Duncan Idaho said:

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The lounge at DFW is pretty sparse. But it at least lets you get away from the screaming kids, filthy casual travels, charge your phone and grab something to drink in relative comfort.

Don't expect one-of the big flagship lounges

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Centurion at DFW is legit.

Some Redditors had success with moving the statement date from Jan. to Dec. and collecting the travel credit this year.

752bro4 said:

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My 1 month + review:

Fantastic card. I burned through the spend minimum in a matter of days, had a business trip in right after Thanksgiving and burned through the travel bonus. Sitting at 110k points. Got my fiancee to get one as well and she has done the same. Also getting her the Chase Ink for her business. She'll rack up 100-150k points/year on that. I hope that Citi or WF or BoA comes out with a product that is the answer to this card so that we can hop back and forth every couple of years.

I haven't used the lounges yet. I still have the AA black card and the Admiral's Clubs are just too convenient. I will be cancelling that card on its renewal (also $450). I feel like this is going to eliminate every other card in my wallet.

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Pretty much echo this. Got myself and my wife one and hit the minimum spends quickly. We now have over 200k UR points sitting in my account after transferring.

I got an AMEX Platinum 100k offer, but the (similar to CSR) benefits are way too fiddly and complicated. If I were a serious road warrior, I could see the appeal, but the CSR is way better for the casual person who loves to travel.

The two Priority lounges at IAH are the Air France and KLM lounges in Terminal D. I spent a couple of hours in the KLM lounge a few weeks ago before a flight, and it was awesome - free booze, finger food, plenty of seating.

I'm getting the itch to maybe sign up for a CSP, but I think I've reached the comfortable limit of my churning game for the time being.

Just a note: I downgraded my old CSP to a Freedom Unlimited and The Sapphire Reserve/Freedom Unlimited combo is a sweet combo. I use the Freedom Unlimited for everything not related to travel or dining and that extra .5 points really added up more then I thought it would.

Now my problem is I still have a Chase Southwest card that I've had for about eight years now and don't think I can downgrade that. I kept that when I got a CSP card a few years ago because I didn't want to wipe out that much history on my credit score.

My cards:

Chase Sapphire Reserve ($450) new
Chase Freedom Unlimited (3 years credit since it's a downgrade from CSP)
Chase Southwest ($99 8 yrs credit)
Best Buy (12 years credit}
Credit Union Visa (15 years credit)
Texas A&M BoA Mastercard (19 years credit)

That $99 fee is useless now but I have to figure out if that cost is worth cancelling the card from my credit history. My score has already dipped to slightly under 800 because I took a few hits with the CSR and other recent no interest loans. It should raise above 800 again after those hard hits fall off.

For most all credit decisions 760=800 it's all pretty much the same.

I'm in a similar situation with a Chase SW card. I already paid the $99 so I'm going to cancel closer to when the next annual fee is due. Just remember after you cancel, you have 24 months to make a transaction with rapid rewards or you will lose all your points (Another reason I'm pushing cancelation date to late 2017).

I waited a day too long to open the card and my statement isn't closing until Jan 2nd... I've tried to call them but no luck.... so I'm missing out on 2016 travel credit...

Similar to other posts I got this card for myself and my wife right when it came out. We both hit the spending limit and got the 100k points. It's nice that you can consolidate the points into one account. Partnering this card with the Chase Freedom card is a great perk. Just booked two round trip flights to Thailand from Houston and used 101,000 points ~ $1,525.00.

I had the same issue with the Chase SW card. Only had it a few years but ultimately decided to cancel the card. Before cancelling I called Chase and asked to have my credit limit on SW card moved over to my CSR card. No problem at all since they were both Chase cards. That way you keep your credit limit after canceling a card.

Have only used the priority pass once in Mexico City. Was perfect to get away from the crowd and have a few beers before boarding plane. I grabbed a water bottle to go to take on the plane. Next time I'm going to stuff a few beers in my bag for the plane.

Just applied and was approved for the card tonight, went ahead and cancelled my united card as the only annual perk they gave me was two club passes for the 90/year fee.

I know I'll be using this new card for all my travel and meals, just wasn't sure if there is another card I should pair this with for any other expenses to maximize the benefits?

You must have United status, right?
If not, boarding group 2 and free bags is still key with that card.

Freedom for the 5x points quarterly categories (Q1 = Gas Stations, Q2 Groceries) then a Freedom Unlimited for 1.5x points on all other purchases.

That is how I am doing it. I can send you sign up referrals for one or both Freedom cards if interested.

Need advice:

I utilize two credit cards in this fashion - Use SW Chase on 1/1 until we reach the Companion Pass level then I switch to the CSP to rack up Ultimate Rewards.

We love to travel to the Caribbean and usually travel to a few spots domestically throughout the year. We will be going to Germany in Dec '17 so I wonder if I should not switch to the SW Chase card and just continue to rack up UR points to help get some free flights.

Also both of these CC are under my name, currently no CC under my wife's name. She just uses another authorized card.

Thoughts? Recommendations?

I would get your wife a card in her own name to grab another 100k in ult rewards. As for getting to Germany, are you near a United Hub? If so, Chase Ult rewards are pretty awesome. If you plan to fly American or some other airline, its not as powerful, although you could pay cash for the flights and redeem UR points for hotel stays.

That said, companion pass for 2 years is a powerful incentive. If I were you I would build a spreasheet with approximate costs of travel over the next 2 years and then look at which option can reduce it the most.

Through United, fiancee and I both got first class (not business) tickets from Rome to DFW (via ORD) for 57,500 75k miles + $70 each. We could have gotten similar through British Airways, but we were force to travel through LHR and pay their ridiculous fees of $500 each.

How the heck did you get that? We are looking for some good flight deals to the main German airports but keep finding like 300K for one first class flight or something like that.

So just filtered through the last 3 months of statements for this credit card and I have received $530 worth of travel credits in 2016. Pretty sure the travel credit is only supposed to be up to $300.

Any one else have this problem?

Aglaw09 said:

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How the heck did you get that? We are looking for some good flight deals to the main German airports but keep finding like 300K for one first class flight or something like that.

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Searched United.com and found a deal. This is just one-way, for the record.

And just looked at my statement, it was 75k for First Class, 57,500 for business. So should edit the above. Treat yo'self.

Try searching for flights to/from Chicago, I found tons direct there, then figure it out from there about getting home.

Was going to say, pretty sure you can't get First Class for 57.5k on United.

Currently planning the honeymoon and looking to go Houston to Rome via United and Athens to Houston via Air France all in Business class for 240,000 points. That would normally cost $14,216 + $6,905 = 8.8 cents per point redemption. United Business class for that route is stupid expensive so if I just compare to the cheapest business class trip possible if paid cash, it's still 3.2 cents per point which is a pretty good value.

Wife is an Aggie said:

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So just filtered through the last 3 months of statements for this credit card and I have received $530 worth of travel credits in 2016. Pretty sure the travel credit is only supposed to be up to $300.

Any one else have this problem?

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2017 credits started with your December statement.

GarlandAg2012 said:

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Was going to say, pretty sure you can't get First Class for 57.5k on United.

Currently planning the honeymoon and looking to go Houston to Rome via United and Athens to Houston via Air France all in Business class for 240,000 points. That would normally cost $14,216 + $6,905 = 8.8 cents per point redemption. United Business class for that route is stupid expensive so if I just compare to the cheapest business class trip possible if paid cash, it's still 3.2 cents per point which is a pretty good value.

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Just looked and our flights were going to be $10,661 first class, one way. That's $10,521 difference in cash, and $0.07/mile value, which is fantastic.

Relevant for European Travel - cheap United flights to Vienna.

The current 100k sign up offer only good through 1/12 per Points Guy.

My wife and I currently use CSP for all of our purchases and have 71k points from when I redeemed them last July. I want to get the reserve, but not sure if we need to keep the CSP. Should I go down to the freedom? Do I just need to apply and call?

TKEAg04 said:

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My wife and I currently use CSP for all of our purchases and have 71k points from when I redeemed them last July. I want to get the reserve, but not sure if we need to keep the CSP. Should I go down to the freedom? Do I just need to apply and call?

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No reason to carry both cards unless you're still going for a minimum spend on the CSP. CSR is a superior card to CSP in every way.

Flaith said:

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TKEAg04 said:

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My wife and I currently use CSP for all of our purchases and have 71k points from when I redeemed them last July. I want to get the reserve, but not sure if we need to keep the CSP. Should I go down to the freedom? Do I just need to apply and call?

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No reason to carry both cards unless you're still going for a minimum spend on the CSP. CSR is a superior card to CSP in every way.

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I was just approved - should be getting the CSR in a couple of days. I added my wife as an authorized user - can she still apply and we have separate cards? We have always used the same card, but with her as an authorized user.

Yeah. I'd downgrade the Preferred to a Freedom or Freedom Unlimited then apply for the Reserve.

TKEAg04 said:

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Flaith said:

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TKEAg04 said:

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My wife and I currently use CSP for all of our purchases and have 71k points from when I redeemed them last July. I want to get the reserve, but not sure if we need to keep the CSP. Should I go down to the freedom? Do I just need to apply and call?

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No reason to carry both cards unless you're still going for a minimum spend on the CSP. CSR is a superior card to CSP in every way.

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I was just approved - should be getting the CSR in a couple of days. I added my wife as an authorized user - can she still apply and we have separate cards? We have always used the same card, but with her as an authorized user.

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You may have to remove her as an AU in order to apply for her to get her own CSR. Not sure. You might call and ask.

If it was me, I would probably take the wife off as an AU and get her her own. Put the $75 towards her $450 annual fee

Wife and I both approved last night for the Reserve card. Downgraded Sapphire Prefferred to Freedom Unlimited and are waiting to get those bonus points!

In regards to the Priority Pass, if you have a domestic flight out of IAH, can you still access the KLM and Air France lounges in terminal D?

Also, are charges for HCTRA still listed as NOT travel?

nm, not sure

Yes. I flew to Jackson, MS in November, and I spent a couple of hours in the KLM lounge catching a nice buzz

HCTRA posted as travel for me

You have the option to get TSA pre or Global Entry. Get Global Entry as it includes TSA pre so you will have both. You just have to wait awhile to get scheduled for a interview.

I got TSA pre so I'm stuck with it for 5 years unless I want to drop 100 for Global Entry. Did not do my research here at all.

Not the biggest deal since 80% of my travel in domestic but it would be nice to skip those immigration lines that take hours.

This may be a dumb question, but once you transfer points from hotel to SW do you actually get to use those points to books flights or does it just automatically go to the companion pass ticker?