The Points Mom

How we got credit cards that will yield us 245,000 miles and points!

Over this last month, there have been many good credit card bonus offers out there and Rob and I have taken advantage of a bunch of them.  (I usually apply for credit cards for Rob, he has no idea until I hand it to him and tell him to use it.)  As long as we make the minimum spend requirements on all of these cards, we will have accumulated 245,000 bonus miles and points. (100,000 Delta miles, 55,000 United miles, 70,000 Marriott points and 20.000 JetBlue miles)  WOW!   So what cards did we get?

images
Apply for the American Express Gold Delta SkyMiles Card Here

1.  We each got an American Express Gold Delta Skymiles Card -we will each earn 50,000 bonus Delta Skymiles miles after making $1,000 in purchases within the first 3 months.  The $95 fee is waived the first year.  This offer expires 9/8/14.  (Total potential is 100,000 Delta Skymiles).  Read about this card’s features and benefits. (EXPIRED)

 

 

Unknown-1
Apply for the Chase United MileagePlus Explorer Card Here

2. I got a Chase United MileagePlus Explorer card-I will earn 50,000 United MileagePlus bonus miles after making $2,000 in purchases within the first 3 months and an additional 5,000 bonus miles when Rob, an authorized user, makes any purchase within the first 3 months. The $95 fee is waived the first year. This offer expires 9/2/14. (Total potential is 55,000 United MileagePlus miles). (EXPIRED)

I used to have this card and canceled it because I did not use it on a regular basis and did not want to pay the $95 annual fee when the time came.  About 2 years later, Chase is approving me for this card once again and offering me 55,000 bonus miles as well!

marriott_premier_card

3.  Rob got the Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Credit Card– he will earn 70,000 Marriott Rewards bonus points after he spends $2,000 in the first 3 months. The $95 fee is waived the first year.  (Total potential is 70,000 Marriott Rewards points)   (EXPIRED) Note-Bonus is now 50,000.

This one was tricky since Rob recently (in the past 6 months) applied for and was approved for the Chase Hyatt Credit Card and Chase usually does not approve you for more than one credit card every 6 months.  In fact, when I completed Rob’s credit application online, he did not get automatically approved as is usually the case but instead was told he would get a decision in 30 days.
Marriott Hotels
But I  really wanted these 70,000 Marriott Rewards!  So to get around this, I had Rob call Chase to ask them to move some of his credit from his Chase British Airways Visa Signature to this new Marriott Premier Rewards credit card.  Chase happily obliged.  After all, why shouldn’t Chase do this?  Chase is not extending Rob any additional credit, and he is at least going to use this new card to spend at least $2,000 (the minimum spend requirement).  Right now, he is not using his Chase British Airways Visa at all.  The two numbers, that I am aware of, to call to reallocate your Chase credit are 888-609-7805 and 888-270-2127.

Amex-Card-Art_160x101
American Express No Longer Offers This Card

4.  I got the American Express JetBlue Card-I will earn 20,000 TrueBlue points after making $1,000 in purchases in the first 3 months.  The $40 fee is waived the first year. (Total potential is 20,000 TrueBlue points)  Read about this card’s features and benefits.

Although 20,000 bonus points is not that high, I know I need JetBlue True Blue points as I usually fly JetBlue each spring for my daughter’s swim meet.  Also JetBlue usually has really low point redemption options for tickets, so 20,000 TrueBlue points is definitely valuable to me.

Some of you may be thinking it must be annoying to have to use four different credit cards over these next 3 months and keep track of my purchases so as to meet the minimum spend requirements.  Well it is!  But I do it.  What is even more annoying, is making sure that I do not go over the minimum by too much.  Remember, I am only using these cards to get the bonus points.  Once I hit the minimum spend, I would much rather be using another one of my credit cards that earn me bonus points on my everyday spending.

Some of you may also be thinking that you are nervous to apply for and carry many credit cards as you think it will hurt your credit.  My credit score is consistently in the mid- high 700s.  Each month I get my score (from Lifelock), it usually is up a few points from the month before.  Rob and I rarely get denied on any credit card application (at least from Chase and American Express), and if I think we may, due to other recent applications, I call up the bank and move around our credit lines.  It works 99% of the time!

However, from what I have researched, ten percent (10%) of your credit score takes into account applications for credit.  So when you make a new credit card application, your credit score could be affected.  But keep in mind as well, only credit inquiries made within the past 12 months are used to calculate your credit score and after 24 months, the inquiries fall off your credit report completely.  So wait to apply if you must.

Also, the other 90% of your credit score is made up of other information in your credit report, such as bill timely payment.  Don’t forget, for this points game to succeed, you must keep track and pay your bills in full on time.  The bonus points that you will use to pay for travel will not be worth it if you are paying hefty interest fees!!!!