At the end of May I performed my first app-o-rama of sorts, and received 4 new credit cards. One of the ones I received and only used for a singular purchase was the US Airways Dividend Miles card (http://www.mostmiles.com/apply/Landing.action?campaignId=1465&cellNumber=163) issued by Barclays. Now a little over a month after receiving the card, I received my 40,000 mile new customer bonus, and I was targeted for a special promotion.
Spend $750 in August, September, and October and earn a 15,000 mile bonus. Pair that bonus with the 2,250 miles from spend, and my account will walk away with an extra 17,250 miles in my account. Keep in mind, I just received 40,000 miles for opening the card. So I am thinking of starting my own experiments.
1) I want to see if other card issuers try and win my business by not using their card. Currently I have spend spread across almost all our cards from our Hawaii trip last month. So once I get them paid off, most will go into the safe to start the clock towards them enticing me back.
2) I want to evaluate the best options for meeting the $750 spend each month, while possibly doing it with as little out-of-pocket costs as possible. I have no desire to use the card just for the sake of using the card to earn miles, but if I can use the card doing things we would anyways, we will come out ahead.
What would be great is if US Airways would 100% bring back the Grand Slam promotion again this year. At this point, no one knows for sure if the GS will return this year. For a while it seemed discussions were still on track to have the promotion again this year, but I also have heard those conversations with US Airways stopped, so it is questionable now whether the promotion will happen again.
Personally, I think it would be a huge mistake on US Airways part not to bring the Grand Slam promotion back, as it is probably the single most discussed travel promotion of the year. It is fun, and rewarding for everyone involved.
So to get back on track, I am looking for any ideas on how to utilize the US Airways credit card to meet the $750 monthly spend, while hopefully not buying things I would not anyways.
My first goal is to try using Amazon Payments, sending money to a family member or friend for free using a credit card. I just set up an account, and have a $1,000 monthly limit, so hopefully I am able to knock off this easy promotion, making earning 15,000 bonus miles a pretty simple task.
As a reminder, Discover Card also provides a free service to send friends and family money for free, although the monthly limits are typically lower, $500/month. Still, I like earning $5 cashback or 500 miles each month.
Save Money, Travel More!