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

[PolyRob]

OMG, that's really a thing! $16 for the wood block and like up to $40 for the whole kit with paperwork.

Helps make up for the AF fee increase

 

[Lain]

Gave up on getting the 100k AmEx Plat offer and went for the 75k incognito one. UPS just delivered it.

Oh me, oh my, is it F-A-N-C-Y! A wood block holder and all. Anyone keep the card in the holder at home? It smells a little odd though....

Sell the wood block on eBay for $10-20.

ETA: In too late.

 

[PolyRob]

Sell the wood block on eBay for $10-20.

You could also start a "business" from the sale and get biz CCs. Really a win-win!

 

[GlamMistress]

Here's an epic fail for you: I just looked at my Amex accounts...and there was about $500 on my Hilton card. This baffled me as I haven't been using that card. I looked at it - on board charges and the placeholder for my next cruise. How in the world I ended up with the Amex Hilton as my default card I'll never know. I was convinced my cruise account was linked to my Arrival+ --- so now I can't erase those charges. Talk about a bummer.

I guess the positive is that is a decent spend on another Amex account to placate their new, weird algorithms.

 

[vanjust14]

Were you the one trying the amex lowes offer at uni? If so, did it work? I know the terms say it doesn't, just was thinking maybe it would anyways.

That was me. Unfortunately, it didn't work. I cancelled my res. I'm either going to use Citi TY points or URs. I have to call Citi and see if I can use the APH rate and points at 1.25. I already tested that with Chase and it was a no go. I'm determined to figure out how to do both APH rate and points!

 

[wendow]

It will cover a value or maybe mod for DD3 and me to have a mulligan trip soon! I am actually considering early March b/c that is the only green on the crowd calendar until May. @wendow arent you going then too?

End of March/beginning of April

Congrats on your Disney Dollars!! That is some nice pixie dust to you after the trip you have just returned from

 

[lyshia04]

Ok! I have been reading everything. I think I am getting a grasp on it. I figured out my flight stuff. Frontier kids can fly free.

So I was looking at taking baby steps in my journey. So I was going to start with the chase Sapphire card. Does this sound ok?

I also wanted to look at earning points for next years trip. We are taking my daughter to universal as a present for completing elementary school. Any other cards recommended for this goal? We are looking at travel at the end of May beginning of June.

Thanks all the help is very much appreciated.

 

[mmmears]

The restricted hours in the Centurion Lounge seem to be policy now. I saw this in an email from AMEX:

You asked for an improved Centurion Lounge experience, so we've updated our policies. As of 3/22, entry to the lounge will be limited to within three hours prior to departure time for non-layover flights so that everyone visiting the lounges has room to relax. Plus, children under two years of age will enter fee-free.



ETA - Gotta love how every time something is tightened it's because "we" asked for it. Good for those of you with babies, though. I'm glad they aren't counting layovers... it's not like I get to the airport 3 hours early unless I have to because of a layover.

 

[disneybirds]

I've done it several times. Without guilt.
ETA: not to hoard reservations, it's usually because we just end up eating somewhere else...

I have done this a time or two when plans changed during the day. We tried to do this with Via Napoli because it was pouring rain and it is a long walk from the front, but you can't make same day changes for this restaurant. We walked in the pouring rain to our reservation and were still absolutely soaked even with rain coats and umbrellas! I am thinking some of the restaurants can choose to opt out of same day changes???

 

[snugglebug]

if your child is sick they will waive the fee if call in or stop by the restaurant if you are close by. DD was sick back one of the last two trips had to leave the park before our reservation. Stopped by the restaurant since it was on our way out the park. Told them we needed to leave bc she was sick and they said its not a problem and they would waive the cancellation fee. not sure if all restaurants do that but the three character meals we had did no problem.

I had the same experience when I needed to leave Epcot early due to migraine. We just stopped by San Angel Inn on the way out and let them know. Then I said no more June trips lol the heat did me in.

 

[trstno1]

Best post of the day! It will be interesting if he gets a mailer.

Can I ask how you sign up for the biz mailers? We get the regular ones, but I'm not sure how to get a business account set up.

I don't really know how to get business mailers, but when you sign up for an American Airlines account, you have the option of entering your home address or business address. I thought I'd try entering my dog's address as his business address.

Also you should know that you cannot change the birthday after the account has been created.

 

[thevalley]

WOW!!!! Congrats on VERSION 2.0. i am so far behind....I just caught up to this new thread.
I am so confused with the spg/Marriott change. please forgive me if this has been talked about, i plan on going back and reading all 227 pages. i currently have the personal spg and just received my free 35k night certificate just last weekend. My annual fee just hit, should i upgrade to the lux? should i hold tight for the change to Marriott? if i do change to the lux, is it downgrade able to a lower card and will it still have the free night for 35k. thanks

 

[palhockeymomof2]

Ok! I have been reading everything. I think I am getting a grasp on it. I figured out my flight stuff. Frontier kids can fly free.

So I was looking at taking baby steps in my journey. So I was going to start with the chase Sapphire card. Does this sound ok?

I also wanted to look at earning points for next years trip. We are taking my daughter to universal as a present for completing elementary school. Any other cards recommended for this goal? We are looking at travel at the end of May beginning of June.

Thanks all the help is very much appreciated.

Either Chase Saphire card is a good first step....both with the 50k UR bonus.....if you are comfortable applying for business cards...the Chase Ink Preferred CIP has a 80k UR bonus after $5,000 MSR..which you could then refer your P2...for another 100k URs..with the 20k referral bonus

 

[miztressuz]

WOW!!!! Congrats on VERSION 2.0. i am so far behind....I just caught up to this new thread.
I am so confused with the spg/Marriott change. please forgive me if this has been talked about, i plan on going back and reading all 227 pages. i currently have the personal spg and just received my free 35k night certificate just last weekend. My annual fee just hit, should i upgrade to the lux? should i hold tight for the change to Marriott? if i do change to the lux, is it downgrade able to a lower card and will it still have the free night for 35k. thanks

What?! You got the free night cert from AmEx before your AF posted ? Or at least within the same month? That's huge. Very interested to hear more about that.

You can upgrade it to the Lux but that would make you ineligible for the sign up bonus on that card since AmEx is a once per lifetime of just having the card, not getting the bonus. The usual recommendation is to sign up for the card bonus first before upgrading or downgrading another card to it. However, with the goofy bonus denial pop ups it's not always as easy to get the bonus as it had been in the past. I'd still give it a shot if you can make the spend. In a few weeks with the launch of the Bonvoy Brilliant (just the renamed SPG Lux) there will be a 100k/5k offer out like last year when it was first launched. AmEx has confirmed that the SPG card will still be available for downgrades but it just won't be available for new card sign ups after 2/12/19; so you could downgrade back to the personal with the 35k night later.

 

[miztressuz]

Ok! I have been reading everything. I think I am getting a grasp on it. I figured out my flight stuff. Frontier kids can fly free.

So I was looking at taking baby steps in my journey. So I was going to start with the chase Sapphire card. Does this sound ok?

I also wanted to look at earning points for next years trip. We are taking my daughter to universal as a present for completing elementary school. Any other cards recommended for this goal? We are looking at travel at the end of May beginning of June.

Thanks all the help is very much appreciated.

I think it's a good card to start, it has flexible points with some good benefits. It's hard to go wrong with either one of the Sapphires or the CIP to start out with Chase. Generally the advise is hit the biggest bonus you can, which is the CIP @ 80k UR points, but I understand that 5k in 3 months can be daunting even for a $800 or more reward; so since you have room to work within that 5/24 rule picking up a Sapphire for slightly less at 4k (but still a hefty bonus) isn't bad either

For now Universal is still listed in the Chase portal so you can continue to earn UR points towards your Universal trip. If you use the UR points through Chase travel you get an increased value depending on the premium card you hold. The CSP and CIP both get 1.25 cpp value while the CSR gets 1.5 cpp. Basically you get a discount on the number of points needed to redeem for that booking. So you can cash your points out at 1 cpp to cover your flights or if you can find flights through the portal you'll get 1.25/1.5 cpp instead.

If you decide to go for the CIP for your eBay biz later instead, then it just comes down to what Sapphire card works best for now. Chase has some rules regarding those cards, so if you're not going to exploit the loophole to try for both at the same time (8k in spend within 3 months!), then you want to plan out what's going to work best for you for the next year. Chase has stipulated that you can only have one Sapphire card and you can't get a new one/get the bonus if you've received a bonus for either one within the last 48 months. So once you get one, you are locked out of the bonus for both for 4 years. My short answer to this is, if you don't have a need for the increased point redemption value of the CSR within a year (and aren't planning to get GE/TSA precheck in that time either) then starting with the CSP for a waived AF the first year makes sense. Important to note that you can't upgrade a CSP to a CSR within your first year of holding the card due to the increased AF, so you're locked in for that first year. When it comes up for your anniversary you can decide to keep it a CSP for $95, downgrade it to one of the Freedoms ($0), or upgrade it to the CSR ($450, but really $150 OOP usually) if you're ready to make a portal redemption. Another consideration if you decide to do the CSP is there are referral bonuses for that card but not the CSR at the moment. If you get the CSP you could then refer P2 to that card to get another 50k sign up bonus, plus 10k for yourself. You can pool UR points within a household so you could transfer all the points to just one card if you need to make a large redemption, or if you decide to upgrade one to the CSR for the increased redemption value. As a timely note, referral bonuses are considered taxable income so that 10k UR bonus for yourself is slightly reduced by that fact. Chase will send out a 1099 for the value of referral bonuses if you make more than $600 from all cards in that tax year. Just something to keep in mind, it's not something that will deter me but is something I will plan for my taxes next year. (rather than getting blindsided by it this year, oops)

Hopefully that helps more than it confuses.

 

[kidsfirsttrip]

@Alexle2007 - will def check out flight of hippograff. My kids are huge hp fans so I think we will spend a lot of time in hp world

@havaneselover i will report back about rccl. I think the fact that we’ve never done Disney Cruise before will make it better for my kids. They are so excited to ice skate!

@DisneyMandC we are considering a busch gardens VA beach trip this summer end of August. Best airport to fly into? I think to drive from Boston would be too much.

 

[tink1970]

End of March/beginning of April

Congrats on your Disney Dollars!! That is some nice pixie dust to you after the trip you have just returned from

You'll just miss my DD twice! She's going with school March 21-24 AND April 11-14. I guess maybe that's why my Florida kid isn't so hyped on Disney-she gets to go twice, in a month, once completely on the school district's dime. We should all be that blessed

 

[lyshia04]

I think it's a good card to start, it has flexible points with some good benefits. It's hard to go wrong with either one of the Sapphires or the CIP to start out with Chase. Generally the advise is hit the biggest bonus you can, which is the CIP @ 80k UR points, but I understand that 5k in 3 months can be daunting even for a $800 or more reward; so since you have room to work within that 5/24 rule picking up a Sapphire for slightly less at 4k (but still a hefty bonus) isn't bad either

For now Universal is still listed in the Chase portal so you can continue to earn UR points towards your Universal trip. If you use the UR points through Chase travel you get an increased value depending on the premium card you hold. The CSP and CIP both get 1.25 cpp value while the CSR gets 1.5 cpp. Basically you get a discount on the number of points needed to redeem for that booking. So you can cash your points out at 1 cpp to cover your flights or if you can find flights through the portal you'll get 1.25/1.5 cpp instead.

If you decide to go for the CIP for your eBay biz later instead, then it just comes down to what Sapphire card works best for now. Chase has some rules regarding those cards, so if you're not going to exploit the loophole to try for both at the same time (8k in spend within 3 months!), then you want to plan out what's going to work best for you for the next year. Chase has stipulated that you can only have one Sapphire card and you can't get a new one/get the bonus if you've received a bonus for either one within the last 48 months. So once you get one, you are locked out of the bonus for both for 4 years. My short answer to this is, if you don't have a need for the increased point redemption value of the CSR within a year (and aren't planning to get GE/TSA precheck in that time either) then starting with the CSP for a waived AF the first year makes sense. Important to note that you can't upgrade a CSP to a CSR within your first year of holding the card due to the increased AF, so you're locked in for that first year. When it comes up for your anniversary you can decide to keep it a CSP for $95, downgrade it to one of the Freedoms ($0), or upgrade it to the CSR ($450, but really $150 OOP usually) if you're ready to make a portal redemption. Another consideration if you decide to do the CSP is there are referral bonuses for that card but not the CSR at the moment. If you get the CSP you could then refer P2 to that card to get another 50k sign up bonus, plus 10k for yourself. You can pool UR points within a household so you could transfer all the points to just one card if you need to make a large redemption, or if you decide to upgrade one to the CSR for the increased redemption value. As a timely note, referral bonuses are considered taxable income so that 10k UR bonus for yourself is slightly reduced by that fact. Chase will send out a 1099 for the value of referral bonuses if you make more than $600 from all cards in that tax year. Just something to keep in mind, it's not something that will deter me but is something I will plan for my taxes next year. (rather than getting blindsided by it this year, oops)

Hopefully that helps more than it confuses.

Thanks it does help. I had seen all the tax stuff. But I have a rental property so I already pay taxes based on that. . I used to read the thread but I never was willing to take that leap. I got a Disney visa but that was like the babiest step ever.

Thank everyone for all their help. I appreciate it so much. I pay for our vacations through my different efforts. So this will help big time.

 

[havaneselover]

@Alexle2007 - will def check out flight of hippograff. My kids are huge hp fans so I think we will spend a lot of time in hp world

@havaneselover i will report back about rccl. I think the fact that we’ve never done Disney Cruise before will make it better for my kids. They are so excited to ice skate!

@DisneyMandC we are considering a busch gardens VA beach trip this summer end of August. Best airport to fly into? I think to drive from Boston would be too much.

FYI August is a bit gross here. I’d recommend ric. I think you can get a non-stop on jet blue.

 

[DisneyMandC]

@DisneyMandC we are considering a busch gardens VA beach trip this summer end of August. Best airport to fly into? I think to drive from Boston would be too much.

FYI August is a bit gross here. I’d recommend ric. I think you can get a non-stop on jet blue.

I would recommend RIC too. ORF (Norfolk) would be a little bit closer, but I think airfare is usually higher going in and out of there. @havaneselover is definitely right that August is a little gross here. It will be great for the beach, but just be prepared for a ton of humidity when at BG. If you've ever gone to WDW in the summer, we have the same weather here.

If you end up doing Va Beach, let me know as I stay down there every August. I think several of us on here have done trips there, so we have some recommendations!