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

[Hoosier John]

Since I'm new at this, I listed my side biz as Credit Card Churner.
That should be fine, right?

 

[speedyfishy]

See this is why I hang out here where we are all nice. I posted on the cruise section to ask about whether a soccer game is likely to be televised on board while we are sailing. DSs favorite team is playingin the UEFA Championship & he’d love to see the game. I get a snarky reply that it would be a shame to miss the beauty of Alaska for a soccer game. Because we’re supposed to sit on deck watching the beauty of Alaska 24/7. No movies, no shows, no sleeping. We might miss some of the beauty. (Don’t get me wrong, I am looking forward to seeing Alaska. Just reality that we do other things as well.)

So not classy but SO and I have watched the NBA finals on our phone at Yatchsman steakhouse before. The phone was on silent at least lol.

 

[pinkxray]

I have a question about Marriot points and the free night from the old SPG business card. Is the free night for any room under 35,000?Or is it Category 3 and lower. I am looking at a Springhill Suites room that is a category 4 but is only 25000 points.

Sorry for the stupid question. I don’t know anything about Marriot points and categories.

 

[miztressuz]

I have a question about Marriot points and the free night from the old SPG business card. Is the free night for any room under 35,000?Or is it Category 3 and lower. I am looking at a Springhill Suites room that is a category 4 but is only 25000 points.

Sorry for the stupid question. I don’t know anything about Marriot points and categories.

It goes by points, so you can book anything 35k and under. 35k is actually the standard redemption rate for a Cat 5 room now, so either way your SpringHill room would work.

 

[pinkxray]

It goes by points, so you can book anything 35k and under. 35k is actually the standard redemption rate for a Cat 5 room now, so either way your SpringHill room would work.

Thank you! This will be my first year getting the free night so I haven’t paid much attention to the terms. For some reason I thought it had to be a category 3 or lower. When researching some options it seemed like I wouldn’t be able to use my free night anywhere we want to go. Knowing it’s really 35,000 points opens a few doors at least. We are a family of 5 so Springhill Suites will be a good option in a few places we would like to travel to.

 

[tink1970]

Caught up-I've been busy proctoring for AP and IB exams. Four to six hours every day...good thing I don't work, lol.

DH has his CIP activated and online account set up finally. With only a $5K CL I'm going to have to progress more slowly than usual.

Points and nights from DH's two 1 night stays have already posted but are pending (of course) for the expensive Gaylord Palms -I'm afraid I'll have to deal with being bonvoyed for those

My second Citi AA Biz MSR has been met but also waiting for those to post (statement closed yesterday). Patience is not my strong suit...

Happy Mother's Day to everyone-I received a card and chocolate from the dogs and a card in Spanish (Publix was sold out of English cards by noon) and diet dr pepper from DD. I'm prepared for the shun club house...since, catching up on the pizza thread I don't like either NY style (too thin, hate having to fold pizza) nor Chicago deep dish (just too much of everything). Bagels are best in NYC though, that I can concede.

 

[miztressuz]

See this is why I hang out here where we are all nice. I posted on the cruise section to ask about whether a soccer game is likely to be televised on board while we are sailing. DSs favorite team is playingin the UEFA Championship & he’d love to see the game. I get a snarky reply that it would be a shame to miss the beauty of Alaska for a soccer game. Because we’re supposed to sit on deck watching the beauty of Alaska 24/7. No movies, no shows, no sleeping. We might miss some of the beauty. (Don’t get me wrong, I am looking forward to seeing Alaska. Just reality that we do other things as well.)

Don't know if you got an actual reply, but the Crown and Fin pub always has sports playing. They'd be limited to what their satellite gets but most likely they'd get a Championship game. I recall many soccer games during the day. It would get tricky if it's a night game because after a certain hour it becomes Adults Only, but I think that's fairly late (I totally forget what the navigators say the cutoff is). You might possibly get it in the stateroom, I thought we saw some sports when flipping around.

I won't even get into the snark, hope they remembered the eye drops so they don't have to blink... oops, guess I did a little.

 

[3 DD love princesses]

At myrtle beach we ate at a brixx pizza it was good. Plus they could accommodate allergies which is a plus for us. Wish we had one close to us.

 

[calypso726]

To be honest, I have no idea. I was looking at AwardHacker and Cathay was lowest use of the points and I could use my MR stash. But when I got to Cathay, those flights were going through Hong Kong rather than the nonstop flights I was seeing on the AA flight. I looked at the saver fares that went through Heathrow and the fees were ridiculous, $3950! No thanks. And the UR portal and AA had economy nonstop flights for less than $500 round trip but those were not showing up on the MR portal.

Hong Kong is the hub for Cathay Pacific.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Ugh. Why? I remember on the cruise forum people used to comment on people watching movies. Why do people care what other people want to do on their vacation?

We always watch movies on our cruises b/c we never pay the exorbitant prices to sit in a germy movie theatre at home. DCL is the only place we go to movies.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Was anyone going to be at MK on 5/23? I have a mine train FP I am going to drop.

ETA: omg!, never mind. I just got an 8:15pm one to replace it. Miracle.

 

[smallsy]

Someone might have already replied but I’ve had 13 inquiries due to car loans and Rv loans. Didn’t affect chase approving new cards.

Awesome, thanks. I only have 5 but apparently that was too many for citi

 

[Hoosier John]

Someone might have already replied but I’ve had 13 inquiries due to car loans and Rv loans. Didn’t affect chase approving new cards.

As I understand, credit bureaus allow for shopping around for loans by only entering one hit for the same type of loan request within a short time-frame (around 30 days). So maybe you only had a couple of hits?

Contemplating going onto the cruise threads to post that my favorite part of doing 3 day Bahamas and CC port cruises on the Dream with just DH and I are staying on the ship and sleeping until noon or later, catching a movie, going back to the room for another nap and waking up to eat at Palo or Remy just to There's just no sleep like DCL sleep This year's cruise will be different since we managed to rope in 7 of our Disney Cruise friends to come with. We've got a cabana and will actually get off of the the ship and go to CC. We will likely just be playing rounds of Cards Against Humanity and Disney Against Humanity in the cabana, so there's that. Personally, I think it is silly for others to criticize how someone spends their vacation. If you don't like what they are doing then don't do it on your vacation. You do you.

I hear ya. We almost always get an inside cabin for the dark rooms (and price). I'm guessing we sleep better because the room is so dark (but it could be because of the money we saved ). Always sleep great on a cruise.

The DVC annual members cruise changed to 2 stops at Castaway Cay, a day at sea, and no other stops because that's what the members wanted. These are knowledgeable cruisers and opted for a 100% Disney experience over a day a Nassau.

We always watch movies on our cruises b/c we never pay the exorbitant prices to sit in a germy movie theatre at home. DCL is the only place we go to movies.

We lucked into a pre-release viewing of Secretariat on DCL. Great movie, and descent theater. My wife also loves Movies Under the Stars on Princess (I think another line has outdoor movies too)

 

[Hoosier John]

Re: New CIP spend ($5k in 3 months).
I'm looking for advice/tips on where I should spend.
Here are my monthly bills:

Company      Monthly     Payment Options         Fee

Mr Cooper    $ 1,970     1-time auto-phone        ?
Rent           1,700     MC, Visa, AmEx          2.50%
Ditech           440     1-time auto-phone       2.27
Student Loan     285     Checking,Savings only       X
DVC Dues         220     CCs, DGC, DReward        0
DVC Loan         160     Checking,Savings only       X
Chase Freedom     50     Checking only               X
Auto Loan        140     Check,MM,Savings only       X
Gas bill          30     MC,Visa,Disc,DClub       0
Electric bill     30     MC,Visa,Disc,AmEx       5.50

 

[Alexle2007]

Hong Kong is the hub for Cathay Pacific.

So I think if I follow this process outlined:
1. Search Qantas for partner availability for the nonstop American flight. If I can’t locate, look at BA
2. Call Cathay with the flight info to book the American flight
3. Transfer MRs and complete the booking

https://thepointsguy.com/guide/searching-oneworld-availability/

 

[amalone1013]

Got a check from BIL for his share of the cruise today. One down and one to go!

Once all of my pending purchases post that will take me over my AMEX MSR, though I have some returns to make. After the returns go through, and I get another round of Safeway MCGCs, I will have around $300 to make up.

And this weekend I've been using my mysterious VGC stash to buy Walmart GCs on raise through a portal, and then use them to get Disney GCs. So far I've taken $350 from the stash, $50 from swagbucks, and the $200 MCGC from the last Staples deal, and have gotten $625 in Disney plus $44 cashback plus still have $18 on a walmart GC. Have $150 to go on my stash still.

Yesterday we stopped at Kroger for some GCs. Some Disney and Amazon for Mothers Day, split with BIL (also got that money today). I was going to put my Sam's membership renewal on my AMEX, but decided instead to get a VGC at Kroger. And grabbed a $50 VGC for DHs birthday gift, since I cant find Etsy on shopping portals anymore. 4x fuel points and 5x URS on everything

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Re: New CIP spend ($5k in 3 months).
I'm looking for advice/tips on where I should spend.
Here are my monthly bills:

Company      Monthly     Payment Options         Fee

Mr Cooper    $ 1,970     1-time auto-phone        ?
Rent           1,700     MC, Visa, AmEx          2.50%
Ditech           440     1-time auto-phone       2.27
Student Loan     285     Checking,Savings only       X
DVC Dues         220     CCs, DGC, DReward        0
DVC Loan         160     Checking,Savings only       X
Chase Freedom     50     Checking only               X
Auto Loan        140     Check,MM,Savings only       X
Gas bill          30     MC,Visa,Disc,DClub       0
Electric bill     30     MC,Visa,Disc,AmEx       5.50

I don't see anything listing your regular expenses so obviously those could go on the CIP. (i.e. groceries, gasoline, etc.) Take whatever you spend monthly on that multiplied by 3 and that could handle a chunk of it. Seems like your rent accepts CC payments with a Visa at a 2.5% fee, that's an easy one that would handle your MSR right there too. Can you pay ahead of DVC dues (I see it says monthly) - maybe you could go buy a bunch of Disney GCs (on a discount too preferably) and pay ahead on that. On the surface, it seems you don't have to mess around with Plastiq or any of those other bills unless you want to. While it would be nice to finish off the MSR super quick, the question is, then what? You can only go so fast in this game so hitting a HUGE MSR in a month isn't always your best plan if you don't have a lineup of cards to get behind it.

Now if your wife is playing the game too and willing to go for some cards you can double your pace and I might adjust some of my comments above.

 

[Judique]

You can go to Disney at a hotel cheaper than the campsites. We did the campsite in October and it cost more than a hotel. No discounts on campsites.

You are correct! But for me, I like to camp - don't go much anymore, but I still am a nature enthusiast.

Right now, I've probably done at least 50 and probably closer to 60 Disney trips of 1-2 weeks. Going again in Nov and Feb.

So in the past, I've also stayed in the cabins as well as in a tent. But, unless I start getting younger, those days are going to get to be few and far between.

 

[speedyfishy]

Getting Disney Giftcards at Best Buy with Swagbucks is dead? I need $3,000 in Disney Giftcards by Sep anyone have any suggestions?

 

[miztressuz]

As I understand, credit bureaus allow for shopping around for loans by only entering one hit for the same type of loan request within a short time-frame (around 30 days). So maybe you only had a couple of hits?

Not quite. The inquiries are all reported and so you'll see all of them on the reports. What usually happens when calculating a score or risk is they are combined into one occurance, so it's counted as the equivalent of one credit seeking behavior since it was for a single event. (It also matters what type of institution is doing the inquiry, generally my understanding is if they can be identified as auto or home lenders it's easier to group the inquiries together) You shopping around for a single loan as the outcome is not the same risk as you opening multiple new lines of credit (or attempting to). Instead of entering, say 3, into the equation someone would enter 1 and it would change the result to be a more accurate reflection of your behavior, but they see all 3 inquiries. Also this only works for installment loans, I know home and auto loans mostly so maybe other secured loans but I wonder if it works for stuff like student loans? IDK. But doing an app-o-rama for credit cards is not supposed to get the same treatment.

This means that each issuer looking at your report is going to use that information in different ways depending on what scoring model is used to calculate your risk profile. But they can see all hard pulls and just have to work out for themselves what to make of it.