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

[Lain]

Which issuers? I know Amex would not let DS9 be AU on my card.

How about Citi? I could use an employee card on my CitiBiz AA card but it wants DHs SS# when I tried. That makes me wary. Maybe I could get one for DS.

Amex AUs have to be at least 13. I don’t think Chase has an age limitation. I added my DD to my oldest card, a Chase United Visa, when she was 2 and did not have to provide a SSN.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

Happy Monday, everyone! I came to the Budget Board to find out a specific bit of information and then found this thread...I've been lost in the abyss reading pages here for awhile, and still have not even read half of it all. Here is the requested information from most recent:

01/19 Chase Southwest Visa (to get the free Companion Pass they were offering)
11/18 Home Depot (not even sure if this matters, so please don't make fun of me!)
06/18 Chase Disney Visa
04/18 American Express Rewards
8ish years ago Bank of America Visa 3%/2%/1% Cash
21 years ago Capital One MC 1.5% Cash Rewards

I live with my boyfriend, who has 3 kids who stay with us on weekends. My son currently lives in Florida, about an hour from MCO. He has a $400 credit with SW.
My closest airport is MHT (12 minutes away), with BOS being second (45 minutes). SW flies out of both.

I use my cards for everything (but didn't know I might be able to use it for my MORTGAGE! That would be a game-changer!), and pay them off every month. I switch up which card I use for whatever goal I am trying to reach. Two years ago, I paid for four days at the Beach Club Villas with park hoppers and meals plus other things for my son and my mother for my son's graduation from college using only rewards.

This year, my goal is different: I'd like to use the heck out of the free Companion Pass that I have just earned from SW. The sign-up deal was once you spend $4000, you receive 30,000 RR points and a free Companion Pass to use until the end of 2019. I can change the name on the Pass three times to have a total of four names (or switch it back, but I am limited to that number of switches total), so I need to be strategic. My Companion and I must fly on the same flight.

I'd like to spend the summer traveling to different US cities with my son. SW usually has cheap flights to random cities, so I plan for both my son and I to meet up in one of those cities and then fly + Companion to the city of our choice. With proper planning, we could spend nearly each weekend in a different city.

I would concentrate all of my hotel rewards into the same chain (I currently have a few with HHonors, but would like the best bang for my buck here).

Does anyone have any advice for me? Or is my plan too specific for this type of thread? Also, please tell me more about how to pay my mortgage with my credit card!!

Hi and Welcome...it’s great you have such a detailed plan
We love your CP...so enjoy yours....from the cards you’ve listed it looks like you’ve opened 4 in the last 24 months so 4/24. Most of us here start with Chase cards due to their 5/24 rule...since your at 4/24 you have one more personal card slot open. Are you willing to open business cards...Chase has the Chase Ink Preferred which give. 80k UR bonus after spending 5k in the first 3 months....You mentioned hotel rewards....the URs can be used to book hotels through the Chase travel portal or transferred to their Hotel partners

I’ve never paid my mortgage with a cc so no help there

 

[Natgridenergy]

I’ll be doing the same thing in 2020...and I’ve been trying to decide which way to go as well.....if I’m going to get it again for myself I have to wait until late January 2020 to start applying since that’s when my bonus hit in2018...and I don’t have to go without a SW card for a few months Sonce I’d be cancelling the cards in October

If I have DH apply we could start the business application in November/December 2019...and be without a SW card for a shorter period of time.

Ill switch me this year -- gotta make sure I'm under 5/24 by then though

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Happy Monday, everyone! I came to the Budget Board to find out a specific bit of information and then found this thread...I've been lost in the abyss reading pages here for awhile, and still have not even read half of it all. Here is the requested information from most recent:

01/19 Chase Southwest Visa (to get the free Companion Pass they were offering)
11/18 Home Depot (not even sure if this matters, so please don't make fun of me!)
06/18 Chase Disney Visa
04/18 American Express Rewards
8ish years ago Bank of America Visa 3%/2%/1% Cash
21 years ago Capital One MC 1.5% Cash Rewards

I live with my boyfriend, who has 3 kids who stay with us on weekends. My son currently lives in Florida, about an hour from MCO. He has a $400 credit with SW.
My closest airport is MHT (12 minutes away), with BOS being second (45 minutes). SW flies out of both.

I use my cards for everything (but didn't know I might be able to use it for my MORTGAGE! That would be a game-changer!), and pay them off every month. I switch up which card I use for whatever goal I am trying to reach. Two years ago, I paid for four days at the Beach Club Villas with park hoppers and meals plus other things for my son and my mother for my son's graduation from college using only rewards.

This year, my goal is different: I'd like to use the heck out of the free Companion Pass that I have just earned from SW. The sign-up deal was once you spend $4000, you receive 30,000 RR points and a free Companion Pass to use until the end of 2019. I can change the name on the Pass three times to have a total of four names (or switch it back, but I am limited to that number of switches total), so I need to be strategic. My Companion and I must fly on the same flight.

I'd like to spend the summer traveling to different US cities with my son. SW usually has cheap flights to random cities, so I plan for both my son and I to meet up in one of those cities and then fly + Companion to the city of our choice. With proper planning, we could spend nearly each weekend in a different city.

I would concentrate all of my hotel rewards into the same chain (I currently have a few with HHonors, but would like the best bang for my buck here).

Does anyone have any advice for me? Or is my plan too specific for this type of thread? Also, please tell me more about how to pay my mortgage with my credit card!!

Welcome to the best thread on the DIS!!

Well there is a lot to digest here - but what an AWESOME plan you have this summer!

First off - before you get too excited on the mortgage piece, there are fees to do this and depending on your mortgage company and other factors only certain cards may work. I'm not the expert on that, so I'll leave it to others...

The "change name" benefit on the CP is a nice feature, but it's good you're pretty much set on your son as your companion. You can't "hold" flights for future companions (i.e. you can only have companion flights booked for your current companion) so switching a lot on short notice isn't a great idea.

Your plan could burn through a lot of SW pts quickly (which isn't bad - just be aware of that). You'll need to each fly separately somewhere to meet up, then fly somewhere together. 30,000 SW pts is worth about $444 in flights (and he has his $400 credit). You could spend all of that just on your "meet-up" flights and now all the additional travel ends up being out of pocket... Maybe you should consider earning some more SW points real quick...Do you have a side hustle (sell items on ebay, teach piano, sell cookies, mow lawns, consulting, babysitting, etc.?) You could qualify for the SW business card which would earn you another 60k SW pts for just $3k spend. Here's some thoughts on this plan:

• You should already have 34k SW pts (30k + 4k base pts)
• This would earn you 63k SW pts (60k + 3k base pts)
• A SW BIZ would be the absolute IDEAL next move for you IMO if you want to have enough SW pts to make your summer travel dream a reality without spending a ton of money.
• Now you have enough for $1,400 in flights which could make these dreams a reality
• ADDITIONALLY - you have 97k SW pts earned this year...if you earn 110k SW pts in this calendar year...you could get that CP to carryover into 2020!!
• How do you earn the add'l 13k? Well you could start by referring your boyfriend or your son to the SW personal card - that would get you 10k pts. Would one of them consider signing up to help you out? (Of course they'd get a bunch of points out of that too). Then, depending on how much you spent over the MSR on your bonuses you should have less than 3k pts left. Maybe spend another 3k on that card (OR I could give you a hit on how to use a refundable flight to make that happen!!)
• You could also transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards (URs) to Southwest BUT those don't help you earn a CP for 2020 so that would be a last resort strategy - vs. what I listed above which is GOLD!

Now your other problem is obviously hotels - this one isn't an easy answer. Hyatt, Hilton, Marriott, IHG - they all have hotel cards. Chase Ultimate Rewards can be used to book hotels and transfer to hotel partners.

• Hyatt & IHG have limited earning opportunities since they have minimal cards.
• Marriott has a lot of ways to earn but numerous restrictions around which cards you can apply for if you held other cards.
• Hilton has a ton of earning opportunities but if you abuse AMEX you can get shutoff from future cards with them.
• (This game really is fun - I promise!)
• You could go with Chase Ultimate Rewards (there are 7 cards in total that earn URs) and these can be used on hotels through their Expedia portal OR transferred to Hyatt for a good value (or Marriott for a meh value).
• URs would be an especially good strategy if you are open to business cards as there's 3 GREAT ones there.
• However, picking a hotel chain and signing up for their specific cards may not be a bad plan either. The thing URs provides is flexibility though, and since you're going to numerous cities (potentially over 2 years now) picking one hotel chain may not be your best play. (Due to prices, availability of rooms, etc.)

Hopefully this helps and doesn't further confuse - ask questions! I'll also send you a PM invite to our private reddit group DISchurners where we have more info and you can potentially support other DISers when you apply!

 

[Jaime4004]

I totally agree. DD had an AU card as soon as she was in HS. While she rarely used it, I was also happy that she had it in case she really needed it. She knew if she spent money on it she would have to pay us back (unless it was something I told her in advance to go ahead and get) and I think it also taught her to be responsible with her money.

Same here. DD is 15 and is an AU on my Disney card. I don't use it at all, so it's easy to know that anything spent on it is from her. I just transfer the money from her bank account to pay for it. And it's nice when she is out, if I want her to pick up something for me, or something for her that I planned on paying for, I can tell her just to charge it.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

Ill switch me this year -- gotta make sure I'm under 5/24 by then though

I’m really leaning towards having DH get it for 2020/2021 as well...

 

[Tink-aholic]

Welcome to the best thread on the DIS!!

Well there is a lot to digest here - but what an AWESOME plan you have this summer!

First off - before you get too excited on the mortgage piece, there are fees to do this and depending on your mortgage company and other factors only certain cards may work. I'm not the expert on that, so I'll leave it to others...

The "change name" benefit on the CP is a nice feature, but it's good you're pretty much set on your son as your companion. You can't "hold" flights for future companions (i.e. you can only have companion flights booked for your current companion) so switching a lot on short notice isn't a great idea.

Your plan could burn through a lot of SW pts quickly (which isn't bad - just be aware of that). You'll need to each fly separately somewhere to meet up, then fly somewhere together. 30,000 SW pts is worth about $444 in flights (and he has his $400 credit). You could spend all of that just on your "meet-up" flights and now all the additional travel ends up being out of pocket... Maybe you should consider earning some more SW points real quick...Do you have a side hustle (sell items on ebay, teach piano, sell cookies, mow lawns, consulting, babysitting, etc.?) You could qualify for the SW business card which would earn you another 60k SW pts for just $3k spend. Here's some thoughts on this plan:

• You should already have 34k SW pts (30k + 4k base pts)
• This would earn you 63k SW pts (60k + 3k base pts)
• A SW BIZ would be the absolute IDEAL next move for you IMO if you want to have enough SW pts to make your summer travel dream a reality without spending a ton of money.
• Now you have enough for $1,400 in flights which could make these dreams a reality
• ADDITIONALLY - you have 97k SW pts earned this year...if you earn 110k SW pts in this calendar year...you could get that CP to carryover into 2020!!
• How do you earn the add'l 13k? Well you could start by referring your boyfriend or your son to the SW personal card - that would get you 10k pts. Would one of them consider signing up to help you out? (Of course they'd get a bunch of points out of that too). Then, depending on how much you spent over the MSR on your bonuses you should have less than 3k pts left. Maybe spend another 3k on that card (OR I could give you a hit on how to use a refundable flight to make that happen!!)
• You could also transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards (URs) to Southwest BUT those don't help you earn a CP for 2020 so that would be a last resort strategy - vs. what I listed above which is GOLD!

Now your other problem is obviously hotels - this one isn't an easy answer. Hyatt, Hilton, Marriott, IHG - they all have hotel cards. Chase Ultimate Rewards can be used to book hotels and transfer to hotel partners.

• Hyatt & IHG have limited earning opportunities since they have minimal cards.
• Marriott has a lot of ways to earn but numerous restrictions around which cards you can apply for if you held other cards.
• Hilton has a ton of earning opportunities but if you abuse AMEX you can get shutoff from future cards with them.
• (This game really is fun - I promise!)
• You could go with Chase Ultimate Rewards (there are 7 cards in total that earn URs) and these can be used on hotels through their Expedia portal OR transferred to Hyatt for a good value (or Marriott for a meh value).
• URs would be an especially good strategy if you are open to business cards as there's 3 GREAT ones there.
• However, picking a hotel chain and signing up for their specific cards may not be a bad plan either. The thing URs provides is flexibility though, and since you're going to numerous cities (potentially over 2 years now) picking one hotel chain may not be your best play. (Due to prices, availability of rooms, etc.)

Hopefully this helps and doesn't further confuse - ask questions! I'll also send you a PM invite to our private reddit group DISchurners where we have more info and you can potentially support other DISers when you apply!

Thank you so much for the quick reply! You have given me a lot of great advice to consider.

I would like to clarify that I usually spend $4-5K per year on a vacation each summer, and I am totally okay with paying out of pocket for my flights and accruing points if it means that I might be able to eligible for another Companion Pass next year.

I see what you're saying about tying myself to one hotel chain, so thanks for that advice. Maybe it would be better for me to shop around and book through the SW site and attempt to maximize those points, instead.

My son has great credit, so I will refer him to get a card. My boyfriend is building his credit, so he probably won't be approved.

I am not really sure I understand what you mean by qualifying for the SW Business card, but I am continuing to read the thread and learn.

Thank you for taking me under your wing.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Thank you so much for the quick reply! You have given me a lot of great advice to consider.

I would like to clarify that I usually spend $4-5K per year on a vacation each summer, and I am totally okay with paying out of pocket for my flights and accruing points if it means that I might be able to eligible for another Companion Pass next year.

I see what you're saying about tying myself to one hotel chain, so thanks for that advice. Maybe it would be better for me to shop around and book through the SW site and attempt to maximize those points, instead.

My son has great credit, so I will refer him to get a card. My boyfriend is building his credit, so he probably won't be approved.

I am not really sure I understand what you mean by qualifying for the SW Business card, but I am continuing to read the thread and learn.

Thank you for taking me under your wing.

By qualifying for a business card - I mean - do you have an activity that would make you eligible (or are you thinking about starting a "business" ) That's all - if you sell on eBay (or do one of the other activities I listed) you're already in!

As far as earning another Companion Pass next year, be aware that since you got a SW personal card this year, you aren't eligible for another SW personal card now for 24 months from earning that bonus (so probably can't apply until March 2021). You have a small window of time (the next 10 months essentially) that if you earn another 76k SW points, your Companion pass can carryover for 2020!! Once the calendar turns to 2020, if you didn't earn those 76k points, the whole thing resets and it's virtually impossible to earn a Companion Pass (110k pts) without 2 credit cards. That's why I'm suggesting (1) a SW Biz card, which can take care of 63k of those points and (2) referring your son which can get you another 10k. If you complete both of those activities in this calendar year (the sooner the better) Now you're just 3k points away from having your companion pass carryover until December 2020. With the aggressive travel goals you have, I can only imagine what that could do for you!! Without this strategy though, I don't think you'll get there by paying for flights or earning points flying. The people doing that are flying 2+ times a week ALL YEAR LONG (those poor road warriors).

Set your sights high here - in the next 6 months, you could easily earn 76k more SW pts (worth $1,100) PLUS enough Chase Ultimate Rewards to cover $2,000 worth of hotels! Or you could do other strategies that earn other points too...I know this sounds a little scattered but there is A LOT to this churning game and it's hard to break it all down into a few bullet points or paragraphs

 

[Jaime4004]

Happy Monday, everyone! I came to the Budget Board to find out a specific bit of information and then found this thread...I've been lost in the abyss reading pages here for awhile, and still have not even read half of it all. Here is the requested information from most recent:

01/19 Chase Southwest Visa (to get the free Companion Pass they were offering)
11/18 Home Depot (not even sure if this matters, so please don't make fun of me!)
06/18 Chase Disney Visa
04/18 American Express Rewards
8ish years ago Bank of America Visa 3%/2%/1% Cash
21 years ago Capital One MC 1.5% Cash Rewards

I live with my boyfriend, who has 3 kids who stay with us on weekends. My son currently lives in Florida, about an hour from MCO. He has a $400 credit with SW.
My closest airport is MHT (12 minutes away), with BOS being second (45 minutes). SW flies out of both.

I use my cards for everything (but didn't know I might be able to use it for my MORTGAGE! That would be a game-changer!), and pay them off every month. I switch up which card I use for whatever goal I am trying to reach. Two years ago, I paid for four days at the Beach Club Villas with park hoppers and meals plus other things for my son and my mother for my son's graduation from college using only rewards.

This year, my goal is different: I'd like to use the heck out of the free Companion Pass that I have just earned from SW. The sign-up deal was once you spend $4000, you receive 30,000 RR points and a free Companion Pass to use until the end of 2019. I can change the name on the Pass three times to have a total of four names (or switch it back, but I am limited to that number of switches total), so I need to be strategic. My Companion and I must fly on the same flight.

I'd like to spend the summer traveling to different US cities with my son. SW usually has cheap flights to random cities, so I plan for both my son and I to meet up in one of those cities and then fly + Companion to the city of our choice. With proper planning, we could spend nearly each weekend in a different city.

I would concentrate all of my hotel rewards into the same chain (I currently have a few with HHonors, but would like the best bang for my buck here).

Does anyone have any advice for me? Or is my plan too specific for this type of thread? Also, please tell me more about how to pay my mortgage with my credit card!!

Howdy neighbor! I'm also close to MHT. We end up being park and fly for a few family members when they fly out of MHT. We only fly SW because it's so convenient and close, so I usually concentrate mostly on Chase Ultimate Rewards since they transfer to SW. I'm also partial to Hilton points, even if they're a crappy value. I like hilton hotels and amex hilton cards offer large bonuses.

 

[miztressuz]

Ok so happy and sad (sorta) day all at the same time.

Happy - got the SW Biz so I'll have an MSR to work on and replenish our SW points!

Sad - 0 UR points balance

Happy - Spent all my UR towards my cruise which covered > 85% of the price. Much more than we originally planned!

Final payment wasn't due until May but hubby has been fretting over the Chase travel changes and worried something would happen so that we couldn't use our points. Without the points we absolutely could not take the trip so I get his concern. We decided a bird in hand and all so I finally called this morning, and after forever on hold, got a random rep, who found my booking, cashed in all my points and sent me the updated invoice for the remaining balance we'll pay off in May. (And I still can't believe how small that number is!)

Thanks for all the support and encouragement and knowledge across two threads! Also all the awesome trip stories to lead by example Without those I'm not sure I would have truly believed in the superiority of points and AF's aren't always the devil

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

WDWNT just tweeted out about a 50 minute line for Nemo at Epcot today and the line for Turtle Talk being out to the gift shop...

I've always said that I thought my "superior touring knowledge" could even overcome a busy holiday weekend...but I think we've crossed over to that statement being wrong. It is crazy busy there, lol!

 

[Haley R]

WDWNT just tweeted out about a 50 minute line for Nemo at Epcot today and the line for Turtle Talk being out to the gift shop...

I've always said that I thought my "superior touring knowledge" could even overcome a busy holiday weekend...but I think we've crossed over to that statement being wrong. It is crazy busy there, lol!

Holy cow that’s crazy. I’d hate to be there right now

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Without those I'm not sure I would have truly believed in the superiority of points and AF's aren't always the devil

Wait...AFs aren't the devil??? Tagging @calypso726

 

[Tink-aholic]

Howdy neighbor! I'm also close to MHT. We end up being park and fly for a few family members when they fly out of MHT. We only fly SW because it's so convenient and close, so I usually concentrate mostly on Chase Ultimate Rewards since they transfer to SW. I'm also partial to Hilton points, even if they're a crappy value. I like hilton hotels and amex hilton cards offer large bonuses.

Hello! I am busy learning and applying for cards already! This is not what I expected to do on a snowy day!

 

[BamaBoy]

Looking for DPs concerning posting of the bonus on AMEX Hilton Honors. Met the minimum spend (including making sure I went over the MSR minus the glitch on January 31st spend!) and my closing date was yesterday. Any DPs on when I can expect the 100,000 bonus points to post?

 

[hsmamato2]

Our next trip is 5 nights Swan, then 2 nights off site (no parks those days) in 33 days! I don’t think I have enough vacation for 9 nights, nor enough Marriott points. Lol.

yeah.... I'm in near constant mourning over the loss of my 10k or less nights there..... I mean, virtual mourning,since IRL I have plenty of other things to keep me occupied,but still....

 

[hsmamato2]

I’m really leaning towards having DH get it for 2020/2021 as well...

DH and I switch off every two years (as long as we can) for about 8 years now...(or is it more? I forget) right now DH holds it so slightly less value to me since I like traveling more than he does...... but we'll still use the heck out of it- hopefully I can still get it in 2021

 

[DrFacilier]

P2's bonus anniversary points have posted for her SW Plus and Premier. I have not cancelled any cards since joining this game last year so this is new to me. Should I cancel them? And if I do will the AF's get reimbursed?

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

P2's bonus anniversary points have posted for her SW Plus and Premier. I have not cancelled any cards since joining this game last year so this is new to me. Should I cancel them? And if I do will the AF's get reimbursed?

If you cancel them, yes they will cancel or reimburse the annual fees so you will not owe them. You should try first calling for a retention offer. Just call the number on the back of your card and mention that you aren't sure you want to keep the card open due to the annual fee. They may give you a statement credit to offset that fee (and you keep the anniv points then too!) If you have success on one card, I'd try for the other but on a separate call (don't want to act too needy, lol!). If they won't budge, you can always try again in a day or 2, and if you don't succeed you can always just cancel them.

 

[kayteekt]

A little of topic, but savings and travel related.

Wanting to do a FL trip that's not just Disney. We've been wanting to go to St. Augustine, Space Center, Legoland, etc... but never can justify when we have APs to Disney. APs run up in May and want to do this trip while we don't have them.
Wanting to pay as little oop as possible, as we're buying into DVC now and still dealing with replacing 2 of our ac units for the house

- So I'll have (4) 35k Bonvoy Certs, (1) 25k (plus about 200k bonvoy points each)
- We have plenty of UR points as well.
- October trip most likely
- Driving from SC looking to visit: Savannah, GA or maybe Hilton Head - St. Augustine (historical area and beach day?) - Space Center - Legoland - Disney for MNSSHP. We would be doing 1 or 2 nights in each place.

Besides Hilton Head (and Disney lol), we've never been to any of these places. Any suggestions for hotels in the area(s)/that would be a good value on points. Even HH, we've only ever done a condo. Never a hotel.

Oh...you can't do a points upgrade with a free night cert, right? (For example...on the 25k night...book a 50k room and pay the difference in points or cash?).

Just starting to think all of this through, so open to any other suggestions for stops as well. Kids will be 11 & 7.