How To Get More Food & Points At Chipotle

I am a big fan of Chipotle. In college, it was my reward for a night of hard studying. Now as I grow older, I have to limit how often I go there, typically once a month.

A few weeks ago, I tweeted out a link from Business Insider about How To Get Bigger Portions at Chipotle. The title of article drew me in. Surprising, the tips provided in the article are quite useful and many of them I use currently.

• Smile at your server                   

• Get a burrito bowl.    

          Business Insider's analysis confirms that you get substantially more food by 

          ordering the bowl instead of a traditional burrito.  

• Ask for a tortilla on the side. 

• Ask for extra rice at no extra cost. 

• Order both pinto and black beans for free

• Get free fajita vegetables. 

• Ask for two different proteins, for example, half chicken and half steak

• Ask for salad dressing

• While you'll always pay more for guacamole

• Finally, timing is important. 

             Go late at night, about an hour within closing time

Chipotle.com

Now that you know how to get more food. How do you get more points?

If you use your Chase Sapphire at Chipotle, you can earn 2 points per $ spent everyday and 3 points $ on the first Friday of the month.

To get even more points, why not prepay for your Chipotle meal? 

Chipotle sells gift cards at thousands of outside vendors, including office supply stores. If you have the Chase Ink Bold, you can buy a Chiptole gift card at an office supply store and earn 5 points per $1 spent. 

Using that gift card now earns you 5 points per $1 at Chipotle compared to the 2 points you earn at Chase Sapphire or 1 point earned on other credit cards. Yes, you have to put up money in advance for meals, but you will earn extra points. Also, $25 is about 2; maybe 3 visits to Chipotle at most. This is a win, win!

Now you know how to get more FOOD and POINTS at Chipotle!

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Recap of Q3 and Rest of Year

One of the reasons I am writing this blog is to keep a journal of my crazy doings in my late twenties.

Here is a little update on what has happened in Q3 and what I have on deck for the rest of the year:

Quarter 3

• I have earned 601,000 points YTD
• My goal was 500,000 this year
• New goal is 750,000
• Tried Carpe Doughnuts (more here)
• Completed the Chase Hyatt Card Summer Bonus
• Tried to cancel my US Airways Credit Card, read more here
• Got Chase Ink Bold Credit Cards
• Blog Turns 1
• Anniversary Giveaway

Quarter 4

• Complete Hyatt 6,000 Fall Bonus  & Southwest 3,000 Bonus, read more here
• Complete US Airways Mastercard Retention and Holiday Bonus, read more here.
• Complete IHG's The Big Win promotion, more here
• Cancel United and American Airlines Credit Cards
• What credit cards for next application? 
• Decided My End of the Year Trip

Upcoming Travel 

• Columbus Day Weekend - Norfolk, VA
• October - Will Travel for College Football: NorthWestern
• October - Omaha Mileage Run
• November - Memphis Mileage Run 
• November - 10 Year High School Reunion
• December - Buenos Aires with Mom
• December - Will travel for College Football: D3 Championship???
• December - End of Year Trip

Things I am Working On For The Blog

• A stand along website - almost done!
• Blog Logo
• Anatomy of a Mileage Run
• Maybe Another 31 Ways to Earn
• Some other things....

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Final Results: How Many United Miles Did I Earn In August?

In July, I wrote about 31 Ways To Earn United Miles. In August, I wanted to challenge myself to earn as many United miles as possible.

I made four rules that I had to follow:

   1) Spend the least amount of non-justified money ie money I wouldn't spend anyway

   2) Everything has to be ethical - would my grandfather be embarrassed by what I am doing?

   3) Can only apply for one new credit card that earns United miles

   4) Only miles earned in August and credited by September 30th count

Now the big question: how did I do?

Drum roll please . . .

My goal was to earn 75,000, so I am very pleased with earning 78,000+ miles.

Here is how I did it:

First, I applied and was approved for the Chase Ink Bold.

After spending $5,000, I would earn 50,000 Ultimate Reward Points, which can be transferred to United MileagePlus at 1:1 ratio. I earned 56, 558 points from the credit card.

Here is a breakdown of how the points were earned:

The other 22, 443 miles in a variety of other ways

The graphic shows I earned 22,734. That number includes 280 miles earned from Opinion Miles Club (see here) and some points earned from my United Credit Card.

Here are the ways I earned the other miles:

Here is how I earned the other 22,000+ miles:

  760 - Opinion Miles Club
  500 - eMile
1500 - Marriott Gift Cards (expired)
 186 -  Purchase on my MileagePlus Shopping Mall
1932 - Chase United Credit Card Purchases
1150 - ScoreBig
5000 - Purchases on my Chase Sapphire - Transfer from Ultimate Rewards
1120 - Dining Rewards
5670 - Purchase from Shoes.com
2500 - Vinessee Wine Purchase
2000 - eRewards Surveys

Now the question, how much money was wasted?

Here are the items that I paid money for and the amount of money I deem wasted:

Marriott Gift Cards - spent $1 on shipping
Kiehl's (MP Shopping Mall) - nothing
Scorebig - $10 (the extra cost of money)
Vinessee - $10 (the wine was only worth $5 a bottle)
Shoes.com - nothing, needed both pairs
Chase Ink Bold - $31.60 - 8 VRs @ $3.95 each
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Total: $52.60 wasted


Conclusion:

78,000 miles with $52.60 wasted is amazing.

My little experiment goes to show that anyone can earn miles with a little bit of effort. Yes, 80% of my points came from credit cards. However, I didn't really purchase anything, except VRs, that I didn't need. For those wondering, I use the wine for the anniversary party and gifts.

Overall, the amount of ways you can earn miles/points is numerous. The only thing standing in your way is you.

Did you participate in my challenge? How did you do?

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Status Update: Earning United Miles

July was about talking about earning MileagePlus miles. August is suppose to be about earning MileagePlus miles. I am failing. As of this moment, only 650 miles have been credited to my account.

This is a far cry of having 75,000 earned by August 31 and banked them by September 30. Here is a list of activities that I completed and am waiting to be credited to my account:

Transfer from Emiles (500 Miles)
Purchase from Kiehl's through Shopping Portal (100 miles)
Purchased Wines (2000)
Purchase Marriott Gift Cards (1500)
Ordered from Peapod (600)
3x First Friday Chase Sapphire Dining Promotion (1900 - Business Lunch Yes!)
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Total: 6,600+ 650 (above) = 7,250

Also, I have applied and been approved for the Chase Ink Bold. If I can get the card and spend $5,000, I will get a minimum 55,000 points. So achieving the 75,000 mile goal hangs in the balance of getting this credit card.

Here are a road map of additional promotions I plan on participating in to earn miles:

Purchase Nationals Tickets from Score Big
Participate in United Dinning Rewards
Open Investment Account
Order from GILT
Transfer from eRewards

Finally, I plan on transferring any points earned on my Chase Sapphire in August to United.

I have the plan to earn 75,000 miles, but I need to get serious about doing it.

Am I missing out on any other ways to earn easy MileagePlus miles?
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 Follow us on Twitter @doit4thepoints! Have a question for me? E-mail me at jd@doitforthepoints.com