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

[amalone1013]

Just a reminder that they are actually RECOMMENDING that you interview on arrival at the 49 airports that do those......in case you have a trip planned before an actual interview slot. Might work out to be faster. I know it will be for us.....we are only close to one airport that has interviews so they are ALWAYS backed up.

No trips planned unfortunately. I'm hoping for a cancellation

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

GUYS...IT MIGHT BE HAPPENING...I MIGHT FINALLY GET MY 52,090 HILTON POINTS TONIGHT!!!!

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

GUYS...IT MIGHT BE HAPPENING...I MIGHT FINALLY GET MY 52,090 HILTON POINTS TONIGHT!!!!

Fingers are crossed for you!

 

[WVMomof3]

Just a reminder that they are actually RECOMMENDING that you interview on arrival at the 49 airports that do those......in case you have a trip planned before an actual interview slot. Might work out to be faster. I know it will be for us.....we are only close to one airport that has interviews so they are ALWAYS backed up.

Isn’t it just on arrival of an international flight? I was actually wondering how this works. I have a credit on my United card, was thinking DD could do on arrival of her international flight. But she doesn’t have the card. Can you pay ahead of time? Or is it pay when you are there?

 

[Natgridenergy]

Barclay AA Biz match update:

I sent a few messages to match my 50k offer to 60k. Received one response saying no. I called fully prepared to just have them close the account since I already received my 51k points posted to AA. The rep came back on the line and said 10k would be added in 1-2 billing cycles. It was almost too easy.

 

[wanderlust7]

Isn’t it just on arrival of an international flight? I was actually wondering how this works. I have a credit on my United card, was thinking DD could do on arrival of her international flight. But she doesn’t have the card. Can you pay ahead of time? Or is it pay when you are there?

Payment is at the time of application. So this would work as long as she's conditionally approved before her international flight arrival.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

1099s...AMEX...and Hilton...gah!

I'm going to vent for a minute so feel free to ignore this lol

• In 2018 my wife received 30,000 Hilton points from support clicks right away from r/churning in January. We then NEVER received another Hilton point despite having NUMEROUS folks on r/churning tell me they used my link. Somebody here even used my link and again no points - I figured it was a glitch or something and let it go (probably a mistake)
• Late Jan 2019 I receive a 1099 from AMEX showing I received 82,090 Hilton points for $550 - that's funny...I only got 30,000
• I'm about to list a bunch of long calls I made...This is my Wife's account so this is HOURS of Mrs. SouthFayetteFan voice...
• 2/4/19 - I (wife) call Hilton to VERIFY the 30,000 points in my records (to make sure I'm not missing something) and they absolutely verify the figure
• 2/4/19 - I (wife) call AMEX, explain the issue. The rep has no clue what I'm talking about or that they even issue 1099s. She is able to confirm that I show 14 support clicks in 2018. 14???? Where are my points!! I finally convince them to open up a case...I will hear back in 24-48 hours...never hear back
• 2/18/19 - I (wife) call AMEX again - very upset since I never heard back. They have no idea why nobody got back with me. Give them ALL the info again...It may take a couple weeks to hear back (ok so not 24-48 anymore??) and they could issue a revised 1099 then - GREAT, I'm happy!
• 3/8/19 - Informed delivery shows two 1099s coming from AMEX...yay - hopefully resolved. Open the 1099s...they are the SAME FREAKIN $550 from before
• 3/8/19 - I (wife) call AMEX again - get a MARVELOUS agent who not only understands the issue but tells me that they transferred 15,000 points on 1/12 (yup I can verify those posted 1 day later; transferred 15,000 points on 1/19 (yup I can verify those posted 1 day later); transferred 30,000 and 22,090 points on 1/21 - Ummmmm WHAT? Those never posted...it's exactly 52,090 points...THE AMOUNT I KEEP ASKING FOR... Why couldn't any of the other idiot reps give me this detail A MONTH AGO!!!!! Ok so this is a Hilton issue...
• 3/8/19 - I (wife) call Hilton - try to explain the issue to the agent and oh my, she starts arguing with me that points aren't taxable. Cue my Ron Swanson Meme - I KNOW MORE THAN YOU!!! I finally get her to understand she has filed a case for my missing 52,090 points.

The really sad part about this is that because of this glitch I got 8 support clicks that could've gone to somebody else. That's 120k-160k Hilton points depending on what offer they were running!! Luckily I think MOST of those clicks were from r/churning so it didn't hurt folks here.

WHAT A FREAKIN' MESS!!! At this point I'm supposed to receive my 52,090 Hilton points once they resolve the issue on their end. And I guess I do owe taxes then on the points...I asked them to PLEASE resolve this by the end of the month because I don't really want to pull the trigger on the taxes until I know they posted.

EDIT 1: I owe @amalone1013 a lot of royalties
EDIT 2: I'm losing my voice because talking in my high voice for 2 hours really takes it's toll on me!!

Quoting myself...So another 1 HOUR 41 MINUTE phone call as Mrs. @SouthFayetteFan just occurred...

2 weeks have passed with no follow up from Hilton. So I called and the had to discuss the whole issue all over again and Hilton seemed to feel that this was back on AMEX again...

• 15 Minute on hold and then I'm told they don't see anything...and of course she acts like I'm crazy asking for 30,000 and 22,090 - how do I know it's those amounts...well because I'm SMART and I KNOW MORE THAN YOU!!! She ultimately says you need to go back to AMEX
• So after I (my wife that is) calmed down I said, well let's get AMEX on the phone and to my surprise the Hilton rep agreed
• The first AMEX rep was no help - and when I asked for them to confirm who I spoke to the last time OR get a supervisor they put us on a 5 minute hold and came back and said they still don't see the issue
• I was LIVID and demanded a supervisor
• The Supervisor was GREAT...he quickly was able to confirm the whole 30,000 and 22,090 (HA! I'm not crazy...take that!!)
• There was a series of holds as he worked this and the Hilton rep remains on the line this whole time...
• Finally he comes back and says this issue is NOT on AMEX. The points were accepted by Hilton on 1/22/18 (yes I'm fighting for 52,090 Hilton points I was owed 14 months ago)...
• He says either you continue to fight this with Hilton OR we can issue you 25,000 pts and call it a day. Well I'm not taking HALF of what I'm owed...
• So now Hilton is going to work on their end and I'm supposed to get a call or email on Monday about it...

THIS. IS. CRAZY!! I just wish the 1099 wouldn't have happened because then I wouldn't care. BUT, If I'm going to have to pay $150 or more in taxes I want my freakin' points!

End Rant...Again...until 2 more weeks pass...

SAGA OVER...
I called again tonight because of course I got NO CALL and NO EMAIL on Monday or any other day this week.

Initially the rep couldn't see any notes about my call last week. So I don't know what Tracy from Hilton did but she didn't do me any favors! But then, a crazy thing happened...after giving a brief summary of the issue, the rep I was connected with said "Ma'am, rest assured that you WILL NOT get off this phone call tonight without your points". (EDIT SIDE NOTE: I thought it was hilarious being called Ma'am - I was totally into that!!) The Hilton Rep was an older gentleman and proceeded to tell me that he has the authority to issue courtesy points 10,000 points at a time. He said to bear with him and he started issuing me points until all 52,090 were in my account. It was the shortest phone call of ANY of the calls above... FINALLY

So I got off the phone and immediately called American Express. My time is worth something and the folks that DID NOTHING to help me on 2/4 and 2/18 were ridiculous! So I told the agent that I had called Hilton and found out that Tracy had not followed through (which IS a true statement ). I then asked the agent if I could take up the offer of 25,000 courtesy points from AMEX to stop bugging them about the issue. He said he couldn't do that but that he'd make a note on my account and have a supervisor look at it and call me within 24 hours. I'm sorry, but my 10 hours of time should be worth more than just getting the points I already earned. AND AMEX should've cared more and offered to help with Hilton from the start. AND I think the issue might be on the AMEX side even though they deny it - why did they try to send 2 batches of points on the same day for me (when it's typically 1 batch a day) - it seems like they may have had an issue there. AND if these points had posted as they should've I wouldn't have had to transfer 20k MRs to Hilton last year for our Sea World trip. Yeah, so for all those reasons I'm trying to have my cake and eat it too

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Oh hey - good news...I can do my taxes now!! I've been waiting to resolve my Hilton points saga to do them because if I gave up on the points I could have deducted the value from my taxes. Hopefully my CitiBiz AA shows up next week so that I can use it to pay (I think I'm going to end up owing about $2k due to support clicks moving the target on me).

 

[schmass]

But then, a crazy thing happened...after giving a brief summary of the issue, the rep I was connected with said "Ma'am, rest assured that you WILL NOT get off this phone call tonight without your points". (EDIT SIDE NOTE: I thought it was hilarious being called Ma'am - I was totally into that!!)

This has to be the funniest thing I've read on this thread! I'm glad you got your points and hope you get the additional 25,000!

 

[GlamMistress]

Well since I'm resigned to not having an MSR to meet for my final cruise payment I'm trying to determine the best card to put that spend. Please weigh in as I can and do use all points:

• Barclays Arrival+gets me 2.1% back - this is where all my bills go already and probably the most flexible option
• American Express Gold would just be 1x MR - this is my other primary card but not a good place to park this spend
• Amex Blue Biz+ - 2x MR
• Hilton Honors - 3x points
• Barclays Uber - 3% cash back on travel -- I don't think cruises count BUT if I spend 5k on the card (I haven't put anything on this card in months) I get a $50 streaming credit so I would at least spend up to the 5k
• CSP - 2x travel - I have so few UR points right now as I'm starting from nothing but when I get back under 5/24 these would come in handy.

I also have the Amex plat, Amex everyday, United card, Disney, Aviator Red, Delta gold, Delta blue, Amazon business and I do not care about elite qualifying spend.

Or I could just send a check. (lol j/k)

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

If I can give any advice on dealing with issues of missing points or really any issues related to our game...

1. No matter how small the issue, create a log (maybe on a tab in your spreadsheet) of the dates/times you called
2. Get the reps name - it makes you sound much more reputable when you call back if you say “I talked to John on feb 4th”
3. Take notes of any discussion AND ask them if they are putting notes on your account of the discussion.

I didn’t expect my Hilton issue to spiral out of control, but luckily I was taking notes from the start (primarily because of the tax implications involved). I think those notes helped me ultimately succeed as I could prove that I was correct and persistent and that researching the issue was costing Hilton more time and money than just giving me the points.

 

[GZanta77]

Got my laptop already, fast and free shipping since it said it'd be here Monday. Now to get it set up. I'm not used to having a new laptop when my old one still works. Used to getting the blue screen of death and then getting a new one but this is an early bday present since they had the sale. Now I just need to figure out getting office, I think it makes more sense to buy it than pay 99/year.

Just an FYI on Office 365 - although it retails at $99 for the home version, the most I have ever paid is $64. In fact, just yesterday Amazon had a DoD on Office for $99 but including a $50 Amazon gift card, so net cost of $49. There are usually several offers throughout the year, and you can stack multiple years - right now I am paid up thru 2021.

It also comes with 1Tb of cloud storage for each user (up to 5), and 1 hour/month of Skype credit - which I do use sometimes - and you always have the most current version of the software. I am not a huge fan of the subscription model, but for around $5/month - I think I get good value out of it.

 

[Calfan]

Where in Peru? We want to do the Inca Trail.

Tagging @CaliforniaGirl09 because she and her daughter hiked the Inca Trail last year with REI. We did a little hiking on our trip but only a very small portion of the Inca Trail around Machu Picchu. Our trip focused on the Sacred Valley, Ollaytantambo, Machu Picchu and Cusco (including Sacsayhuaman). Plus we did an extension to the Amazon. We loved Peru and could definitely see going back.

 

[Jaime4004]

GUYS...IT MIGHT BE HAPPENING...I MIGHT FINALLY GET MY 52,090 HILTON POINTS TONIGHT!!!!

Congrats on your points. Though when I first started reading this, you sounded so excited that I thought your twitter campaign worked and UR Disney hotels were back.

 

[afan]

Just an FYI on Office 365 - although it retails at $99 for the home version, the most I have ever paid is $64. In fact, just yesterday Amazon had a DoD on Office for $99 but including a $50 Amazon gift card, so net cost of $49. There are usually several offers throughout the year, and you can stack multiple years - right now I am paid up thru 2021.

It also comes with 1Tb of cloud storage for each user (up to 5), and 1 hour/month of Skype credit - which I do use sometimes - and you always have the most current version of the software. I am not a huge fan of the subscription model, but for around $5/month - I think I get good value out of it.

Aside from Amazon where do you find the deals? I've never looked because I bought it on my last laptop years ago. If I can get it so it's cheaper to do it yearly vs buying it outright I will but either way I need a deal. I won't use the skype and only use the storage I currently have for documents I want access to on my phone and laptop. I back up everything on a separate hard drive so I'm not too concerned with storage. I'm the only one that needs it too so being able to put it on multiple computers is a waste along with the skype, but if I remember correctly there's two different versions you can pay for.

 

[Lain]

This has to be the funniest thing I've read on this thread! I'm glad you got your points and hope you get the additional 25,000!

Funnier than Zack’s creeper van?

 

[WVMomof3]

Aside from Amazon where do you find the deals? I've never looked because I bought it on my last laptop years ago. If I can get it so it's cheaper to do it yearly vs buying it outright I will but either way I need a deal. I won't use the skype and only use the storage I currently have for documents I want access to on my phone and laptop. I back up everything on a separate hard drive so I'm not too concerned with storage. I'm the only one that needs it too so being able to put it on multiple computers is a waste along with the skype, but if I remember correctly there's two different versions you can pay for.

Do you want the updated version? Because we were able to reuse our "one use" Office for years. We loaded it onto 3 machines I think, as we got new ones. Never tried to use them at the same time, but they worked to download on our new computer. We just went back to our Amazon purchase and downloaded again. We actually just finally bought a new version this week. Bought the new version only because I noticed that DH could get a Home Use version through work for really cheap.

 

[amalone1013]

Funnier than Zack’s creeper van?

He would be so happy you always spell his name right

 

[Alexle2007]

So far I am making out on signing up for Sam’s Club. The $45 towards a purchase, $25 credit from AmEx on the new membership and I just filed for my missing $20 from Dosh. If I can get that to go through I will have doubled my free membership fee.

I went to Staples today to try and get more of the fee free MCGC and the cashier didn’t bat an eye when I purchased 2 despite the big sign that said only one. I was chatting her up about DS wanting a pug since I was also purchasing pug calendars for him since they were 75% off. He says I am taunting him with the calendar though since he really, really, really wants one and I typically cave on anything when it comes to him but not on the live animal request.

His ELA teacher is now requiring them to read books that are at their Lexcile level so we will be searching for new reading material since most of what he enjoys reading are at his grade level but his reading level is double that. So the search on...

 

[afan]

Do you want the updated version? Because we were able to reuse our "one use" Office for years. We loaded it onto 3 machines I think, as we got new ones. Never tried to use them at the same time, but they worked to download on our new computer. We just went back to our Amazon purchase and downloaded again. We actually just finally bought a new version this week. Bought the new version only because I noticed that DH could get a Home Use version through work for really cheap.

Don't think I could even if I wanted to. It was over 5 years ago so for all I know there's a disc somewhere, I don't remember. There's a good chance I bought it with the lap top, I know I was able to reinstall it when I got the new hard drive but I don't remember how as that was over 2 years ago. It's 2013 so it still works fine I'm just not sure it would work if I could even figure it all out.