I love credit cards so much! v2.0 (see first page for add'l details)

[GusGus16]

I asked Dh what he thinks, but he'll be busy for awhile. His credit score has gone down quite a bit recently because he's been opening cards (while mine has gone up lol) so I know that might worry him about opening another card in his name.

We can always stay at the Hiltons by Disney Springs when we go to WDW. I don't mind staying at those since we can stay on points. We started driving ourselves to the parks anyway.

We don't have any CIPs close to the anniversary that we could downgrade. We closed the ones that hit one year and the oldest one was opened in April of this year. Do you have to wait until it's close to the anniversary to downgrade?

I would not be surprised if you and DH's credit score goes down with the new mortgage. Nothing to worry about, but like chase's free credit score will site-something to the effect that your current loan balance compared to the total loan is too high (it is complete baloney because this pretty much dings anyone with a new mortgage as it takes years to make enough dent in the payoffs to make a difference). Also I think the new "young" account can decrease the score too. My credit score still has not completely rebounded after my new mortgage about 2 years ago, my previous mortgage was a great help to my credit score when I started churning as it kept the score pretty stable. This is not to deter anyone from getting a mortgage, as I strongly believe it is helpful in regards to your bust out risk.

I might be interested in going for this .I have 2 personal Amex cards , no business Amex. Can I generate a *** through one of them?

Do not use your own link, and I would recommend not using the "r" word on the thread. AMEX has clawed back people who self supported.

Need someone to help me. Apparently my understanding of how to use the contactless in the card isn’t right. I held it up to the card reader but nothing happened. I moved it around and it never worked. CVS had the sign and the girl at the register said just hold it to the top. Well couldn’t get it to work and ended up just inserting the chip since there was a long line at the pharmacy. What am I doing wrong?

Typically my card has to be touching the screen for the contactless to work. I typically just touch the card right above the pin pad and takes probably less than 15 seconds. Seems way less then if you would insert the card for the chip.

With our AP's expiring next month, DH has already said we're not going back to Disney until we can pay for most of it with our CC points. I'd really like to be able to go for 4-5 nights next year at some point, but I only have a Disney Visa that I've had for 10+ years, so I know that those points alone won't get us there anytime soon. I think I've already decided on one of the Southwest cards to help with our travel expenses. What CC's are best right now to earn rewards to put towards lodging and tickets? We like to stay onsite (Swan and Dolphin included,) and usually book through a travel agent (not sure if those bookings code differently when redeeming travel rewards.) I am planning to use new CC's for work expenses that usually add up to 2k-4k a month. A lot of what I've researched online about using CC points for Disney trips seems outdated, so thanks in advance to anyone who can point me in the right direction!

You have already gotten some great infor above. Read through the first couple posts on this thread if you have gotten any credit cards in the last 24 months that may alter our advice.

 

[disfanforlife]

@GusGus16 - sorry I didn’t mean I would do that. I am in two player mode. If I could figure out how to generate a “r” I would do that for my DH not for myself.

 

[GlamMistress]

Someone remind me -

So DH holds the Sapphire Preferred. He last got the bonus on it well more than 48 months ago. He is still not able to apply for the CSR, correct due to the 1 Sapphire rule?

 

[mefordis]

Would anyone here book a flight with a 54 min connection? It would be EWR to IAD, then 54 mins connection for IAD to NRT.

I opted to take the EWR to IAD flight the night before because I would freak out with only 54 mins to catch my international flight. I hate wasting an entire night though.

 

[disfanforlife]

You got some great advice! I’ve only used my URs to book JetBlue thus far, but I do have a CSR. The CSR 1.5x has always been slightly better than transferring and booking directly through JetBlue. You don’t have to pay the taxes (pretty small, but still a fee). Plus I am also earning the miles and getting the CSR insurance. While the miles aren’t a lot, the JetBlue bonuses are pretty nice. I’ve already hit the “Take 3” which gets you 5,000 points and I should make “Lucky 7” which gets you 7,000 points. That is enough to get me a free one way flight to MCO from booking free flights through the UR portal.

I want to be sure I understand how that works. You book JetBlue with UR’s and get 1.5 because you have a CSR. And even using the URs you still earn points through JetBlue?

 

[DisneyMandC]

Would anyone here book a flight with a 54 min connection? It would be EWR to IAD, then 54 mins connection for IAD to NRT.

I opted to take the EWR to IAD flight the night before because I would freak out with only 54 mins to catch my international flight. I hate wasting an entire night though.

I wouldn’t do it with an international flight. I’m flying into JFK the night before our flight to NRT because I’m nervous about it lol. But now for just you’re average domestic flight, I’d be fine with that short of a layover. That’s usually the amount of time I have in Atlanta.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

We couldn’t even keep our gold status lol. We just don’t stay at hotels that often.

Only status I ever have is through CCs. When card is gone, so is status.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Does it ding your credit report if you lower them yourself? There are quite a few limits I could lower.

You might be too late for this CIP. I believe limits have to be lowered prior to your application. Lowering your CLs is a balancing act. Yes, it will ding your credit when you lower limits on your personal cards because it will raise your credit utilization ratio. But, if you just lower all your business credit limits it gives you no chance at being able to ask that they shift credit from a currently opened biz card in order to open the new card. (It's becoming rarer that they allow that but I still think it's a good idea to keep enough credit around in case the option arises in recon.)

 

[mamathompson]

I would not be surprised if you and DH's credit score goes down with the new mortgage. Nothing to worry about, but like chase's free credit score will site-something to the effect that your current loan balance compared to the total loan is too high (it is complete baloney because this pretty much dings anyone with a new mortgage as it takes years to make enough dent in the payoffs to make a difference). Also I think the new "young" account can decrease the score too. My credit score still has not completely rebounded after my new mortgage about 2 years ago, my previous mortgage was a great help to my credit score when I started churning as it kept the score pretty stable. This is not to deter anyone from getting a mortgage, as I strongly believe it is helpful in regards to your bust out risk.

Yes, this just happened to DH and I. Our new mortgage dropped both of our scores 30 points. I know it's just a matter of time before it raises again but we didn't start with the stellar scores many of you have. It was steadily rising until the mortgage hit.

 

[kmc8826]

CC question, simply because I'm nervous. I picked up an Alaska Airline card last year. I couldn't pass it up, as it was BOGO for flights and we used them for WDW in December. The first year fee was waived. HOWEVER, there's now a $99/year fee. I'd like to close the card altogether, as I don't like card with fees. My credit is above 700. Will closing it effect it a lot?

It really depends on your overall credit limits, number of cards, credit history. One thing you might want to consider is calling and telling them you are thinking of closing because you don’t like the AF. They may waive the fee or offer you some type of spending bonus. Before I started doing credit cards all the time I didn’t even realize calling/asking for a retention offer was a thing.

 

[disfanforlife]

I just used 171,000 AA miles for 2 nights at the Contemporary Club Level. I’m going to the SWGE AP preview and I’m hoping to do mickeys not so scary. I’m so happy to have AA miles. I feel so boujee!!

That sounds fantastic! I would love to use AA miles for a stay like that.

 

[speedyfishy]

That sounds fantastic! I would love to use AA miles for a stay like that.

.

 

[Alexle2007]

Wow! I'm finally caught up again!



Thank you for asking this question. I have FOMO regarding this one, but just haven't managed to get involved.



Good to know since I would like to PC DH's CIP1 to a CIC when it reaches a year, but didn't want to miss out on the bonus.



Just wait until he hits high school.

I think it depends on your school district. DD was in a private for elementary school (and believe me, I'm not really a fan of this school) and she was in school so much more than the kids in our local school. She had all day kindergarten, while they had half day. They had school 4.5 days a week (yep, a half day every week, which just thrilled my working neighbor) while mine was in all day, 5 days a week. The actual full days off were comparable, but those 1/2 days really add up (I guess they exist because they "count" when it comes to funding from the state). Every time there was a shift (MS, HS) we seriously considered moving our DD into the public schools but in the end there was always some dealbreaker that we just couldn't deal with.

I say the text book fees are preparing us for college

We are excited about the new schedule being able to take a couple of real vacations throughout the school year since our county public school calendar sucks. Spring break consisted of the Fri and Mon that surrounds Easter, Christmas was just the week of. He’ll have late start Wed every week which is nice but that is worst day for our work schedule. Spring break is 10 days plus 3 days surrounding Easter and Christmas is 2 1/2 weeks. There are definite perks,

 

[mmmears]

Would anyone here book a flight with a 54 min connection? It would be EWR to IAD, then 54 mins connection for IAD to NRT.

I opted to take the EWR to IAD flight the night before because I would freak out with only 54 mins to catch my international flight. I hate wasting an entire night though.

Personally, no. I wouldn't chance missing the fight. We've had 5 hour layovers that had us actually running through the airport to catch our connecting flight because the first flight was late. And that was domestic.

 

[smmco]

Hey all

I guess I’ve been a huge lurker. Lol. Just got back from the beach. I love myrtle beach area.

Could anyone with the Hilton aspire card message me please. I am going to Hawaii in March and was thinking about this card. More so about the airline incidentals. What actually does this mean. Can I buy my tickets with it or pay for upgrades? I won’t need to check bags due to having a AA card. Thanks.

You can use it upgrade to main cabin extra seats.

 

[Limes96]

So my churning news today...DH gave me the ok to transmit his docs to Cap1. Hopefully this will be the end of it! Would love to be using that Venture card with its 2x points on Plastiq instead of considering my Amex biz! I’m not sure how long to expect before hearing back from them.

Also, DD got conditional approval on her GE app (used P2’s Amex plat credit). Appointments for interviews are no closer than 2-1/2 hour drive away at this time and the first time open that fit with our schedule is on a Saturday the end of September. I’ll keep checking for better options.

 

[mmmears]

I say the text book fees are preparing us for college

We are excited about the new schedule being able to take a couple of real vacations throughout the school year since our county public school calendar sucks. Spring break consisted of the Fri and Mon that surrounds Easter, Christmas was just the week of. He’ll have late start Wed every week which is nice but that is worst day for our work schedule. Spring break is 10 days plus 3 days surrounding Easter and Christmas is 2 1/2 weeks. There are definite perks,

The HS books were high (as in over $1K some years, and that was with me finding those college science textbooks they used online). Ironically, our college book bill was incredibly low since DD found ways to get online access (I have no idea how but I think that college kids across the country are sick of the high prices and scan their books and put them online) or borrow from friends (looking at you, $350 P-Chem textbook).

 

[PolyRob]

I want to be sure I understand how that works. You book JetBlue with UR’s and get 1.5 because you have a CSR. And even using the URs you still earn points through JetBlue?

Yes, exactly! The URs are worth more when redeemed via a CSP or CSR. You will redeem the URs at a higher rate than their cash equivalent.

@calypso726 outlined a post like this for me almost a year ago and it was extremely helpful, so I will also give you an example:

Here is the same flight booked via CSR (1.5x), CSP (1.25x), and JetBlue TrueBlue Points (1:1x)

UR Portal CSR:


UR Portal CSP:


JetBlue TrueBlue Points/1:1 UR Transfer:


A CSR would save 9,178 URs rather than transferring to JetBlue. That is at least $91.78.

As for earning JetBlue points, you will only earn the base points with JetBlue, but it is better than nothing. The redemption bonus of the CSP or CSR doesn't do anything because JetBlue thinks you booked on cash externally.

 

[disfanforlife]

Hop on the train! I can get at least 416,000 AA miles every 95 days!!

I did! My DH and I both got our first Citi AA biz card recently - finishing the MSR on both next week, with our kids tuition.

 

[PolyRob]

I just used 171,000 AA miles for 2 nights at the Contemporary Club Level. I’m going to the SWGE AP preview and I’m hoping to do mickeys not so scary. I’m so happy to have AA miles. I feel so boujee!!

Hop on the train! I can get at least 416,000 AA miles every 95 days!!

I think I know what my next biz card will be