It's been a while since we've heard from Mike Hammari, the man who is walking across the United States using travel rewards to minimize accommodation costs and therefore nights slept outdoors. He's vlogging his experience on YouTube and blogging about it here on MileValue.

A Quick Catch Up

These recounts of his journey are being written in retrospect. Mike took a break in the middle of his walk to return to work, travel some (not on foot), and is now back on the steaming, late summer road of central Texas. Last I heard, his shoes had recently melted.

Last week I wrote about how and why you'd to want transfer Ultimate Rewards between accounts. If you haven't read it yet, stop and read before continuing with this post.

Give a warm welcome to Mike Hammari, who is writing a series of guest posts about a trip across the US on foot that he is currently in the middle of...very much in the middle of. He just wrote me today thanking me for finishing up a detail for this post that he couldn't because he was caught in a storm and had to store his computer. That's life literally on the road!

Mike is covering some of his hotel stays on this journey with points and wants to share his strategy with you guys.

We've got a special treat for you today, MileValue readers! Meet Mike Hammari, who will be writing a series of guest posts about a cross-country trip he is currently in the middle of. Who needs miles when you've got feet? Those weary feet still need a decent place to rest. Mike is covering some of his hotel stays with points and is excited to have an audience listening that cares more about rewards than what brand of shoe he's wearing. Really though, Mike, tell us what shoes you chose...

Anything below in italics is a comment from me.

5/24 is a buzzword in the miles and points sphere. It refers to the fact that Chase will cut you off from eligibility for their credit cards once you’ve opened five credit cards from any bank in the last 24 months (not counting most business cards).

Yesterday Chase made it harder to get repeat bonuses on the Chase Sapphire Reserve® and the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card by changing the terms and conditions of the card offers. Previously, you were only eligible to earn the bonus on a Sapphire family card 24 months after you earned the bonus on a previous one.

You now have to wait four years instead of two between Sapphire cards to get a new member bonus.

If you're just starting to collect miles and points, possibly the single best piece of advice is to sign up for five Chase cards before moving on to any other bank's rewards cards. This post is going to talk about which five cards you should choose, depending on a few factors, and why.

The fact of the matter is that Chase will cut you off from eligibility for their travel rewards credit cards once you've opened five credit cards from any bank whatsoever in the last 24 months (not counting most business cards).

If you have a Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card, you should have already gotten a notice in the mail about a few changes to your benefits effective August 26, 2018. But let's get real. I'm sure many of you throw that mail away without even looking at it. Here are the changes it went over.
1.

The Chase Sapphire Reserve®, the Citi Prestige, and the The Platinum Card® from American Express card are premium credit cards with huge benefits and high annual fees to match.

The first year, these are fantastic cards. The second year, the value is less certain. We'll look at canceling and downgrading options in this post.

The First Year

Many people are scared off by that annual fee, which makes sense at a superficial level. We all got interested in miles and points to save money, not spend it.

If you’re just getting started you need to get the most powerful combo of credit cards to earn miles. I’ve discussed the general strategy to maximize miles from credit cards over your lifetime recently, but let me be very specific for beginners.

Start with the Chase Freedom Unlimited® and the Chase Sapphire Reserve®. While you’re at it, get the Chase Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card if you have more spending capacity and a business. I recommend these 2-3 cards because:

They earn Ultimate Rewards, that transfer to 11 partner airline
They complement each other.