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British Airways Visa Signature Card from Chase Review

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If you’ve ever flown British Airways long-haul from the U.S. to London, you’ve probably lingered when walking past those sleeper seats in the “Club World” section. They don’t just recline, they lay fully flat. You won’t run the risk of a small child kicking the back of your chair for hours before you endure the endless escalator rides at Heathrow. Thanks to this spring’s special offer from Chase’s British Airways Visa Signature Card, you can treat yourself to this luxury for about the same price as a standard coach class ticket.

Right now, Chase offers a staggered signup bonus for new British Airways Visa Signature cardholders. British Airways calls their frequent flyer miles “Avios,” and you’ll earn 50,000 of them as soon as you use your new Visa card. Make $10,000 in purchases, and BA credits your Executive Club account with 25,000 more Avios.

Land your final bonus of 25,000 more Avios once you’ve cleared $20,000 in purchases during your first year. After that, you can spend 80,000 Avios and about $1,100 in upgrade fees to book yourself that luxury flight.

Saving Avios and flying on the cheap

You don’t always have to splurge on a sleeper chair, though. Your 100,000 bonus Avios are plenty to cover the cost of two “World Traveller” round trip base fares between London and any of BA’s stateside hubs in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. This isn’t a discount airline you’re flying, either. British Airways’ coach seats on these flights resemble other airlines’ business classes. You get a private entertainment system, hot meals, and impeccable service from a flight crew that only gets testy if you don’t give them the chance to serve you.

The special smart chip you won’t see on other travel credit cards

Only a handful of American credit cards include the embedded smart chip that you’ll need to make routine purchases in Europe. Chase puts that “EMV chip” front and center on the British Airways Visa, and you’ll appreciate it when your travels take you off the beaten track. To combat fraud, many European merchants won’t accept American magnetic stripe credit cards outside of common tourist areas. The EMV chip saves you time and hassle, especially if you want to use any automated parking meters or vending machines during your visit.

No foreign transaction fee

Your $95 annual fee buys you another important perk that you’ll find on few travel rewards cards: no foreign transaction fee. Chase makes the process easy for frequent U.K. visitors: charge your card in pounds sterling at no extra fee, while enjoying Chase’s best currency conversion rate for the day of your purchase.

Rewards and risks of airline credit cards

Of course, British Airways is still a traditional airline, with a typical frequent flyer system. Regular BA travelers say that the 2012 Olympics and London’s business boom have made reward seats scarce, unless you plan your free trip far in advance. You’ll also have to pay redemption fees, airport service fees, and other taxes on each reward ticket.

If you value flexibility in a travel credit card, consider the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card instead. You’ll earn as much as 2 percent back on your everyday purchases, in the form of statement credits that you can redeem against any of your travel expenses. Still, given the high price of transatlantic airfare, the British Airways Visa Signature offers tremendous value, if you’re willing to jump through a few hoops.

To take advantage of the 10,000 Avios offer, apply for the British Airways Visa Signature Card from Chase today. You will need excellent credit in order to be approved, and be aware of the $95 annual fee.

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Buy-and-Hold: A Losing Strategy for the Future?

This article was written by in Investing. 16 comments.

This isn’t the first time smart professional investors have considered abandoning the buy-and-hold strategy. Most of the controversy has surfaced following the recession. I asked whether buy-and-hold was still a good investing strategy a few years ago. Investors who had been following the buy and hold strategy — forgoing active trading in favor of buying stocks for the long term and sticking with a philosophy of patience — saw the values of their stock-heavy portfolios plummet, following the stock market at large.

This kind of catastrophe shocks investors to the core and gives people a chance to challenge their assumptions and choices. The leading argument against the buy and hold strategy for investors going forward focuses on volatility. Judging from market performance through and after the recession, stocks seem to be riskier than they have been in the past. Some investors believe that the fundamentals that made buying and holding stocks for the long term work in the past, providing an 8% average annual return over 30 year periods, have changed.

DollarsMarkets are more volatile now because the bulk of investing activity isn’t done by humans making purchasing and selling decisions based on available information, most trading is accomplished by computers reacting to market changes in microseconds. Complex investing instruments like derivatives and hedge funds make it possible to take advantage of economic situations generally inaccessible via stocks.

In an interview with CNN Money, economist Andrew Low has this to say about buy-and-hold:

Buy-and-hold doesn’t work anymore. The volatility is too significant. Almost any asset can suddenly become much more risky. Buying into a mutual fund and holding it for 10 years is no longer going to deliver the same kind of expected return that we saw over the course of the last seven decades, simply because of the nature of financial markets and how complex it’s gotten.

Think about how that person earned 4%. He lost 30%, saw a big bounce-back, and so on, and the compound rate of return over the period was 4%. But most investors did not wait for the dust to settle. After the first 25% loss, they probably reduced their holdings, and only got part way back in after the market somewhat recovered.

His argument is that buy-and-hold doesn’t work because investors don’t follow the guidelines of the strategy. Carl Richards pointed out in his recent book, The Behavior Gap, that investor’s actual returns don’t match “investment returns” because people are human and react like humans. When they do react, the often do so improperly, like reacting to a high-flying stock by buying at a high price and selling when the market sinks the stock’s value. If buy-and-hold doesn’t work, it’s not a failure of the strategy, it investors’ failure to properly follow the strategy thanks to their human brains.

Do you plan to use a buy-and-hold strategy for your investments in the future, and do you expect the long-term returns in the stock market we’ve seen over the last century continue in the future?

CNN Money

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Traveling First Class for the First Time

This article was written by in Travel. 15 comments.

After using the Continental Airlines OnePass Plus Card as my primary credit card for personal and travel spending for the past year, and the resulting accumulation of miles in Continental’s frequent flyer program, I decided to cash in. For 35,000 points, I was able to upgrade the round-trip ticket from Newark to Chicago. I would have preferred to use points for a longer flight, such as one to California to visit family, but upgrading those fares from most economy fare classes require an additional payment (a co-pay) beyond the miles.

As a result of the recent merger with United Airlines, Continental has begun changing some of their frequent flyer benefits. For example, you no longer have to have earned a certain level (Silver Elite, Gold Elite, or Platinum Elite) to take advantage of a few benefits like expedited bag check lines, priority status for checked luggage (first on the carousel at arrival), expedited security check lines, and priority boarding. Unfortunately for me, my primary airport is Newark, where these benefits often mean little, especially during peak travel periods.

Continental Airlines LogoWith a first class boarding pass, I was able to board in the second group of passengers, after military personnel. Being one of the first four of five people to board allowed me to quickly stow my carry-on and sit comfortably for the next 30 minutes as the rest of the passengers boarded. While boarding, a flight attended offered drinks (of any type; alcoholic drinks are complimentary in first class) to those already settled.

While the DirecTV entertainment system normally costs $5.99 or $7.99 (with a $2 discount to Continental credit cardholders), if this entertainment is available on the flight, it is free to first class passengers. Even when a meal isn’t offered in the main cabin, first class passengers receive a complimentary meal with a tray, a small tablecloth, and silverware (well, stainless steel, not silver). On the initial part of my trip, the flight attended distributed warm towels before the meal.

The seating arrangement was about twice as spacious as the seats in the main cabin, and the seats were slightly more comfortable. The seats reclined much farther which encouraged me to relax more, particularly considering how exhausted I was by the end of the conference.

All of these conveniences added up to a nicer travel experience, but even first class status can prevent delays, turbulence, and difficulties getting around in the airports. If I were to have money to spare or unlimited frequent flyer miles, I would travel first class all the time. The benefits may be minor and flying without the conveniences is often adequate, but it could be an advantage for longer flights, particularly if I begin taking overnight flights when traveling long distances.

Even the best first class ticket can’t prevent the annoyances of moving through an airport, so while the fares call for a higher price, traveling by air is still often a problematic endeavor.

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United MileagePlus Explorer Card Review

This article was written by in Credit. 6 comments.

Air travel used to be seen as a luxury, but those days are long gone. If flying was ever fun and convenient, it’s not anymore. My last flight from California, a trip to visit family, was plagued with delays and inconveniences. It was a good thing the flight was delayed; otherwise, I might have missed the flight due to an hour-long security line.

While airlines continue to reduce benefits for customers, like free meals, pillows, and checked bags, they are paying more attention to their most frequent fliers and customers of their branded credit cards. Airlines who partner with credit card issuers are willing to give certain customers a little bit more than everyone else. A good example of this is the United MileagePlus® Explorer Card, which offers consumers enough bonus miles for a free flight right away.

Note: With the merger of Continental Airlines and United Airlines complete as of March 2012, the Continental OnePass Plus and OnePass Presidential Plus cards have been eliminated for new customers. The United MileagePlus Explorer Card offers the same benefits that the OnePass Plus card offered previously.

United MileagePlus Explorer CardAll new cardholders of the United MileagePlus Explorer Card will receive 25,000 bonus miles after making one purchase. Then, new customers will earn 5,000 additional miles after adding an authorized cardholder to the account. Every year a cardholder spends $25,000, Chase will add 10,000 more miles. In total, up to 40,000 bonus miles are available the first year and 10,000 bonus miles are available every additional year. Miles never expire and there is never a cap to the number of miles customers can earn. Every dollar spent on the United MileagePlus Explorer Card earns miles, and if a cardholder purchases a United or Continental flight with the card, Chase rewards the customer with double miles.

United offers in-flight and flight-related rewards to its credit card customers in addition to the miles. All United MileagePlus Explorer Card members will have the following perks:

  • The first bag per ticket can be checked for free on flights operated by United, up to a $50 savings per person.
  • You’ll be invited to board your flight ahead of general boarding with priority boarding.
  • You will receive two passes to visit the United Club every year.
  • You’ll have exclusive access to purchase once-a-lifetime experiences from Inside Access from Chase.
  • The card comes with travel protection benefits.

A quick glance at the “Inside Access” program shows that it offers the opportunity to buy tickets to events such as an evening on Broadway including a show, an opportunity to meet the cast, and dinner at Sardi’s. This event is $200 per person — not a bad deal considering a ticket for a show can easily cost that much on its own.

When using a credit card, it’s important to know the pricing details. The United MileagePlus Explorer Card offers a 15.24% variable APR on both purchases and balance transfers. There is a $95 fee associated with this card, but that fee is waived for the first year, so new customers have time to test drive the bonus miles and overall offer.

The United MileagePlus Explorer Card is a brand new offer and it comes in as one of the best airline miles credit cards available today. Considering that United has merged with Continental, this card allows its members to travel on two airlines with benefits rather than just one. To take advantage of 25,000 bonus miles right away, consider applying for the United MileagePlus Explorer Card.

United MileagePlus® Explorer Card

If you’re a current cardholder, feel free to share your thoughts about the card’s benefits and customer service, as well as your experience with United Airlines, in the comments area of this article.

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Newark Liberty International Airport Has the Highest Fares

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British Airways Visa Signature® Card Free International Flight

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Podcast 93: Debt Free for Life, David Bach

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PenFed VISA Platinum Cash Rewards Card 5% Cash Back on Gas

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As the offers on cash back credit card continue to increase, consumers who use credits cards should make sure theirs is one that allows them to save the most amount of money possible. Whether it’s a great APR, a long introductory period or a top notch credit card rewards program, weigh the benefits and drawbacks ... Continue reading this article…

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