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

[spacerangerqueen]

@Haley R I live in Winter Garden and used to work off of Sand Lake a little further out than your DH would be. I didn't find the commute bad at all. In general it seemed traffic was flowing the opposite direction I was traveling. I also worked 730-4 so that helped a bit. If you want new construction then over here in the Hamlin area is where all the big growth is. It's pretty nuts how much construction is happening.
Also, the library system here is really awesome. When we bought our house 8 years ago I looked into the Dr Phillips area next to the library because I loved it so much, but it was all older condos. Then I was looking recently at new construction in downtown Winter Garden next to that library, but it was more than I wanted to spend probably because the location is so amazing. You don't even need to be near a library though because anytime you request a book they deliver it to your house for free!
I've been living in the Windermere / Winter Garden area since 2006 and I highly recommend it. Did a year over near Universal and hated it, even though it was a quick drive to my office at the time.

 

[alryan]

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[alryan]

@wanderlust7 and @alryan I think you should both wait on a Chase card. I understand being tempted but when the shutdowns were happening (or at least being talked about more) last year at this time it is pretty scary. Getting more UR’s won’t do you any good if you are completely locked out from them and they are forfeited. Just play it safe.



Use the link from Reddit that @gottalovepluto posted earlier today. I already got the emails and it is the 80k. And yes they are different products.

Thanks, that's what I needed to hear. You're right, I love URs too much to risk it. I'll give DH three months between applications and reevaluate in May.

 

[hsmamato2]

Oh, and my 10,000 MRs posted from my one purchase on my Biz Green, thanks @Lain and @kmc8826 for the heads up!

did you get the offer to transfer to Hilton for bonus points?

 

[hsmamato2]

Weird random question..... I would swear I had a cruise offer on a couple of my Amex cards that's different than the most recent one, ending 3/31- but I can't find them anymore! I had added them,intending to research at a later point...am I crazy here? I also got one of the more recent ones... which I can still see

 

[hsmamato2]

You hit the nail on the head. Right now, I have a few hotel cards and their respective points that give me the additional rooms I presently need outside of Disney. (I like the beaches in summer.) For Disney I have DVC. And although everyone can use a little extra cash, I had no consuming need for cash out strategies. I had purchased enough Disney tickets to do me for the next 15-20 years. So a Disney trip for me is gas and groceries mostly and a few nice meals when I feel like it. All well within my budget.

The big change is that come next January, my youngest grandchild will be 3. Tickets will then be needed for 4 people in that family and if I have a UR stash, I can help without much impact to my budget. So my future needs will hopefully be met with UR's or any other method that presents itself. For me there is no pressure to do anything, but by careful plodding away, I can make it easier for my own family to enjoy trips.

This morning my son (through text) shared that he may be attending a wedding this summer on the west coast - a friend of his girlfriend who is from the west coast. I offered him some southwest gift cards and some points. He wasn't expecting this as he didn't know I had them. It made it much easier for him to plan his getaway with his girlfriend.

So, this is just one way of saying I didn't feel the need for big rewards either and I'm happy with my plan as it stands. I may loosely follow my plan or not. I think I'm fairly conservative about churning, but like you open to a certain limit of it, but I don't have to have every Barclay, citi, chase, amex that is out there. And I may continue the UR journey and get a few of those cards later this year or in 2020, or not. It's all a loosely laid out opportunity that doesn't consume me or make me crazy.

I do like this community and I like to know what's going on. Many subjects pop up here that keep it interesting and the human element is attractive to me. I hope it continues for a long while in the same spirit it is now. At the end of the day we all make our own decisions and are responsible for them but it's always nice to know the options and have people that will give the pros and cons as well as celebrate successes.

You are the worlds best Gramma!!!!! But I do agree with the general tone of this post...I'm the same.... low level in the game here by choice. Skim lots of chatter b/c it has nothing to do with my goals...love it here anyway

 

[calypso726]

All the testing that's been going on drives me absolutely bonkers. I opted my kid out of those, that was easy since they would post a testing schedule, but then she still had to take the practice online tests that the teachers had to go over to prep the kids on the test would look like. So more lost class time to teach how to take the dang tests, in addition to covering the info that was going to be on the tests. Just ridiculous.

One more reason that I switched careers. My degree is in elementary education. It is ridiculous.

I
Can you explain about what you mean by speculative transfers please?

I know this was answered but for any newbies, you don;t want to take advantage of every transfer bonus that comes along. You may wind up with orphaned points that will expire. If Amex MR is offering a transfer bonus to a hotel or airline you don't want to jump on it just because. Make sure the transfer bonus fits into your goals and plans.

I signed up for the Marriott Bonvoy with 100K points. I am a Marriott rewards member (no cc) and since it doesn't count against my 5/24, I figured why not? Now I am sorry I didn't sign up for the AMEX Hilton card with 125K points. It seems like that is just as good. I looked up rooms and a lot of embassy suites (which we love) are only 25K points per night. Any opinions on both cards?

IMO the Bonvoy card is better because of the free night cert. I would consider the Hilton cards as a long term strategy once past 5/24 of getting each card's SUB and upgrading each card as well. I'm still working on that strategy.

 

[wendow]

DD 15 loved it. But she's a Marvel nut. I tease her that she will meet her future spouse at Comic Con

My dd16 is convinced Cap America is her future spouse lol! She’s a marvel nut too

 

[Jax1023]

So I had been planning to apply for a Cic once I finished the msr on my spg personal I applied for just before the deadline. I have $1200 left. I was thinking another month or so.

With all the reports that you can get a second cip within 24 months, I think I want to do that instead.

Here’s the catch- my dh has a cip and the annual fee posted 3/1. I was planning to downgrade it to a ciu this week.

Now I’m thinking I could apply for the second cip this week, wait until the referral points post, transfer them out to my csr and then downgrade the car before the end of the month.

Does this sound reasonable/ possible?

I’m currently 3/24. Here’s my card history

Really old (~2005)- amex blue for students and what is now my freedom

12/2015- discover it
3/2016- csp- now closed
8/2016 Cfu and csr
7/2017- cip- closed 7/2018
3/2018- amex spg biz
11/2018- sw biz
12/2018- seats plus
1/2019- arrival plus
2/2019- spg personal.

I think I’m far enough out from the sw cards that I should be ok.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Feel like churning is testing my patience recently...

Waiting for my tax refund to get here to finish MSR on Citi AA Biz and pay off student loan..
Waiting to apply for Bonvoy Biz for DH until Citi AA Biz MSR is done...
Waiting to apply for CIU until April 1...
Waiting to make another UR payment towards WDW trip until CIU is here...
Waiting for Staples to have another fee-free VGC sale so I can use the rest of my Staples Amex offer...
Waiting for Kroger to have another fuel points promo so I can try out using a Kroger GC to purchase a Disney GC...

I'm impatient, y'all!!

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

So I had been planning to apply for a Cic once I finished the msr on my spg personal I applied for just before the deadline. I have $1200 left. I was thinking another month or so.

With all the reports that you can get a second cip within 24 months, I think I want to do that instead.

Here’s the catch- my dh has a cip and the annual fee posted 3/1. I was planning to downgrade it to a ciu this week.

Now I’m thinking I could apply for the second cip this week, wait until the referral points post, transfer them out to my csr and then downgrade the car before the end of the month.

Does this sound reasonable/ possible?

I’m currently 3/24. Here’s my card history

Really old (~2005)- amex blue for students and what is now my freedom

12/2015- discover it
3/2016- csp- now closed
8/2016 Cfu and csr
7/2017- cip- closed 7/2018
3/2018- amex spg biz
11/2018- sw biz
12/2018- seats plus
1/2019- arrival plus
2/2019- spg personal.

I think I’m far enough out from the sw cards that I should be ok.

Just so you’re aware: I know when you downgrade for example a Sapphire card to Freedom, your support link will continue working for the sapphire. I’m not sure we have any DPs of that on business cards though. (Not that it won’t work, just that I’ve never seen it).

I think your plan will work as you suggested though, and it seems like a fairly safe bet (especially if that SPG isn’t yet showing on your report).

 

[GlamMistress]

Churning first for me...Barclays AAdvantage Aviator Business denial I knew it was bound to happen eventually, but didn't think it would be this soon. Applied Monday, had four inquiries at that point, but had also just applied and been approved for the CIC on the previous Friday, so that showed up on Tuesday, the same day as the status line showed denial. Got the letter today. Denied, due to excessive credit applications. So, I had 5 inquiries since June 15, 2018. The letter said nothing about recon, and it's not really something I want to do anyway. So now to figure out what is next. I had plans for the Arrival + in a few months, but now I can't even apply for 120 days, and even if I don't apply for anything until then I will still have four inquiries in the past year, and don't know if I want to waste the pull for another denial. Later this month DH will have 3 inquiries in the past year, but I am thinking about a second CIP for him. So, no GrAAvy train for us right now.

Do you have other Barclays cards too, or no?

 

[Lain]

 

[DisneyMandC]

Has anyone done a BB&T bank bonus? DoC posted one this morning that sounds pretty good. Just wondering whether anyone has had any issues. Says you can do bill pay to meet the requirements for the bonus. I've actually never used the bill pay function even on my real checking account. I guess I can just do it and make the required $25 payments towards my credit cards?

 

[Jax1023]

Just to add, I'm with @SouthFayetteFan in that I'm not sure if, or for how long a CIP support link will continue to work after a downgrade. However, Chase gives you 30 days from the date the AF posts to cancel for a full refund; after 30 days, no refunds. If you plan to PC a card, you have about ~40 days to downgrade to a no-AF card and get a full refund; after that time, you'll receive a prorated refunded. So this policy gives you a little time to keep DH's CIP open longer without losing money. Note that when you click DH's CIP link to apply and are approved, DH will earn the 20k bonus even if he subsequently PCs his CIP to a CIC/CIU, meaning the referral will go pending in DH's card account about a week or two later even if it's no longer a CIP but a CIC/CIU, and will post when the statement closes.

Thanks for the advice both of you!

I think my current plan is wait til next week, apply for cip with dhs referral link, then downgrade him to a cic. We have s pricy Disney trip this summer which will likely be paid for on cash created by bank account bonuses and discounted Disney gc. We also plan to upgrade to APs since we’re missing sw by 5 days this summer, we’ll go back next spring break. We can use the cic to get Disney gc for 5x ur.

Dh is a very reluctant p2, but I could probably convince him to apply for another cip with my referral link if this loophole keeps working.

 

[GlamMistress]

My excitement today is 1) the time move forwarded so that means warm weather is really coming someday and 2) I booked two excursions for my Europe cruise this August! A Marseille city sights tour and city of Palma guided tour.

I am getting excited for my cruise.

I spent a lot of time last night researching the ABD river cruises too. But I'm pretty sure I am going to book a Greek RCCL cruise next. We'll see.

 

[striker1064]

Has anyone done a BB&T bank bonus? DoC posted one this morning that sounds pretty good. Just wondering whether anyone has had any issues. Says you can do bill pay to meet the requirements for the bonus. I've actually never used the bill pay function even on my real checking account. I guess I can just do it and make the required $25 payments towards my credit cards?

Super easy. I did 3 $25 bill pay pushes to my Amex account, waited 75 days, and got the bonus. No problem at all.

The nice thing is, BB&T's interface was really nice (to me anyway). Almost made me consider switching to them.

 

[gottalovepluto]

For those who aren’t watching news this morning, another 737-MAX went down. Link. Ethiopian Airlines, 6 minutes after takeoff, no survivors. FlightRadar only has the first 3 mins of data and it showed unstable vertical ascent, pilots requested to turn around.

 

[amalone1013]

For those who don't care about poorly flipped houses, so they can easily skip this

This whole thing just makes me so angry and rant-y, not only because DH and I would prefer doing the work/updates ourselves, but also for the people who run into problems down the line because the people who flipped their house did a terrible job. My cousin and his wife are like the poster children for this so far.

Spoiler: Pictures

Here's the gap along the back of the counter. It's tile all the way up so I don't know what they can do, other than maybe a big line of caulking to fill it. It's because the old counter was actually to big, so the people CUT THE DRYWALL OUT. That is not right guys!! And they even cut a couple studs to force it to fit!

Cabinet doesn't line up with soffet. This is an old one, so the new cabinet here doesn't stick out in front of the one to the right, they line up now. But that means that not only does the cabinet still not line up under the soffet, the soffet now sticks out like 8in past the top of the cabinet.

And their baseboard is all crazy. This would drive me completely nuts, personally, but they've never brought it up and I'm not mentioning since it's just a cosmetic thing. But their house has A LOT of stairs, like kind of an excessive amount. And the baseboards don't match, like most is just rectangular (honestly I didn't know you could buy it like that, I kind of thought the flippers just painted their own boards and stuck them on there...) but there is some that has the rounded top. And it's not cut to the stairs (I've only seen it run at an angle up the stairs, or just no baseboard). But most of all it's not done all the same on all the stairs! And since there are a lot of stairs and they are close together, I think it makes it even more noticeable.

 

[WVMomof3]

For those who aren’t watching news this morning, another 737-MAX went down. Link. Ethiopian Airlines, 6 minutes after takeoff, no survivors. FlightRadar only has the first 3 mins of data and it showed unstable vertical ascent, pilots requested to turn around.

Also the plane flying into NY that had severe turbulence that injured 30 people. These reports don't sit well with this nervous flyer. Especially as DD18 was in the air yesterday flying to Cali for Spring Break and Ethiopian Air is who I almost bought as DD21s return ticket. It was the cheapest and quickest flight, but it had only a 30 minute connection in Ethiopia and I was worried something would go wrong and she would end up stuck in Ethiopia. Though I realize it could happen anywhere and to any airline, just makes me more nervous.