About Me: Isaac

My name is Isaac. I’m based in DC, have been in the US for 5 years, and I’m glad to have the chance to share my experience with everyone. I currently hold about 15 credit cards, and my credit history is close to 5 years. The image below shows the flights I’ve redeemed over the past four years, most of them in business or first class.

The cards I currently hold include:

My former cards also included AMEX Delta Gold/Delta Platinum/Green/SPG, Citi/Barclay AA, and BofA Asiana/Premium Rewards.

Although I have quite a few cards, the one that’s always in my wallet is the Gold card. I think it’s an incredible card and I’ve recommended it to countless friends. When I shop somewhere that doesn’t accept AMEX, I use Citi Premier or Citi AA. Besides the Gold card, I use Platinum for airfare and FHR hotels, and Aspire for booking Hilton stays.

My First Credit Card

My first credit card was probably the China Merchants Bank Young card, which I got in 2008. At the time, someone from CMB came to our dorm to sell cards, and I signed up without really thinking about it. Through that card, I learned a lot of credit card terms, such as payment due date, statement date, and grace period. Before coming to the US, I met Brother Liz in the Little Lily forum and learned a bit about US credit cards, which really interested me. After arriving in the US, I quickly applied for BofA Cash Rewards and Discover it to build my credit history, and at the same time I closed all 7 of my cards in China.

After building about 1 year of credit history, I successively got AMEX BCP, EDP, Platinum, Gold, Delta Gold, Chase Hyatt, IHG, Citi/Barclay AA, and other cards. After earning a large number of sign-up bonus points, I booked several trips and started experiencing business class and first class. In 2016, I flew ANA A380 first class from Incheon to New York, China Eastern business class from New York to Shanghai, JAL first class from New York to Tokyo, Cathay Pacific first class from Hong Kong to New York, and I also booked my wife Delta business class on DCA-MSP-HND and Singapore Airlines first class from Hong Kong to San Francisco. After that, I gradually booked tickets for my family, including Korean Air business class from San Francisco to Seoul, EVA Air business class from San Francisco to Taipei, Air China business class from IAD to Beijing, EVA Air business class from Taipei to New York, and Air China first class from Beijing to IAD. This year, I booked Qatar business class on IAD-DOH-MLE, Singapore Airlines first class Suites from Singapore to Beijing, Singapore Airlines first class from Hong Kong to San Francisco, and Air China business class from Beijing to Melbourne/Sydney, burning through a lot of points again.

Besides flights, over the years I’ve also redeemed several hotel stays, such as Park Hyatt Paris, Hyatt Regency Hakone in Japan, Park Hyatt Maldives, Conrad New York/Singapore, Waldorf Astoria Shanghai, Marriott Osaka, InterContinental Nanjing, and InterContinental Paris. After staying at all of these, I found that I still like Hyatt hotels the most. The minimalist style feels very comfortable.

When I First Got Into Miles, Hotel Programs, and Frequent-Flyer Content, and How I Learned About It

In 2012, I came to the US for a summer session and booked round-trip economy tickets on Asiana. While researching Asiana’s website, I started learning about Asiana’s frequent-flyer program and Star Alliance. That trip earned me 9,500 points, which sat in my account until 2016, when I applied for the BofA Asiana card and transferred some SPG points to redeem an Asiana PVG-ICN-JFK A380 first-class ticket.

In the beginning, I mostly learned on my own. Later, I found that many websites, such as uscc101, travelafterwork, and usgcc, specifically explained credit card points, so I checked those sites every day to learn about the major points systems. I really came to understand things after redeeming a few award tickets, when I developed a deeper understanding of the rules of the major airlines.

My Most Satisfying Redemption, and How I Planned It

At the beginning of 2019, while searching for award space on BA, I accidentally saw 4 business-class seats on Qatar Airways’ IAD-DOH-MLE route in September. After getting my wife’s approval, I took advantage of a Citi AA glitch and promptly applied for an AA card. Then I used the AA points I had accumulated through online shopping over the previous few years, bringing the total to 280,000 points, and successfully redeemed 4 tickets. Because we were traveling with a baby, I spent a lot of time researching infant ticket policies across different airlines before the redemption, but in the end it turned out to be too much hassle, so I booked an adult ticket for the baby. After getting the IAD-to-Maldives tickets sorted out, I booked the Park Hyatt Maldives before Hyatt’s category changes and price increases took effect. After that, I transferred AMEX points to Singapore Airlines to book 2 first-class A380 tickets, and got to experience the A380 Singapore Suites I had long wanted to try. I was very happy.

What Does Your Family Think About Playing the Points Game, and Do You Encourage Them to Open Cards?

My wife doesn’t care much about cards, but she doesn’t mind using her SSN to apply for cards. I usually keep 2-3 cards in her wallet, and I manage the rest of the cards. If there’s a good deal, the two of us will apply together, because earning points together is really fast.

Share a Lesser-Known but Useful Tip

Recently I found that you can directly redeem US domestic UA flights on Asiana’s website, but the entry point is pretty hidden. Not long ago, I used the remaining Asiana points I had from years ago to redeem a round-trip IAD-SFO flight, and I was a little excited. Of course, most people probably won’t collect Asiana points, since there isn’t much that stands out about them, and you also can’t transfer points in from mainstream points systems.

Suggestions for the US Credit Card 101 Site

It’s already pretty good now, so keep it up. I hope there can be more hotel review articles in the future.