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

[Alexle2007]

For all of you who upgraded their Marriott Personal card last year, whose fee was originally $85 and the upgrade took it to $95:

When did you actually pay your first $95?

I applied for this card on Xmas Day 2017. No annual fee has been charged yet. Not the $85 nor the $95.

This morning I have a $95 credit for 'annual fee refund' in my account.

I'm guessing a 'new' annual fee will hit soon. But if it does then I have their refund to take care of it?

If this is correct, that means 2 years of the card without me paying an annual fee. Plus my free night is in my account. Plus the extra 50K points.

Best upgrade ever!

My AF or upgrade AF has it yet either and mine was in mid Dec. I already have my free night scheduled to use at the end of the month for our night at SeaWorld. DH’s should be coming sometime this month and I’m hoping he receives the same upgrade offer.

 

[mamalovesdis]

Ebay would qualify you for the CIP and that would give you a large chunk of URs. If you're looking to really get into churning, a Disney Visa probably isn't the best to start out with. Many members on this board value Chase cards and URs that come with it, but to really maximize churning with Chase, you have to be aware of the 5/24 rule. Since it sounds like you're under 5/24, I'd look for other more lucrative Chase cards to apply for than the Disney Visa.

I'd also really think about what you want to do in the future - if you're only thinking about your upcoming trip and want the SW companion pass for that and think you can do the MSR in 3 months, then if you apply right now, you may be able to get the CP by late April - all depends on when your statement closes. But as you said, flight prices for May would jump by then. You'd probably have to aim to do your MSR in under 2 months if you want to get the CP by March when prices will probably still be low for May flights. However, all that being said, if you're interested in traveling more in general and are looking to do churning long term, getting the current public SW card promo isn't the best avenue for a CP. There's a more lucrative way (apply for SW personal and SW biz cards through special links) that would net you more than triple the number of RR pts and 2 years worth of CP instead of just 1, and the total MSR needed is only an extra $1k over the public offer.

I didn't realize eBay qualified as a business. I know the Disney Visa isn't the best long term option, but the $250 statement credit at least holds some immediate value for our May trip. I've had my Freedom card for at least 2 years and my Amazon card for many years. I did open a Capital One Savor card back in Oct 2018 for the $500 bonus. I also opened a store card around the same time, but it's been paid off since. Is the 5/24 only Chase branded, or is it any credit?

I'm thinking my best choice would be either a SW card or something with UR. I don't think I will be able to wait to purchase airfare. Right now I can get all 5 of us nonstop roundtrip tix from $900-$1200, depending on departure times/dates. We will be flying SW.

SW: The CP offer they have now I like. It would give us the ability to maybe fly somewhere else later this year.
CSP: I could cash in the 50,000 UR points for $500 cash towards this trip. Or I could save them. But in this case there is no CP. I could also transfer any new points from my Freedom card to CSP.

What if I use whatever card I get to pay Disney for our resort and park tix? That would definitely help me reach the MSR faster. I haven't made the reservation yet, but I could put my $200 down now and then use whatever card I get approved for to pay the balance. Do I get more points for using my card for travel?

So, which card is the best option for my scenario? And what are the chances of getting approved for the Disney Visa on top of one of these?

 

[elgerber]

.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

I didn't realize eBay qualified as a business. I know the Disney Visa isn't the best long term option, but the $250 statement credit at least holds some immediate value for our May trip. I've had my Freedom card for at least 2 years and my Amazon card for many years. I did open a Capital One Savor card back in Oct 2018 for the $500 bonus. I also opened a store card around the same time, but it's been paid off since. Is the 5/24 only Chase branded, or is it any credit?

I'm thinking my best choice would be either a SW card or something with UR. I don't think I will be able to wait to purchase airfare. Right now I can get all 5 of us nonstop roundtrip tix from $900-$1200, depending on departure times/dates. We will be flying SW.

SW: The CP offer they have now I like. It would give us the ability to maybe fly somewhere else later this year.
CSP: I could cash in the 50,000 UR points for $500 cash towards this trip. Or I could save them. But in this case there is no CP. I could also transfer any new points from my Freedom card to CSP.

What if I use whatever card I get to pay Disney for our resort and park tix? That would definitely help me reach the MSR faster. I haven't made the reservation yet, but I could put my $200 down now and then use whatever card I get approved for to pay the balance. Do I get more points for using my card for travel?

So, which card is the best option for my scenario? And what are the chances of getting approved for the Disney Visa on top of one of these?

Chases 5/24 rule applies to all credit cards so it looks like your 2/24..

If your going to be paying for the Disney trip on the new cc....I’d get the CSP since you get 2URs for each $1 spent on travel....
If your planning another trip the URs could be transferred to SW and used to book flights too

 

[tink1970]

At least if I move them to Delta they will never expire with no fees.

One of the benefits of DL for sure. I just didn't want you to be surprised (I was the first time I "topped off"). Then I ran the numbers, realized 165,001 was the goal and keep accumulating (just to mess with Amex a bit). If you no longer have need of the card then by all means, ditch the AF and get them switched over. I'm a big fan of MRs but a much bigger fan of keeping the cards one needs and eliminating unnecessary AFs!

 

[amalone1013]

I hate when Disney changes menus right before my trip! I've had it happen enough times that I obsessively check the menus multiple times prior to arrival. I understand that there needs to be change, but why after I planned something so perfectly? lol

The only time this worked out for me was Carthay Circle in DCA. I was torn over eating there as I was not thrilled with the menu when I made my ADR 60ish days out, but took I think @gottalovepluto's advice to keep it because they change the menu often... and they did! And I had the most delicious pork chop of my life there.

 

[Judique]

I only have 20,000MRs...with another 10,000 coming when I finish the MSR on the BBP......

I’m keeping us both under 5/24...want the CP again for 2020/2021...as of now I’ll go for it again but if Chase changes the rules to 48 months on the SW cards I’m prepared to have DH go for it
also not willing to pay a lot of high annual fees to get more points from other cards and we don’t MS...so for me it’s not worth opening the Schwab to cash out....we wouldn’t use the airline credits....since only fly SW on points

In 2020 we will do our one international trip with friends to celebrate their 60th birthdays...probably a river cruise in Europe...but the flights will be in economy, unless there will be a way to upgrade with points lol

We are older..got into trouble with cc debit after 9/11....my DH went YOLO...after so many here on LI lost their lives..and 2 kids playing travel ice hockey added a lot of expenses so we ran up CCs...finally got them paid off 3 years ago...which is why I’m super careful using my cards and paying them off weekly

I ran up credit cards doing a remodel that was supposed to be small, under 10 grand. Then the structure problems kicked in and I was at over 50K in costs. 30K of that quickly went on credit cards. I paid it off in 2 years by extreme budgeting, but I learned what it was like to have something hanging over my head. I could have easily gotten a home equity loan and stretched it out and maybe paid a tad less in interest but it would have been too tempting to go all out and get more than I needed, do more upscale work, etc. I transferred balances to NFCU on their 0%'s and got it done. For this reason I will always keep my NF cards and over 50K in available credit with them. It's like a safety net.

And, I learned a lot about dealing with home remodels, contractors, county permits and not having the whole side of my house exposed in winter. Cold!

 

[speedyfishy]

I only have 20,000MRs...with another 10,000 coming when I finish the MSR on the BBP......

I’m keeping us both under 5/24...want the CP again for 2020/2021...as of now I’ll go for it again but if Chase changes the rules to 48 months on the SW cards I’m prepared to have DH go for it
also not willing to pay a lot of high annual fees to get more points from other cards and we don’t MS...so for me it’s not worth opening the Schwab to cash out....we wouldn’t use the airline credits....since only fly SW on points

I’d hold onto the MRs until your 2020 trip. I’d focus on getting as many business cards are you and p2 can and self refer. You should be able to build up a good stash that way. You can get economy tickets with them or if you have enough you can get first/business.

I don’t use my airline giftcards either but I sell them for $85/100. I figured triple tipping the Plat I’ll get $510/550 back. Id definitely get an extra $40 back in benefits.

 

[mamalovesdis]

Chases 5/24 rule applies to all credit cards so it looks like your 2/24..

If your going to be paying for the Disney trip on the new cc....I’d get the CSP since you get 2URs for each $1 spent on travel....
If your planning another trip the URs could be transferred to SW and used to book flights too

Or, I could apply for the SW card as I'm purchasing our flights and get 2 points per dollar on that. Can you use it on an immediate SW purchase, or do you have to wait for an actual card? Is the CP a bigger payout in the end?

 

[amcc]

I just received my CIP. I’ve read about how business and personal accounts are separate so I want to get it right the first time. When I go to the verify website, I should set up a new account right? Not login with my personal account.
Also, in all the material I received, there’s no mention of the 80k UR offer. Is that something I should worry about?

 

[CyndiLouWho]

I just received my CIP. I’ve read about how business and personal accounts are separate so I want to get it right the first time. When I go to the verify website, I should set up a new account right? Not login with my personal account.
Also, in all the material I received, there’s no mention of the 80k UR offer. Is that something I should worry about?

Set up a new account. They never mention the bonus in any of the materials I’ve ever received for any card I recall. It always kinda freaks me out which is why I now try to screen shot the offer and then the acceptance for any apps I complete.

 

[jhoannam]

Well eventually she did hack it, at least by phone. She called and booked her flights over the phone and changed the address and phone number in my account and removed my email address.

I would tweet again and say “@AA let a person with my name steal my miles and they won’t do anything, they won’t even let me cancel the flight booked with my own AA account”

 

[Judique]

If you are only interested in the discounts and not the 0% interest for certain charges, then I'd try for the Chase bank bonus and get the debit card. You can try for the $300 checking bonus, but if it doesn't work there are $200 offers out there I think. Here's a post with a write up of the offer with a link for it: www.doctorofcredit.com/chase-600-checking-savings-bonus/

It says $600 bonus for checking and savings but if you don't have 15k to park in the savings for 3 months then you can just open the checking by itself. (The interest rate sucks so I wouldn't park money there unless I can get the bonus) I don't want to overwhelm you right off the bat, but if you are interested after reading about it just let us know and we can walk through it. There's a good amount of us that have done it, and a couple doing it right now, to answer any questions

The $200 after $500 in spend you can get from a support link for the no fee Disney card is pretty good - 40% discount essentially - and it's just about the same as the Premier card since the $49 annual fee eats up part of that $250 statement credit. But if I'd only use the card for a discount and not use it again, then I'd rather get paid money for getting it vs spending money to get it.

I am so tempted by some of these bank bonuses but almost all my cash is tied up in retirement accounts.

 

[WVMomof3]

Or, I could apply for the SW card as I'm purchasing our flights and get 2 points per dollar on that. Can you use it on an immediate SW purchase, or do you have to wait for an actual card? Is the CP a bigger payout in the end?

If you are in a hurry to get a card I would go with CSP. If you can wait a week or 2 I would go for CIP. The CSP will definitely be in your hand faster than the SW or a business card and you can call to expedite it after you are approved. The CSP will get you 2 points per dollar on travel so definitely use it for your Disney reservations. Please join us on Dischurners and support a member when you apply for a card.

The more you fly the more valuable a companion pass will be. This offer of a one year and 30,000 points is not that great. You could get it for 2 years and a lot more points with a little more effort.

 

[platamama]

Staples run success!

Called the store beforehand to see if they still had any more $200 VGCs left. The associate that answered told me she saw some, but would check and let me know. Was on hold for a while, but she came back and told me they "had plenty of Visas left". Got to the store and the saw plenty of VGCs, but of the $25/50/100 kind...and ONE $200 on the rack, but flipped it over and the seal was torn off, nope!

Asked the young cashier who looked puzzled and flipped through the rack herself. Nada. Another cashier walks over and looks clueless. Thought I was out of luck, but did mention I called and a female told me they had plenty, and this was only 10 min ago. Then the first cashier goes back to the rack and opens up the secret compartment door...

PULLS OUT A STACK OF VGCS IN SHRINK WRAP...and proceeds to ask "How many would you like?"

I said I would take 5 at first, so she starts counting them and asks how I want to split them; said I'll make it 6, so we are even. Asks if I could do this in three transactions since the credit card company might decline one large transaction. "Sure!"

Chats her up about the local schools as she was talking to two other students in-line, stunned at the sight of all the VGCs

In the process, she accidentally rings up 3 in the first transaction; I only wanted two since I was using the Amex cards, with the Staples offer that is up to $50 back, first before the rest on CIC. Removes one from the transaction, but forgot to remove it from the bag. Then when she proceeds to do the second transaction, she realizes she forgot which one she voided. Calls another associate/manager

He proceeds to show her how to figure it out based on the barcodes and how she should have laid them out after ringing them up to avoid these issues. Thought he would look over and see all the VGCs and ask questions...instead, starts chatting up what high school he went to as he overhead the original conversation. I chat along ("your football team may be terrible, but the tennis team is great!") as my transactions move along Once the first 3 transactions were done, I asked for 2 more VGCs, so I wouldn't have to make another trip. "Sure!!"

I walked out with 8 VGCs all said and done. I've seen this cashier a few times before, now she's my new fav

You were much more successful than me. I went to two different Staples and both of them were out. At the 2nd one, a nice employee was trying to find them for me and I saw him open the secret compartment door (!) .... and nope, no $200 VGCs there either. He mentioned that someone else had come in earlier looking for them, and that customer opened the secret compartment door himself looking for them.

I did my first fixed value VGC mo last night at Kroger, and they wouldn't let me split tender. Interestingly, the cashier asked me if I had $200 or $500 on my card! (Had that customer from Staples been there too?!?) She didn't ask to look at it or anything.

 

[Lain]

I would tweet again and say “@AA let a person with my name steal my miles and they won’t do anything, they won’t even let me cancel the flight booked with my own AA account”

@elgerber - If your local news stations, have a consumer team (the ones where they investigate companies that rip off their customers or give them the runaround), I’d also consider reaching out to them to see if they can help.

Your case, sadly, has the makings of a juicy story — mistaken and stolen identity, a hacked account, fraud on that account, stolen airline miles (which thanks to TPG is all the rage right now), and ineptitude by a major airline. Talk about bad press.

 

[Judique]

This made my heart stop! Kona is my favorite WDW breakfast spot I see that menu didn't change at all.

Also, why is one steak $94? Good grief. Who pays these prices?! [also I'm a vegetarian ]

The most expensive steak I've ever eaten was $56. And that was an impulse because of the place we were eating. I'm not a huge meat eater, but not a vegetarian either. I won't buy a $94 steak for anyone. Nope. Not going to happen.

My AF or upgrade AF has it yet either and mine was in mid Dec. I already have my free night scheduled to use at the end of the month for our night at SeaWorld. DH’s should be coming sometime this month and I’m hoping he receives the same upgrade offer.

I think there is some way to check for the upgrade eligibility. But if I remember correctly it had to be done by 12/31/18 to get the 50K. You could call and enquire.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

So, which card is the best option for my scenario? And what are the chances of getting approved for the Disney Visa on top of one of these?

The best option is different for each of us. Look a bit into the future. Do you see yourself planning a trip for next year? If so taking the SW offer with instant CP might not make as much sense. That CP pass is only good until end of 2019, so maybe 8 months by the time you get it. There are ways to get a CP that would last up to 2 years. The CSP is a good starter card and companion to your Freedom. Charging travel to it earns 2x points, so your flights (say $1k) and hotel (say $2k) earn 2x points, in my example 6000 points. Those points can be used to book travel directly thru Chase (though sadly not Disney) or transfer to some airlines or hotels programs to use. There are other options than booking thru Disney, so ask here before you book.

Most people here put everything, I mean EVERYTHING, possible on credit cards. Stay within budget, and don’t charge what you can’t pay off, but charge utilities, gas, groceries, prescriptions, cable, phone, etc. Many people here will even charge a 50 cents instead of paying cash. Every penny earns points or miles.

 

[miztressuz]

I didn't realize eBay qualified as a business.

Oh yes, basically anything you do on the side for money or even revenue generating hobbies can qualify as a "business" and be good enough to get a business credit card. There's a good mix of us on here with "businesses" and with actual businesses to get business credit cards. When applying as a "business" for your eBay you'd select a Sole Proprietorship on the application and just use your name and SSN for the business info. Just make sure your business name and your name are exactly the same (don't add anything to it like "Consulting" or "Antiques" or anything descriptive) and it'll go through without further documentation needed for most card issuers - Chase is one of those, AmEx is another. Definitely something to think about as there are good business card offers out there.

I've had my Freedom card for at least 2 years and my Amazon card for many years. I did open a Capital One Savor card back in Oct 2018 for the $500 bonus. I also opened a store card around the same time, but it's been paid off since. Is the 5/24 only Chase branded, or is it any credit?

For Chase's 5/24 rule any credit card that appears on your credit report counts towards that number. You'd want to look at card open dates, they count what you opened in the last 24 months regardless of if you closed it already. So if you can see the store card on the report that will count and it looks like you're starting off at 2/24, which isn't bad, there's a good amount of Chase cards you can still get if you are strategic about it.

ETA: Along this same thought, not all card issuers report business cards to your personal credit report. Since Chase is only looking at what's on your CR when calculating that number, any Chase business card you pick up doesn't add to your 5/24 count since they don't report to your CR. (neither does AmEx, Citibank, Barclays and a few others I can't think of offhand) It's another advantage to opening biz cards.

I'm thinking my best choice would be either a SW card or something with UR. I don't think I will be able to wait to purchase airfare. Right now I can get all 5 of us nonstop roundtrip tix from $900-$1200, depending on departure times/dates. We will be flying SW.

SW: The CP offer they have now I like. It would give us the ability to maybe fly somewhere else later this year.
CSP: I could cash in the 50,000 UR points for $500 cash towards this trip. Or I could save them. But in this case there is no CP. I could also transfer any new points from my Freedom card to CSP.

Yeah, with it being so close to departure I'm not sure I'd wait on the tickets either. At least you'd be able to use that purchase towards a minimum spend requirement (MSR) so it wouldn't be all bad. But it's a touch choice to spend the cash now for a potential reward later.

With the SW vs CSP probably have to look at the value you'd get from the rewards offered, since they both have the same required spend, and then work out how either would effect your CC plans going forward.

The SW card with the CP would get you at least 30k points and if you use it to buy your cash flights you'd get 2x the points on those + the other spend points. Estimating the flights with a round number, $1,000, that'd be 35,000 points (30 bonus, 2 from SW purchase, 3 from the rest of the MSR) and be worth about $450-550 in SW flights. Add in that one ticket would be practically free once you apply your CP to it and I can see at least $600 in value there minus the $69 AF (I assume you'd go for the Plus since all the bonuses are the same right now). If you bought the WGA fare for the CP ticket originally then you'd get a travel credit good for a year, and if you plan to take another trip later that can still be useful.

For the CSP, a perk of that card (and the CSR and CIP) is that you can transfer your UR points to travel partners - SW is a travel partner. So you could also take the 50k+ on that card and transfer it to SW to get $600-800 worth of flights. Sometimes cash is good but using the points on travel can get you a better value. The CSP and CIP also get a higher cpp value when redeemed through the Chase travel portal, 1.25 cpp, but that wouldn't help with SW since you can't buy those tickets on the portal - but just something else to keep in mind. (If you go for the CSR that gets 1.5 cpp on the portal) Plus I think the AF is still waived for the first year.

If you decide to go for a business card, the CIP has a slightly higher MSR but you get a higher bonus too. If you can manage 5,000 in 3 months, then you'd get an 80k bonus. The CIP also has a higher earn rate on travel, 3x, so if you used your flights and other trip spend to meet the MSR you'd get even more points.

As an alternative to the one card SW CP, you could try the longer game and get the full CP which would be good for the rest of this year until the end of 2020. That also requires 5k in MSR but it's over two cards so you can space it out. You'd open one of the SW personal cards for a 50k inflight offer (2k MSR) and also the SW Biz card (3k MSR) for the 60k bonus. That gets you 110k in points just from the bonus which is needed for the full CP.

What if I use whatever card I get to pay Disney for our resort and park tix? That would definitely help me reach the MSR faster. I haven't made the reservation yet, but I could put my $200 down now and then use whatever card I get approved for to pay the balance. Do I get more points for using my card for travel?

Yes, that's a good idea. Most of these cards get increased earnings on travel related expenses. All SW cards it's only 2x on SW purchases and select partners. CSP gets 2x UR points on travel and dining charges, the CSR gets 3x for the same; the CIP gets 3x on just the travel but also shipping, internet, cable and phone services. If you go UR at least you can get the higher earning even if you only cash out at 1cpp to reimburse the expense.

If you buy the park tix from Disney separately it won't code as travel. Disney resorts count as travel since it's a hotel charge, and if you were doing tix as a package then I think it may count as that comes through as a travel agent. But don't quote me on that, I haven't done a package in many years so I have no first hand experience But folks have said tickets from UCT count as travel because they are a TA so that's an option if you are buying them separately.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

I didn't realize eBay qualified as a business. I know the Disney Visa isn't the best long term option, but the $250 statement credit at least holds some immediate value for our May trip. I've had my Freedom card for at least 2 years and my Amazon card for many years. I did open a Capital One Savor card back in Oct 2018 for the $500 bonus. I also opened a store card around the same time, but it's been paid off since. Is the 5/24 only Chase branded, or is it any credit?

I'm thinking my best choice would be either a SW card or something with UR. I don't think I will be able to wait to purchase airfare. Right now I can get all 5 of us nonstop roundtrip tix from $900-$1200, depending on departure times/dates. We will be flying SW.

SW: The CP offer they have now I like. It would give us the ability to maybe fly somewhere else later this year.
CSP: I could cash in the 50,000 UR points for $500 cash towards this trip. Or I could save them. But in this case there is no CP. I could also transfer any new points from my Freedom card to CSP.

What if I use whatever card I get to pay Disney for our resort and park tix? That would definitely help me reach the MSR faster. I haven't made the reservation yet, but I could put my $200 down now and then use whatever card I get approved for to pay the balance. Do I get more points for using my card for travel?

So, which card is the best option for my scenario? And what are the chances of getting approved for the Disney Visa on top of one of these?

You’ve gotten some great advice so I’ll just add...

When you’re ready to apply, if it’s a Disney Visa, CSP or CIP, consider supporting another DISer by using their link on DISchurners when you apply.

It sounds like you have trip goals beyond this May trip so I’d continue to hang out here and develop a strategy for that.

I guess my one thought: A CIP now and CSP in a few months could net you over $1,300 cash back that you could mentally apply against your trip costs (or apply to a future trip and make them worth more like $1,700!)