The Trick To Getting More Value Out Of Chase Ultimate Reward Points

 

When I wake up and see this in my Chase.com account, that makes for a great day! I applied for the new Chase FREEDOM Flex card in October and bam, this month, I was awarded the 20,000 point bonus. 

The Flex card requires just a $500 minimum spend in the first three months to earn the bonus. It has no annual fee and right now, it also earns 5% at grocery stores for the first year or up to $12,000. It also comes with the Chase rotating categories which for Q4 are Paypal and Walmart. 

I already had the Chase FREEDOM card, it's been my go-to card forever. But this is a new product so I was eligible to apply and get the bonus. I may close my old FREEDOM card or I may hold onto it in order to max out the rotating categories. 

Chase Ultimate Reward Points are amazing because they are so flexible and during the pandemic, Chase added a pay yourself back benefit to the Sapphire Preferred and Reserve cards where you can cash in the points for grocery and home improvement purchases. The Sapphire Preferred card has a $95 annual fee, but I think it's totally worth it. This is one of my favorite cards. The Sapphire Reserve has a $550 annual fee, but before you gasp, it also comes with a $300 travel credit which right now is a grocery credit plus FREE Doordash, Lyft and Peloton membership and a $120 credit at Doordash. It also comes with a $100 Global Entry credit and FREE airport lounge access. 

So here's the trick to get more value out of the points. 

The Sapphire Preferred gives you 25% more for your points in the pay yourself back and Chase Travel Portal and the Sapphire Reserve gives you 50% more. Chase also allows you to combine your points from one credit card to another. So you can easily move your points from your new FREEDOM FLEX card to your Sapphire Preferred or Reserve to get more value. 

It's easy. 

• Just log into your Chase.com account
• Click on the earn/use points and you'll see this dashboard. It's expanded a lot since the pandemic started. One of the things I love about Chase is how user friendly the site is. You can see exactly how many points you have, how to use them, and how to earn them. 
• Click on combine points and you will see the option to move points from one card to another. You can also move points from one family member to another if your family member only has a no fee card or even a Preferred card. 

Chase will ask you how many points you want to move, review your order and bam, instant transfer. Now you can use those points for travel or to pay yourself back for any qualified purchases you made in the past 90 days. 

If you decide to apply for the Chase FREEDOM Flex or Sapphire Preferred, please consider using my referral link. You get the same bonus and I also get a small bonus for referring you. That's how we do it at almostFREEfamilytravel.com 

Hurry! BOGO Promotion on Alaska Airlines

 

Alaska Airlines just launched a BOGO promotion for 2021! 

Here's how it works: Book a flight to, from, or within California, and get a second ticket on the same flight for just the taxes and fees.
Pretty sweet! 

The details are you need to fly between California and Alaska Airlines cities in the US and Canada between January 5, and March 11, 2021.  There are some day of week restrictions and blackout dates. 

Shop quick! This deal ends at 11:59 pm PT on December 9, 2020.

Here’s how it works:

1. In the booking form on this page, enter your departure and arrival cities, dates, and at least 2 travelers.
   • Travel is valid January 5 - March 11, 2021.
   • Travel to Hawaii is valid Sundays - Wednesdays
   • Travel from Hawaii is valid Tuesdays - Fridays
   • Travel to/from all other cities in the US and Canada is valid Mondays - Thursdays and Saturdays
   • Blackout dates of February 11-22, 2021, apply.
2. Enter CALIBOGO into the discount code field, and then click "Find flights" to start your search.

I did a quick search on flights from San Diego to Salt Lake City on February 6th and it worked! Flight was 50% off for 2 people totaling just $113.70 for the one way tickets. Alaska is waiving their change and cancel fees for all Main and First class tickets booked through Dec. 31, 2020. Saver tickets cannot be changed, but may be canceled for travel credit. 

Early holiday present from Alaska Airlines. Woohoo! 

How You Can Get A FREE Flight To Hawaii

 

Hawaii is launching its "Movers and Shakas" pilot program to lure remote workers to relocate temporarily to the islands. If you are one of the first 50 to be accepted into the program, you will get FREE airfare to Hawaii. The application opened Nov. 29th and closes Dec. 15th. Everyone accepted into the program will be eligible for discounted hotel rates. There are some hotels also offering work/play packages like Marriott and Hyatt. 

However, I did a quick search and the discounted hotel rate for 30 days is about $5,000 or $160 per night. On Airbnb.com, you could get a studio apartment in Waikiki for half of that and you would have access to a kitchen. Think about lower food costs! 

Before you leap at this opportunity, there are few requirements,

1. you must commit to staying at least 30 days

2. you must agree to volunteer at an approved community organization

My older daughter and I did a program several years ago where we lived with a host family and volunteered in a low-income preschool in Ecuador for a month and it was a life-changing experience. 

But it may not be for everyone. The bottom line is this may be a great opportunity for remote workers also looking to give back and dive into the Hawaiian community. 

If you'd rather hang out at a luxury hotel drinking pina coladas, this may not be the deal for you. 

Apply Now To Get 80,000 Southwest Points And A Companion Pass

 

Southwest is offering 80,000 points on all three of their personal credit cards which is one of the highest offers we have seen, but there is a catch. The good news, 90,000 points puts you well in reach of the best perk in travel, the Southwest Companion Pass. 

The pass gets you buy one, get one FREE for up to two years on Southwest Airlines. And you want to earn it at the beginning of the year so you max out the two years so the timing is fantastic. You can read my previous post to see how to do that. 

However, the catch here is that there are two minimum spends you need to hit to earn the bonuses. Let me explain. 

1. 50,000 bonus points when spend $2,000 in the first three months which is not bad since it's traditionally been a higher minimum spend. 

2. 30,000 bonus points when you spend $10,000 in your first 9 months

If you break it down, it's just about $1,000 per month which is totally doable, but you won't get the companion pass until you hit that bonus. Since you have to earn all of your points in the same calendar year to earn the companion pass and you pass is good for the rest of this year and the next year, you will want to reach that $10,000 minimum as fast as possible. 

Even if you can't reach the $10,000 quickly, the 50,000 points puts you 1/3 of the way towards the 125,000 points needed to earn the pass. 

Make sense?

There are 3 personal credit cards offered in this promotion, the Priority, the Premium and the Plus. My favorite is the Priority because with all the perks, the annual fee is actually less than the others. And the cards earn 5x points on groceries and Amazon through Dec. 31, 2020. 

If you own a small business, you are allowed to hold a Southwest business card and a personal card at the same time so you may want to think about opening both to reach the companion pass as well. 

Now if you have received any Southwest credit card bonus in the past 24 months, you are not eligible to get it again plus you can only hold one personal card at a time. 

Where to Find The Best Travel Deals on Cyber Monday

 

We may not be able to travel yet, but you can get some deals on Cyber Monday to use when we can. A lot of the deals out there right now come with FREE cancellation or big travel windows which gives you a lot of flexibility. Be sure to check out the cruise lines and theme parks since they are offering amazing benefits along with discounted rates. Also, many of the airlines and hotels are offering a chance to buy points like Jet Blue, IHG, and United.

Now I don't usually recommend buying points, but when they offer a 100% bonus and you have someplace in mind, it could be worth it. 

You can check out this fantastic comprehensive list of deals from our friends at ThePointsGuy.com. 

And here’s a list of some of the Cyber Monday travel deals for this year from Shannon at Blackfriday.com:

• American Airlines: Book by Dec. 1 (for travel through March 31), and get up to 20% off. The discount amount depends on how much you spend.
• Expedia: The Cyber Monday sale runs through Dec. 1. Get up to 50% off select stays booked through the app.
• Hotels.com: Get an extra 5% off through Nov. 30 (for travel until Sept. 21, 2021).
• Hotwire: Get an additional 12% off all Hot Rate hotel bookings in-app. Use code BF12. The sale runs Friday Nov. 27 through Monday Nov. 30.
• Karisma Hotels & Resorts: Shop the mystery sale through Dec. 7, and get rates as low as $99 per person at Karisma resorts. Travel between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2021.
• Orbitz: Promo code APPVENTURE15 gets you 15% off on select hotels when you book via the app. Book by Dec. 1
• Priceline: Sign up for the email list by Nov. 29, to receive special offers through Nov. 30 (aka Cyber Monday). These offers include mystery coupons for 99%, 15% or 10% off.
• Princess Cruises: The Cyber Sale (which runs through Nov. 30), offers reduced deposits, extra onboard spending money and up to 50% off deposits. Deals are good for departing May 2021 and later.
• Riu Resorts: Book by Dec. 4 for stays through Dec. 23, 2021, and get an extra 15% off all-inclusive beach resorts.
• Travelocity: Use promo code CYBER10 to save 10% when you book by 11:59 p.m. CST on Dec. 1. Most travel by Sept. 12, 2021.

If you do take advantage of the sales, be sure to use the right credit card to max the points. The Sapphire Preferred gets 2x points on travel and the Reserve gets 3x points. Good luck and let us know what you find! 

How To Max Out Points and Miles during Black Friday Shopping

 

This week marks the beginning of the holiday shopping season and specifically the Black Friday sales. Now this year is going to look very different with so many people just trying to make ends meet and retailers trying to save a dismal year. 

So whether you will be taking advantage of the sales a lot or a little, make each purchase count. One day, we will be traveling again, and why not, travel for FREE. 

So a few things to remember when you are shopping over the holiday season:

1. Use the right credit card - this year has been incredible for increased cashback percentages on certain types of purchases. For example, 

• the new Chase Flex credit card offered new credit cardholders 5% back on groceries for one year or up to $12,000. When you are shopping for that Thanksgiving meal ingredients, that would be the card to use. 
• Chase Southwest credit cards offered a targetted offer of 5x points on Amazon purchases this quarter so this would be the card to use at that retailer. And now there is a more general offer for 5x points on Amazon and groceries, you need to activate the offer with this link.
• Chase quarterly bonus categories on Chase Flex and Chase Freedom offer 5x points at Paypal and Walmart this quarter. 
• Cards like Sapphire Preferred and Reserve offer increased percentages at restaurants, travel and grocery stores. Both cards also offer a cash back program where you can erase purchases at an increased 25% and 50% value. 
• Discover offers 5% this quarter at Amazon, Target and Walmart. 

2. Shopping portals - I love shopping portals, this is FREE money. You can check out my guide to shopping portals here. The bottom line is never make a purchase online without clicking on a shopping portal. It costs you nothing and puts money back in your pocket. And right now, Rakuten will give you $40 FREE when you use this referral link. 

3. Amex and Chase offers - check your AmericanExpress and Chase account to see what offers are available. Honestly, I don't find the best offers here, but once in a while, there is a gem. A few months ago, I found $50 back on any Marriott hotel stay. Pretty sweet! 

4. Open a new credit card and use the purchases to meet your minimum spend and get the bonus. One of the best bonuses and cards is the Sapphire Preferred which is offering a 75,000 Ultimate Rewards bonus and 1.25 point cash back program. 

The bottom line is every time you make a purchase make it count twice or three times towards that FREE trip. I call it leveraged spending and in the future, we will call it FREE travel. Woohoo! 

How You Can Score A FREE Flight To Santorini, Greece

 

One of the most amazing trips I ever took was to the Greek Islands including the island of Santorini pictured above. I spent one month traveling from island to island enjoying the sun, ruins, blue-roofed homes and yummy food. This has to be on everyone's bucket list. 

Now Aegean Airlines is offering 5,000 award miles just for signing up for their program. The miles never expire so this is really a no-brainer. Aegean Airlines is a Greek airline and a Star Alliance partner. A quick check shows 5,000 reward miles are valued at approximately $72 and can get you a FREE flight from Athens to any Greek island. Pretty sweet!

Or you could use it for short flights to neighboring countries. A quick search of other flights shows that a flight from Athens to neighboring countries like Italy, Turkey, and Croatia cost about 7,000 reward miles and hop over to London or anywhere in Europe for 11,000 reward miles. 

Aegean Airlines has a shopping portal and reward mile earning deals with Booking.com and other booking sites for hotels and cars. So you could run this up pretty quickly and save hundreds on flights. Plus Aegean Airlines is a partner with Star Alliance so you could use the reward miles to book on United and other airlines. Aegean Airlines typically charges less miles for the same flights as United. 

Just use this link to register and open a new account. Once the promotion ends, you will see 5,000 award miles deposited into your account. You will also get 1,000 miles that count towards Elite status if that's important to you.