Shortly after Jenn signed up for the Chase Ink Unlimited card, they changed their sign up bonus. It had been $750 back after spending $7,500 within 3 months. The new offer was $900 after spending $6,000 in the first 3 months. The first reaction I had was “You gotta be kidding me! We missed it by a couple weeks!” Then I heard from a number of bloggers and podcasts that Chase was basically letting everyone level up their bonus if they just asked. So we just sent them an email asking for them to give us the new deal. The response was that if we met the original requirement, $7,500 spending in 3 months, then they would up the bonus to $900. It wasn’t as good as the $6,000 spend requirement, but I’ll take it. Chase, in my opinion, was very generous in giving their customers something that they had no obligation to do. It was a very classy move, in my opinion.
Why does Chase Sapphire Preferred hate me?
We had been talking about trying to bulk up our cash so that we could lessen cost of our spending in Europe. Our strategy was that since I was already at 4/24 and I would only be allowed one more Chase card anyway, that I would get one more Chase card and then start getting cash back cards. So I applied for the Chase card that I wanted more than any Chase card – The Chase Sapphire Preferred. I was denied. It was actually the second time I was denied for that card. The first time, they sent me an invitation with an elevated signup bonus and then proceeded to deny me. Chase Sapphire Preferred, you are a tease. It’s the only card I’ve been denied for, and I’ve been denied twice. My suspicion about why I’ve been denied twice is that I hadn’t waited long enough between new credit cards, but, it’s hard to know.
Anyway, on to the point check!
I spent $200 on my Citi Premier card and received around 300 Citi points. I was still getting 10x on gas on my United Explorer card so I was using that more. I spent $700 on that card and received 3,400 miles. Jenn was using just her Ink Unlimited card and spent $4,200 and received around 6,300 points.
We finished the month with 20,500 Citi points, 36,000 United miles, 49,000 Marriott Bonvoy points, 1,400 Hyatt points and 10,600 Ultimate Reward points.
Newby to Expert Traveler 