AirTran Credit Card

AirTran Wendy’s Cup Deal is Back

AIRTRAN AIRWAYS WENDY'S FLY-THRU DRIVE-THRU

Wendy serves a meal to a pilot as AirTran Airways, The Coca-Cola Company and Wendy’s International, Inc., today conducted the world’s first fly-thru drive-thru with the airline’s Boeing 737 aircraft at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. (Credit: (www.sawfnews.com/Lifestyle/3805.aspx))

Back in late 2005, AirTran and Wendy’s fast food chain ran one of the greatest promotions that I have ever taken part in. You simply collected specially marked Wendy’s drink cups, and for each 64 coupons, you received a free roundtrip airfare ticket anywhere AirTran flies. Therefore, after collecting 128 cups, one could earn 2 free flights. The madness of the promotion caused people everywhere to dumpster dive and collect as many free cups as they could. One man’s trash is another man’s ticket to paradise.

As soon as I heard of the promotion, I carefully crafted a plan with my sister and brother-in-law to drive around to each of the Wendy’s locations around us and legitimately purchase cups. Some of the locations looked at us weird when we wanted to purchase hundreds of cups. Some even said they could not sell us just the cups and would have to fill each of them with a beverage. Luckily, we all put on our thinking caps and headed down to the lower income neighborhoods during the evening hours, where workers would be more lackadaisical.

All in, I think we spent maybe $75 each on our 64 cups/flight, resulting in hundreds of dollars in value of free flights. Those credits were later used for a Las Vegas trip and a flight to Florida for a cruise with my soon-to-be wife. Oh, the loveliness of travel and how it connects us all!

So now that I have told you the history of the AirTran/Wendy’s program, you want to know the details of the return of the program. Well actually, the new version of the program is changed a little bit. No longer will you need to cut out cup coupons. Instead, it all comes in the form of a piece of plastic.

AirTran Credit Card

The AirTran credit card, offered by Chase, is currently offering 32 free credits (enough for two free flights) after $2,000 in spend within 3 months. The $69 annual fee is not waived the first year, making this cheaper than buying the Wendy’s cups.

The AirTran offer is important for two reasons.

1) The typical offer for the AirTran credit card is only 16 credits (one flight), making this offer a significant improvement.

2) AirTran is in the process of being merged with Southwest Airlines. While there will significant work done to combine the brands in 2013, Southwest does not plan to be fully integrate with AirTran until 2014. However, this means that eventually, the AirTran products could go away. So it is up to you when will be the perfect time to pull the trigger on getting the AirTran branded cards.

So while the Wendy’s offer is not back in the traditional sense, the credit card is offering the same benefits as the cups. Which would you prefer, dumpster diving or smart credit management?

Southwest is also currently offering 50,000 Rapid Reward points (enough for two free flights, or over $800 in Wanna Get Away fares) after spending $2,000 in 3 months via the Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards® Premier Card ($99 annual fee not waived the first year) and the Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Plus Credit Card ($69 annual fee not waived the first year). Add in a Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Premier Business Card ($99 annual fee not waived the first year) or Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Plus Business Card ($69 annual fee not waived the first year). This means you can earn over 200,000 Rapid Reward points just from the Southwest credit cards.

TIP: Want your partner to fly with you for free all year? Then earn a total of 110,000 Rapid Reward points in a calendar year, and earn a free companion pass. The Companion Pass is valid from the date you earn 110,000 Companion Pass qualifying points up to the end of the following calendar year. So if you earned the Companion Pass right now, it would be valid until the end of 2014.

Did you know you can now redeem your credits for flights on both AirTran Airways and Southwest Airlines?

The combined benefit of using both AirTran credits and Southwest points towards travel is huge. When Continental was being combined with United, and we could freely move our miles back and forth, it became a big benefit at times during the merger.

However, there are some important conversion benefits to understand between the different programs.

Southwest Rewards, prior to March 1, 2011, used to issue Rapid Rewards in the form of credits, just like AirTran does currently. After the above date, the new program issued Rapid Rewards in the form of points. So it is possible that you could have both credits and/or points sitting in your account.

Now that Southwest and AirTran are merged, you can combine your accounts to link to each other, allowing easy moving back and forth of credits and points. So how does all of that convert between accounts?

  • 1 Rapid Rewards credit = 1 A+ credit
  • 1,200 Rapid Rewards points = 1 A+ credit
  • 1 Southwest Standard Award (two one-ways) = 16 A+ credits
  • 1 A+ credit converts = 1 Rapid Rewards credit
  • 32 A+ credits or 32 Rapid Rewards credits = roundtrip ticket with either partner

This is where it pays to pay attention to how much tickets cost by purchasing them outright versus using points or credit. With some simple comparisons of using credits versus points, one can convert and actually come out ahead compared to buying the ticket outright.

We have no financial relationship with Chase. These are the best current offers we are aware of, and think they can greatly benefit families looking to stretch their travel dollars.

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Using Chase Sapphire to Golf with the Pros

While I do enjoy a casual game of golf maybe once per year, I am not your avid golf fan or enthusiast. When I travel, the first thing that does not come to my mind is what courses are within driving distance (no pun intended). However, I respect that there is a huge portion of the population and really enjoys their time out on the golf course.

This Wednesday (February 27, 2013) at 11:00 am, the Chase Sapphire card will release exclusive golf packages to courses all across the country with the pros.

Visit www.chasesapphire.com/golf for all of the details.

Chase Sapphire Golf 2013 Promo

The three packages that are available with this release are as follows.

Champion Golf Club with Webb Simpson
Monday, April 1
Houston, TX

Aronimink Golf Club with Webb Simpson
Monday, May 20
Newton Square, PA

Robert Trent Jones Golf Club with Webb Simpson
Monday, June 17
Gainesville, VA

Additional packages will be released for sale on May 22, 2013 at 11:00 am.

Sherwood Country Club with Stewart Cink
Monday, July 29
Thousand Oaks, CA

East Lake Golf Club with Stewart Cink
Monday, August 19
Atlanta, GA

Rich Harvest Farms with Webb Simpson
Monday, September 9
Sugar Grove, IL

All packages cost 70,000 Ultimate Reward points or $700 for a twosome. If you are flush with points, you can redeem up to two packages (foursome).

Your purchase will include an exclusive walking clinic with the Pro; 18 holes of golf on a world-class course; closest to the pin contest with the Pro; photo opportunity with the Pro; video analysis of golf swing; and breakfast, lunch and cocktail reception.

While I think the majority of people would rather use their points towards travel or even gift cards, I am sure there are a select group of people that would jump at the chance for one of these opportunities.

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We have no financial relationship with Chase, so none of the links above offer us a commission.

AMEX Premier Gold Card

50,000 AMEX Membership Reward Points with the Premier Rewards Gold Card

Last week we brought to you some pretty great offers for the Blue Cash Preferred, Blue Cash Everyday, and Delta Skymiles credit cards. As of this posting, those offers are still available via the CreditCards.com match tool.

Simply enter in your name and address, and the system pairs you with the best targeted offer. As I mentioned last time, there is no need to enter in your social security number at this point of the application process.

AMEX Premier Gold 50000 Offer

Last night I was fortunate enough to be targeted for an exclusive offer of the American Express® Premier Rewards Gold Card. Normally, the best offer that I can offer through our affiliate channel is for 25,000 Membership Reward points after spending $2,000 in 3 months. However, through the exclusive CreditCards.com link, we can now earn 50,000 Membership Rewards points for only $1,000 spend in 3 months. Double the fun for half the price.

The American Express® Premier Rewards Gold Card also offers triple points on airfare, double points on gasoline at U.S. stand-alone gas stations, double points at U.S. stand-alone supermarkets, and single points on other purchases.

Another cool feature is anytime you book two consecutive hotel nights through American Express Travel, you receive $75 back at checkout.

The $175 annual fee on both versions is waived the first year.

AMEX Premier Gold Card

Personally, I am new to the American Express product line, having just opened our first AMEX last year, which was the Hilton HHonors card. However, I have been aching to get a hold of an AMEX offering Membership Rewards points.

Why would American Express Membership Rewards points excite me?

You can redeem Membership Rewards for merchandise, gift cards, or even towards the cost of a revenue flight (i.e. purchasing a flight through AMEX and applying your points towards the purchase at a ratio of typically 1:1). However, the best value comes in the form of transferring them to airline reward programs and then using the miles towards high level redemptions.

Currently the AMEX Membership Rewards program is partnered with the following airline programs:

  • AeroMexico
  • Aeroplan
  • Alitalia Airlines
  • All Nippon Airways
  • Asia Miles
  • British Airways
  • Delta Air Lines
  • EL AL Israel Airlines
  • Flying Blue
  • Frontier Airlines
  • Hawaiian Airlines
  • Iberia Plus
  • JetBlue Airways®
  • Singapore Airlines
  • Virgin America
  • Virgin Atlantic Airways

That means if any of your above accounts fall short on miles, you can transfer them accordingly.

I really want to apply for this card, but the limited domestic travel options worries me. Our family has not ventured much outside of the U.S., and with 3 kids in the next coming months, I am not sure we will anytime soon. It looks like we will be passing on this offer, but for those of you that can use the points/miles, this is a great deal.

The offer for the American Express® Premier Rewards Gold Card through CreditCards.com is NOT our affiliate offer, but the best offer that we are aware of currently.

Save Money, Travel More!