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

[georgina]

We do.....we have historical no-show and cxl percentages....speaking as the Director of Revenue of a hotel in a major hotel chain we have all of this data. We never try to relocate however it happens (some places more than others) to maximize revenue. Also we oversell room types but if booked directly you will almost always get the room booked. OTA bookings do not have that guarantee or the status benefits and that is why hotels push to book direct and of course the hotels don't want to pay the OTAs the commission.

Marriott - I have Gold status from the credit card. Checked into a room in Alexandria VA Sunday night (booked on the Marriott website) after a long drive from Boston. I had reserved a 2 double bed room, front desk person was pushing me to accept a 1 queen room. It was late, I was tired and pretty annoyed so it was hard to be polite. (Side note - I had booked a package with free water taxi passes which came in handy as the metro line to that area was shut down for construction. That was a nice perk)

 

[Lain]

Some info from research today:

Cannot use Amex on Plastiq to pay your auto insurance (w/o a workaround anyway). Off to find MB MCGC I guess. (Also our auto policy is literally our only biller who won’t accept amex outright- lame. Our gas too but thats a super small bill not worth fiddling with in the summer).

Also apparently Publix reports L3 and thats our main grocer so I’ll try Bilo who as far as I can tell only does L2.

What’s your auto insurance?

We have Progressive, which doesn’t take Amex but does accept PayPal. So I’ll just add an Amex to PayPal and pay that way for no extra fees.

 

[MrPTato]

im gonna shun myself into the corner after i somehow made an amazon purchase using my MR points.
see you guys next week!

Best to come out next year!

 

[Judique]

I broke down and got the Disney visa yesterday. I've had my Chase Freedom Unlimited and I love it but the sign up bonus for the Disney Visa basically paid for our entire room before our cruise vacation in September, so it didn't make sense to pass on it. Teach me oh great credit card thread on how to maximize my rewards.

A lot of us have Disney Visas. It's an easy bonus to get. Nobody really recommends it because there are many more lucrative cards. I started this post right after you posted but was interrupted. Before I continue I'm going to read so as not to duplicate.

 

[tink89]

Yes they will look at all credit limit extended to you through them. I would lower all of them. The recommended is not more than 50% of total income or not over about 60-70k if High income. The CSR and CSP can both be good depending on how you want to use your points and how much you spend in certain categories. There is a way to get both if you are interested and can spend $8k in 3 months.

With the current limits he is still under 50%, but he SM to lower Disney cards to $5k and CIP1 will be closing after referral points post and statement closes in a week. That should put him well under 20% CL with chase. How long after closing CIP1 and lower CL should he wait before applying for one of these?
$8k in 3 months is doable for us.

Chase looks at both personal and business CLs..vs household income.....I would suggest lowering all those CLs....
Right now CSP has a 60k UR bonus vs CSR 50k.....Also if you have a CSP....you can send him a link so you get 15k URs when he is approved

I don't have either CSP or CSR just CF. No business either. I am at 4/24 will be at 2/24 in September. Im thinking either one onf us can apply using an link from someone and then we can just refer the other. Just not sure which is better and if $450 AF on two cards is good.

 

[Lain]

im gonna shun myself into the corner after i somehow made an amazon purchase using my MR points.
see you guys next week!

Duuuuude! I hope you like that 0.7 cpp redemption!

Kidding aside, can’t you chat with an Amazon rep to change the method of payment and refund your points?

 

[Lain]

Thanks -- I'll have to check with my kids about which system is "in" with them these days (they buy their own now, so I'm out of that loop -- the only one we still have in our house is the Wii, which I should get rid of because no one has used it in forever but I am strangely attached to it and keep thinking that I am going to use it someday).

@AmyAnne - do you now have 2 Biz Plats?

 

[jaysraptor]

My wife(P2) and I(P1) are just starting out thanks to the help of SouthFayetteFan. We have had a Wells Fargo Rewards card for quite a long time. Do Wells Fargo points transfer to any other rewards programs? If not, any suggestions on best use? We have about 145,000.

Thanks
JJ

 

[Lain]

 

[DisneyMandC]

Or CIP3. I just submitted DW’s app. I was planning to do it this weekend, but then it’ll probably just sit at 30 day or 2 weeks until Monday. Sitting at 30 days now; hoping for faster approval.

Still sitting at 30 days for me too. Really hoping I get approved so I can use this to pay the last $800 I owe on WDW!

 

[palhockeymomof2]

With the current limits he is still under 50%, but he SM to lower Disney cards to $5k and CIP1 will be closing after referral points post and statement closes in a week. That should put him well under 20% CL with chase. How long after closing CIP1 and lower CL should he wait before applying for one of these?
$8k in 3 months is doable for us.



I don't have either CSP or CSR just CF. No business either. I am at 4/24 will be at 2/24 in September. Im thinking either one onf us can apply using an link from someone and then we can just refer the other. Just not sure which is better and if $450 AF on two cards is good.

The CSR...earns 3x points on travel and dining .....the CSP earns 2x on those categories...
If you book through the UR travel portal CSR redeems at 1.50....CSP at 1.25

CSR also has PP lounge access and reimbursement for $300 in travel and GE or TSA pre check...if those are important to you

CSR-$450 AF vs $95 for CSP

If you both get CSP...you would have 133kURs after meeting the MSR
CSR...you would have 108k URs

If I was going to apply now...I’d get the CSP...for the extra URs then in a year upgrade to a CSR

 

[afan]

What’s your auto insurance?

We have Progressive, which doesn’t take Amex but does accept PayPal. So I’ll just add an Amex to PayPal and pay that way for no extra fees.

I have travelers and they only take visa/mc or bank account. But if I needed to while meeting an Amex MSR I'd just get a visa or mc gc an use it to pay. I've used prepaid visa cards from survey's and stuff to pay all or part of my premium without issues. Easier than plastiq too. Mine lets me make more than one payment just have to wait for the 1st to clear so have to make sure you do it all with enough time before the due date.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

Or CIP3. I just submitted DW’s app. I was planning to do it this weekend, but then it’ll probably just sit at 30 day or 2 weeks until Monday. Sitting at 30 days now. Hoping for faster approval.

Still sitting at 30 days for me too. Really hoping I get approved so I can use this to pay the last $800 I owe on WDW!

You are both approved quickly

 

[havaneselover]

Just got notification that dosh is 5% back at kroger up to $10/day. Guess I'm buying two $100 visa gift cards tonight to get 4x fuel points and try to max out my cf q2 offer.

 

[MickeyMouseCD524]

If you go to the first page in the thread and answer all the questions in post 2 we can probably help you better. Though the first piece of advice we may have given you yesterday was to not open the Disney card. There are usually better cards out there, but it depends on how much you want to get into the game.

I didn't look at this thread before getting the card

But to answer the questions on the first page:
10/18 - Chase Freedom Unlimited
06/19 - Disney Premier Visa

I put about $1,000 on my cards give or take every month. It's usually just every day spending. groceries, lunch at work, Disney gift card purchases when it's advantageous enough.
They get paid off in full every month, though I did float a balance on my Freedom card briefly during 0% interest promotion period because of emergent expenses. But I got that taken care of really quickly
We fly out of the NYC airports
Jetblue flyers all the way!
Southwest I think only services one of the airports and I don't like going out there.
We're apart of both Marriott and Hilton rewards programs though we prefer Marriott
I have about 17589 in Chase rewards, we just used a bunch to purchase flights. 8500 in Hilton points and about 2200 in Jet Blue points.
I don't think I'm in any other travel program but if I think of one I'll put it here.
Goals are cash back or points to use towards travel. We try to do a different state every year and at least one trip to Disney. We're also saving for a downpayment on a home right now so cash back would really help with that.
And our travel party is usually just myself and my SO or a friend. Sometimes there's four of us myself, SO, and two best friends (though they're about to become a party of 3!)

 

[amalone1013]

Awesome! Any chance you have registered for their birthday program? It used to be good for buy one get one free. We combined the birthday coupon with their GC deal. Hope you have a great time!

I am but it's the wrong time of year. If it was just DH and I the birthday coupon would put us ahead, but since we'll have 5 people TIW will save more. Technically you aren't supposed to be able to use them together.

Have wondered if people break out their CC fees into different categories in their budget tracking. I have not so far, but thinking about it so I can get a clearer picture of what is costing me to accumulate the points.

I am OCD... we use YNAB. So I have a travel category and under it I have sub categories.
Travel fund, which is a generic one where all travel cash goes ie bank bonuses, swagbucks, extra cash, etc, plus I budget an amount towards it each month.
Any trip that is actively being planned/anything paid for (even the $5.60 SW fees) gets its own line so I can track the cash cost.
Annual Fees category for, well, annual fees
Disney GC category for my stash
Also Hotels.com GC category because I stash those on and off.

All of these categories are treated the same as I assign things in the budget to them as they come, like AFs or if I get a Disney GC deal, or pay something for a trip. If there are any refunds or credits or something (like an AMEX offer or A+ eraser), that goes against its category too. Then at the end of the month if any of the categories are negative, I cover the balance with the generic travel fund.


Yup it's super crazy OCD But YNAB makes it fairly easy overall and I can go back and see what cash OOP I spent on a trip and how much I've spent on AFs for the year. Oh and also anything I pay extra for, like if I pay through plastiq and pay a fee, or if I buy a Visa or MCGC at the store to use somewhere because I'm earning extra URs, gets charged against the generic travel fund. So those fees aren't split out necessarily but I can easily scroll through that category in YNAB and pick

 

[DisneyMandC]

Just got an email for Hyatt cardholders for a promo to get 10% of your points back on points stays between July 1 and September 2.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Just got notification that dosh is 5% back at kroger up to $10/day. Guess I'm buying two $100 visa gift cards tonight to get 4x fuel points and try to max out my cf q2 offer.

Just got that too! Of course, I need to finish MSR on my Citi AA Biz. I'm probably going to buy trip insurance for our Disney trip tonight though, so I think that should take care of it.

 

[kidsfirsttrip]

Or CIP3. I just submitted DW’s app. I was planning to do it this weekend, but then it’ll probably just sit at 30 day or 2 weeks until Monday. Sitting at 30 days now. Hoping for faster approval.

When was CIP2?

 

[Lain]