NB: I am writing this post one year later… so I may forget some details!
Tim and I took an epic spring break trip to Japan this year. This was our first international trip that we funded using credit card churning. Credit card churning refers to the process of signing up for credit cards in order to get the sign up bonus (generally in the form of points, miles, or cash back) and then canceling or downgrading the card once the annual fee hits. By signing up for the right bonuses and planning in advance, you can travel for outrageously cheap. Churning does not hurt your credit score and can even help it! However, it does require some work and careful planning: see http://www.reddit.com/r/churning for more details.
On to the trip. We both signed up for the Citi American Airlines Platinum card for 50,000 American Airlines (AA) miles with waived annual fee, and the now non-existent Barclay US Airways card for 50,000 AA miles with an annual fee of $89. A round-trip saver business ticket to Japan from the West Coast on Japan Airlines is 100,000 AA miles when redeemed through American Airlines. I searched for award availability using British Airways. Then I had to call AA to redeem the award since you can’t book it online. I booked it 9 months in advance to ensure availability. On the way there we flew from Seattle to San Diego to Tokyo Narita, and on the way back we flew from Kansai (near Kyoto) to LAX to Seattle.
This was our first time traveling business class, and ho boy it was amazing. Honestly, Japan Airlines Business Class was so much better than American Airlines First Class. You get your own little pod with a chair that converts into a bed. The beds were not lie-flat, but almost lie-flat, and it didn’t make that much of a difference to me. We were greeted with hot towels, a selection of newspapers, and expensive champagne. The menu was phenomenal. They have a Japanese and a Western menu with multiple courses, as well as an extensive snacks menu and a bunch of fancy wine. On the way back I had steak and lobster tail and a big bowl of udon… delicious! Plus, the customer service was great. We were constantly asked if we needed anything else and the flight attendants simply could not wait to refill my wine glass. Plus, we got cute toiletry bags with pretty much everything you need: toothbrush, toothpaste, face lotion, lip balm, sleep mask, etc. I still use the toiletry bags when I travel. There was a great movie selection (both Japanese and American). I slept on the plane and arrived in Japan feeling well rested and ready to go.
For hotels, Tim got the Amex SPG card with a 25,000 point sign up bonus, and I got the Chase IHG card with an 80,000 point sign up bonus. We booked the Westin Tokyo in Ebisu for 14,000 points per night for two nights and the IHG Intercontinental in Tokyo for 35,000 points per night. We also had $300 worth of free AirBnB credits from stacking an Amex offer on multiple cards for $50 off $100 spent at AirBnB.
Our favorite hotel was hands down the IHG Intercontinental. The friendliness and helpfulness of the staff went way beyond our expectations! The hotel was super fancy and in a good location within 10 minutes walk of the metro.
The Westin, on the other hand, was outrageously opulent, to the point of it being too much. The staff were not as friendly and didn’t even offer to carry our bags. However they had an overwhelmingly extensive (albeit expensive) all you can eat breakfast buffet. We upgraded to a club room, where we received free food and drinks in the club lounge from 5-7pm and a free breakfast at the buffet. If I recall correctly, the cost to upgrade was about 60 USD per night. The location was very good, and was quite close to the Ebisu tram station. We could definitely tell we were in the most expensive part of town. It was here in Ebisu that I learned that khaki trenchcoats are (or were) big in Japan. You could not turn your head without seeing gaggles of women in khaki trenchcoats walking down the street.
All in all, it was a fantastic trip, and the effort to churn credit cards was well worth it.
WanderLiz 