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

[thevalley]

ok, so I downgraded my CSR to a CFF. Sad times but will do a mdd in September.

I have about 25k in school loans to pay for and I would love to apply for an amex biz 150k MR but I'm not sure how to do that, Plastiq does not allow school loan payments. any suggestions? If I cant make it work with amex I will go for a cic/ciu. I just don't know what card to get to help pay for this school loan. Maybe even a mastercard since plastiq will allow it. Anybody in a similar situation?

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

Wow! I am humbled, Impressive resume, I am what you would call a maintenance technician. I have been in Safety,Environmental, and Automotive. I am now in healthcare. I know it was a long way around the world for my question… which is, Do you feel like you are being forced to pass unworthy students who can’t do the work? Sorry if I overstepped

YES. I pass so many students that shouldn't be. I also crush lots of "dreams", LOL. I tell the parents, well at least thank me for saving you all that money when they majored in Engineering in college and then dropped out, LOL.

I really hated drafting in high school. I hated the class, the teacher and most of all, I hated the t square that I had to lug in my backpack. Having said that... as an adult in really glad I was forced to take it (not so for metal shop, which was really horrendous).

In my past interviews I've always said my class is something EVERYONE should have to take, if nothing else for the ability to measure and spacial skills! I said (my now ex) overestimated the size of couch that could fit in our house, LOL. And I was the one figuring out our closet layouts, our deck, etc.

I took "Industrial Arts" in junior high, which included wood working, metal and plastics, leather, and drafting. Hated the drafting teacher, not so much the subject. He was a tyrannical misogynist and clearly disliked the only 2 girls in class. Fast forward a bunch of years they now have Industrial Tech, mandatory for all kids (it's CAD and some similar stuff) and the current teacher named my niece his Student of the Quarter for "being really good at cleaning up after everyone at the end of class" and he mispronounced her name to boot. ☹

I got my first job mid- year because the teacher (who was new) would have the female students sit on his lap while he graded. Ummmm.....It's bad enough there are maybe 3 girls in my Engineering classes (the flip is almost true of Architecture, LOL). But to do something like that. I will say when I started I was down the road from the Chrysler HQ (now FCA). I had MANY dads coming to "vet" me those first few years. And after "I passed" they would jokingly ask if I could teach their child XYZ because they needed to know how to do it at work, LOL. When I started I was like the only female teacher...now I think we might outnumber the guys in the county.

I will say my HS Drafting teacher was amazing, and the reason I went into this. I took Drafting in HS because there was a boy I liked in class. I fell in love (with the class) and thought I wanted to be an Engineer. I went away to Engineering camp before my senior year of HS, and realized I can't hack the math (still can't, though I've been told I likely could hack being an engineer since I have the problem solving component the calculus teaches, GRRRR). I was the kid who always played school in the summer, so after fumbling around for 1.5 years in college, I decided to follow in my Drafting teacher's footsteps. I had invited him to my wedding, LOL. And he was still teaching when I started so we got to meet up at meetings and conferences. To this day we are FB friends. I'm FB friends with sooooo many former students. It's great to see where they've gone in life. And it's great when they come back and tell me how much my class helped to prep them. It's those kinds of things that make it worth the headaches! The handful of students I was a "Mr. B" (my teacher) to. Now that my daughter is in HS, she's shocked I'm "the cool teacher" and I have a "cult" following of students, LOL. It is nice to have some students for 4 years....and then there's the others I can't shake for 4 years, LOL.

 

[Hoosier John]

Hello! Coming here for advice. I have utilized credit cards for big rewards bonuses in the past, but don’t routinely utilize them like I should.

I have the following cards that I have had over 24 months: Disney Chase Premier Visa, Chase Sapphire Rewards, Chase Southwest Rewards, and Amex One. I pay my cards every month and have an excellent credit score. My questions are as follows:

1) Which of these cards is best for my routine monthly spending for gas, shopping, etc.?

2) Right now, we have be putting groceries and eating out on our debit card which I know is not ideal. But don’t want to use one of my current cards for that as we try to separate joint and personal spending. So would probably want to get a new card for this, possibly a joint credit card with my spouse. What is a good card for grocery, Walmart, eating out rewards?

3) I have a large purchase coming up (about 10K), which card would be best to put that on (or should I get a new one)?

As far as rewards, travel is the main thing we use rewards for. We do a lot of trips to WDW as well as Disney cruises, but we also do other cruise lines and other hotels. I am open to any and all suggestions. Thank you!

The Sign Up Bonus (SUB) on new cards is by far the most lucrative, with the rewards earned a distant second (or maybe even third to various card perks).
You are in great shape x/24-wise with Chase, so you could either go after Chase SUBs or Amex SUBs at this point.

If it has been over 48 months since you earned a SUB on your Sapphire card, it could be downgraded to one of the Chase Freedoms like the Flex (CFF) which has rotating 5x quarterly bonus categories (and 3x at drug stores), then after a bit apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred (CSP) which currently has a 100k Ultimate Reward (UR) SUB (an all time high). 100k URs are worth $1250 with the CSP which has a $95 Annual Fee (AF). Since you have a big spend coming up, you could follow the CSP with a Modified Double Dip (MDD) by applying the next day for a Chase Sapphire Reserve (CSR) to earn another small stash of URs and the ability to cash out at 1.5x meaning the 100k URs from the CSP could be transferred to the CSR now being worth $1500 (plus the URs you got on the CSR SUB, plus the MRs you earned meeting the spend).

The Amex Blue Cash Preferred (BCP) earns 6x on groceries with a $95 Annual Fee (AF)
The Amex Rose/Gold earns 4x on dining (and 4x on grocery) with a $250 AF ($120 in Uber/Eats + $120 Cheesecake Factory + $100 airline incidentals thru end of 2021)
The Amex Blue Biz Cash (BBC) and Blue Biz Plus (BBP) both earn 2% on everything (Walmart, etc.) and are $0 AF business cards.

I vote for the MDD CSP/CSR if you meet the 48 month rule, first then see what is good (a few months after that)

ETA: Don't get Authorized User (AU) cards for each other, because the spouse can earn the SUBs too, and you can support them, earning both of you more points.

 

[Hoosier John]

ok, so I downgraded my CSR to a CFF. Sad times but will do a mdd in September.

I have about 25k in school loans to pay for and I would love to apply for an amex biz 150k MR but I'm not sure how to do that, Plastiq does not allow school loan payments. any suggestions? If I cant make it work with amex I will go for a cic/ciu. I just don't know what card to get to help pay for this school loan. Maybe even a mastercard since plastiq will allow it. Anybody in a similar situation?

Unless someone has a more direct route, you could use the savings from Chase's CSP/CSR Pay Yourself Back (PYB) to be earmarked toward student loans. Similarly any Sign Up Bonuses (SUBs) could be cashed out and earmarked for student loans.

 

[ep1229]

It is in Waikoloa Village. We stayed at Ocean Tower. We did visit another property during the timeshare tour that was lovely. However you'd need to take a shuttle to the beach and no ocean view room exists.

What the other property that you saw? At least now I know what to expect. I already paid for everything so I don't want to back out now. Was it easy getting the free car rental? On this trip to Hawaii, we will also be going to Kauai and staying at the Hyatt Grand Hyatt. I'm planning on using our suite upgrades on that stay.

 

[DisneyParkLover]

The Sign Up Bonus (SUB) on new cards is by far the most lucrative, with the rewards earned a distant second (or maybe even third to various card perks).
You are in great shape x/24-wise with Chase, so you could either go after Chase SUBs or Amex SUBs at this point.

If it has been over 48 months since you earned a SUB on your Sapphire card, it could be downgraded to one of the Chase Freedoms like the Flex (CFF) which has rotating 5x quarterly bonus categories (and 3x at drug stores), then after a bit apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred (CSP) which currently has a 100k Ultimate Reward (UR) SUB (an all time high). 100k URs are worth $1250 with the CSP which has a $95 Annual Fee (AF). Since you have a big spend coming up, you could follow the CSP with a Modified Double Dip (MDD) by applying the next day for a Chase Sapphire Reserve (CSR) to earn another small stash of URs and the ability to cash out at 1.5x meaning the 100k URs from the CSP could be transferred to the CSR now being worth $1500 (plus the URs you got on the CSR SUB, plus the MRs you earned meeting the spend).

The Amex Blue Cash Preferred (BCP) earns 6x on groceries with a $95 Annual Fee (AF)
The Amex Rose/Gold earns 4x on dining (and 4x on grocery) with a $250 AF ($120 in Uber/Eats + $120 Cheesecake Factory + $100 airline incidentals thru end of 2021)
The Amex Blue Biz Cash (BBC) and Blue Biz Plus (BBP) both earn 2% on everything (Walmart, etc.) and are $0 AF business cards.

I vote for the MDD CSP/CSR if you meet the 48 month rule, first then see what is good (a few months after that)

ETA: Don't get Authorized User (AU) cards for each other, because the spouse can earn the SUBs too, and you can support them, earning both of you more points.

I’m not sure if it’s been 48 months. Where do I check that? If it hasn’t, what would be the next best option?

 

[calypso726]

What the other property that you saw? At least now I know what to expect. I already paid for everything so I don't want to back out now. Was it easy getting the free car rental? On this trip to Hawaii, we will also be going to Kauai and staying at the Hyatt Grand Hyatt. I'm planning on using our suite upgrades on that stay.

If memory serves it was Kings Land. I think if you know what to expect as far as the worst goes, then you may be pleasantly surprised. I think if I'd had the 1 bedroom we had at the end of the trip, I would have said it was dated but would not have been upset by it. It was clean and did not smell. On the timeshare portion of the trip there was no expectation of any view so I would have been pleased to have a pool and lagoon view that we had in that 1 bdrm. Not being able to get moved out of a smelly and dirty room was what killed it for me. Pretty much everything seemed awful in my eyes and totally colored my view of the resort. Not getting an ocean view that I paid for was the icing on that awful cake. So, your experience may not be anywhere near as bad as mine. I know full well things may have gone differently with a different first impression.

The car rental was fine. There was quite the long line to get the rental and another one to leave the parking lot. But otherwise fine.

Oh Kauai is also on my list and I'd like to do it at Hyatt with using suite upgrade certificate as well. I will have to see where I fit that in next year if possible LOL

 

[Hoosier John]

I’m not sure if it’s been 48 months. Where do I check that? If it hasn’t, what would be the next best option?

You could look at your official credit report from TransUnion, Equifax, or Experian, or from a credit score company like CreditKarma.
I have links to these in our private DISchurners reddit page under OFFICIAL MISC, but you won't have access until one of the moderators sees that you want access.
From there, you can see when you got the Sapphire and add 3 (or 4 months to be safe) figuring it took you a while to earn the SUB.

If it's too early for Sapphires, Amex Gold (which you can get in Rose Gold color now) is a good card for this year because you can potentially get $340 in credits on a $250 AF card. Plus it has the 4x on dining and grocery. You'll earn a 60k MR SUB for $4k spend in 6 months on this card. 60k MRs are worth $600 in cash or $750 in travel thru the Amex portal (think I got the travel rate right?)

ETA: There's also the Chase Ink Preferred (CIP) which has a 100k UR SUB for spending $15k in 3 months with a $95 AF.
For this you would need an extra $5k spend over the $10k you have planned, and would need to have some kind of business, even if it's not a real business with a Fed EID number. We can explain this further if you want to go this route. The CIP earns 3x on travel, internet, TV, and phone, and cashes out at 1.25x

 

[ep1229]

If memory serves it was Kings Land. I think if you know what to expect as far as the worst goes, then you may be pleasantly surprised. I think if I'd had the 1 bedroom we had at the end of the trip, I would have said it was dated but would not have been upset by it. It was clean and did not smell. On the timeshare portion of the trip there was no expectation of any view so I would have been pleased to have a pool and lagoon view that we had in that 1 bdrm. Not being able to get moved out of a smelly and dirty room was what killed it for me. Pretty much everything seemed awful in my eyes and totally colored my view of the resort. Not getting an ocean view that I paid for was the icing on that awful cake. So, your experience may not be anywhere near as bad as mine. I know full well things may have gone differently with a different first impression.

The car rental was fine. There was quite the long line to get the rental and another one to leave the parking lot. But otherwise fine.

Oh Kauai is also on my list and I'd like to do it at Hyatt with using suite upgrade certificate as well. I will have to see where I fit that in next year if possible LOL

I'm so sorry about your bad experience. It was terrible how didn't even get the room you paid for. I had a bad experience with a time share that we rented in the Wyndham properties also on the Big Island. It was so dated and the a/c didn't work. The property was nice enough that they refunded one night.

Does anyone have experience with the Marriott timeshare deals? I was offered one when I called them for modifying a reservation. $299 for 4 night stay either in Park City, Lake Tahoe or San Diego.

 

[wanderlust7]

What the other property that you saw? At least now I know what to expect. I already paid for everything so I don't want to back out now. Was it easy getting the free car rental? On this trip to Hawaii, we will also be going to Kauai and staying at the Hyatt Grand Hyatt. I'm planning on using our suite upgrades on that stay.

We stayed at Kings' Land before and liked it. Have plans to go back. I think they're all 2 bedrooms. Unit was nice and the kids liked the Super Pool. There is also access to the hotel side pools. Not sure if they're still doing this, but they have a free hula show with fire dancing.

Bay Club is the oldest timeshare, biggest units, but no access to the hotel pools. I think Kohala is the newest (not counting Ocean Towers which is being converted) and has access to the hotel pools. Smaller pools than the huge one at Kings' Land, which was why I decided to go back to Kings' Land when usually I like to try new places.

No ocean view at any of these 3. I guess best you can get is pool view or lava field view. But parking would all be near your unit.

 

[calypso726]

I'm so sorry about your bad experience. It was terrible how didn't even get the room you paid for. I had a bad experience with a time share that we rented in the Wyndham properties also on the Big Island. It was so dated and the a/c didn't work. The property was nice enough that they refunded one night.

Does anyone have experience with the Marriott timeshare deals? I was offered one when I called them for modifying a reservation. $299 for 4 night stay either in Park City, Lake Tahoe or San Diego.

We did a Westin timeshare deal to Maui shortly before the Sheraton/Marriott merger. We enjoyed it very much and would absolutely visit the same resort again. I’d also be more inclined to do a Marriott timeshare deal over Hilton at this point.

 

[thevalley]

Unless someone has a more direct route, you could use the savings from Chase's CSP/CSR Pay Yourself Back (PYB) to be earmarked toward student loans. Similarly any Sign Up Bonuses (SUBs) could be cashed out and earmarked for student loans.

thank you. great points. i am hoping someone has a way for me to be able to signup for amex biz and be able to payoff the loans through amex. its hard to have 25k and not a real option to take advantage of that spend through amex. i am really hoping for cic/ciu as a back up

 

[Hoosier John]

thank you. great points. i am hoping someone has a way for me to be able to signup for amex biz and be able to payoff the loans through amex. its hard to have 25k and not a real option to take advantage of that spend through amex. i am really hoping for cic/ciu as a back up

I just looked, and if your student loan is like mine (FedLoan Servicing) it is currently 0% interest and no payments due until the end of September (COVID relief), and it appears they only take money from checking or savings.

If you were to refi your loan (and get a better interest rate ... say in September), I wonder if there might be different payment options. Warning: refi'ing any 'Direct' federal loans nullifies the possibility of the government forgiving your loans after 10 years of service and on-time payments.

 

[iujen94]

Seeking rental car advice. I’ve got a car rented through Budget (Indianapolis airport) this week, and two cars rented through Enterprise (Maui airport and Honolulu airport) next month. Any tips or tricks to “skip the line” with either Budget or Enterprise? Wishing I’d rented with a company that lets you go straight to the cars and pick a car, but pickings were slim!

 

[wendow]

Preschool graduation today, lol. Oldest granddaughter goes to Kindergarten in September. Youngest will be at the preschool by herself. The ceremony was held by zoom and then we got to go inside in a couple of groups at a time to take pictures and get their treats.

View attachment 581458

The kids got to say what they wanted to be when they grew up. My grand said, I want to be a veterinarian. Several other kids chose doctor. One little girl said she wanted to a be a hunter. And several kids said they would like to be artists.

Two little boys chose auto mechanic and firefighter.

Oh and one little one wants to be a ballerina.

When my ds10 had his kindergarten graduation and he had to say what he wanted to be, he said he wanted to be a "Disney bus driver"

 

[mmmears]

What the other property that you saw? At least now I know what to expect. I already paid for everything so I don't want to back out now. Was it easy getting the free car rental? On this trip to Hawaii, we will also be going to Kauai and staying at the Hyatt Grand Hyatt. I'm planning on using our suite upgrades on that stay.

Just to make you feel better, the GH in Kauai is really, really lovely. We've been there a handful of times over the years, but not lately, and are planning to return later this year.

I'm so sorry about your bad experience. It was terrible how didn't even get the room you paid for. I had a bad experience with a time share that we rented in the Wyndham properties also on the Big Island. It was so dated and the a/c didn't work. The property was nice enough that they refunded one night.

Does anyone have experience with the Marriott timeshare deals? I was offered one when I called them for modifying a reservation. $299 for 4 night stay either in Park City, Lake Tahoe or San Diego.

We did one in Tahoe years ago (the one at the base of Heavenly) and it was really nice. The place was new back then, they gave us a huge suite plus a choice of perks. This is the only timeshare deal we have ever tried, and we did it because friends of ours were going and suggested we go together. The kids had a blast skiing and it was just all around a nice trip. I really prefer going to North Tahoe over South because the drive is so much easier for us, but it was worth it for the deal.

 

[platamama]

thank you. great points. i am hoping someone has a way for me to be able to signup for amex biz and be able to payoff the loans through amex. its hard to have 25k and not a real option to take advantage of that spend through amex. i am really hoping for cic/ciu as a back up

Indirectly, you could use Gift of College if your loan servicer is in their system. There were changes made in recent years that allowed use of 529 plans to pay existing student loans (I think it may be capped at $10K per beneficiary). But if you are lucky enough to live in an area with stores that sell Gift of College gift cards, you could pay for those with an Amex, and then redeem them into a GoC account. They are also available online but the fee is $5.95 for a $200 card so it's a better deal if you can find a variable load up to $500 in a retail store since the fee is the same. And if your state gives you a tax deduction for a 529 contribution, that's even better. There are probably nuances to be considered, depending on the details of your situation, but I'm not well-versed in anything other than a straight-up contribution to a 529 so far.

 

[Madabouttravel]

YES. I pass so many students that shouldn't be. I also crush lots of "dreams", LOL. I tell the parents, well at least thank me for saving you all that money when they majored in Engineering in college and then dropped out, LOL.

Yes indeed! The world needs ditch diggers too, and I may need to sign up for your class to get perspective on things I don’t know. I certainly never took drafting, it sounds great




In my past interviews I've always said my class is something EVERYONE should have to take, if nothing else for the ability to measure and spacial skills! I said (my now ex) overestimated the size of couch that could fit in our house, LOL. And I was the one figuring out our closet layouts, our deck, etc.


I got my first job mid- year because the teacher (who was new) would have the female students sit on his lap while he graded. Ummmm.....It's bad enough there are maybe 3 girls in my Engineering classes (the flip is almost true of Architecture, LOL). But to do something like that. I will say when I started I was down the road from the Chrysler HQ (now FCA). I had MANY dads coming to "vet" me those first few years. And after "I passed" they would jokingly ask if I could teach their child XYZ because they needed to know how to do it at work, LOL. When I started I was like the only female teacher...now I think we might outnumber the guys in the county.

I will say my HS Drafting teacher was amazing, and the reason I went into this. I took Drafting in HS because there was a boy I liked in class. I fell in love (with the class) and thought I wanted to be an Engineer. I went away to Engineering camp before my senior year of HS, and realized I can't hack the math (still can't, though I've been told I likely could hack being an engineer since I have the problem solving component the calculus teaches, GRRRR). I was the kid who always played school in the summer, so after fumbling around for 1.5 years in college, I decided to follow in my Drafting teacher's footsteps. I had invited him to my wedding, LOL. And he was still teaching when I started so we got to meet up at meetings and conferences. To this day we are FB friends. I'm FB friends with sooooo many former students. It's great to see where they've gone in life. And it's great when they come back and tell me how much my class helped to prep them. It's those kinds of things that make it worth the headaches! The handful of students I was a "Mr. B" (my teacher) to. Now that my daughter is in HS, she's shocked I'm "the cool teacher" and I have a "cult" following of students, LOL. It is nice to have some students for 4 years....and then there's the others I can't shake for 4 years, LOL.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

I was checking some things on DISchurners today (FYI, support thread refresh coming in the next month or so). At any rate, I stumbled on some interesting Hilton Offers via Support link... I'm not sure if these have been discussed OR if they are all-time high offers, but they certainly caught my eye. All of them offer a two-tier bonus with a decent all-in bonus. A couple of them have a steep MSR so this would be for those with big spend coming up.

Just figured I'd share since for the greater good! Happy churning everybody!!

Hilton Honors (no AF card): Earn up to 130,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points

• Earn 80,000 Bonus Points after you spend $1,000 in purchases on the Hilton Honors Card in the first 3 months of Card Membership.
• Plus, you can earn an additional 50,000 Bonus Points after you spend a total of $5,000 in purchases on the Card in the first 6 months.†

Hilton Surpass: Earn up to 180,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points

• Earn 130,000 Bonus Points after you spend $2,000 in purchases on the Hilton Honors Surpass Card in the first 3 months of Card Membership.
• Plus, you can earn an additional 50,000 Bonus Points after you spend a total of $10,000 in purchases on the Card in the first 6 months.

Hilton Business: Earn up to 180,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points:

• Earn 130,000 Bonus Points after you spend $2,000 in purchases on the Hilton Honors Business Card in the first 3 months of Card Membership.
• Plus, you can earn an additional 50,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after you spend a total of $10,000 in purchases on the Card in the first 6 months.

EDIT: So a little research shows these have been around a month... AND on the personal cards you MIGHT be able to get a better offer via incognito. BUT on the Biz Card, support click is your best bet! More details here:

• Increased Signup Bonuses on American Express Hilton Cards of up to 200,000 Points (Referrals Available) - Doctor Of Credit

 

[Madabouttravel]

I was checking some things on DISchurners today (FYI, support thread refresh coming in the next month or so). At any rate, I stumbled on some interesting Hilton Offers via Support link... I'm not sure if these have been discussed OR if they are all-time high offers, but they certainly caught my eye. All of them offer a two-tier bonus with a decent all-in bonus. A couple of them have a steep MSR so this would be for those with big spend coming up.

Just figured I'd share since for the greater good! Happy churning everybody!!

Hilton Honors (no AF card): Earn up to 130,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points

• Earn 80,000 Bonus Points after you spend $1,000 in purchases on the Hilton Honors Card in the first 3 months of Card Membership.
• Plus, you can earn an additional 50,000 Bonus Points after you spend a total of $5,000 in purchases on the Card in the first 6 months.†

Hilton Surpass: Earn up to 180,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points

• Earn 130,000 Bonus Points after you spend $2,000 in purchases on the Hilton Honors Surpass Card in the first 3 months of Card Membership.
• Plus, you can earn an additional 50,000 Bonus Points after you spend a total of $10,000 in purchases on the Card in the first 6 months.

Hilton Business: Earn up to 180,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points:

• Earn 130,000 Bonus Points after you spend $2,000 in purchases on the Hilton Honors Business Card in the first 3 months of Card Membership.
• Plus, you can earn an additional 50,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after you spend a total of $10,000 in purchases on the Card in the first 6 months.

I sometimes feel I am choosing the wrong cards! I am sort of skittish towards the AMEX Cards even though I have 2 now, the HH and the AMEX Gold
card. They have so many more of them as opposed to Chase cards