We may receive a commission when you use our links. Monkey Miles is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com and CardRatings. This relationship may impact how and where links appear on this site. This site does not include all financial companies or all available financial offers. Monkey Miles is also a Senior Advisor to Bilt Rewards. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
My First 6 months of Flying in 2017
The start of this year has been the biggest in terms of butt-in-seat miles that I’ve had in my life. I honestly can’t believe all that I’ve been able to do. I really appreciate all of you guys reading along, your comments, and the huge blessing given to me that most of it has been with my loved ones. That’s the biggest part – shared experiences. I started the year off flying back from Southeast Asia in Japan Airlines First class with Dave – we’ve been best buds for over 20 years. I didn’t do a whole lot of flying in February and March because it’s pilot season here in LA and, as an actor, I have to be around for auditions, etc. Things picked up dramatically in April and May with my Mom’s $125k Surprise 75th Birthday Trip Around the World, and a completely separate trip back to England for a Christening. The next 6 months have quite a bit of travel planned as well, with much more domestic travel, at least one more trip to Europe, potentially Panama, a trip to Asia, and then something over the holiday – Europe and then maybe Russia? I’m think I’ll come somewhere between 125k-150k total butt in seat miles by the end of the year and hopefully Alaska’s MVP75. That’s a new record for me, and I KNOW plenty of you readers do even more, but the world is roughly 25k miles in circumference. I’ll end up somewhere between 4 and 6x around the world. Just a few years ago I’d never have guessed I’d be doing that now. Thanks again for reading, and I’d love to hear about your travel year to date.
Some of the highlights of my flights thus far.
Through the first 6 months of the year I’ve flown 73078 Miles – just shy of 3x around the world. Here’s everywhere I’ve been!
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.