Just Got Word....My Favorite Card Is Ending It's 100,000 Bonus Offer on May 15th 💗

 Update: 100,000 bonus offer is over for referrals. You may still be able to find some working links online, but hurry. 

Just got word that the 100,000 bonus point offer on the Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card will be ending on May 15th. 

This my favorite card and Chase Ultimate Rewards are my favorite points. So if you have been thinking about applying, do not wait. 

Just Got Word....My Favorite Card Is Ending It's 100,000 Bonus Offer Soon 💗 

What can you do with 100,000 Chase points? Here are some real examples:

• 2 nights in an over the water bungalow and 2 nights in a garden cabin at a resort on the island of Moorea in French Polynesia. 
• 10 nights in a Hyatt hotel during a college research trip 
• Round trip flights from LAX to Dublin, Ireland for 4 people 

Check out these other ways to squeeze more value out of Chase Ultimate Rewards points. 

If you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve, you could stretch those bonus points even further. 

The current bonus offer on the Chase Sapphire Preferred is a $5,000 minimum spend in three months. This card has a $95 annual fee, but comes with a $50 hotel credit.  But this offer ends May 15th so don't wait. 

Want more personal help using points and miles for almost FREE travel? Join my Travel Coaching Program and we will design your personal strategy to travel for almost FREE and guide you through the process. Right now, you can use the promo code "FREETRAVEL" to get $50 off the program. I would love to help you make priceless family memories affordable. 

My Second Favorite Travel Card 100,000 Bonus Offer Ends May 12th

My second favorite travel credit card is ending it's 100,000 bonus offer on May 12th. My link will get you the 100,000 offer rather than a $250 credit in the travel portal. Way more value! 

This offer is for 100,000 bonus miles rather than a travel credit so you have the flexibility to use the miles any way you want like transferring to an airline or hotel, erasing travel purchases or in the travel portal. 

In fact, we found a hack where you can actually erase travel purchases before you even pay for them! 

We love the flexibility of Capital One miles so 25,000 miles is much better than a travel credit.

What can you do with 100,000 Capital One miles?

• Round trip flight for 2 or 4 people to Europe
• Resort suite in the Algarve, Portugal for 3 nights 
• 7 nights at a hotel in Japan 
• First class seat to Sydney, Australia 

The minimum spend on this offer is $5,000 and the annual fee is $95. 

Other benefits included with the Capital One Venture card include:

• 2x points on all purchases
• $120 Global Entry/TSA credit 
• Rental Car Insurance Coverage
• Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance

You are only eligible for this bonus offer once every four years. And just a sidenote, there is NO lounge access included with this card. Though card holders are eligible for a discounted lounge pass. 

This is offer ends May 12th so don't wait. As always, if you need more guidance, please join our Travel Coaching Program, you can find out more about our personal coaching here. Use FREETRAVEL for $50 off the cost. Or you can book a 30 minute consult for just $100. We would love to help you! 

How You Can Earn 5x Points On Amazon

One of the benefits to the Chase FREEDOM FLEX credit card is the rotating 5x bonus categories. 

This means that each quarter there are 2-3 categories of purchases that earn 5x Chase Ultimate Rewards points rather than the usual 1x points. You can max out the category by spending $1,500 and earning a bonus of 7,500 points. 

So what does this look like?

This quarter the bonus categories are Amazon and select streaming services. I already get 5x bonus on streaming with my Chase Ink credit card, but I was super excited about Amazon. 

Like most of us, I order quite a bit from the online store so I let me family know that for the next quarter, all Amazon purchases should be directed to my Chase FREEDOM FLEX credit card. 

And that new couch I was thinking about purchasing, yep, bought it on Amazon for 5x points. 

If you don't have this card yet, it's a great no annual fee card to complement your Chase Sapphire Preferred or Reserve credit card. It's also a great starter card. Right now, there is a bonus offer of $200 when you spend $500 in the first three months. 

This is also the card you should downgrade your Chase Sapphire Preferred to if you are eligible to apply again for the amazing 100,000 point bonus offer on the Chase Sapphire Preferred. 

For more details on this amazing 100,000 bonus offer which is ending soon and what you can do with 100,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points, think a week in Hawaii or Europe, click here. 

Want more personal help using points and miles for almost FREE travel? Join my Travel Coaching Program and we will design your personal strategy to travel for almost FREE and guide you through the process. Right now, you can use the promo code "FREETRAVEL" to get $50 off the program. I would love to help you make priceless family memories affordable. 

Have Southwest Flight Credits? Stop Giving Southwest Your Money

 

I met with a client recently who asked me why Southwest Airlines charged her 23,000 points and $185 for a round trip flight from San Diego to Phoenix. She logged into her account so we could investigate and I noticed she had $1,372 in flight credits on Southwest. 

So now I was wondering "why was she giving Southwest any money at all?"

First, let's look at how she accumulated so many travel credits in the first place. 

How do you get travel credits on Southwest?

When you buy a flight with cash as opposed to points on Southwest and then cancel that flight, Southwest does not return your funds to your credit card instead it issues you a travel credit. 

If the price of your flight goes down and you change the flight to get the better fare, if you paid with cash, then you would get a travel credit for the difference.

Have Southwest Travel Credits? Stop Giving Southwest Your Money 

If you click on the "my account" tab inside your Southwest online account and scroll all the way to the bottom you will see your flight credits. If you always fly using points like I do, you will have no flight credits. 

But if you pay cash for flights and cancel, you will see this.

Most of the time, flight credits are not transferable which means they must be used by the same passenger as the original ticketed passenger. And starting May 28th 2025, travel credits will expire in 6-12 months depending on the type of fare. 

Have Southwest Flight Credits? Stop Giving Southwest Your Money 

If you have flight credits, then you should use them. Definitely stop giving Southwest your money and buying flights with cash. Even if you have points, use your travel credits first since you can use points for anyone and you can only use flight credits for the original passenger. 

To use flight credits, when you get to the payment section for your flight, scroll down and click apply flight credits. You will need your confirmation number which is a jumble of numbers and letters listed in the flight credits section of "my account." You can use several flight credits to pay for single flight.  

In the future, always use points to book Southwest flights. That's why we love flexible points like Chase Ultimate Rewards and Bilt points. You can transfer those to Southwest 1:1 if you need more Southwest points. If you book with points, you will never be stuck with those pesky flight credits. 

Want more personal help using points and miles for almost FREE travel? Join my Travel Coaching Program and we will design your personal strategy to travel for almost FREE and guide you through the process. Right now, you can use the promo code "FREETRAVEL" to get $50 off the program. I would love to help you make priceless family memories affordable. 

Just Got Word....My Favorite Card Is Ending It's 100,000 Bonus Offer Soon 💗

Just got word that the 100,000 bonus point offer on the Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card will be ending soon. We don't know when soon is, but if you are thinking about this one. Do not wait! 

This my favorite card and Chase Ultimate Rewards are my favorite points. 

Just Got Word....My Favorite Card Is Ending It's 100,000 Bonus Offer Soon 💗 

What can you do with 100,000 Chase points? Here are some real examples:

• I flew from Athens to LAX for 15,000 Chase points + $90 taxes 
• My daughter and I flew from LAX to Medellin, Colombia for 54,000 Chase points round trip booked in the Chase Travel Portal. 
• I could transfer the points 1:1 to dozens of airlines including Southwest Airlines, what could you do with 100,000 Southwest points? How about 5 round trip flights to New York? Add the Southwest companion pass and wow! 
• I could transfer those points to Hyatt and stay at the Hyatt Regency Maui or Hyatt Vacation Club Ka'anapali for four nights. 

• Go off peak and stay at the Hyatt Place Waikiki and you could stretch those points to 7 nights FREE. 

Check out these other ways to squeeze more value out of Chase Ultimate Rewards points. 

If you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve, you could stretch those bonus points even further. 

The current bonus offer on the Chase Sapphire Preferred is a $5,000 minimum spend in three months. This card has a $95 annual fee, but comes with a $50 hotel credit. 

Want more personal help using points and miles for almost FREE travel? Join my Travel Coaching Program and we will design your personal strategy to travel for almost FREE and guide you through the process. Right now, you can use the promo code "FREETRAVEL" to get $50 off the program. I would love to help you make priceless family memories affordable. 

Great News! Bilt Adds Southwest As A Transfer Partner

 

If you are renting, you should have a Bilt credit card! You can read all about the Bilt card here. For renters, it is a no brainer way to rack up flexible points every month. Those points can be transferred just like Chase Ultimate Reward points, Citi points, Amex points and Capital One points to dozens of airlines and hotels.

Great News! Bilt Adds Southwest As A Transfer Partner

 

And now Bilt has added Southwest Airlines as one of its transfer partners. 

The only other flexible points you can transfer to Southwest Airlines are Chase Ultimate Reward points. 

The points transfer 1:1 meaning 1 Bilt point = 1 Southwest point same as Chase Ultimate Reward points to Southwest points. 

The points do not count towards the Southwest Companion Pass. 

Let's say you spend $2,500 per month on rent. If you pay your rent through the Bilt app with your Bilt credit card, you will earn $2,500 Bilt points or 2,500 Southwest points per month. You need to make at least 5 transactions per month on your Bilt credit card to qualify.  

So after three months, you would have 7,500 Bilt points which you could transfer to Southwest and use them for flights like three one way flights from San Diego to San Francisco. Now that Southwest Travel Credits expire, you should always use points to buy flights. If you use points on Southwest and cancel a flight, the points are returned to your account. Southwest points never expire. 

Want more personal help using points and miles for almost FREE travel? Join my Travel Coaching Program and we will design your personal strategy to travel for almost FREE and guide you through the process. Right now, you can use the promo code "FREETRAVEL" to get $50 off the program. I would love to help you make priceless family memories affordable. 

What To Do When You Get Pending On Your Credit Card Application

 

You press the submit button for the Southwest credit card application and the wheel starts spinning and then you get the dreaded "pending review" message. Argh. 

The next message says you will receive a letter in 7-10 days regarding your application decision. Argh

What To Do When You Get Pending On Your Credit Card Application 

So now what? Lately, several of my clients have received these messages and then just this week, I got them too. Argh. 

But don't give up. Here's what you need to do. There are a few reasons why your credit card application may end up in review. 

1. Too much credit 

2. Not enough income 

3. 5/24 or too many credit cards opened 

Reason #1 - the easiest to reconcile. If you call the reconsideration line for the Chase Southwest credit card 888 270 2127 and 800 278 8830, the representatives will usually advise you to move credit lines around or close a few cards. 

Reason #2 - you can use both your salary, your partner's salary and your business income so let the representative know that you have more income you can add to  your application. 

Reason #3 - offer to close some credit cards. Never close your oldest card, but maybe some no annual fee cards that you just never got around to closing. 

Then the representative will resubmit your application and you wait again. 

What To Do When You Get Pending On Your Credit Card Application 

Right now, you can get 50,000 - 80,000 Southwest points for opening a personal or business credit card. You can only hold one personal Southwest credit card at a time, but you can actually hold both business cards. 

You can read here about the easiest way to earn the Southwest Companion Pass which is BOGO flights for up to two years. It's the best travel perk around and the way things are going with changes to Southwest, it may not be around forever. 

Join my Travel Coaching Program and we will design your personal strategy to travel for almost FREE and guide you through the process. Right now, you can use the promo code "FREETRAVEL" to get $50 off the program. I would love to help you make priceless family memories affordable.