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

[amalone1013]

@3 DD love princesses is my idol currently lol

 

[kmc8826]

I see on DoC that big Delta bonuses are coming June 1....omg someone talk me down. I’m so close to being under 5/24.

I saw that too and had the same thoughts. Must be strong! It does not help that for some reason the week in October for fall break that I have booked for WDW already with the DVC is now pricing airfare as much as Thanksgiving! If I had known that I would have booked airfare early or just did DVC for Thanksgiving...which would be pretty fun and a nice change (not huge Thanksgiving fan). If I have to pay 60k Skymiles for a flight I want it something better than main cabin in October!

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

... (and I know it is) ...

That’s so “Lain” of you hahaha!

 

[kmc8826]

@Lain, @speedyfishy, @tink1970 (or any other Amex experts) my SPG Biz AF has posted. I have just had it the one year. We already will have two 50k certificates from our upgraded personal cards so right now I don’t care about the certificate as much as clearing up space for another Amex credit card since I am now capped at 5. Any input on the cancelling of a card after a year and then getting the pop up? I really want the personal Plat and eventually a Hilton card. If cancelling will increase my chances I will just keep it another year...I am mostly concentrating on Chase right now anyway.

@tink1970 congratulations! Using your AA miles means you can keep your MR’s. That is way exciting!

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

Yes!! I love it lol If you have questions I can try to help lol

Do you have one with the battery? If so, does it take up much room inside? I couldn't find good pictures of the inside lol

Exterior pocket version or no?

And how much space is there inside? Reading dimensions is one thing; actually using it is another!

 

[speedyfishy]

Do you have one with the battery? If so, does it take up much room inside? I couldn't find good pictures of the inside lol

Exterior pocket version or no?

And how much space is there inside? Reading dimensions is one thing; actually using it is another!

I’m getting one with the battery in like August. SO has it without the battery. We got the smaller carryon no pocket just because I didn’t like how it looked. It says it holds about 5-7 outfits. We used it for a weekend at Disney we shared one and we packed extra clothes combined we had maybe four outfits and four pairs of shoes. It really does hold a decent amount. I kinda want their backpacks to sit on top of the luggage we tried to do it with regular backpacks and it didn’t work lol, but I also can’t justify the cost of their backpacks.

 

[mmmears]

ETA - thanks for all the help and support!

 

[Kawnipi]

Might not be the best place to ask but I thought I would start here with my churning peeps. Has anyone been to Mickeys Very merry Xmas party? I was wondering how crowd levels are in relation to the park during the non party hours. I haven't visited the Mouse since 1994 so I don't know how crowded thing normally are but Disney seems much more crowded than our usual Universal trip.
We are doing a quick 3/4 day trip starting this November 22nd and staying until the 25th. Maybe I'll see @SouthFayetteFan there if his trip is the same time We were thinking of having our MK park trip be just the very Merry xmas party on the 22nd in the hopes that the crowd levels will be lower and we might be able to hit up all the rides my son wants to do.
Then do HS on the 23rd and Epcot on the 24th.

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

I’m getting one with the battery in like August. SO has it without the battery. We got the smaller carryon no pocket just because I didn’t like how it looked. It says it holds about 5-7 outfits. We used it for a weekend at Disney we shared one and we packed extra clothes combined we had maybe four outfits and four pairs of shoes. It really does hold a decent amount. I kinda want their backpacks to sit on top of the luggage we tried to do it with regular backpacks and it didn’t work lol, but I also can’t justify the cost of their backpacks.

Excellent, thank you

Yeah, ideally I'd like something that has a matching backpack that isn't a bazillion dollars Dh loves his PacSafe crossbody camera bag but it doesn't hook over the handle of the suitcase, which is a pain.

 

[mfly]

So how. many days did you spend on the North Island and on the South Island? Ideally we'd take a separate trip to NZ for multiple weeks, which means that wouldn't happen for many years.

Where did you go when you were in Australia?

We had been advised before we arrived that we should prioritize our time on the South Island over the North Island. While we were still on the North Island, I thought those people were crazy - there was no way it could get better! But then we got to the South Island and we realized they were right: the South Island is unbelievable.

I think we spent a week on the North Island and two weeks on the South Island?

I’ll give you the tl;dr version of our time on the North Island: we spent a couple days in Auckland, which was my least favorite part of NZ. Went up to Cathedral Cove, which was gorgeous and worth the drive. Went down to the Roataru area and spent a few days there hiking, etc. Stayed at a random working cow farm (fun experience!) on our way down to Wellington - spent a day there, then took the ferry to the South Island.

To be fair to Australia, by the time we got there we were pretty traveled-out. We flew into Brisbane and spent a few days there/the Gold Coast, then spent a couple days slowly driving down to Sydney, where we just relaxed and went sight-seeing (and spent nearly a whole day shopping for Wiggles toys/products for our brother who loves them!)

We had originally planned to make it up to Cairns/Great Barrier Reef, but we decided it just wasn’t worth the expense and logistics of getting up there for a day or two, and we were over it at that point.

The nice thing about booking everything on-the-fly was that we had a lot of flexibility! Normally I’m the opposite type of planner for a trip, so this was a good/challenging experience for me. When we left the States to start the trip, all we had booked was our flight to NZ, our flight home from Sydney a month later, and our first night at an Airbnb! It made for an adventure!

Note: we were there during low season (their winter, which was actually a nice time of year), and we were informed multiple times that we would have never been able to do our trip the way we did had it been high season (summer). Apparently it’s incredibly busy and there just aren’t enough places for people to stay.

 

[Lain]

@Lain, @speedyfishy, @tink1970 (or any other Amex experts) my SPG Biz AF has posted. I have just had it the one year. We already will have two 50k certificates from our upgraded personal cards so right now I don’t care about the certificate as much as clearing up space for another Amex credit card since I am now capped at 5. Any input on the cancelling of a card after a year and then getting the pop up? I really want the personal Plat and eventually a Hilton card. If cancelling will increase my chances I will just keep it another year...I am mostly concentrating on Chase right now anyway.

I haven't begun my mass cancelations yet, and I'm giving serious consideration whether to keep or cancel each card. If I can break even or come out ahead on the AF, I’ll probably err on keeping it open another year. If/when I hit the 5 Amex credit card cap, I don’t think I’ll cancel a card to free up a slot before applying; I’ll just apply and then call into recon to have them close a card to open a new one. I do have one cancelation under my belt, a personal Platinum that I closed and churned for the MB Plat. It hasn't affected my approvals, but that was before the Amex ship got commandeered by the RATs. I haven't followed what the prevailing wisdom is about canceling cards vs. keeping them and having several cards with low spend on them. Spend seems to be a big deal with Amex. I know that if I canceled some cards, my spending would be more concentrated with higher spend on the remaining cards, vs. just keeping the cards and having my spend spread out.

 

[smmco]

A couple of questions. I've had a SW card since 2015. If I cancel it how long will I have to wait to apply and get a new bonus. This is my second SW Card. I can't remember how long I went without one. I really like being able to book, change and cancel flights at will.

I have one card that falls off in Sept and one in January. I plan on getting the Hyatt card in October if the bonus is good, but I'm not sure having this card is any better then the CP or CR. I plan on upgrading my CP to a CR in March. The agent told me I could after 1 year. Does that count in the 5/24?

I opened up three cards this March. I had 2 cruises and income taxes to pay. That took care of all the spend I needed for the bonus's. Next May I'll need to pay off a European Cruise and taxes which will take care of a couple of spend requirements. I like to plan new credit cards when I have a cruise or other vacation to pay off. Most of our disposable income goes to travel. I'm not a big shopper. I keep a tight budget so we can travel. Meeting my spend on normal day to day purchases takes forever. I never want to feel like I need to buy something I don't need to meet my bonus requirements.

Long story short by January I'll be at 3/24. I want to make the right choices because after that I'll need to wait a full year to get another card.

 

[mmmears]

For those trying to SEARCH on the new DIS...It seems the default search results sort is "RELEVANCE" which really stinks with our thread to be honest in many cases.

Since most times when we are searching here, you're looking for something that somebody said recently and/or you know approximately when it was said...then I would recommend clicking "Advanced Search" then say order by "DATE". Those results have been far easier to filter through.

Thanks for this. That was my issue last night when I was searching only I didn't realize why it was out of order.

That’s correct

Thanks so much for all your help and support!

Sorta

Carry-on luggage---do you prefer hard- or soft-sided? Why?

Favorites that are international size?

Anyone have an Away regular size carry-on?

The wheels on our current spinners are starting to misbehave. We got the set at Costco before traveling to China w dd just about 5 years ago so they have lots of miles and flights on them! I'd like to get new bags for dh and I before we go to Rome in November and, fingers crossed, India in December.

We have Briggs & Riley international carryons. They are soft sided, have held up for years, and are soft sided. I honestly don't have any complaints. I do think the new hard sided ones look pretty though. DH has a briefcase (they also have backpacks) that fits over the handle and is really stable. We bought all at different times, all on sale, and use them all the time.

I looked around during my 10min of free time at work today thanks for the suggestions! I didnt think about beauty stuff. I think to start I would just not count the saks credit against the AF unless I find things like that I'd be buying anyways

I agree that if there isn't something there you'd buy anyway it's not so much of a benefit. We have had that issue with the Dell $100 credit on the Biz Plat, but then my DD found something she wanted so it worked out. Both of us use Clinique face wash, so I can easily get it from Saks and use up the credits that way. I don't even bother looking for something else I might want there.

 

[afan]

Might not be the best place to ask but I thought I would start here with my churning peeps. Has anyone been to Mickeys Very merry Xmas party? I was wondering how crowd levels are in relation to the park during the non party hours. I haven't visited the Mouse since 1994 so I don't know how crowded thing normally are but Disney seems much more crowded than our usual Universal trip.
We are doing a quick 3/4 day trip starting this November 22nd and staying until the 25th. Maybe I'll see @SouthFayetteFan there if his trip is the same time We were thinking of having our MK park trip be just the very Merry xmas party on the 22nd in the hopes that the crowd levels will be lower and we might be able to hit up all the rides my son wants to do.
Then do HS on the 23rd and Epcot on the 24th.

It's hard to say because it's all relative. You could talk to two people that went to the party and one would say it was too crowded and the other would say it was great. If you are looking to do just rides and not the party specific stuff like the fireworks and character meets, then it can be a good way to go. Honestly, I would wait to see if they add after hours. The party's won't sell out until closer to the dates and they just extended after hours into September so there's precedent with them having it during party season. If it ends up being the only option and it's cost effective then doing the party would make sense because you get in at 4 and can make 3 fp as long as it's the only ticket you are using that day. But I would say you'd also want to make sure you're using all of the time you can to help justify the cost.

 

[tink1970]

@Lain, @speedyfishy, @tink1970 (or any other Amex experts) my SPG Biz AF has posted. I have just had it the one year. We already will have two 50k certificates from our upgraded personal cards so right now I don’t care about the certificate as much as clearing up space for another Amex credit card since I am now capped at 5. Any input on the cancelling of a card after a year and then getting the pop up? I really want the personal Plat and eventually a Hilton card. If cancelling will increase my chances I will just keep it another year...I am mostly concentrating on Chase right now anyway.

@tink1970 congratulations! Using your AA miles means you can keep your MR’s. That is way exciting!

As always, YMMV. I've cancelled two or three Amexes over the past 3 years, one (!!!) prior to the first year (I know, shocking). Of course, what I've done is apply for a different card (usually with a higher AF), received the letter to call for recon and then say, "hmmm what should I do? Cancel a card?" and so far so good, knock on wood. That said, if you don't have any pressing need for a free spot and paying the AF isn't a hardship, I'd continue to put a small amount on it.

Is the plat you want the charge card plat v. Delta? Remember, Amex doesn't limit the number of charge cards ( I currently have 5 of them plus 4 credit cards).

 

[mmmears]

Will I be sent to the shun corner if I admit that, once again, DH and I forgot to unlock my credit before applying? Luckily I called and they were able to approve me during the call. We both often feel like we just aren't cut out for this stuff (because we are still making these rookie mistakes).

 

[tink1970]

I gathered my courage and applied for a Citi AA Biz card tonight and was approved.


ETA - thanks for all the help and support!

Congrats! Whoo hoo!

 

[elgerber]

Now that Dh is approved for the Barclays Biz, I am getting worried we won’t be able to use it. Eek.

 

[GusGus16]

A couple of questions. I've had a SW card since 2015. If I cancel it how long will I have to wait to apply and get a new bonus. This is my second SW Card. I can't remember how long I went without one. I really like being able to book, change and cancel flights at will.

I have one card that falls off in Sept and one in January. I plan on getting the Hyatt card in October if the bonus is good, but I'm not sure having this card is any better then the CP or CR. I plan on upgrading my CP to a CR in March. The agent told me I could after 1 year. Does that count in the 5/24?

I opened up three cards this March. I had 2 cruises and income taxes to pay. That took care of all the spend I needed for the bonus's. Next May I'll need to pay off a European Cruise and taxes which will take care of a couple of spend requirements. I like to plan new credit cards when I have a cruise or other vacation to pay off. Most of our disposable income goes to travel. I'm not a big shopper. I keep a tight budget so we can travel. Meeting my spend on normal day to day purchases takes forever. I never want to feel like I need to buy something I don't need to meet my bonus requirements.

Long story short by January I'll be at 3/24. I want to make the right choices because after that I'll need to wait a full year to get another card.

So I'll try to answer your questions, I did a quick search and didn't see a list of your current open cards, if you could list all your cards as @SouthFayetteFan listed on the first post that would be very helpful, sorry if I didn't search enough to see your list.

In regards to the SW card if you have 1 personal SW card open you can close it and open a new one likely within days, the typical advice is to wait 30 days, to ensure the previous card just doesn't get re-opened but really this is likely unnecessary and realistically you may not be even applying for the same personal card. You can only hold 1 personal SW card at a time, and you may be better served waiting until the end of the year/early next year to apply for both a SW personal and business to get an companion pass.

For a product change from CSP to CSR that will not count toward your x/24 count. You cannot product change until you have had a card for 1 year.

I'm assuming you are 5/24, given the comment of 1 card dropping off in September. Why do you want a Hyatt card? Hyatt has some great redemptions, but hard to know if that is the right card if it will keep you at 5/24. UR's are more valuable in the sense that they give much more redemption options. I think we need more information to really give you good advice for your next steps.

 

[3 DD love princesses]

Still haven’t gotten used to this new update and it keeps putting me back to page 1 when I log in so I just caught back up from this afternoon without logging in. So consider all your posts liked and can’t quote everyone but here’s what I have open

I have CIP 2 & 3 open and a CIC. Next business card will probably be swa unless we decide not to do HI. Having the cp will make that happen. Although the idea of getting #4 is tempting.

Still need to decide if I should get DH the Southwest personal to get the cp for next year.