Why I'm Applying For The New Chase Credit Card

 

It's unusual for credit card companies to launch a new credit card product and especially to launch one now during a global pandemic, but Chase has announced the new Freedom Flex coming Sept. 14th. The current Freedom credit card will be discontinued. But the Freedom Unlimited card will continue to be offered. This straightforward cashback card earns 1.5% on all purchases. 

Now, the Freedom card is my fall back personal credit card, and the Freedom Unlimited card works the same way. Both earn Chase Ultimate Rewards Points which are super versatile since you can transfer them to dozens of airlines and a few big hotel chains. Plus you can use them in the Chase Travel Portal. And if you hold a Sapphire Preferred or Sapphire Reserve card, the points are now valued at 1:1.25 or 1:1.5 in the portal or cashback. 

A big perk of the current Freedom card is the quarterly rotating 5% cashback categories such as Amazon, gas stations, streaming services, groceries, and more. If you max out those categories, it's a huge benefit. 

The Freedom Unlimited card will offer some new benefits:

• 5% back on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards
• 3% back on dining
• 3% back at drugstores

There’s no activation required — all three will become available beginning Sept. 15. The Freedom Unlimited currently offers $200 bonus after a $500 minimum spend in the first 3 months. 

The new Freedom Flex comes with a $200 bonus after a $500 minimum spend in the first 3 months also. Plus 5% on groceries up to a max of $12,000 in the first year, unfortunately, Target and Walmart are excluded from the bonus. There is no annual fee. It will also include the rotating 5% cashback categories and the new bonus categories included with the Unlimited card. 

The Flex card is considered a new product since it will be a Mastercard instead of a Visa so if you currently have a Freedom or Freedom Unlimited card, you are eligible to apply for this card as a new customer rather than upgrade and secure the bonus 

So if you have a Chase Freedom card like I do, it probably makes sense to switch to the new Flex card. If you have the Chase Freedom Unlimited card, the only difference is that that new Flex card is a Mastercard instead of a Visa. Mastercard comes along with World Elite Benefits that include free shipping with ShopRunner, $10 credit with Lyft when you take 5 rides in a month, and more. You can read about all the benefits here. 

So it probably makes sense to switch to the new Flex card for you as well. If you are over Chase 5/24 rule (you have opened 5 credit cards with any company in the past 24 months), you can call and ask for a product change. You won't be eligible for the welcome bonus, but you will get all the new credit card benefits. If you are under 5/24, you need to decide whether it makes sense for you to use one of those slots for this card. 

Watch for the new Flex card coming Sept. 15th. 

Get 1,000 Bonus Southwest Points On Hotels through Dec. 2020

 One way to earn extra Southwest Airlines points is to book hotels through Rocketmiles, a third party reservation platform similar to Expedia. Now every reservation you make on Rocketmiles at select properties will offer a bonus 1,000 Southwest points. 
The best part is these points DO count towards the companion pass. One of the best travel deals out there. The companion pass is a BOGO flights for two years. Amazing! You can read my past post on how to score one of these passes. 
You can actually use Rocketmiles to collect miles/points on a variety of different airlines, but as of right now, Southwest is the only airline running the bonus promotion. 

When you do a search on Rocketmiles, the site will tell you how many points you will earn for your reservation. I searched for Zion National Park hotels and The Comfort Inn is offering 2,000 points per night plus 1,000 bonus points. You will earn the bonus just once per reservation even if you stay multiple nights. The promotion is good on any hotels booked through Dec. 2020. You must use this specific promotional link (www.rocketmiles.com/wanderlust-swa) or on the Rocketmiles app using code “wanderlust-swa”

It Just Got Cheaper And Easier To Fly

Delta and American Airlines just announced they are also permanently eliminating change fees just one day after United Airlines made the same announcement. Why are the airlines doing this? Well, airline experts say the companies are desperate for people to fly. The number one complaint customers have about airlines are the change and cancellation fees. 

All three airlines have waived the fees since March. 

For American Airlines, the new policy applies to domestic flights inside the US plus some short-haul international destinations. For Delta and United, the new policy applies to domestic flights plus flights to Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. 

American is the only one that is also giving customers credit for the price difference between the old ticket and the new ticket. 

Delta and United will issue vouchers. 

Delta is the only airline that did not extend the new policy to award redemption tickets. 

Web specials and basic economy tickets are not included under the new policy for any of the big three.  

No indication yet if Jet Blue, Alaska, or Spirit will follow suit. 

This is good news for customers, we will just have to wait and see if it's enough good news to help them fly again. 

What's it like to fly during Covid

Yep, I took the plunge and flew this month. And you know what, I liked it. Let me walk you through the experience. I took Southwest Airlines because I have a companion pass which by the way is the best travel deal in the industry. You can learn more about how to earn a pass yourself by clicking here. 
I didn't like crowds before COVID so I certainly don't like them now. And here's what the airport looked like when I arrived. Honestly, this is a dream for me. 

I couldn't believe it, I even wondered if the airport was open. But it was and I went inside. Needless to say, security was also empty. I did not have any bags to check so I didn't go to the counter, but it was probably empty too. Since security was so empty, I got chosen to be randomly scanned. But if you read my blog, you will know that I almost always get stopped at security for my person or my luggage so I allow extra time. This time, they had a problem with my shoes, that's a new one for me. So they had me take them off so they could run them through the scanner and asked me to walk through again. I got flagged again so now I earned a pat-down. Then my luggage got flagged too so they opened my suitcase. Oh well, I had plenty of time so it was fine. 

Along with few people, many of the restaurants and stores inside the airport were also closed. So definitely bring food along. Southwest recently changed its mask policy and eliminated bandanas from the approved list. But they have approved masks available at the counter if yours is not acceptable. From the Southwest.com website:

Everyone was masked and sitting at least six feet apart from each other near the gate. Southwest is now asking just 10 people to line up at a time to board and through October they are not selling the middle seat. My flight had about 50% capacity, the flight at the next gate had 53 people total flying so there is plenty of room. 

I had a row to myself on all four of my flights. Woohoo! 

Once on board, most people appeared to be wiping down their seats, seatbelt and tray table. If you need help on how to do this, watch my previous post. 
The flight attendants came around twice to serve water and a packaged snack. No alcohol was allowed on the flight. 

Once we landed, it was a bit more chaotic as everyone tried to exit the plane quickly and at the same time, but overall, I felt safe and the plane felt very clean. 
Now I am 5 days into self-quarantine and so far, so good. I'll keep you posted. 

Mystery Bonus United Miles Offer Ends This Week

If you are short some United miles, then you may want to take advantage of this promotion ending this week. Check your email to see if you were targetted for the offer. If so, click the reveal offer button to see what bonus United is offering you.
I was offered up to 70% bonus, not bad. I don't usually recommend buying miles or points, but if you need to top off an account, it might be worth it.

Click the button in your email to reveal your offer. Mine said buy miles for up to 70% bonus. Sounds good, right? Yes and no. If you look further, I will actually get a 30% bonus when I buy up to 9,000 miles. Then my bonus increases to 45%. 

It only increases to 70% when I purchase 25,000 miles for $875. Not a bad deal because at that price point, each mile is valued at .02 cents. 

This promotion ends on August 27th at 11:59pm Central time. 

Marriott Amex Biz Offers 10x Points On Groceries, Gas and Hotels

Time to check your offers on American Express! Marriott Bonvoy is offering 10x points on purchases on gas, groceries and restaurants. This offer appears to be only on the American Express Business card, but you might as well check them all. 

To use the offers, you need to add them to your card first. It's easy and just takes a few minutes. Here's how to do it:
1. Login to your Americanexpress.com account 
2. Scroll halfway down the page to offers 
3. Be sure to click on add to card on the offers you like 

That's it, use the card and it will automatically credit you the extra points. It is not retroactive though so add the offer to the card before you make the purchase. 

Turn Your Leftover Southwest Travel Vouchers Into Points

 

Now great news, if you have leftover travel funds sitting in your Southwest account, you can convert them into Southwest points. Typically, these funds expire one year after issued and can only be used by the passenger they originally belonged to. Since the pandemic began, the expiration date has been extended to September 2022. But now, you can transfer these vouchers to Southwest points as well. 

Couple of notes, you will still have to pay the taxes and fees on your original ticket. Of course, you don't get the points for flying and the converted points DO NOT count towards the companion pass.

But if you don't think you are going to fly, then it might make sense. 

You will need to do the conversion by December 15th 2020 and it is not reversible.