I have made no secret of my appreciation for Chase Ultimate Rewards. From my perspective, Ultimate Rewards are among the best points currencies out there, and I want to maximize the number I earn to the extent possible. If I could carry only one credit card, it would be the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card which earns Ultimate Rewards. I’ve carried that card for 2 years, and will continue to for the foreseeable future. Sapphire Preferred nets 2 Ultimate Rewards points per dollar for travel and dining purchases, and 1 point per dollar for all other purchases. I like to travel and I like to eat, so that’s a good card for me, but I wanted more. Yes, I recently became the last blogger on earth to apply for one of the Chase Ink products, and I thought I would share details of the experience with you.

First, the product I selected was the Ink Bold Business Card. I went with the Ink Bold because it is a charge card. I’m not in need of additional credit, and I pay my card bills in full when due. The annual fee is $95 dollars, but is waived the first year. This seemed like the ideal fit for me. So what does the Ink Bold Business Card offer? Let’s look at specifics:

• Earn 50,000 bonus Ultimate Rewards points after you spend $5,000 dollars in 3 months from account opening
• No interest charges because it’s a pay-in-full charge card
• No foreign transaction fees
• Earn 5X points per dollar on the first $50,000 dollars spent annually at office supply stores, and on cellular phone, landline, internet, and cable TV services
• Earn 2X points per dollar on the first $50,000 dollars spent annually at gas stations and for hotel accommodations when purchased directly with the hotel
• Free employee cards
• Transfer points you’ve earned to participating frequent travel programs at a 1:1 value
• Direct access to a live advisor anytime

I applied online in late December, and was not instantly approved. I had read recommendations to call the reconsideration line soon after applying if not instantly approved, but I decided to let the normal process play out. However, if you apply, and with to call, the number is 800-453-9719. After applying, a message appeared online that said it could be up to 30 days before I heard anything, so I thought I would just wait it out. The day after applying, I received an alert from my credit monitoring service that my credit report had been pulled, so things appeared to be progressing normally. After 3 weeks, my new Ink Bold Business Card appeared in the mail. I called to activate the card which only took a couple minutes, then I setup online access at chase.com. I already have online access setup for my personal accounts, but you must establish a separate chase.com account for your business cards. Once that is done, you can call Chase and have them merge your business and personal online access under one username, but I have not yet made that call, and I may not. I like the separation between business and personal accounts.

All in all, I would say the process of applying for was simple. I now have an easy way to segregate my business and personal expenses, and best of all, I get to earn Ultimate Rewards points for both.

LINK: Ink Bold® Business Card 

Disclosure: If you apply for and receive a card product through the links provided in this post, I will receive a referral bonus. As always, I appreciate your readership whether you use my links or not.

-MJ, January, 22, 2013

LINK: Chase Sapphire Preferred Visa

A Reader Writes:

Hello MJ! Hope you don’t mind, but I have a question for you. I have two cc’s – one is a very limited travel perks one, the other has travel bennies I hear, but honestly, I care only about the “Notes” I get. I do not like having lots of cards – and let’s be frank, I have no organizational skills/abilities so managing multiple cards is impossible for me. That said, if I were to venture into the third card world, knowing I likely won’t ever get another – which card would be your ultimate? My goal – flexibility/versatility on airlines mileage/upgrades, and hotels nights would be great too I think. I have a MileagePlus Visa and Nordstrom Visa (it’s not the MOD, it’s a regular Visa). Thanks MJ!

MJ on Travel Responds

All things equal, if I could carry only one credit card, it would be the Chase Sapphire Preferred Visa which offers 40,000 ultimate rewards points after spending $3000 in the first 3 months after account opening. 2 points per dollar for travel and dining expenses, 1 point per dollar for all other purchases. Ultimate Rewards transfer to several big frequency programs like United, British Airways, Marriott and more at the rate of 1 for 1. Based on the situation you described, I think it is the perfect card for you.

LINK: Chase Sapphire Preferred Visa

Disclosure: If you apply for and receive a credit card through the links in this post, I will receive a referral bonus.

My recent trip to Europe taught me many things. First, I must learn to speak Italian, because I love Italy enough to live there. Next, I must continue to amass as many miles and points as I possibly can in order to travel in comfort. And finally, it is a really bad idea to only travel with only one credit card.

Both MrsMJ and I dutifully called Citibank, Chase, and our Bank to let them know we were taking an extensive international trip, and intended to make some purchases while we were away, and purchase, we did. Mostly meals, souvenirs, and other incidentals. MrsMJ purchased couple of items right after we landed in Rome using her Hilton HHonors Reserve Visa, and these transactions processed just fine using a chip card reader. Our first snag was at the train station, where the kiosk would not accept my Chase Sapphire Preferred Visa. Turning to my Marriott Rewards Premier Visa, with Chip & Signature, my train ticket purchase went though with no issues. Missing out on Ultimate Rewards points makes me sad, but I’m not one for turning down Marriott Rewards points either.

With that, we were off to Rome, Florence, Venice, and our 14-night cruise aboard Celebrity Reflection. In most cases, merchants and restaurants we dealt with were well equipped to accept swipe cards and chip cards. In a few cases, only a chip card reader was visible and used. An important port of call for us was Kusadasi, Turkey. Not only because we were taking a private tour of the ancient city of Ephesus, but we also intended to purchase a new carpet for our dining room now that we are old enough to graduate from our IKEA dining room set.

We returned to the same vendor we purchased from last time, Topkapi, and sat through the usual carpet presentation. There was tea, Turkish coffee, snacks, and Turkish wine. Our guide recommended that I not drink any wine until we had made a purchase. I explained that my having a clear head was irrelevant in this case, as MrsMJ is in charge of all major purchases of home furnishings, so bring on the wine. After settling on the perfect carpet, MrsMJ presented her Hilton HHonors Reserve Visa to make the purchase. Her card was inserted into the chip reader and the response was “Transaction Denied – Call Bank.” Thankfully, Topkapi made the call for us and handed the phone to MrsMJ, because the call took entirely too long, included far too many instances of being placed on hold, and best of all, MrsMJ could hardly hear the Citibank representative. After going through the usual spiel of questions, the end result was that Citibank would not approve the purchase even though it was significantly below the amount of available credit, and we had called to tell them we would be making such a purchase before we left. Citi told MrsMJ that she would need to go into a Citibank branch with the card and photo ID in order to have the purchase approved. This was obviously not an option at the moment.

Much to my chagrin, MrsMJ turned to her longtime card, the Royal Caribbean Visa issued by Bank of America, which immediately approved the purchase. Maybe I should not have been so focused on being entertained with wine and snacks afterall, or I would have handed over my Sapphire Preferred Card for the purchase! Heck, I would have settled for some Membership Rewards points with my Amex Platinum (which also earns us some cruise benefits)! This would also have been an ideal way to meet the minimum spend requirements on the Chase Ink Bold Business Card which is currently offering 50,000 Ultimate Rewards bonus points when you make $5,000 dollars in purchases during the first 3 months of opening the card account. In other words, we could have been that much closer to another premium class roundtrip to Europe like the one I reported on here.

In the end, everything worked out. We got our carpet, and enough Royal points for a few bucks of onboard credit for our next Royal Caribbean cruise. Would I rather have Ultimate Rewards points or Membership Rewards points? Sure. The real lesson here is that it is a bad idea to put all your eggs in one basket when it comes to credit cards. Even if you do your duty, and call your card company to let them know you are traveling, there is a small risk that you might run into the difficulty that we did. Do not travel with just one card!

LINK: Ink Bold® Business Card

LINK: Chase Sapphire Preferred℠

LINK: Marriott Rewards® Premier Credit Card

LINK: Citi® Hilton HHonors™ Reserve Card 

LINK: The Platinum Card® from American Express

Disclosure: If you apply for and receive a credit card through the links provided in this post (with the exception of the Royal Caribbean Visa), I will receive a referral bonus. As always, I appreciate your readership whether you use my links or not.

Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned by American Express. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of American Express, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by American Express. This site may be compensated through American Express Affiliate Program.

There’s a downside to 3 weeks in Europe? Actually, there is. Three weeks is enough to put you solidly on Europe time, and you eventually have to come home. So? I’ve been wide awake since 3am. Not just kind of awake. I mean….full on…ready to rumble, I could go run a few miles awake. Instead, I will blog about a random smattering of reflections on the longest vacation I’ve ever taken.

Credit Cards and Cash

Early in my trip I wrote a post about my first credit card experience in Europe. I was unable to use my Chase Sapphire Preferred card to purchase a ticket on the regional train from the airport into Rome. When I used my Chip & Signature Marriott Rewards Premier Visa, my transaction processed. I wanted to let you know that I had very few issues beyond that with my Chase Sapphire Preferred. All the shops and restaurants we visited (except one) were equipped with both chip card readers and swipe card readers. Some had separate readers for each type of card, while others had a single reader that could process both cards. When attempting to purchase train tickets in Livorno, Italy for the short trip to Pisa, we were unable to get any card to work. Thankfully, the machines accepted cash because the line to purchase tickets from an agent was excessive. On the return from Pisa, my Marriott Rewards Premier Visa worked just fine for purchasing train tickets. Moral of the story, always keep some Euros (or other local currency) with you when traveling. (Funny story (to me): met some nice people from the southwest US in a restaurant in Athens. They seemed shocked when the restaurant did not want to accept US dollars for their meal. Seriously people?!)

You May Have Trouble Using Your Credit Card Even if You Call Them First

I have to admit, this one caught me by surprise. MrsMJ intended to use her Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve Visa while we were away. It is Chip & Signature, and has no foreign transaction fees. She dutifully alerted Citibank to our travel plans before we departed, naming each country we would be visiting during our trip. Everything was fine until we arrived in Kusadasi, Turkey. We took the trip fully intending to purchase a carpet for our dining room while in Turkey. We visited the same seller we made our last purchase with, Topkapi, and found the perfect carpet. Offer the Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve Visa – “transaction declined, call bank.” Topkapi offered their phone to make the call. MrsMJ called and was placed on hold….for a LONG time. Frankly, I was getting a little hacked off that Citi would do this even if it wasn’t my dime paying for the call. When they finally did come back online, the fraud department went through the normal spiel of questions, which MrsMJ answered correctly.

Nonetheless, the final answer was that she would have to present herself in a Citibank branch with a picture ID before they would approve the purchase!!! Keep in mind, we were in Kusadasi, Turkey at the time. She handed over another card while on yet another long hold attempting to reach some kind of resolution, and the purchase was immediately approved with that card. I’m still trying to convince her not to cancel the Hilton Reserve Visa, because I think the Hilton Gold status alone is worth the annual fee. She is also on the hook for some not so insignificant foreign transaction fees because of Citi’s intransigence. Poor Citibank, they have made my wife mad. I really kind of feel for them.

My Fellow Countrymen

I love America. It is my country, afterall. A friend of mine, an ex-Marine, who has spent time all over the world and relishes travel to foreign locales used to have a saying, “only in America” when something funny (and good) would happen that really can only happen here. That said, I saw some behaviors exhibited by American tourists that played to the stereotypical “American tourist” picture that many have of us. Almost to a tee, we are loud. We speak loudly when others are quiet. We wear loud clothes. And then there were the nice folks we met that just assumed everyone accepts US dollars (though I admit that there are some countries where US dollars are widely accepted). Later, I witnessed one of my fellow countrymen lecturing the guest relations staffer on the ship about how the ship rocked too much during the night because we were trying to sail too fast. To each his/her own, I suppose, but I’d rather try and fit in, and try to learn a few basic phrases of the local language than just assume things will work out for me. And by the way, you’ll never hear me question the judgement of an experienced sea captain on the ship’s speed in public either….. though I guess I might feel differently if I cruised on some other cruise line that shall remain nameless. (Off soapbox)

Something else I noticed on this trip – more positive images of America. Yes, I see the contrast in these two paragraphs. What am I talking about? Upscale and locally focused retail shops were offering more clothing featuring more uniquely American images than I had noticed in the past. I saw more than one trendy looking European wearing an image of the American flag, scarves imprinted with a “stars and stripes” theme, handbags imprinted with the same, etc. Maybe it’s just me, and maybe it means nothing, but I think this is probably a good thing.

The Last Musing For Now

As much as I loved being in Europe, visiting so many fabulous places, eating great food, and drinking wonderful wines, I really am happy to be home. As my friend says, only in America! And on this American holiday, I wish you all the very happiest of Thanksgivings! I am thankful for my wife, my family, my job, the ability to travel, and for all of you who flatter me by reading this blog.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Disclosure: If you apply for and receive a credit card through the links provided in this post, I will receive a commission. As always, I appreciate your readership whether you use my links or not.

Take it for what you will. Arrived at Rome Fiumicino Airport (FCO) today aboard a Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt. Headed straight for the train station to purchase our tickets to Rome (14 Euros per person). Kiosk asks for credit card. I insert my Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, and the machine immediately asks for my PIN. Ruh roh. I entered my usual PIN (which I know is only good for cash advances, but figured I had nothing to lose), rejected twice. Cancel transaction, and try again.

This time, I insert my new Marriott Rewards Premier Card which includes “Chip and Signature” technology. Machine immediately processes transaction, and prints 2 train tickets. Mrs MJ’s Chip & Signature Hilton HHonors Reserve Visa worked just fine at an airport cafe today as well. Inserted into a card reader, not swiped. Machine spit out a receipt to be signed. I have to wonder how much longer it will be before Chase introduces chip technology for its Sapphire Preferred card product? One would think that a card marketed to people that travel would already have it.

Disclosure: If you apply for and receive a credit card through any of the links in this post, I will receive a referral bonus. As always, I appreciate your readership whether you use my links or not.

LINK: Marriott Rewards Premier Credit Card

So…I’ve carried a Marriott Rewards Premier Credit Card for a while now. It has a reasonable list of benefits that more than pay for the annual fee of the card, recently increased to $85 dollars per year. Those benefits include:

• Enjoy up to 7 Free Nights To Start!
• New! Smart Chip Technology and No Foreign Transaction Fees!
• Earn 5 points for every $1 spent at Marriott® locations
• Earn 2 points for every $1 spent on airline tickets purchased directly with the airline, and at car rental agencies & restaurants
• Earn 1 point for every $1 spent on other purchases
• Receive 1 free night stay after account approval and each year upon account anniversary
• Cardmembers achieve Silver Elite status with 15 nights credit toward Elite status

The biggest benefit other than elite stay credit is an annual category 1-5 certificate. That alone covers the annual fee in my book. Do note that the certificate you receive at account opening is for category 1-4 hotels. Then you receive a 1-5 certificate each account anniversary. On the other hand, the annual fee is waived for the first year, a fair enough trade in my opinion. Currently, the card is available and offering 50,000 Marriott Rewards bonus points after your first $1,000 dollars in purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. I’m placing this offer on my Credit Cards for Traveling Well page now as I consider this a good card to carry, even if you don’t exclusively use Marriott.

As I said earlier, I’ve carried the card for some time. I received an email the other day from Chase, marketing its new Marriott Cardmember homepage. I took a look at it, and noticed that the Premier Card had a new look. Mostly all black with silver lettering and numbers….and an EMV chip. I thought “what the heck?” and decided to send Chase an email. I noted that I’d seen the new marketing materials depicting a card with an EMV chip and asked if I could have my card issued with one. The next day, I received a reply advising that a new card was on its way. It arrived in yesterday’s mail and has a look and feel shockingly similar to my Chase Sapphire Preferred card, right down to the non-raised numbers, though they are on the front of the Marriott card as opposed to the back of the Sapphire card. And of course, it now includes an EMV chip.

Chip and signature, not Chip & PIN, but I guess it’s a start. Just thought I’d put it out there that if you are carrying the Chase Marriott Premier Credit Card, you can request to have a card with an EMV chip sent to you. If this has been available for a while, I did not know it. I’ll see if the card works during my upcoming European adventure, and will let you know if I have any difficulty using it. I’ll be keeping extra cash with me just in case.

Disclosure: If you apply for and receive a credit card through the links I have provided, I will receive a referral commission.

OK, I realize I’m probably in the minority here at Boardingarea.com and probably anywhere else in the world of miles and points, but I limit my loyalty. What do I mean? You won’t find me attempting to hoard miles and points in tons of different programs. I pretty much stick to a couple of airlines, a couple of hotel chains…and maybe a rental car program or two along the way. Throw in Chase Ultimate Rewards and a little bit of Amex Membership Rewards, and I’m covered. I don’t suppose that I should forget Royal Caribbean’s Crown & Anchor Society loyalty program either. While it doesn’t work like a frequent flier program, I do get perks for cruising with them a lot, so I’ve decided to focus on Royal Caribbean (and Celebrity which grants equivalent elite status for Royal Caribbean cruisers) for cruising.

There’s a reason I don’t pursue a points hoard in a plethora of programs. Primarily, I just don’t have the time to keep up with more than a handful. Services like AwardWallet make it easier to track multiple programs, but given the airlines’ apparently growing antipathy towards services like that, I’m beginning to wonder how much longer until other airlines and even hotels jump on the bandwagon of not permitting outside access to our balance information.

With a limited menu of programs that I’m willing to invest in, I must choose my programs wisely…..with a focus on those where I’m likely to obtain and sustain some level of elite status. Living in Atlanta, my choice is pretty much made for me…. I must learn to live with Delta SkyMiles and find ways to make that program work for me. I look at earning elite status and earning redeemable miles as two separate things. Elite status is very important to me for my air travels so I must focus on obtaining that with the airline I’m likely to use most. As a result, I’ve pretty much gone full immersion Delta for the time being. SkyMiles are among the most challenging award currencies to use, but I need to increase my SkyMiles stash and that’s where my focus is right now.

With SkyMiles’ notoriously stingy redemption opportunities, one must think about a backup plan. For me, that’s either going to be AAdvantage or MileagePlus. I like AAdvantage. In fact, AAdvantage is my favorite all around mileage program. I have lifetime Gold status…..and a few miles in my account. I’ll hold on to them, and fly American when it makes sense. But MileagePlus is where I will focus on building my backup miles. United offers fairly decent redemption, and the fact that I can instantly transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points into my MileagePlus account makes this an easy decision as the Chase Sapphire Preferred card is likely to remain in my wallet for a very long time…..at least as long as the card product remains as good as it is today.

Hotels have become an easier decision for me. My travel patterns just won’t allow for me to stick with my favorite program, Starwood Preferred Guest, exclusively. I’ve always struggled with who I should choose as my backup….Hilton or Marriott. I’m in another minority blogger category in that I prefer Marriott Hotels to the Hilton brand, but it’s easier to maintain mid tier status with Hilton. Reward stays count for elite credit with Hilton, and the threshold for obtaining status is lower than Marriott. Nonetheless, I still struggled with making the call on this. Then the Hilton HHonors Reserve Card rolled onto the scene. I struggle no more. Hilton Gold status is a benefit of just carrying the card. Hotel loyalty settled.

I realize that many of you are more dedicated to the pursuit of miles and points than I am. And do know that I don’t just forgo the opportunity to collect other currencies. If I’m not using one of my “focus” program airlines or hotels, I don’t just ignore their loyalty program, I just do not dedicate time to keeping up with other programs. I am sitting on enough Dividend Miles to fly us to Europe roundtrip in Business Class, and it’s only a matter of time and opportunity before we do just that. However, I personally struggle to stay on top of dozens of programs. Keeping my focus on a select handful that benefit me the most is a strategy that works best for me and has helped me continue to travel well. Like all things mileage program related, YMMV. Look for a future post on cruise loyalty.

LINK: Chase Sapphire Preferred Card 

LINK: Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve 

Disclosure: If you apply for and receive a credit card through the links provided, I will receive a referral bonus. Please know I appreciate your readership whether you use my links or not.

Don’t know what the heck happened, but the offer for the 40,000 Ultimate Rewards point Chase Sapphire Preferred Card after $2,000 in spend in 3 months is being pulled. As I’m sure you’ve read around the blogs, we’ve been asked to remove the link to the offer by 3pm today, August 22, 2012. I can’t speculate as to why this is happening so rapidly. All I know is that it’s gone at 3pm, though I’m virtually certain some kind of offer will return.

Edited to add….and it did return…..Now $3,000 spend in 3 months for 40,000 Ultimate Rewards bonus points.

LINK: Chase Sapphire Preferred

Disclosure: If you apply for and receive a credit card through the link provided here, I will receive a referral bonus. As always, I appreciate your readership whether you use my links or not.

I recently received a question from a reader on credit cards. I offered my advice. Feel free to comment if you would have offered different advice.

Reader: “I am new to the apporama game and would like to do my first one. I am planning a trip in november with my wife and 3 kids to Europe. I would like to pay with points for as much as possible. Do you have any suggestions for me on what cards to get? I have a Amex Gold bz card that I got in Nov of last year and have about 220000 points on it. I also have a Citi AAdvantage Platinum MasterCard that I applied for in early March of 2012 with a balance of 60000 miles. I have a decent credit score with my lowest being 730. I also live in New Orleans so I have pretty good airport to fly from. Another thing you might want to know is that I own a small biz with about $30000 month spend that I currently put on my Amex.”

MJonTravel: “Well, there are a few ways to do this. You could transfer your Membership Rewards points to either FlyingBlue or SkyMiles and book travel on either Air France or Delta. I found some availability at the 75,000 mile level in Economy on random dates in November using delta.com on either Delta or Delta and Air France (connecting in Atlanta) between New Orleans and Paris. You’ll collect enough Membership Rewards points at your current charge rate to get most of your family to Europe. Granted, we didn’t discuss where you would like to go in Europe.

Now, you mentioned applying for some other cards. I have 2 cards in mind and I think they will allow you to leverage the bonuses you might earn from them and the Membership Rewards points you already have in a better way. I would consider applying for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card for your personal card, and the Chase Ink Card for business expenses. Key benefits: With the Sapphire Preferred Card, you will receive 40,000 bonus Ultimate Rewards points if you spend $3,000 dollars in the first 3 months after account opening. You earn 2x UR points for travel and dining charges, 1x points for everything else. The Ink card offers a 50,000 Ultimate Rewards point bonus. You get 25,000 bonus points with your first charge and 25,000 more points if you spend $10,000 dollars in the first 3 months. Based on your business charges, that won’t be a problem for you. Further, you earn 5x bonus points for Ink card charges at office supply stores, cell phone charges, landline phone,internet and cable TV service. You get 2x points for gas station and hotel charges.

The beauty of Ultimate Rewards points is that they can transfer to British Airways 1 for 1…..and so can your Membership Rewards points. Let’s assume for a second that you get the full bonus for Ink…and you get a Sapphire Preferred Card…. That’s 90,000 UR points right away, not counting what you earn from your routine charging. Perhaps your spouse could even obtain a Sapphire Preferred Card too…..another 40,000 points. You could transfer your points to British Airways and book travel on BA or their Oneworld partner American Airlines, both of which tend to have pretty good award availability, though be advised that BA does charge fuel surcharges on award travel which can amount to several hundred dollars per ticket.

This is probably what I would do if I were in your situation…..but I have to advise that I’m not a banker or financial planner, and only you can know what you can handle with credit cards. I’m going to include links to the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, and the Chase Ink card with Ultimate Rewards. Please be advised that if you apply for and receive a credit card through these links, I will receive a commission. You are absolutely under no obligation to use these links, and if you have received a better offer for the same cards through another method, please use the offer that provides the most benefits to you.”

What do you think of my advice, and what would you have said differently? Comments welcome.

Disclosure: If you apply for and receive a credit card through the links above, I will receive a commission.