Sapphire Preferred Archives - Your Mileage May Vary

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)”

Sorry Starbucks, I Love You But I’m Not Going To Sign Up For Your Credit Card

In February 2018, Starbucks and Chase launched the Starbucks Rewards™ Visa® Card. This credit card links directly to your Starbucks Rewards account and lets your earn stars for your purchases.

Starbucks keeps emailing me offers to get this card. I’m sure if you’re a Starbucks Rewards member, you’ve also received these messages more than a few times. If you are a regular visitor to Starbucks, it may seem to make perfect sense to get this card. You drink their coffee anyway, why not earn free drinks for your everyday spending, right?

I’m a self-admitted Starbucks-a-holic. Every morning shift I work, I’ll stop by for an Iced Coffee with Sugar Free Vanilla Syrup (no classic) and 2% milk. I was quite proud when the baristas at my regular store would make my coffee for me without having to order. They even wished me good bye on my last visit when I was transferred to a new work location and wouldn’t be a regular at their store anymore. It was an appropriate farewell, a note on my coffee and a Starbucks gift card. 🙂

So I’m the target audience for the Starbucks Rewards Visa card then, right? The problem is that before I’m going to apply for any card, I’m going to do the math and see exactly what it offers. Continue reading “Sorry Starbucks, I Love You But I’m Not Going To Sign Up For Your Credit Card”

Easy Way To Earn 1000 Bonus Ultimate Rewards Points (If You’re Lucky)

If you are lucky enough to be targeted for this offer and can take advantage of it, you’ll earn an easy 1,000 Ultimate Rewards points.

Last week, many Chase cardholders were reporting that they received an email offering 1,000 bonus points after making five payments with Apple Pay. So if you received one of these emails AND have an iPhone (or Apple Watch), it would only take five payments (of any value) in April to earn the points. You don’t even have to sign up for the offer; it’s automatically active for those who were targeted.

SO CHECK YOUR EMAIL!!!!!!! Continue reading “Easy Way To Earn 1000 Bonus Ultimate Rewards Points (If You’re Lucky)”