb 28 2014!

~156,250 redeemable miles

16 EVIPs(systemwide upgrades) for any fare code!!!!

AA has the best meal services for domestic first class so I'm going to gain a few extra pounds after this:)

I'm also considering getting the AMEX Platinum card since AA Admiral Club accept them but I got 3 cards with AMEX for the last 4 months so I'm afraid this will trigger a financial review. I think I will lay down and endure pain for a while:(

This is a great opportunity for me to learn about AA to see if the grass is truly greener than UA :). I will also learn a lot about AA and Oneworld in general since I don't have a lot of experience with them.

If you have any flight with AA, don't forget to take advantage of the promo. Click here to sign up and I would love to hear your story too!

Status: Unavailable

I've been sick a couple of weeks (which never happened to me before) and finals are coming up so I haven't had a chance to post anything. In fact, I will "Occupy Library" tonight to get stuff done. I promise I'll have exciting stuff once I get through all my finals :D

The Chase dilemma

Chase is replacing AMEX to become the travellers' credit cards with BIG sign up bonus: Southwest 50k points, Sapphire Preferred for 50k point, British Airways infamous 100k miles, etc. Whether you like it nor not, you will have to become a Chase customer in order to take advantage of these deals. If you don't like Chase, I have a old saying for you: "Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer". If you take advantages of these deals and by paying in full every month, Chase make very little money from you. Wouldn't it be nice to make your enemies work for your benefits? :-)

$833 in travel credits after 1st purchase!

As Chase is a big boy in reward credit card industry, it's important for you to make sure that you are not blacklisted from them. They are pretty generous with their credit limit, but it doesn't mean you can apply for whatever deals they have. Remember that you can only earn sign up bonus once, so be careful to choose the best sign up bonus available.

I'm also so temped to apply for the Hyatt card and the Southwest since the sign up bonuses are great. However, I will never fly Southwest because I will miss my 1K upgrades. On the other hand, $833 is a lot of money and I can use the credits for my friends to travel for free. I also want the Hyatt card since I will be staying a lot at Hyatt next year. However, if I do both, I would have much less chances to get approved for the United card that I'm patiently waiting for a big bonus. Then, there's the super sweet Marriott card with 70k points & 1 free night after first purchase. Believe it or not, this stress me out! Chase is selective nowadays if you have more than 3 cards so I don't want to get declined when another good deal come out. 

I don't know what to choose. What a pain of having good credit =.= ;-)

Com'on AMEX, you are killing me!

 I have a love-hate relationship with American Express. I'm so happy when they approved my Zync and Premiers Reward Gold cards instantly 3 months ago. Not only that, they backdated all of my accounts to 2010, effectively making my credit report look much older than before. Creditors also love to see AMEX on credit reports because AMEX has the lowest default rate in the industry. They helped me to churn other cards that I otherwise wouldn't be able to because of my limited credit history.

However, life is not that easy. AMEX charges cards are advertised to have "no pre-set limit". Truth is there is, but they don't tell you until when you receive this:

I got this email when I was on a trip to NYC last month. I was expecting the worst when I called them: a financial review. Fortunately (or not), the pleasant agent told me I was approaching my limit and asked me to pay my last month's bill early. She also asked me some questions regarding my upcoming spending patterns and gave me a fixed number for my credit limit. This is a little surprise for me since AMEX is well known for not disclosing charge cards' credit limit. My credit limit with them is around $4k so it is well possible that I will get another exact letter this month :) If I didn't check my email that day, I probably wouldn't be able to check in at the hotel and my trip would have been ruined. A little more transparency would be much appreciated!

Yesterday, I applied for the Starwood Preferred Guest card and was approved easily. However, when I called in to check my credit limit (SPG is a credit card, not a charge card), all they give me is $1k. I was speechless. How on earth a mainstream credit card has a $1k credit limit??? My promo is to spend $5k in 6 months for 25k SPG points, which mean I will have to max out several times to be able to meet the requirement. It's ridiculous! A simple search on flyertalk revealed that I'm not the only one in this situation. There are several cusomters who are with them for years also got $1k limit.

AMEX better do something to improve this. Otherwise,  Chase is taking away their customers, fast.

Com'on, AMEX!!!!

Credit card churning for young adults - Part 1: Background

Part 1: Background

Part 2: First few months

Part 3: Building Credit History

Part 4: Choosing the Right Cards

Part 5: Meeting the Spending Requirements

Part 6: Taking Care of Credit Reports

Part 7: Conclusion

 

Part 1- Background:

A lot of people believe the combination of young adult + credit card equals debt and troubles. I don't think so. I believe young adults should learn how to use credit responsibly as this is one of the most important lessons in their life. I currently have 10 credit cards with various banks (AMEX, Chase, Citi, etc) and I earn over 300k miles over last 2 month from credit card bonuses. I can and so can you!


What is credit card churning? Credit card churning is the act of applying for credit cards for the main purpose of earning sign up bonus. This is how you can easily travel for very low cost or at no cost to you at all!

In this series, I will discuss several methods to develop quickly and safely credit history for young adults. It's never too early to have a good credit. I will talk about my experience and my recommendation improving my credit history and others that I have opportunity to work with. I will assume "young adults" for the purpose of this series are 18-22 years old college students who attend college/university with typical spending needs. If you are uncomfortable with credit card churning, you can just follow the basic part of building credit.

Before get started, it is a great idea for parents and their children to discuss about money and college. College students should take care of their bills in college instead of the parents even if the parents are paying for all the expenses. This includes, but not limited to: rents, electric bills, cell phone bills, etc. This will help students to develop a good habit of taking care of the bills before they become past due while under the supervision of the parents and build a good foundation for a stable financial status for years to come. A detailed budget is a great way to go. You can get a budget sheet from here (tip of the hat to about.com)

Coming up in part 2: how to get good students credit cards, control your budget and earn points for simply being a good student!


Disclaimer: I'm not a certified financial planner. I'm not sponsored by any company and I don't earn any commission. I assume no responsibility for any loss or damage due to my opinion. As always, YMMV.

Welcome

Welcome and thank you for reading my blog. I started this blog because I’d like to share my experience as a young frequent flyer as well as a young adult. As I’m in the process of building this blog I'd love to hear feedback from you. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any question at nomileleftbehind <at> gmail dot com.

Happy Halloween!

Andy