Rob Markoff
PFG, Picture Framing God
Just so the disclosure police don't come knocking on my door, I receive absolutely NOTHING for this referral. ZIP, NADA.
As many of you know, my passion is traveling the world for almost nothing. I fly First Class and I stay in 5 star hotels. I judiciously read frequent flyer travel blogs and monitor many ways to earn reward points.
Occasionally I come across some great deals and I want to share this one with you.
First I want to preface this post by saying that IF you can afford to pay for the airfare and/or hotel/education costs with cash (real money) from your business, the costs are a legitimate, tax deductible expense. Therefore, I would always recommend using cash from your business to pay for business related travel and using the points/miles earned for personal, non-deductible travel. Also, you MUST be able to pay your balance IN FULL each month or the interest charges will wipe out any potential free travel you will earn.
That being said-
I am wary of hearing fellow Grumblers say that they "can't afford" to attend the WCAF. Here is a way to "earn" a MINIMUM of $250 towards travel expenses for making a single purchase on a credit card. I mean it could be a latte at Starbucks or a tank of gas. That is your ONLY obligation to earn 25,000 in Ultimate Reward Points that can then be used to offset travel (or education) expenses charged to a Chase Ink credit card. It is like getting $250 in travel credit for FREE.
There are way more advanced techniques to increase the earnings potential on this card, but I want to keep this post simple.
If you can spend $10,000 within 3 months of receiving approval for the card, you will earn an additional 25,000 points.
BUT YOU DO NOT HAVE TO.
You can get 25,000 points for just one purchase.
If you apply for and receive the Chase Ink credit card: http://alturl.com/4tuvs
The annual fee is waived for the first year. If you do not want to keep the card, cancel when the renewal comes due.
You have no obligation to keep and continue to use the card. However, expenses you want to offset with the "pay with points" option must be charged
to the card and then offset by the points you have to "disappear".
Once you receive the card, make a SINGLE purchase on the card. It can be as little as a latte at Starbucks, or a tank of gas.
For that purchase, you will receive a "first use" bonus of 25,000 Ultimate Reward Points (plus one point per dollar spent on the card).
That 25,000 points is worth a minimum of $250 when used to "pay" for something charged to the card. It could be your airfare, hotel, WCAF or PPFA all in one pass, food, airport parking - ANY expense charged to the card can be offset by redeeming those points to pay for the charge. PLUS you will also earn additional points for the charges made.
It gets better.
Once you have the 25,000+ reward points from your first purchase, if you go to the Ultimate Rewards Travel website to book your flight and/or hotel, and use the "pay with points" option at the time of booking, you will receive a 20% discount on the number of points it costs to pay for the ticket and or hotel. So a $200 ticket will cost 18,000 points instead of 20,000 points. That could be a real savings.
So, once you have your bonus points, you have two options; go to the website and book your flight or hotel and pay for the flight with points with a 20% discount on the number of points required to redeem...
OR once you get back and receive your credit card statement, elect to pay for the expenses with the points earned for items charged to the card.
If you are married, you and your spouse can apply for the cards individually. Once each has 25,000 points, they can be transferred to the other's account and only one card needs to be used for expenses.
IF YOU APPLY FOR THE CARD NOW, you will receive your bonus after the first credit card statement cycle, which will still be more then 21 days out to get the best possible airfare for travel to the WCAF.
Sidebar-
Traveling the world for almost nothing can be done. Here is Barbara and my next trip:
First Class on American Airlines from San Diego to London, Business Class from London to Lisbon on British Air
Three nights at the Altis Avenida Hotel (includes breakfast) in Lisbon
TAP Airlines to Madrid
Overnight at the Hilton Madrid
AVE High Speed Train to Seville
Three nights at the Alphonso XIII hotel
Train to Granada
Overnight at the Santa Isabel La Real Hotel
Train to Ronda
Overnight at the Parador de Ronda Hotel
Train to Madrid
Overnight at the Westin Palace Hotel
Final night at the MAD Hilton (early flight the next AM)
Business Class on Iberia Airlines to London - spend the day with a friend who lives there.
Overnight at the Heathrow Hilton (early flight the next AM)
First Class on American Airlines London - San Diego
Total out of pocket for two: less than $1,000-
which is mostly airport taxes and fees (that were charged to a credit card to earn points/miles for next year's trip.)
Meals and museum admissions and other expenses will be charged to a credit card and paid for with points when we return.
As many of you know, my passion is traveling the world for almost nothing. I fly First Class and I stay in 5 star hotels. I judiciously read frequent flyer travel blogs and monitor many ways to earn reward points.
Occasionally I come across some great deals and I want to share this one with you.
First I want to preface this post by saying that IF you can afford to pay for the airfare and/or hotel/education costs with cash (real money) from your business, the costs are a legitimate, tax deductible expense. Therefore, I would always recommend using cash from your business to pay for business related travel and using the points/miles earned for personal, non-deductible travel. Also, you MUST be able to pay your balance IN FULL each month or the interest charges will wipe out any potential free travel you will earn.
That being said-
I am wary of hearing fellow Grumblers say that they "can't afford" to attend the WCAF. Here is a way to "earn" a MINIMUM of $250 towards travel expenses for making a single purchase on a credit card. I mean it could be a latte at Starbucks or a tank of gas. That is your ONLY obligation to earn 25,000 in Ultimate Reward Points that can then be used to offset travel (or education) expenses charged to a Chase Ink credit card. It is like getting $250 in travel credit for FREE.
There are way more advanced techniques to increase the earnings potential on this card, but I want to keep this post simple.
If you can spend $10,000 within 3 months of receiving approval for the card, you will earn an additional 25,000 points.
BUT YOU DO NOT HAVE TO.
You can get 25,000 points for just one purchase.
If you apply for and receive the Chase Ink credit card: http://alturl.com/4tuvs
The annual fee is waived for the first year. If you do not want to keep the card, cancel when the renewal comes due.
You have no obligation to keep and continue to use the card. However, expenses you want to offset with the "pay with points" option must be charged
to the card and then offset by the points you have to "disappear".
Once you receive the card, make a SINGLE purchase on the card. It can be as little as a latte at Starbucks, or a tank of gas.
For that purchase, you will receive a "first use" bonus of 25,000 Ultimate Reward Points (plus one point per dollar spent on the card).
That 25,000 points is worth a minimum of $250 when used to "pay" for something charged to the card. It could be your airfare, hotel, WCAF or PPFA all in one pass, food, airport parking - ANY expense charged to the card can be offset by redeeming those points to pay for the charge. PLUS you will also earn additional points for the charges made.
It gets better.
Once you have the 25,000+ reward points from your first purchase, if you go to the Ultimate Rewards Travel website to book your flight and/or hotel, and use the "pay with points" option at the time of booking, you will receive a 20% discount on the number of points it costs to pay for the ticket and or hotel. So a $200 ticket will cost 18,000 points instead of 20,000 points. That could be a real savings.
So, once you have your bonus points, you have two options; go to the website and book your flight or hotel and pay for the flight with points with a 20% discount on the number of points required to redeem...
OR once you get back and receive your credit card statement, elect to pay for the expenses with the points earned for items charged to the card.
If you are married, you and your spouse can apply for the cards individually. Once each has 25,000 points, they can be transferred to the other's account and only one card needs to be used for expenses.
IF YOU APPLY FOR THE CARD NOW, you will receive your bonus after the first credit card statement cycle, which will still be more then 21 days out to get the best possible airfare for travel to the WCAF.
Sidebar-
Traveling the world for almost nothing can be done. Here is Barbara and my next trip:
First Class on American Airlines from San Diego to London, Business Class from London to Lisbon on British Air
Three nights at the Altis Avenida Hotel (includes breakfast) in Lisbon
TAP Airlines to Madrid
Overnight at the Hilton Madrid
AVE High Speed Train to Seville
Three nights at the Alphonso XIII hotel
Train to Granada
Overnight at the Santa Isabel La Real Hotel
Train to Ronda
Overnight at the Parador de Ronda Hotel
Train to Madrid
Overnight at the Westin Palace Hotel
Final night at the MAD Hilton (early flight the next AM)
Business Class on Iberia Airlines to London - spend the day with a friend who lives there.
Overnight at the Heathrow Hilton (early flight the next AM)
First Class on American Airlines London - San Diego
Total out of pocket for two: less than $1,000-
which is mostly airport taxes and fees (that were charged to a credit card to earn points/miles for next year's trip.)
Meals and museum admissions and other expenses will be charged to a credit card and paid for with points when we return.
