Be careful with Celebrity Credit Cards

[Jade13]

320,000 points on BOA's Us Airway card for our trip to Rome this year. Business class on Lufthansa except for one leg Munich to Rome which wasn't available.

 

I cashed these points in last June on the first day they opened the frequent flier seats. I wasn't able even on the first day to get the flights I wanted, but we'll be in Rome 3 extra days and Munich 1 day on the way back, but at least we'll be able to use the Lufthansa lounge at the airports, or at least were told we could.

 

As for BOA, I just got the X Visa card. Not for the points, but because they offered a balance transfer of 0% until next June 09. The only thing I didn't see in fine print is that transfers now are 3% of the amount and not the old standard $90 per transaction. So I paid a bit more upfront but in the longrun, I'll be saving. ( BTW I HATE BOA! Chase is so much better with rates, fees, customer service etc...IMHO. However for 0% I can deal for 14 months ).

 

Dave:eek:

 

Good for you Dave. I used to save for the Business class, but lately just "suffer" through coach so we can get as many trips as possible for all of these cruises. We are flying Luftansa to Rome too. Last July and again this July. We get the 50,000 seats the day they open.

 

Oh, the best deal yet is Delta and Continental to Argentina next year. I transfered Amtrak points to Continental. It didn't cost me anything. The Chase Mastercard with Amtrak has no annual fee. Along the way I also had many free trips on Amtrak Acela with all of their take 2 and get 1 free deals (now more take 3 and get 1 free).

[greatam]

Very cool. How many miles do you need? Do they have "2 person Suites"?

 

260,000 each ticket. Too bad I can't use my AA miles-over 800,000 on the books.

 

I don't know about the middle configuration of first class-whether it is two person suites or not. But I intend to find out when I get close to having enough miles. Only about 140,000 with the Starwood bonuses short. Going to purchase a whole bunch of new office equipment after the first of the year-should get me fairly close.

[greatam]

This would not work for me because:

 

"One caveat about this deal: Starwood points do expire after 12 months if you have no earning activity at a Starwood property."

 

No need to stay at a Starwood hotel. You can purchase sheets, blankets, dog collars, etc. from W, Westin, Sheraton and even Four Points. They all have online stores or you can purchase at the hotels.

 

Or do as the article states-go in, have a drink, snack or meal. $10.00 charged in a hotel will preserve your points. Surely you are close to a Starwood property within a year.

[Candymanjim]

As a hard core Mileage junkie (1 million+ per year), I can attest the SPG AMEX should be the primary card for mileage earnings, hands down. Rather than accumulate miles with lets say a Delta affinity card which allows you to use it on Delta, the SPG card allows you to use the miles on almost any airline (except UA). The reason you want this card is when you transfer miles you get a 25% bonus. So, the 270,000 miles I just used to Venice in business class actually only took about 220k in earned miles.

 

Of even greater value for me has been the hotel stays. We stayed in upgraded Venice canal rooms that were booking out at at about $3000 a night for about 16k per night in miles, granted I am SPG platinum for free upgrades, but I have only spent about $1200 in SPG hotels in tha past 2 years, but my award stays would be valued at over $20k during this same time.

 

Jim