Currently the Most Used Credit Card in My Wallet

There are so many credit cards out there, and many of us have many credit cards that it can be difficult to chose which credit card to pull out of your wallet when the time comes. The credit card that I pull out of my wallet most frequently right now is the Barclays Arrival Plus World Elite Mastercard card. This is my favorite card for every day spending. Why is that? Almost exclusively because it give what comes out to 2.22% back on all purchases. There is no other credit card out there right now that gives that much back on everyday purchases. Officially the Barclays Arrival card gives 2x points for all purchases. The points can be used as statement credit against any travel related purchases including hotels, flights, rental cars, and train tickets.

So if you purchase a $400 flight with your Barclays Arrival card you could redeem 40,000 points and receive a $400 statement credit. On top of that you receive a 10% refund on all points redeemed for travel. In this case you would receive 4,000 points back. When those 4,000 points are redeemed you would receive 400 points back. That what makes up the 2.22% return.

What also great is that you do not even need to buy the travel related items through the Barclays Portal. You can just purchase your flights from the airline or rental car comapany, etc... As long as the credit card purchase codes to travel you can use your points to redeem for statement credit.

So why am I using this card over my Chase Ink Bold credit card. The Chase Ink Bold is a great credit card that earns Ultimate Rewards points. Many travel hackers value Ultimate rewards points about 1.5 cents per mile. This isn't nearly as good as the Barclays Arrival card as this give 2.22 cents per mile for all purchases. If I am able to use my Chase Ink Bold for purchases in special categories like the 5x at office supply stores then the Chase Ink Bold is definitely the better choice because 5x  X 1.5 cents/mile = 7.5 cents per mile. But you can not get the category bonus on most of your everyday spending. That is why most of my purchases go to my Barclays Arrival card.

That isn't all! Sign up and get:

• 40,000 bonus miles after spending $3,000 in the first 90 days
• No foreign transaction fees
• $89 annual fee waived for the first year

The App-O-Rama

So what is an App-O-Rama? An App-O-Rama is applying for multiple credit cards in a short period of time. The reason for this is because you receive a hard credit inquiry on your credit report every time you apply for a credit card. When you do an App-O-Rama you ensure that your credit score will reflect the highest score that it can for each application. If you apply for one credit card today, then apply for a second credit card tomorrow, your score will have decreased and a hard credit inquiry will show up on your credit report. There is some debate about how quickly hard credit inquiries show up on your credit report. This generally happens quite fast and hard credit inquiries may show up on your credit report in less than one hour. That is why it is important to submit all of your credit card applications in a very short period of time.

I usually have multiple browser tabs open and complete the applications together. When I finish, I submit all the applications almost simultaneously. Even if you have an excellent credit score, too many credit inquiries will result in declined credit card applications. So even if your credit score is 750, you could still be refused a credit card because you have too many hard credit inquiries in the last 90 days.

The strategy should be to apply for all credit cards in a short period of time, lets say within 15 minutes. Then you need to wait 90 days before apply for any other credit cards.

Credit card companies are concerned about recent hard credit inquiries because this shows that you have been pursuing new credit. Because you have done this recently, the new credit that you received may be showing up yet on your credit report. For this reason, even people with great credit scores will get declined for new credit if they have too many recent hard credit inquiries.

How many hard credit inquiries in the last 90 days is too many? This varies by banking institution. Sometimes just one other hard credit inquiry is sufficient to get you declined for a new credit inquiry. More than two hard credit inquiries is very likely to get you declined for a new credit card.

How many new credit cards can you apply for at one time? This will vary on the individual person. This depends on a host of factors including your credit score and ability to make minimum spending requirements. In general the maximum credit cards that you should be applying for at one time is one personal and one business credit card for each credit card issuer. This means that you could apply for one personal Chase credit card and one business Chase credit card, one Citi Personal credit card and one Citi Business credit card. Then you could also include two American Express credit cards. I have read of people applying for more than six credit cards, but I would not recommend it. I personally have never applied for more than four new credit cards at one time.

Keep following the blog. I will post a lot more great information on strategies for applying for credit cards.

If you have any specific questions, please leave a comment and I'm happy to respond.

How Does Applying for Credit Cards Affect Your Credit Score?

When I tell people about applying for credit cards to reap the rewards to travel for almost free, one of the first questions I am asked is, "doesn't applying for credit cards hurt your credit score?" The answer is yes and no. Our credit score is derived from a number of different factors, some of which are proprietary. What you should know is that applying for a credit card results in a hard credit inquiry. Hard credit inquiries show lenders that a person has been looking for new credit. A single hard credit inquiry can reduce your score from 2 - 7 points depending on the make up of your credit report. The impact of individual credit inquiries to your credit report diminishes after 90 days. The hard credit inquiries will still be recorded on your credit report, but they will no have much impact on your credit score after 90 days. Credit inquiries stay on your credit report for two years. So 90 days after a hard credit inquiry your credit will likely go up all other factors held constant. This is how applying for credit cards can decrease your credit score.

You credit score is made up of five main factors: payment history, amounts owed, length of credit history, new credit, and types of credit used. The hard credit inquiries fall into the new credit category which makes up 10% of your overall score.

On the other side, getting new credit cards can actually increase your credit score in the long run. This is because another important make up of your credit score is the credit utilization or amounts owed. Credit utilization is the ratio of total credit being used compared to total credit you have available. In other words if you have one credit card with a $5,000 credit limit and during the month you spend $2,000 on your credit card this would be a 40% credit utilization. The lower the credit utilization the better. Generally anything over 20% utilization is a negative factor. When you apply for a new credit card your total available credit increases therefore your credit utilization decrease which is a good thing. Amounts owed makes up 30% of your overall credit score.

There are many strategies for how, when, which, and how many credit cards to sign up for at one time which I will discuss in more detail in a future post. Be aware that in the short run your credit score will go down as a result of applying for credit cards. Also, you are at risk of being declined new credit if you have too many credit inquiries in a short period of time. Proceed with caution!

When starting out in the miles and points game begin with just one or two credit cards for the first 3 months. Make sure you can meet the minimum spend requirements, pay off your credit cards in full, and pay credit cards on time before getting too zealous and damaging your credit. Keep following future posts, I and will discuss in detail best strategies for applying for new credit cards.

The Little Known Credit Card Every Alaskan Should Have

In my earlier post I discussed the Best Credit Card for Alaskans. This credit card was the Alaskan Airlines Visa Signature from Bank of America. Today I want to write about the little know British Airways Visa Signature Credit Card issued by Chase. Most people would think why would I want a British Airlines credit card if I live in Alaska where British Airways doesn't even fly to. The reason is that Alaska Airlines and British Airways are mileage partners allowing you to use your British Airlines Avios points to fly on Alaska Airlines flights.

This is not the only reason that you should own this credit card. Many intra state flights within Alaska cost only 4,500 Avios Points each way. That is significantly cheaper that the base award rate of 7,500 Alaska Airlines miles that Alaska Airlines charges for a one way intra state award.

British Airways Avios points work differently than many other airline reward programs in that British Airways Avios redemptions are base on a distance award chart. The Avios award chart says that you can book any flight less than 650 miles for 4,500 Avios points with British Airways partners. Because Alaska Airlines is a British Airway partner you can book many award flights within Alaska for just 4,500 Avios points. This includes route such as Anchorage to Juneau, Anchorage to Fairbanks, Anchorage to Bethel, Anchorage to Yakutat, and Juneau to any other Southeast Alaska town.

The next level is only 7,500 Avios for flights under 1151 miles. This includes routes such as Juneau to Seattle or Ketchikan to Seattle. Even a flight from Anchorage to Seattle only cost 10,000 Avios each way which is still 2,500 points less than Alaska Airlines charges for the same flight.  Check out the Avios Calculator to see how many points it will cost to get between your two cities.

The British Airways Visa Signature Credit Card give 50,000 Avios after spending $2,000 in the first 90 days of account opening which is an easy minimum spend for most of us to make. There is a $95 fee which is NOT waived for the first year, but these points are definitely worth the yearly fee for the first year. The card also comes with 2.5 Avios per $1 spent on British Airline tickets and 1.25 points per $1 spent on everything else. You can also enjoy no foreign transaction fees when you travel abroad.

With just the sign up bonus from this credit card you can get up to 9 free one way tickets on Alaska Airlines for intra state travel.

Best Credit Card for Alaskans

Living in Alaska we have limited options for which airlines service our state or our city. Many blogs advertise the Southwest Credit Card or the Virgin America credit card to their readers. These are great credit cards... if you live in an area serviced by one of these airlines. So what are the best credit cards for people living in Alaska?

I think it is probably just a gimme, but most Alaskan educated on the subject would suggest that the Bank of America Alaska Airlines Visa Signature Card is the top credit card for Alaskans. Alaskan Airlines has the largest presence in Alaska with flights as far north as Barrow and as far south as Ketchikan This credit card offers:

• 30,000 Alaska Airlines miles after first purchase
• valuable $99 companion fare
• 3x miles on Alaska Airlines purchases
• $75 fee is NOT waived for the first year

Most of the offers publicly available are for only 25,000 miles so this offer is 5,000 miles greater. Yes, the $75 fee is not waived for the first year, but 25,000 miles is sufficient for a round trip domestic ticket. This is well worth the $75 fee.

The $99 companion ticket is also quite valuable. It works like this:

• Works only flights on  Alaska Airlines flights only
• Purchase one ticket and received the second for $99 plus tax

The Alaska Airlines Visa Signature Credit Card was my first credit card and I have kept it ever since. Some people find that they are not able to use the $99 companion ticket before the 1 year expiration date (you get a new $99 companion ticket every year you have the credit card).  I see that many people sell their Alaska Airlines companion ticket on craigslist. The going rate is around $175. A reminder that this practice is not completely legitimate from the perspective of Alaska Airlines, but many people do it.

So if you do not have this credit card already, you should definitely consider signing up!

How to Earn the Most Miles and Points

The fastest way to earn free travel is through generous credit card sign up bonuses. This is the primary tool for earning travel rewards. Rewards credit cards offer generous bonus for spending certain amount of money in a limited period of time often 90 days for account opening.

Credit card bonuses are not the only way to earn bunches of reward points. Manufactured spending is another way. Manufactured spending is when you artificially create credit card spending that you would not normally make. Usually this means turning credit card purchases back into cash through the use of prepaid debit cards for example. If you are able to do this with bonus categories for example 5x points for purchases at office supply stores with the Chase Ink Bold and Chase Ink Plus credit cards than you can quickly rack up a substantial number of points. I will discuss in detail methods of manufactured spending in future posts.

One of the more obvious methods for earning miles is actually paying for airline tickets and receiving miles for the distance flown. I earn virtually 0 miles using this approach because it is my goal and mile habit to never actually pay for an airline ticket with money. My goal is to earn enough miles to pay for all my airline tickets with miles that I acquired for almost free.

The Frozen Travler: What's it all about

This will be the first post for the new Frozen Traveler. I have been increasingly engaged in the hobby of getting great travel deals to help fund my world travels. I am always learning more and more. I want share my experiences with friends and family so that they can also enjoy the benefits of travel hacking. Travel hacking for me includes everything from signing up for credit cards, manufactured spending, utilizing travel resource websites, understanding airline and hotel reward programs, and everything else related to getting free, nearly free, or heavily discounted travel.

There are many blogs out there that focus on travel hacking, and this blog will also talk about the best ways to get free, nearly free, or heavily discounted travel. What is different about this blog is that I will do it with the focus for people living in Alaska. That is not to say that this blog will not have value to individuals residing outside of Alaska. Living in Alaska offers unique travel challenges that are most often not addressed or even considered by mainstream bloggers. I will focus on travel deals that have value to Alaskans or those traveling in Alaska.