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

[SouthFayetteFan]

So I am a bit new here, I have been trying to follow along for a few weeks but you guys move pretty quickly so I have likely missed a lot. I am looking at taking advantage of some a new rewards card or two as we prepare for our Disney World vacation that will hopefully be happening sometime in 2020.

I have no new cards in the past 24 months. The two cards I currently have had forever and use for rewards are:
-Citi Costco Card
-Chase Freedom

Player 2 Spouse
01/19 - Lowes Synchrony Card (which I am an authorized user on)
(also is authorized user on the cards above)

• Average month CC spend is around $1500/month
• Paid off every month
• We don't fly very much but I am hoping to use Southwest to fly to Orlando for DW trip in 2020. We are in central California and there are several airports we could fly out of that Southwest services.
• My main goal is to get as much of our airfare covered in credit card rewards as possible between now and when we book.
• Who does your travel party consist of? For sure myself, spouse and my two daughters (11 and 6 currently) and my in laws might come along as well but they have to earn their own cc rewards to cover their flights

Would Chase Southwest be the best card to go for now? Or should I get one of the others and then transfer the rewards somehow? Like I said I am new at this hopefully you can point me in the right direction.

WELCOME!! Define "sometime" in 2020 A month would be best or even an approximate season. It would affect how we'd advise you to proceed. Are you planning to stay on-site or off-site?

 

[Laurawill]

WELCOME!! Define "sometime" in 2020 A month would be best or even an approximate season. It would affect how we'd advise you to proceed. Are you planning to stay on-site or off-site?

I want to stay on site. If we travel with my in laws they will be paying for a timeshare, possibly trading into RCI to get onsite at Disneyworld. They want to go in mid January 2020 and if the timeshare going with the in laws doesnt work out it will be early summer more than likely.

 

[Limes96]

Hi everybody! Did you miss me? I took my son to another college piano audition Thursday-Saturday. I used that offer on P2’s Amex plat to get extra HH points (1.3 x I think?) and used that to stay at a Hampton Inn on points in Nashville. The college fed us for free on Friday and then for one meal on Saturday. So overall, an inexpensive trip.

So now here I am 33 pages behind. Good thing I have the handy dandy dischurners news thread on Reddit!

While I was gone DH got his United biz in the mail. I set that up tonight. Now I have to figure out how to use that to my advantage on that mpx app. I already got the bonus miles for setting up the card in the app.

Finished the MSR on my SW Biz over the weekend. Was planning to apply for the personal today but not gonna happen. Sometime this week though.

 

[EACarlson]

How would you plan to use them? 60,000 miles is an excellent offer but if you don't have a good use for Delta Skymiles, it could be a poor decision. Are you looking at the business or personal version? Also worth noting is the AMEX RAT (rewards abuse team) is always afoot. Would you be able to support continued spend on this card to stay in AMEX's good graces for future approvals?

Probably for the next no-kid getaway for DW and I. Free checked bags on our WDW trip is the primary motivator. Probably would only keep it for a year then downgrade to the Blue. AMEX gets enough of my spend and I don't churn enough to worry about that. Gold card SUB bought my tickets for this trip.

So I am a bit new here, I have been trying to follow along for a few weeks but you guys move pretty quickly so I have likely missed a lot. I am looking at taking advantage of some a new rewards card or two as we prepare for our Disney World vacation that will hopefully be happening sometime in 2020.

I have no new cards in the past 24 months. The two cards I currently have had forever and use for rewards are:
-Citi Costco Card
-Chase Freedom

Player 2 Spouse
01/19 - Lowes Synchrony Card (which I am an authorized user on)
(also is authorized user on the cards above)

• Average month CC spend is around $1500/month
• Paid off every month
• We don't fly very much but I am hoping to use Southwest to fly to Orlando for DW trip in 2020. We are in central California and there are several airports we could fly out of that Southwest services.
• My main goal is to get as much of our airfare covered in credit card rewards as possible between now and when we book.
• Who does your travel party consist of? For sure myself, spouse and my two daughters (11 and 6 currently) and my in laws might come along as well but they have to earn their own cc rewards to cover their flights

Would Chase Southwest be the best card to go for now? Or should I get one of the others and then transfer the rewards somehow? Like I said I am new at this hopefully you can point me in the right direction.

How often are you going to fly Southwest besides this trip? If the answer is not very much I would suggest looking at either a Sapphire Preferred or Sapphire Reserve to go with the Freedom you already have, maybe adding a Freedom Unlimited at some point as well. All those cards earn UR points which can be transferred to Southwest Rapid Rewards at a 1:1 ratio. If you aren't averse to churning, or opening an account just to get the SUB, then the Southwest makes more sense. FWIW, I transferred UR to Southwest and flew DW and I to Denver for an anniversary weekend last year for 17,000 for both of us.

 

[amalone1013]

I guess OP is suggesting there may be better ways to book hotels, from the hotel chain’s own channels that’ll ensure you earn points and stays and your status is recognized, stacking those official channels with cashback portals like Ebates; or through other OTA like Hotels .com, where you can often buy their GCs for like 10% off, or Orbitz that has discount codes.

This promo requires you to book through the Chase travel portal on the CF/CFU, and pay cash, not UR points. Although that’s now essentially Expedia, we’ve seen Chase’s UR portal is not the Expedia available to everybody. And Chase’s hotel prices may be more expensive than other channels, whether the hotel’s own or from other OTAs, so you need to do your research to be sure you’re getting a good deal even with the 10x UR.

The cryptic reply, and the follow-up to that comment seems to be in reference to the peculiar way refunds of purchases under the CF’s 5x UR bonus categories codes. If you pay for something under the CF’s bonus category, you earn 5x UR on the purchase; but if you have to return it, Chase will refund the purchase amount but only deduct 1x UR back, essentially letting you keep 4x UR. This may not be well known, but it’s not super secret stuff and Chase may at some point fix it (if it hasn’t already). I think that poster might be suggesting the 10x UR bonus could work the same way if done on a CF. However, as another comment notes, most prepaid bookings aren’t cancellable; and most cancellable bookings don’t involve any prepaying, so the cancellation isn’t a transaction that’s visible to Chase to credit you or refund. You might be able to try this with a hotel that requires a deposit, but lets you cancel for a refund of the deposit. But even DoC chimed in that he wouldn’t recommend it.

(To be clear—while this is the way refunds coded on CF’s 5x categories as recently as a month or two ago, I could’ve sworn I saw a DP recently that said Chase took back the full 5x on a refund. I can’t find that DP so I don’t know if Chase has fixed this glitch or not.)

Someone argued with me on reddit about this last month. I swear I had something in January I returned and only had 1x taken away. On reddit someone was arguing because I booked ILs cruise on my CSR originally and an cancelling that - I did today. But my CSR is now a feeedom some I'm expecting only 1x taken on the refund.

 

[afan]

An FYI for those that fly to Seattle. Alaska starts tomorrow and United at the end of the month flying into Everett Paine Field. Currently for Alaska it's only west coast cities, so bay area, socal, Vegas and I think Phoenix. I'm not sure where United is flying. I know not many fly AS or from those cities up here but I wanted to make sure everyone knows. Everett is about 40 miles north of Seattle so not conducive for Seattle unless it saves you a ton and you're renting anyway. It could be a good option if flying into Vancouver is too much $ or also if you were planning to go across hwy 2 and the northern cascades. Or over to the San Juan Islands since it's closer to the ferries.

This is really more of a don't freak out if you now see Seattle area airports or something like that when you search

As an aside, I saw today that the state of Alaska may stop the Bellingham to Alaska ferry due to coast. I don't know that I'd ever do it but always thought it would be a fun way to get up there. I know people that have had fun doing it as part of their move to/from AK.

 

[Lain]

Someone argued with me on reddit about this last month. I swear I had something in January I returned and only had 1x taken away. On reddit someone was arguing because I booked ILs cruise on my CSR originally and an cancelling that - I did today. But my CSR is now a feeedom some I'm expecting only 1x taken on the refund.

If you booked the cruise on your card when it was a CSR and earned 3x travel, I would think that your refund will result in 3x taken back even though your card is now a CF. I think the 1x deduction only happens with refunds on CF 5x categories and maybe Chase Pay promos? Please let us know how it works out anyway.

 

[Laurawill]

How often are you going to fly Southwest besides this trip? If the answer is not very much I would suggest looking at either a Sapphire Preferred or Sapphire Reserve to go with the Freedom you already have, maybe adding a Freedom Unlimited at some point as well. All those cards earn UR points which can be transferred to Southwest Rapid Rewards at a 1:1 ratio. If you aren't averse to churning, or opening an account just to get the SUB, then the Southwest makes more sense. FWIW, I transferred UR to Southwest and flew DW and I to Denver for an anniversary weekend last year for 17,000 for both of us.

I am not averse to churning to get SUB's. I have never done it before so it seems a little intimidating, but doable.

 

[Laurawill]

Oh and I don't fly often (like the last time I flew before this was 10 years ago, and I don't plan to go anywhere else for at least a year or two)

 

[EACarlson]

In that case I would start with a CSP or CSR, as soon as that MSR is met, go for one of the SW cards, once that one is done, get the other, or a biz card.

 

[Brian4891]

@Brian4891 - Just to follow up on @SouthFayetteFan, your 600k UR stash is very impressive for never having gotten the CSR, especially when that card was offering a 100k UR signup bonus. I'm wondering what have you been doing thus far to earn UR? When did you open your CSP and CIP? Do you have any other UR-earning cards? Are you in 2-Player mode with your wife? Are you under- or over- 5/24? What about your wife, if she's in the game too? What other cards do you (two) have?

I really have not done much traveling in the past 8 years and when I do it seems like I usually redeem points from loyalty programs first rather than tapping into my URs. This past trip was my first major family vacation and I used United miles for the flight obtained from past sign up bonuses on the United Explorer card and

@Brian4891 - Just to follow up on @SouthFayetteFan, your 600k UR stash is very impressive for never having gotten the CSR, especially when that card was offering a 100k UR signup bonus. I'm wondering what have you been doing thus far to earn UR? When did you open your CSP and CIP? Do you have any other UR-earning cards? Are you in 2-Player mode with your wife? Are you under- or over- 5/24? What about your wife, if she's in the game too? What other cards do you (two) have?

So like I said in my original post, I have not done much traveling over the past 6 years. The few trips I have taken I have managed to pay for the hotel and airfare through airline card and hotel card signup bonuses, thus never really touching my Chase URs.

It's not a typo, I really do have over 600K Chase URs. Since starting in 2011 I've gotten the CSP bonus twice, gotten business card bonuses several times, once for 80K. I opened a Chase checking account for 50K UR. Back in 2013, I got a lot of points purchasing Vanilla Reloads at Office Depot for 5X using my Ink Bold card, transferring those funds to a AMEX BlueBird account and paying my mortgage and property taxes with those funds. I probably generated 150K UR in one year using that strategy before it was shut down. Those were the good old days.

The thing is, I have not really used my Ultimate Rewards Points at all and they have just been building over the years. I kind of stopped paying attention for a while since we weren't travelling much and it kills me to hear I missed out on a 100K signup bonus. But I definitely want to get back in the game now that the kids are a little older and easier to travel with.

So to answer your questions, my CSP was opened 4/2017 and closed 6/2018. My CIP was opened 9/2017. I also have a Chase Freedom and Chase Ink Cash (Converted from an old Ink Bold). Both of those were opened several years ago. So I guess that makes me 2/24? I am in 2-player mode with my wife who I just signed up for the CIP, but that is probably her only sign-up in the past 2 years. Those are all our cards. We pretty much put every purchase on a CIP except anything that will earn 5X on the Chase Freedom. Obviously pay everything off every month.

Appreciate the help!

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

I want to stay on site. If we travel with my in laws they will be paying for a timeshare, possibly trading into RCI to get onsite at Disneyworld. They want to go in mid January 2020 and if the timeshare going with the in laws doesnt work out it will be early summer more than likely.

So it would be best to plan for January flights (and then moving it back would be no big deal). I’ll ask some questions and share some thoughts...

• Do you currently have any Ultimate Rewards points on your freedom account?
• Do you know approximately what a round trip flight on SW will cost? (If not - what are your preferred airports and I could take a look.
• Just to confirm, if you go in January you won’t owe anything towards lodging?

Covering your flights on Southwest is a great plan. Your absolutely BEST rate of return on that would be to go for SW credit cards. There are numerous offers out there so let’s discuss them:

• Personal card 40,000 points for $1k spend. This offer would cover approx $600 in flights. It has a very low MSR (minimum spend requirement) which is nice but may leave you short points. IF you decide to go with this offer, please consider supporting another DISer
• Personal card 50,000 points for $2k spend. This would require using a SW “in-flight” offer which we could get for you. This offer would cover approx $770 in flights. It has a slightly higher but manageable MSR. To fully cover your flights you may need more than just 1 card.
• Business card 60,000 points for $3k spend. Do you have any side income that would qualify you for a biz card? Perhaps you sell on eBay, teach piano, tutor, mow lawns, etc. This would be the most lucrative offer worth approx $930 in flights.
• The Southwest Companion pass is something you could set your sights on. If you earn 110,000 SW pts in one year you can fly a companion free with you on any flight you take. This can easily be attained through one personal and one business card.
• If a business card isn’t your preference, you could sign up for one personal card and refer your spouse to another. This wouldn’t get you a companion pass but could pretty easily get you $1,400+ worth of SW points.

I’d be interested in your thoughts on all of this before we dive any deeper We want to earn SW points soon as your flights could be released in April-June for the January time frame and you can book with points as soon as they are released if you know your dates.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

In that case I would start with a CSP or CSR, as soon as that MSR is met, go for one of the SW cards, once that one is done, get the other, or a biz card.

I would respectfully disagree. If somebody is earning points specifically to use on SW, there is nothing that provides a better return than going for the SW cards. CSP and other UR earning cards can be a strategy to later pad your Southwest balance but the actual SW cards with their lower MSRs in my opinion are a much better first choice.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Oh and I don't fly often (like the last time I flew before this was 10 years ago, and I don't plan to go anywhere else for at least a year or two)

Hey - also check your PMs for an invitation to DISchurners. That is our private reddit group which has a lot of great info and tips. We can definitely help you cover your flight costs 100% for this trip (well other than $5.60 per person each way which is a fee you have to pay )

 

[Laurawill]

So it would be best to plan for January flights (and then moving it back would be no big deal). I’ll ask some questions and share some thoughts...

• Do you currently have any Ultimate Rewards points on your freedom account?
• Do you know approximately what a round trip flight on SW will cost? (If not - what are your preferred airports and I could take a look.
• Just to confirm, if you go in January you won’t owe anything towards lodging?

Covering your flights on Southwest is a great plan. Your absolutely BEST rate of return on that would be to go for SW credit cards. There are numerous offers out there so let’s discuss them:

• Personal card 40,000 points for $1k spend. This offer would cover approx $600 in flights. It has a very low MSR (minimum spend requirement) which is nice but may leave you short points. IF you decide to go with this offer, please consider supporting another DISer
• Personal card 50,000 points for $2k spend. This would require using a SW “in-flight” offer which we could get for you. This offer would cover approx $770 in flights. It has a slightly higher but manageable MSR. To fully cover your flights you may need more than just 1 card.
• Business card 60,000 points for $3k spend. Do you have any side income that would qualify you for a biz card? Perhaps you sell on eBay, teach piano, tutor, mow lawns, etc. This would be the most lucrative offer worth approx $930 in flights.
• The Southwest Companion pass is something you could set your sights on. If you earn 110,000 SW pts in one year you can fly a companion free with you on any flight you take. This can easily be attained through one personal and one business card.
• If a business card isn’t your preference, you could sign up for one personal card and refer your spouse to another. This wouldn’t get you a companion pass but could pretty easily get you $1,400+ worth of SW points.

I’d be interested in your thoughts on all of this before we dive any deeper We want to earn SW points soon as your flights could be released in April-June for the January time frame and you can book with points as soon as they are released if you know your dates.

No current points on the Freedom as DH cleaned them out paying off the last bill because the amount owed was equal to the points I had.

Approximate cost for round trip to MCO from Sacramento, Oakland, San Jose, or San Francisco hovers around $400 to $500 round trip depending on days of the week, how far out I am booking etc

If we go in January we will only have to pay a small resort fee to Disney for transferring in the RCI points, I think around $200 for the week.

I do have a side job that I get a 1099 for, but I have never done anything to make it an official business. Is that enough to get me a business card?

 

[KPK02090]

I mentioned previously, I recently earned the SW companion pass. This is my first time with it. Is there any time frame on when you have to name your companion? I don’t currently have a flight planned, so I’d like to wait until I do. Thanks!

 

[palhockeymomof2]

Ooooo, fancy! I suddenly feel very important

Update: I was instantly approved for the Hilton biz. I was going to order everything this week for my daughters bathroom remodel, but I’ll wait for the card to do so.

Congrats

 

[Haley R]

I say yes. Lol. I had my last baby last year and of course now they come out with Harry Potter nursery stuff.
We have a pottery barn clearance store near here and they had a bunch of the Harry Potter stuff in there. It’s a weird scratch and dent kind of place. My husband was trying to get me to buy the apron.

Lol Dh wouldn’t actually go for buying nursery stuff already. It could easily be a year or more before we get to that point

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

No current points on the Freedom as DH cleaned them out paying off the last bill because the amount owed was equal to the points I had.

Approximate cost for round trip to MCO from Sacramento, Oakland, San Jose, or San Francisco hovers around $400 to $500 round trip depending on days of the week, how far out I am booking etc

If we go in January we will only have to pay a small resort fee to Disney for transferring in the RCI points, I think around $200 for the week.

I do have a side job that I get a 1099 for, but I have never done anything to make it an official business. Is that enough to get me a business card?

Yeah - that would absolutely qualify you as a sole proprietor! Let’s assume for a minute you have 4x$450 flights to split the difference. I’d do this:

• SW Business card - spend $3k - earn 60k Points +3k base pts
• (About 2 months later) SW personal in flight link card - spend $2k - earn 50k points + 2k base pts
• Keep in mind that the SAME person needs to get both of these cards and earn all the points for the companion pass to work

You’d end up with 115k SW pts AND a companion pass. Although you said you probably won't fly again...a companion pass would get you 1 free round trip flight, and that means $400-$500 to you!

If your flight were $450 they'll cost approx. 30k SW pts each. You could use 90k of your SW pts for the flights and the CP for the 4th one. You'd have 25k SW pts leftover and you could use them for a future flight or you could cash them out for a $250 gift card. All-in, 2 CC signup bonuses would get you all your flights for free!

 

[wendow]

your Girl Scouts are only $4? Ours are $5.

$5 here too. I haven't bought any this year cause I think $5 is nuts. Wish we had Aldi's here!