Sapphire Preferred Archives - Your Mileage May Vary

Different Approaches of Credit Card Spending to Earn Miles & Points

If you collect miles and points by using your credit cards, knowing what cards to use for each purchase will maximize the points you’ll earn. However, making sure you have the right card with you at all times and staying up to date on the current bonus categories is a lot of work. If you’re the type of person who, like me, wants to maximize earnings on every purchase, you need to carry at least 3-4 cards with at all times. If you’re someone who just wants to have one card for all of your purchases, like Sharon, you need to carry a card that’s good for the majority of the things you buy. Looking at the cards that I have in my wallet compared to what cards Sharon carries can give you a glimpse into two different strategies for earning points and miles.

Continue reading “Different Approaches of Credit Card Spending to Earn Miles & Points”

What’s The Big Deal About Metal Credit Cards?

I just don’t get the metal credit card trend. Maybe it’s because I’m not out to impress anyone with what credit card I’m using. I use credit cards so I can earn miles or points to use for our travels. I couldn’t care if the cashier is impressed about the weight of the card I handed to him/her to make my purchase.

Continue reading “What’s The Big Deal About Metal Credit Cards?”

What Credit Cards Are In Our Wallets? (September, 2018)

It’s been almost a year since I’ve gone over which cards Sharon and I are carrying in our wallets. Since we each have a different approach to earning miles and points, mine being obsessive about earning the maximum points for each transaction, and her desire to exert the least amount of thought into the process (Note from Sharon: Hell yeah! LOLOL!), the cards we carry are different.

There’s a method to my madness, as I manage to balance the two approaches and come to a plan where we maximize earning while minimize effort (and still keep our marriage together). (Note from Sharon: Again. Hell yeah!)

Continue reading “What Credit Cards Are In Our Wallets? (September, 2018)”

How To Beat Chase’s New Restrictions On Credit Card Bonuses (No Longer Works)

It appears Chase has shut down the work around mentioned in this article.

Chase has been making it harder and harder to earn the sign up bonuses for their credit cards. In August 2017, Chase stopped accepting applications for multiple versions of the Sapphire credit cards and you’re now only able to have either a plain Sapphire card, Sapphire Preferred or Sapphire Reserve. If you already have one of these, you can’t apply for a different one just to get the sign up bonus.

Previously, you were eligible for a sign up bonus if you didn’t currently have any Sapphire cards and if it was more than 24 months since you received a sign up bonus for any version of Sapphire card. If you’re like me and are approaching the earning of points and miles as a marathon and not a sprint, waiting two years between sign up bonuses wasn’t that bad of a restriction. Then Chase unexpectedly made a change to the terms for the sign up bonus on the application page for the Sapphire cards:

The change was in subheading (ii), where it now says that you aren’t eligible for the sign up bonus if you’re received a new card member bonus within the last 48 months. Ouch. Continue reading “How To Beat Chase’s New Restrictions On Credit Card Bonuses (No Longer Works)”

Starbucks Increases Sign Up Bonus To 4,500 Stars (Write To Chase If You Took The 2,500 Star Offer)

Wow, I’m more influential than I thought. Less than a month after I wrote my article, Sorry Starbucks, I Love You But I’m Not Going To Sign Up For Your Credit Card, the sign up bonus for the card has been substantially increased :-).

The sign up bonus for the card is now 4,500 stars after spending $500 on purchases in the first three months from your account opening, up from the initial offer of 2,500 stars.

How much does that increase mean in dollars? Here’s what I originally wrote about this offer: Continue reading “Starbucks Increases Sign Up Bonus To 4,500 Stars (Write To Chase If You Took The 2,500 Star Offer)”