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

[Ngwira]

I’ll probably continue to go to the parties but the after hours events are so much better.

I have mixed reviews on the Contemporary. I absolutely loved being on the 12th floor of the contemporary. We had a lake view room which was perfect for watching the water pageant. The lounge was really small, but I got some snacks and we went to watch the fireworks at night. We sat next to this older couple that had the staff turn off the lights (they were saying that’s what they did at the poly club level lol) the four of us were sitting in chairs back by the doors and this guy stands behind us and all of a sudden he just walks and stands right in front of me. Another guest said he was blocking our view so he eventually moved, but it was so bizarre. Do people have any self awareness? do not recommend watching the fireworks from the lounge though. It was too small to accommodate even the small number of guests up there that want to watch the fireworks.

The staff was also meh. I went to the lounge a few times by myself and I watched about three cast members go up to every single table, but mine and ask if they needed anything. Never got offered an alcoholic beverage at check in. The check in guy was also brief didn’t explain anything to us about when food would be out anything about the resort etc.

The beds were very comfortable and it was a big room. The bathroom is weird. The sinks were at my knees and the water pressure was awful.

Now for the worst thing. I didn’t notice anything until my SO says “if I tell you something will you promise not to complain.” Uhhh no he says ok and stops talking so I eventually said fine. He found 6 bugs by the sinks in the bathroom. We took pictures and he agreed I can send an email. He is tired of me making a scene, but come on that’s gross. What saved this hotel is the location. I loved walking to my room and seeing space mountain and the castle.

Oh wow yeah I’d complain too. Thank goodness you used AA miles and not real cash...isn’t that room around $800 a night?

 

[Lain]

I've been debating the Gold since it seems like a high earner, especially as we don't really have anything with a grocery store bonus. I'm kind of torn on trying for a Plat for myself, or getting me or DH a Gold... I think when I looked the other day I could support myself to a Gold from DH for 40k plus support bonus for $2k spend, vs the regular 50k for $2k spend. If airline credits would cover upgraded boarding that could be a game changer. I attempted asking that on reddit, no response so far - should have asked on a weekday lol. But apparently that was an offensive question as I've already been downvoted I swear I asked in the question thread.

40k MR/$2k MSR via support link seems low. You should be able to pull a 50k MR/$2k MSR offer via support, perhaps by opening up the support link in incognito mode. Try playing around with different browsers and settings.

Remember, the DH's Plat supports for a 15k MR bonus, but avoid self-support.

Aside from SUBs, the Gold is my highest Amex earner and I don't even MS on it.

We also tend to get a lot of good Amex Offers on the Gold. My wife's AU (opened pre-churning) always seems to get the MR versions of the Amex Offers and sometimes gets the cash back versions too, allowing for stacking.

The 4x MR at supermarkets category is a big earner, since I rack up a high bonus multiplier from grocery shopping I'm doing anyway, but especially so when there are VGC/MCGC deals. I buy VGC/MCGC with my regular grocery, often during deals, and use the VGCs to shift the 4x MR that I earned on the purchase to my other non-bonus category spend; and MCGCs usually get liquidated through Plastiq at 1%.

The 4x MR at restaurants was one major reason for PCing my CSR. My wife kept her CSR to pool our URs and redeem at 1.5x, and earns 3x UR on her dining. I earn 4x MR on my dining, but also takeout and delivery on services like Grubhub, Caviar, and Delivery .com. I also make good use of the $10 monthly dining credit, since Grubhub is one of the qualifying services, has a good selection of local restaurants, has a pick up option that avoids fees, and earns 1% back on Ebates.

The $100 airline fee credit works the same way on the Gold as on the Plat. SW EBCI is eligible for reimbursement.

The Gold really is a big earner and solid keeper card, even with the $250 AF.

My two regrets are you didn't get it earlier when the AF was waived for the first year and you could've been grandfathered in to the lower $195 for the second year; and you're not getting the Gold when Amex has a limited time offer to pick the Rose Gold. The Rose Gold is a really beautiful looking card. (You should still be able to request a replacement in Rose Gold if/when Amex makes the color available again.)

ETA: Of course, the Amex Gold card is a personal card that will show up on your personal credit reports after the close of your second statement, so if you are 4/24 this may not be the card for you until you get what you need to from Chase.

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

LOL- my DD is an excellent test taker which works to her advantage because yes, it seems pretty challenging for FL residents to gain acceptance to UF-some of her classmates were heartbroken around acceptance time

Jet Blue flies from ORH (Worcester) directly to MCO but that's a good 6 1/2 drive from us so she'd have to fly Silver to MCO and then B6 to ORH. It was easier for us getting her there to fly Delta PNS-ATL-PVD and rent a car at PVD for move in. She'll probably train to BOS and fly home from there for Christmas.

We saw several students and their families from WPI at the hotel-if you have questions about the hotel situation in Worcester I am happy to answer questions about what's worked best for us.

I would like to hear about the hotel situation in Worcester. I think WPI would be a great school for dd, but she wants more of an urban setting. Then again her top choice is not urban, so IDK what she's thinking! I think she's concerned she won't like Worcester, but it's so close to Boston and WPI has a shuttle to the train station on weekends, so I think she'd be fine. I keep reminding her that she's going to college to learn, not eat, drink and be merry in the city! Like I said I LOVED WPI and think it would be a great fit for her. Plus Boston is so close to Toronto, so there's that.

 

[ten6mom]

OK, here is a dumb question that I should have thought of much earlier.

Thus far as far as Chase cards I have my Freedom, and two CIPs.

I have, for now, transferred all my URs to CIP #1.

It will be awhile yet until I can reasonably hope to make reservations for anything with it. In the meantime I had planned to close it after it had been open a year (Early June of 2020).

IF for some reason I haven't been able to use those URs by that time (gosh I hope that doesn't happen), what should I do with them? Move them to CIP #2 which I will have a couple more months on (early September 2020)? By then I should for sure be able to have used the URs to make reservations for Spring 2021.

 

[Etonduf]

OMG, I have no idea the Aviator had a different website! I kept trying to setup my account on Barclays and it get kept giving me an error. After calling the # the website gave me and the gentleman saying that my card didn’t exist. I saw the small print for the Aviator website. I saved it to my favorites since I am sure I would never remember that. Now to complete $1k spend and use DH’s AU card and be done.

I guarantee this is the last time you will use the word "favorite" when referring to the Aviator website. I was glad to take their points (as was P2), but wow that site is terrible.

 

[Hoosier John]

This is gonna sound bad for someone (trying) to follow here for 6 months, but since we just rented BWV to another couple, we need a place to stay to visit Universal Studios Orlando (USO). We have Premier APs (free parking and Express Pass after 4pm), so it doesn't need to be onsite. The only travel card we have is CIP. Is the best idea to just check Chase Portal for good deals. We aren't terribly picky with lodging. Any tips?

 

[gottalovepluto]

I have a BS in Accounting and am so glad I never used it or wasted my time sitting for the CPA. My boss keeps asking if i I want my PMP (Project Mgmt Professional) certification. No thanks, I don't think it makes you a better PM because you can add an abbreviation to your signature.

But does it make you more employable if you have to hit the job market? Is there the possibility it will increase your salary since you’re “certified”? Is today’s boss willing to pay for it? Don’t mind me, you obviously don’t have to answer! I have a family member who for a couple hundred dollars and some time could be certified in his field but the genius can’t be bothered. (Said genius has never had to pound the pavement during a recession.) No clue about PMP though- if it’s as complicated as taking the CPA I can see why you’re passing! I have a friend who spent months doing the CPA after graduating college, worked as an accountant for 6 months and then quit. CPA was such a waste of time and money as the writing on her “don’t be an accountant” wall was clear as day even years earlier- but not to her. Serious kudos to you for recognizing that!

 

[ten6mom]

I guarantee this is the last time you will use the word "favorite" when referring to the Aviator website. I was glad to take their points (as was P2), but wow that site is terrible.

I don't have this but I think I'll stay away from it!

 

[gottalovepluto]

OK, here is a dumb question that I should have thought of much earlier.

Thus far as far as Chase cards I have my Freedom, and two CIPs.

I have, for now, transferred all my URs to CIP #1.

It will be awhile yet until I can reasonably hope to make reservations for anything with it. In the meantime I had planned to close it after it had been open a year (Early June of 2020).

IF for some reason I haven't been able to use those URs by that time (gosh I hope that doesn't happen), what should I do with them? Move them to CIP #2 which I will have a couple more months on (early September 2020)? By then I should for sure be able to have used the URs to make reservations for Spring 2021.

Yes. Move them to CIP 2. Personally I would put them all there now actually. This is because I look at moving points through the lens of “If I could no longer move my points tomorrow where would I want them all?” CIP2 it would be due to its longer life expectancy and 1.25x.

 

[gottalovepluto]

This is gonna sound bad for someone (trying) to follow here for 6 months, but since we just rented BWV to another couple, we need a place to stay to visit Universal Studios Orlando (USO). We have Premier APs (free parking and Express Pass after 4pm), so it doesn't need to be onsite. The only travel card we have is CIP. Is the best idea to just check Chase Portal for good deals. We aren't terribly picky with lodging. Any tips?

I take it you’re looking to book with Chase URs? If so yes, book through the portal. If not there is no reason to use the Chase portal as it tends to have higher rates than you’d get from the hotel direct with a AAA or some such discount.

 

[amalone1013]

40k MR/$2k MSR via support link seems low. You should be able to pull a 50k MR/$2k MSR offer via support, perhaps by opening up the support link in incognito mode. Try playing around with different browsers and settings.

Remember, the DH's Plat supports for a 15k MR bonus, but avoid self-support.

Aside from SUBs, the Gold is my highest Amex earner and I don't even MS on it.

We also tend to get a lot of good Amex Offers on the Gold. My wife's AU (opened pre-churning) always seems to get the MR versions of the Amex Offers and sometimes gets the cash back versions too, allowing for stacking.

The 4x MR at supermarkets category is a big earner, since I rack up a high bonus multiplier from grocery shopping I'm doing anyway, but especially so when there are VGC/MCGC deals. I buy VGC/MCGC with my regular grocery, often during deals, and use the VGCs to shift the 4x MR that I earned on the purchase to my other non-bonus category spend; and MCGCs usually get liquidated through Plastiq at 1%.

The 4x MR at restaurants was one major reason for PCing my CSR. My wife kept her CSR to pool our URs and redeem at 1.5x, and earns 3x UR on her dining. I earn 4x MR on my dining, but also takeout and delivery on services like Grubhub, Caviar, and Delivery .com. I also make good use of the $10 monthly dining credit, since Grubhub is one of the qualifying services, has a good selection of local restaurants, has a pick up option that avoids fees, and earns 1% back on Ebates.

The $100 airline fee credit works the same way on the Gold as on the Plat. SW EBCI is eligible for reimbursement.

The Gold really is a big earner and solid keeper card, even with the $250 AF.

My two regrets are you didn't get it earlier when the AF was waived for the first year and you could've been grandfathered in to the lower $195 for the second year; and you're not getting the Gold when Amex has a limited time offer to pick the Rose Gold. The Rose Gold is a really beautiful looking card. (You should still be able to request a replacement in Rose Gold if/when Amex makes the color available again.)

I appreciate the write up!
I was playing with the support on the incognito version of internet explorer at work this week and could only get 40k. Chrome still doesn't work on my work computer Of course, just pulled up 50k in Chrome incognito... Also seeing a 75k Plat offer, which I wasn't before. Half tempted to try the Plat and then support DH to gold next... Just what I need, more MSR!

There's definitely places we could/would use the credit with Grubhub. The other restaurants are either not near us/not places we'd go, but there's a few pick up GH places we tend to hit once a month at least.

I'm wondering about the $40-$50 A spots you can buy at the gate... we would definitely use those if it covers. I'd rather pay that then EBCI at this time, every flight I've taken has had EBCI as $25 now and I'd rather pay a bit more to be guaranteed a good spot vs be the guy at the check in desk this past Monday morning complaining he bought EBCI (only a couple days out, granted) and got a C boarding number. But it helps that DH is usually between A16 and A27 so far with A list, so we're only upgrading my ticket. I would give it a shot myself on one of the next trips but have currently used up our Plat credit Reddit has just sent me to FT but all I can find there is discussion on if the SW trick is still working, not about using it for upgrading to an A1-15 spot.

I am sad I was not ready for the MR game for the waived AF or Rose Gold times

 

[tink1970]

I would like to hear about the hotel situation in Worcester.

Closest to WPI is the Courtyard- 0.4 miles away and a Cat 4. It has free parking and a 4 star rating on trip advisor.

If you're more Hilton oriented, Hampton Inn is rated 4 1/2 stars but parking is limited which can be a pain. It's also very close to WPI. There's a shuttle to ORH so if you flew in there it could be really helpful. It has a 4 1/2 star rating and the rooms look very clean and modern.

The AC is where we stay but it's the farthest of the 3 from WPI-about a mile. Parking is $15/night but there's a very nice restaurant next door to the hotel and a good (enough for us) coffee shop across the street. It's also a cat 4 (prior to all the "enhancements" coming Sept 14th with Bonvoy) and rated 4 1/2 stars on trip advisor. I'd give it a solid 4 stars-probably higher if parking weren't tight-but I'm a terrible parker!

If my DD were at WPI, I'd probably chose the Hilton if I flew in; Courtyard if I drove. The AC is our go to but that's because none of the hotels are close to Clark.

Our Uber drivers were both excited about the PawSox (RedSox's AAA team) moving to Worcester in 2021 which will add two more hotels to that area. Apparently about 15 years ago there were only 2 hotels, now there are 8 (or more) and this expansion and $110 M baseball park will bring another couple. Good for the city, probably not great for traffic.

Anyway, I'm excited for this year for you and your DD! Good luck

 

[gottalovepluto]

I am so paranoid. I would never eat or drink anything I get from a Lyft driver. lol my friends do all the time and even take gum and that’s hard to tell if it has been messed with. My SO says it’s also very easy to get your data from a phone when it’s plugged into a USB charger. Idk how to do it, but he can so I avoid doing that.

Yes you can be hacked like that. Anytime you plug into something than can potentially transmit data (like a USB) you open yourself up to being hacked. Best practice is to never plug into a USB outlet that is not your own. OK practice is to avoid blatantly obviously bad places like strangers’ cars, airports charging stations etc.

 

[amalone1013]

So we never made it to the pop up precheck enrollment near us a few weeks back to enroll ILs. DH had to go out of town for work last minute and at least one of the cards we'd need to pay was his Plat.

I was poking around this morning to see when the next appointment times are at the airport... the hard thing is, they only interview til 4pm there which will make it hard for MIL to make it. I realized they do enrollments at a Staples in Longmont which is a teeny bit farther than the airport, but they interview until 5pm! And lots of open slots, we could easily get them there this week or next (after LD), so MIL would have it for the HHN trip. Then I thought, she'll be with aunt then... but wait! I upgraded my Freedom now back to CSR so we have a third credit available! So hopefully tonight we will pick a day in the next couple weeks and make a trip to get everyone precheck

 

[ten6mom]

Yes. Move them to CIP 2. Personally I would put them all there now actually. This is because I look at moving points through the lens of “If I could no longer move my points tomorrow where would I want them all?” CIP2 it would be due to its longer life expectancy and 1.25x.

Thank you!

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

I'm wondering about the $40-$50 A spots you can buy at the gate... we would definitely use those if it covers. I'd rather pay that then EBCI at this time, every flight I've taken has had EBCI as $25 now and I'd rather pay a bit more to be guaranteed a good spot vs be the guy at the check in desk this past Monday morning complaining he bought EBCI (only a couple days out, granted) and got a C boarding number. But it helps that DH is usually between A16 and A27 so far with A list, so we're only upgrading my ticket. I would give it a shot myself on one of the next trips but have currently used up our Plat credit Reddit has just sent me to FT but all I can find there is discussion on if the SW trick is still working, not about using it for upgrading to an A1-15 spot.

I am sad I was not ready for the MR game for the waived AF or Rose Gold times

I'm wondering the same! I have to choose my airline for my Plat. I could choose AA and upgrade our economy seats to Main Cabin Extra on the way home from Rome (used dh's Gold credit to upgrade on the way over), but that's a daytime flight so I'd rather not. SW would be a better choice, I think.

Closest to WPI is the Courtyard- 0.4 miles away and a Cat 4. It has free parking and a 4 star rating on trip advisor.

If you're more Hilton oriented, Hampton Inn is rated 4 1/2 stars but parking is limited which can be a pain. It's also very close to WPI. There's a shuttle to ORH so if you flew in there it could be really helpful. It has a 4 1/2 star rating and the rooms look very clean and modern.

The AC is where we stay but it's the farthest of the 3 from WPI-about a mile. Parking is $15/night but there's a very nice restaurant next door to the hotel and a good (enough for us) coffee shop across the street. It's also a cat 4 (prior to all the "enhancements" coming Sept 14th with Bonvoy) and rated 4 1/2 stars on trip advisor. I'd give it a solid 4 stars-probably higher if parking weren't tight-but I'm a terrible parker!

If my DD were at WPI, I'd probably chose the Hilton if I flew in; Courtyard if I drove. The AC is our go to but that's because none of the hotels are close to Clark.

Our Uber drivers were both excited about the PawSox (RedSox's AAA team) moving to Worcester in 2021 which will add two more hotels to that area. Apparently about 15 years ago there were only 2 hotels, now there are 8 (or more) and this expansion and $110 M baseball park will bring another couple. Good for the city, probably not great for traffic.

Anyway, I'm excited for this year for you and your DD! Good luck

I went to school in Worcester in the late 80s (Holy Cross) and the city had Nothing.

(and I still can't read WPI without saying "whoopie" )

 

[Lain]

I'm wondering about the $40-$50 A spots you can buy at the gate... we would definitely use those if it covers. I'd rather pay that then EBCI at this time, every flight I've taken has had EBCI as $25 now and I'd rather pay a bit more to be guaranteed a good spot vs be the guy at the check in desk this past Monday morning complaining he bought EBCI (only a couple days out, granted) and got a C boarding number. But it helps that DH is usually between A16 and A27 so far with A list, so we're only upgrading my ticket. I would give it a shot myself on one of the next trips but have currently used up our Plat credit Reddit has just sent me to FT but all I can find there is discussion on if the SW trick is still working, not about using it for upgrading to an A1-15 spot.

I'm going to guess that it works. If a <$102 ticket works, I'm sure a $40-$50 upgrade works since that's really what the incidental credit is intended for.

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

Has anyone here used a resume coaching/writing service? A young adult in my life is extremely frustrated with their current job situation and isn't getting any responses from companies after submitting applications.

 

[DisneyMandC]

I swear I can’t wait to be done with Hotels.com. As soon as I use this free night up I am never using them again. I booked a night with our free night for October 10 but decided today that I wanted to move it to October 17. So I went on the app to try to move it and it said that I had to contact customer service, which I figured was because it was a free night. So I’m chatting with someone there about moving it and and she tells me that we will have to do a forced redemption for the free night. OK, whatever. So then she says she will have to charge my credit card the full amount and then she will refund me the value of the free night. that’s fine. So she called me to get my credit card and just needed the last four of the card I secured the reservation with. And I told her I had no idea what card I book led it with and probably didn’t even have that card anymore. She said it was a visa, and I was like yeah that doesn’t help me LOL. So I gave her a new card number to book it with. And then I go back to chatting with her and she finally after several minutes comes on and says my system refreshed and I can’t get it to go through right now. At that point I have been chatting with her for about 20 minutes to try to get this done and just ended the chat because I was so frustrated. So now I’m going to have to call next week and try to get it done

 

[ctinct]

A tiny liberal arts college in Worcester, MA-Clark University. She had free rides to FSU and UF so of course she went with the distant, expensive, no football program choice, lol. Senior year IS crazy between narrowing options and making big decisions but I believe she's where she'll thrive. Good luck-this year will fly by for you and your DD.

Clark was one of about 16 colleges my daughter looked at. She didn’t want to be more than three hours from home. Of course, she ended up five hours from home. (Gettysburg College.) Good luck to your daughter!