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

[Lain]

My wife was recently approved for the AmEx Hilton Aspire card. We used it to reserve one of the Disney Springs Hilton hotels for one night prior to our stay in August (using AA miles). The hotel requires a one-night refundable deposit, which triggered the $250 annual resort credit. Does anyone know if AmEx will claw back that credit if we cancel the reservation? We will be piking up our daughters at the UCF campus that day, and we may decide to stay closer to campus that first night.

On a related note, has anyone used this tactic intentionally to receive the resort credit, or used it to receive cash back on the any of the AmEx hotel offers? I think it would be unwise to do it repeatedly, but I'm tempted to try it once, just to see what happens.

I think the previous thought was refunds on Amex Offers will almost certainly result in a clawback, but refunds for built-in credits (e.g., SPG Lux's Marriott credit, Aspire's resort credit, Platinum's Saks credit) would not result in a clawback (or rather, a statement charge for the amount of the credit). A lot of folks were doing the trick you mentioned, to book a room with a refundable deposit to trigger the credit and then some time later cancel the reservation for a refund and keep the credit. It has worked. However, about two months ago when Amex started clawing back the credits they issued (by charging $50) — some dating back 6 months — for Saks purchases that were then refunded, I think a lot of folks had to reassess the earlier theory. (My guess is Amex came knocking in January 2019 when the semi-annual July-December 2018 period to use up that credit was over.) I haven't kept up with what the status is on using the Lux's Marriott credit or Aspire's Hilton resort credit to book rooms with refundable deposits to trigger and the credit, cancel the room and keep the credit — it should still work, but don't be surprised if Amex comes for its money back eventually.

 

[brownhaired_girl]

Sorry to drag the weather up again but this is just stupid! We started March with over 6 more inches on Friday (47 inches in 29 days) and now it’s -16. Enough Mother Nature, we give!

 

[striker1064]

My wife was recently approved for the AmEx Hilton Aspire card. We used it to reserve one of the Disney Springs Hilton hotels for one night prior to our stay in August (using AA miles). The hotel requires a one-night refundable deposit, which triggered the $250 annual resort credit. Does anyone know if AmEx will claw back that credit if we cancel the reservation? We will be piking up our daughters at the UCF campus that day, and we may decide to stay closer to campus that first night.

On a related note, has anyone used this tactic intentionally to receive the resort credit, or used it to receive cash back on the any of the AmEx hotel offers? I think it would be unwise to do it repeatedly, but I'm tempted to try it once, just to see what happens.

I did it in January with the Aspire resort credit - reserved a room with a 1-night deposit to trigger the credit, then cancelled and was refunded by the hotel. To this point, Amex has not clawed back the credit, but it's always worth mentioning that Amex has a long memory and I would not be entirely surprised if they come calling a few months down the line. But it does work, for now.

 

[wendow]

Sorry to drag the weather up again but this is just stupid! We started March with over 6 more inches on Friday (47 inches in 29 days) and now it’s -16. Enough Mother Nature, we give!

We woke to 6” more snow this morning and it’s currently -3 (feels like -15). Certainly doesn’t feel like spring is right around the corner!

 

[miztressuz]

That’s an awesome value for such a low AF. I just saw that there’s a new public offer for the card: 50k pts for $4k spend (only for military, veterans, and family members). Would be a good time to apply for anyone who is eligible.

Thank you for this. Spent a total of 15 minutes on the phone with NavyFed tonight and got my Cash Rewards PC'd to a Flagship, DW says she's willing to do GE if we don't have to pay for it. And set up a SSL for those points I lost when I paid off my minivan a few months ago. Trying to set myself up for a CIU and an AMEX Delta Gold. Not to mention if I'm reading this correctly Flagship is 2 ppd general spend and 3 for travel with a minimum cash redemption of 1 cpp. Sounds better than my Citi DC.

Was there any reason why you didn’t apply for the card to get the sign up bonus mentioned instead of PCing an existing card? I’m not familiar with this organization so I don’t fully know the quirks, but I’m eligible so it’s on the table for the future and I’d like to understand more.

Also, to add into @Chancery8 ‘s post, DoD civilians (current and retired) and certain US government employees and contractors are eligible too. So if you in anyway interact with the DoD I’d check out the Membership Eligibility page to see if your situation is covered.

 

[pix13dust]

Okay, so I’m following all the great advice I was given. I paid off both SW cards, once the payment posts I will close those cards and wait the 31 days to apply again. In the meantime, I thought I’d open an Amex Hilton card since we stay at Hilton’s about 4x a year. Is this a good idea? What one should I open- there seems to be several.
Currently I’m at 0/24

On a side note, I had something on eBay sell yesterday, so I thought I’d use the money and buy a Disney gc for the kids, any good deals I should know about? If not I’ll just use the Target card for 5% off. FYI, no Sams club near me.

 

[miztressuz]

…

So, I don't use formal budgeting, but I work with a budget - my pension deposits. And this works for me. I haven't yet tapped into Social Security, and I think I will soon and just set up another account for it. Later I'll decide what I want to spend it on. Same with my savings in my retirement accounts.

A new account for recurring direct deposits of SS income? I see bank bonuses in your future

Looking for next bank bonus recommendations:

Completed:
Discover- DH and me

In progress:
Wells Fargo- DH and me
Chase- me

Can’t Get Work:
PNC- DH and me

Chase is the only one I have a bit of funds tied up in as I wait on that $10k savings deposit that earned a whopping $.08 last month.

Any suggestions?

I know Citizens doesn’t list MD, but you said you were close to PA so maybe your zip code might be eligible? You’ll find out quickly after you put your zip code in, either you’ll get a not eligible message or it’ll populate the promo code field with the code.

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/ct-d...-vt-citizens-bank-200-400-600-checking-bonus/

M&T is easy and quick. You can downgrade to the EZChoice checking which has no fees to ride out the 6 months avoiding the ETF (or just take the $25 hit if you don’t care) after the bonus posts. You know if a push worked for DD within a couple business days so it’s another quick hit like Chase and Discover.

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/mt-b...-available-online-ct-dc-de-md-nj-ny-pa-va-wv/

Also, Suntrust looks interesting. I’m not in their footprint so I haven’t looked into it too closely but it’s one I remember hearing about several times on the old thread. @striker1064 , did you do this one? Or maybe it was @speedyfishy ? Or a bunch of others I'm failing to recall

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/sunt...l-ar-fl-ga-md-ms-nc-sc-tn-wv-va-and-d-c-only/

Read about the WF $1k offer on DoC. Was tempted, but it seems extremely YMMV. Would have to call around for a Business Specialist that has a code and seems each branch only has 5. I hate calling, so didn't actually try it.

I would think it's taxable. But there's talk on r/churning that bank bonuses with debit card transaction requirements count as rebates and aren't taxable. What do people here think??

I think that maybe flew before when banks could be a little lose with reporting but combined with the referral bonuses actually getting 1099’s now, the climate changed and if you get anything over a threshold I think you’ll get the form. I’m not sure how they determine if it’s considered interest or miscellaneous income because each bank seems to just randomly decide; I think I’m at 50/50 for ones that said it was interest so since it was over $10 I got the form, and others said it was miscellaneous and I didn’t get the form because it’s under the $600 mark. Personally, I think it’s a valid argument for bank bonuses where the sole requirement is to make purchases with the debit card and if I didn’t get a 1099 I wouldn’t report it. But if it had an alternate means to getting the bonus, or even it’s a combination of steps to get it, that’s a little shaky and I’m not sure I’d want to waste the time arguing over the tax on it. I just set aside what I estimated the tax % would be and considered it a $250 bonus instead of $300 (or whatever) until we did the actual taxes.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

Okay, so I’m following all the great advice I was given. I paid off both SW cards, once the payment posts I will close those cards and wait the 31 days to apply again. In the meantime, I thought I’d open an Amex Hilton card since we stay at Hilton’s about 4x a year. Is this a good idea? What one should I open- there seems to be several.
Currently I’m at 0/24

On a side note, I had something on eBay sell yesterday, so I thought I’d use the money and buy a Disney gc for the kids, any good deals I should know about? If not I’ll just use the Target card for 5% off. FYI, no Sams club near me.

Since you have an eBay business...maybe the Hilton business card...
You could save your 5/25 slots for Chase cards

 

[miztressuz]

Never did this so not sure how it works. I need to book a room for dd and her fiancee for a wedding they are attending. The couple who is getting married gave the guests a link to book the rooms through. Turns out it's Marriott...Bonvoy.

While I don't have a Marriott cc I do have an account with points on it. Not enough for this booking but I would certainly like to earn points for this stay. How do I go about this.

Because when I click on their link choose a room and sign in, my info (name etc) populates of course. So do I just remove my name let my Marriott # stay there and book it from there. And dd is an auth user on the card I'm using for this And will have the card with her.

Or should I just not sign in and just book it as a guest under dd name.

Just want to be sure. Don't want to leave them "homeless"...

I received my email today too for my free night to be on the way. Will have to remember to keep my eye out for it because I don't ever log in to my account. Which I now realize means this free night won't count for DHs platinum number nor will we have platinum status for this stay. Not sure why this didn't occur to me before. lol

You used to be able to put multiple rewards members on a booking, only the primary guest would get credit for the room night but it usually worked to get the status of the other member, IIRC. I’m going to try with my SPG cert, it’d be great if it counted for hubby’s account but I’m mostly looking at using the Platinum status if we stay somewhere without breakfast or throw the extra welcome points into his account. They changed the site so you can’t add extra guests online but you’re supposed to be able to call to have their names added, you can try the reservations line or the hotel directly. (the site even says if you want to book a room for someone else through your rewards account you have to call in as you can’t change the name) I think it was more successful to have multiple rewards numbers added to one reservation calling the hotel directly. If you just want to book with multiple guest names you could probably get away with the reservation line.

DH is already at 30 nights with Marriott -Bonvoyage- whatever its called. lol Looks like we may hit Platinum again this year, not that we have really seen any benefit from it, maybe one day. If anyone else got the promotion stay twice, get 10 extra nights - it is in 2 increments. So if you stay once you will get 5 extra nights. He stayed at 2 different Marriotts this week and only one has credited so far with 5 extra nights.

Did he have a break in the stays? Or did he check out of one Marriott and then check into the next one on the same day? Many of the promotions count consecutive nights as the same stay even on separate reservations, although you’d think different hotels would cancel that clause out – but given Marriott’s IT situation lately it wouldn’t surprise me if somehow that happened.

 

[mmmears]

I'm behind and trying to catch up, but I have a question. DH has the AMEX AT&T offer, prepaid 2 AT&T bills last night, and has no email from AMEX (or anything else) saying he used it. What did he do wrong? And is there a way to fix it?

 

[miztressuz]

I have Global Entry approval now but no card yet. Can I add it to my flights now or do I have to wait for the card? If I add now is it the membership #/PASSID listed in my account?

Don’t need to wait for the card, the PASSID is your KTN. My agent basically said I don’t need the card for much but it will work as a 2nd form of ID and would work in place of DL at TSA. I only remembered that because our state is dragging on the REALID stuff and we keep getting threatened to not be able to use our DL’s at the airports. (we can’t at government facilities now I think) Since we have to pay extra to get the RealID, and since I’ve already paid for a Passport and GE, I don’t think I’ll be getting the enhanced DL. (But for folks who don’t have a Passport the REALID fee is cheaper so I can see people paying for it, I guess.) Otherwise you’d only use the card if you’re driving back into the US and want to use the trusted traveler lanes, I think.

 

[miztressuz]

Thank you!!! I knew you'd have all the answers! I'm glad you posted that language about the lie-flat seats because I'd never noticed that before. I think I'll probaly pick up some Citi personal cards for DH and I. DH is under 5/24, but honestly he's already got 5 Chase cards with a 6th planned for next month so it's like, how many more does he really need... lol.

(Don't answer that, you're all going to tell me to get him way more

)

If this were r/churning you’re not done with Chase until you have every single personal card at least once and all the business cards, in triplicate… and then why not a 4th CIP??? Are you sure you don’t want another?

 

[WVMomof3]

You used to be able to put multiple rewards members on a booking, only the primary guest would get credit for the room night but it usually worked to get the status of the other member, IIRC. I’m going to try with my SPG cert, it’d be great if it counted for hubby’s account but I’m mostly looking at using the Platinum status if we stay somewhere without breakfast or throw the extra welcome points into his account. They changed the site so you can’t add extra guests online but you’re supposed to be able to call to have their names added, you can try the reservations line or the hotel directly. (the site even says if you want to book a room for someone else through your rewards account you have to call in as you can’t change the name) I think it was more successful to have multiple rewards numbers added to one reservation calling the hotel directly. If you just want to book with multiple guest names you could probably get away with the reservation line.



Did he have a break in the stays? Or did he check out of one Marriott and then check into the next one on the same day? Many of the promotions count consecutive nights as the same stay even on separate reservations, although you’d think different hotels would cancel that clause out – but given Marriott’s IT situation lately it wouldn’t surprise me if somehow that happened.

Thanks, will look into adding him when we use our certificate.

He did not have a break in the stay, checked out of one and into the other on the same day. They were in different states though, so not like he was trying to game the system. The first one didn't post until Saturday and he checked out Wednesday. So will have to wait a few days to see what the 2nd stay posts as that he checked out of on Friday.

 

[calypso726]

@amalone1013 - I need to borrow your

https://frequentmiler.boardingarea....m=email&utm_campaign=Frequent Miler (Instant)

Blasted AA!!! I actually max that benefit out every year and so does DH!

 

[EACarlson]

Was there any reason why you didn’t apply for the card to get the sign up bonus mentioned instead of PCing an existing card? I’m not familiar with this organization so I don’t fully know the quirks, but I’m eligible so it’s on the table for the future and I’d like to understand more.

Also, to add into @Chancery8 ‘s post, DoD civilians (current and retired) and certain US government employees and contractors are eligible too. So if you in anyway interact with the DoD I’d check out the Membership Eligibility page to see if your situation is covered.

I'm very close to hitting 2 years AAoA which would be a decent score boost. I have no use for a 1.5% CB card, I have two of those plus a 2% already. I'm already going to take a bit of an AAoA hit for opening a SSL with them. I'm not really a Churner, I've leveraged the bonuses available and have taken bonuses offered to me but have yet to open a card just for the bonus.

For those asking why I don't want multiple Biz cards. I work as a sports official. My actual expenses are very low unless I do something like working the World Championships at WWOS. I might have about $500 in expenses and make $1500 for the year. I don't want to MS for multiple cards, that's more work than I want to do, I know I could do very well at it, just not something I'm interested in doing. One card I can have forever is more what I'm looking for, if it's MR or UR even better. If I didn't already have a BCE I would probably go for the BBP, cards look way too much alike for me to have both in my wallet.

 

[miztressuz]

Thanks, will look into adding him when we use our certificate.

He did not have a break in the stay, checked out of one and into the other on the same day. They were in different states though, so not like he was trying to game the system. The first one didn't post until Saturday and he checked out Wednesday. So will have to wait a few days to see what the 2nd stay posts as that he checked out of on Friday.

Yeah, that'd be hard core gaming Nice that they got the first set of nights credited so quickly. Maybe their IT is looking up (one can dream )

 

[WVMomof3]

So all the bank bonus and 1099 talk again has me confused. do I need to report DDs PNC bonus? Trying to finish up her taxes. It doesn't really make a difference as her income so low that she wont pay anything anyway, but want to make sure they are done correct.

 

[Natgridenergy]

So all the bank bonus and 1099 talk again has me confused. do I need to report DDs PNC bonus? Trying to finish up her taxes. It doesn't really make a difference as her income so low that she wont pay anything anyway, but want to make sure they are done correct.

Since it wont make a difference, I would report it.

 

[pix13dust]

Since you have an eBay business...maybe the Hilton business card...
You could save your 5/25 slots for Chase cards

Thank you! I looked on reddit and didn’t see a Hilton support for you. I’d like to give you the referral if possible.

 

[Lain]

@amalone1013 - I need to borrow your

https://frequentmiler.boardingarea.com/10-mileage-rebate-ending-on-american-airlines-credit-cards/?utm_source=feedblitz&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Frequent Miler (Instant)

Blasted AA!!! I actually max that benefit out every year and so does DH!

Yeah, @gottalovepluto has been on top of sharing news about this last week. Sorry to you folks who actually use this benefit.