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

[SBWB48]

got 3, was gonna keep all 3 for free nights.
killed 1 Jan 2019
AF on 2nd card up $125AF, will kill card Nov 2019
keeping 1 only.

I was planning to cancel both the SPG Biz and Marriott Biz (PC the Lux), but now likely keeping all 3 for the time being. Will postpone canceling the SPG Biz until next Jan after the fee goes up. I got the $90 retention (that will now be taxed next year...) on the Marriott Biz, so keeping that for a year since it's a FN for effectively ~$35, if I really want to bake in the 'tax effect'.

I'll run it by spend overlord

I laugh because I can commiserate...

Mine is getting slightly better, but I still get the occasional when he sniffs out my shannigans...

 

[SBWB48]

Honestly, for the first time in a long time, I don't know what to do with Amex.

I hit the MSR on my BGR with a charge on 1/31, which was pending and didn't post until 2/4. $200 of the MSR was a PayPal donation to my kiddo's PTO, so I put in extra spend to make up for it, in case that didn't count, before the MSR period ended yesterday. I'm still waiting for the SUB to post, but have a nagging feeling of dread that I might get a no-pop-up-denial. I've opened 8 Amex cards in the past 14 months, so maybe the BGR was tempting fate, but I've been putting thousands in spend across my cards every month, and my overall spend with Amex has actually increased in recent months because of traveling, some unexpected expenses, and the holidays. Most of my Amex SUBs have posted 2-3 days after hitting MSR, but I know there can be some delay for a week or two (like with @striker1064), and there seems to be a lot of reports of lag with the airline fee credits posting, so I don't know... I hate being in limbo, and I don't want to "call the bank" either.

Since DW's last pop up on the SPG Personal, I threw a $2.6k charge on her Hilton Biz last week on top of an earlier $500 purchase from Staples .com to take advantage of the Amex Offer and no-fee MCGC deal, and have used her SPG Biz to pump gas a few times and small charges here and there. (We're going to try hit $15k spend on the Hilton Biz regardless for the free weekend night.) I'll probably try applying once more next week before the SPG Personal goes away on 2/13. If I don't get the pop up, I'd still be nervous about a no-pop-up-denial. If I get the pop up, I don't know if another 35k FN cert a year from now (and possibly every year after) is enough to tempt me. I was also hoping for the 75k Marriott points to help replenish our stash after having made a big Hawaii redemption for later this year. Between my wife and I, we have 2x SPG Biz, 1x SPG Personal, 1x SPG Lux, 1x Marriott Biz, and 1x MPP. I'll keep our 2x SPG Biz another year because the AF increase won't hit us this year and I'll pocket the 2x 35k FNs (for Disneyland and Universal Studios Hollywood). I'm planning to keep my SPG Personal and SPG Lux too. My Marriott Biz FN has already posted, and I'm going to cancel it when the AF hits (to free up room for more Chase biz cards). I'm seriously considering upgrading my MPP to a Ritz-Carlton after my first year is up. That's 5x 35k FN certs, and 1x 50k FN cert this year. I don't think we need another 35k FN, especially if Marriott is going to move all the good redemptions where we'd actually visit and stay up to Cat. 6. In which case, it makes keeping my SPG Lux and upgrading the MPP to a Ritz-Carlton all the more compelling, since the 50k FNs look to be more useful for us.

I'm much more focused on more Chase biz cards in the coming months. My wife is 1/24, and I'll be under 5/24 again next month. Going to get the United Biz, because my wife could always use more miles and my account needs replenishing, then eyeing another CIP for each of us, and a CIU for me.

As mentioned many times before, our paths have been nearly stride for stride the last year or so. I didn't go for the BGR, but eyeing the Schwab in the next month or so as I get closer to the next AF posting on my Personal Plat. Will have to see if I end up in the pop-up or no pop-up denial camp...

 

[afan]

We're up to about 3" of snow on round two this week. The fence got finished this morning before the snow!

We didn't have many options when we decided to buy Buddy a coat last night so we got the princess (which he totally is, especially if he gets something sticky on a paw) a bunny sweater but he seems to enjoy it and wags his tail.

Dude was my measuring tool, it's not quite to his chest but up quite a bit on his short little legs. Snow isn't supposed to stop until sometime tomorrow afternoon though they said it'd be off an on. The only off and on part has been how fast it falls and the size of the flakes.

 

[wanderlust7]

@afan Bunny sweater! That is too cute!

 

[Disneyonmymind]

I got an email saying my chase account was suspended. I’m certain it’s some type of phishing but it gave me a little shock lol. There’s a file attached but I didn’t click.

 

[Alexle2007]

Good eyes, I'm getting cross eyed searching through the list that's sorted by Brand and doesn't go deeper than Country. Unless you found something other than a PDF?

I started with my expected redemptions and the Marriott and Delta in Vancouver near the cruise port aren't listed, so they should remain Cat 5's. I'm not sure anyone else would much care about the rest of ours
But a quick Ctrl+F does not find anything changing for the Swolphin, happened to see the Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld is moving up to Cat 5 so should only be a problem during peak times.

Boo! We just stayed at Renaissance at SeaWorld on our Cat 4 free night cert and it was really nice. I was planning to stay there again since we didn’t make it to SeaWorld since DS wants to be able to ride the rapids and that was not happening. I guess I need to hurry up and book something.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

We didn't have many options when we decided to buy Buddy a coat last night so we got the princess (which he totally is, especially if he gets something sticky on a paw) a bunny sweater but he seems to enjoy it and wags his tail.

So funny! Most of my dogs have hated sweaters/coats. Our little pup has a coat because she’s so young and her coat is not thick yet.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

My Hilton points also posted on the no fee card I opened. Hotel del Coronado, here we come!

wow, I had no idea that was a Hilton property. Learn new stuff everyday on this thread.

 

[Alexle2007]

There's still many hotels that are available with the 35k night cert, it just all depends on what you thought you might use it for. For us it works and I'm keeping at least one card at the 35k level. This year I'm going to try it near Hershey Park, I'm hoping the peak pricing holds off for a bit so I can use my cert at the SpringHill in July rather than the $250+ I just saw the other week. We have family in the area so we get screwed if we have to visit during the summer and can't make it a day trip. We normally end up a little ways out because I'm also not paying those kind of points for the same room I get around $100-125 other times of the year. We tend not to hit all the splashy cities and are happy to just get a night discounted somewhere near where we planned to travel.

I'd still look at where you think you might one day, in the near future, want to use it for and see what your options are like there. As it was pointed out somewhere, they do have 6700 hotels and only 300 some are being changed right now. They made the big changes already in the last few years so hopefully the corrections stay minor for the near future.

We are HersheyPark frequenters as we have APs but we usually stay at the Fairfield in Hershey. We tried the Courtyard last visit I but will be going back to Fzirfield. Before I got into Marriott we always stayed at theComfort Suites inHummelstown or the Comfort Inn right by the KMart. Where is the SpringHill? Since I am a fed, I look for the gov’t rate where possible. I currently have the Fairfield booked for Easter weekend for Springtime in the Park but the prices are ridiculous for the following weekend when the park is only open to APs.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Did you hop on the grAAvy train too??

yes! I will do almost anything for free disney stays.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Some time ago I had an internship supervisor who was a real piece of work. I always called him Mr. Mean in my head. He mainly communicated by grunting & yelling. I was there for 6 months & never saw him smile once. Koko the gorilla would have been more effective as a mentor.

One day, he came in, ignored our presence as usual, told off the mail courier, accidentally hung up on a major donor, and yelled at two underlings who were slightly more important than we peons - if only because he addressed them by name, whereas I am 98.7% sure he never bothered to learn ours. All in all, it was a great morning for Mr. Mean.

Until he got a phone call. And his phone joyously sang out:

"Tadpole calling! Tadpole calling! There's a tadpole, here on the line!"

(Except, it wasn't "tadpole." It was an expletive that starts with an A & sounds like "tadpole.")

It went on, and on, and on, as Mr. Mean fumbled with his phone. The caller even redialed & we got through two additional refrains before he finally figured out how to put it on silent.

I thought I was going to pass out from lack of oxygen because I did not dare take a breath for fear that I would explode in hysterics.

Apparently his son had done it as a joke & "forgot" to tell him. I felt terrible for the kid, because you know Mr. Mean could not possibly have been a kind & understanding father and he was probably grounded for 12 years. But man, it was funny!

So... the next time your workplace is treated to a laughing Minion... it could be worse.

I have tears from laughing at this story.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Basically, they don't allow you to carry forward a negative balance anymore because it violates the YNAB rules and it makes it so your budget doesn't actually reflect the reality that the money is missing. What I do with reimbursements is once the reimbursement comes in, I go back to the month in which I incurred the expense and add to the budget. It all seems to even out then.

I will try that. Thanks. Super annoying though...don't they realize people have varying circumstances?

Another question...what if I have a positive balance in a category...can it carry over? So if I cash out $75 from dosh and put it in my may disney trip category, can it just hang out there each month until I have a charge against it?

 

[calypso726]

So how do these changes impact people's thoughts on applying for a Marriott card for the 35k FN cert? Still worth it for someone new to Marriott? Starting to think maybe P2 should go for Barclay A+ instead.

I was toying with going under 5/24 to get the Marriott business card for the FN but the upcoming changes to the categories for the NYC properties means I won't be doing that now. I still may go for a Hyatt card down the line though and if I do that then I may upgrade my current Marriott to a Ritz Carlton card.

 

[afan]

So funny! Most of my dogs have hated sweaters/coats. Our little pup has a coat because she’s so young and her coat is not thick yet.

She's so cute! I have one for Dude because he rides so low to the ground. He's not outside enough to need to keep warm, I just want to keep him dry so he'll stay out and go. Bad enough he squats to potty so if the snow is deep...

Buddy loves walks and if we get the 4-6 they are talking about it'll be pretty high for him. So it's partly to keep him dry and partly to keep him warm. He gets hot so he'd probably be ok, plus he's fat so he's got more to keep him warm

 

[wanderlust7]

If you have your dates and destination set, it's probably a good idea to book your Marriott hotel now with the points advance option (if you don't yet have the points) to lock in the points pricing, especially if your hotel is going up an awards category and with the implementation of peak pricing coming.

Just reading TPG and he pointed out some fine print. Could mean the points advance won't lock in the number of points past March 5.

“Members who wish to book a points advance redemption under the current Marriott Rewards and SPG award chart are encouraged to order redemption certificates before March 5 to lock in the rate. On March 5, redemption bookings are subject to the new unified program award chart.”

https://thepointsguy.com/news/marriott-award-chart-changes-2019-family/

 

[Lain]

Just reading TPG and he pointed out some fine print. Could mean the points advance won't lock in the number of points past March 5.

“Members who wish to book a points advance redemption under the current Marriott Rewards and SPG award chart are encouraged to order redemption certificates before March 5 to lock in the rate. On March 5, redemption bookings are subject to the new unified program award chart.”

https://thepointsguy.com/news/marriott-award-chart-changes-2019-family/

Of course Marriott would find a way to bonvoy us.

 

[kmc8826]

@Lain did you at least get the referral bonus for the BGR?

 

[wanderlust7]

SWA Hawaii update! I've got the 14th on the calendar. Anyone know what time SWA usually drops its flights? I'm planning to make 2 reservations. Can't wait and hope the date is correct. https://www.bizjournals.com/chicago...-airlines-may-be-prepping-big-valentines.html

This is one of our favorites, too. If you haven't seen the SNL spoof on Amazon echo "silver" it's even better. We quote it all the time:

I haven't seen that one, so funny!

My 6 year old likes to talk to Alexa. Today, she asked her what her favorite letter is (it's "A" - for obvious reasons). My favorite is "Alexa, where's the remote?". "Try under the couch."

 

[PolyRob]

That is one frustration when trying to do this. You definitely want to get the CFs during good categories if you can. I honestly don't know about PCing the CSP in the first year...you used to have to do a trick and go CSP=>CS=>CF Not sure if that works still or not in the first year.

I don't want to upset Chase so I will probably just wait the whole year. Would Chase even consider a PC from CSP => CS if you also hold a CSR? Would it circumvent the 1 Sapphire rule considering you already have both?

 

[PolyRob]

I got an email saying my chase account was suspended. I’m certain it’s some type of phishing but it gave me a little shock lol. There’s a file attached but I didn’t click.

I'd forward it to abuse@chase.com