Thinking about Charles Schwab Platinum to cash out 660K points. Should I do it?

Help Needed / Question Forum
1

Have been sitting on an Amex Plat and 660k Amex points for two years now, have unfortunately not found value in them (I fly economy and churn Chase Ink cards, so Chase points are what I primarily earn and redeem).

I’m thinking about getting the Schwab Platinum mid December to cash out my points at 1.1cpp and invest them. To make the $520 AF (after Uber credits) worth it, I’m also thinking about triple dipping on United TravelBank credits: Dec 2023, 2024, and Jan 2025 - effectively makes the AF negative.

Thoughts? Should I do it and is there anything wrong with my triple dip plan?

2

Makes sense if that’s what you want to do. There is a 125k offer for the Schwab Platinum right now. You need a Schwab brokerage to get the card, so maybe consider opening that up beforehand.

3

Finnian said:
Makes sense if that’s what you want to do. There is a 125k offer for the Schwab Platinum right now. You need a Schwab brokerage to get the card, so maybe consider opening that up beforehand.

I have a brokerage account. I believe that offer only stands if I didn’t already get the Amex Plat signup offer, which I did.

4

@Keir
I’ve gotten both the normal plat and Schwab plat sign-up bonuses. I opened the Schwab one and then closed the other a month after opening.

5

RewardsRanger3 said:
@Keir
I’ve gotten both the normal plat and Schwab plat sign-up bonuses. I opened the Schwab one and then closed the other a month after opening.

Just applied for Schwab and it warned me I’m not eligible for the signup bonus due to already having Plat.

6

@Keir
Huh maybe it got changed in the last year?

7

RewardsRanger3 said:
@Keir
Huh maybe it got changed in the last year?

Within the last year to year and a half.

And the Platinum cards had language added to the T&C of the SUB that you can’t get the current Platinum SUB if you have or have had the regular Platinum, Schwab Platinum, or Morgan Stanley Platinum.

You must have gotten both subs before the language was added.

8

@Quill
It’s not that you can’t. It’s just very unlikely.

9

Griff said:
@Quill
It’s not that you can’t. It’s just very unlikely.

Oh right. The now infamous ‘may’ in the verbiage.

10

Yes. Get Schwab Plat + BBP 2x MR = $1 or 2.2c value.

Travel Banks, I highly recommend if you fly United enough.

You can get Walmart+ and get the free Paramount+ and $20 streaming to offset your annual fee.

Also get a Rakuten account.

11

@Brenner
I don’t know why Amex does not release even a 1.5 MR point card as an everyday spend card. They had one and they removed it. It completely breaks the ecosystem. Why even buy anything on an Amex card if the majority of points are coming from Rakuten…just use a regular Wells Fargo Active Cash or Fidelity Visa for that.

12

@Dany
Exactly. Rakuten to earn MR is a good way to run multiple rewards setups.

13

Absolutely. I did it in January with ~770K points and couldn’t be happier. I also redeemed cash back from my other cards and now I have over $15K in my Schwab account making over 5% until I’m ready to use it, and I never have to worry about transfer partners or booking portals.

14

Solid plan. Go for it!

15

I mainly take domestic economy and have found Alaska miles to be absolutely amazing for me. No other transfer partner has good domestic economy redemptions.

Might be something to look into if you haven’t seen it since the new Hawaiian merger. Otherwise, the Schwab is a great idea.

16

If you transfer it to Schwab can you just take it out any given day without penalties?