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

[brownhaired_girl]

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.

We had the BG Williamsburg AP for a couple years and later got the Super Grover Passes from Sesame Place. I think they had sales around Black Friday. These gave us access to Bush Gardens, Sea World, Sesame Place and their water parks as well as discounts for Discovery Cove. We also had free parking, reserved seating for shows and the option to stay on and reride some of the coasters.

 

[PolyRob]

I just got 5 notifications on my phone that someone was trying to access my Gmail account in the UK on an Android device. Considering I am in the US and only have iOS devices, I think it is time to enable two-factor authentication. I've held out for so long because I hate the process, but I think I should do this for all accounts

 

[PolyRob]

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

I believe only Amex will issue cards without pulling credit reports if you have an open Amex account. Chase does hard pulls for each new account whether it is personal or business. While hard inquiries show, the actual Chase business card itself does not show up on your actual credit report so it will not affect utilization, age of accounts, etc.

 

[Alexle2007]

Anyone know where Universal gift cards are sold in the Orlando area? Time to upgrade our Universal passes to Premier so we can get EP after 4 pm.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

1. I think you decided to fly with JAL, which means you'll need AA miles to book partner awards. That means you'll need another Citi AA. And because you probably don't want to wreck your 5/24 status early in the game, you should keep to Citi AA Biz cards.

2. However, you need to wait about 95 days between your Citi AA Biz applications.

3. Getting P2 on the GrAAvy train by having him apply for the same Citi AA Biz offer you applied for -- P2 would earn the SUB and miles on spend, but unfortunately I don't think there's a way to combine your AA miles and P2's AA miles, which may make booking more complicated. I'll defer to @DisneyMandC and @SouthFayetteFan on this point.

4. Before you finish your Citi AA Biz MSR, you should have your next card lined up so you're not caught without a MSR to be working on.

5. You could refer P2 to the CIP. That'll get you 20k UR support points and line him up for a 80k UR SUB. Unlike AA miles, UR points are easily combined within the same household.

6. If JAL doesn't work out, you could have UR points in reserve to transfer to VS and then redeem for ANA partner awards.

7. If you don't end up booking with ANA, those UR points are still useful for booking hotels through the Chase portal or transferring to a partner with a good redemption rate like Hyatt.

8. Once P2 has a CIP, he can refer you to CIP2 as long as the CIPpy cup keeps flowing.

9. If P2 doesn't get approved for either, you could decide if self-referral from your CIP1 to CIP2 is worth the 20k UR for you. With the recent clawbacks by Amex (not Chase) of self-referral bonuses, people are a bit on edge about self-referrals and whether Chase could do something similar (or shut down accounts). It's always better to refer from P1>P2>P1 and so on than P1>P1. If your P2 can't get the CIP and can't refer you, we've had some discussion about setting up a DISchurners thread for single players to pair up and support each other.

I wonder if you're open to MS (manufactured spending) or have MS available to you to increase your spend (and therefore shorten the time it takes for you to hit MSR), but not actually increase your out of pocket expenses.

ETA: If you need more AA miles have you considered the Barclays Business Aviator?
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/barclays-business-aviator-bonus-now-75000-miles/It's a business card, so it won't affect your 5/24 status. The offer is 65k AA miles after a relatively low $1k MSR, and another 10k AA miles when you make a purchase on an employee (P2) card. I will caution that some of us on this thread got approved for this card, got the card in hand and started spending on it, only to have Barclays deactivate it and ask for business documentation. So this is kind of hit or miss.

1. Yes that's correct- the goal is JAL for a couple of reasons.
2. Ok... so it'll be awhile before I can apply for a second. Thank you.
3. Oooh that's good to know about not being able to combine... uuuuughhhhh! I think I am going to have enough difficulty booking when the time comes. Not sure I am up for hassling with two separate AA accounts... thank you
4. Yes! That's why I am trying to plan now!
5. Yep, thought about that. I was thinking the CitiAA for him but if you cannot combine miles, that may be more hassle (at the time I am ready to try to buy plane tickets) than it's worth...
6. Yes... yes I could. Still, JAL would be my preference. (Am I really being picky about a "free" set of airline tickets???? Yikes....
7. Yes... would be more universally handy. I've definitely thought about that!
8. So much is contingent on whether he gets approved!
9. I saw that a little earlier! I would be on board with that if he cannot get approved.

As always... thank you for sharing your advice!

Hello!! DH and I have just booked JAL flights over the last two weeks using AA miles. We are flying first class JFK-NRT. Booking was extremely easy as you can now book JAL award flights on AA online, so you don’t even have to call in and talk to anyone anymore!

It is 80k AA miles per person ONE WAY to Japan, so 320k miles total for both of us to fly first class round trip. What I did was get both of us a Barclays AA Biz card and two Citi AA Biz cards each over the last year. Between the SUBs for these and the occasional AA flights for DH, I was able to accumulate 200k AA miles in DH’s account and 160k miles in my AA account. When it came time to book our flight, I logged into DH’s account to book both of our tickets from JFK to NRT for 160k miles total, leaving him with 40k Miles leftover. I then booked the return flight on my account for both of us for 160k miles, leaving me with 10k miles left.

I stressed a lot over this but honestly it ended up being a very easy process. The hardest thing is finding that availability if you want to fly first or business. If you’re on with premium economy, which is actually really nice on their planes, then you’ll have a ton of availability!



Aww thanks!! He’s a cool horse and we really like them!



I’m doing it this weekend when I can open my computer at the horse show for a minute!!

We are just back from our Japan ABD and I'm still catching up so I apologize if someone else has said this, but you also have the British Air route to try for JAL tickets. That's what we used for half of our party of four to fly First Class RT between Japan and SFO on JAL. BA costs a few more miles, but URs and MRs are easier for us to amass (I didn't do the grAAVy train) AND you can share avios between the entire family on BA. I was also able to take advantage of 30% transfer bonuses from Amex and Chase, which basically negated the American mile difference. I believe @Calfan used URs for JAL on Quantas. Not sure why her guy went that route (she used a booking agent), but that's another option as well.

The other half of our party of four (DH and DS) flew one way in Business and one way in First using the Virgin Air redemption on ANA.

JAL First Class was amazing. The service was incredible, and the food and drink were top notch. I was sipping on Cristal champagne in both directions. The boys weren't as impressed with ANA business, which seems to be an outlier as I've read great things about the product, but they LOVED first. They were the only two people on the way back and they were basically treated like royalty by the 3 flight attendants. My husband is not a drinker, but he did sample some of the $500 a bottle Japanese whisky! My husband told the flight attendant that he was going to take a pair of the PJs home for me, and she offered him an extra pair! So I now have quite a collection of airline PJs

I'm doing a report about our trip in the ABD forum if anyone is interested. But the churning part of the equation was a major success and has now ruined us for business, LOL. My entire family, including myself, our now part of the Plane Princess bandwagon. I actually had to book tickets for next summer while I was in Japan, and I wasn't able to get first in BA--I was so bummed. But I did manage to get all 4 of us round trip in Business on BA so I shouldn't complain

 

[Lain]

I believe only Amex will issue cards without pulling credit reports if you have an open Amex account. Chase does hard pulls for each new account whether it is personal or business. While hard inquiries show, the actual Chase business card itself does not show up on your actual credit report so it will not affect utilization, age of accounts, etc.

And sometimes Chase will do a hard pull from two credit reporting agencies. For a while, Chase was pulling both Experian and Equifax reports for DW and me. Chase finally went back to pulling just Experian on our latest CIPs.

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

Okay I just tried for the Hilton Biz and got the pop up. I have 4 Amex cards. I just closed my SPG Biz after 14 years of having it. I closed my Delta Gold personal in March to get the Delta Gold Biz.

My Amex Everyday (got in Jan) - I don't spend on it anymore (I did to hit the $1000 and 10k MR) but it has a lovely $4500 balance I'm paying on monthly.

My Hilton Aspire has been used on and off. I got it in Dec 18 and hit it hard to get the bonus.

My Hilton Surpass (got in Oct 17) has had limited spending on it. But I did sign my DD up for a card and spent on it to get the bonus for that (in May). And I have it now set for Hulu and Netflix I think. And my monthly Young Living Oils (which is $100+)

My Delta Gold Biz got in Mar/Apr and hit the spend FAST! Have this set as a recurring payment for my kids doctor bills - $40-80/mo and do other small spending here and there.

So I feel like I'm good on making sure spends happen. The one probably neglected is the Aspire. It's had maybe 2 months with no spend. And I haven't spent on the Everyday but I'd think having a balance would negate the lack of spending there. So how do I get out of popup hell? Here I thought Amex loved me....Waaaaaah!

 

[wanderlust7]

Flew into Edinburgh today and drove to Oban. Got a flat tire as we were almost there. Guess I’ll be putting the CSP insurance to the test.

The rental car had no spare tire! We didn’t even have a local SIM yet. The car has GPS so thought we’d buy it when we got to Oban. Luckily someone stopped and called road side assistance for us. He even tried to help us fix it, but the hole was too big. People are nice here. A total of 3 cars stopped to ask if we need help.

 

[Alexle2007]

Delete

 

[Hoosier John]

My 2 dogs just signed up for their AA biz AAdvantage accounts

Are you joking or serious? Can't really tell, because it would be funny either way

I believe only Amex will issue cards without pulling credit reports if you have an open Amex account. Chase does hard pulls for each new account whether it is personal or business. While hard inquiries show, the actual Chase business card itself does not show up on your actual credit report so it will not affect utilization, age of accounts, etc.

And sometimes Chase will do a hard pull from two credit reporting agencies. For a while, Chase was pulling both Experian and Equifax reports for DW and me. Chase finally went back to pulling just Experian on our latest CIPs.

Thank you for setting me straight!

 

[3 DD love princesses]

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.

I’d put the 3 months in between for chase.
Are you collecting AA?

 

[afan]

Who sells the metabank MCs that have been working as debit on plastiq? Staples? Anywhere else?

Saw that I got 0 fuel points for the $420 I bought on a variable load mc at freds so there's no point in going there except convenience. Bit annoyed that my plan didn't work but I guess they do don't them on variable loads or something. Always gotten my points on other gc but have always bought a set amount.

 

[3 DD love princesses]

Instant approval on Citi AA Biz! Bring on the AA miles...2 mortgage payments and the spend will be completed. So easy to meet the MC MSRs.

Can’t remember was this your first or second card?

 

[3 DD love princesses]

Anyone know where Universal gift cards are sold in the Orlando area? Time to upgrade our Universal passes to Premier so we can get EP after 4 pm.

Sorry for the single quotes it’s not letting me do multiple quotes.

I got visa fee free from staples for our trip so I at least got a 5% savings. I haven’t found universal gc.

 

[3 DD love princesses]

Who sells the metabank MCs that have been working as debit on plastiq? Staples? Anywhere else?

Saw that I got 0 fuel points for the $420 I bought on a variable load mc at freds so there's no point in going there except convenience. Bit annoyed that my plan didn't work but I guess they do don't them on variable loads or something. Always gotten my points on other gc but have always bought a set amount.

I’ve only found the metabank from staples code as 1%. The metabank from Harris teeter codes as 2.5% and shows as debt.

 

[Alexle2007]

Can’t remember was this your first or second card?

This is my 2nd one. I did the 40k + $250 GC the 1st time. I tried 4 times to get the match but it never did work. I had closed the 1st account but did not lower my CL. Last time it went into review and this time instant approval!

 

[Alexle2007]

Sorry for the single quotes it’s not letting me do multiple quotes.

I got visa fee free from staples for our trip so I at least got a 5% savings. I haven’t found universal gc.

Thanks! I did pick up some Visa GC from the Safeway offer. I still have 2 more accounts I could buy on.

 

[wed100105]

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

Thanks. The alerts were almost immediately after I submitted my app and received my approval.

 

[Lain]

Who sells the metabank MCs that have been working as debit on plastiq? Staples? Anywhere else?

Saw that I got 0 fuel points for the $420 I bought on a variable load mc at freds so there's no point in going there except convenience. Bit annoyed that my plan didn't work but I guess they do don't them on variable loads or something. Always gotten my points on other gc but have always bought a set amount.

IME, Staples and Safeway, and iirc OD/OM ones work too.

 

[Lain]

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?

There’s got to be something else going on here. A hard inquiry shouldn’t ding your score 24 points. Do you have high balances on any personal card when the statements close?