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

[disneymagicgirl]

Totally off topic, but from previous years...I know others here are TurboTax users but also frustrated with them...

Tonight, I go in, I enter a bunch of info...even though I'm using the standard deduction this year for the first time in forever (I have a strategy to play some games with my deductions every other year) I still need to upgrade to Deluxe due to my HSA and IRA stuff (I guess a simple return isn't actually simple). Oh well, no big deal...

I upgrade for $19.99. My personal tax spreadsheet comes to within $2 of my expected refund so I know everything is right but I'm still waiting on a few forms to verify numbers so I save and exit. I log back in...and it says my price is now $39.99. I try to clear and start over...it's $39.99...

This ALWAYS happens with TurboTax Every year it's some sort of bait and switch on the pricing!! They just drive me crazy (but I'm familiar with the system and it's easy to use so I just pay it and continue to hate them). Sorry - just had to vent...

That is super frustrating. You can get it on sale at Costco and Sams, not sure on price. I also have amex offers for it...I think $10-20 off.

 

[disneybirds]

We are doing 5/22-29 this year to visit DD on her bday (5/27). Hoping for great crowd levels! I am guessing it will start off nice and get worse daily.

Hope you have a great trip! I think the rain deterred lots of locals last year, but I agree that crowds will build as you get closer to Memorial Day Weekend.

 

[amalone1013]

Added 2 short hotel reviews from our weekend excursions to the hotel thread.

Oh, I need to add the DT in Disney Springs. Also, is there a reason to do the Universal one when SFF did already? Lol

 

[afan]

Oh, I need to add the DT in Disney Springs. Also, is there a reason to do the Universal one when SFF did already? Lol

Only if you disagree or you could quote it if you have more to add/update.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

And we always wait until 4/15 to send ours since we are always writing Uncle Sam a fat check. Last year we were hit with the AMT which is just ridiculous since we are not millionaires.

we had that last year too. It hurt.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Oh, I need to add the DT in Disney Springs. Also, is there a reason to do the Universal one when SFF did already? Lol

If you have more to add or a different perspective I'd be happy to link another one.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Until reading the screen shot I would have thought memory maker but that doesn't make sense in the context but I also didn't think you could ask for magical moments unless they mean magic shots in which case I think 90% of the time you get tinker bell regardless of the park you're in. Cause she makes so much sense in front of spaceship earth or the tree of life. No I'm not a fan of her but at least one of the shots from Nov had her in red for xmas so I'm kinda ok with that one.

I sorta figured it was referring to magic shots too and they just called it a magical moment but I'm not really sure.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Oh, I need to add the DT in Disney Springs. Also, is there a reason to do the Universal one when SFF did already? Lol

I want to hear about DT!

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

can anyone help me with amex plans for DH? I know it is hard to say now with all the amex stuff. Unless we plan flights to Hawaii in fancy seats or something, I have no other plans for his 140k points. Here is his amex info:

0?/2008 amex everyday
04/2018 SPG biz
05/2018 hilton biz
09/2018 Plat personal

Should I go ahead and refer him from my BBP?

What has his spend been like on those 2018 cards since meeting the MSR?

 

[amalone1013]

Only if you disagree or you could quote it if you have more to add/update.

If you have more to add or a different perspective I'd be happy to link another one.

I mainly added one because they are putting a pedestrian bridge over that major intersection. And then I put in price/points since it was different for my dates.

 

[amalone1013]

I want to hear about DT!

I posted about it, let me know if you have more questions! I don't think it's a bad option.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Weirdly, P2 just got a "Selected for You" CSP offer under her account. I'm unclear on how these offers work. The most recent DoC DPs (from May) state that a fixed APR DOES bypass 5/24. This is a fixed APR offer. So, two questions:

Anyone know if it still bypasses? I'm willing to be the DP here.

I'm guessing this does NOT bypass the 48 month Sapphire rule? She got a CSR bonus October 2016 so not even close to being outside the 48 month window.

EDIT: Interestingly, I also have the CSP offer. I've had a CSR, but I upgraded to it and did not receive a bonus. But my last Sapphire bonus was a CSP in March 2016. Bleh.

This CSP pre-approval is the ultimate tease from Chase to me. I’m almost desperate for a United Card. I’d jump on a Hyatt Card just for a bonus. 5/24 is so far in the rear view mirror I’m not seeing it again anytime soon. Clicking this ad & seeing the fixed APR, DPs on DoC it bypasses 5/24- but I already have it. And a CSR to boot. C’mon Chase, give me something good!

 

[gottalovepluto]

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[amcc]

Just ordered a SW gift card to use P2’s Amex plat travel credit. Hoping I did it right! I was nervous in November too when I did it but it worked!

Started my son’s taxes yesterday. Last year was his first job ever (he’s 17 and works at Subway as a Sandwich Artist ) so I thought it would be easy. I’m double checking numbers when I realize, his employer typed in his SS# wrong for his W2 and it’s off on one digit. Glad I checked. Hoping it’s not a huge hassle to get that corrected.

Trying to figure out what card to get next. I’ll finish spend on my HH biz this week likely. Then I want a buffer for about 3 weeks or so when I hope to use up all the Visa gc’s I bought during deals in November and December. I’m now 3/24. My BCP will drop off in February though, so I’m thinking I’ll go for a Chase personal card. My first thought is the United personal card with the waived first year $95 fee. That would hopefully give me time to get the extra miles for the additional spend in 6 months if I decide to do that. Other than that, I don’t have a Freedom yet, but now that I’m not buying Disney gift cards, it’s hard to say if I’d max the bonus every quarter or not. Maybe. Leaning towards United though since I’m planning to book United for Europe in June 2020. Any thoughts? Other Chase personal cards to consider? I currently have CSR and DH has Amex plat, so not wanting another high AF card.

Are there other gift cards you can get that would maximize the bonus? Im planning on a CF so that I can buy amazon gift cards and save some money on Christmas that way. Or actually, I just need to see what card has bonuses on categories where I can get gift cards for things I need anyways.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Hi! First time poster to this board. My husband and I are hoping to get some advice on what credit card(s) to pursue. Currently we have a Wells Fargo Cash Back Visa Signature card that we've had forever (1% cash back), Disney Chase Visa (the lower tier one without the annual fee), and a JCP card we just signed up for this past December. I know we could do so much better, but every time I look into which cards to switch to, I get overwhelmed!

• We spend about $4k a month on average and pay off our balance every month.
• We fly out of DFW or DAL for Southwest.
• American Airlines or Southwest is preferred. DFW is a major hub for American and most flights are nonstop. Southwest has better perks but nonstop flights are a bit more limited.
• I have Marriott hotel points (about 100k) from their loyalty program.
• Our goals for a credit card would either be flight rewards or cash back to lower our travel costs. We are relatively new DVC members and would love to start flying to Disney. In the past, we have driven from Dallas to WDW (17 hours! ) to save money, but I'm hoping that we still come out even by maximizing credit card rewards. We plan to travel twice a year.
• Our travel party is me, my husband, and three children, ages 7, 5, and 1 (turning 2 in September).

Thank you!

Hey - welcome to the group! Thanks for providing such detailed info. We can definitely assist in some strategy and plans, you've come to the right place.

I just sent you a PM regarding our DISchurners reddit group. Please consider joining that group where we share some of our best tips AND you can potentially support other DISers when applying for cards

 

[gottalovepluto]

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[pillow]

My new strategy is bundling our deductions. I'm trying to alternate years where we take the standard deduction and then itemize. And put as much of our itemized expenses into the "itemized" year by being strategic with charitable contributions and when we pay property taxes It's so fun to find a way to minimize my tax liability HAHA

I was working on our taxes last night too. It felt so odd not to enter the typical itemized deductions . . . we are not even remotely close to hitting 24k.

 

[WVMomof3]

Hi! First time poster to this board. My husband and I are hoping to get some advice on what credit card(s) to pursue. Currently we have a Wells Fargo Cash Back Visa Signature card that we've had forever (1% cash back), Disney Chase Visa (the lower tier one without the annual fee), and a JCP card we just signed up for this past December. I know we could do so much better, but every time I look into which cards to switch to, I get overwhelmed!

• We spend about $4k a month on average and pay off our balance every month.
• We fly out of DFW or DAL for Southwest.
• American Airlines or Southwest is preferred. DFW is a major hub for American and most flights are nonstop. Southwest has better perks but nonstop flights are a bit more limited.
• I have Marriott hotel points (about 100k) from their loyalty program.
• Our goals for a credit card would either be flight rewards or cash back to lower our travel costs. We are relatively new DVC members and would love to start flying to Disney. In the past, we have driven from Dallas to WDW (17 hours! ) to save money, but I'm hoping that we still come out even by maximizing credit card rewards. We plan to travel twice a year.
• Our travel party is me, my husband, and three children, ages 7, 5, and 1 (turning 2 in September).

Thank you!

Are you open to business cards? Since you mention SW, this might be a good place to start. Getting the SW biz and a 50,000 personal SW offer (in flight or there are links out there for the inflight offer). One of you can get both of these. I would not go for the public offer of 30,000 points plus 1 year of Companion Pass. The other should also be getting cards. Again, if you are open to business cards, a CIP is a great place to start. It will give you 80,000 UR points you could use to book travel on the Chase Portal at 1.25x points or transfer to partners such as SW, Hyatt, Marriott. If not open to business cards, then a CSR ($450 AF that scares some away) or a CSP ($95 AF, I think it is waived first year still) both offer a 50,000 UR point offer, again you can use on the Chase portal(CSR -1.5x points or CSP-1.25x points) or transfer to partners. If you are more looking for AA miles, I think those cards are also easy to get and I believe there is more info on our Dischurner group on those cards.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

I was working on our taxes last night too. It felt so odd not to enter the typical itemized deductions . . . we are not even remotely close to hitting 24k.

I hear ya! We only have about $10k this year. If I wasn't playing games (alternating) we'd have about $22k every year. The way I'm working it we'll have a $10k year and take the standard and then have a $34k the other year.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Are you open to business cards? Since you mention SW, this might be a good place to start. Getting the SW biz and a 50,000 personal SW offer (in flight or there are links out there for the inflight offer). One of you can get both of these. I would not go for the public offer of 30,000 points plus 1 year of Companion Pass. The other should also be getting cards. Again, if you are open to business cards, a CIP is a great place to start. It will give you 80,000 UR points you could use to book travel on the Chase Portal at 1.25x points or transfer to partners such as SW, Hyatt, Marriott. If not open to business cards, then a CSR ($450 AF that scares some away) or a CSP ($95 AF, I think it is waived first year still) both offer a 50,000 UR point offer, again you can use on the Chase portal(CSR -1.5x points or CSP-1.25x points) or transfer to partners. If you are more looking for AA miles, I think those cards are also easy to get and I believe there is more info on our Dischurner group on those cards.

These are great thoughts - and I'll piggyback to say depending on how many trips planned for 2019, waiting on the CP may be the better strategy.

Earning a bunch of URs first and then getting a CP for 2020/2021 can be a better strategy if you're able to then use the URs to take a bunch of trips.