Tentmaking Tips

The reason I know is because one of our host daughters from Afghanistan has been really wanting to get this card. I’ve been telling her to hold out for a higher welcome bonus.

She was so excited when I emailed her this new elevated welcome bonus offer yesterday.

It’s a limited time welcome bonus of 85,000 points on all 3 of the Southwest personal cards.

It expires 19 days from now.

If you’re looking to get the Companion Pass, I’d encourage you to pass on this offer and wait to get this card until later in the year.

But if you’re just looking for a Southwest card with a great welcome bonus, this is definitely a good time to get it.

There are 3 Southwest personal cards offering this bonus: Plus, Premier & Priority

Here are the main differences:

Plus

• 3,000 bonus points each year on card anniversary

• 2 early bird check-ins

• 2x points spent on Southwest purchases

• $69/year annua
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Then we got an email from the Park Hyatt Beaver Creek in Colorado. We’ve gone skiing there over Christmas the last 2 years. We hadn’t planned to go again this year but they made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. :)

They emailed saying if we booked again by May 15th, they’d give us 10,000 points off per night! For our 4 night stay, that’d be an extra 40,000 points saved. Sign me up!

The rooms are typically 45,000 Hyatt points per night because the cash price is so high. Right now, the cash price is $1,026/night. The reason for this is that the resort is ski-in/ski-out right on the slopes.

I then booked 2 American flights to the nearby airport using our AA points and 2 more flights through British Airways (a partner with American) so I could use my Chase points.

This is a great hack to taking more American flights on points. Transfer points from Chase to British

The welcome bonus is typically 60,000 points after $4,000 in spend in the first 3 months of the card.

They just increased the bonus to 75,000 points.

Those extra 15,000 points could be worth an additional ~$300 in free travel for a total of over $1,000 in free travel through that one welcome bonus.

This card has a $95 annual fee with the following perks:

• 5x points on travel purchased through Chase Travel

• $50 annual hotel credit

• 3x points on restaurants

• 2x points on other travel purchases

Just the hotel credit & your restaurant spend will likely make this card worth keeping.

Also, this card gives you the ability to transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Chase’s travel partners. This is often the best way to maximize the value of each point.

If you don’t have the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, now would be a good time to take a look!

And if you decide to get it, her

The annual fee is $695.

Am I crazy?

Maybe a little - haha!

For me, as I calculated the benefits I’d receive from the card, I found that I would receive far more in benefits from the card than the $695 fee I would pay this year.

Here are a few of the benefits that are valuable to me:

• 100,000 welcome bonus = ~$2,000 in free travel

• 30,000 referral bonus (from my wife referring to me) = ~$600 in free travel

• $200 in statement credits for hotels = $200 in value

• $200 airline fee credit for incidental fees = $200 in value

• $12.95/mo Walmart+ Credit ($0.10 reduction in gas at certain stations + free grocery/online delivery) = $155 in value (not including gas savings)

• $20/mo Entertainment Credit (can be used toward my Hulu subscription) = $240 in value

• $15/mo Uber cash + $20 in December (which we’ll use to cover some of our regular eating out budget each month) = $200 in value

• $189
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That’s simply not true.

In fact, new cards add new accounts to your credit which can improve your credit score.

And new cards, and new credit limits, actually reduce your overall credit utilization which also helps your credit score.

Because of the “hard” credit pull when a credit card issuer pulls your credit, you may notice a few point temporary drop in your credit score, but it shouldn’t be long before it comes right back up again. So, don’t apply for a credit card the day before you go & apply for a mortgage (that’s two “hard” credit pulls back to back).

Again, long-term, more accounts help your credit score.

What keeps your credit score high is:

• Making all of your payments on time

• Not getting derogatory marks (from other types of bills going to collections)

• Keeping your credit card utilization low

Don’t believe the myth that applying for new cards lowers your score long-

Total bill? $11,000. Ouch!

When he gave me the invoice, I asked if I could pay with a card instead of a check.

He had to call the office - LOL! I guess that doesn’t happen much.

He said they would accept a card (although it definitely wasn’t their preference).

I knew I needed to be strategic with which card I used because I knew I could earn the equivalent of a round trip ticket anywhere in the US by using the right one.

I wanted to use a card that had a high reward multiple on every day spend.

I have the Capital One Venture X card which earns 2x on all purchases. That is the one I used.

$11,000 x 2 = 22,000 Capital One Miles (easily a round trip ticket)

While we were disappointed in the big gas line repair, I was at least thankful to get a free trip out of it - haha!

Lesson: Always try to use a strategic credit card, even f

Many of the premium credit cards I recommend have annual fees ranging from $65-$200 per year.

These annual fees are totally worth paying in the first year because the welcome bonus on these cards is often worth thousands of dollars.

But what about in the second year, and third year, and so on?

It really just depends on the card.

I’d say, as a general rule, I cancel most of my credit cards at the one year mark from when I was approved for them.

A few weeks ago, I had 3 annual fees hit various cards since these cards are beginning their second year.

This is usually my reminder to decide whether I want to keep the card or cancel it.

The good news is that, for most cards, when the annual fee hits, you have about 30 days to cancel the card & get a refund of the annual fee. It’s very common for me to see an annual fee hit

How can the guy teaching us about travel hacking using credit cards tell us to never get a credit card?

Haha - great question!

Here’s the reason.

A great case can be made for never getting a credit card.

In fact, if you get a credit card or multiple credit cards, you should know you’re taking a risk.

Period. End of story.

Having credit cards is like playing with fire. Generally speaking, it’s a bad idea, but some people, through years of financial wisdom, have learned to “play” with fire in a way where the likelihood of getting burned is very low. They may choose to take the risk with significant guardrails in place to keep them from getting hurt.

They are the exceptions to the rule.

Perhaps that’s you and me.

I don’t think the “rule” is that people should have credit cards. I think it’s the exception to the rule.

I think the best general wisdom is that people should not get credit cards. Which is

Most cards don’t have great redemptions for grocery spend.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred is 1 point per dollar spent on groceries

The Chase Freedom Unlimited is 1.5 points per dollar spent on groceries.

These are two of our main daily use cards & that’s not a great point redemption.

Recently, we applied & were approved for a new card that we chose mainly because of its grocery benefits.

Which card is it?

The American Express Gold Card.

It gives you 4 points per dollar spent on groceries up to $25,000 total per year.

Wow!

With my Chase Freedom Unlimited card, I’d earn 37,500 points (1.5x) if I spent $25,000 on groceries in a year.

But with the AMEX Gold card, I’d earn 100,000 points (4x) on that same grocery spend! Whoa!

And those 100k points are worth about $2,000 in free travel.

That’s a nice extra vacation a year just by putting your grocery spend on a strategic card.

Now, if you’ve been following this blog for

I just applied for one & was approved!

These are running an all-time high welcome bonus of 90,000 points for $6,000 in spend in the first 3 months.

You can redeem those 90,000 points for $900 cash OR you can use those points to redeem over $1,800 in free travel (if you have a premium Chase card like the Sapphire).

The name of the cards?

It’s 2 sister cards that are running this same bonus.

The Chase Ink Business Unlimited and Chase Ink Business Cash cards.

Now, I know what you’re thinking.

I don’t have a business, so how can I get these cards?

I’d ask, are you sure you don’t have a business?

Is there anything you get paid to do on the side?

Airbnb?

Tutoring?

Weddings?

Counseling?

You may have a business in the eyes of these credit cards companies & you don’t even know it.

It’s likely a sole proprietorship. You haven’t registered an LLC with the state, but you’re doing busi