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

[Lain]

Union City. Was yours across the bay?

Yeah, the Bayshore (SF) location started insisting on cash/debit for GCs, among other arbitrary policies, late last year. The San Bruno store still accepts credit cards for third-party GCs, but not VGCs/MCGCs. About a month ago, San Bruno moved their GC rack past checkout right next to the Exit but stopped doing GC transactions at the regular checkout, and will sell GCs only at customer service. I haven’t had much problem at customer service though; I’ve only been asked to see the card and ID once, and mostly they don’t even check (I was trying to finish off the Amex Offer on both my and DW’s cards). But I also keep the purchases low, $100 or $200 at a time.

 

[Albort]

Do the managers usually then say credit is fine, or still YMMV?

yes, if there is no actual sign that says it at the gift card rack, then is fine to buy on credit... u can take it one step further and threaten to call corporate.
ive seen the signs at walgreens only. but its ymmv on different walgreens.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Did you use mailers for the AA points? I used an online offer for my first AA biz card but am worried if the points will post with an online link a second time.

Nope, dummy bookings for all but one. On DH's first card I did the 70k/4k offer. I was fortunate! In the future, I think I may either switch to personal or start buying mailers. I definitely won't be asking for matches since that seems to be putting eyes on accounts.

 

[Ngwira]

Nope, dummy bookings for all but one. On DH's first card I did the 70k/4k offer. I was fortunate! In the future, I think I may either switch to personal or start buying mailers. I definitely won't be asking for matches since that seems to be putting eyes on accounts.

Did they match the 40k citibiz offer?

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

Nope, dummy bookings for all but one. On DH's first card I did the 70k/4k offer. I was fortunate! In the future, I think I may either switch to personal or start buying mailers. I definitely won't be asking for matches since that seems to be putting eyes on accounts.

Do the Citi personal cards count towards 5/24? I don't want to use a 5/24 spot on a Citi AA card, which is why the biz cards are perfect for me.

Can mailers be purchased on the Reddit thread? I'm due for a new card biz next month.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Did they match the 40k citibiz offer?

They did for DH, but they didn't for me. I chatted for both and both had some vaguely encouraging language that I would get the match. I got a letter about a week later confirming that DH would get the 20k, but never got any letter on mine. Since there were some indications that matches may be causing issues on getting the bonus, I didn't ask again.

Do the Citi personal cards count towards 5/24? I don't want to use a 5/24 spot on a Citi AA card, which is why the biz cards are perfect for me.

Can mailers be purchased on the Reddit thread? I'm due for a new card biz next month.

Yes, Citi personal cards do count towards 5/24, so you should definitely go for the biz cards first. I will be back down to 1/24 in November this year so I'm ok going for personal cards later this year if I need to. I don't think we have any mailers on our Reddit, but I know there are some here who have reliable sources for mailers. Not sure who, but I'm sure people will chime in if they have them.

 

[bernina]

Surprise this morning. Checking all the Chase accounts and saw DH had 51K points posted. What? I remembered meeting MSR on his CIU at the beginning of the month but I thought the points posted then not were just pending. I combined on my CSR. Replenishes the 55K URs I used to book a hotel at Death Valley next March. My style is definitely earn and burn. I'll never accumulate 1Million points this way.

What hotel did you book in Death Valley?

 

[Limes96]

Our June churning:

-got charged a monthly fee on my Serve card on June 2 because I hadn’t figured it out yet (rats!)
-P2’s new CIP2 arrived in the mail, also June 2
-Used it to pay ahead on our power bill (app 4 months’ worth), and other organic spend
-Finished MSR mid month on a tuition payment via Plastiq promo
-Applied and approved for my CIP2 on June 10
-Made a couple small charges on it then finished MSR on another tuition payment via Plastiq
-Applied 6/16 for CitiAAbiz card
-Met MSR via Plastiq paying for (what else) tuition and also a hefty payment on our HELOC.
-Finally figured out Serve. Started putting $100 vgc in there every time I was in at Walmart anyway. Transferred funds out well before my statement close date!
-Applied P2 for HHBiz 6/23 using self referral from his Amex plat. Card hasn’t come yet but 15k MR referral points credited.
-Rebooked Nov SW flights to save 500 RR

July plans
-Cheer when 210k+ UR’s post (all currently pending)
-HHBiz MSR
-Ramp up on my Serve deposits/transfers (not THAT much though ;-)
-Use points for flights to Europe for May/June 2020 trip (x4)
-Start booking hotels/Air Bnb for Europe once flight dates are set
-Apply P2 for CitiAAbiz?
-Watch for next SW release date to book 1-2 winter trips to warmer locales (destinations TBD)
-Pray for another Plastiq promo

If I can find a business card that interests me this month I might apply for that, but no Chase (so long as CIP3 is a possibility) and I’m saving my next to last 5/24 slot for an Amex personal card in Nov/Dec when a triple dip is a possibility (I’m watching the whole airline gc credit saga and hoping it all works out in our favor!).

 

[Limes96]

Regarding our Europe trip, I talked my daughter into being ok with going to Venice instead of Romania.

 

[gottalovepluto]

This doesn't mean any PayPal or Venmo account does it? Is there a difference between those and a PayPal credit account? (Back to N00B questions here).



Are you saying you can't buy any gift cards with your credit card? We've been able to buy grocery store GCs at the Lowe's near us (and Staples, too) to get the Amex 10%. Sorry if I'm misunderstanding. (And yes, across the Bay)

Yes, there’s is a difference between a credit account with PayPal and a normal PayPal/Venmo account. You know if you have a credit account, don’t worry about this if you have a normal account. A normal account doesn’t have a revolving credit line.

Fwiw some stores disallow purchasing gift cards with credit cards at the discretion of the specific store even though corporate allows it.

 

[Albort]

What hotel did you book in Death Valley?

we did Furnace Creek in the middle of the park. was pricey and the AC wasnt as strong as we hoped by it was okay at the end.
edit: also would highly recommend renting a 4x4 to visit parts of the park that cant be done without one. I regret not checking out the moving rocks!

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

we did Furnace Creek in the middle of the park. was pricey and the AC wasnt as strong as we hoped by it was okay at the end.
edit: also would highly recommend renting a 4x4 to visit parts of the park that cant be done without one. I regret not checking out the moving rocks!

What month did you go to DV?

 

[mmmears]

Yup. They wouldn't let me. Said cash or debit only. It wasn't even VGC or MCGC. Store gift cards.

It was in the evening and only 1 manned register was open (rest self check-out), all the way in lumber. I think DH might actually want to buy something, so maybe I'll try again.

So weird. DH has the Biz Plat, so he's the one who bought the GCs, but no issues at all. Of course that was more than a month ago so things may have changed.

It's pretty bizarre though that you can't pay with a CC. I mean, who is carrying $500 in cash these days? I don't even have a debit card. For many years, when we couldn't figure out a good bday gift, I bought GCs for DD's friends, from Target ones, to movie theaters ones, sports stores, clothing stores, etc. Never had any issues and I always put them on CCards, since I really don't use cash.

 

[mmmears]

Yeah, the Bayshore (SF) location started insisting on cash/debit for GCs, among other arbitrary policies, late last year. The San Bruno store still accepts credit cards for third-party GCs, but not VGCs/MCGCs. About a month ago, San Bruno moved their GC rack past checkout right next to the Exit but stopped doing GC transactions at the regular checkout, and will sell GCs only at customer service. I haven’t had much problem at customer service though; I’ve only been asked to see the card and ID once, and mostly they don’t even check (I was trying to finish off the Amex Offer on both my and DW’s cards). But I also keep the purchases low, $100 or $200 at a time.

Sounds like it's heading my way.

 

[Albort]

What month did you go to DV?

i dont remember haha. i think it was October. was around 90F at night.

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

Our June churning:

• approved for CIP using P2's link
• P2 received the 20K bonus ("honey, why do I have 20K more points?" )

July plans

• P2 will meet CIP spend by next weekend
• I should meet CIP spend by end of month
• considering bank bonus(es)
• we each have Citi Biz 75/5 mailers with x 7/31
• potential spends of $4K to a travel agency and ????K for airfare to India in December (hoarding points for booking Australia in October so we can't touch all those UR)--If the rest of the group would just get off their behinds to say that the plans are, in fact, what they want to do grrrrrr

And in travel plans

• Sept 2019 near Lake Tahoe at family cabin with my aunties and potentially dd24; SW RR + CP; not sure about rental car from SMF yet, cash for food and wine
• Nov 2019 Rome with dh: flying nonstop from PHL with AA vouchers from voluntary March bump, cash for cute boutique hotel, cash for food, cash/UR for entrance fees and tours
• Dec 2019 India with dh and 6 friends; all cash
• March 2020 WDW with dh, our 3 kids, and ds's fiancee; staying on DVC points, tix with discounted Disney gc, food with discounted Disney gc (if I can gather enough by then) and/or cash, flying using SW RR + CP
• April 2020 potential work-related shindig with dh to Laguna Beach with add-on at Disneyland!; flying on the company, would use UR+Hyatt free night to stay at DL; cash or potentially discounted Disney gc for food at DL
• Sept/Oct 2020 Australia (<---the reason I joined this group a year ago!)
• and then I have to think about 2021

 

[ten6mom]

How often (I assume you all do this) do you go back into Credit Karma and just poke around and make sure your accounts are up to date? I believe when I started this a month ago I opened a Credit Karma "account" and then also did Experian. Is it something you keep a regular eye on, or do you just sort of ignore it?

 

[usakiwi]

⚠ TPG trigger warning ⚠

This Fijian resort is giving me some serious Aulani vibes, and for only 35k Marriott points/night:
https://thepointsguy.com/reviews/fiji-marriott-resort-momi-bay/

That's where I'm using our Mariott 7 night cert in a few months! We're just in a regular room due to kids and occupancy, but I am hoping some sort of upgrade might work out since I'm Platinum. Fingers crossed...

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

How often (I assume you all do this) do you go back into Credit Karma and just poke around and make sure your accounts are up to date? I believe when I started this a month ago I opened a Credit Karma "account" and then also did Experian. Is it something you keep a regular eye on, or do you just sort of ignore it?

I look at it once a month or so.

 

[Lain]

Sounds like it's heading my way.

I was thinking what if San Bruno adopts a similar policy to Bayshore (and I guess Union City). San Bruno is convenient enough for me to swing by every now and then, especially since I’ve been doing smallish purchases with DW’s card to use up her offer without drawing attention. But the next closest Lowe’s location would be Sunnyvale, which is quite a trip, in which case I may have to drag my wife down that way one weekend and do the whole offer in one transaction.

I’m not too concerned about stores down the Peninsula adopting a cash/debit only policy. I’ve swung by Safeways and Staples when I’m in the area to buy VGCs/MCGCs, and I’ve never been asked to see the card and matching ID, never been told no credit cards, never even had a cashier flinch at $500 loads. The Peninsula is affluent so high value gift cards and credit card use are totally typical, whereas Bayshore... let’s just say is in a very “rough” part of SF. And even in the city, I’ll get carded in Western Addition but not the Marina for example.