The Holiday Credit Card Bonanza
This post has been cooking for weeks now, and I’m really excited to share. Over the holidays I put together an unbelievable combination of redemptions and fully maximized benefits across my credit cards.
Day 1
I was flying roundtrip from SFO to IAD (Washington DC). The flight was paid with Chase Ultimate Rewards. It wasn’t the best redemption as I booked through my sister’s Chase Sapphire Preferred, but it was significantly better value than booking directly with United points. I paid 1.25 cents/point for this roundtrip ticket.
The morning of my flight, I got a notification that it was delayed. This didn’t bother me much since I could spend more time working and relaxing at the Centurion Lounge (Amex Platinum). The food was pretty good, had some chicken thighs, salad, and magic potatoes. I grabbed a second round of potatoes and a latte.
After spending some time at the Centurion Lounge, I left for my gate. Next to it was a Priority Pass restaurant. I ordered overpriced avocado toast and water. With Priority Pass you receive a $28 budget at participating restaurants (Ritz-Carlton Card).
Once I got to my gate, I was upgraded to Economy Plus. I happily enjoyed the extra leg room and got a row to myself. Best part was meeting Katie and Kevin (@katieandkev). (For those of you who’ve known me for a while — it’s a Sree story and all I’m gonna say is that its a small world).
I’m going to skip the lounge visits for the rest of this post, but you can assume before every flight I stopped at a lounge to grab food and/or coffee.
Cash Back Deals
No matter how early and diligently I pack, I always manage to forget something. Usually it’s my toothbrush, but this time was my razor. I had a 20% cash back offer at Giant (a grocery store in Northern Virginia), so grabbed a razor and stocked up on protein powder (Amex Platinum).
I also had a 15% offer at Fanatics and purchased a pair of indoor slippers and hat (BOA Cash Rewards). Not only was I able to get free 2-day shipping with Shoprunner (Amex Platinum) but it also stacked on top of my BOA Preferred Rewards loyalty bonus.
New York City
I had plans to visit New York City while I was on the east coast. Usually, I take a bus or train, but this time the train was the same price as the flight and the bus tickets weren’t low enough to justify the extra trip time. The roundtrip tickets were booked with Ultimate Rewards points (sister’s Chase Sapphire Preferred).
For my first night in NYC I booked a standard room at Park Hyatt, a Category 7 property (Hyatt properties rank 1–8). The night was 30,000 Hyatt points, but would have been $1833/night if I booked with cash. This is by far the best redemption I’ve ever reserved at 6.11 cents/point (World of Hyatt Card).
Once I arrived, I upgraded to a one-bedroom suite for $460. (I typically do not spend extra for an upgrade, but this was a very special, one-off instance) Overall, it was my first time staying at a property this luxurious and by far the best hotel room I’ve ever spent a night at. Here are a few of the amenities:
- 1.5 bathrooms
- Heated tiles in the bathroom
- Bryte bed which controls heating, firmness, etc for each side of the bed
- Ceiling shower + Hand Shower
- The toilet…a bidet with a heated seat that opens automatically when you are in front of it
- TV built into the bathroom mirror
- Best staff I’ve ever experienced
For the second night in NYC I had the option to use a certificate night at either a Marriott or Hyatt property (Ritz-Carlton or World of Hyatt). I decided to stay at a Hyatt property because of Hyatt’s 5 brand challenge. (If you stay at 5 different Hyatt brands you earn a free certificate night)
I made a reservation at Gild Hall, a Category 4 property. Without the certificate, the room would have costed $300+. The day of check-in my plans changed and I cancelled my reservation. Shout out to Hyatt’s customer service for refunding my certificate night without any hassle even though the cancellation was within 24 hours.
The morning of my flight out of New York, I arrived at the airport a few hours early. As I got to my gate there was a flight already boarding on the same itinerary as mine. I asked the gate attendant if there was space on the flight and she issued me a new boarding pass and I was off. (I did not pay any change fees or cancellation fees)
Back to SFO
One of the benefits of the Amex Platinum is a $200 hotel credit for a Fine Hotel & Resorts collection property. I didn’t use this credit in 2021, and it was going to expire December 31. Since I was arriving a day before my roommates, Harish (@kamath_harish) and I decided to chill at the Palace Hotel for the night. Not only was majority of the cost covered, but I also received a $100 dining credit and free breakfast (which was more than enough to cover the remaining room cost and then some). Also, we had 4PM late checkout, so we ended up working at the hotel the next day.
When I checked into the hotel, my status with Marriott got me upgraded to a Deluxe room, which is a slightly bigger room than normal.
Other Benefits Used:
- TSA Pre-Check for expedited security
- Multiple lounge visits
- $10 dining credit from Amex Gold
- $25 Uber credit from Amex Platinum & Gold
- New York Times crossword subscription from Amex Platinum
- 5x back on Amazon order from Amazon Card
2021 Year End Review
As this is my first post for 2022, I thought I’d provide some data on my 2021 spend:
- BOA: $18,936.06
- Amex: $23,181.72
- Chase: $8,204.73
In total, I charged $50,322.51 on my credit cards. If the average cash back on spend is 3%, then my return is ~$1500. I target 5%+ back on all charges but if I’m chasing a sign-up bonus, in a foreign country, or some extraneous circumstance, then I’ll divert all spend to a different card, so I’m rounding down to a conservative 3%.
In 2021, I received the following bonuses: 115,000 in Amex MR points (roughly ~$1400), $400 from BOA, and $200 from Chase. In total, that’s $3500 from cash back and bonuses. Note, $3500 does not reflect the total value I’ve obtained from all of the credit card benefits (Uber, pre-check, lounge access, etc), it’s only cash value.
I did not spend $50K+ personally. Often times, I pay for expenses and request money back through Venmo/Zelle. I can’t provide the ratio of my personal spend vs total spend because I didn’t track it for all of 2021. However, I started better tracking in October and for the last 3 months of 2021 roughly ~55–60% of dollars charged were actually my personal spend. I plan on having better insights for 2022, so stick around!
FAQs:
- I do not charge rent or any transaction that has a CC processing fee on credit cards
- I always pay my balance in full and have never carried a balance even if I have pending Venmo/Zelle requests
- If I am in another country I will only use cards with no foreign transaction fees, even if I have a higher reward multiplier on another card (my last trip there were very few retailers that accepted my Amex Gold)
- I do not have a Player 2 (looking forward to when this changes)
Closing Thoughts
At the end of the day, the people I spent time with made the trip what it was, and being able to enjoy the benefits with friends makes it all the better. Sometimes, it can be hard to look at high annual fees and dismiss credit cards instantly, but if you are able to obtain positive value from the cards its worth it. The points and miles system has enabled me to experience luxury travel on a budget.
If you ever want to talk credit cards, personal finance, or want a topic covered let me know!
P.S. This is not financial advice and I am not your financial advisor.
