The Chase Sapphire Reserve is one of my favorite credit cards in my wallet. Whenever friends or family ask for my suggestion on which travel rewards credit card they should apply for, I always tell them the Chase Sapphire Reserve. In order to save some time, I decided to write about the benefits of the card so I can quickly share the information in the future. This post is also the first in a series covering premium travel rewards credit cards.

Premium Product

This card falls into the premium category because of its exhaustive benefits and hefty annual fee of $450. It’s targeted towards travelers so if you don’t travel too often then you probably will not maximize all the benefits. The first benefit is that Chase provides an annual $300 travel credit. This immediately reduces your annual fee to a net $150. The $300 credit is automatically triggered whenever you make a qualifying travel purchase. This means you could buy a $300 flight and immediately receive the full statement credit. You could also pay for 10 different Uber rides at $30 each and get reimbursed $30 per transaction over time.

             The Chase Sapphire Reserve is a staple item we ALWAYS take abroad with us

Points flexibility

Chase Ultimate Rewards points transfer to nine different airlines and four different hotel brands. They even transfer at a 1:1 ratio. This provides incredible flexibility rather than simply opening a credit card with one specific airline and only earning their miles. Combine these airline partners with their respective alliances, then there are even greater opportunities to redeem. For example: United is a Star Alliance member which includes nearly 30 airlines. You can transfer 30,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points to United. Then redeem the United miles for an economy flight from the US to Europe on Lufthansa. You can read more about how I previously did that here.

Chase Ultimate Rewards airline transfer partners:

• Aer Lingus
• British Airways Executive Club
• Flying Blue Air France and KLM
• Iberia Plus
• Korean Air SKYPASS
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
• United Airlines MileagePlus
• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

Hotel transfer partners:

• World of Hyatt
• IHG Rewards Club
• Marriott Rewards
• The Ritz-Carlton Rewards

We transferred 50,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points for two Virgin Atlantic Upper Class tickets on their 787 Dreamliner to fly from London to Johannesburg. It was super special because my husband is South African and also designed the bar for Virgin Atlantic. Two friends even joined us on the journey. It’s special moments like these that are made possible because of points.

If you’re new to all of this and the thought of transferring points to different loyalty programs makes your head spin, there are easier options for redeeming. When you book through the Ultimate Rewards Travel website you can use points to book any available flight or hotel. No restrictions or blackout dates. Using this method is a redemption rate of 1.5 cent per point. This isn’t the absolute best value, but it’s still a good option in certain situations. For instance, if there is no award availability you can still make the booking using your points this way.

Accelerated Points Earning

You will earn 3 Chase Ultimate Reward points per dollar spent on all travel and dining purchases. This includes everything from fast food to fine dining, public transportation to first class airfare, and Airbnbs to five star hotels. No matter if you’re a budget-conscious backpacker or a bougie high roller, you can take advantage of these bonus categories. Every other purchase will earn 1 point per dollar.  

        Here you can see both travel and dining purchases that received the 3x category bonus

Global Entry / TSA Pre-Check Fee Credit ($100 or $85 value)

If you’re not already a member of either Global Entry or TSA Pre-Check, then you can use your Chase Sapphire Reserve to pay the application fee and get reimbursed. These programs are valid for five years after approval and Chase allows you to re-use this credit every four years so you can re-apply.

Global Entry is an expedited way to clear immigration when returning to the United States. It requires a background check, interview, and fingerprinting. In saves valuable time when returning home from an international trip and possibly catching a connecting domestic flight. Global Entry membership also entitles you to TSA Pre-Check. So you might as well apply for it since it provides the most value.

If you already have one of these memberships, don’t rule it out as a benefit just yet. You can easily gift these to someone else (spouse, parent, child, friend, etc.). As long as the application fee is charged to your Chase Sapphire Reserve card then you will receive the credit.

Worldwide Lounge Access

Additionally, Chase Sapphire Reserve cardholders automatically receive a Priority Pass Select membership. Priority Pass gives you access to a global network of 1,000+ airport lounges. You can bring two guests into these lounges with you complimentary. Then it is $27 per additional guest. Priority Pass even partners with restaurants in certain US domestic airports to allow their members $30 food and beverage credit. Be sure to download their free app to discover where all their lounges are located.

Lounges are so convenient that I honestly cannot remember the last time I purchased food or alcohol in an airport within the last six years. Not to mention there’s nothing quite like taking a refreshing shower in a lounge before or after a 10 hour flight.

  Section of free food buffet available in the Priority Pass Lounge in Koh Samui, Thailand airport

No Foreign Transactions Fees

Sure, most travel related credit cards offer this. However I find the most value in the fact that Chase Sapphire Reserve is a Visa which is probably the most widely accepted card on the planet. So you won’t run into issues where you have a fancy American Express that is usually only accepted in major international cities. The mom and pop restaurant in Thailand is going to accept your Chase Sapphire Reserve, if they accept credit cards for payment.

This benefit applies to both transactions made outside of the United States as well as purchases made with foreign companies or in foreign currencies online.

Travel Insurance Coverage

Whenever you use the Chase Sapphire Reserve to book your trip, you are entitled to the following:

• Trip cancellation/interruption insurance (up to $20,000 per occurrence)
• Lost luggage reimbursement (up to $3,000 per passenger)
• Delayed baggage insurance ($100 per passenger per day)
• Trip delay reimbursement (up to $500 per trip), and travel accident insurance
• Travel accident insurance
• Primary rental car insurance (plus other rental car perks and discounts)
• Emergency medical, dental, evacuation, and transportation coverage

This includes delayed baggage coverage which we happened to need when our luggage was lost immediately prior to our Mediterranean cruise.  

Additional Benefits while at Home

• Roadside assistance
• Purchase protection
• Price protection
• Return protection
• Extended warranty program
• Access to VIP events

If all of these benefits sound appealing to you, then you can apply for the Chase Sapphire Reserve here. Like I always tell everyone when I make a credit card suggestion, do NOT open a credit card if you plan to carry a balance. The value of the points and miles goes completely out the window the moment you start paying interest fess. Pay your balance in full every month! I also recommend you check out our Frequently Asked Questions page to learn more about leveraging your credit responsibly, credit scores, and more.

Ability to Combine Points

Lastly, if you are already a Chase customer you can combine Chase Ultimate Rewards points. For instance, the Chase Freedom is traditionally a cashback credit card. If you open the Chase Sapphire Reserve, then you can opt to earn points instead of cashback on your Freedom so you can combine the points. If you already have a Chase Ink business card you can do the exact same thing. It took me YEARS to convince my dad to stop redeeming his Chase Ultimate Rewards by simply applying them to his statement balance for cash. IT’S THE WORST REDEMPTION RATE EVER. Now that he stopped doing that it’s time for him to open a Chase Sapphire Reserve and actually make a travel redemption for the first time. Baby steps.

Full disclosure: If you use the link provided in this post to apply for the Chase Sapphire Reserve (and Chase approves the application), then I will receive 10,000 bonus points, too.

The post Why the Chase Sapphire Reserve is Unbelievably Valuable appeared first on Seize the Globe.

• Sign up for an Aegean Airlines Miles & Bonus account
• A3 automatically deposits 1,000 miles–just for registering!
• You now have 1 year from your first flight credited to A3 to earn 20,000 miles total and get awarded *G status. Basically only 19,000 miles after they hand you 1,000
• The caveat to this is great. Even if you only manage to earn 4,000 additional miles and hit 5,000 total–you earn the Aegean Blue card which equates to *S
• From there you now must earn 16,000 points in order to earn *G and they give you another full year in order to accomplish this. Basically the clock resets

Sounds too good to be true? Check their terms and conditions page here.

UPDATE: Since this publishing Aegean changed their requirements for earning elite status. Now you need to fly 24,000 miles within 12 months and four of your flight segments MUST take place on Aegean or Olympic Air. If you do not meet the four flight segment criteria, then you must fly 48,000 miles on any Star Alliance partners. Although the loophole previously available no longer exists, you can still earn Star Alliance Gold status with Aegean. There are just a few better options out there. What we did was have my husband status match to Turkish Airlines–so now he currently hold Star Alliance Gold status through TWO airlines (until November 2016).

“Members who hold a BLUE Card and who have earned at least 16,000 Tier Miles within twelve (12) consecutive months from their first miles-accruing flight on the previous tier will receive the GOLD Card. If, however, the Blue Member, after completion of the aforementioned twelve-month period, has gathered less than 16,000 Tier Miles, then he/she shall remain a Blue Member, whilst the Tier Miles collected during that twelve-month period shall not be automatically reset, but shall rather be successively deleted one (1) year from the day of each respective flight event, effected within the 12-month period in question.”

The post Earn Lifetime Star Alliance Gold through Aegean Airlines appeared first on Seize the Globe.

Like anything else, travel apps come in a very wide range of quality and usefulness. It can be difficult to navigate just which ones are worthwhile and which ones are completely worthless. I have narrowed my favorite and most used travel apps into this top five list. I highly recommend each and every one of them based on legitimate personal experience.

OnTheFly by ITA Software

This travel app is based on the juggernaut of all airfare search engines, ITA Matrix. I can’t even begin to touch on how beautiful of a software this is within one simple blog post–let alone a brief description of their app. Imagine this: the power of Google behind airfare searching. It gives you complete control over dates, arrival time, departure time, booking fare, price per mile, which airports to avoid, specific connection points, and more. The amount of detail you can search is ridiculous. It is like taking a fine tooth comb through every single possible fight option or combination available. You can not book through this software, but instead it gives you detailed insight into your own particular itinerary built entirely around your preferences. You then take that information and book it with your preferred airline directly, travel agent, or other source. When you run a standard search on a site like Kayak or Expedia, you are merely given the fastest and easiest search results. Sure, you can move the time bars a bit, but you do not have the level of control that you do with ITA. The travel app allows you to do this all from your mobile device and displays beautiful easy-to-read charts which gives you the most accurate information on the go and when you need it most. When I find myself in a jam, I use this software to direct airline agents at the airport on how to rebook me on another flight. It has saved me unnecessary pain and lost time just by having the ability to communicate in greater detail with gate agents. This app gives you more insight into airfare options than anything you have used in the past.

SeatGuru

SeatGuru is a website and travel app that was purchased by TripAdvisor. The goal is to keep frequent fliers informed of their seat options aboard different aircraft by giving you advice based on other users’ firsthand experience. Once you have specific flight information, you run a search on SeatGuru using the airline, flight number, and departure date in order to find seat maps of the aircraft scheduled to operate that flight. Pretty handy when choosing between flights or even when you’re checking-in online. Most people ignore the aircraft information listed when purchasing a flight unless you’re an #AvGeek. Only true #AvGeeks would understand ;). However, noting that small detail can increase your comfort just by avoiding seats that can’t recline due to exit row or knowing that you’re going to have a smaller seat width in other areas of the aircraft.

Below is an example of American Airlines flight AA2437 departing from LGA to MIA on Saturday, July 12th. As you can see, Seat 14C is highlighted and a brief description of the seat quality is available for any curious passengers.

Example seat map of a Boeing 787-800 flight AA2437 with seat information

FlightAware

FlightAware is an incredibly powerful tool that provides pilot-caliber information to all of its users. Want to know why your plane is not at the gate yet? This travel app allows you to search all the previous flight routes of that inbound flight. Not only that–you can track its GPS location in real-time. Turns out your airplane is not on time because the inbound flight is diverting from its usual course due to lightning storms in Houston. It can do this because FlightAware is a global aviation software and data services company that provides detailed flight information for both private and commercial flights. Never travel without this! This travel app has saved me many panic attacks when I feared missing a connection simply because I was armed with information. What more could you possibly need than detailed maps, weather radar, flight status, inbound flights, altitude, or speed? Not a whole lot more–but FlightAware provides it all to you for free.

Loungebuddy

Now time for the relaxing aspect of airport travel. This app is for when you are simply looking for a comfortable place to rest or work away from the hustle and bustle. Loungebuddy is your best friend when it comes to seeking out your airport oasis. No more worrying about complex access rules to lounges. Instead, you create a brief profile in the app by inputting what elite statuses, lounge memberships, or travel rewards credit cards that you have. Once you do this, Loungebuddy now know which lounges you have access to. There is even a box to check if you are a US military member and Loungebuddy will display all USOs as well. As an example, your next trip is on United Airlines from SFO to ATL with a connection in ORD. You create a new trip by adding your itinerary details. Next you have the option to view all of the lounges in each of the three airports. From here, the travel app will display which lounges you have free access to, but you also have the ability to view all total airport lounges or those that are accessible to you (even with a fee). The great thing is that it does all of the work for you. No more memorizing rules and exceptions regarding your lounge access via credit cards, memberships, or elite access. Now, all you have to worry about is choosing which lounge is most suitable to your needs at the moment. Oh wait, Loungebuddy also helps with that too. Other users can leave basic reviews and ratings based on a 4 star system. Things like comfort, quality, cleanliness, service, or if the lounge is worth a detour are all a few review criteria.

AwardWallet

Last, but certainly not least is AwardWallet. It is a free online service that keeps track of all of your rewards programs. That means every single point or mile you accrue gets monitored in a neat portfolio, kept updated, and you even receive alerts when your rewards are about to expire. This is not only limited to travel rewards like airline miles or hotel or rental car points. Credit cards and retail store rewards can also get tracked. Are you a VIB (Very Important Beauty) at Sephora? Then you bet that your status and points can be registered within AwardWallet as well. Over 633 loyalty programs are currently supported so that you do not have to waste precious time checking your point balances. You can even elect to receive weekly, monthly, etc. digest e-mails that report how your balances recently fluctuated. Needless to say, this travel app is a definite must for any serious (or seriously busy) frequent flyer.

I will also note that each and every single travel app I mentioned is absolutely free. Happy traveling!

The post Top 5 Travel Apps You Need for Your Next Trip appeared first on Seize the Globe.

Even for the novice travelers, most people are aware that the American Express Platinum charge card is notorious for excellent travel benefits. I plan on writing a series of posts specifically pertaining to this unique card. It happens to be one of the favorite cards I have in my own wallet and there are numerous strategies to maximize all the benefits it has to offer. To kick it off, I am going to address the $200 airline fee credit because this is one of the most overlooked and underutilized features.

For those of you who are American Express members or thinking of applying for a Platinum Amex here are some basic things you need to know about the $200 airline fee credit:

• You are entitled to $200 of airline fee credit per CALENDAR year. Not the anniversary when you opened the account–January 1st of each year
• You must specifically enroll in this benefit and indicate which airline you prefer (American, Delta, United, Alaska Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, JetBlue, Frontier, Soutwest/AirTran)
• You may do so by calling the number on the back of your card or going here
• Consider applying for the Platinum Amex in late Q3 or during Q4. This way you have the ability to earn two x $200 credits in one 12-month period!
• I usually sign up for an airline that I do not have an associated co-branded credit card or elite benefits
• This is intended to cover incidental fees such as checked bags, overweight baggage fees, in-flight refreshments, pet flight fees, seat assignment fees, etc. when you use your enrolled Platinum (Business or Personal plus Centurion) Amex
• Keep in mind that one can expand this benefit even more by also having the Business version

Here are a few strategies in which you can maximize the full $200 every year and slash that $450 fee in half instantly (just with this one benefit):

Use your enrolled Amex to purchase airline gift cards.

• Purchase small amounts at a time. $50 to be conservative. However, members have had success with higher values. (Delta – increments over $50 will not work)
• Wait for the transaction to post and you will see the credit appear in anywhere from 48-72 hours (I have been told the longest was a week, but I have never experienced this)
• Do this four times and you now have $200 worth of gift cards for your airline of choice
• My experience is that American and Delta will limit you to three gift cards per transaction. So if you purchase in increments of $50, that is $150 off your next ticket
• You can also use them to purchase day passes for lounges that you do not normally have a membership nor access to
• Confirmed gift card reimbursements reported: American, Delta, Southwest, Alaska Airlines, US Airways
• United must be done through the Gift Registry
• Unfortunately, no dice for Hawaiian Airlines or JetBlue

Other reported reimbursement successes include: United award cancellation fees (required calling Amex), JetBlue Even More Leg room fee, Hawaiian Air Premier Club membership ($200/$250), and more.

There are those who have experienced actual flights getting reimbursed. However, these were under $100 (i.e. inter-island Hawaiian flights, etc.). Rare these days.

Lastly, for those that were given a credit with American/US Airways for the loss of access to the Admirals Clubs/US Airways Clubs back in March, you can use the $100 – $500 (highest reported) in the same manner. ***Note*** This is IN ADDITION to your original $200 airline fee credit. American Express always does a nice job when it comes to retention offers or even creating new member benefits whenever something like that happens. For instance, they not only offered additional airline reimbursement fees that I just mentioned but also MR bonuses (as reported by TPG), and Amex is even in the process of building dozens of new American Express Centurion lounges throughout the country. These lounges put every single domestic lounge to shame, to say the least, with benefits including free massages and manicures, premium meals created by famous culinary experts, and signature cocktails. These are the types of lounges that won’t make you bat an eye at losing access to the regular domestic carriers’ lounges. Current locations are DFW and LAS with SFO, MIA, and LGA to be finished in the coming months.

Please also remember that in addition to initially specifying your airline of choice, if you would like to change the airline for the following year you must call and do so. Otherwise your airline preference will remain the same. This may be done ONCE per year.

Lastly, each airline listed has its own specific thread on FlyerTalk that discusses this very topic. That means you have the ability to research other fliers’ experiences prior to you deploying your own strategy.

Please feel free to leave questions in comments section. I have maxed this offer two years in a row plus the American/US Airways credit earlier this year.

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