Chase Continental Debit Card Deal 2011 NOT

January 15, 2011 - Rick

The first indications I’ve found regarding the continuation of our 50,000 per year gravy train are not good. In the past we could sign up for one personal and one business checking account and debit card and receive 25,000 Continental miles for performing the minimal tasks associated with the offer. I found a 2011 web page and the terms are significantly different.

It appears now that the debit card/checking account combo pays 2,500 miles per debit card with a limit of three additional users per account. That would be 10,000 miles for $100 in debit card fees. I have not found new info for 2011 for the business account yet.

I am assuming this information to be the latest as the copyright info in the lower right hand corner of the page and the terms and conditions page show the year of copyright as 2011.

Here is the link I found.

I hope someone can prove me wrong and we find a comparable offer for 2011.

Update Greg sent me the link with the defininitive answer “NO” about the third paragraph down. Oh well. Nice while it lasted. Link

Anonymous

I use awardwallet.com to track all of my ff points. Great website that can also keep track of all expiration dates if you become a Plus member. – KD G.
Anonymous

Welcome Shannon!
Chris Darland

Welcome here! We all have been helped so much by what your step-dad has taught us, so it'll be fun to see what you can come up with! My suggestion as to which programs to join: most of them! (Well, the major ones anyway.) It seems like there are always "specials" that come up, and if I'm already signed up, it's pretty easy to jump on something. Without an account already, there's sometimes a mental "wall" that I won't break, even though it might be lucrative. I'd focus on air and hotel, though I don't know your travel habits.
I'd also second the comment about Award Wallet and Mileage Manager – we've got both.
Anonymous

Rookie Tips:
Welcome! Rick has been my morning read for a long time.

First tip is for the Rookie, when you blog & have steps for the reader to follow such as leaving a comment, use bullets or numbers so the reader can easily see it. I almost missed "……to include your first name and last name initial along with the Heading Rookie Tips to qualify for the prizes." Andy G
2mg of FT

I tell anyone looking for tickets to avoid the use of Orbitz, Expedia or any of those other travel websites and head to http://matrix.itasoftware.com to search for fares.

I like the structure of the site, as well as the ability to play around with different airlines/depart/arrival times. The site gives the reader a great overview of the lowest ticket price and they can take it from there.

You can't purchase the tickets on on the matrix, but everyone should start their travel game plan here!
Anonymous

Shannon, one recommenation, which is not to be taken critically but only as a suggestion: For future blogs please drop the use of the word "guys". Thanks —-
Mary L

My first tip I'd give someone starting out is to be organized about it. I maintain a spreadsheet of which cards I applied for, when I applied for them, the sign-up bonus, which credit agency it hit, etc. This helps me know which other cards I can apply for and when I need to cancel my cards before getting hit with an annual fee.
Anonymous

Oh! I missed the whole "heading, first name last initial" thing! Please include mine with "rookie tips"!
Chris D.
Miles

Hey Shannon,

Gently disagreeing with a previous commenter, I like the use of the word "Guys" as the solution to the problem of what to call a mixed-gender group of people.

I also like Award Wallet.

And I'm surprised that nobody else is excited about the 50K BA mile promotion for getting a Visa card and doing $2500 spend. The link is toward the bottom of the aging 100,000 mile BA card thread on FT.
David

Welcome to the team Shannon! One tip that I always give to my friends who are travel novices trying to use points is to know the rules of your program inside and out so you can get the most out of it!
Khalil

Welcome to FTG world Shannon!
kim

**ROOKIE TIPS** From Kim Rock
Hi Shannon!
Here are my tips for you:
1. Use AwardWallet to track your miles/get auto updates on additions/subtractions.
2. Create a spreadsheet with the following: date card applied for, approved or not approved, name of card, bonus potential, when you hit the bonus, and if the pts were awarded. You can also add a column for which credit reporting co this card goes through, that way you can track your inquiries at the same time. With this spreadsheet you will always know which bonuses you are trying to hit, how far away you are, and if they have been issued yet. I also tend to highlite those cells the color GREEN when they are active, YELLOW once I have hit the spend limit and can discontinue use but have not gotten my award pts yet, and RED once everything is finally complete and I can close/transfer the account.

Lastly, don't let random anonymous comments by people bother you .. you can't please everyone, but you will please a majority of the readers most of the time and thats what matters
Jonathan

I will start with the tip that earned me 'Frugal Travel Guy of the day' honors. ALWAYS take advantage of free hotel promotion status, e.g. a recent free Marriott Gold and Priority Platinum. THEN if you book a stay at a competitor, leverage the free status (just call customer service and ask for a status match). Because of Hyatt's free Platinum last year, I have gold or better status at no less than five brands… SPG Gold, Hilton Gold, BW Diamond, Priority Platinum, Marriott Gold, Raddison. NOW I have a job with travel involved, and I'm already Gold before I stay in a Dayton Hilton for 26 nights.
FrugalTravelGuy

Hello Guys and Gals Just checking in on Shannon's first day on the job. Here is the thngs I've noticed.

1. I will be deleting any comments regarding Shannon's personal life,, bikini shots, marital status etc.

2. Of the comments I've seen so far only Kim Rock and Andy G are the only one that have qualified for contest consideration.

Remember our goal is to catalog these Rookie Tips and we have some simple parameters to start with:
a. Label the comment "Rookie Tips"
b. Include your first name and last initial at least.

Shannon and Hdawg will come up with a spot on the blog for all our future Rookie Tips

We also need to be able to contact the winners in the future to get them their gift card.

3. As I expected some of the tips are reminders for the more seasoned readers. For some reason I watch our my program balances myself when I could have Awardwallet doing it for me. Duh?? Guess it is about time to sign up.
IPBrian

Just a comment…as a Rookie myself, I am so excited you are doing this Shannon! We rookies can use all the help we can get.

I have wanted to travel more for years now and have always put it off because of the expense. I am learning now from the folks here that I have been missing out for no good reason.
J

Welcome Shannon! I'm really excited about this weekly post that you're undertaking! I'm absolutely new to this and could use any help. Keep the posts coming and I am looking forward to the reorganization of the blog (no offense to you ofcourse Rick!).
J

Rookie tips:

Even though I'm new at this, and since this is a rookie post, I'd like to offer a suggestion of coming up with a place you'd love to visit and the number of miles it would take to visit such a place. Someone once said that you can't hit a target you cannot see. So come up with a destination (and allow yourself to dream a little!) and the miles required, and enjoy the journey of collecting the miles and getting there for free

Julian M.
doonya

Rookie Tip: When collecting miles/points, setup a goal and work towards that goal by acquiring ALL or as many credit cards that will allow you to put points into that. It will keep things organized, will get you the reward trip faster! For example: I want to fly to Europe in an executive class. By choosing an airline FF program that has their own co-branded credit card, and OTHER credit cards that will allow me to dump those points into MY frequent flier program of choice, I will get those points faster for my goal. Don't just sign up for EVERY airline's credit card…you will take a hit on your credit score AND limit yourself to the number of cards, perhaps.
Faith

ROOKIE TIPS

Hello Shannon,
I'm excited to hear your comments and tips this year. I've been reading Rick's blog every post since 2010 when I found him. I'm a stay-at-home mom who loves to travel whenever money allows. This blog has helped me & my little family afford to travel so much more. I'm saving up miles right now for 4 free tickets to Europe for our next European holiday. The Citibank AA 75,000 deal which I did 2 cards gave me a great start if we fly economy. We just went to Germany last fall with miles that Rick and this blog helped us find and earn. So thankful. Can't say enough!
Anyway….I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts. Have fun!
My top recommendation is also Award Wallet. I don't know what I'd do without it. 1 click and I have all my balances at my finger tips.

Faith C
Anonymous

**ROOKIE TIPS** From Megan J

Check your credit report often, so you can monitor your credit score and make sure all the credit cards you are applying for are not impacting it in a way that you don't want. I use CreditKarma.com to check my TransUnion score for free and it also give great info about the score itselft.

You can also use AnnualCreditReport.com to check your reports (not scores) from all three bureaus one time per year. So you could check Experian in January, then Transunion in May, then Equifax in September for example.

Also, if you ever get declined for a credit card you can usually check the credit report from the declining bureau for free.

I know there are credit score agencies listed on the blog. I have also used IdentityGuard.com for their free trial and I have liked them.

I am happy you are joining the team, Shannon. I look forward to your insights.
Anonymous

To my dear step sister, When are you going to come to Australia? If you do, my "Rookie Tips" is to make friends with the flight staff. I almost always do. It "paid" off when returning to Australia with nearly $20 worth of Japanese Yen in my pocket. I asked one of the flight staff if they wanted to trade AUD for JPY. They needed the Yen the next week and I lucked out by coming home with a $20 AUD note and not hand full of coins. Every little bit helps.
Ed

ROOKIE TIPS from ed

It's helps to categorize the various programs out there into ones that you want to hit first (the low hanging fruit) versus the ones you think are 2nd or 3rd tier. For example, the Citi card 75K offer is "tier 1", while BigCrumbs Amex card purchases are (arguably) "tier 3".

I think newbies would like to have such a list of tier1 versus others. I wish I had something like this–heck, I STILL wish I had it and I've been hacking for a couple of years now–so I could measure the time-to-benefit cost of each of the new, sometimes crazy, programs I encounter.

If you have time to site down with Rick and get him to categorize all those offers, I think it would make for a great post.
ed

rick/shannon, i dont know how to log in to leave a comment and give you my identity with just my yahoo email account. (I think ViewFromWing let's me do this…maybe it is something you can turn on?)

ed
Dave H.

Rookie Tips

Awardwallet.com is a must. I've been doing this 6 years, and have no idea how I lasted the first 5 without it.

Especially compelling is the "when they expire" feature.
Tammy

"Rookie Tips" – by Tammy K.

Hi Shannon – From one Rookie to another! I'm one of those long time lurkers, first time poster with this being my first post.

I've come across these tips in a magazine, so it might help a few people out there who don't know about the websites already:

http://www.freefrequentflyermiles.com/index.htm. I've found some FF miles that I was able to snag from this site.

http://www.evreward.com/store
Website I can go to if I wish to use my miles for rewards.

http://www.zoombu.co.uk/
door-to-door route from your home to your destination

http://www.hopstop.com/
Transit & walking directions from certain cities….

Just a few sites I've read about. FWIW …. Tammy
FrugalTravelGuy

THE ROOKIE!!!

Thank you all so much for your great tips. I am starting to use then right now. I love reading your advice, and I cannot wait to get better at this frugal travel thing. I will reveal the finalist tip weekly with my Friday posts. Sorry if anything was unclear about how to submit a tip. Title them "Rookie Tip" and Leave me your first name and last initial at the end. Thank you all for your love and tips.

- Shannon
Mike D

Rookie Tips:

I don't use a spreadsheet, but do record on paper when my wife and I apply for credit cards. This helps me monitor when I can reapply.
As for what program to join, I would say that SPG (Starwood Preferred Guest) should be the 1st. I recommend the starwood amex. SPG has favorable redemption for hotels and a good bonus to transfer to airlines.

Mike D
Jonathan

I'll try again in the qualifying format:
*Rookie Tips* from Jonathan H

I will start with the tip that earned me 'Frugal Travel Guy of the day' honors. ALWAYS take advantage of free hotel promotion status, e.g. a recent free Marriott Gold and Priority Platinum. THEN if you book a stay at a competitor, leverage the free status (just call customer service and ask for a status match). Because of Hyatt's free Platinum last year, I have gold or better status at no less than five brands… SPG Gold, Hilton Gold, BW Diamond, Priority Platinum, Marriott Gold, Raddison. NOW I have a job with travel involved, and I'm already Gold before I stay in a Dayton Hilton for 26 nights.
Sam

Rookie Tips:

As a rookie know the main carrier out of your home airport, more often then not you will be flying by that carrier. Getting the branded card for that airline will get plenty of bonus miles and also most of the cards offer double miles for the booking amount if done on the carrier website. Combine this with hotel and car rentals and the miles will add up fast.
Michael W.

Rookie Tip from Michael W.

Great to have you posting!

While I don't know a fraction of what Rick and the folks at Flyertalk know, I have become somewhat of a mileage/points "counselor" to colleagues and friends… so…

Rookie Tip: When first starting out, people tend to join *every* frequent flyer program, and then credit their miles to that airline. Best practice: Pick one airline in each of major Alliances (Star, Oneworld, Skyteam), and credit the paid miles there. It helps ith becoming a flyer with "Elite Status" sooner. Example: Star Alliance has 3 US airlines: United, USAirways, and Continental. Pick one of the 3, and anytime you set foot on any of the above airlines credit your "butt in seat" miles to your chosen program. Rookies seem to be hesitant to tell USAirways to credit miles to United. But many people do…and they're used to it

Caveat to the above: Rick shows people how to collect miles in many programs. It's ok to have more than one account per alliance to collect BONUS points, which is what you get from credit card offers. But again, miles from actually FLYING should be credited to just ONE airline in an alliance.
Anonymous

Rookie Tip:

Sign up for rewards programs even if you don't think you'll be getting any significant points. I signed up for Priority Club to get 100 points for some survey and ended up getting targeted for one of their promotions – I'm now 180,000 points richer, due to the promotion, have platinum status through the end of 2012, and it is paying for most of my hotels on a trip to Europe this summer.

Kyle V.
Anonymous

Haha! Welcome to Ingy's world!

I am a senior citizen and I just started playing this game. I would advise young people that this is like retirement planning; the sooner you start, the better off you will be in the game over the long haul. But, please don't let yourselves get caught up and lose control in the excitement of the moment. We are not actually getting something for nothing; we are getting something for something. And if for example, we are spending money that should be savings in our "emergency account" on mileage runs; when that "emergency" comes around, we will not truly be ahead in the game of life.
I would also tell young people to read and learn all they can about this game; but in the end it is less about right and wrong than it is about finding and developing your own personal style.
And per Ingy's guidelines for this thread; I will decline to post my bikini shot.
Happy years of safe travel to all young persons.
Frequent flyer junkie

Welcome Shannon!
Rookie Tips:
1. First thing you should do is get organized. create spreadsheets and write everything down.I have a huge file folder with tabs and everytime I open a credit card or checking account, it has all the information in that file folder. (example: my name, CHASE, Checking account, date opened)
2. Make sure you are a member of all US carriers in all the major alliances (star, one world,skyteam)and also any carrier that interests you (like my husband is from Chile, so we do LAN), that way, when a DEAL comes around, you already have your account and passcode ready.
3. Choose and tier your 3 favorite airlines in each alliance (look at hubs closest to you). These will be your target airlines to do DEALS with.

Also when you are paying for a ticket, make sure you have your miles posted only to your number one carrier, so you can rack up points in that one airline.

4. Choose at least 3 hotel programs and join them, getting your account number and passcodes. I am sure you know about STARWOOD and their great rewards tranfer program with 5,000 additional miles for every 20,000 tranferred.
5. Start monitoring your credit report. Others gave you some links to choose from. You need to know: when you applied for a credit card, what you got for doing so, if you accomplished "the spend" or hoop they wanted you to jump through, where they pulled the credit report from (experian, tranunion, etc.,) if your points posted and when is the right time to cancel the card. (making sure you call to see if they will waive the next years fee and/or give you more points for staying with the card, then cancelling anyway.
6. Once you have all your air and hotel programs and info, join AWARDWALLET.COM. and put all of those account numbers and passcodes in there. I can't live without it.
7. Everything you are doing for you, do for your husband (and kids if you have any) that way you can set the whole family up with miles for family trips.
8. Monitor DAILY:
frugaltravelguy.blogspot.com
freefrequentflyermiles.com
boardingarea.com

flyertalk to me is a bit more complicated and you have to search alot to get the answer to your questions, so ask Rick to show you around this site.
9. Use your credit reports to determine when you want to apply for a credit card and churn the way rick will teach you, doing only the "tier 3" deals and churning as often as Rick recommend for your score.
10. Always continue to strive to get more points, even if it is only 100 points. They add up over time.
11. Beside my computer I have one folder and within it is a laminated paper with all airport codes, a laminated copy of which airlines are in which alliance and a spreadsheet of offers (that I have taken the time to fill out a form, or done a survey or listened to a video or applied for a car insurance offer, or shopped online for additional bonuses, etc.) Once these points post to my account (checked easily on awardwallet.com) then I highlight each one. (ps remember that I am doing all of this times 4 because we are a 4 member family)
12. Join all the dining programs one at a time (you and hubby) to get the usual 1000 point bonus sign up, swithing out the credit cards as you move along to the next dining program until you (and he) have done them all. Then concentrate on the one airline that is your main carrier.
Glad to have you onboard!
Cindy M.
Frequent flyer junkie

Hello Shannon!
Rookie Tips:
1. First thing you should do is get organized. create spreadsheets and write everything down.I have a huge file folder with tabs and everytime I open a credit card or checking account, it has all the information in that file folder. (example: my name, CHASE, Checking account, date opened)
2. Make sure you are a member of all US carriers in all the major alliances (star, one world,skyteam)and also any carrier that interests you (like my husband is from Chile, so we do LAN), that way, when a DEAL comes around, you already have your account and passcode ready.
3. Choose and tier your 3 favorite airlines in each alliance (look at hubs closest to you). These will be your target airlines to do DEALS with.

Also when you are paying for a ticket, make sure you have your miles posted only to your number one carrier, so you can rack up points in that one airline.

4. Choose at least 3 hotel programs and join them, getting your account number and passcodes. I am sure you know about STARWOOD and their great rewards tranfer program with 5,000 additional miles for every 20,000 tranferred.
5. Start monitoring your credit report. Others gave you some links to choose from. You need to know: when you applied for a credit card, what you got for doing so, if you accomplished "the spend" or hoop they wanted you to jump through, where they pulled the credit report from (experian, tranunion, etc.,) if your points posted and when is the right time to cancel the card. (making sure you call to see if they will waive the next years fee and/or give you more points for staying with the card, then cancelling anyway.
6. Once you have all your air and hotel programs and info, join AWARDWALLET.COM. and put all of those account numbers and passcodes in there. I can't live without it.
7. Everything you are doing for you, do for your husband (and kids if you have any) that way you can set the whole family up with miles for family trips.
8. Monitor DAILY:
frugaltravelguy.blogspot.com
freefrequentflyermiles.com
boardingarea.com

flyertalk to me is a bit more complicated and you have to search alot to get the answer to your questions, so ask Rick to show you around this site.
9. Use your credit reports to determine when you want to apply for a credit card and churn the way rick will teach you, doing only the "tier 3" deals and churning as often as Rick recommend for your score.
10. Always continue to strive to get more points, even if it is only 100 points. They add up over time.
11. Beside my computer I have one folder and within it is a laminated paper with all airport codes, a laminated copy of which airlines are in which alliance and a spreadsheet of offers (that I have taken the time to fill out a form, or done a survey or listened to a video or applied for a car insurance offer, or shopped online for additional bonuses, etc.) Once these points post to my account (checked easily on awardwallet.com) then I highlight each one. (ps remember that I am doing all of this times 4 because we are a 4 member family)
12. Join all the dining programs one at a time (you and hubby) to get the usual 1000 point bonus sign up, swithing out the credit cards as you move along to the next dining program until you (and he) have done them all. Then concentrate on the one airline that is your main carrier.
Glad to have you onboard!
Cindy M.
Frequent flyer junkie

CORRECTIONS for ROOKIE TRAVELER TIPS
11. The entries are highlighted so that I know that all points were credited to my account. If not, I have to do follow up work on each non highlighed entry after the alloted time (which I usually write in each entry, EXAMPLE. . . should post 6-8 weeks after purchase, date of purchase was 11/1/2010, so should post 12/14/2010 to 12/31/2010).
12. SWITCHING not swithing
Cindy M
Anonymous

Rookie Tips:
Do not despise the days of small beginnings. You can't immediately get to Rick's level. Start slowly but surely with a goal in mind. For example, in August 2010, I signed up with topguest. I had first come across the promo on boardingarea and lucky had dismissed it as too small (i.e. 50 priority points per day).

However I signed up and every day since Aug, I have VIRTUALLY (on facebook) checked into a IHG hotel – so far I have about 7500 points – enough for a 1 night's stay through pointbreak redemption.

So yes my rookie tip is to not get in over your head – don't rush in your bid to be on Rick's level. Just take it slow and steady and use award wallet.

'Nike O
Sheldon

Go to Kayak.com/buzz and sign up for the Buzz service. It doesn't allow you to rack up miles by getting new credit cards, but it allows you to track cheap flights out of your airport.

Tell the buzz that you want flights to Europe for less than $700 and watch for a good deal, and the same for other destinations.

My home airport is SLC and I've seen Panama for $250, San Jose for $250, Milan for $409, and other good deals too.

This will help you to find mistake fares and amazingly low deals. I've been to some amazing places for awesome deals.
3LftTurns

Rookie Tips: Bob H

— Getting Started —

Choose a handle code name

Setup a Google account:

•Gmail (setup to auto forward to your main email account and use for your travel internet sites)

•Google Reader: (subscribe for daily delivery)
•Frugal Travel Guy
•View From The Wing
•One Mile At A Time
•Loyalty Traveler
•others added later

o Setup AwardWallet account and use it to organize all Travel Programs:
•Setup Airlines, Hotels, Auto Rental, Credit Cards
•Hint: include sign ups of your family at the sign time

o Setup Flyertalk login
•Decide on your top airline program and study FAQ:
•Flyertalk Forums / Miles&Points / Airline Programs / “program sticky FAQs”

o Organize your Bookmarks Tool Folders in categories: Airlines, Hotels, Auto, C/Cs

o Setup email folder categories to organize and save future offers, notices, correspondence

o Setup program tracking system: spread sheet or file folder

o Go Back and Review old posts and comments on the FrugalTravelGuy blog

Chase Continental Debit Card Deal 2011 NOT

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