Goals: My wife has never been to Europe and has been bugging me to go, so my main goal is to get enough miles to make it there.(I've been to Europe and know that it is nice, but not the wonderful fantastic land that many make it out to be, therefore no reason to pay full price) Secondary goals include other sign up bonuses that can be used, or sold for cash to finance other parts of the vacation. I could be applying for a mortgage in the next year or two, so I am going to try to limit damage to my scores.

Research: According to this Website Link The best way to get to Europe is on American AAdvantage miles during the offseason. I also of course searched FW quite extensively for other ideas. Webflyer's Converter is good too.

Background:

I'm 28, a W2 employee but recently I have picked up some small contracts with a non-profit agency so I will be showing a little self-employment income soon. I do sell a little on eBay/CL occasionally.

Scores: Before the first stage I was 799TU 774EQ 779EX with 9 inquiries mostly from changing over utilities, and mostly on Equifax.

Pre-AOR Accounts (per my recent full report):
Current Card/Limit/Age/Utilization
Frontier Airlines Card/$14,500 /9mo/5%
Old Citi Card#1 /$500 / 8yrs/ bastards closed it due to inactivity
Old Citi Card#2 /$4,900 / 7yrs/ bastards closed it due to inactivity
Citi Dividend Select /$8,700 /4 yrs/0% (note to self go buy a pack of gum on this old card)
Discover Card/$2,000 /7 yrs/ bastards closed it due to inactivity
JC Penny Store/$1,000/2 yrs/0%
Macy’s Store/$1,500/3 yrs/0%
Home Depot Store/$10,000/3 yrs/5%

Part #1 6/22/07:
Applied for only 3 AMEX cards just to see the effect on my Scores(Started with AMEX due to high score requirements)
1. Starwood AMEX Personal Card 10,000 Bonus points, Approved 6/22/07 $13,400 Limit
2. AMEX Business Gold Rewards Card(for eBay/CL biz) 25,000 Bonus points, approved 6/22/07
3. AMEX Business Gold Rewards Card (for consulting biz) 25,000 Bonus points, Instantly Denied but called AMEX and got approved 6/27

Currently I use the Starwood card for most purchases (I am already up to 14,000 points) ,I was going to transfer them to AA miles, but it sounds like the best deal is to keep them as Starpoints (AAdvantage Link)

My 50k AMEX MR points hit 9/15/07. I will likely use these to fill out my two new Rapid rewards accounts which gave an 8 credit bonus at sign up. FW Travel Link That will cost me 24k in points, the other 26k, I'm not sure what to do with them. Maybe move them to Priority Club (1:1) or move to Frontier Airlines (1:1) since I fly them most often. (or I could be greedy and move them over to southwest for one more free R/T)

Part #1 Summary:
I will have 20,000 Starpoints from this bonus plus regular use by the time I'm ready to make reservations....and 2 or more rapid rewards vouchers to sell for $300 each.

Part #2 (Launch date delayed to 9/22/07):

Current Credit Scores: as of 9/16/07 771TU 762EQ 771EX

1.New TD Ameritrade Account- 20,000 Starpoints with $25,000 deposit. Now I just need to figure out where to get the 25k from Savings? or BT?
Moved savings over 9/19(very easy so far, 10k *points posted 10/4)

2.Starwood Biz AMEX-10,000 points sign up bonus
Instantly Approved (9/22), EX Pull(9/22), Card Arrived 9/29 with $14,400 limit

3.CitiBusiness AAdvantage MasterCard-20,000 miles as sign up bonus
Deferred (9/22),no add'l pull?, Card Arrived 10/1 with $7,000 limit

3 1/2. CitiBusiness AAdvantage MasterCard-20,000 miles as sign up bonus
Deferred (10/1) This card is for my other business.....Thanks cameron2003....Denied due to a previous biz card app in the last 90 days

4.Citi Platinum Select/AAdvantage World MasterCard-20,000 miles as sign up bonus
Deferred (9/22),EX Pull(9/22),Card Arrived 10/1 with $4,800 limit

5.Marriott Rewards Visa Signature Card-20,000 points sign up bonus, plus 1 free night
Deferred (9/22),EX Pull(9/22), Card Arrived 10/6 with $6,000 limit

6.Marriott Rewards Visa Business Card-20,000 points sign up bonus, plus 1 free night
Deferred (9/22),EX Pull(9/26), Card Arrived 10/6 with $10,000 limit Note: I'm a litte concerned that there was no place to put my Marriot Rewards # on the app. Update: CSR said they had already magicly linked the card to my Marriott Acct.

7.Marriott Rewards Premier Visa Signature Card-$65 annual fee-20,000 points sign up bonus, plus 1 free night
Deffered (9/22),EX Pull(9/26), Card Arrived 10/6 with $6,000 limit

8.Priority Club Rewards Visa Signature Card-30,000 points sign up bonus,$20 statement credit
Instantly Approved $1,000 Limit(9/22), EX Pull(9/22), Card arrived 9/29 with $6,000 limit

9.Priority Club Rewards Visa Business Card-15,000 points sign up bonus,$20 statement credit
Deferred (9/22), Card Arrived 10/10 with $10,000 limit

10.Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Visa Business Card-$59 annual fee-Free R/T as a sign up bonus
I will apply after a few more important cards come in EDIT: Deferred (10/1)), Card Arrived 10/16 with $8,000 limit Now that My 2 AA cards came in this one is safe

11.Frontier Airlines Business Card-$49 annual fee-12,500 miles as sign up bonus
Deferred (9/22), TU Pull(9/22), Approved (10/2) with $5,000 limit

12.Citibank AAdvantage Debit Card-$25 annual fee-10,000 miles sign up bonus
I will apply after I find a good CitiChecking sign up bonus for miles Edit: CSR said the last miles offer expired 7/31/07

13? I might do the Fidelity AAdvantage Miles Bonus if I can find the $ and the acct. closing fee is not too steep

Any other suggestions??

My Grand Total Projections:
50,000 AAdvantage miles (80,000 = 2 free R/T to Europe)
50,000 or more StarPoints (I might get more from the 15,000 bonus for spending $15,000/6mo)
26,000 AMEX MR points after transfers to SWA (might move to Priority Club, but Frontier is the overall best deal)
60,000 Marriott Rewards Points (to be moved to AA?)
45,000 Priority Club Points
3 Cert. for free night stay at lower level Marriotts
12,500 miles on Frontier (to be used on other trips)
3+ free R/T on Southwest (sell for $300 each)
$60 from CardSelection, and $40 in Statement Credits

Updates:
I went ahead and pulled the trigger on one more AAdvantage Biz app and the SWA Biz Card today (10/1/07), because the 3 most important cards have come in Approved! I also added 2 authorized users to each of my AMX gold Biz cards for an extra 10,000 MR points!

No comments on your App-O-Rama, I am too lazy to do those, but yes, AA miles to Europe in the off season are a great deal. We got a lot of miles back in the old days of Charter One gift cards and US Savings Bonds, and used most of them for these trips (7 to Italy, couple to Latin America, etc).

We stretched the value by often buying one ticket and using miles for the other.

One of the great advantages of AA miles is the One World network -- fly to LGW then trf to BA for a leg into a smaller airport like Venice or Bologna or Verona.

My wife and I go at least once a year, for 3 weeks or more at a time, and plan on even longer stays now that we are retired. So, listen to your wife, and have fun!

Edited to add: Check the AA citicard reduced mileage awards, sometimes they are very good. For example, we are spending a month in Buenos Aires right now (I am typing this from our rented apartment before heading out to our Spanish class) -- the tickets to get here were only 32,500 miles. Taxes/fees were only $50 each, so we got to Argentina for $100.

If you're in a British Airways US hub city especially midwest or west, then using miles for Club World (BA's business class) to Europe is the best use of miles IMHO. Overnight flights with a fully flat bed/seat is luxury indeed and really adds to the "Euroexperience" for the first timer (although she'll never want to fly coach again)
AA is partnered with BA, but I'm not sure how easy it is to get a BA seat with AA miles. Flyertalk would probably be a good place to check.
If not, get the Chase BA card for 20K miles and transfer the starpoints to BA. 90K BA miles for each ticket, but if you can get them, its worth it. British Air has household accounts so you and the wife can get the cards and bonuses, then you're halfway there.
BTW the Chase card comes with a free companion ticket for Biz class (full fare of course) if you wanna BOGO instead.

AA to Europe in off-season IS a steal - and there is availability if you plan far enough in advance. We just booked 3 AA tickets to Rome at Easter, about 7 months out - but availability had been better at 9-10 months. Don't plan to go til at least next fall and you should be fine.

The biggest problem with your Europe plan is that you're using up all your *points for airline travel. That means you won't have any *points for hotels, and depending on where you stay in Europe that is going to be the biggest expense you face. Cities like Rome, Paris, and London are extraordinarily pricey hotel cities. In particular if this is your wife's first trip to Europe, you are not going to impress her by staying in a hostel for $50 per night. Plan to spend at least $200 per night, easily $300 per night, and if Bernanke has his way with the US Dollar it could be $400 before he's through. Multiply that out by 7 nights, and you're talking $2000+ for hotels - typically more than airfare for 2.

I'd apply for all 3 Marriott Visa cards to get 50,000-60,000 Marriott points, at least enough for 1-2 nights. And personally I'd use the *points for hotels rather than airline miles, but that's because I'm swimming in airline miles.

Another option is to accrue ThankYou Points for your travel. No restrictions on their use, and they're easier to earn than anything else (bonuses, etc, plus matching flight/drive miles). If each of you apply for 2 personal (say Citi AMEX Plat and Citi PP Elite) and 2 biz cards (Citi Prof and Citi Biz), you'll probably be well on your way to the 60,000 needed for a trip to Europe. Then you can save your *points for hotels.

berlinsmommy said:Can I ask why the Southwest card? I know you get a free roundtrip ticket, but to where? I think that one may not be worth it at this time unless you have a trip you need to take within the US that would be pricy without this benefit. I'd skip it and sign up for Ding fares, but that's just me.

The Southwest card is to get the free R/T and sell it on C/L for $300+ I'm pretty set on doing this. This cash will then be saved and used for the tons of expenses not covered by miles/points.

I am thinking about the suggestions of trying to get some more hotel expenses covered by points. Instead of moving the extra 26,000 AMEX MR points to Frontier, what hotel program could I move them to?? Or Which Hotel program works well in Europe and takes AMEX MR points, and has a biz card with a good sign up bonus???

Thanks for all the suggestions so far!!

UncaMikey said:If you stay at a chain hotel, you may as well just sign up for a tour and ride a bus all day and talk only to fellow Americans, LOL.

I would agree except OP might be able to do both.....use points on chain hotels until they run out(saving $) then switch to a local hotel or B&B (still not too expensive and you get a better experiance)

The last time I was in Europe I stayed with a friend in Paris who was our innkeeper, tour guide, and translator all in one! When we left and went out into the country, we stayed at some very reasonable B&Bs that also served dinner for a small extra fee.

Ok, I've been busy doing more research on the great suggestions everyone has made (when I'm not working at my real Jobs) and I decided I needed to delay this AOR until Sat. morning. I know Sat is not the best day to do an AOR but it works for my schedule.

psychtobe- After doing more research, I think you are definitely right about using the starpoints for Hotels. I also will try the AMEX Travelers Cheque trick to boost my purchases to $15,000 in the 1st 6mo for the extra bonus. Now I will have to do the Personal Citi/AAdvantage card, Citibank AAdvantage Debit Card, and the Starwood biz.

markkundinger- I'd love to go all out but my wife is not interested in even a temp. hit on her credit since hers is significantly lower than mine. (she applied and was rejected for the Starwood AMEX card last month)

Tonight, I will look into adding Marriott and or Hilton Cards, and maybe another biz card if I can find one.

HappyGuy said:

What trick?

go to your local AMEX travel office and buy Travelers Cheques on your AMEX card, if it shows up as a purchase then you might get lucky and get points. I will report back on my results

Edit: Didn't work for me

psychtobe said:AA to Europe in off-season IS a steal - and there is availability if you plan far enough in advance. We just booked 3 AA tickets to Rome at Easter, about 7 months out - but availability had been better at 9-10 months. Don't plan to go til at least next fall and you should be fine.

see, what i don't get is how everybody here has the flexibility to take off whenever they want. i know at least there are some of us who cannot plan 7 months out, cause that's way too far and we don't know what our schedules will be like. and there are also some of us who cannot go off-season, because we get normal holidays off, just like normal America does-which would mean flying peak.

s0ssos said:psychtobe said:AA to Europe in off-season IS a steal - and there is availability if you plan far enough in advance. We just booked 3 AA tickets to Rome at Easter, about 7 months out - but availability had been better at 9-10 months. Don't plan to go til at least next fall and you should be fine.

see, what i don't get is how everybody here has the flexibility to take off whenever they want. i know at least there are some of us who cannot plan 7 months out, cause that's way too far and we don't know what our schedules will be like. and there are also some of us who cannot go off-season, because we get normal holidays off, just like normal America does-which would mean flying peak.

Don't hate the player, hate the game.