(05-09-2014 03:41 PM)HungWeiLo Wrote:  What is Manufactured Spending?

Under normal circumstances, you would limited to meeting a spending requirement with your normal spending or time shifted spending (buying things in the future now to meet the minimum spend on a credit card). However, with manufactured spending, you can “spend” money while not actually incurring the huge debts the spending implies. Under this scenario, you need a few things: A place to buy debit gift cards (the ones with a PIN, stay with Visa, they’re all over and easier to use), a Wal-Mart or another store that lets you buy a money order with a debit card, and/or a Bluebird card from America Express (similar process as described below, but you tell the cashier you want load your bluebird card for $499.99 ($500 loads trip an internal control that requires paperwork)). The first method is the most straight forward; buy a gift card (usually in $500 denominations to keep your fees down), assign the gift card a PIN (depending on the type of card you’re using), and buy a money order from Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart charges $.70 per money order, so you’ll buy a $499.30 money order and be on your way. If you’ve followed these instructions, you can now put that $499.30 in your bank account and pay off your card (you’ll need to come up with the other $5.65 but on $60,000 in manufactured spending a year, it’s only about $720). Multiply this process as long as you’re comfortable and you have compliant Wal-Mart employees since it is against Wal-Mart policy to sell money orders on debit gift cards.

Is there a way to do something similar to this for Americans who are living abroad, and dont have access to WalMart locations?

Manufactured spending is significantly harder now, those were the good old days.

Quote: Is it better to use points through chases on rewards, or transfer to a 3rd party partner? (Like air France)

I haven't touched chase in years so my info is dated on the particulars but it's always going to depend on what type of award you're after. For ex, BA is superb for short hops (especially in Europe) others will be more appealing due to a long haul business class product.

Flyertalk is the forum you're looking for--tons of info there.

I always transfer my Chase points to partners like BA, United, Hyatt, etc. As far as I know AF is not a Chase partner. Vicious is right about BA--works well all around the world for short hops, especially if you happen to be based in a Oneworld hub city.

I feel that (and Im an avid user of Ultimate Rewards points) the best value of them is indeed for Avios transfers. There are flights around Asia, ex HKG, that go for four hundred usd one way that can be as low as 4500 or 7500 avios with BA (flying Dragonair or Cathay). Unfortunately, due to points shopping by online brokers, BA (and AA and perhaps other airlines) has been asked by Cathay to block access to awards seven days out. Last minute awards using Avios on BA were one of my top uses of Ultimate Rewards in the past, and when they have greatest value (due to price increases close in towards departure). At least for the time being, thats not available. From my HKG base, I can still use Avios for fifth freedom flights to BKK on UL or RJ, but not on CX to MNL or otherwise within a week of departure, even for fucking economy. As BA awards price segment by segment (meaning you don't want to connect in KUL on MH), ex-HKG, this sucks balls.

Recently, I've been doing a lot of cash and points stays with Hyatt using UR. For properties between levels 2-6 (and even for some level 1 properties, certainly in mainland china), there's good value (.3c/point) on Hyatt transfers in connection with cash and points redemption. In addition to Hyatts very generous current promotion which gives bonus points increasing with every 5 stays (including cash and points stays) and my run for one more year of Hyatt Diamond, I've been doing a lot of Hyatt stays with UR.

AF Flying Blue is a transfer partner of AMEX, not of UR.

(11-11-2016 04:10 AM)scrambled Wrote:  Is it better to use points through chases on rewards, or transfer to a 3rd party partner? (Like air France)

[delete]

If you have specific dates, is it better to book in advance, of just wait until last minute and hope that a deal comes up? I know this is a recurring question, just wanted to get it from the horse's mouth..

Which horse? I've been told (only in Asia) that I resemble a horse in some respects but....never mind.
If you find a great deal, book it.

Even better, have miles available to you - then wait for the cash deal you want. If it doesn't appear, fly with your miles as a contingency.

But don't sit on an amazing airfare - book it - fares come in buckets and once that bucket fills up, the fare disappears. This can happen in hours, sometimes minutes on an amazing fare from a good locale.

(11-17-2016 03:43 PM)churros Wrote:  If you have specific dates, is it better to book in advance, of just wait until last minute and hope that a deal comes up? I know this is a recurring question, just wanted to get it from the horse's mouth..

(11-17-2016 07:58 PM)Global Entry Wrote:  Which horse? I've been told (only in Asia) that I resemble a horse in some respects but....never mind.
If you find a great deal, book it.

Even better, have miles available to you - then wait for the cash deal you want. If it doesn't appear, fly with your miles as a contingency.

But don't sit on an amazing airfare - book it - fares come in buckets and once that bucket fills up, the fare disappears. This can happen in hours, sometimes minutes on an amazing fare from a good locale.

(11-17-2016 03:43 PM)churros Wrote:  If you have specific dates, is it better to book in advance, of just wait until last minute and hope that a deal comes up? I know this is a recurring question, just wanted to get it from the horse's mouth..

Global has it right. If you get a great deal, jump on it. You might get lucky and save a little more, but chances are you will end up paying more. Rarely have I waited after I saw the right deal and it ever came back, let alone got cheaper. If its what you want at a price you like, take it.

My post is not that travel related, but it sort of related to manufactured spending.

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/201...16-million

So these guys trick the FIFA game to think they played more games than they actually did, then they sold the coins on the secondary market and pocketed the cash. How exactly is this "wire fraud"? I mean, it's no different than buying mint coins and trading them in at the bank for cash; rinse and repeat.

The best deals these days can be found via SecretFlying.com . Almost all the blogs use it as their main source, along with Flyertalk.

I forgot to mention. I received my Chase Reserve card.

I like it.
Thats all.

(11-27-2016 10:44 AM)Sourcecode Wrote:  I forgot to mention. I received my Chase Reserve card.

I like it.
Thats all.

Make sure to get your travel credit in before the end of your December statement, that doesnt exactly mean Dec 31. If you charge it after, it counts towards next year and you get the short end.

Global, you have an affiliate link for Chase sapphire preferred? Want to say thanks for your various tips in this thread.

Unless you think there's a better equivalent card. Was looking at this to earn points on restaurants, but they're dicking me around, looking to contact my bank etc. so I might just go with the above instead.

How are you guys enjoying tthe Chase Sapphire card? Looks amazing.

I just have a regular bank Credit Card. I use it to pay for all my expenses in a month and pay it off the last day of every month. Only thing I've gotten was 100$ when I applied and got the card.

Do you guys suggest I get another credit card? Not looking to pay interest at all because I pay my entire balance off every month. I'll probably spend 1.5-2k on the card every month and pay it off end of the month.

(11-28-2016 11:54 PM)NewDayNewFace Wrote:  How are you guys enjoying tthe Chase Sapphire card? Looks amazing.

I just have a regular bank Credit Card. I use it to pay for all my expenses in a month and pay it off the last day of every month. Only thing I've gotten was 100$ when I applied and got the card.

Do you guys suggest I get another credit card? Not looking to pay interest at all because I pay my entire balance off every month. I'll probably spend 1.5-2k on the card every month and pay it off end of the month.

If you got a chase or chase reserve card the next one youl'l want to get is the chase freedom card that has no annual fee, so its a no brainer, 15,000 signup points and 5x rewards categories that change every 3 months, and no annual fee. The card is made to be used as cashback but when you can combine it with a reserve card you can use the "cashback" as points

Also if you have a business Chase just released a new Ink card that is way better than the old one 3x on advertising and 80,000 bonus signup which is quite generous.

Another tip about Chase cards. Go in person to apply a lot of times they will waive the annual fees, give you a better deal than listed, and in many cases if your case gets "pending" or "for review" they will push it through for you with a little bit of rapport and people skills.

If you're new to the CC game go with all the Chase cards first because after a few cards they won't accept you for any new cards for a while (lookup 5/24 rule)

Using a credit card without rewards is nuts, you are literally throwing money away. Cashback cards are 1-2%, but chase and amex points are worth around 2c so you are really getting 2c back per every dollar spent, or 4c for dining travel bonus categories etc, though if you are keen with first class saver redemptions you can get much better value per point.

(11-28-2016 11:27 PM)churros Wrote:  Global, you have an affiliate link for Chase sapphire preferred? Want to say thanks for your various tips in this thread.

Unless you think there's a better equivalent card. Was looking at this to earn points on restaurants, but they're dicking me around, looking to contact my bank etc. so I might just go with the above instead.

Weird I just applied for the blue for biz card sent it right through. The blue is really good deal with now too but I think you need an EIN to apply.

But yeah 10k signup, 20k when you spend $2k in restaurants, then 2x for first 50k + 30% rewards per year, that means if you spend $50k on biz expense and $2k on food in the first year you'd get 145k amex points. I mean its almost impossible to manufacture that much spend, but if you are biz owner that is a sweet deal. The only other comparable deal is the Amex platinum giving you 100k points when you spend $15k but annual fee of $495 just to get into some delta lounges, nah i'm good....

(10-26-2016 11:18 PM)Armogan Wrote:  I just got it too. Getting the 2 $300 credits in the first 12 months more than pays for the card.

Just wondering what you guys think is the best use of "travel" charges. Does it make sense to buy miles with preferred airliners as "travel" expenses, or just buy revenue tickets outright?

By "buy miles" I assume you mean to transfer them into a program vs using the points as cash, right?

Well, historically speaking it was better to transfer in but times are changing. For example with the Sapphire reserve the points are equal to 1.5c per point instead of 1.25c on the Sapphire preferred.

Also Amex has just released a new program for their biz platinum cards that may be rolled out to other cards too where you get a whopping 2c per point when redeemed in cash, which now suddenly makes revenue tickets not look so bad (its done by charging you 1c per point but then giving you half the points back)

An example of when revenue makes more sense can be shown here

Another perk of using points for revenue is it counts as a cash ticket giving you miles from the airline and qualification miles if you are trying to hit status with a specific airline.

Take the example the points guy used in the article above, so I have status with delta so I would earn 9 points per "dollar spent" as well giving you even more money back.

If you fly economy, sometimes it makes sense to redeem points for cash if the airline is having a sale or if there is no good partner to transfer into. Generally if you're seeking to fly economy domestic within the states though Southwest is your best travel partner and will give you much better redemption then doing revenue tix for points.

In business or first, esp trans-pacific and trans-atlantic flights there are very few cases where buying the tickets revenue would make sense. However, as that article shows there are sometimes where it does, esp with an airline like Delta that has such shitty award options for domestic flights.

Do you suggest the sapphire card as the first CC? I don't plan on getting multiple Credit Cards, just like to have one. The credit card I have now is from another bank. No benefits except for 100$ cash back after I spent 1k on it.

The cash back is definitely something that I've been missing out on with my credit card now. Only reason I have a credit card was so I could rent exotic vehicles (rental car companies wouldn't let me with debit). Before then I paid everything with cash.

Thanks for the advice dog.

Quick Question

1.) Is it possible to switch over from let's say a Chase Sapphire Preferred to a Sapphire Reserved while I still have a card balance? i.e. 1k card balance. Will they do a balance transfer to the new one, or does this hurt my chances of being accepted and it's better first to pay it off before applying?

2.) Can I keep the SP and also apply for the SR at the same time? Again, assuming it's best not to keep a balance on the SP when applying for the SR?

After doing some research I went to Chase and applied and got approved for the Sapphire card. I should've gotten it when it first came out because the past few months I've been traveling a lot and spending money on rental cars and flights. The perks seem good if I can spend that 4000$ on purchases in the first three months. It all depends on what is considered purchases. I'll make sure to get that 4000$. Especially since it's about to be christmas time. I plan on paying off the balance every 15 days so I don't have to worry about the 20% interest that was given to me.

The design on the card is amazing. It's like metal and feels real good. Excited to start using it.

If anyone has any more tips, I'm always down to listen. I also plan on leaving my old credit card active and just paying my phone bill with it and paying it off. That way it helps my credit.

Better not to close an old account. Just leave it open for the credit score and keep the balance at 0. It especially helps if you have had that card for a while, since it shows a longer credit history.

Revere, you can have both SP and SR cards, but the benefits of the SR make the SP useless.

``The perks seem good if I can spend that 4000$ on purchases in the first three months. It all depends on what is considered purchases. I'll make sure to get that 4000$. ''

I havent seen them limit what counts as purchases. I think the only thing they dont allow is interest charges, balance transfers, the annual fee and cash advances. Everything else counts towards the $4000 needed for the bonus points.

@AlphaRN - Thanks for the reply, makes sense.

So - chances are higher I get approved if I have it SP paid off before applying for SR, or it doesn't matter if I have a balance (if I still have say 10k+ available total available based on my credit report)

(11-29-2016 05:56 PM)reverze41 Wrote:  @AlphaRN - Thanks for the reply, makes sense.

So - chances are higher I get approved if I have it SP paid off before applying for SR, or it doesn't matter if I have a balance (if I still have say 10k+ available total available based on my credit report)

The minimum credit line for the SR is $10,000 because it is a Visa Infinite card.

Main points are the 5/24 rule, five cards in 24 months, credit score and income to justify the credit line. If you already have the SP, you probably meet most of the requirements for the SR. You can apply in person at a Chase branch and tell them you want to be ``pre-screened'' for the card if you are in doubt. This way, it doesnt draw the hard hit on your credit if you are declined. Since you already have a history and an account with Chase, this will also help you.

Paying it off wont make much of an impact on your credit score if you only have a 1000 balance on a 10k account. Maybe two or three points. If you had say 6000 or 7000 on your card, then yes, it would be negatively affecting your score based on credit utilization.