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

[speedyfishy]

I had no problem getting the $10 off a $500 VGC at Safeway. I used a credit card they just checked my ID. I did two separate transactions and used mine and SO's offer.

 

[bernina]

[.

 

[wendow]

Not a help for the online question but I just closed my accounts with a quick phone call and it was painless. Received 4 separate snail mail confirmations a few days later (I guess each of those virtual accounts has it’s own number and I had savings as well).

1-888-PNC-BANK

Thanks! I actually finally found a chat option so I used that but I guess the transfer hadn't fully processed yet so I will have to chat back tomorrow.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Suggestions for a warm, family friendly, short (5 days) vacation in October? My plans for December Costa Rica have been scrapped but I am still holding out hope for a short getaway in the fall.

Seems like a great “Universal/Sea World” type of trip with some pool time mixed in.

 

[Haley R]

@Haley R, I really want to thank you for paying it forward! BIG THUMBS UP!

Well the whole point of this thread is to help each other out right? If I can help someone else get to Japan for under $3,000 I’ll do it!

 

[Judique]

Definitely indicted someone for "money laundry" yesterday. Totally legit.

I forgot a twenty in my jeans pocket when I threw it in the wash this weekend! Did I break the law? Ermygawd! Am I going to jail for money laundry?!

I'm really curious how these quotes are going to look as my multi quote seemed really weird.

But this made me comment 1. @Lain thanks for the 'clean' 20. I hate dirty cash which is a great reason to use credit.
2. @DisneyMandC - one of the local post offices doesn't do money orders any more...not sure if it is all post offices...they are very close to a local car auction. People would go in and buy money orders up to the limit...maybe close to 10K...on auction days. Money getting laundered for sure as these were all cash transactions with the same participants.

Then the worst happened - 5 masked robbers robbed the post office near closing right after an auction day.....got away with a huge amount of cash. That said, it didn't even make the news here.

 

[calypso726]

Hi! I'm new here. I've been enjoying the thread. In the next year or two, I am interested in a family trip to Europe as inexpensively as possible! I just don't know where to start. Which are the best cards to start with?? I have a few active cards but only one opened in the last 24 months.
01/19 Capital One Venture
We normally put $1500-2000/month on CCs. We pay them off every month.
Does anyone have any words of wisdom for this newbie?

@smmco - I think it's great to jump in and provide insight. Without asking some questions though, I'd just hesitate to recommend any cards yet. We don't yet know if this user is interested in pursuing business cards. We don't know what airports they'd be flying through. There's a lot of unknowns here.

I'd honestly love to see the great @calypso726 or some of our other int'l travel experts get a crack on this one too. While I'm not expert in airlines that don't rhyme with Mouthfest - I have gained an appreciation that booking international air travel on points/miles is an art and the easy answer isn't always the right answer. I seem to recall that a lot of people have said that AA miles for int'l travel is actually a really bad proposition but I honestly could be way off base there too.

Along those same lines...we have to keep 5/24 in mind with their overall strategy. If they grabbed Barclays Aviator, Citi AAdvantage and Amex Hilton personal cards on a whim we'd suddenly be at 4/24 with no thought given to a strategy that balances this trip with the future ability to get Chase cards. There's a lot to this

Welcome @tenngirl - The first place to start is right where you are, asking questions and giving your self about 2 years to get things into place.

Next, you will want to determine where in Europe you would like to visit. Then figure out which airlines will fly to that location from your home airport. If your airport is a hub for a particular airline, you may wish to focus on that airline. Once you have a general idea which airline you will likely be using, you need to find out how many people are going on this trip and if you want to fly in coach, business or first class. This will give you a rough idea of how many miles you will need. Once you have that information all set, you will want to come up with a plan B in case this first plan doesn't pan out as you'd hoped. It happens to the best of us.

As a general rule, we recommend starting with the Chase cards due to the 5/24 rule, but depending on your Euro trip goals that may or may not be the best plan for you. If you have a P2 that can play the game with you, all the better. Applying for business cards for your existing business, "business", or business you may be thinking about having, "some day" is also a good plan of action.

 

[calypso726]

@calypso726 has way more points than me. Im just trying to catch up. And apparently everyone is trying to become a points millionaire and now that I cashed out 500,000 MR I'm way behind on that competition.

Well, you had me beat on MR points. I keep going through them and can't seem to build a stash LOL

 

[PrincessMom98]

You and P2 both look good for another CIP. If you can split up that 10k charge, each get CIPs and refer each other. Boom - 230k URs, easy!

That would make the 3rd Chase Biz for each of us. Do you think I need to cancel my old one first?

 

[DisneyMandC]

I'm really curious how these quotes are going to look as my multi quote seemed really weird.

But this made me comment 1. @Lain thanks for the 'clean' 20. I hate dirty cash which is a great reason to use credit.
2. @DisneyMandC - one of the local post offices doesn't do money orders any more...not sure if it is all post offices...they are very close to a local car auction. People would go in and buy money orders up to the limit...maybe close to 10K...on auction days. Money getting laundered for sure as these were all cash transactions with the same participants.

Then the worst happened - 5 masked robbers robbed the post office near closing right after an auction day.....got away with a huge amount of cash. That said, it didn't even make the news here.

Yikes! I've never done anything with MOs, but I do think most POs allow you to buy them. My case was just an old fashioned buying a whole bunch of illegal stuff with cash, and then selling it for cash, and then buying more illegal stuff with that cash.

 

[Kawnipi]

I applied 4/23 for the Barclays aa biz and went pending. 10 days later I got a letter in the mail asking for a copy of my liscence, ss card and a utility bill, which I sent it. 5/23 I got a letter in the mail stating they had revived those and to call.

I called and had to answer questions about my “business”. I basically said I sold stuff online and wanted the card to keep shipping fees separate from my personal expenses. I was approved, but with only a 1k limit, which will be fine considering I plan to spend 1k for the bonus and never use the card again.

Interesting. I am going through this atm. I need to send the DL, SS card, and utility bill to them. I called to see if it could be emailed but alas it can only be snail mailed. I talked to the security guy for a bit and I guess they randomly select applicants for verification. There isn't anything flagged as bad on the application that triggered the verification. Kind of the equivalent of getting SSSSS on your boarding pass and having to do extra security with TSA.
He also said that they only do the verification process on applications that they are planning to approve. Even though the letter says you have 30 days to respond back with the documents they give you another 30 days beyond that. No additional hard pull should occur as long as you get the documents within that 60 day window.

 

[nhgirl]

I’m hoping someone can answer a question for me. I tried to research but couldn’t find the answer. My Marriott Premier Plus card AF will post next month. DH’s Amex Spg AF just hit. Now that they are Bonvoy should we close one? keep them both? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

 

[calypso726]

It's been approximately 4 days and 600 pages ago that I last logged on, so clearly there is a lot of chatter about stuff that I haven't read. Thanks to @SouthFayetteFan and other experts for the News Page on Reddit, because that's AH-Mazing and I can get some of the big topics when I get a chance.

Now, I actually have big-potential-hopefully-will-happen travel plans down the road. And I probably can only make them happen if I can get the most of it done on points/miles.

Hopefully, we will be going to Australia/New Zealand late 2021 or early 2022 AND Paris in May/June 2023. So clearly I will need a lot of points to make this happen - 2 adults, business class or higher for long-haul flights is a must.

I'm not a newbie and have read enough to know about what is needed to help the experts with their answers.

Home Airport: ORD
I did a mock booking for all of the stops (Sydney, Christchurch, Melbourne, and back to ORD) and have seen that I can use United, AA, Quantas, or Emirites for any of the flight options.

For Paris, there is a non-stop flight on Delta or United/Lufthansa, or 1-stop on AA (either domestic or through LHR)

Here are our stats:
ME: CSR (1/17 - closed 3/19), Disney Visa (7/17), IHG (3/18) CIP (7/18) Amex Plat (11/18) - eligible for new CSR bonus 3/21, I have a "business" but no EIN
DH: CSR (3/18), Disney Visa (2/19) - reluctant P2 and wouldn't know about the NZ trip so I don't want to rely too much on him
I like to keep at least 3+ months inbetween apps.

URs: 105k between two CF's, CSR, and CIP, but all on the CSR.
MR: 106k and not really earning much right now
United: 25k-ish and earning mostly on MPX when I remember to use it
AA: probably a few thousand each and not earning currently

QUESTIONS!!!!

1. Does anyone have a bookmarked guide on MR that they really like? I have been reading a little bit on MR over the last few months, but now need to get serious on how best to utilize them for travel. I'm not asking for anyone to do research for me, but more if anyone already has something in their notes they are willing to share.
2. DH got the Amex Plat 100k offer. This might be the next card I have him go for since I think we can make spend with Insurance renewals and annual church contributions coming up. Again, will need to decide how MRs can get us to our destinations. This expires in mid-June.
3. Who has been to Australia/NZ on points? What have you done to make it happen? I have time and have heeded enough of @calypso726 's advice to know where you are going 2+ years in advance so you can get the points/miles by the time 1 year comes around to book at the best rates.
4. What cards should I focus on to get the most United or Quantas miles? Any other strategies for this? United goes to both locations so I might focus on this carrier, but open to any and all other ideas too.

Thanks and thanks and thanks and thanks!!!!!

Quantas is supposedly really stingy with award seats from what I have read and getting New Zealand air awards flights via United is like finding a unicorn. Here is a pretty decent article though that may help.

https://upgradedpoints.com/best-ways-to-fly-to-australia-with-points/
You will likely need to position to LAX or SFO to get the best availability.

 

[Lain]

Well, you had me beat on MR points. I keep going through them and can't seem to build a stash LOL

Isn’t that the point of these points?! Looking at numbers on a screen doesn’t do me any good.

 

[PolyRob]

Friendly reminder:

Southwest Airline’s next schedule release will occur TOMORROW morning (Thursday 5/30). This release goes through Jan 5th and covers Thanksgiving and Christmas. In my experience, flights typically go “live” between 7am and 9am Eastern. This release date has been moved multiple times but tomorrow has been consistently published for the past 2 weeks.

I am eager to see if I can get some non-stop flights to MCO!!

 

[Calfan]

Has anyone activated an employee card with the Barclays AA Biz? Of course the automated system won't work, says the card number doesn't match the system.

It's weird, you need to put in the main card number first and then should have an option to activate the employee card. I'm sorry, can't remember who posted that. Or apparently you can just use it without activating, which is what some did (including myself).

I was the one who posted how I got my DH's employee card activated, and amalone1013 is correct. I ended up entering my original card # when it said it didn't recognize DH's employee card number. The system then told me that my card was already activated, but it gave me the option to activate additional cards, and I was then able to get DH's card activated. I may or may not have changed the pin on my card during this process. I'm not really sure but don't care since I don't plan to use this card for any future spend.

 

[calypso726]

Isn’t that the point of these points?! Looking at numbers on a screen doesn’t do me any good.

Good point. I just feel like I'm always running uphill on a treadmill.

 

[elgerber]

I was the one who posted how I got my DH's employee card activated, and amalone1013 is correct. I ended up entering my original card # when it said it didn't recognize DH's employee card number. The system then told me that my card was already activated, but it gave me the option to activate additional cards, and I was then able to get DH's card activated. I may or may not have changed the pin on my card during this process. I'm not really sure but don't care since I don't plan to use this card for any future spend.

Thanks, I did get it done...I think LOL

 

[wintotty]

Yeah, they have a different link. It will say at the top you're checking a business card.

https://www.barclaycardus.com/apply/cas/applications/search?PARTNERID=BUSINESS

Thank you the link worked!! Unfortunately my application was denied.......... Maybe I had too many account opened last 3 months...... My credit score is over 830 so I don't know what else. How long should I wait to re-apply?

 

[WVMomof3]

I’m hoping someone can answer a question for me. I tried to research but couldn’t find the answer. My Marriott Premier Plus card AF will post next month. DH’s Amex Spg AF just hit. Now that they are Bonvoy should we close one? keep them both? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Depends on if you still see value in the free night certificates. The Marriott cert from Chase should post right near card anniversary date. You should be able to close this card, get reimbursed for AF and still use the free night if you wish. The Amex cert will probably take about 6-8 weeks to post, meaning if you cancel and get AF refunded, you will not get the free night out of it. It is really up to you and if you get value out of them. We have the SPG biz and the Chase Marriott personal and will keep both this year and reevaluate next year.