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

[palhockeymomof2]

So P2's Fico dropped by 38 points last month after hovering within 5 or 10 points for quite a while. Anyone have any reasons this might happen? Is it something to be worried about. I'm wondering if it has to do with one of the following:

She opened a CIC and spent over half of her CL last month. We don't carry balances but we do wait to pay statement balances around the due date.

The over 50% utilization on the CIC could explain it...I usually pay off my balance before the statement closes...but my score goes down..a point or so if the reported balance does go up as little as $100

 

[wendow]

My friends are taking their 5 year old for the first time next month. He is absolutely obsessed with trains and always has been. All toys are trains, there are no hobbies but trains, he is a walking shrine to Thomas. Funnily enough, he doesn't really care about riding on trains, he just likes watching them. I get the feeling they're going to spend a good chunk of time at MK just watching the train haha.

Yup! My little guy is into vehicles, always has been, and pretty sure his future career will involve vehicles of some kind. He gets giddy every time the MK train goes by. It's like his world freezes lol. He likes to ride the train too though, and like I said, all other forms of transportation.

If your friends' ds is into other things besides trains, have them ask for the transportation cards. Both my boys love those and we've been collecting them since they were babies so we have quite the collection!

 

[wendow]

Uh oh, is it? Guess they'll get to ride some stuff then haha.

Oh yes, I forgot it was closed. Hmm, I wonder when it reopens. DL train was closed when we were there and I'll be bummed if WDW train is closed all this year too.

 

[wendow]

So P2's Fico dropped by 38 points last month after hovering within 5 or 10 points for quite a while. Anyone have any reasons this might happen? Is it something to be worried about. I'm wondering if it has to do with one of the following:

She opened a CIC and spent over half of her CL last month. We don't carry balances but we do wait to pay statement balances around the due date.

I bet it is the 50% utilization. I learned my lesson with this as well. CS tanked cause I was using like 70% of the wimpy CL Chase gave. My score dropped 67 points. Now, if I charge a bunch up, I pay it off quickly so it doesn't have time to hit my score too much.

 

[amalone1013]

FYI: rteetz who mods the rumors board is pretty down on this rumor

He indicates a mid-November opening is more likely and that July previews are a somewhat ridiculous idea (ie highly unlikely). Perhaps WDWNT is jumping the gun here...

Tom would never do that

 

[amalone1013]

The ove 50% utilization on the CIC could explain it...I usually pay off my balance before the statement closes...but my score goes down..a point or so if the reported balance does go up as little as $100

But the CIC shouldn't be reporting since it's a biz card, right?

 

[amalone1013]

Yup! My little guy is into vehicles, always has been, and pretty sure his future career will involve vehicles of some kind. He gets giddy every time the MK train goes by. It's like his world freezes lol. He likes to ride the train too though, and like I said, all other forms of transportation.

If your friends' ds is into other things besides trains, have them ask for the transportation cards. Both my boys love those and we've been collecting them since they were babies so we have quite the collection!

Your little guy and my DH would get along well

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

But the CIC shouldn't be reporting since it's a biz card, right?

I’m not sure what to make of some of these recent reports on utilization. I’m not trying to dispute others experiences BUT None of my credit monitoring services are reporting anything related to biz card utilization.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Just had to share this story with my mom for y'all:

I texted her tonight to tell her to start looking at Disney restaurants since we're coming up on 180 days(!!). I told her we were planning to eat lunch at BOG and our fancy dinner would be at California Grill. She told me that she remembered eating a really good steak at a restaurant in the Contemporary but didn't know the name of the place. I figure it can't have been anywhere but Cali Grill, but I didn't remember going there. She said this would've been in 1995 and I didn't go because I loved the babysitting place at Wilderness Lodge so much that I cried to go there and play instead There you have it, folks. You take your kid to Disney World, put her up in a deluxe hotel and offer her a steak dinner, and she just wants to go to the babysitter.

wait, you needed a babysitter in 1995????? I am so old.

 

[mhartman09]

My friends are taking their 5 year old for the first time next month. He is absolutely obsessed with trains and always has been. All toys are trains, there are no hobbies but trains, he is a walking shrine to Thomas. Funnily enough, he doesn't really care about riding on trains, he just likes watching them. I get the feeling they're going to spend a good chunk of time at MK just watching the train haha.

Yup! My little guy is into vehicles, always has been, and pretty sure his future career will involve vehicles of some kind. He gets giddy every time the MK train goes by. It's like his world freezes lol. He likes to ride the train too though, and like I said, all other forms of transportation.

If your friends' ds is into other things besides trains, have them ask for the transportation cards. Both my boys love those and we've been collecting them since they were babies so we have quite the collection!

This is pretty much our DS. He has always been obsessed with vehicles/things that go - cars, trucks, trains, planes, etc. His fav character is Lightning McQueen of course. He absolutely loves the train at MK. He is also very into collecting the transportation cards. Most of this obsession does not bother me at all on our trips.....except the trains in Epcot!!! He would stand there for HOURS if we let him. He just loves to watch them go back and forth. He had a minor freakout once when one of them ran off the track and it took a while for a cast member to arrive to fix it. Those trains drive me crazy sometimes.

 

[Lain]

I’m not sure what to make of some of these recent reports on utilization. I’m not trying to dispute others experiences BUT None of my credit monitoring services are reporting anything related to biz card utilization.

Same.

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

wait, you needed a babysitter in 1995????? I am so old.

I had 2 children in 1995.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

So P2's Fico dropped by 38 points last month after hovering within 5 or 10 points for quite a while. Anyone have any reasons this might happen? Is it something to be worried about. I'm wondering if it has to do with one of the following:

She opened a CIC and spent over half of her CL last month. We don't carry balances but we do wait to pay statement balances around the due date.

That happened to DH one month but it bounced right back the next month. I couldn't figure it out. Utilization was like 2%, nothing late, nothing new opened. It was weird.

 

[Artygal90]

Semi-Universal question regarding CC points or discounts. Has anyone purchased Blue Man Group tickets with points of any kind? I really only have TY and UR. I will have to purchase sooner than later since the night I need is less than 30 days out. Wondering if there was a work around like the WDW tickets?

Of course I completely changed my WDW plans significantly and added a night at CityWalk because I was afraid my family would be too "bored" just watching IllumiNations from Crescent Lake. We're already seeing Fantasmic!, Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular Fireworks, and IllumiNations in Epcot during our BC split.

I vividly recall seeing Blue Man Group tickets on the UR portal a few months back, under "Things To Do" (this was when you could also get the WDW tickets through the USO backdoor method). Unfortunately, when I looked again a couple weeks ago while booking Hard Rock Hotel, I wasn't able to find them again. Maybe double check for your dates?

 

[SBWB48]

Wife can’t commit to any travel dates to take advantage of these SW fares to Hawaii. What am I to do with $900 in SW GCs burning in my pocket?

This is me, except I'm the one who can't commit...

 

[DrFacilier]

That happened to DH one month but it bounced right back the next month. I couldn't figure it out. Utilization was like 2%, nothing late, nothing new opened. It was weird.

Ok. Glad it's not just us. Hopefully her's will jump back up next month too because I'm confused as to why this happened.

At any rate, I need a new card. Thinking about Ink Unlimited since we could use another 50k points and don't currently have a 1.5 card. Here's where we are right now. Am I correct about our /24 status? Anyone have any other options? Should we start thinking about diversifying beyond Chase?

P1 (2/24?)
07/17 - CHASE Disney Visa
05/18 - CHASE Ink Preferred
10/18 - CHASE SW Biz
11/18 - CHASE SW Plus
ETA: There is also the Freedom I have had for years.

P2 (3/24?)
01/18 - CHASE SW Plus
01/18 - CHASE SW Premier
07/18 - CHASE Ink Preferred
10/18 - CHASE Sapphire Reserve
01/19 - CHASE Ink Cash

 

[mmmears]

@mmmears: This one is an oldie but a goodie...perhaps we should revisit OUR "right way" to churn here at DISchurners


In case you didn't expand the quote here's my summary statement at the bottom:

The truth of the matter is…There is no WRONG way to churn. I love how accepting this group is of everybody’s varying preferences and habits in the game. I know we all are happy to share OUR PERSONAL best practices, but nobody forces their “right” way on others. I truly love our group here, I’m glad we have a friendly space to discuss churning without anger, name-calling, and other drama. Just consider this a friendly reminder that when somebody is doing something different than you in the game…that maybe it’s their right way to churn! ​

Love this! Thanks for sharing it again. I agree. Plus, you never know what's going to happen. We had no plans to fly to Norway this year and stay for a week, and now I think it's likely going to happen. Couldn't do it without the points we've been hoarding for this kind of thing. Best use of points? Maybe not for everyone, but I think it would be a good use for us.

Sorry. I don’t know the answer since our only AT&T account is for wireless.

Ah, ok. I'll tell him to pay the wireless then and see what happens.

But the CIC shouldn't be reporting since it's a biz card, right?

Following along since Chase didn't exactly give me a big credit line for the CIP that's on its way. I think it was 5K, but after the almost 2 hours on the phone with them I honestly can't remember.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Ok. Glad it's not just us. Hopefully her's will jump back up next month too because I'm confused as to why this happened.

At any rate, I need a new card. Thinking about Ink Unlimited since we could use another 50k points and don't currently have a 1.5 card. Here's where we are right now. Am I correct about our /24 status? Anyone have any other options? Should we start thinking about diversifying beyond Chase?

P1 (2/24?)
07/17 - CHASE Disney Visa
05/18 - CHASE Ink Preferred
10/18 - CHASE SW Biz
11/18 - CHASE SW Plus
ETA: There is also the Freedom I have had for years.

P2 (3/24?)
01/18 - CHASE SW Plus
01/18 - CHASE SW Premier
07/18 - CHASE Ink Preferred
10/18 - CHASE Sapphire Reserve
01/19 - CHASE Ink Cash

I think a CIU for P1 is a great next move. You are at 2/24 and you have 1 dropping off in 4-5 months, such an amazing spot.

You don’t necessarily need to move on to other issuers ever. Some people like what AMEX and Citi bring to the table, others can be 100% happy with Chase. It really comes down to your preferences AND do you have a viable use for those points.

Have you considered doing a MDD (modified double dip) with CSP & CSR? The $8k MSR would be the potential issue there...but 100k+ URs would be great and you have the 5/24 slots to devote to it.

EDIT: I am super impressed with the cards you’ve gotten and how you’ve spaced them out. You have done a great job!!

 

[PolyRob]

I vividly recall seeing Blue Man Group tickets on the UR portal a few months back, under "Things To Do" (this was when you could also get the WDW tickets through the USO backdoor method). Unfortunately, when I looked again a couple weeks ago while booking Hard Rock Hotel, I wasn't able to find them again. Maybe double check for your dates?

First time I tried I got an error from Chase that the site couldn't load right now. Second time it did not display Blue Man Group for the individual night I needed.

I just tried the whole week after you mentioned dates, then from that page I was able to filter down to my specific night! Seems like a good deal to me, FREE! Thank you!

​

 

[lynzi2004]

How close to statement close did you refer? I had someone use my Disney link once and it took 6 weeks to post. It was halfway through a cycle when they used it but didn't post until next statement. Have never had someone use my SW link so not sure how long it usually takes.

I would say it was 12-14 days before. I guess I get to wait a little longer. Thanks for the reply!