"We paid for it with points"

amother

Scarlet

Thu, Aug 05 2021, 12:14 pm

WaterKissed wrote:

I actually do know people who take several luxurious vacations a year.

I don’t. We def go away several times but I wouldn’t call then luxurious. But I’m
Glad for your friends that do!

WaterKissed

Thu, Aug 05 2021, 12:16 pm

amother [ Blueberry ] wrote:

Nope there are businesses where you buy products to accrue points and sell it to a seller.

That's why I wrote people who " don't own businesses"
Read.

watergirl

Thu, Aug 05 2021, 12:20 pm

WaterKissed wrote:

It's a game, and you have to know how to play. People open many cards at a time, do balance transfers pay minimum balance amounts and still get points and go on vacation. Maybe not everyone, but there are many people like that.

This is known as stealing from Peter to pay Paul and one can not win in the long run playing that game.

It's really best to look at people with an ayin tovah and assume this is not what is being done.

amother

Amaryllis

Thu, Aug 05 2021, 12:25 pm

WaterKissed wrote:

That's why I wrote people who " don't own businesses"
Read.

No. People don't own businesses, but they buy for businesses.

amother

Clover

Thu, Aug 05 2021, 1:40 pm

[quote="fleetwood"]

amother [ OP ] wrote:

I see this mentioned a lot when people discuss their vacations/getaways. What exactly does this mean?

We actually get cash back which is so much better than points. I never understood why people prefer points when you can have actual cash in hand ..

True, Cash back is like 2-1 versus points which is 1-1.

amother

Clover

Thu, Aug 05 2021, 1:43 pm

I will say that having miles and points is extremely important for last minute flights. I've had to fly on holidays like Xmas and New Years for levayas, and I would never have been able to afford the flights if I didn't have this storage of miles for this kind of emergency. When you get cash back, that cash is gone, somehow.

naturalmom5

Thu, Aug 05 2021, 1:46 pm

[quote="fleetwood"]

amother [ OP ] wrote:

The newest Chase Saphire gives 100k miles as promotion
Tgats worth about 1250
Through Dans Deals there are ways to get 2000 worth of airfare and hotels

My other Chase card gives very little in cash back
Do your research

PS .... I dont work for Chase

amother

Strawberry

Thu, Aug 05 2021, 2:18 pm

So I have a relative who was taking first class flights around the world multiple times a year while borrowing money to live on because the flights were paid with points. This is so wrong. Personally we have opened credit cards when we needed an overdue vacation and ended up getting our whole trip to Isreal paid because we got very cheap tickets and hotels. When we were struggling to pay bill I used points (or sold if worth it) to cover it. Fyi chase points are the best and most versatile.

chanchy123

Thu, Aug 05 2021, 2:33 pm

essie14 wrote:

American card.
The Max card in Israel gives some benefits but nothing like US cards.

What are the benefits of using an American card for Israeli purchases?
We have a diners fly card that accrues points towards Elal flights.

amother

Bluebonnet

Thu, Aug 05 2021, 2:36 pm

When I anyway need to spend money on regular living, whether it's my food bills or my gas. If I used a regular debit, I would get nothing for it. If I have a credit card, I will get something back, whether it's cashback or points.
We worked out that we would get more value getting points rather than cashback so that's why we have the card we do. And like now we did a last minute night away in a Hilton that would have cost us several hundred dollars in cash, was a lot less on points.
However, I treat my credit card like I would a debit card-I don't spend money I don't have, and I pay it up fully at the end of the month. We also try and ensure there is a bit extra money for unexpected things, like last month my car needed some repairs and that was several hundred extra dollars that I wouldn't normally spend.

essie14

Thu, Aug 05 2021, 2:39 pm

chanchy123 wrote:

What are the benefits of using an American card for Israeli purchases?
We have a diners fly card that accrues points towards Elal flights.

Much higher credit limit on american card
No foreign transaction fees
Part of our income is in america so I dont have to pay fees to bring the money over.
Benefits of the sapphire card are way better than any Israeli card
I rarely fly elal. Their points program is horrible.

FranticFrummie

Thu, Aug 05 2021, 5:53 pm

amother [ Opal ] wrote:

What is the best card for vacation points? I already have cards for cash back.

Go to DansDeals, and search through the blog. They have literally thousands of posts on credit card deals, travel points, and personal experiences. You can also ask questions there.

I'm in Israel, and I bank with Chase, but because I don't have a physical address in the US, I was declined for a credit card. I think my average balance is too low, as well. I've been banking with them for almost 40 years. Sad

fleetwood

Thu, Aug 05 2021, 5:57 pm

naturalmom5 wrote:

Bank of America actually sent me a check last week. My fidelity cash back goes toward paying my balance. Cash is still king.

mizle10

Thu, Aug 05 2021, 5:58 pm

amother [ Amaryllis ] wrote:

No. People don't own businesses, but they buy for businesses.

This.

Most major sales have a limit per customer.
These business ask individuals to purchase the item. They then keep the cc points, give the item to the business and receive the cash amount of whatever they paid.
They are usually big ticket items. You can really rack up points.

amother

Cyan

Thu, Aug 05 2021, 6:04 pm

amother [ Crimson ] wrote:

We sell our points and use the money for exciting things like groceries and tuition.

Using the points straight for travel is usually not getting the best deal on tickets etc... You're paying full price just using points to pay for it. If we wanted to to travel we'd look for deals on things and pay actual money. (Maybe some of the cash made from selling points if we didn't need it for groceries and tuition)

Eta: selling points is not the same thing as cashing them in with the cc company. You get much more money selling them. Travel agents use them to pay for things like first class tickets for their clients. For that they're much more cost effective. We'd never fly first class if we traveled, though so really useless to us.

How do you sell points?

amother

Aconite

Thu, Aug 05 2021, 6:06 pm

amother [ Cyan ] wrote:

While we’re on the subject, can people mention which cards they use for travel or cash back? Which are the best deals?
And how do you cash in miles? I have miles on American Airlines and Delta.

For Travel, the Chase Sapphire Reserve and the Chase Sapphire Preferred. The Preferred has a great sign up bonus now for 100,000 points.

For cash back, the Chase Freedom and Chase Freedom Flex have no annual fee, and earn 5 points per dollar on each quarterly category, which means that every few months that bonus category changes.

For every day spending, you can get the Citi double cash card which you gives 2 x the points.

I can go on if you like.

amother

Aconite

Thu, Aug 05 2021, 6:09 pm

WaterKissed wrote:

When I hear people who don't own business say "I paid that vacation with points" it's a telltale sign they they are in credit card debt.

Day to day spending does not earn you a 10 day luxury vacation yearly.

Or it's a tell tale sign that you don't know everything in life, even if you think you do.

I have always budgeted, strictly, I basically have an envelope system.

I would pay maybe $30/night for a hotel room, maybe $50 if we splurged? Instead, I stay at nice hotels on my vacations paid by points.

We are BH extremely debt adverse, and only buy what we can afford on our credit card.

amother

Seashell

Thu, Aug 05 2021, 6:12 pm

amother [ Aconite ] wrote:

Yes, can you go on?! I can use a crash course like this

amother

Cyan

Thu, Aug 05 2021, 6:13 pm

amother [ Aconite ] wrote:

Thank you! Yes, please do. This is good stuff.
Which cards are good for hotels?