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

[hsmamato2]

No, the check from Plastiq arrives before the autopay so the autopay just doesn’t happen since Provident has already received that month’s payment. I left the account setting alone just in case...I didn’t want to chance missing a mortgage payment. So like I was meeting DH’s AA Biz MSR and Plastiq had a 1.5% offer on 3 transactions so I used to send my July payment first and then my Aug payment both at the end of June and just used the memo line to indicate which month the payment was for and Provident processed them correctly since I can see on my account I don’t know a payment until Sept.

this is interesting..... do all banks/autopay work like this? if they receive a payment(via plastiq) the autopay doesn't go thru? or do you need some sort of linked acounts for this to happen? And does everyone choose a check to be mailed, or e payment via plastiq? I guess my best bet would be to do a test payment in the middle of the month (?)

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

(Churny really seemed like a "rose gold" kind of guy to me!)

 

[Judique]

Giant Grocery (of Virginia only?): I got $10 off of $50 Happy Dining GC, AND supposed to be 8x fuel rewards (8x needs to be loaded to rewards card and Ends TODAY). Can't tell if the 8x worked because I was supposed to get the exact same amount of reward on other items, and only showing 400 points (40 cents/gallon). I'll get the other 40 cents tomorrow at Customer Service.

I missed it. I was too tired to leave the house yesterday and let a lot of offers expire. But I can still do a few Happy cards as I added them all last night to my Giant app. Plus they gave me a $5 off $30 for regular groceries.

 

[platamama]

this is interesting..... do all banks/autopay work like this? if they receive a payment(via plastiq) the autopay doesn't go thru? or do you need some sort of linked acounts for this to happen? And does everyone choose a check to be mailed, or e payment via plastiq? I guess my best bet would be to do a test payment in the middle of the month (?)

For me, it has worked like this for two debts that I have, held by different entities (my mortgage and Synchrony). I send the payment by Plastiq, they don't pull from my checking. When I don't send a payment by Plastiq, they do.

You need to set up autopay through the company you're trying to pay, linked to your checking account that you usually use to pay the bill.

I choose a Plastiq check so that I can control the address where Plastiq is sending payment.

 

[Judique]

Late to the party but just wanted to say that Amex MR gift card promos are absolutely targeted! I never have gotten good rates on Walmart or Home Depot but often get promos for gift cards I'd never think about using. It's frustrating...if I got the Home Depot promo I'd cash out everything I had in a heartbeat!

Lol! This validates paying for most of my John Deere lawn tractor with cashed out MR points for Home Depot gift cards! The offer's expiration was originally 7/31. It was still there last evening but is gone today as are the other sale cards. I also cashed out an additional $300 that I had built up before it ended. Now I've got a measly 6000 MR's but I'm still collecting. (Probably should have done the last $75 worth also.)

 

[PolyRob]

Thanks. I may just do RMN and ShopDisney. One time it didn’t track though for me and it’s only at 6% right now.

I’ve been lucky and always had my RMN track for ShopDisney. It helped me complete MSR and scored me some decent deals. I only once used a filler item when I went for a $500. I feel like I was lucky so I haven’t pressed my luck further

6% isn’t much better than something like Target or BJs automatically and it’s risky if it doesn’t track. I would personally wait for 10% or just go through those other stores.

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

I saw a short discussion on reddit saying that you can’t close via chat if there’s a retention offer on your account, and @StephPlum ’s post supports that theory.



Ah, are you in Canada? I believe the Serve product can only be used in the US. Even if you got a VPN and changed your location to within the US to obtain the card, you wouldn’t be able to load them anywhere. And the VGCs are also only good for use in the US. I need to check on the fine print on this. Ok, for eligibility you need to reside in the US, so if you put down your FL address, the card would ship there.


But, for sure if your SSN was off, that would make a difference.

Hmm, there may be some validity to this. I wonder if they can see that my IP address is in Canada. It was a royal pain trying to buy my Disney GCs through Best Buy and Target via RMN (it kept showing me the Target Canada and Best Buy Canada websites). Every time I tried to switch back to the US sites it would keep re-directing me to the .ca sites or not show me the % off in the US. If AmEx can see that I'm in Canada, perhaps that is why they didn't allow me to sign up for the Serve card. I'm almost certain my SSN was correct.

 

[Judique]

1986. I added DH as AU and my mom was horrified since DH and I weren’t married yet. Guess it worked out, still married.

As a Mom I would have been horrified also! Lol!

 

[miztressuz]

Congrats to everyone that jumped on the public BoA checking bonus, looks like it was pulled already.

https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/cjq6ta/_/evm6e5j

Not quite as short as the Fidelity bonus last year, but pretty good contender for shortest-promo-window lists.

We were on the fence. I floated it to hubby when he asked what's the next one but it's not the easy 'one and done' type criteria he prefers so was mulling it over. And I think you get spoiled after getting $300 for a single deposit like Chase and Key So it wasn't high on the list and I don't think he'll be heartbroken we missed it.

 

[PolyRob]

-

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

WOW. I was thinking hard about a MDD 3/4 months after CIP1 for my mom. I will absolutely not attempt that now. The 50,000 URs aren’t worth ending a Chase relationship that early. I’d be better off PCing one of my CIP to a CIU, referring, and getting a SUB. No AF or shutdown, and you net more URs for less spend. Win win!

I think it's something to watch - we know that people attempt MDDs regularly on r/churning. It will be interesting to see if this is an outlier or a real risk... I wouldn't absolutely rule it out until we have more clarity.

 

[PolyRob]

Congrats to everyone that jumped on the public BoA checking bonus, looks like it was pulled already.

https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/cjq6ta/_/evm6e5j

Not quite as short as the Fidelity bonus last year, but pretty good contender for shortest-promo-window lists.

We were on the fence. I floated it to hubby when he asked what's the next one but it's not the easy 'one and done' type criteria he prefers so was mulling it over. And I think you get spoiled after getting $300 for a single deposit like Chase and Key So it wasn't high on the list and I don't think he'll be heartbroken we missed it.

So short lived! And as you mention this, I have a letter from BoA in my informed delivery. Hopefully it confirms my bonus offer was attached

 

[amalone1013]

I have started a spreadsheet to track Disney gift cards bought/earned and how much I saved on them. I'm not sure how to set it up though. Does anyone have a sheet for something like that to track that they can share?
My categories are: Store bought from//Gift Card face value//Out of Pocket Spent//Reward Money used//OOP amount saved//Payment used

I feel like it's missing something or it's I'm not categorizing well.
For example I bought a GC from Staples for 51.99, I spent 51.99, but I got back $10 from Amex
So It looks like this Staples /$50/ $51.99 /$10/ $10/ Amex

I also want to add the percentage saved on that GC as a category. What formula do I use?

Maybe I'm overthinking it?

I'm a spreadsheet nerd so I love sharing lol.

I've got Date, Store, Type (GC purchase - straight Disney purchase, VGC if I am flipping that to Disney, etc), Details (What did I buy, did I use GCs from a rewards program like swagbucks when buying from Sam's...), Value, Paid (OOP cost at time of purchase)

I track Amex offer/Chase offer/RMN/etc credits on a separate line since they credit a few days to a few months after the purchase. I don't count Dosh here since you have to hit the threshold to cash it out, I just move that to my general travel cash stash when that happens. But I will consider it when I decide if I am taking advantage of a deal. The same with CC points earned, if I am not going to cash them directly against the purchase (in which they would get their own line) I do not track them here but I do consider them in general.

I mark lines green as I make the purchases or when an offer credits. Any offers I am waiting on or deals I plan to take advantage of I leave in bold at the bottom. That way I don't forget to watch for Chase/Amex/RMN/etc.

I just calculate the overall percentage off of my stash, not the individual purchase. Again, I'll run the numbers when I decide to do a deal, but here I track the overall savings because if I take a trip, and say I use $500 from my stash, and the overall savings at the time is 30%, I will log here that I spent $500 of it on that trip... and it cost me $350 overall due to my GC savings.

Here is my current log:

Spoiler: Spreasheet Screenshots

 

[Judique]

That comment should be good for at least 50 ........

Haha!! Seriously though, it was something I've been thinking about all week. It's just been a long time since we had one of these "meta" comments about responsible churning.

38 so far plus 7 for the additional comment!

 

[PolyRob]

I think it's something to watch - we know that people attempt MDDs regularly on r/churning. It will be interesting to see if this is an outlier or a real risk... I wouldn't absolutely rule it out until we have more clarity.

I may have gotten a little scared. I have 2/3 months to think about it and wait for other reports. I would just feel worse doing it to my mom than if it happened to myself.

 

[afan]

Thanks! It's all on a single ticket, outbound not return, carry-on only, so security or customs/ passsport check should not be an issue.
I said the same thing to DH regarding them only offering valid connections, but the Connection Time alert attached to our ticket info coupled with @calypso726's recent 6 hour Uber story, got me to worrying.

55 min connection in ATL would've made me nervous too!!

I forgot to ask, what time of day amd when? I forgot to take into account that CLT gets thunderstorms that could cause a ground stop. Only a problem if you're stuck waiting to land and the other's ready to go.

Also make sure to watch your flights that the times don't change. DL kept changing my flight times last year so I went from the short connection to well over an hour back to the short connection because they changed the time back. I changed the connecting flight 2 or 3 times with no charge and ended up back with what I'd booked. The joys of booking almost a year out.

 

[PolyRob]

I hate cross-posting, but this is relevant for many passholders here:



I am wondering if I can charge it to the room and pay off with already discounted gift cards?

 

[PolyRob]

Also passholders, there are 3 new magnets. 2 F&W (Minnie and Remy) and one Lion King in AK. Minnie dates 8/29-10/14 and Remy dates 10/15-11/23. Simba starts 8/29. There wasn’t a Remy photo.





There is also a passholder coaster for 4 Epcot visits during F&W



Edited because I saw a photo with Remy on Facebook!

 

[Judique]

Oh no. I went to sign up and this is the message that came up:

Sorry, we are unable to approve you for an Account at this time.
Thank you for your interest in American Express Serve.

Any idea what might have happened?

Aren't you still in Canada? Maybe try when you return to Florida. Your computer is telling them you are not in the US.

 

[afan]

38 so far plus 7 for the additional comment!

I prefer not to react to the posts that are fishing for them

I hate cross-posting, but this is relevant for many passholders here:

View attachment 422270

I am wondering if I can charge it to the room and pay off with already discounted gift cards?

Wish this wasn't just a f&w thing. All the cute things for it and no summer magnets this year bums me out.