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

[Alexle2007]

I tried to add DS as employee when I applied too and it was rejected, but after I had my card I was able to go into my account and add him.

Ah, good to know. I just need to make the purchase for the points since I have no desire to keep the card long-term. I wonder why it let me add DH. My DS is only 12.

 

[happ]

Ah, good to know. I just need to make the purchase for the points since I have no desire to keep the card long-term. I wonder why it let me add DH. My DS is only 12.

I don't know why my DS's employee card was first rejected because he is technically old enough to work. Barclay is just weird. I used the employee card at the Dollar Store for the one purchase.

 

[WVMomof3]

Finally got another $200 loaded on my Serve card just now. At first the girl didn’t know what I was talking about but when I pulled the card out and showed it to her she said she knew how to do it. I tried a different WM this time so it’s good to know they’ll load at the registers at that one too. I have another $300 left to load and will stop at the second WM on the way home to do that (hopefully).

Are you only able to do $200 at a time? For some reason I was thinking $500.

 

[KPK02090]

No, not yet, just for the "old" cards.

Thanks.

 

[GZanta77]

WARNING: Incoherent waffling below

Sooooooo....with the demise of gift card redemptions for the Amex Flight incidental credit....how is everyone reassessing the value of holding onto these cards?

We currently have 2 x Hilton Aspire, 1 x Amex Plat and 1 x Amex Gold. Most of our flights are on JetBlue and Southwest so limited ability to use 'incidentals' as we get free bags with the JetBlue card. I could maybe see using $300 in extra legroom upgrades on JetBlue but that is about it and it probably wouldn't be every year. It seems the other methods of triggering the credit fall into the YMMV category.

So for me.....the Amex Gold is a keeper. The Plat will either go or be downgraded to Gold. I am trying to convince myself that it is worth keeping at least one of the Aspires, but it is difficult to see my way to breaking even so I'm thinking the smart choice is probably to downgrade both. The wild card for the Aspires is the Annual Free Night. I can easily get $400 value of of that..........BUT......I can get that value by looking for a hotel to maximise the cert, and hopefully a resort to use the $250 resort credit.......thing is though.....if I didn't have the Aspire, I would probably be perfectly happy making a different hotel choice that would be a lot cheaper.

I guess what I am saying is that.......like flying in First Class......we sometimes make hotel choices or create extra trips to maximise value and justify the AF on the card.....but in reality we are still spending more money then if we didn't have the card. Does that make any sense??

I've been going round in circles on this for weeks.....the only thing I know for sure is that these cards are worth less to me now than they were a couple months ago.

Thanks for indulging my rambling.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Ugh, got told there was a limit of 1 VGC at staples per customer. Hopefully this was a fluke and I can get more tomorrow. I was keeping it at a respectable $1000 too.

I think that’s in the ad. One per customer.

Everyone check your Amex offers. I just got 20% back on my insurance bill maxed at 85 dollars. It was on Hilton biz.

I got that on Marriott Biz. For once, a timely offer. We have home and auto insurance due 10/1

 

[speedyfishy]

I think that’s in the ad. One per customer.

Yeah, I have had success with them not following that before. I hope tomorrow I can get more than one.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Are you only able to do $200 at a time? For some reason I was thinking $500.

You very well may be able to do more, I just haven’t built up the courage to ask to do more than whatever amount of VGC I have on the card I’m using lol. I did get another $200 loaded just now and tried to memorize the cashier’s face lol. I wanted to do another $100 at the garden center on my way out but the cashier was nowhere to be seen.

 

[Albort]

WARNING: Incoherent waffling below

Sooooooo....with the demise of gift card redemptions for the Amex Flight incidental credit....how is everyone reassessing the value of holding onto these cards?

We currently have 2 x Hilton Aspire, 1 x Amex Plat and 1 x Amex Gold. Most of our flights are on JetBlue and Southwest so limited ability to use 'incidentals' as we get free bags with the JetBlue card. I could maybe see using $300 in extra legroom upgrades on JetBlue but that is about it and it probably wouldn't be every year. It seems the other methods of triggering the credit fall into the YMMV category.

So for me.....the Amex Gold is a keeper. The Plat will either go or be downgraded to Gold. I am trying to convince myself that it is worth keeping at least one of the Aspires, but it is difficult to see my way to breaking even so I'm thinking the smart choice is probably to downgrade both. The wild card for the Aspires is the Annual Free Night. I can easily get $400 value of of that..........BUT......I can get that value by looking for a hotel to maximise the cert, and hopefully a resort to use the $250 resort credit.......thing is though.....if I didn't have the Aspire, I would probably be perfectly happy making a different hotel choice that would be a lot cheaper.

I guess what I am saying is that.......like flying in First Class......we sometimes make hotel choices or create extra trips to maximise value and justify the AF on the card.....but in reality we are still spending more money then if we didn't have the card. Does that make any sense??

I've been going round in circles on this for weeks.....the only thing I know for sure is that these cards are worth less to me now than they were a couple months ago.

Thanks for indulging my rambling.

it depends on how much you fly i guess... at the moment, SW and Delta are the only 2 airlines that u can trick... if u fly either of those 2, might be worth keeping it still.
i still got my gold card unselected on airlines, i dont know what to do with it either, but ur right, its still a keeper card... my amex plat biz however is a different story.

 

[Lain]

it depends on how much you fly i guess... at the moment, SW and Delta are the only 2 airlines that u can trick... if u fly either of those 2, might be worth keeping it still.
i still got my gold card unselected on airlines, i dont know what to do with it either, but ur right, its still a keeper card... my amex plat biz however is a different story.

JetBlue too. Possibly even Alaska.

Did @GZanta77 read our post about this on the News & Discussion thread?

 

[palhockeymomof2]

Yay, finally at 3/24. 2 cards dropped off last month.
Approved for CIP!

Congrats

 

[GlamMistress]

Freaking Barclays still hasn't adjusted my Arrival+ account correctly. My straggler points are back but the AF has been removed. Who knows what account I actually have right now. I guess I don't care as long as the fee is gone.

It's been a crappy few days. I live in the Dayton area so you can imagine. It's emotionally exhausting and maddening.

 

[Judique]

WARNING: Incoherent waffling below

Sooooooo....with the demise of gift card redemptions for the Amex Flight incidental credit....how is everyone reassessing the value of holding onto these cards?

We currently have 2 x Hilton Aspire, 1 x Amex Plat and 1 x Amex Gold. Most of our flights are on JetBlue and Southwest so limited ability to use 'incidentals' as we get free bags with the JetBlue card. I could maybe see using $300 in extra legroom upgrades on JetBlue but that is about it and it probably wouldn't be every year. It seems the other methods of triggering the credit fall into the YMMV category.

So for me.....the Amex Gold is a keeper. The Plat will either go or be downgraded to Gold. I am trying to convince myself that it is worth keeping at least one of the Aspires, but it is difficult to see my way to breaking even so I'm thinking the smart choice is probably to downgrade both. The wild card for the Aspires is the Annual Free Night. I can easily get $400 value of of that..........BUT......I can get that value by looking for a hotel to maximise the cert, and hopefully a resort to use the $250 resort credit.......thing is though.....if I didn't have the Aspire, I would probably be perfectly happy making a different hotel choice that would be a lot cheaper.

I guess what I am saying is that.......like flying in First Class......we sometimes make hotel choices or create extra trips to maximise value and justify the AF on the card.....but in reality we are still spending more money then if we didn't have the card. Does that make any sense??

I've been going round in circles on this for weeks.....the only thing I know for sure is that these cards are worth less to me now than they were a couple months ago.

Thanks for indulging my rambling.

Your rambling makes a lot of sense. It's hard to let go of what we may see as a good thing. Even once it's run it's course.

For me a Plat card makes no sense beyond a year because I just don't have the spend to support it. On the other hand, I will certainly apply when the time is right, after I reduce my 24 status. Same for the Aspire. I'll eventually add it to my list but not for quite awhile, but I probably won't be keeping it long term.

I see the Gold as a keeper card because there is ongoing value.

It's all an individual choice of whether the card values lend themselves to your life style and budget. If the card is not working hard enough to pay for itself, it may be time to say goodbye.

There's no doubt in my mind that I wouldn't pay the prices for the rooms I get with free nights. Those annual fees to me are my discount. I have a similar situation. I own DVC and if I didn't have it, going to Disney would be completely different and may have been a one and done, but having the card means I get a substantial discount, so I can go a couple of times a year. It's all in the way I see and manage my budget. If the cards are costing you more and making you exceed a reasonable budget then they should go.

 

[KPK02090]

I plan on doing the same towards the end of the year; we can always use more SW points. Sounds like having the 2 SW biz is ok just not 2 personal.

I haven’t applied for it yet...but have read either here or on reddit that others have been approved in your situation

I went for it and was approved for the SW Business Performance Credit Card. I then went straight to ordering a Serve card. I'm a little nervous, but seems like lots are having success with them. Wish me luck!

 

[palhockeymomof2]

I went for it and was approved for the SW Business Performance Credit Card. I then went straight to ordering a Serve card. I'm a little nervous, but seems like lots are having success with them. Wish me luck!

Congrats

 

[GZanta77]

JetBlue too. Possibly even Alaska.

Did @GZanta77 read our post about this on the News & Discussion thread?

I may have done....will go and look. Thing is....I am not sure there is a way of 'tricking' the system that consistently works every time......and then there is the fear of the RATs clawing stuff back down the road.

 

[disneybirds]

The insurance offer is for Business cards so I wouldn't hold out hope on the EDPs

I also got it on the BBP and Spg/Marriott Biz. Hubby didn't see it on his BBP or Hilton Biz. I wonder if part of it might be he used an insurance offer already on his BCE this year. I got that 10% one last year and he didn't, then when it came out again earlier this year he was targeted and I wasn't. Maybe now that's it's been >6 months I got targeted again
The Nov date is throwing me a bit. We don't have car ins renewal until Jan so we don't even get the proposal by then. I can prepay my life insurance and got mildly excited and then remembered that my life insurance is the one thing in our lives that doesn't take AmEx. Might give them a call anyway and see if I can slip it in.
Probably easier than trying to explain to the car ins company why I want them to hold onto a few hundred bucks for a couple months in advance of renewal.

Good luck! We pay monthly. Of course, the August payment posted today. I have already changed the card for next month and put it on my calendar to change it again in September. Perhaps I should add our DDs as employees for these types of offers!

 

[smmco]

Persistence pays off! Finally, after weeks and weeks approved....drumroll please....the Barclay Aviator Biz! That was the hardest card ever to get!

Also, I had tried to make DS employee when I applied but he was rejected for not being old enough. So DH will have an employee card coming.

Were you able to add employee online or did you have to call?

 

[Haley R]

@DisneyMandC found a museum for you guys to see on Tokyo https://www.timeout.com/tokyo/news/...kyo-on-august-9/amp?__twitter_impression=true

Only in Tokyo lol

 

[Haley R]

Just checked mine and don’t have it either

I don’t have it either