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

[Judique]

I stayed at a sweet presidential suite for 16k in Rochester and got 4K back. So worked fine here. You don’t mention but 25% was only if you have the Hyatt card. I think it’s 15% for others. FYI. 12k for my suite was a deal. Have a 100k stay booked in Mexico this winter and wish this offer was still valid then as it would refund 25k for that.

I have the Hyatt card. So I was looking for the 15% plus 10%. Plus, the number of points doesn't add up. So far 7500 points - I used 60K. Now, I may call. (I won't be calling.)

Edit: Just checked account again:
I have 5 entries:

Redemption Hycard Bonus 2020 - 4000
Redemption HYcard Bonus 2020 - 2000
StayPoints earned -2500
Redemption Bonus 2020 -6000
Redemption Bonus 2020 -3000

I've only earned staypoints on cash stays in the past. That seems to be the discrepancy now. I did get a nice email from the manager thanking me for my review - maybe that's where they came from.

 

[Judique]

And, in other hotel point news, the hotel I didn't stay at, where I had canceled same day/within a day of booking, has resolved the problem and refunded to my credit card. It took them a week from my first call but whatever. They have not removed the points I was awarded. If they do, fine - if they don't, I feel I've earned them. I'm not naming this hotel directly because it's the first ever problem in many, many years of stays.

However, I'm very happy not to be looking at a rather large charge on my card.

And, if the points remain, there are enough to pay for a night elsewhere.

 

[happ]

My Jan SW flights dropped a little. To rebook the lower fare, I understand that I have to cancel my companion's ticket and then add it after I've changed my ticket. What happens to the taxes/fees from the companion's original ticket? Are those credited back to my RR account or the companion's? Will I be able to apply them to the new ticket?

 

[havaneselover]

If I want to go for CS Platinum Amex, can I cash out my MRs then get an Amex Business Platinum and cash those out next spring? Just making sure I'm not doing anything out of order. Closing today on refinance. Then was going to open CS brokerage account. Then tomorrow or Thursday apply for CS Plat. I'd be looking at a Business Platinum in the 1st half of 2020 with spending completed by 6/15 (estimated taxes).

 

[GusGus16]

My Jan SW flights dropped a little. To rebook the lower fare, I understand that I have to cancel my companion's ticket and then add it after I've changed my ticket. What happens to the taxes/fees from the companion's original ticket? Are those credited back to my RR account or the companion's? Will I be able to apply them to the new ticket?

You will have the option to choose a refund for the taxes/fees or have a credit under your companion's name. I always choose the refund, the credit can take some time to process so not immediately available to use to book the new flight.

 

[happ]

You will have the option to choose a refund for the taxes/fees or have a credit under your companion's name. I always choose the refund, the credit can take some time to process so not immediately available to use to book the new flight.

Thanks! That's good news. A refund would be great.

 

[afan]

PNC never ceases to show why I wish I didn't have my mortgage with them. They reviewed my escrow either without my new tax bill or ignored it despite the over $200 increase. It was time, they'd had my house undervalued so I'm fine with that.

I'd called and made sure I could send in extra escrow which then they refunded about 2/3 of when they did the review. Thankfully the csr stopped the payment and put the money back in my escrow. Then I had to scan and email a copy of my tax bill and request a new review.

It makes me wonder what amount they even would have paid and then I'd have been over $400 short next year.

I wish I could refi just to get rid of them but I owe too little. Can't go back 10 years to when I did refi so can't change that. I at least got an auto response that they got my email. Guess my payments will officially be over $400 now. They were 397 and they went up a whole 2 bucks cause that'll help.

 

[linzjane88]

Is there a way to use the Amex Plat and gold airline credit with SW's converting travel funds thing right now? I guess I have never really had much in the way of travel funds but I am starting to think I maybe won't have a way to use $300 in Amex credits this year.

 

[disneybirds]

Has anyone ordered the large denomination GCs from Simon Mall? We have lots of bills these days with taxes, college payments, and rent. Just not crazy about giving them my SS#, but it is definitely cheaper than paying by cc. The rent place wants over 3% to charge on a cc.

 

[afan]

Has anyone ordered the large denomination GCs from Simon Mall? We have lots of bills these days with taxes, college payments, and rent. Just not crazy about giving them my SS#, but it is definitely cheaper than paying by cc. The rent place wants over 3% to charge on a cc.

@speedyfishy may have. I think she was orderingg from somewhere that put your name on the gc. I know it gets brought up on Doc and r/churning. I'd imagine there's comments or info on the DoC blog posts about it.

 

[happ]

Has anyone ordered the large denomination GCs from Simon Mall? We have lots of bills these days with taxes, college payments, and rent. Just not crazy about giving them my SS#, but it is definitely cheaper than paying by cc. The rent place wants over 3% to charge on a cc.

I just signed up for this, but I haven't placed an order yet. In addition to ss#, I had to prove my identity with license and utility bill. I almost backed out when they asked for this info, but I did it anyway since I think this could be a useful method for paying my RE taxes. The cards have a $3.95 fee plus there's a service fee of $10 per order. There's also a shipping charge, but there's a promo code to get five orders with free shipping.

Update: Simon has changed their terms. Now I wish I didn't send them my info. Oh well.
"Due to Regulatory Compliance stipulations with large online financial product purchases, all online Bulk Buyers will now be required to make a minimum of one live in-person purchase transaction at a Simon Center. The in-person purchase transaction is required for live ID verification and a completed/signed Consumer Order Form as part of the federal Anti Money Laundering (AML) program.
For Account Holders that have not made a live on-mall transaction in the past 12 months, your account will be temporarily suspended until you have had the opportunity to do so."

 

[AmyAnne]

PNC never ceases to show why I wish I didn't have my mortgage with them. They reviewed my escrow either without my new tax bill or ignored it despite the over $200 increase. It was time, they'd had my house undervalued so I'm fine with that.

I'd called and made sure I could send in extra escrow which then they refunded about 2/3 of when they did the review. Thankfully the csr stopped the payment and put the money back in my escrow. Then I had to scan and email a copy of my tax bill and request a new review.

It makes me wonder what amount they even would have paid and then I'd have been over $400 short next year.

I wish I could refi just to get rid of them but I owe too little. Can't go back 10 years to when I did refi so can't change that. I at least got an auto response that they got my email. Guess my payments will officially be over $400 now. They were 397 and they went up a whole 2 bucks cause that'll help.

Do you need to refinance to get out of escrow? If so, can you refinance for more than you'd need to and then just write a check to the mortgage company? I am thinking that if rates drop even a little more, I might look into doing that--we also owe too little (to get the best rate) but I'm thinking that we could just take out a mortgage in whatever amount we needed to and then turn around and pay off the extra.

 

[elgerber]

Do you need to refinance to get out of escrow? If so, can you refinance for more than you'd need to and then just write a check to the mortgage company? I am thinking that if rates drop even a little more, I might look into doing that--we also owe too little (to get the best rate) but I'm thinking that we could just take out a mortgage in whatever amount we needed to and then turn around and pay off the extra.

You do not need to refi to get out of escrow. If you have been in your mortgage for a long time, you can and ask to stop escrowing. I have done it more than once.
I am not sure rates will come down more, they just instituted a .50% hit to all refinances in the last couple of weeks. Banks are fighting it, but right now it's in effect.

 

[havaneselover]

Completed my refinance in < 10 minutes today. Such a smooth process. And did two more Visa purchases at OD. Have enough in dosh to cash out

 

[Lain]

Ugh. Applied for chase freedom unlimited and got the we need to review message. When I call the status line it says the “status of your application is not yet available. Once your application is received please allow 30 days... “ something along those lines anyway. Anyone get that message before?
There was one part of the application I hesitated on. I’m mostly a stay-at-home mom, so my income is household income from DH. The application asked about source of income and had employed, unemployed, self-employed or other. I selected “other.” Was this a mistake?

Chase automated phone line is YMMV these days. If it can’t find your app, it may be broken for you. Check your Chase personal account. If/when you’re approved, your new card will just show up there. If you’re denied, you’ll get a denial letter with the reasons for denial in your SM.

 

[afan]

Do you need to refinance to get out of escrow? If so, can you refinance for more than you'd need to and then just write a check to the mortgage company? I am thinking that if rates drop even a little more, I might look into doing that--we also owe too little (to get the best rate) but I'm thinking that we could just take out a mortgage in whatever amount we needed to and then turn around and pay off the extra.

It's not about getting rid of escrow which on a 10 yo mortgage I'm sure I could but honestly I don't want to deal with that. It's my rental house. I owe a little over 40k on it so I can't refi which is the only way to get away from PNC.

My monthly payment is currently 397 and change and it'll probably go up to 420 or something, not worried about that. Just don't like how inept PNC is about stuff.

 

[Lain]

Is there a way to use the Amex Plat and gold airline credit with SW's converting travel funds thing right now? I guess I have never really had much in the way of travel funds but I am starting to think I maybe won't have a way to use $300 in Amex credits this year.

 

[punkin]

You do not need to refi to get out of escrow. If you have been in your mortgage for a long time, you can and ask to stop escrowing. I have done it more than once.
I am not sure rates will come down more, they just instituted a .50% hit to all refinances in the last couple of weeks. Banks are fighting it, but right now it's in effect.

FYI, It's been roled back to December.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Is there a way to use the Amex Plat and gold airline credit with SW's converting travel funds thing right now? I guess I have never really had much in the way of travel funds but I am starting to think I maybe won't have a way to use $300 in Amex credits this year.

Yes. I'm still debating on whether to do it. I worry about clawbacks, although I can't think of how else I would spend it so I might as well try. I'd suggest checking out Flyer Talk for the latest DPs on flights that are triggering the credit.

 

[mmmears]

Yes. I'm still debating on whether to do it. I worry about clawbacks, although I can't think of how else I would spend it so I might as well try. I'd suggest checking out Flyer Talk for the latest DPs on flights that are triggering the credit.

I'm worried about clawbacks, too. We got really lucky with the AA spend last year, but I don't want to end up spending all that money for SWA credits that I have no plans for. I hate seeing the credits go to waste though.