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

[Haley R]

Oh my gosh! Dh has been working last night and today on that transfer switch. He’s been watching tons of YouTube videos. He just got it to work!!!! Our little generator can power our entire house now! He said we just need to go buy another breaker so the AC can run off of it too. I’m glad he’s able to watch videos to figure all of this out

 

[gregorykicks]

If anyone is using Orion FCU for their 4% APY checking account, double check your transactions this month.

I had been using Amazon $0.50 gift card reloads to hit the 8 "credit" transactions/month requirement for the debit card. They are now coding as "bill payment card purchase" not "signature card purchase".

 

[WVMomof3]

Discover is super easy. No DD and you can move the money back and fort to trigger the higher bonus

It says I need to have the money there by 9/23. Is that possible if I need to do 3 in and outs? I know some people complain about some banks taking a long time. And you move it into and out of same bank? So push $8k from my CU to disover then pull it back next day? And that doesn't look suspicious? lol Every time I look into these, I am like that is too much work.

 

[LynnTH]

It says I need to have the money there by 9/23. Is that possible if I need to do 3 in and outs? I know some people complain about some banks taking a long time. And you move it into and out of same bank? So push $8k from my CU to disover then pull it back next day? And that doesn't look suspicious? lol Every time I look into these, I am like that is too much work.

I'm hoping they are quick. Already put in $15,000 - hoping to take money and out put back in next week. Then do the same for DH. Would like to be able to do both kids too (transfer $ to their accounts and send money from there) but don't think I will have time for that. Do they do this bonus often - since this one expires on 9/23.

 

[smallsy]

When are you scheduled to fly?

We're not flying. We're driving. We're leaving today to drive down to Bluffton (outside of Savannah) for my cousin's wedding weekend (my twins are flower girls). The plan was to leave right after her wedding on Sunday since it's halfway for us and get in late Sunday night, stay till Saturday (she set her date after we had booked, otherwise we had planned to be down there tomorrow). We can only get back about half of what we paid for our room through insurance so we'll be out about $1000 if we don't go. I'm just so torn. And people on here saying we're crazy and selfish for wanting to go makes me feel worse. Either way we lose. Even if we get down there safely and are able to have 2 or 3 days in the parks they will be wet ones. I hate the idea of losing so much money and missing our only planned vacation for this year. I also hate the idea of driving to a place that is about to experience a hurricane that could be terrible and dangerous.

I am also the WORST at making decisions. I always second guess myself. This is why I killed it on essays in school and struggled with multiple choice, ha!

 

[Lain]

Wait, I have go in change my store? I was planning to go to one that is closer to HH with my friends rather than out of my way to one I typically go to.

No you don’t. I never do.

I always figured it’s because there are small stores and big stores, and smaller stores may not have certain items you have deals for, or they won’t offer you coupons on items they don’t stock at that store. If you have the coupon for VGC/MCGC saved, and the store has them in stock, you’ll get the discount even without changing the store to the exact one where you’re shopping.

 

[Judique]

Did DVC send you that one or did you have to buy? I got a 'welcome home' kit from them and it said something about including a small token of their appreciation but there wasn't anything! I'm like, 'what is that token!?!'. I know I bought the smallest and cheapest contract they offered but don't tease me like that!!

Were the papers in a canvas dvc bag?

 

[afan]

We're not flying. We're driving. We're leaving today to drive down to Bluffton (outside of Savannah) for my cousin's wedding weekend (my twins are flower girls). The plan was to leave right after her wedding on Sunday since it's halfway for us and get in late Sunday night, stay till Saturday (she set her date after we had booked, otherwise we had planned to be down there tomorrow). We can only get back about half of what we paid for our room through insurance so we'll be out about $1000 if we don't go. I'm just so torn. And people on here saying we're crazy and selfish for wanting to go makes me feel worse. Either way we lose. Even if we get down there safely and are able to have 2 or 3 days in the parks they will be wet ones. I hate the idea of losing so much money and missing our only planned vacation for this year. I also hate the idea of driving to a place that is about to experience a hurricane that could be terrible and dangerous.

I am also the WORST at making decisions. I always second guess myself. This is why I killed it on essays in school and struggled with multiple choice, ha!

Don't let what others say about being crazy or selfish get to you. I understand where they are coming from and I get the storm is awful but I also feel like some of them are being a bit dramatic. But the gas situation is a real issue and needing to make sure you had enough to get there and back out next weekend would be my biggest factor in deciding. Plus to me it's still too early to decide and really I wouldn't make a decision until sunday. There's still too much unknown imo.

Alll the notice is great but I think it's made it worse.

 

[PolyRob]

Were the papers in a canvas dvc bag?

We both purchased from home so we were sent our stuff via FedEx. I personally got a box with the new DVC backpack and two folders. Red was sign and return and yellow was keep for your records.

 

[Alexle2007]

No you don’t. I never do.

I always figured it’s because there are small stores and big stores, and smaller stores may not have certain items you have deals for, or they won’t offer you coupons on items they don’t stock at that store. If you have the coupon for VGC/MCGC saved, and the store has them in stock, you’ll get the discount even without changing the store to the exact one where you’re shopping.

Great. We never shop at Safeway since we have closer options so Safeway only gets my business on these deals

 

[Judique]

How timely to get a White House Black Market AmEx offer (Spend $100, get 2.5k MRs) as I am eyeing some dresses and heels that are 50% off..

I did not get that offer which I would have happily used. Instead I got a 20K offer for spending a grand on air france or klm. Also got Waldorf Astoria, and Cambria Suites. I do have an old whbm 1 extra point offer.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Ugh, I think I'm operating on pure emotion right now and it's probably not the smartest decision. If we move our trip it will cost us around $2500 more, which is dumb. Dumb. Plus, we quite honestly don't need to spend that kind of cash right now. Yes, I have about 400K URs I could cash out to pay for it, but we were hoping to save those for our anniversary trip next year. I think we should either chance it or just cut our losses and save up for the next trip, even if it's a year out. Maybe I can finally rack up some AA miles to use by then... sigh.

We're not flying. We're driving. We're leaving today to drive down to Bluffton (outside of Savannah) for my cousin's wedding weekend (my twins are flower girls). The plan was to leave right after her wedding on Sunday since it's halfway for us and get in late Sunday night, stay till Saturday (she set her date after we had booked, otherwise we had planned to be down there tomorrow). We can only get back about half of what we paid for our room through insurance so we'll be out about $1000 if we don't go. I'm just so torn. And people on here saying we're crazy and selfish for wanting to go makes me feel worse. Either way we lose. Even if we get down there safely and are able to have 2 or 3 days in the parks they will be wet ones. I hate the idea of losing so much money and missing our only planned vacation for this year. I also hate the idea of driving to a place that is about to experience a hurricane that could be terrible and dangerous.

I am also the WORST at making decisions. I always second guess myself. This is why I killed it on essays in school and struggled with multiple choice, ha!

First off - whatever thread you're on that people are saying you're crazy and selfish...Leave it now! That's not their place to say - and you don't need that kind of feedback right now!

WE here on this thread will support YOU without whatever you decide. It seems like you're scheduled to have 5-6 park days but you realize that 2-3 of those might be impacted. You've invested a lot of time and money in planning this trip. It's ok to feel torn and I can't imagine how you feel right now. Whatever you decide to do, will be the right decision for you and your family.

I wouldn't rule out going though. I think that if you make the best of it, you can have a great trip. There's always a ton of doom and gloom leading up to a WDW hurricane but then when it rolls through I watch the threads of people having a GREAT time riding out the storm and of course enjoying the extremely low crowds around those storm days.

Could you possibly add a cheap night to the end of your trip at an off-site property so that you can guarantee a full park day on Saturday and then drive back Sunday? I would really sit down and put all the options on the table before you cancel - unless you're just scared (and that's ok too).

I don't envy the position you're in and I can't tell you what to do - but I know on THIS thread, we will support you no matter what you decide. Avoid anybody and anywhere that brings negativity into this. I hope you have a fantastic week no matter what you decide!

 

[Lain]

Wow that's excellent. I have a Plat that'll have to decide what to do with in October. I'd keep it if I got a retention offer but I'm a little afraid to call and have the customer service person asking why I need to keep the Plat when I have so many other cards . . . Do you have many other AmEx cards?

I have four. Plat, two Hiltons & a Delta. The rep did not mention any of my other cards. He talked about the benefits, I mentioned my honest concerns about some of them & he came back with the offer.

I am not inclined to keep the Delta card or one of the Hiltons but I think I won't ask for retention on those, and wait for a card I'm really on the fence about. I understand they can see past retention offers you've gotten (& the rep said they won't do this every year), so while some people call often, I think I will be talking to them more sparingly.

I went for a retention offer on my Plat when I had 9 open Amex cards. The rep called me out on that, but I was able to explain my way through it.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/i...t-page-for-addl-details.3729982/post-60557808
I got a 30k MR for $4k spend retention offer, which was considered a good offer at the time (April). Lots of DPs say Amex has been handing out 50k MR/no spending requirement offers on different varieties of the personal Platinum for the past month or two, even on cards with minimal spend. They must be hurting to retain Platinum cardmembers!

ETA: Keep in mind that retention offers are targeted and attached to your account. They’re generated by a computer algorithm that weighs things like your spend, years of membership, probably what benefits you’ve used up, whether you got a retention offer last year, and probably broader trends like how many Platinum (or whatever else card) cardmembers have been canceling, and maybe quarterly targets. Offers change periodically too. You might not get anything when you first call in, but something might be offered if you call back in a week. I doubt the reps have very much influence over the offers you get. They’re just trying to psych you into keeping the card without giving you anything for it. Expect them to talk about the card benefits, ask why you have so many other cards, be prepared with some good responses to these talking points, but be insistent and ask if there are any offers for you to keep the card that’ll help you make your decision to keep or cancel. They have to read you whatever offers are available on their screen.

 

[wendow]

We're not flying. We're driving. We're leaving today to drive down to Bluffton (outside of Savannah) for my cousin's wedding weekend (my twins are flower girls). The plan was to leave right after her wedding on Sunday since it's halfway for us and get in late Sunday night, stay till Saturday (she set her date after we had booked, otherwise we had planned to be down there tomorrow). We can only get back about half of what we paid for our room through insurance so we'll be out about $1000 if we don't go. I'm just so torn. And people on here saying we're crazy and selfish for wanting to go makes me feel worse. Either way we lose. Even if we get down there safely and are able to have 2 or 3 days in the parks they will be wet ones. I hate the idea of losing so much money and missing our only planned vacation for this year. I also hate the idea of driving to a place that is about to experience a hurricane that could be terrible and dangerous.

I am also the WORST at making decisions. I always second guess myself. This is why I killed it on essays in school and struggled with multiple choice, ha!

I'm so sorry you are in this position. Our family only gets one vacation most years so it would be a really big deal to us too. I'd be struggling as well to make a sound decision for my family.

 

[wendow]

Were the papers in a canvas dvc bag?

No, mine was as @PolyRob described.

 

[Judique]

Right, mostly. So there are two high pressure systems at play. One is the Bermuda High and it is a mostly permanent feature over the Atlantic Ocean. This is the system mostly responsible for moving waves west over the Atlantic (or more accurately, blocking them from turning north). I believe the only similar semi-permanent feature on the West Coast is the Aleutian High. There are a lot of reasons why your weather is more stable, chief among them is a cold water southerly current called the California Current. The East Coast, conversely, has a warm water northerly current called the Gulf Stream and results in much more instability.

The other feature is a building ridge on the east coast. The reason the model runs have varied so wildly is it's been exceeding difficult to predict just how quickly and how strong that ridge will build. A hurricane will not plow into a ridge - it's simply physically not possible. A strong hurricane can weaken a small ridge and move through a weakness.

So that's the question. We know Dorian will turn north. All hurricanes do. Hurricanes are heat engines that move summertime energy from the tropics to the poles, and a constant westward movement is an inefficient distribution of heat. The question is, when will Dorian make that turn? And there are so many variables - if Dorian slows down, it gives the ridge more time to build, which might favor more westward movement first. But if Dorian slows down a lot and intensifies significantly (looks likely), it could be more likely to "feel" a weakness in the ridge and change when it turns north.

Interesting stuff! We can only hope it makes the turn without interacting with any land, but that's looking less likely.

Looks like it's going to plow right into West Palm to Jupiter area. Hope it doesn't reach Vero.

 

[3 DD love princesses]

So, dumb question.

Those of you taking advantage of no-fee Visa gift card promotions and such- is it only those of you who are using Serve/MSing who are buying them, or are there those who are just buying them to use for other purposes? Maybe buying Disney GCs (can you do that?) or giving them as gifts or....?

I do it to use when I’m not working on a spend. Many times we meet the spend before the 3 months and just waiting till the next app. This way I can get 5x ur with the CIC so that at least I’m getting something for all the spending. Now that I’ve done the serve I’ll get some more to try that. Downfall my store that’s 35 min away (closest staples) only lets you do 1 $200 gc a day.

 

[Alexle2007]

$550 AF just posted on my converted Amex MB Plat. I was thinking I'd keep it anyway since I want to stay on Amex's nice list, and between the airline incidentals, Uber, and Saks credits, and Amex Offers, this card is basically a wash for me. I'll have my Biz Plat for Centurion Lounge access until at least August or September. But after that, I don't want to churn through another personal Platinum (i.e. Ameriprise, Charles Schwab, or Morgan Stanley) yet because I'm trying to stay under 5/24 until later this year to pick up a few more cards from Chase. Another two cards won't drop off my */24 count until April 2020, so I need to slow my roll.

I called into Amex's retention department (1-800-452-3945). The rep looked up my account, noticed my spend on the Plat was only "average"* and I have "all these other cards, the Gold, the Biz Plat, a Biz Green, all the Bonvoys, why would [ I] want to keep the Plat?" So tables turned, I list the things I value about the Plat, but tell him that practically speaking, for most things I'm spending on every day, the Plat is a 1x MR card, whereas the other Amex cards in my wallet offer more rewarding bonus categories and I'll put my spend where I get a better bonus. The rep says he'll see if they can offer me some sort of spending bonus that'll help me put more spend on the Plat, puts me on hold for a minute, and comes back with 30k MR for $4k spend in 3 months. Done. Took the offer.

*ETA total spend in the past year was only about ~$11.5k. The rep did say I did "pretty good" a few months ago, which I'm guessing refers to over the holidays and when we bought our Casper mattress, when the statement balances were in the thousands vs. a few hundreds usually. Amex obviously cares about spend.

So I am coming up on my 1 year anniversary on 9/8. When do I call to ask for a retention offer?

 

[striker1064]

Looks like it's going to plow right into West Palm to Jupiter area. Hope it doesn't reach Vero.

The latest model run - hot off the presses - shows a significantly weaker ridge and a category 4 Dorian stalled just offshore by Monday, eventually pulling hard north. This is a best case scenario at this point, although just because there's no landfall in FL it doesn't mean no impacts either.

But again, another model run, another major change - shows how high uncertainty remains with this storm, which is pretty unusual.

Side note, if I worked for NWS/NHC and just saw the last couple model runs, I would quit. Insanity. I don't envy the decisions they need to make on track at all.

 

[Lain]

So I am coming up on my 1 year anniversary on 9/8. When do I call to ask for a retention offer?

You can try now! Again, reports are Amex is being really generous with their Platinum retention offers right now. Might as well try while the gettin’s good, since you can technically cancel your card in about a week. Mention that your cardmember anniversary is coming up in the next week or so, that you’re deciding whether to keep or cancel the card, and wondering if they have any offers that’ll help you decide to keep it for another year. They may give you the usual talking points about spend, sell you on the card benefits, ask about your other cards; just have some good responses ready and be insistent. If there’s an offer on your account, they have to read it to you. If there’s nothing yet, wait til it’s been 1 year, and again when the AF posts, and maybe again just before the deadline to cancel. Good luck!