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There is a big difference now in the number of EQM and RDM you’ll earn with American
ICYMI, American went revenue based, meaning the RDM ( redeemable miles) you’ll earn will be based off of the fare not the miles flown. EQM will still be based off of distance and fare class. I was just booking a ticket from Dub to Lax later in the year when I came upon this new guy illustrating EQM vs RDM:
Good Lord, where did my Earnings go?!
To avoid any confusion it looks like American will now tell us how many EQM and RDM we will be earning. It kind of makes the new earning structure more painful; It makes it so clear how many fewer miles I’m earning even when spending $1800. Under the old structure I would have earned the same number of RDM as EQM – this is a business class (I) fare earning 2 EQM per mile flown; I would have earned 2 RDM per mile flown after accounting for the 100% Platinum bonus under the old structure.
Oh well, at least I can see exactly how many EQM I’m earning which saves me a call. I’ve ran into some murky water with EQM credits in the past and I was going to call to confirm the 2x EQM earn rate on all legs. The ticket is to be issued on AA stock with a few legs are on BA metal. I found the ticket using the ITA Matrix and then used bookwithmatrix to populate the AA.com itinerary. The new alert stating exactly how many EQM and RDM is very helpful and nice that it’s clearly stated up front.
I also put this ticket on hold rather than buying it outright because of the Brexit. The Euro is collapsing and I’m going to phone in tomorrow to purchase the ticket once the systems have updated the new exchange rate…right now the eur/usd is trading under $1.095 and AA is not reflecting the exchange rate. Perhaps I’ll have to offer to purchase in Euros to take advantage of my CC exchange rate rather than AA.com’s
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
60k Points after $4k spend in 3 months
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 60k points after $4k spend in 3 months
- Worth $750 in Chase Travel℠ and way more if you maximize transfer partners
- 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, 2024
- $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.
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