I love credit cards so much! v3.0 (see first page for add'l details)

[Judique]

For those with the Amex Offer for Sam's online, has anyone received the credit for doing a $50 Disney e-card?

The 15 off 30? Me.

 

[Lain]

That really sucks! I've never been to the San Bruno location. I used my last Lowe's Amex offer in Sunnyvale with no issues (paid with cc). I haven't started the new 10% offer, but I was in the store over the holidays for home stuff and still see all the gcs displayed out in the center aisle and no signage that cc isn't allowed.

Yeah, this seems to be store-by-store policy so YMMV at other stores, but it seems to be slowly spreading. There were no signs up at the San Bruno store about the new policy either.

 

[miztressuz]

I think the most upsetting thing about this is the upgraded corral placement. Runners work hard to get times that will place them in certain corrals. Will they get bumped back to another corral so those that paid for this club can take their spot? They only allow so many people per corral.

I did miss that as it's a Platinum only benefit... and ya, I pay for platinum nothing here … but in the FAQ's it makes it seem like probably not since you can place higher than your upgrade entitlement.


What if I qualify for a higher corral placement than my membership upgrade offers?
Club runDisney members will receive an upgraded corral placement for each event they are registered. However, if a member already qualifies for a higher corral, they will remain in their higher corral.

So kinda sounds like maybe a separate corral in the middle? Or there's a ceiling of some type. Since it's limited memberships into the club and there's some flexibility in the corral numbers I think they're thinking it'll even out. Guess we'll find out later this year.

 

[Haley R]

Argh, it might. There's rumor going from DoC's comments there's more updates rolling out on 1/12 for a Lyft credit and so from 1/12 new apps will get a new AF.
Could be a really awesome troll or the 1/12 dates are lining up.
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/chas...ormally-9-99-a-month-for-free/#comment-867175https://www.doctorofcredit.com/chas...ormally-9-99-a-month-for-free/#comment-867252
Of course my AF is going to hit 5/1. Guess I'll start now convincing hubby that it's his turn

I was gonna apply for a CSR in April. I won’t use any delivery credits for food or lyft

 

[first*toright]

<---- this is to make @SouthFayetteFan happy.

 

[elgerber]

Ugh, for the first time ever, I have gotten the AMEX popup. Previously it's only been DH. Guess no Amex Green for us :-(

 

[StephPlum]

MDD? Or just one card?

One personal and one biz card. I did the logistics for us and it works out best for our situation. MDD might require a call in. This is the reluctant P2. Also I had to warn him that he would see an alert on his credit report. He is 100% on board with biz cards but is not as keen on adding personal cards.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

A @SouthFayetteFan mini-fireside chat: Why am I advocating for 2 business or 2 personal SW cards but NOT as keen on 1 of each:

You've seen me mention numerous times about recommending either 2 business cards (spaced out appropriately) or 2 personal cards (via MDD) as your best SW CP strategy. Why do I keep saying that? Well to examine this let's first assess the current restrictions on each card:

• IF you earned a signup bonus on ANY SW PERSONAL CARD in the past 24 months then you ARE NOT eligible for a bonus on ANY SW Personal Card (not just the card you signed up for, but ALL SW personal cards).
• IF you earned a signup bonus on A SW PREMIER BIZ CARD in the past 24 months then you ARE NOT eligible for a bonus on the SW Premier Biz Card (but you could get a SW Performance Biz).
• IF you earned a signup bonus on A SW PERFORMANCE BIZ CARD in the past 24 months then you ARE NOT eligible for a bonus on the SW Performance Biz Card (but you could get a SW Premier Biz).

So currently the "ONE SOUTHWEST PERSONAL" rule prevents you from earning the bonus on more than one SW personal card except for the MDD loophole. (side note, the 2/30 chase application rule prevents from you from triple dipping these cards so don't even try that IMO). Also of note, the 24 months is measured from when you were awarded the bonus, NOT when you applied and NOT when you met the MSR. Once you pull the trigger on one of these cards you are likely under those restrictions for the next 25-27 months!!

There is no guaranty that Chase won't change these rules in the future - potential changes could include:

• A "ONE SOUTHWEST BUSINESS" rule similar to the personal cards.
• A change in the 24 month restriction to 48 months (this could occur on personal cards, business cards, or all cards).
• MDD could die
• Something else we haven't even dreamt of yet!

So why 2 personals or 2 business but not one of each... Flexibility my friend...it's ALL about future flexibility...

Scenario 1: You sign up for 2 personal cards via MDD
- You earn a crap-ton of points now but can't get another personal card until sometime in mid 2022.
- In the future you still could sign up for BOTH business cards to get another CP (i.e. in 2022). IF Chase enacts a ONE SW BIZ rule you can still sign up for one business card.
- If Chase enacts a 48 month rule, at least you maximized your opportunity today (and you aren't locked out of biz cards)

Scenario 2: You sign up for 2 business cards
- You earn a lot of points now but can't get either business card again until sometime in mid 2022
- In the future you still could sign up for a personal SW card or even earn another CP via MDD (i.e. in 2022).
- If Chase enacts a ONE SW BIZ rule you don't care, you already earned both bonuses!
- If Chase enacts a 48 month rule, you haven't gotten any personal cards so you're still in business there!

Scenario 3: You sign up for 1 personal and 1 biz card. NOTICE THE FLEXIBILITY RESTRICTIONS:
- Congrats you are able to earn a CP!
- You can't earn another CP until later in 2022 because you are locked out of 1 biz card and all personal cards until 25-27 months from their initial applications
- You can't get another personal card period to pad your SW balance
- You could get the other business card (for now)
- IF Chase enacts a ONE SW BIZ rule you are now out of that card until mid 2022.
- IF Chase enacts a 48 month rule you are now out on personal cards until mid 2024
- IF Chase enacts both rules you aren't earning any more SW bonuses until mid 2024

This may seem a bit doomsday but nobody saw one Sapphire coming until it hit. Nobody saw one SW personal until it hit. Nobody saw 48 mo. restriction on Sapphire until it hit. These are the types of scenarios I plan for...I try to think 10 steps and 2 years ahead when I chart my strategy. Anytime you have an opportunity leave yourself greater flexibility down the line, I say do it! Not everybody will have that flexibility now due to previous SW cards, BUT if you do, please consider this before you apply.

...boy this doesn't seem like a "mini" fireside chat after all, haha!

EDIT: I added this as a sticky on the Fireside Chat Southwest CP post on DISchurners!

 

[striker1064]

LOL ya $200 is a pretty good price when you start looking and realize those tickets are a hot commodity. I've just never paid that much for play tickets before. Checked that off the bucket list today.
Scary story though this morning I went on to buy the tickets and every day of the week I was looking at and the week before and after was saying all sold out, not even the ones that were bought and being resold were showing. I was so bummed. Then I tried again Incognito and boom they were all there again, and there was lots of $200 options available. I actually ended up buying seats on the floor for $239 each instead. Yep through price caution to the wind.

Thanks for the info on the hotels. I've been checking all the hotel chains. I'm not to picky, I just want to be in a "safeish area," and I want to be able to walk to restaurants. I can uber to the theater if I need to.

I wouldn't even bother with Uber. The Richard Rodgers is close to the ACE, NRW, and (a little further) BDFM subway lines, so as long as you're close to one of those, the subway is far easier and usually faster in Manhattan than dealing with a car. You mentioned it's for 3 nights, are you doing anything other than seeing Hamilton? If you are it might not be a bad idea to check neighborhoods close to other things you want to do. You really have to squint to find a bad area in Manhattan that has well-reviewed hotels.

 

[Killer Fish]

@SouthFayetteFan any change for your fireside chat if in 2 player mode or would the same logic still apply for flexibility. Not sure why I am concerned about another Biz card....maybe due to amount currently on account although one CIP will be gone by the time I apply for 2nd SW card this year to complete Companion Pass.

 

[WVMomof3]

Argh, it might. There's rumor going from DoC's comments there's more updates rolling out on 1/12 for a Lyft credit and so from 1/12 new apps will get a new AF.
Could be a really awesome troll or the 1/12 dates are lining up.
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/chas...ormally-9-99-a-month-for-free/#comment-867175https://www.doctorofcredit.com/chas...ormally-9-99-a-month-for-free/#comment-867252
Of course my AF is going to hit 5/1. Guess I'll start now convincing hubby that it's his turn

It is not even a lyft credit. It looks like a lyft membership that gives you 15% off rides. That really sucks. You would have to use Lyft a lot to get any kind of meaningful benefit from that. I wonder if I can have DDs use it instead of us. I just upgraded in December, was hoping it would take awhile for the AF to hit, now I am hoping it hits me before April 1.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

@SouthFayetteFan any change for your fireside chat if in 2 player mode or would the same logic still apply for flexibility. Not sure why I am concerned about another Biz card....maybe due to amount currently on account although one CIP will be gone by the time I apply for 2nd SW card this year to complete Companion Pass.

Not really, I will admit I'm a bit paranoid in general but that has served me VERY well over the years. I know a lot of people say don't plan for tomorrow in this game, just get what you can today. And I'm cool with somebody who thinks my whole "fireside chat" is hogwash. Personally, I like to look at the long game and ALWAYS prioritize future flexibility if the opportunity cost is minimal.

 

[nickle831]

I wouldn't even bother with Uber. The Richard Rodgers is close to the ACE, NRW, and (a little further) BDFM subway lines, so as long as you're close to one of those, the subway is far easier and usually faster in Manhattan than dealing with a car. You mentioned it's for 3 nights, are you doing anything other than seeing Hamilton? If you are it might not be a bad idea to check neighborhoods close to other things you want to do. You really have to squint to find a bad area in Manhattan that has well-reviewed hotels.

Awesome, thanks for the info!

 

[Calfan]

Well that's a pretty nice cash in on points for you, too
Thanks so much on both counts! I've seen and enjoyed your posts over there as well. I'll make sure to update on Thursday after we make our attempt.

Nice new avatar, lol! I couldn't let that one go unanswered...See you tomorrow, and thanks for dealing with all of the RotR nonsense. I plead guilty to not visiting the parks thread on that even once and letting you be our fearless WDW leader.

 

[punkin]

Just got Bonvoyed. 16K point reservation got changed to 18K points...same reservation numbers.

 

[mmmears]

DH's cell phone stopped working reliably yesterday, so he "needed" a new one immediately, and since we just buy 2 together and it really was past time to upgrade we both went and did that today. So I have a fancy new phone, but I'm poorer. We've been trying to see how long we could last with our 7 and apparently about 3.5 years was it. On the plus side, I finally got the camera upgrade I wanted.

We are one of the few here who didn't pay for Disney+ (I know, it's why I slinked on over the shun corner last month) but a friend gave us a login in on her account and I will say that we enjoyed the Mandalorian (and Baby Yoda ), are loving the Imagineering show, but when I checked the "vault" movies there's only one thing there we don't own (or at least I think we don't own it) which is the Three Caballeros. So I guess we were right in thinking that we didn't really need it. I won't comment on what that means about our movie collection though.

My local paper's review of the new Park Hyatt Kyoto (with pics!).
https://www.sfgate.com/travel/article/Review-Park-Hyatt-Kyoto-hotel-14948605.php
This is a Cat 7 hotel, redeemable at 30k Hyatt points (25k off peak and 35k peak starting March 2020). This looks like a tremendous value.

Thank you for this. It's definitely something I've been thinking about.

Exciting News! I convinced the husband that I could do a trip to New York to take my daughter to see Hamilton for a quick 3 day trip (June 1st-3rd) using points for flight, hotel and tickets. I have AA miles and this looks like a decent deal for non stop, San Antonio to LaGuardia (Never used AA miles so tell me if I'm wrong). I'm going to use UR's to book a hotel, and I will use UR's to wipe away the tickets for the show, ($200 each )View attachment 463261

Now I need help choosing a hotel. I want to be close, but I don't know what district to look in (well I think I do, Midtown or Manhattan?)
How far is to far from the area?
Thanks!

We took our URs, transferred them to Hyatt, and booked the Park Hyatt NY. Definitely fancier than we needed, but really a lovely hotel, and it was 30K URs/nt and was an easy walk to Times Square. Something to consider if this is a redemption that works for you. The pool and fitness area in the hotel are really nice. And it was fewer URs than booking the nearby Marriott hotels which actually charge less $$$ per night.

I saw this and I thought AF increase incoming. I’m a little surprised that an AF increase didn’t accompany this “benefit” (for now). Perhaps Chase is testing their cardholders’ appetite for a benefit like this.

That was DH's first comment to me this morning, after asking when I could go with him to replace our phones. I really hope they don't increase the AF since it's not our main card but we can justify the current AF.

@wanderlust7, @CaliforniaGirl09, @mmmears, @NewbieMom, @tink89 (and other Bay Area folks) - I forgot to mention that the Lowe’s I’ve been going to (San Bruno) asked me how I was paying when I tried to buy a GC with my Amex Offer this past weekend, and told me they only accept Lowe’s credit or cash (maybe debit too?). This is new. The San Bruno store moved all GC purchases from the regular cashiers to the customer service desk a few months ago, but I was still able to buy GCs with CCs as recently as just before Christmas. A bit over a year ago, the Lowe’s store in SF on Bayshore also changed their policy to accept only cash or debit for GC purchases. [ETA: This seems to be store-by-store policy so YMMV at other stores, but it seems to be slowly spreading.] The next nearest Lowe’s store for me is Sunnyvale, or across the bridge in Union City or Fremont. None of which are very economical options for 10% off unless I do the entire deal in one run when I’m in the area. C’est la vie.

Thanks for the heads up. We haven't had issues yet, but haven't even started on this new offer. I was kind of hoping to wait until just before it expires, but now I'm not so sure. I need to get to Lowe's anyway (for a non-GC purchase) but if I do go I'll try to pick up a GC and see if they let me so at least you'll know if it's worth considering driving down here. I won't cross the Bay for 10% in any event.

I just got an e-mail from Amex that I was automatically enrolled in pay over time on my personal Plat. I have to opt out because I want one of those targeted MR offers! Just a warning if anyone else has it happen.

They keep offering me 10k points to add it to a card that I've already added it to - I don't think they know what they're doing over there.

That really sucks! I've never been to the San Bruno location. I used my last Lowe's Amex offer in Sunnyvale with no issues (paid with cc). I haven't started the new 10% offer, but I was in the store over the holidays for home stuff and still see all the gcs displayed out in the center aisle and no signage that cc isn't allowed.

Same.

 

[Lain]

Just got Bonvoyed. 16K point reservation got changed to 18K points...same reservation numbers.

Several reports of this happening.

https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/ejdzgo/_/fcxv4sv

I'd call to complain and see if you can get those 2k points credited back to you. (Don't even try to have them rebook it at the old rate for you. They'll probably tell you they can't, and the points price is what it is now. It'll be easier fighting for a manual credit.)

 

[mmmears]

Just got Bonvoyed. 16K point reservation got changed to 18K points...same reservation numbers.

Oh that's just not ok!

 

[Lain]

That was DH's first comment to me this morning, after asking when I could go with him to replace our phones. I really hope they don't increase the AF since it's not our main card but we can justify the current AF.

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/rumo...ee-lyft-pink-membership-doordash-credit-more/

 

[punkin]

Several reports of this happening.

https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/ejdzgo/_/fcxv4sv

I'd call to complain and see if you can get those 2k points credited back to you. (Don't even try to have them rebook it at the old rate for you. They'll probably tell you they can't, and the points price is what it is now. It'll be easier fighting for a manual credit.)

DH just got off the phone. They left the reservation at 18K but credited the account 2k. They didn't fight it. Just did it. They made some noises that it may be an issue for international bookings that don't get credited correctly in their system, but it seems based on other online reports that this is happening for US reservations as well. No?