Disclaimer
This is the quarterly post on how many points I collected in the previous quarter. This is NOT a brag and moan post. This was the impetus of this entire blog; so I could track how many miles and points I earn in a year. Some of you may do a lot less than this; some may do a lot more. Do what you feel is comfortable. Don’t overextend yourself just so you get similar numbers or whatnot. Remember cashback numbers are also gross, not net.
Recap
With so many MS avenues drying up, these days, I just try to stick to scalable opportunities because we’re all on borrowed time at this point. I had to offset the costs of these points by using cashback cards as well, but I’ve removed them from the post. I’ve definitely switched to cashback more these days; probably a 75%/25% split towards cash. I don’t resell anymore and don’t even bother to track portals anymore (if it works, great, if not, I’ll just move on.) It could be just my old age getting lazy. I’ve also excluded Amex Offers from this as well just because it’s tracked separately and I’m too lazy to add it up now. Will do that in the year end recap.
| AIR | 9,969 | Portal | Spend |
| Alaska | 4,984 | 0 | 4,984 |
| American | 4,984 | 0 | 4,984 |
| Delta | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Southwest | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| United | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| HOTEL | 589,278 | Portal | Spend |
| Fairmont | 7,477 | 7,477 | |
| Hilton | 217,933 | 217,933 | |
| Starwoods | 363,869 | 363,869 | |
| BANK | 180,457 | Portal | Spend |
| AMEX MR | 24,922 | 24,922 | |
| Chase UR | 102,630 | 0 | 102,630 |
| Citi TYP | 0 | 0 | |
| Flexperks | 27,983 | 27,983 | |
| Merrell | 24,922 | 24,922 |
And with that much spend on SPG, how are you not getting shut down? Any tips to avoid shutdown and how to rack up that amount? Are you doing Money Orders?
Have any plans for the SPG points – I am assuming transfers for a majority of them.
Nah just stocking up. Most likely will NOT transfer since my balances are healthy.
Please don’t answer if this is just too nosey, but if you’ve quit reselling, what are you doing instead?
pure MS
I distinctly remembered you writing a post discouraging the accrual of Hilton Points…what changed!
Haha for my last 2 stays, I’ve noticed Diamond does get treated better than Gold, so I’m MS’ing mostly for the status.
dont have the amex surpass at the moment, but do you know how Citi tolerates cycling credit? thinking about doing the same for the citi reserve despite it being suboptimal cpp wise
I wouldn’t cycle with Citi
The first 10k is a good investment on the Reserve at least.
I get that, similar pursuit with Marriott.
How about also quantifying the cost of generation? Don’t necessarily have to divulge methods, but end cpp/m?
it’s safe to assume a .8cpp
Yeah, nice SPG haul!!! Was there a special situation in Q1 for these SPG? Looks pretty daunting even w/ a couple high CL cards for 1x spent.
Nope, the old fashioned way at 1X
What are your costs for the manufactured spend? Obviously you’re not spending $363k.
see other comment thread
And does the SPG Pajama trick still work?
I forgot what that trick was, so I’m guessing NO.
Cpp is now .8cpp with it…
which one?
I responded to stalker and said it costs me about .8cpp
typical GC.com to serve/BB or MO route? how much MO volume do you do per day?
Did you get back into chase for UR or is that through a family member? Nice SPG haul!
I am guessing you are going for the 50k spend with ML?
family member. And yeah, I’m going for the 50K on ML
Are you going for the Delta Lounge membership or the travel credit?
Delta lounge. It’s really irrational since I only forsee myself going there 4 times for the rest of the year and it’s only marginally better than Centurion. Who knows… I may switch to travel credit instead.