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

[amalone1013]

but totally opened the door for Frozen 3.

Now, I havent seen it yet, but this is probably the more important part to disney

 

[amalone1013]

I cried during the Keys to the Kingdom tour when they talked about this. I just couldn't help it. My dh was looking at me like, "Stop!" and I just kept being an embarrassment lol.

I'm with you. When we did backstage magic they told us on the bus ag least so even though it seemed like several people were in the same boat it was easier to pretend you weren't because we weren't gatherer in a circle lol

 

[LB002]

Do you have $5k-$15k worth of expenses in the next few months? Because you have a few options.

DH could still support you to an Amex biz card from his personal Gold for 10k MR.

The BBP is a no fee card that earns 2x MR on every purchase up to $50k spend/year. It’s a great daily driver and useful for keeping your MR points active if and when you decide you want to close your MR cards with AFs. The BBP SUB via supportal recently increased to 15k MR after $5k MSR in 3 months, expires 1/29/20. The SUB is not much for a hefty $5k MSR, but again this is a no fee card that earns 2x MR on everything. In addition, the BBP is valuable because it currently generates supportals worth 15k MR (its usual supportal bonus is 10k MR, although Amex increases it now and then).

The Biz Gold is a $295 AF card that earns 4x MR on the 2 categories in which you spent the most each billing cycle, among the following categories:

• Airfare purchased directly from airlines
• U.S. purchases for advertising in select media (online, TV, radio)
• U.S. purchases made directly from select technology providers of computer hardware, software, and cloud solutions
• U.S. purchases at gas stations
• U.S. purchases at restaurants
• U.S. purchases for shipping

The Biz Gold also gets you a 25% rebate of MR points used to redeem for any class flight with your selected airline, or a First or Business class flight on any airline booked through Amex Travel, making these flights a 1.33 cpp redemption.

The Biz Gold SUB via supportal recently increased to a tiered 50k MR/$5k MSR and an additional 25k MR after another $5k MSR in the same 3 months (so, 75k MR for $10k MSR in 3 months). That’s not bad considering the more expensive $595 AF Biz Plat call-in offer is 100k MR/$10k MSR/3 months, and P2 can’t earn a support bonus on the offer. (Yes, the Biz Plat has Dell credits and the Biz Gold does not.)

The real value of the Biz Gold is its supportals are the most lucrative of any Amex card. Biz Gold supportal bonuses are typically worth 20k MR, but is currently increased to 25k MR. As with all other Amex MR cards, the Biz Gold is limited to 55k MR worth of supportal bonuses per year, so you’d get only 2 full support bonuses at 20k or 25k MR before the 3rd one is worth whatever is left of the cap. But if you don’t plan to support P2 to too many Amex cards in the next year, two full supportals may be enough and the Biz Gold will have paid for its AF with the value of its support bonuses.

If you have the BBP or Biz Gold, you can use them to support DH to the Hilton Aspire or almost any Amex card (except certain co-brands like the Charles Schwab and Morgan Stanley Platinums).

ETA: The Biz Green also recently increased its supportal SUB to 25k MR/$3k MSR/3 months with the first year AF waived. It’s worthwhile to support to the Biz Green if you’ve never had it, depending where you are in your game and your ability to meet MSR. However, neither you nor P2 has a strong supportal card to support to the Biz Green, and the Biz Green itself isn’t a strong supportal card (I think the bonus is something like only 5k MR). But I guess some people would look at the $0 AF in the first year as hey, an opportunity to earn 25k MR for free. It’s sweeter if you can get a big supportal bonus from it. Aside from that, the Green has very poor earning category bonuses and isn’t necessarily a card you will want to spend on or keep past the first year, which could cause problems with pop ups so do know what you’re signing up for and make some effort to spend on it and maybe take an upgrade offer if one presents itself.

As always, some really good food for thought here! Thanks!!!!

 

[Haley R]

I think we’re most likely gonna go with the Hilton garden inn by seaworld. We’ve stayed at the Hampton and like to try new hotels when we can. Our Disney gcs from BJs are supposed to come in the mail today so we’ll buy our MVMCP tickets and then I’ll book the hotel after that

 

[Limes96]

You guys are nuts with these overnight conversations. I wake up thinking, I wonder if anyone has reported any new Amex offers this morning, but then have to wade through a bazillion pages about gravy and cool moms to find out.

 

[havaneselover]

Used my two $50 Saks gift cards toward my mom's Christmas gift from the kids--David Yurman earrings. And she has a Saks in Naples so if she doesn't like them she can exchange them. Hoping ebates credits at 11%. Never had issues with Saks before when paying with gift cards.

 

[kmc8826]

You guys are nuts with these overnight conversations. I wake up thinking, I wonder if anyone has reported any new Amex offers this morning, but then have to wade through a bazillion pages about gravy and cool moms to find out.

There is a new Amex offer for 4 extra MR’s at Amazon (up to 1500 points) expires 12/31/19. It was on our personal cards not business.

 

[Lain]

Check your Amex Offers!

Amazon.com - Get +4 Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent, up to 1,500 points - Get 4 additional Membership Rewards points for each dollar spent on eligible purchases made using your enrolled Card online at amazon.com or via the US Amazon mobile app by 12/31/2019. Limit of 1,500 Membership Rewards points. (This offer effectively makes your card a 5x or 6x MR earner at Amazon. Maximize by spending $375.)

Grubhub - Restaurant Delivery + Pickup - Spend $25 +, get $5 back. Up to 2 times (total of $10) - Get a $5 statement credit by using your enrolled Card to make a single purchase of $25 or more online at Grubhub.com or through the Grubhub app by 12/31/2019. Limit of 2 statement credits (total of $10). Excludes corporate card transactions, purchases of electronic gift cards or physical gift cards bought online.

You can stack this with the Amex Gold's monthly $10 dining credit, which includes Grubhub/Seamless.

There's also this earlier offer:

Grubhub.com / Seamless.com - Get one additional Membership Rewards® point for each dollar spent - Get 1 additional Membership Rewards point per dollar spent on purchases made using your eligible, enrolled Card at Grubhub.com or Seamless.com, or through the Grubhub or Seamless app by 12/31/19.

The Leading Hotels of the World - Spend $300 or more, get $60 back - Get a one-time $60 statement credit by using your enrolled Card to spend $300+ on room rate and room charges, when you pay for your stay with The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd. from 11/25/2019 to 2/21/2020.

And one from a few days ago:

JetBlue Vacations - Spend $1,500 or more, get $400 back - Get a one-time $400 statement credit by using your enrolled Card to spend a minimum of $1,500+ in one or more transactions online at jetbluevacations.com by 12/31/2019.

 

[DaveL]

Is this where the night crew (@SouthFayetteFan @wendow @PolyRob) tag out and the day crew steps in? Didn't think I could get so many posts behind ducking out at 11!

 

[palhockeymomof2]

I think we’re most likely gonna go with the Hilton garden inn by seaworld. We’ve stayed at the Hampton and like to try new hotels when we can. Our Disney gcs from BJs are supposed to come in the mail today so we’ll buy our MVMCP tickets and then I’ll book the hotel after that

Mine are out for delivery today too and they posted as one charge so hopefully the $25 will credit in the next few days

 

[Haley R]

Mine are out for delivery today too and they posted as one charge so hopefully the $25 will credit in the next few days

Ours posted as one charge also!

 

[Lain]

Just a reminder:

Office Depot/Max is running a Save $20 when you buy $150 in Happy Teen, Happy Dining, Happy Eats & Happy Her Gift Cards, in store only, from 11/24/19 to 11/30/19. Happy Her cards look interesting for 13% off.

Kroger is still offering $50 Happy Cards for $40 online (+ earn fuel points) until 11/26/19. No Happy Guy, but Happy Student, Happy Her, Happy Lady, and Happy Bride cards look like good options for ~20% off.

 

[Limes96]

DH’s AF posted a week ago on his Amex Plat. If someone could guide me through what I need to have him do, I’d really appreciate it. He has until his next statement close to do something, right?

It would have to be a really good retention offer for us to keep this card. I just don’t think it would be worth it for us, even with the trip to Europe on the horizon (May/June). He has 3x,xxx MR in that account. We’re not set on keeping an MR earning card (although I got an email offer for the personal gold card w/ 50k SUB that is tempting me...I finished my $6k grocery spend on my BCP in early November). We also get no good out of the Uber credit on the plat. We’re just too rural. My son in Nashville could maybe use it but he never seems interested. I’d rather have the restaurant credit from the gold. Last time I checked (last night), he doesn’t have the newest MR-HH transfer bonus, but if he gets that soon, I wouldn’t mind transfering his MRs over to Hilton.

I still have a few questions about this, in case someone is able to help me out...

I did save the number you call for possible retention offers from Amex that somebody posted this weekend, so I have that. If the retention offer doesn’t make sense for us, can we cancel the card on the same phone call? And what is the timing for making sure our MRs are cleared out of this account? I’m hoping for the HH offer to show up but so far it hasn’t. So I’d wait as long as possible to transfer in case a good offer shows up. Annual fee was charged on Nov 15, payment due Dec 10, next statement close is Dec 16.

Thanks in advance for the guidance! I don’t have any Amex card closing experience, so don’t want to mess this up!

 

[Judique]

@SouthFayetteFan my lazy rear is desperate man!!

Put an ice cube, 2 tablespoons of flour and 3/4 cup of water in a small container with lid. Shake vigorously until well mixed. Add to your pan drippings which have had most of the fat skimmed off. (A turkey breast won't have much to begin with so you may not even have to do this). You can also add the liquid from any vegetable you may have cooked or a small amount of vegetable stock (maybe 1 cup) to the drippings in the pan or if you have nothing on hand add some water. Heat on medium heat until it bubbles a bit for about a minute or two then turn the heat to low, while stirring with a whisk to keep it from being lumpy. You can season it with salt pepper, Seasonall salt mix, or whatever seasoning you like, just don't over do it as you don't need a whole lot.

One of my easy tricks is to add liquid to the pan right after I take the cooked turkey breast out of the oven, as this deglazes the flavor bits in the pan almost immediately. This also assumes you have some little brown bits in the roasting pan. I'm trying to cover all the bases here.

You can get fancy and add other things such as finely chopped onion or parsley or whatever gives a flavor you enjoy.

Gravy is not really rocket science and is really just a fat and a thickening agent (flour or corn starch) cooked together and then thinned out with a liquid and seasoned to taste. You can do it. Nothing tastes worse to me than canned or bottled gravy, and I also didn't really like Costco's gravy package that my older daughter purchased last year, but we had a lot of turkey so it helped out. As far as flour versus corn starch - corn starch doesn't lump as much and cooks quickly but flour tastes better.

And edited to add: that giblet package goes straight into the trash. Except for the neck which I will roast with the turkey for seasoning the gravy. It's bony and bone = flavor.

 

[Lain]

I still have a few questions about this, in case someone is able to help me out...

I did save the number you call for possible retention offers from Amex that somebody posted this weekend, so I have that. If the retention offer doesn’t make sense for us, can we cancel the card on the same phone call? And what is the timing for making sure our MRs are cleared out of this account? I’m hoping for the HH offer to show up but so far it hasn’t. So I’d wait as long as possible to transfer in case a good offer shows up. Annual fee was charged on Nov 15, payment due Dec 10, next statement close is Dec 16.

Thanks in advance for the guidance! I don’t have any Amex card closing experience, so don’t want to mess this up!

Sorry I haven't chimed in earlier.

As you may already know, Amex gives you 30 days from the fee posting (usually on the same day as the close of statement) to cancel your card and receive a full refund of the annual fee. You can "think over" your decision to cancel or not up until then, and in the meantime call a few times to see if the retention offer has changed. It may not, but it could. (I wouldn't procrastinate until the last day for anything.)

Retention offers are targeted and attached to your account. They’re generated by a computer that weighs things like your spend (and whether it's increased or decreased), years of membership, maybe what benefits you’ve used up, whether you got a retention offer last year (they're supposedly once every 13 months), and probably broader trends like how many cardmembers have been signing up for, keeping, or canceling their Platinums (or whatever else card) and how that's affecting monthly/quarterly targets. Offers can change periodically in response to these factors. You might not get anything when you first call in, but something might be offered if you call back in a week or just before you have to cancel.

Retention offers on the Platinum have typically been a range from 15k MR/$2k spend/3 months, 20k MR/$3k spend/3 months, 30k MR/$4k spend/3 months, to the legendary 50k MR no spend required. (There seems to be a rough correlation to how much spend you put on the card in the past year, among other factors.) There's usually a statement credit offer alongside these MR offers, but many people prefer the MR offers because they value the points more. You can ask if they have an offer in points, or statement credit if you prefer.

I doubt the reps have very much influence over the offers you get. If you get any pushback, they’re just trying to psych you into keeping the card without giving you anything for it. Expect them to talk about the card benefits, ask why you have so many other cards, why did you get this card anyway, be prepared with some good responses to these talking points, but be insistent and ask if there are any offers for you to keep the card that’ll help you make your decision to keep or cancel. They have to read you whatever offers are available on their screen.

You can tell the rep to cancel the card on the same phone call, but again you have 30 days from the date of the AF posting to cancel so you might want to take your time to "think about it." If the offer doesn't make sense to you and you've still got time, call back to see if you get a different offer. If the offer is still no good, you can cancel on the phone or even on chat. (You can always cancel an Amex card over chat, but you need to call in to get a retention offer because that can't be done over chat).

If you close your Platinum without another Amex MR-earning card, you lose all your MR points immediately. If you have another Amex MR-earning card, you can close your Platinum card without worrying about redeeming or transferring out your MR points. MR points are automatically pooled into your MR account, and as long as you have an MR-earning card open then your points stay alive. A lot of us have a no fee MR card like the BBP to keep our MR points active.

 

[PolyRob]

Is this where the night crew (@SouthFayetteFan @wendow @PolyRob) tag out and the day crew steps in? Didn't think I could get so many posts behind ducking out at 11!

 

[tink1970]

@Haley R

You have to go into your Membership rewards to see whether you're targeted for the transfer bonus for HH

1) login to American Express
2) on the right there is your MR total and under that, a bar that says Explore Rewards-click on that
3) you're then on the MR page-the 5th tab over says "transfer points" with an arrow, click on that
4) there will be "featured" with a couple of offers (I currently have bonuses to transfer to Jet Blue and Flying Blue) and above it "View All"
5) all of the loyalty programs you have linked your account to will be listed, then under that airlines you've not linked and then hotels (my hilton has the 40% bonus). This is where you see your bonus for transfer, no under Amex Offers.


I know you feel that URs are the way to go and just playing with dates from MCO to LHR, if you're flying economy then you're correct. Having flown multiple, multiple times to the UK in business and first, if you think that's a good way to utilize points, I would respectfully disagree. MCO-LHR is going to be 1 stop on Virgin, Delta, Aer Lingus, American, British Air, TAP. MRs transfer (often with bonuses) to Virgin, Delta, British Air, and Aer Lingus. Taxes and fees to the UK are still high so factor those in when you're planning to pay for your trip.

 

[Lain]

View attachment 454703

Do you not sleep?

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

What is everyone’s favorite way to use their Hilton free weekend cents? We have 3 of them so far and a 4th should be coming with my new Aspire.

I used my 2 at the Waldorf in Chicago. The rep was SUPER excited when she booked it as she said so many people "waste" those free nights. I was hoping on something cooler, but time was running out so I had to choose something closer to home.

Question for frequent fliers...
Boarded AA flight at 11:15 was to arrive in Orlando at 1:28.
Had issue with a light and they took us back to the gate. Eventually made us deplane.
Waited for new plane...finally boarded at 1:15 only to be told that they put fuel in the wrong tank OMG
So we are currently still sitting on our second plane waiting to depart.
They did put out free food and drinks for us. Do you think it’s possible to get another further compensation (miles or money)? And what’s the best way to voice my displeasure over this experience???
Thanks!

I am the QUEEN of complaining esp to AA. If you read on FT people will complain about anything and everything. I've managed almost always to get something. For my 10 hour delay I got $150 voucher and 7500 miles (I complained in email and on twitter and got something from both, LOL). I got 5000 miles for my last delay which was due to the fact they didn't have enough crew working.

Doesn't hurt to try, and I say use both twitter and email!

Phoning in this week at school. Showing Hidden Figures (hey, it's got Engineering in it) and disgruntled for having to work Weds (we always get it off) this year. I did go a bit crazy shopping online this weekend. Mostly stuff for me. I better get moving on my items for the kids. I asked my 14yo if she'd accept a passport as a christmas present, LOL

 

[PolyRob]

All my BJs orders are out for delivery too! I see the CF bonus points pending in addition to my two iPhone orders that I clicked through the UR portal for (CF was higher than CSR). Getting over 12,000 URs this statement. Not too bad!