I love credit cards so much! v4.0 - 2021 (see first page for add'l details)

[Judique]

Happy 2021! Ahh new thread smell!

So at the beginning of December I was officially laid off from Disney. I have started up my own design business with my former coworker and our LLC went into affect yesterday. I have our EIN and am trying to get us a business card. We have already paid for the biggest upfront costs over the past few months as the design software we need went on sale during the holidays so we won't really be charging big numbers. I want to legitimately use the card to keep business expenses separate. I decided to apply for the jetBlue business card since it only had 1k MSR, but was denied for too much credit (I have 2 jetblue personal cards and my business partner has one) so then I tried for an Amex BCP and got my first pop up! Then I thought I would have DH support us to a CIC and at least get his support points, but can't generate a link!

Any suggestions? Also any recommendations for a good business bank account?

And if anyone knows of anyone needing some theme design work done, let me know!

Love that you and coworker have started a new company! I hope that you are very successful with it.

Sorry that you were laid off but impressed that you are quickly taking other actions. Good for you!

Not sure about the card acquisition, but know that something will come along, if you keep on trying and working towards your goals.

Pixie dust and good vibes for you.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Lucky you on the second vaccine! I can't wait, but I suspect I'll have a while. My doctor BIL and sister are getting theirs this week. Super jealous!

You definitely want to have points in place a year out. The route you go depends on your airports, the class you want to fly, and your willingness to pay significant $$ in taxes. I can mostly speak to BA. I don't follow United anymore or American. I also will probably not be flying Virgin again after their horrible response during the pandemic. It took months to get my money for an award ticket back. BA charges a lot in taxes for award seats. It's worth it to me for business and first, but it can add up. You may be able to find cheaper tickets just using points via the portals, but you have to do the math (i.e. it may take less URs just buying a premium economy ticket on their portal versus transferring to BA for avios to buy an award flight). From the west coast it can be $500-600 per ticket depending on direction in taxes for business/first seats. I know @calypso has mentioned she pays less from the east coast. If you do want to take BA, they are transfer partners for both Amex and Chase and also easy to earn on shopping portals. Right now Amex is having a transfer bonus for BA(30%) and those can be really nice. DH and I both also opened the BA Chase credit card. In addition to a nice # of bonus avios, you can get a statement credit against some of the taxes for award flights. I have had some difficulty in getting those credits to post, which is annoying as it took multiple phone calls. My recommendation for the card would be a lot stronger if the credits had posted automatically.

Pretty sure we can't afford first class, even with points/miles. I have a bunch of AA miles and URs. Any idea on comparison between AA, UA, and BA for Biz class or premium econ? We've never flown first/Biz but would obviously prefer an upgrade for longer flight. We fly out of ORD so should have nonstop choices available. We did PE on UA to China which was tolerable but swore me off UA after that as flight attendants were extremely rude.
ETA: Checking current routes, AA Biz non stop to LHR has fully lie flat seats, which seems a good deal. Likely my first choice.
Also any hotel and sightseeing recs welcome. We'd probably be there 5-7 days for Spring Break. DS really wants to see a football (soccer) game at Tottenham.

 

[Brandilla]

Are any of you familiar with Busch Gardens/Sea world? We were planning on going to Universal Studios over spring break and staying on property, but all the stories of them being filled to capacity early in the day gives me anxiety. The thought of planning a day and then not being able to get in is just too stressful. It would be our first trip there and I think we would be better off waiting a year.
So anywho, we are looking at renting a house with a pool and doing some more lowkey things. On Busch gardens website, they are offering discounted tickets of 50% off through tomorrow. I'm mostly wondering if this is a common sale or if we should go ahead and jump on the tickets? They don't seem to be refundable, which is another source of anxiety for me (ha, see a pattern here?) BUT paying $300 sounds way better than $600. Am I also correct in assuming one day each is plenty for Busch Gardens and sea world?

 

[Minnie368]

Are any of you familiar with Busch Gardens/Sea world? We were planning on going to Universal Studios over spring break and staying on property, but all the stories of them being filled to capacity early in the day gives me anxiety. The thought of planning a day and then not being able to get in is just too stressful. It would be our first trip there and I think we would be better off waiting a year.
So anywho, we are looking at renting a house with a pool and doing some more lowkey things. On Busch gardens website, they are offering discounted tickets of 50% off through tomorrow. I'm mostly wondering if this is a common sale or if we should go ahead and jump on the tickets? They don't seem to be refundable, which is another source of anxiety for me (ha, see a pattern here?) BUT paying $300 sounds way better than $600. Am I also correct in assuming one day each is plenty for Busch Gardens and sea world?

We haven’t been to Sea World for over 10 years, but back then it was a one day park. We just went to Busch Gardens Tampa last month and had a great day. We were able to do everything in one day. There were a few things closed because of the pandemic but not many- mostly shows. As far as tickets go we got a great deal on Black Friday. I’m not sure how often they go on sale because that was our first trip to Tampa. However, we go to Busch Gardens Williamsburg every few years and they always have some type of ticket sale going on, so I would guess you’ll always be able to get some kind of deal.

 

[JAMIESMITH]

We aren't flying anytime soon, but I need to make a purchase through my husband's Rapid Rewards account before the end of this month to keep his 65K points. The problem is that I can't login. I know the RR account number and password (from a spreadsheet), but it doesn't work. Even the security question answers are wrong. Have any of you had to call because you couldn't login?

 

[DisneyMandC]

Happy New Year!

Joining in with my 2020 losses and hopeful 2021 wins!

2020:
1. February- Trip to WDW/Universal/Busch Gardens. Paid $199 for 4 nights at the Marriott Vistana Villages as a part of their timeshare presentation deal. Really nice resort and room and the timeshare salesman was a nice guy and not pushy. We got 15k Marriott points for this stay. We went to BG Tampa for a day and had a great time using tickets we bought in the April travel Daily Deals (can't remember how much we paid now, but cheap). Got Universal tickets through UT and paid using CO Venture points. We went to Universal solely to ride Hagrid's Motorbike and loved it! We also spent one day at HS where we rode Rise of the Resistance for the first time. We also splurged (again with CO Venture points through UT) and went to the Villains After Hours event. That was a GREAT experience. I was hesitant to do it based on the cost, but there was virtually no one in the parks and we had a great time.

2. June- Trip to Japan canceled. Drove to SC for our first horse show of the year at an outdoor venue. Stayed in a nearly deserted Holiday Inn by the interstate (exotic!).

3. August- Drove two hours away in VA for a horse show.

4. December- Trip to Hawaii canceled.

2021:
1. April- Road trip to Kentucky. I haven't booked anything for this yet, but we are planning to go. We rebooked Japan for April 2021 after we had to cancel last year, but that's not going to happen.

2. November/December- Hopefully WDW with the family again.

2021 churning goals will be starting off lowkey as we are in the middle of a home refinance! Very excited about that but will not be picking up any cards until that's complete. I know I could probably get an Amex biz card, but I just don't want to risk it.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

We aren't flying anytime soon, but I need to make a purchase through my husband's Rapid Rewards account before the end of this month to keep his 65K points. The problem is that I can't login. I know the RR account number and password (from a spreadsheet), but it doesn't work. Even the security question answers are wrong. Have any of you had to call because you couldn't login?

FYI: Southwest points don't expire anymore

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Are any of you familiar with Busch Gardens/Sea world? We were planning on going to Universal Studios over spring break and staying on property, but all the stories of them being filled to capacity early in the day gives me anxiety. The thought of planning a day and then not being able to get in is just too stressful. It would be our first trip there and I think we would be better off waiting a year.
So anywho, we are looking at renting a house with a pool and doing some more lowkey things. On Busch gardens website, they are offering discounted tickets of 50% off through tomorrow. I'm mostly wondering if this is a common sale or if we should go ahead and jump on the tickets? They don't seem to be refundable, which is another source of anxiety for me (ha, see a pattern here?) BUT paying $300 sounds way better than $600. Am I also correct in assuming one day each is plenty for Busch Gardens and sea world?

If all the shows are running, SeaWorld Orlando can be a two day park if you want to see all of them - and you can double up on most of the rides then too. It can feel sort of like Hollywood Studios where it's almost impossible to fit every show into one day just due to the timing. I have no idea what is and isn't going there right now though. Busch Gardens is definitely a 1 day park IMO.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

SFF..... I just don't see one that calls to me right now (pretty sure amex is out for me) not flying anywhere/have a ton of SW points still, I have been looking around for weeks now with no clear inspiration for my path...(P2 has a set path,starting mid January) and I'm feeling kind of frustrated that I can't settle on a decent offer I can use to pay some bills coming up...

Are you pursuing Chase Biz cards? If so, why not just pull the trigger on something that earns URs?

 

[DisneyMandC]

Are any of you familiar with Busch Gardens/Sea world? We were planning on going to Universal Studios over spring break and staying on property, but all the stories of them being filled to capacity early in the day gives me anxiety. The thought of planning a day and then not being able to get in is just too stressful. It would be our first trip there and I think we would be better off waiting a year.
So anywho, we are looking at renting a house with a pool and doing some more lowkey things. On Busch gardens website, they are offering discounted tickets of 50% off through tomorrow. I'm mostly wondering if this is a common sale or if we should go ahead and jump on the tickets? They don't seem to be refundable, which is another source of anxiety for me (ha, see a pattern here?) BUT paying $300 sounds way better than $600. Am I also correct in assuming one day each is plenty for Busch Gardens and sea world?

BG is definitely one day. Actually, we went on a Thursday in February and did the whole thing in 5 hours. Rode every roller coaster and ate lunch lol. They have some great coasters.

 

[hsmamato2]

Are you pursuing Chase Biz cards? If so, why not just pull the trigger on something that earns URs?

You're right. This year has just been....well ya' know. I'm probably just going to give it a try this week,what's the worst outcome? they say no and I wait another 30 days right? Ok gonna move on this. Gotta get moving again!

 

[JAMIESMITH]

FYI: Southwest points don't expire anymore

I totally didn't know that. Now I can wait and call when we get ready to use them.

 

[Disneyonmymind]

Are you pursuing Chase Biz cards? If so, why not just pull the trigger on something that earns URs?

Does anyone have a sense of how many biz cards Chase is allowing a person to hold now that they started issuing them again to SP?

 

[hsmamato2]

Another biz cc question- I can't generate a support link,is this option gone now?

 

[IFlossU]

Another biz cc question- I can't generate a support link,is this option gone now?

Welcome to my world. The ability to generate a support link has been down for weeks now. I even sent a SM to Chase asking about it. The response was unhelpful “system is currently down.” Others have suggested checking old emails to see if you were sent a support link. I’ve been waiting to apply hoping links would come back. Going to have to pull the trigger by Monday since I have some spend coming up. I’m planning to use a link on Dischurners if DH’s is still unavailable.

 

[FloridaNative8]

Are any of you familiar with Busch Gardens/Sea world? We were planning on going to Universal Studios over spring break and staying on property, but all the stories of them being filled to capacity early in the day gives me anxiety. The thought of planning a day and then not being able to get in is just too stressful. It would be our first trip there and I think we would be better off waiting a year.
So anywho, we are looking at renting a house with a pool and doing some more lowkey things. On Busch gardens website, they are offering discounted tickets of 50% off through tomorrow. I'm mostly wondering if this is a common sale or if we should go ahead and jump on the tickets? They don't seem to be refundable, which is another source of anxiety for me (ha, see a pattern here?) BUT paying $300 sounds way better than $600. Am I also correct in assuming one day each is plenty for Busch Gardens and sea world?

I can't help with the ticket sale question, we have APs and so I don't pay much attention - but I will say that BG is definitely doable in one day!

 

[Disneyonmymind]

A question on using Hilton FNC - It has to be a "standard room," but how do you determine this? Do all standard rooms say "standard" on the Hilton website?

 

[Judique]

Does anyone have a sense of how many biz cards Chase is allowing a person to hold now that they started issuing them again to SP?

I hold 2. Maybe people can give some numbers?

 

[IFlossU]

A question on using Hilton FNC - It has to be a "standard room," but how do you determine this? Do all standard rooms say "standard" on the Hilton website?

Yes, it will say standard room reward on the search results

 

[IFlossU]

Just changed Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+ to PayPal in order to use the $30 credit. Keeps it simple for me since it’s all on auto pay