I love credit cards so much! v3.0 (see first page for add'l details)

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ten6mom said:
Another question (for my parents):

I stopped one step short of holding a flight for them. It's 2 passengers. The website says they get one checked bag for no cost. It does not seem to specify if that's one checked bag per person, or one checked bag total. Anyone know? They don't have any special United status.. Just Explorer MileagePlus he says.

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I see your parents have the Explorer card. Have they looked around for saver fares?

Also, if this is a card with benefits they don’t use, it might save them some money to call and PC to the no fee United MileagePlus rewards card the next time their AF comes up.
 
Thanks everybody who reported using an Amex to pay property taxes during the MSR period. I’m planning to do that with P2’s BBP sometime soon.

It’s so funny Harry Potter came up here today. I’d never read the books or watched the movies, but about two months ago I started listening to the books on Audible. I’m on Goblet of Fire now. The narrator is so good at doing the different voices. And I just did the sorting quiz earlier today (before I read this whole conversation) and got Hufflepuff, which I kind of figured.
 
gottalovepluto said:
I always get Slytherin on quizzes but want to be a Gryffindor. Since that almost always comes in 2nd I roll with it 🤣 After all, the hat listens!!
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I've gotten both Slytherin and Ravenclaw on quizzes but I feel certain I'm a Ravenclaw so I go with it. DH is for sure a Hufflepuff and oldest DD is Ravenclaw. I'm not sure about the other kids yet though.

Fun fact- I had never read a word of HP or watched a movie. Had zero interest. My DD had the first book for free on her Kindle and started reading it. She got so into it I felt like I should try and read it. Well I was hooked. It really is SO good!
 
Limes96 said:
Thanks everybody who reported using an Amex to pay property taxes during the MSR period. I’m planning to do that with P2’s BBP sometime soon.

It’s so funny Harry Potter came up here today. I’d never read the books or watched the movies, but about two months ago I started listening to the books on Audible. I’m on Goblet of Fire now. The narrator is so good at doing the different voices. And I just did the sorting quiz earlier today (before I read this whole conversation) and got Hufflepuff, which I kind of figured.
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The audiobooks are amazing. I think the narrator is Jim Dale. We have two more or less complete sets of the audiobooks and have listened to them on many road trips. I think my kids (all adults) still keep a box or two in their cars.
 
Lain said:
@ten6mom - @Alexle2007 is right that UR transfers to United 1:1 or 1,000 UR = 1,000 UA miles. If your parents have 168k UA miles, and they need 264k UA miles to get to London, then they need to earn 96k more UR points or UA miles.

However, the way you're using "cpp" or "cent(s) per point" isn't exactly right. Although UR transfers to UA 1:1, that doesn't mean you're getting 1 cpp out of your UR.

As you know, UR can be cashed out as a statement credit or bank deposit at 1 cpp. If you use the Chase UR travel portal on a CSP/CIP, 1 UR is worth 1.25 cpp towards flights, hotels, etc. on the portal; if your UR are on a CSR and you use them to book on the Chase UR travel portal, 1 UR is worth 1.5 cpp. These are fixed redemption values.

If you transfer UR to UA miles, your cpp (your bang for the buck) can vary greatly depending on how many points you need to book an award vs. what is the cash price for a comparable seat.

So for example, using random midweek dates for PHX-LHR roundtrip in April, I'm pulling up cash fares for $1,680 + 495.10 taxes for 2 passengers. If you use UA miles, you still need to pay about $400 in taxes. So if you use 264k UA miles, that's about ($1,680)/264,000 = ~0.64 cpp. That's not a great cpp even for United, but I understand your parents already have a lot of UA miles. Moreover, United has scrapped their award charts and gone dynamic with their award pricing, so that 264k UA miles you saw could go up or down.

htwu78K.jpg


By comparison, you could purchase the total $2,175.10 fare on the UR portal for 174,008 UR using a CSP/CIP at a fixed 1.25 cpp ($2,175.10/0.0125), or 145,006 UR using a CSR at a fixed 1.5 cpp ($2,175.10/0.015).

However, I see that as a United Visa cardmember, I have access to a lot of additional economy saver award inventory, which makes PHX-LDR only 30k UA miles each way, or only 120k UA miles + taxes roundtrip for 2 adults. If I use the earlier $1,680 fare/120,000 UA miles, that’s a much better ~1.4 cpp.

omtFWqO.jpg

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That's another thing. I know Chase UR is the hot points currency, and the CIP is the go-to recommended card, but if anyone flies from a United hub or even flies on United, a Chase United card is a must have to fit in your wallet strategy because it gives access to expanded economy saver award availability, which could save you a lot of miles or points.

Take your parents’ stash of 168k UA miles. If they can book the saver awards, they’d already have enough for a round trip to London even without another SUB.

The United MileagePlus Explorer SUB isn’t great, but that’s not why this card should be on your radar. It’s one of Chase’s tiered SUBs, with “up to” 65k UA miles. You get 40k miles after you spend $2,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening, but then you have to spend another $8,000 (total of $10,000) in the first 6 months to get the additional 25k miles. You can easily put that extra $8k of spend toward another or several new MSRs for more rewarding returns. And the Explorer card’s category bonuses aren’t great, either; you can do better putting the same kind of spend on a CSP or CSR and earn the same or better bonus multiple in a more versatile points currency (UR).

The Explorer card typically comes with the first year AF waived, and you can PC the Explorer to the no AF United MileagePlus card after one year and still access the additional award inventory; then just put a charge or two on the card every year to keep it active.
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:worship::scared1:

Well, I didn't THINK I was using "cpp" correctly.... yikes!

Thank you for the detailed walk through. You're correct- they already have a lot of points and they're just concerned with having enough to get to where they want to go- not necessarily whether it's a "good" value (like me! Just get me there!)

I did go back after that initial post and change the dates to October, and definitely found economy seats for 30k/person/direction, so that was a big relief.

I believe all their United points were earned on that Chase United Mileage Plus card. So if they decide they're OK flying coach, and I can find the 30K tickets both directions for dates that work for them, then that'll be nice.

I have no idea what they would want to do as far as hotels, so some other card would be nice, but they're both retired so I am not sure if/how that will affect their approval odds. Of course, they were both retired when they got that card probably close to 2 years ago now, so I suppose that's encouraging.

Thanks again!!!!
 
Lain said:
I see your parents have the Explorer card. Have they looked around for saver fares?

Also, if this is a card with benefits they don’t use, it might save them some money to call and PC to the no fee United MileagePlus rewards card the next time their AF comes up.
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Yes, they (well, I) just looked at the Saver fares for them (because now of course I'm the resident/relative expert on the United awards site!!!). We definitely found some economy seats for 30k/person/direction. ZERO saver fares for business or first tho! Well. There were a couple mixed cabin business class but they don't have enough for that without going for more cards.

That's a good point about whether the current card has a fee or not.... I sort of doubt it because they're like me in that they don't like AF cards. I mean, I do NOW, if the benefits are there, but they're the ones who raised me!
 
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