Crankin' Up The Points...FAST!

My girlfriend and I have been discussing a possible trip from LNK to WAS via CHI and NYP next summer around the 1st week of July. This is NOT a trip set in stone or anything. We want to take her two teenage girls with us as well. She recently applied and will recieve 5000 points for her new Chase AGR card. I will soon have around 40,000 points to cash in and that will pay for us to "get" to WAS via CHI and NYP but now we want to work on the return trip back to LNK via WAS on either the CL or Cardinal. What are some things you all have done to maximize points and to do it rather quickly? I was all fired up to switch to Verizon Cell Phones seeing the points with Verizon at the online mall, but thats just for home phone and I don't want to do that. My girlfriend has been looking at shoes at Shoebuy etc and is chomping at the bit to get her card so she can start to accumulate points. We are dead set against putting things on the card that can't be paid off at the end of the month. Just wondering what savvy little ideas that you all have done to accumulate points quickly. We need 35,000 points after she gets her card to pay for the trip back home to LNK. Thanks for your input!

Al

Well my solution wouldn't be of much help to you out there in the middle of the country, Al, sorry. In my case I'd take a few rides on Acela in First Class while a points promo was running like right now. One round trip to Boston with an overnight stay at a Hilton family hotel would net me 3,500 points.

rail rookie...

You guys are right, don't use your card just to get points. HOWEVER, if you normally pay off the card every month...then why not. From personal experience, I've set up automatic bill payments to monthly service bills (Directv, verizon internet)...things that normally would come out of my checking account every month. That way, why not make 100 points per month from stuff I was going to pay for anyways. The key is....still pay it off. It's easy for people to feel like they have more money b/c something is hitting their credit card instead of a checking account.

Also, buying things from retailers on the points-for-shopping site just buy..doesn't make sense. Again, like above, if there are things that are needed (like shoes/clothes/goods) then it makes sense. I usually go through the points for shopping site to see if any new mercharts are added. Things like BestBuy, Circuit City, Dicks, Gap, Old Navy, Target...these are places I normally go to...so why not order online if I can.

Up until last April I would/could pay my rent and utilities and get 1500 pts. a month, then immediatly pay that amount to the CC company. When AGR ended it relationship with BOA I charged 3 months in advance carrying that for two months so I did incur some finance charges but the point is well made by Mike S. the value in AGR points by credit card is NOT paying interest, but obtaining as many monthly points as possible on goods and services that you would purchase anyway for cash.

I'm still new to alot of this but I just tried to pay my house payment with my AGR CC. They wouldn't accept it over the phone. They told me that you can't pay a debt with a debt. I didn't understand that. Why would they care? If they get there money they get there money? I figured I would pay my house payment and then my escrow (it was short by $800) and rack up almost 2000 points, so this is to no avail now. I keep seeing where folks say, "pay all your bills with you CC and then pay off the balance" but seems to me the biggest debt I have (my house) I can't do it that way with. Does anyone else do this or is this more a WAMU (Washington Mutual) problem or a federal law? Thanks!

Al

Most banks won't accept credit cards for payment on debts. If I recall correctly, Countrywide is a major exception to that -- and we know how they're doing. The fact of the matter is that using a credit card to pay a debt doesn't necessarily pay it off; it just shuffles it around.

Now, what a lot of folks do is use a bill payment system associated with their card. Chase has one of these, but I don't know much about it; presumably, however, you wouldn't earn points using it.

I see some conflicting information on whether automatic bill pay will generate points. When I asked Amtrak about it they just referred me to Chase.

We just received our cards and haven't used them yet but the idea of putting the mortgate payment on it is great. I am trying to pay off the house so the payments are big right now.

Last month we took the SW Chief and Lakeshore Limited to NY and back. We are sold on train travel even though our air travel is free.