When it comes to evaluating the benefits of credit cards, most of my focus is on the welcome bonus and the bonus categories for continued earning. I fully recognize that there are a number of valuable benefits such as trip delay insurance -- I've used…
In March 2018, Barclays stopped accepting applications for the Barclaycard Arrival® Plus World Elite Mastercard® (see terms). This coincided with the ramp up to the launch of the Barclays Arrival® Premier World Elite Mastercard® (see terms) and Barclays'…
When I talk with folks who are new to using credit cards to earn miles and points, I regularly see people assume that to earn hotel points, one needs a hotel credit card. Yes, this might be the case in some circumstances but not always. Tiffany and Ed…
The flexible points market is pretty competitive these days -- though, I wouldn't mind if Barclays or Capital One really invested in it. However, of the three big players -- American Express, Chase and Citi, I bet Membership Rewards points and Ultimate…
From the moment I started using miles and points to travel, it was readily apparent that many of the people who love award travel and flight deals really just love deals of any kind. With this in mind, the obsession with Amex Offers made complete sense.…
In each of the other regions we've discussed, there have been lie-flat business class award options via Chase Ultimate Rewards transfer partners. However, if you're planning a trip to the Caribbean, Central America or Mexico, you will rarely find these…
I know we spend a lot of time talking about the amazing premium cabin experiences that you can fly across the world, but South America is all about the destination if you're flying from the U.S. Don't get me wrong, you can still get a comfortable business…
If you read my rundown on the best credit cards for earning American AAdvantage miles, you already have a good understanding of how to take advantage of bonus categories on your everyday spending. However, we all know that the welcome bonus that comes…
While booking awards to Africa isn't quite as easy as many other regions, you will have a few solid opportunities with Chase Ultimate Rewards points. Your best bets will be on SkyTeam and Star Alliance partners -- or a special case via Virgin Atlantic's…
If you're expecting to book a non-stop award from the U.S. to the Middle East or India, you'd better be ready to do some work to find award space and have flexible travel dates. While you can definitely use Chase Ultimate Rewards points to get there,…
In the last couple of years, I've had a bunch of friends tell me they'd like to move to New Zealand or Australia. Having visited Queenstown recently, I absolutely understand the appeal of such a naturally beautiful location. Australia totally makes sense…
Chase Ultimate Rewards points provide some great SkyTeam and Star Alliance award options regardless of your final destination in Asia. While your options for Oneworld are more limited -- and expensive when booking premium cabins -- booking with British…
Forever a popular destination for Americans, I couldn't tell you the number of times I get asked about how to book awards to get to Europe. Fortunately, with Chase Ultimate Rewards points, you'll have options that save you points or help you avoid carrier-imposed…
Admittedly, I generally use miles and points to travel internationally but there are a number of circumstances when it can make sense to use them for domestic travel. If you're flying to Hawaii and have seen some of the cash fares floating around, it…
We've received a ton of positive feedback on our Best Ways To Use Membership Rewards series so I've decided to dive into the Chase Ultimate Rewards program as well. As with the American Express series, I'll be breaking this up into regions. Our current…
I often joke about my disinterest in using the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal to book flights as my focus is on redeeming points for first and business class flights. What can I say? I like lying down when flying and enjoying a glass of champagne (or…
When it comes to SkyTeam awards, Korean Air SkyPass has been a go-to Ultimate Rewards partner thanks to solid availability on its own flights plus competitive partner award rates. Sure, you'll find exceptions and you'll be on the hook for surcharges…
Unlike when earning Southwest Rapid Rewards points, you won't have an awesome perk such as the Companion Pass to consider when choosing the best card (or cards) to earn United MileagePlus miles. This means you can focus exclusively on getting the best…
I'll readily admit that my interest in flying Southwest is limited. That's not a knock against them, though. I just tend to fly over oceans on long-hauls which means fewer reasons to fly Southwest, and rarely need to fly them for positioning flights.…
For years, if you wanted to earn American AAdvantage miles, then you were likely going to use one of the Starwood Preferred Guest cards from American Express. Sure, you could get bigger welcome bonuses with co-branded cards from Barclays or Citi, but…
Other than the Wells Fargo Visa Signature card, Wells Fargo hasn't been discussed very much compared to other major card issuers such as American Express, Chase and Citi. This partially stems from the fact that Wells Fargo doesn't have a flexible points…
