topic Re: How to collect most airline miles in 18 months? in Credit Cards

How to collect most airline miles in 18 months?

gkinter — Sat, 13 Mar 2021 01:02:32 GMT

Hey everyone ,

I'm looking to take the family to Europe next christmas and I'm looking to collect as many points as possible in the next year and a half. I already have a chase sapphire and Aadvantage card, I am trying to figure which one to use or to upgrade to a premium ($450) card to get the most out of it . May I ask for some suggestions ?

Re: How to collect most airline miles in 18 months?

Aim_High — Sat, 13 Mar 2021 01:24:27 GMT

We would need to know a little more to give you the best answers.

Are you looking at points/miles to redeem for just airfare or would it be for other travel purchases like hotels?

Also, it depends on which airlines and/or hotel chains where you hope to redeem those points.

If you're looking for the fastest way to accrue miles/travel points, it would probably entail one or two SUBs on the higher AF cards. There are quite a few options.

If you're looking to accrue by spending, it would depend on what categories your highest spending is per month. Cards pay different returns on different categories.

Also, which "Sapphire" card do you have and which "AAdvantage" card? There are three Sapphires and more than three AAdvantage cards. The AAdvantage cards are also issued by both Citi and Barclays. Keep in mind that you can only have one Sapphire card and if you product change it, you lose out on the SUB. Also, if you got a SUB on the Sapphire within the past 48 months, you aren't eligible for another one until after 48 months.

Re: How to collect most airline miles in 18 months?

Loquat — Sat, 13 Mar 2021 01:29:44 GMT

Depending on the size of your family you should be aware that it's really hard to find premium cabin award space in bulk. If you're looking for main cabin space then it'll be a lot easier to obtain such.

The currency you should collect in efforts to be able redeem for flights would be dependent upon the location you're flying out of and which airline is going your prefered direction of travel.

Are you willing to take connecting flights if you must? Willing to do a reposition flight? There's so much to consider when thinking of such.

To add a little more complication to the mix is that you're looking to book quite some time out and airlines are known to cut routes and flights at a moments notice so you've got a lot to think about and unpack before you even start looking at what currency you want to load up on.

Best of luck. Sometimes putting the puzzle together is the most fun...for some.

Re: How to collect most airline miles in 18 months?

gkinter — Sat, 13 Mar 2021 01:38:32 GMT

My apologies for not clarifying some of the information.

I am looking to use the miles either to purchase tickets or to upgrade
I am looking to redeem it on American Airlines flights
I have a CSP - I wasn't even aware that their is a third option now. Also, I use this card the most, and I signed up 5 years ago.
The Aadvantage is with Citi and signed up 4 years ago. Currently I'm downgraded to the free option since I'm barely using it.

Would I be eligible for a SUB if I get the Aadvantage executive? Is it worth it to get it over the $95 a year option?

I would add an authorized user (wife) and we would use it for literally everything.

Hope this info helps, and thanks for taking the time to reply!

Re: How to collect most airline miles in 18 months?

Aim_High — Sat, 13 Mar 2021 02:40:01 GMT

I have some potential options for you.

The Citi SUB restrictions only apply for the same card, and only within the previous 48 months. So if you originally got a SUB on the Platinum Select within the past 48 months, you can still get a separate SUB on the AAdvantage Executive. Now here's the possible problem. That card has a $450 AF and no hefty credits like some other cards. You're mainly paying for a reduced price Admirals Club membership and other perks. It actually earns less points that the Platinum Select. So unless you'll get value from the Admirals Club memberships before you travel, it might not be a good option.

The Platinum Select earns best out of the three Citi cards. It earns 2x miles on AA purchases as well as at restaurants and for gas. You also get a $125 Flight Discount certificate if you spend at least $20K annually which more than reimburses the $99 AF.

But ... you could also upgrade your no-AF Citi card back to the Platinum Select for better earnings. And then ALSO ... grab the SUB on the Barclay's Aviator Red Mastercard. It has a $99 AF but also comes with a 60K mile SUB. And the Aviator RED has a companion certificate every year if you spend $20K and then pay a flat $99 fee plus other taxes and fees. The companion certificate is an even better value than the $125 Flight Discount certificate.

Another option is the AVIOS route. If you and/or P2 are under 5/24, you could get one (or more!) of the three AVIOS cards cobranded by Chase for British Airways, Aer Lingus, or Iberia. AVIOS can be used to book flights on other ONE WORLD carriers, including American. The British Airways SUB is good for 50K AVIOS after $3K spend. And if you spend $20K annually, you earn a "Travel Together Ticket" similar to the companion pass from Barclays. ("The Travel Together Ticket gives you a second seat for a companion, on the same flight and in the same cabin when you book a reward flight on a British Airways mainline flight originating in and returning to the United States. All you’ll have to pay is the taxes, fees and carrier charges for you and your companion’s tickets.") Meanwhile, the Aer Lingus and Iberia have the older bonus which allows you to earn a total of 100K AVIOS after spending $20K annually on either card.

Another option would be to accrue UR points on your Chase card. Since you got CSP five years ago, you're eligible for a SUB on a new card. You could apply for CSR (or CSP), but I'm not sure if Chase makes you cancel the original CSP first or if they do it for you when they approve the card. That's a good question for the community, but I just know you can't have more than one Sapphire card.

There is an older Sapphire card (the original) with no-AF which Chase will still allow you to downgrade to, but is not open to new applicants. It's more or less a place holder card as it has poor rewards and perks. The others are the Sapphire Preferred and Sapphire Reserve. If you're serious about saving up points, it might be worthwhile to upgrade to the CSR. That's especially true if you dine out often or do regular travel. CSR earns 3x points on either of those. Or, adding other UR-earning cards like CF (5% becomes 5x UR points when you transfer them to CSP/CSR), or CFU (1.5% becomes 1.5 UR points on CSP/CSR.) And as you know, if you were to book the travel through the Chase Travel portal, you'd earn 50% more value on the booking with the CSR (or 25% more with CSP.) So those 1.5 points on CFU everyday spend become 2.25% when booked with CSR through the Chase portal. And the 5% on Freedom becomes 7.5% on CSR. Plus if you add any INK business cards, those cards can transfer to your CSP/CSR to accrue points. I got the INK Business Preferred with a great SUB. Then I PC'd it to the INK CASH where I earn 5% (7.5% in URs redemption in-portal) for my monthly cellphone bill and my cable-tv-internet. Easy money.

Both Chase and AMEX have One World travel partners where you could transfer URs or MRs. (British Airways is a partner for both.) So AMEX cards could become yet another option. There have been some great SUBs on Platinum and Gold charge cards lately, especially if you go incognito and keep trying. Platinum has been as high as 100K MRs and Gold as high as 75K MRs. Keep in mind that these cards have $550 and $250 AFs, so make sure they make sense in your wallet overall. The Gold is a great everyday card for MR-earning, with 4x MRs on restaurants and 4x MRs on groceries, up to $25K per year.

So there are many ways you can attack this goal. Any single one or a combination of them could work for you.

Re: How to collect most airline miles in 18 months?

Anonymous — Sat, 13 Mar 2021 02:45:48 GMT

Hopefully not relevant to your plans, but flying into the UK on American, on award travel, can have very significant taxes, e.g. some random flight from NY-London in April has over $400 in taxes for the cheapest economy award seats.

Re: How to collect most airline miles in 18 months?

4sallypat — Sat, 13 Mar 2021 14:17:12 GMT

@Anonymous Very good point about award flights that have taxes almost as high as an economy fare!

For upgrages, it's the best use of points especially if you are travelling with more than one person!

As for my suggestion since you already have American miles and that is your preferred carrier, I'd get these 2 premium cards:

Amex Plat w/ 125K point SUB

Chase Sapphire Reserve with 50K SUB

Both cards are perfect for transfer points to AA miles, have TSA/Global Entry paid benefits, lounge access (Centurion + Priority Pass), travel credits ($200 Amex + $300 CSR), elevated hotel status, etc...

Re: How to collect most airline miles in 18 months?

K-in-Boston — Sat, 13 Mar 2021 22:02:40 GMT

@4sallypat wrote:

[snip] As for my suggestion since you already have American miles and that is your preferred carrier, I'd get these 2 premium cards:
Amex Plat w/ 125K point SUB
Chase Sapphire Reserve with 50K SUB

Both cards are perfect for transfer points to AA miles [snip]

Hyatt, IHG, and Marriott points are the only flexible points programs that can be converted directly into AAdvantage miles.

For Amex, the best case scenario for AAdvantage miles is that OP would be able to transfer 120k Membership Rewards points to 120k Marriott points, and then turn those into 50k AAdvantage miles. Unless they're getting at least 2.4 cents per mile, booking a flight through Amex Travel is a better option (this is not even factoring in the value of the miles that would be earned from that revenue ticket instead of an award ticket).

For Chase it's even more dire; 60k Ultimate Rweards (which will require more spending and earnings past the SUB) could be transferred to 60k Marriott points, which could then be exchanged for 25k AAdvantage miles. Unless they're getting at least 3 cents per mile, booking a flight through Chase Travel is a better option (this is not even factoring in the value of the miles that would be earned from that revenue ticket instead of an award ticket).

Of course the preferable situation here would likely be transfer to another oneworld alliance partner, or another partner. For the "other partner" part there are some caveats, though. Alaska Airlines miles can only be earned by crediting Alaska or their partners' flights to your Mileage Plan account, transfers from Marriott (again at a best-case 2.4:1 ratio), shopping with the Mileage Plan Shopping portal, dining with Mileage Plan Dining, from car rentals, or with a Bank of America Alaska Airlines card. Hawaiian Airlines' deal with American is similar to their deal with Delta; you cannot redeem Hawaiian miles for travel on AA (or DL) and there are very limited routes the other way around.

Outside of the AA cards from Barclaycard and Citi, and other avenues like the shopping portal, dining program, transfers from the three hotels mentioned earlier or earnings from a couple more, transfers or earnings from car rentals, and travel on AA (or partners credited to your AAdvantage account) there is no way to earn AAdvantage miles directly. (Leaving out things like one-off promos for getting a new cell phone plan or banking bonuses.)