50,000 Bonus Miles
This new Cardmember bonus offer is not available to either (i) current Cardmembers of this consumer credit card, or (ii) previous Cardmembers of this consumer credit card who received a new Cardmember bonus for this consumer credit card within the last 24 months. With this bonus offer you will qualify and receive 50,000 bonus miles after you make Purchases totaling $2,000 or more during the first 3 months from account opening. ("Purchases" do not include balance transfers, cash advances, cash-like charges such as travelers checks, foreign currency, and money orders, any checks that access your account, overdraft advances, interest, unauthorized or fraudulent charges, or fees of any kind, including an annual fee, if applicable.) After qualifying, please allow 6 to 8 weeks for bonus miles to post to your account. To be eligible for this bonus offer, account must be open and not in default at the time of fulfillment. Bonus miles do not count towards Premier status. If your account is not open for at least six months, United and Chase reserve the right to deduct the bonus miles from your MileagePlus Program account.
5,000 Bonus Miles
This new Cardmember bonus offer is not available to either (i) current Cardmembers of this consumer credit card, or (ii) previous Cardmembers of this consumer credit card who received a new Cardmember bonus for this consumer credit card within the last 24 months. With this bonus offer you will qualify and receive 5,000 bonus miles after your First Purchase and addition of an authorized user to your account; both must occur during the first 3 months from account opening. 5,000 bonus miles will only be awarded once, for the first authorized user added to your account regardless of how many total authorized users you add to your account. ("First Purchase" does not include balance transfers, cash advances, cash-like charges such as travelers checks, foreign currency, and money orders, any checks that access your account, overdraft advances, interest, unauthorized or fraudulent charges, or fees of any kind, including an annual fee, if applicable.) After qualifying, please allow 6 to 8 weeks for bonus miles to post to your account. These miles do not count toward Premier status. If your account is not open for at least six months, United and Chase reserve the right to deduct the bonus miles from your MileagePlus Program account.
Some concept clarification:- "new card member bonus within the last 24 months" - If you forget the exact dates you received the bonus last time (like we did), log into your United MileagePlus account and search account history. If there is no United Airlines bonus from Chase within the last 24 months, then your account is eligible again.
- "from account opening (date)" - This is the date Chase approves your UA credit card application. We do not exactly have 3 months to spend $2,000, because it typically takes 7-10 business days to receive the card after application is approved.
- "authorized user to your account" - An authorized card user is different than a joint account card user. Near the end of the Chase credit card application form, it would ask you whether you want to add an authorized card user. Unlike American Express or Barclay authorized card user, Chase authorized card has the same credit card and 3-digit secret key as the primary credit card. In other words, Chase can not differentiate whether a purchase is done by the authorized card holder or primary card holder. So this 5K points is a freebie. This authorized card however does affect the authorized card user's FICO score. I believe the best candidate for an authorized user is someone you know who does not care about their FICO score for the next 12 months. Both authorized and primary cards are mailed to the primary card holder's mailing address. In my case, it would be my grandma or parents.
How to be eligible to receive the 50,000 Bonus Miles promotion
It looks like the promotion this time is available for UA member who has at least 30K miles in their United MileagePlus account. The easiest way used to be transfer from Chase Sapphire Preferred card 40,000 + 5,000 Bonus UR points. But now Chase has the 5 cards/24 months rule for approving new Chase Sapphire/Ink/Freedom cards. For some people, the easiest way would be to open a Fidelity brokerage account with 50,000 Bonus Miles (my review). Or, if time is on your side and you are new to the credit card sign-up magic, the following steps are worth considering,
- Wait for Chase Freedom $200 bonus promotion and you apply for it.
- Sometimes there is the Chase Freedom referral bonus $50 or 5,000 UR points. But not every Chase Freedom card holder is eligible to offer this referral.
- Your spouse apply for Chase Freedom for $200 (20,000 UR) bonus promotion.
- Six months later, you apply for Chase Sapphire Preferred for the 40,000 Bonus UR points.
- Again, you can try to refer your spouse for the $50 or 5,000 UR points
- Your spouse apply for Chase Sapphire Preferred for 40,000 Bonus UR points.
- Link Chase Freedom credit card of your spouse to your Chase Sapphire account. Chase allows transfer of UR points between two spouses, not among relatives. So you should be able to see 120k UR points under your CSP account (20k + 20k + 40k + 40k) after all the linking and transferring. Now you can transfer 30k or 120k into your United MileagePlus account
- Another 6-8 months later, you can apply for the United MileagePlus 50,000 bonus miles. You should receive a promotion email by then.
Chase usually does not approve two Chase credit cards within a 90 days period. I added "usually", because there are always exception. But I do not like to plan for exception.
Is United Airlines 50,000 bonus miles worth my effort
If used in redeeming international flight ticket, mathematically, 50k UA miles would worth about $900-$1000. For example, Taiwan Eva Air between Taipei and SFO one-way coach class requires 35k UA miles. This one-way ticket would price about $600-$700 in Kayak.com. By the way, the bonus miles earned from credit card sign-up bonuses are NON-TAXABLE.
There is a better offer 50,000 UA bonus miles + $50 statement credit
This has always been the case for United Airlines and Alaska Airlines. Just try to book a flight within the United Airlines website. Before you select a flight, there is always an ad for the statement credit.
Chase has approved Isa's new United MileagePlus card this time. A call to Chase United Airlines customer support confirmed that Isa is indeed eligible for the 50,000 Bonus Miles and $50 statement credit. To be safe, Isa received her Chase UA bonus last time 26 months ago. Also differently this time, she plans to keep using this UA card for 2 years before canceling it, to build an excellent card relationship with Chase.
Going Forward ... A Small Change in Strategy
Isa and I gladly wrapped up our credit card sign-ups for 2015 with this Chase United MileagePlus card 50,000 bonus miles. We have a few reasons,
- Due to Chase's new 5 cards/24 months rule, it seems like an excellent transition to start practicing only 5 new cards for every 24 months period. I plan to apply only those cards with at least 50k bonus miles, preferably 100k bonus miles ones. I am fine to apply fewer than 5 cards.
- We want Isa's FICO score to boost up to above 780 for excellent home mortgage rate for most lenders, in case a home refinance, or another house investment, or a new car finance is needed. We have learned that a better lender typically has higher FICO score requirement. She may not apply any credit cards for the next 24 months. Her current FICO score is 710. My FICO is fortunately still 780.
- Isa and I have saved sufficient frequent flyer points and miles. It is time to redeem them for good fun and share our experience.
- Instead of spend more efforts to earn miles/points, how about finding sustainable ways to increase household income 10% in 2016, and use that extra money to purchase flight tickets and hotel nights. I have been reading and learning more about financial investment.
Wish me luck, so I can share good news in 2016. 8-)
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