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

[Psychodisney]

Interesting email on my DH's Hyatt card. 5x rewards on insurance, utility bills, cable and cell phone through Dec 31, 2019.

 

[calypso726]

So here is a question I've been meaning to ask.

I was purchasing some used books online at thriftbooks dot com (free shipping on orders over $15! Saves me the long annoying drive to Bookman's, where I just was last weekend but won't be near again any time soon) and I was going to use Amex. "We're sorry but we don't accept American Express at this time." That was actually surprising to me, because I thought (well, I assumed) that Amex was more widely accepted these days. (I remember all those Olympics commercials when I was younger for Visa and MC... "and they don't take American Express").

So my question for the Amex users here is, where have you tried to use Amex and NOT been able to?

Very few places considering I use the Amex BBP for everyday non category spend. My acupuncturist and one doctor’s office that I no longer visit but not because he didn’t take Amex. The CU is my backup for the Amex BBP and I very rarely use it.

 

[Judique]

Interesting email on my DH's Hyatt card. 5x rewards on insurance, utility bills, cable and cell phone through Dec 31, 2019.

I signed up for that one a week or so ago, or so I thought. I got the email. Then I got the same email last night, and clicked through again. This time I got an 'activated' notice which I don't think happened before. I have 2 insurance bills in November and Dec to pay for about $1200, and then I'll pay my natural gas, maybe the water bill if I get one, and finish it off with electric.

 

[tink1970]

Very few places considering I use the Amex BBP for everyday non category spend. My acupuncturist and one doctor’s office that I no longer visit but not because he didn’t take Amex. The CU is my backup for the Amex BBP and I very rarely use it.

My DD’s former dr office too (now that she’s in MA I don’t know what she uses) and my gym- a YMCA. They’re always hitting me up for a donation-take Amex and I will people! All of my other charities do and recurring monthly donations help keep the RAT happy. Win win.

 

[Judique]

Last night was the annual street parade in the Main Street Historical District in Laurel, Md. Of course the grands went in their Costco costumes. One was the firefighter, the other a police swat team. Both skipped all the princess stuff. Here is oldest interacting with an officer:

 

[Lain]

Thank you so much for sharing your analysis. It's pretty much in line with what I've been thinking. Maybe one of us could cancel a gold and get a green instead, but at this point we spend more in groceries than dining. We also have a $$$ DCL cruise to pay for (and it's not all going to go on GCs) so we were planning to pay for it with the CSR for the 3x points.

DH has issues with AMEX not counting his work cafe (which only sells food) as it is, so I'm not hopeful that this card would even get used there. And we don't need an Away since the B&R bags that we've had for years are still going strong, so I can't say it would "save" us money.

All in all, if we weren't both at 4/24 I would probably jump at the offer (esp. when we could get support points from one another), but it's hard to fill that last spot. DH got 2 cards early July, 2018 when we started playing this game, so I'm assuming those won't be cleared until next August, and my first one won't drop until the Fall.

Much to think about... We do value MRs much more than many people here, and do much better than 1¢ per point when redeeming (or we have so far). But we also value URs. And I like the points diversified, since it gives us more options when it comes to airline bookings.

I think one more thing to consider when charging travel onto an Amex Green is would it be smarter to use a CSR if you have it? Aside from the facts that one earns MR and the other earns UR, both cards earn a 3x bonus, and perhaps Chase defines "travel" more broadly than Amex, the CSR has the best travel protections of any premium travel credit card. By comparison, the Green has secondary car rental coverage and baggage insurance.

Amex is overhauling its card benefits effective 1/1/20, and the Green is expected to get "tier two" trip delay insurance that covers up to $300 for meals, lodgings, etc. if you trip (round trip only) is delayed more than 12 hours for a covered reason, but it will not get trip cancelation or interruption insurance.

The new launch offer is good through 1/15/20. If you and/or DH apply then, the new card should show up on your credit reports sometime in March. DH will then be 5/24 until July 2020, and you'll be 5/24 until Fall 2020. Really, if Chase pulls EQ or TU, it appears you just have to wait 24 months+1 day from when your oldest 5/24 card drops off to be under 5/24 again. If Chase pulls only EX, then your DH could be 4/24 as of 7/1/20. (Chase pulls EQ and EX for us in the Bay Area so DH may have to wait until 24 months+1 day later in July for the account on the EQ report to age past 24 months.)

 

[hsmamato2]

So Ds's CIP venmo was coded properly...whew! I did reduce the CA limit to $100 tho just in case.... I also got some great chase offers this time...I rarely look b/c I never seem to get them....across 3 cards, I got Lowes twice,1 at 10%,1 at 15%....Staples once at 10%,and P2 got Lowes 15% on cip which is awesome bc we're working on msr for that one still Now I need to coordinate my shopping trips...I still have to use the amex offers at Lowes before they expire....

 

[apollodi]

So here is a question I've been meaning to ask.

I was purchasing some used books online at thriftbooks dot com (free shipping on orders over $15! Saves me the long annoying drive to Bookman's, where I just was last weekend but won't be near again any time soon) and I was going to use Amex. "We're sorry but we don't accept American Express at this time." That was actually surprising to me, because I thought (well, I assumed) that Amex was more widely accepted these days. (I remember all those Olympics commercials when I was younger for Visa and MC... "and they don't take American Express").

So my question for the Amex users here is, where have you tried to use Amex and NOT been able to?

You have hit a sore spot for me, lol. In my experience, most medical providers don't take Amex. My DD3 is special needs, and only one of her multiple doctors and therapists now accepts Amex. Our hospitals are part of the same network as some of her specialists, so they don't accept Amex either, and neither does our dentist. DD5's after school provider doesn't take Amex, either. Also, some of my utilities don't accept Amex. But, pretty much every store/restaurant we go to accepts Amex, aside from Costco of course.

For me, it means I often have to time my Amex applications to certain seasons. In the spring/early summer, I have property taxes, annual and quarterly taxes, home insurance, car insurance, and a few other big annual bills due that will take Amex. Fall is another because of my second property tax payment and holiday shopping.

 

[ski_mom]

RE this, don't forget biz cards have offers too now. I got the 15% on my CSR and CIP. ( Didn't notice if anyone found it on a biz yet).

Where do you find this for the business cards? I can see all offers easily on DH's personal login, but I combined mine a few years back and it's the business interface and I can't ever find any offers for my personal or business cards.

 

[DisneyMandC]

So my question for the Amex users here is, where have you tried to use Amex and NOT been able to?

The only place that really stands out to me as not taking Amex is one of my horse vets. Self-employed guy. It's a shame, because I spend a lot of money with him haha, but I've always been able to time the spend around Visa/MC MSRs so it's been fine.

I did go to a restaurant two nights in a row at a horse show once (small town, only place there). The first night I handed them an Amex and they took it no problem. The second night, I handed them they same card and they tried to tell me they didn't take Amex. I told them I paid with the card the night before and one of the waitresses said "I knew I thought I saw an Amex in there last night." Apparently they "take" Amex, but their boss tries to get them to tell people they don't....

 

[DisneyMandC]

So I went online this morning to dispute that charge for the saddle pad and I've gone through all of Chase's instructions on how to dispute the charge, but the dispute charge isn't showing up anywhere on any of my transactions. Chase shows you how to click the arrow next to the transaction and there should be a link to dispute the charge, but that doesn't show up on any transactions for me, even recent ones. Does someone mind checking their account and seeing if this is a glitch?

 

[GlamMistress]

So here is a question I've been meaning to ask.

I was purchasing some used books online at thriftbooks dot com (free shipping on orders over $15! Saves me the long annoying drive to Bookman's, where I just was last weekend but won't be near again any time soon) and I was going to use Amex. "We're sorry but we don't accept American Express at this time." That was actually surprising to me, because I thought (well, I assumed) that Amex was more widely accepted these days. (I remember all those Olympics commercials when I was younger for Visa and MC... "and they don't take American Express").

So my question for the Amex users here is, where have you tried to use Amex and NOT been able to?

My nail salon. I think that's it.

 

[afan]

Found the Lowe’s offer (15%) on my ciu

My biz and personal are separate but I couldn't find any offers on my cip. Are they only on the app for now? I looked on the website.

 

[happ]

So here is a question I've been meaning to ask.

I was purchasing some used books online at thriftbooks dot com (free shipping on orders over $15! Saves me the long annoying drive to Bookman's, where I just was last weekend but won't be near again any time soon) and I was going to use Amex. "We're sorry but we don't accept American Express at this time." That was actually surprising to me, because I thought (well, I assumed) that Amex was more widely accepted these days. (I remember all those Olympics commercials when I was younger for Visa and MC... "and they don't take American Express").

So my question for the Amex users here is, where have you tried to use Amex and NOT been able to?

This is probably too late for you, but I've purchased used books from thriftbooks through other sites like ebay & amazon. I have run into Amex issues with my oil company and insurance company. Getting the Amex offer for insurance stings when you can't use your card.

 

[jhoannam]

My biz and personal are separate but I couldn't find any offers on my cip. Are they only on the app for now? I looked on the website.

Only one lame ADT offer on all our Chase Biz cards, we have 6. I guess some of us aren't so lucky.

 

[hsmamato2]

My library started a book sale today so I went to check it out. Our library is older and doesn’t usually have a great selection of books but I was very pleasantly surprised by the sale! Hardcover books were $2, paperback $1, and children’s books 50 cents! Dh sent me with $40 just in case but I only spent $10.50. The children’s book selection wasn’t great but I did get 2 books. I got 5 hardcover books for myself. One was one I’ve been waiting to read for over a year

books.....sigh.... I'm about to Konmari my bookshelves....it's a tough one for me, b/c I keep books that I might want to read at some point,and I don't like re-reading things.....how do I manage this when my instinct is always to get more books??? and yet.... I'm feeling weighed down with too many shelves and books. I need Marie to come to my house in person! And I have a reading kindle that gets daily use also....I feel like there's never enough to read,but I want to clean the house!

 

[happ]

So I went online this morning to dispute that charge for the saddle pad and I've gone through all of Chase's instructions on how to dispute the charge, but the dispute charge isn't showing up anywhere on any of my transactions. Chase shows you how to click the arrow next to the transaction and there should be a link to dispute the charge, but that doesn't show up on any transactions for me, even recent ones. Does someone mind checking their account and seeing if this is a glitch?

I don't see anything about disputing a charge either when I click the arrow.

 

[havaneselover]

My biz and personal are separate but I couldn't find any offers on my cip. Are they only on the app for now? I looked on the website.

I don't have them on the website so I had to log out of the app for my personal cards and login using my business card ID and password. I only had 4 offers on CIU and 2 on CIP.

 

[DisneyMandC]

So I went online this morning to dispute that charge for the saddle pad and I've gone through all of Chase's instructions on how to dispute the charge, but the dispute charge isn't showing up anywhere on any of my transactions. Chase shows you how to click the arrow next to the transaction and there should be a link to dispute the charge, but that doesn't show up on any transactions for me, even recent ones. Does someone mind checking their account and seeing if this is a glitch?

Update: Just called Chase since I couldn't find where to dispute it online. They wouldn't let me dispute the charge since the card was in DH's name, but they did tell me that you get 119 days to dispute transactions on business cards. This was on DH's CIP. So I'll have to call back later with DH to take care of it, but at least I know now that you have longer with the biz cards.

 

[hsmamato2]

I've seen them send a grandmother back to the general boarding area (only 2 adults allowed), so YMMV. I think family boarding is 6 and under or 7 and under

oh no...we all had a good time laughing and laughing while waiting in the B line on my last flight.... watching the 'family boarding' take place....an amazing number of young teens apparently needed to board early with their extended family groups,the poor little darlings... however that said, I like SWA in general,so I forgive that sort of foolishness and carry on with my own life. It is a weakness for the company,I believe.