US Airway churn strategy and 40,000 miles link

Long time no post. :-)
Today, I was approved by the 3rd US Airway cards, I think I’d like to shed some light and I am throwing in a 40k offer link which is the best in the market.

How Often should I churn

This is a tough question and YMMV. My personal experience is
1. You need to have solid score, say >720 from TR(Trans Union) as Barclay pulls this credit bureau
2. You cannot have too many inquires, I will say <6 for the past 6 months. My wife got denied because of this
3. Barclay is picky on income and employer, no one can confirm this, but I got a feeling. Last time I was denied, I didn’t put my employer name.
4. Wait for 4-5 months, 3 months is too short

If denied, what do you do

1. If you have the card

   Don’t call recon, last time, they not only denied me and closedown my existing one
2. If you never have the card

   Yes, call reconsideration line
3. If you just closed the card within 2 months
   Wait a while to 3 months and start to apply. My wife closed down the card and applied next month, got declined. The letter says they declined her without using credit report and they said they already have too much credit offered to her. My understanding is you need to wait a bit longer.

What can I do with US Airway Miles

1. 90k Asia business class

2. Merging with AA and you have 40k AA miles

3. US Airway’s agent is easy to manipulate, you can have a RTW(around the world) award ticket

AMEX 50k Gold Card still avail

Today, I convinced a friend why he should apply for this card
http://millionmilesecrets.com/2013/02/21/50000-points50-amex-premier-rewards-gold/

1. he doesn't have loan in a short time
2. he doesn't worry about credit score as it's high'
3. he is capable of paying debt

His concern
1. $1000 spending within 3 months.
(dude, are you kidding me? amazon payment takes care of it)
2. how to I use the 50k MR points
(check the above post)
3. I have too many cards (four actually).
(Dude, I have 30)

Bottom line, he can transfer the 50k to me and I pay him $550. :-)
 

US Airway award change and merger with AA

Based on a few blog post, like this one, US Airway off-peak from US to Europe of 60k (55k with US Airway Card) is gone. Also, US/AA merging will be revealed soon.

I am about to book my travel to Asia using 85kmiles (90k-5k, same reason of the card) and this change definitely facilitates my action.

The impact to people like me are as follows

1.      Jan 15 to Feb 28 off-peak 60,000 miles to Europe in business

It’s gone, AA off-peak is a lot expensive. My bubble of next year taking my wife with me to CDG with 110k in business is burst. L

2.      90,000 miles to North Asia

After the merger, it’s gone, as AA charges 100k and US will join Oneworld.

3.      US Airway card

After the merger, it will be gone. Citi has AA cards and I feel Citi AA cards will still be avail, not this Barclay MasterCard which I applied for 3 times and gained 120k miles without spending much $$$. For those of you who has not applied for this card, I strongly suggest you do it asap and the above link is the best offer without fee. Some bloggers affiliate links have annual fee or only 30k miles vs 40k miles

I dreamed a dreamliner in time gone by

I was about to book my US Airway 85k business class around trip from SEA-NRT-PEK-SIN-ICN-SEA for March 2013 back in Dec 2012. And I considered myself lucky as all 787s grounded. otherwise, all my flights will be cancelled.

Now, I have to abandon the idea and focus on seatguru.com to tell me the best business seats. Here is what I came up with: (for those of you who don’t understand why you can go all the way to Singapore with only 85,000 miles in business class, I explained in the end of the post)

1. SEA-NRT: UA875 lie-flat business class.
2. I will stay in Beijing for a bit over 72 hours and Beijing just had the 72 hours free-VISA program. Then, I am heading to Singapore via SQ805 with recliner seat which is not a problem for day flight
3. Upon arrival in SIN around 4pm 3/4/2013, I will join the evening free tour http://www.changiairport.com/at-changi/leisure-indulgences/free-singapore-tour
4. Mid night I head to my return trip from SIN-PEK as first leg via CA970 with lie-flat bed
5. From PEK to NRT, I have a bit over 3 hours connection time that I can do some shopping.

Recap

1. It’s a short trip and I can get a business taken care of in Beijing (a press conf)
2. I can explorer evening in Singapore
3. I can shop in Japan, literally.
4. Only 85k miles because

• US Airway has nice award chart for partner flight via Star Alliance to North Asia only 90,000 miles
• I will call US Airway to book this award. US Airway agents will book this trip, even though I will travel to South Asia. :-)
• I have US Airway Barclay card which saves me 5k miles
• This card can be churned every 3-4 months, so you just need two cards to get this kind of trip.

Club Carlson added Southwest as airline partner

You can redeem their points as following

•2,000 Gold Points for 250 Rapid Rewards Points

•50,000 Gold Points for 8,000 Rapid Rewards Points

•100,000 Gold Points for 18,000 Rapid Rewards Points

It’s NOT a  deal, because I had redeemed 9000 point/night in Orlando last year for 10 nights, which is $50/night=at least 0.7~0.8 cent/point and I value SW 1.1~1.2 cents per point.

However, it’s an option for you to liquidate some of your Club Carlson points.

75k AMEX Gold Business Card

It’s everywhere today
http://millionmilesecrets.com/2013/01/21/75000-point-american-express-business-gold-card-apply-by-january-28-2013/

If I weren’t getting the 1/8 100k AMEX personal PLAT card, I would go this one for sure. But, $10k/4months is too much for me to chew now.

Spring Break Las Vegas trip booking

I’ve booked April 2013 spring break Las Vegas trip for my family. I know it’s too earlier, look, let me explain the following savings then you know it’s beneficial to book earlier.

 

            Flight

SEA-LAS for 4 people, 8000 Southwest points each for a round trip and total 16000 for 4 people+$20 tax and 911 fee (we have Companion Pass to buy one get one free)

 

Hotel

• Marriott 4/6 Saturday using voucher (cat 1 to 4) from promotion last year (2 stays, one free night, I knocked down all three
• 4/7 We will head to Grand Canyon and I charged 25000 Priority Club for a Holiday Inn Express ~$200 night in the entrance of Grand Canyon
• 4/8~4/11, four nights are comp for us from the Orleans and GoldCoast. They are from the same Boyd Gaming firm and if you gamble there, make sure sign-up for their member and they will often mail you the free night coupons.

Car rental

• I used to be a fan of priceline, not anymore. The price becomes ridiculous expensive, I remembered I won the name your own price for $8/day for a full size car in 2008.
• Instead, I booked an Intermediate SUV from costcotravel.com for one week of $240, pretty good deal.

 

Our cost is flight $20 (tax+911 security fee, unavoidable), hotel is completely zero, airport parking, gas, food and misc which I do believe it’s within ~$1000(If I don’t lose a lot in Casinos. LOL)