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

[amalone1013]

Had a panic moment. Realized last night that I had sent the form in to Costco to transfer DCL reservations to them, but had never called back after a few days to follow up/complete. Technically our placeholders were booked on 6/28 So I called in and the first person I got told me she couldn't process them, it looked like Disney hadn't released them so I should call Disney to find out and make sure they are released. She admitted she wasn't very familiar with this but thought Disney sends a confirmation email. And I'm silently panicking that I have messed up and missed the 30 day window for transferring. So while I call Disney I'm looking through my email from the last cruise, and have no confirmation from Disney about transferring, just the Costco one after I called back... I get a Disney agent and they confirm they have both rooms under Costco. So I call Costco again and get a rep who is very knowledgeable about Disney, can see the reservation numbers in the notes on my account.. then asks if they are placeholder reservations. Yes they are. She then explained that she couldn't officially pull them through until we choose a date then, but she could verify with Disney that they were transferred and make a note that we did that today. So that's what we did! Soeverything is fine and I panicked for no reason. It's just that, last time I originally transferred ILs booking to Costco, after booking the actual cruise we wanted. And then ended up cancelling that and booking direct through Costco's site when we added DHs aunt, so this is my first time transferring a placeholder.

ETA: Also, luckily wait times are short so this whole thing only took 22 minutes.

When I sent the forms in last week to Costco, and told DH, he told MIL to start thinking about the next cruise... and I was just like, I've already saved 18%

 

[Hoosier John]

Seems to me that DVC is suited to a lot of you. However, don't let FOMO get you with DVC - those contracts have some hefty dues attached!

That said, I've been happy with my contracts and have used almost every single point through careful planning. I've had some points ready for expiry and have gifted them to strangers for free by booking a night for a random Dis member. And, I've had people do this for me, so it's come full circle. Could have charged but for a dozen points or so for a single night it made me happy!

So a big WELCOME HOME to those who've taken the step and for those who will buy in sometime soon.

@Judique , I know I don't say often enough how much I love your contributions here, and really value your input

Just kidding, we have plenty of DVC points right now. But I agree that it could be a great proposition for several folks here. Many times we wished we had more. Right now we have too many (switching from Disney APs to Universal this year). But, unlike probably every other timeshare out there, I'm confident we could sell ours for more than we paid, even with fewer years remaining.

 

[sinnika]

What is the best way to earn free hotel stays? I normally book on Hotwire, but am ready to start earning hotel points. No particular loyalty to any chain. I just received the CSP card one week ago so this is my first time to earn UR points. I have the Chase SW plus and business cards so total of 3 Chase cards since Oct 2017.

 

[vanjust14]

Hey everyone, just checking in from Universal! Rode the new Hagrid's Motorbike ride and it was awesome! Got in line for the park at 8:25 for a 9am opening. There was a sea of people ahead of us and of course almost everyone was headed for the ride. Got on the ride at 9:48, not too bad. Posted wait times have been mostly 210 min. It dropped to 120 min at one point yesterday and I overheard someone say they only waited 55 min so we might try to ride it again later.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

What is the best way to earn free hotel stays? I normally book on Hotwire, but am ready to start earning hotel points. No particular loyalty to any chain. I just received the CSP card one week ago so this is my first time to earn UR points. I have the Chase SW plus and business cards so total of 3 Chase cards since Oct 2017.

Since you are not loyal to any chain, collecting URs may be the best way to go...since they can be used to book hotels through the UR travel portal or transferred to Chase partner hotels

 

[Alexle2007]

Hey everyone, just checking in from Universal! Rode the new Hagrid's Motorbike ride and it was awesome! Got in line for the park at 8:25 for a 9am opening. There was a sea of people ahead of us and of course almost everyone was headed for the ride. Got on the ride at 9:48, not too bad. Posted wait times have been mostly 210 min. It dropped to 120 min at one point yesterday and I overheard someone say they only waited 55 min so we might try to ride it again later.

Ride it at night. It is a totally different experience! Also, glad to see they are opening it on time with the rest of the park finally. We’ll there later this week. I am upgrading our passes to premier.

 

[hsmamato2]

Seems to me that DVC is suited to a lot of you. However, don't let FOMO get you with DVC - those contracts have some hefty dues attached!

That said, I've been happy with my contracts and have used almost every single point through careful planning. I've had some points ready for expiry and have gifted them to strangers for free by booking a night for a random Dis member. And, I've had people do this for me, so it's come full circle. Could have charged but for a dozen points or so for a single night it made me happy!

So a big WELCOME HOME to those who've taken the step and for those who will buy in sometime soon.

It's nice that a lot of folks here like owning DVC...but it isn't for me at all,no FOMO here! My mom owned for about 15 years,we had a lot of fun using it with her, but it also was a source of headaches in planning etc. I personally feel that it's too $$$ for the experience we got. But to each their own, the properties are pretty nice. Just stayed at Saratoga Springs on a trade and it was pretty there.

 

[happ]

Did anyone else buy SB with a BoA Cash Rewards card? I was hoping it would count as "online shopping" category but I don't think it worked. I guess the gamble didn't pay off and I should have used a different card. Oh well.

 

[Hoosier John]

Did anyone else buy SB with a BoA Cash Rewards card? I was hoping it would count as "online shopping" category but I don't think it worked. I guess the gamble didn't pay off and I should have used a different card. Oh well.

I have that CC, so please let me know if you later find it did work (still new to this, but in case I need to get into SB)

 

[hsmamato2]

From you CIP experts..... I referred my bro for a CIP around 7/7.... I know he called in once,got the 30 day answer. He just told me yesterday he still 'hasn't heard anything'..... this seems like a long time..... anyone else have to wait this long? funny thing is he actually has a couple of real businesses that he runs, but he wanted to app using personal info for his own reasons....it would be ironic if he doesn't get the card! I tactfully mentioned calling the line again, what else can we do?

quoting myself b/c he got back to me.... he says he auto line, it says he app'ed twice...(he thinks he hit the button twice maybe by accident) so app 1 is at two weeks, app 2 (the accident???) is 7-10 which is obviously denial. He wants to just wait it out, is that ok,or should he call in to clarify at this point? looking for advice on how to proceed with this kind of 'oops'( I know he didn't app twice on purpose)

 

[gottalovepluto]

From you CIP experts..... I referred my bro for a CIP around 7/7.... I know he called in once,got the 30 day answer. He just told me yesterday he still 'hasn't heard anything'..... this seems like a long time..... anyone else have to wait this long? funny thing is he actually has a couple of real businesses that he runs, but he wanted to app using personal info for his own reasons....it would be ironic if he doesn't get the card! I tactfully mentioned calling the line again, what else can we do?

Nothing. He should call the status line, you already told him that so now you wait (The longest DP I know of is my mom who took 2-3 weeks. Ultimately Chase re-allocated CLs for her so that i think that was the hold-up. She did nothing.)

 

[gottalovepluto]

quoting myself b/c he got back to me.... he says he auto line, it says he app'ed twice...(he thinks he hit the button twice maybe by accident) so app 1 is at two weeks, app 2 (the accident???) is 7-10 which is obviously denial. He wants to just wait it out, is that ok,or should he call in to clarify at this point? looking for advice on how to proceed with this kind of 'oops'( I know he didn't app twice on purpose)

Missed your update. Imho he should just wait. Give it another week.

 

[gottalovepluto]

What is the best way to earn free hotel stays? I normally book on Hotwire, but am ready to start earning hotel points. No particular loyalty to any chain. I just received the CSP card one week ago so this is my first time to earn UR points. I have the Chase SW plus and business cards so total of 3 Chase cards since Oct 2017.

To earn hotel points you would need to spend lots of nights at one hotel brand or get cc signup bonuses. If you’re an occasional traveler who looks for the best deal you’re better off with your UR points for hotels. Some people like hotels.com due to the 1 night free after 10 nights and the discounts you can get on their gift cards.

If you really want “hotel points” you have to pick a chain... Hyatt has the smallest footprint but the best bang for your points redemption wise. Hilton is the worst for storing up your points in because they devalue their points like they’re the Argentine Peso but big footprint. Status with Hilton will get you more potential perks than status with Marriott. Marriott Bonvoy is middle road imho but the program is currently known for some epic screwups in the customer service department and not giving a darn. They do have a big footprint. You can get a feel for how many points/night you need by playing around with places you might go and selecting pay with points on the various websites.

After playing around with where you might want to go and finding out how many points you’ll need you could look at current credit card offers. If you want a fancy Hilton (like a Waldorf Astoria) the free weekend night certificate being given with the current cc offers is excellent bang for your buck if your hotel qualifies.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Ok. A little advice needed.
DHs cards
1/18 BOA Travel Rewards
5/18 CIP (cancelled 6/19)
8/18 Barclay’s Biz
12/18 CIC
4/19 CIU
7/1/19 SW Perf Biz

I want to go for the other SW Biz. When is the soonest I could safely do that?
I have $1400 in Insurance payments due in September and would like to use a new MSR plus I’d love to have the CP to maybe book a little fall getaway.

 

[Haley R]

We just got done at seaworld about an hour ago and the experience was night and day compared to Busch gardens. We absolutely loved our visit today! We stayed at the Hampton which was about a 15 minute walk to the park and we got quick que passes for free by staying there. I’ll post a review on the hotel thread but it was a very good rate for being that close with free parking and quick que passes.

We were the very first ones on manta and the new infinity falls. Infinity falls was AMAZING!!! We got absolutely soaked and it was so much fun.

 

[Alexle2007]

We just got done at seaworld about an hour ago and the experience was night and day compared to Busch gardens. We absolutely loved our visit today! We stayed at the Hampton which was about a 15 minute walk to the park and we got quick que passes for free by staying there. I’ll post a review on the hotel thread but it was a very good rate for being that close with free parking and quick que passes.

We were the very first ones on manta and the new infinity falls. Infinity falls was AMAZING!!! We got absolutely soaked and it was so much fun.

Definitely agree that staying “onsite” and getting the QQ card is an awesome perk!

My brother says their AP that includes all of SW, Aquatica and all of BG is the best deal around. He has been in the Orlando for several years and currently holds all of the major APs- Universal, Disney and this one.

 

[wed100105]

I just received notification that my credit score dropped another 24 points-only changing factor was opening my second CIP. I was instantly approved, and I received notifications from all the credit monitoring services I use that JPM Chase Card services had an inquiry on Experian and Trans Union. I was at an 815. Down to a 765 since I started this credit card churning adventure. Should I be concerned?

 

[bernina]

I just received notification that my credit score dropped another 24 points-only changing factor was opening my second CIP. I was instantly approved, and I received notifications from all the credit monitoring services I use that JPM Chase Card services had an inquiry on Experian and Trans Union. I was at an 815. Down to a 765 since I started this credit card churning adventure. Should I be concerned?

What’s your Average Age of Accounts (free sites like Credit Karma provide this) and do you have a large balance on any of your cards?

 

[havaneselover]

Definitely agree that staying “onsite” and getting the QQ card is an awesome perk!

My brother says their AP that includes all of SW, Aquatica and all of BG is the best deal around. He has been in the Orlando for several years and currently holds all of the major APs- Universal, Disney and this one.

We used to have BG Platinum passes. They were such a deal. We regularly used them at BG Williamsburg and Water Country USA (such a nice water park), but also hit up Sea World, Busch Gardens Tampa, and Sesame Place. Plus I had Platinum parking at all the parks. I think I paid $12/month/pass. It was an outstanding value for our family.

 

[Hoosier John]

I just received notification that my credit score dropped another 24 points-only changing factor was opening my second CIP. I was instantly approved, and I received notifications from all the credit monitoring services I use that JPM Chase Card services had an inquiry on Experian and Trans Union. I was at an 815. Down to a 765 since I started this credit card churning adventure. Should I be concerned?

I would be concerned, myself. I didn't think the second Chase Biz card would cause a credit pull. If I'm right, then while coincidental, I would be worried that someone else just opened a (personal) Chase card in your name. Someone please tell me I'm wrong