What could possibly go wrong here? It’s not like there’s a way to uninstall extensions without the extension knowing, and it’s also not like there’s a way to have multiple browser profiles, right?
These points are worth 2-3 cents each for travel on Amtrak. If you’re lucky maybe they’ll combine a hard pull for this card with a hard pull for a new JAL card, though I wouldn’t count on it.
The sign-up bonus for both is 5,000 Mileage Bank miles after $5,000 spend in three billing cycles, and the Premium tier has an additional 5,000 miles after another $2,000 spend. For ongoing spend, you’ll earn 0.5x on the Basic or 1x on the Premium. Both cards earn 2x on JAL flights.
The Whale Angle
The Premium tier earns 5 Life Status Points (yes, that’s really what they’re called) for every $1,500 in spend. After 1,500 Life Status Points earned, you get JAL Global Club Three Star status for life, which also gets you JGC Premier status (second to highest JAL frequent flyer tier), which includes at least oneworld Sapphire status, and potentially also includes oneworld Emerald status; the terms are rather-unclear and no-one’s had time to try this yet to be sure. So, just spend $450,000 and get lifetime Sapphire or Emerald status, provided you pay 2,000 miles as a “membership fee” annually. Quirky enough yet?
Oneworld Sapphire is great because it grants you access to:
AA lounges including Flagship even when flying domestically
Alaska lounges, even when flying domestically
If you end up with oneworld Emerald, you’ll also get access to:
Qantas First lounges, even when flying domestically
Cathay Pacific First lounges, even when flying domestically
If $450,000 in spend is just another couple of days for you and you could easily burn 450,000 JAL Mileage Bank miles, then you can have some fun and some weird status if nothing else.
The Other Quirks
There are more quirks to contend with:
Mileage Bank miles expire after three years even if you hold the card, unless you hold JGC Three Star status or higher in which case they don’t expire
Paid tickets earn 10% “sector bonus” miles for every flight for cardholders
You earn 5,000 bonus miles on your first flight paid for with the card
You earn 5,000 bonus miles when booking your first flight with JAL International
There’s a promotion code to use during application, but it’s prefilled and non-editable: AFSPG1024
There’s more too, but the main quirks are covered.
Bonus: JAL MileageBank Sweet Spots
JAL MileageBank is traditionally a great program with a few (surprise) quirks. Sweet spots include:
140,000 miles for JAL first round-trip awards
100,000 miles for Emirates business one-way awards
24,000-30,000 miles for an upgrade from paid economy to business on JAL metal
Distance flown based partner redemptions with three stop-overs, including mixed partners
– Transcons at 9,000 points – Hawaii at 9,000 points – Alaska at 20,000 points – Mexico at 9,000 points
These continue to be the best award sales that no-one talks about, especially since you’re still able to transfer Membership Rewards to Hawaiian, then Hawaiian to Alaska MileagePlan miles.
– 20% to Wyndham Rewards through November 16 – 30% to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club through November 16
The Wyndham bonus is great for the right use cases; it’s pretty easy to get 1-2 cents per point on a Wyndham or Vacasa booking. The bonus to Virgin Atlantic is mid at best, and don’t forget that (1) Chase has a higher 40% transfer bonus to Virgin Atlantic, and (2) the Virgin Atlantic award chart is changing at the end of the month.
Citi ThankYou Points also added Preferred Hotels as a transfer partner at 1:4 ratio. If that sounds vaguely familiar, that’s because you can also book some Preferred Hotels with Choice Points which is also a Citi transfer partner. The transfer ratio is great taken at extreme face value because those points are worth somewhere between 0.4 and 1.0 cents each, but in practice availability is:
– Decent for cash+points bookings – Awful for points only bookings – Better through the Choice program
To explore, start on the points booking landing page, and note that you’ll need to create an account and login to see many of the rates. Frankly this program is the most Citi-esque hotel program I’ve ever encountered, so I guess it makes sense that they’re now Citi partners. (Thanks to newg33b)
American Express cards won’t earn points on these transactions, but no longer cash advance either. Let’s hope for anotherSHOPEARLY2021 debacle with one or more of these codes.
– 200,000 Membership Rewards after $15,000 spend on the Business Gold – 250,000 Membership Rewards after $20,000 spend on the Business Platinum
It’s ok for P1 to refer P2 and vice-versa, even if they share an address. To really play fast and loose, get the Business Gold, wait two statements, get a retention offer (hopefully), get some employee cards, the use the 120,000 Membership Rewards upgrade link which will hopefully still be around.
For the sake of illustration, let’s hypothesize that there’s a bank in america that supports payments through several different methods. Let’s also assume that the bank’s IT is bad and unpredictable. (That’s crazy, right?) Given that, it’s not to hard to imagine that different payment methods lead to different results; For example, the hypothetical bank refuses release credit lines on one payment method for up to 10 business days, but only sometimes. Using another payment method though, the same hypothetical bank releases its credit line within a day or two. Succinctly:
The credit line isn’t released for up to 10 business days using payment method A
The credit line is released 1-2 business days later using payment method B
Let’s add a further rub to this real-life hypothetical scenario: Assume payment method B might earn 50%-75% less than payment method A.
What’s the right thing to do in this situation? Remember the velocity of money. If you’ve got the spend to effectively use freed credit line quickly, earning half as much but being able to do it three to four times more often is still the higher earning play, because 50% * 4x > 100% * 1x.
Even though A pays more than B, B might earn more than A. Now, we just need to figure out C, I guess, or maybe just figure out what MEAB is driveling on about this time?
Have a nice weekend friends!
Let’s not even start with how to play with this beauty.
– Earn elite qualifying miles (EQMs) on award travel redemptions based on distance and ticket class, a minimum of 1 EQM per mile flown including partner redemptions – Earn 1 EQM per $3 spent on a co-brand credit card, up to $90,000 spend – Earn EQMs for mileage partners, especially the MileagePlan shopping portal – Milestone rewards like AA – Multi-partner award redemptions are coming this “winter”
It’ll be relatively easy to earn MileagePlan status via manufactured spend next year, which when coupled with AA status, could make you a double oneworld Sapphire, capable of viewing the Double Rainbow.
If you’re banned from Barlcays, getting a GM card may be a back-door way back in, but historically Barclays is tough on bans so I wouldn’t count on it.
Do this now: Register for your targeted United Mileage Play offer. My offer was “Book and take a trip in a premium seat 2 times to earn 21,000 bonus miles.” My fine print says travel by December 13 and each ticket has to cost $500 before taxes and fees, so best case this is a +2x miles on spend deal.
– $100 back on $300+ at Radisson Blu or Cambria hotels through November 30 – $100 back on $300+ at Small Luxury Hotels through December 31 – $150 back on $650+ at The Hotel Collection properties through December 7
The top two are gameable, the bottom one, probably not so much. How do you game these? As always, buying a gift card is the simplest way, but not the only way.
I’m not saying banks colluded to drop a bunch of card linked and spend offers on the same day, but banks colluded to drop a bunch of card linked and spend offers on the same day:
The Citi Shop Your Way Rewards Mastercard, a phoenix that rose from the ashes of Sears, sent new mid-month spending offers for cumulative online spend:
– 250,000 Shop Your Way Rewards points after $1,000+ – 200,000 Shop Your Way Rewards points after $750+ – $70 statement credit after $1,000+ – $50 statement credit after $750+ – $30 statement credit after $500+
If your utility takes online payments, these will stack with those offers too. (Thanks to Ben, MS Ninja, Adam W, Jen T)
– $150 off of $750 or more booked with Carnival Cruises – $150 off of $700 or more at Hawaiian Hyatt Hotels – $200 off of $1,000 or more at Fontainebleau Las Vegas
Mahalo AmEx, and also stay classy. (Thanks to Shredder05)
