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

[jujubiee4]

Is it typical that cruises cost more through Costco than direct from the cruise line? The one I was looking at was over $300 more.

This is interesting. Are they offering a Costco cash card?

 

[elgerber]

My husband received an American Express platinum mailer for 150,000 membership rewards after $6000 spend in 6 months. I'm torn. The $695 fee is so high - I do have an existing Audible subscription that could be transitioned to this card to offset some of that increase. 150k MRs is very tempting. I am not experienced with AmEx MRs. We have a CSR, CF, and 2 CIC cards that we use regularly.

I am currently patiently (maybe not)for my Peloton Bike to be delivered - a purchase prompted by the basically free access I've had to their app for the last 7 months thanks to the CSR benefit and one that will earn 10x UR on the purchase of the bike.

Realistically, we travel by air a couple times a year and maybe 4 or 5 other weekend trips by car. Am I just being suckered in with a high reward offer?

Wow, we both have 150k plat offers, but with a $15000 spend, which I could never do. $6k would seriously tempt me.

 

[tink1970]

My husband received an American Express platinum mailer for 150,000 membership rewards after $6000 spend in 6 months. I'm torn. The $695 fee is so high - I do have an existing Audible subscription that could be transitioned to this card to offset some of that increase. 150k MRs is very tempting. I am not experienced with AmEx MRs. We have a CSR, CF, and 2 CIC cards that we use regularly.

I am currently patiently (maybe not)for my Peloton Bike to be delivered - a purchase prompted by the basically free access I've had to their app for the last 7 months thanks to the CSR benefit and one that will earn 10x UR on the purchase of the bike.

Realistically, we travel by air a couple times a year and maybe 4 or 5 other weekend trips by car. Am I just being suckered in with a high reward offer?

I'm going to be the voice of dissent here. I think MRs are most valuable if you can cash them out to a Charles Schwab account (only if you have a Charles Schwab account AND and Schwab platinum card though or if you routinely book Delta flights domestically or fly internationally. Otherwise, the credits are usually monthly except for an annual airline fee which can be a challenge to use and a twice yearly Saks credit which is also bemoaned on this and other threads.

So, $695 can get you some value but depending on your lifestyle perhaps you will get those credits back and sometimes you won't. Also, ask yourself-would I PREPAY (because that's what you're doing) in FULL for $50 worth of stuff at Saks twice a year? And so on with the remainder of the credits.

This is a solid (to me) blogger who reviews how he looks at the cards and even has spreadsheets to help him keep his numbers in mind when making decisions. It might be helpful for you to skim through it...although he doesn't mention the $200 airline fee is still included so that might change how you feel about the card.

https://frequentmiler.com/the-revised-platinum-card-details-and-review/

Also, I would strongly recommend you consider how you would use those MRs. Run the numbers for "cashing out" with gift cards or see if you could book a Delta flight (warning-150-160K Delta skymiles don't necessarily go that far!). Is there a Hilton hotel you'd like to splash out on and maybe have enough Hilton points for a night (they have crazy pricing!)? The worst mistakes I've made involved getting a great card (for someone else) and realizing I had no use for the benefits.

Finally, even if you get your value from the first year, what will your plan be if you don't use your MRs and want to cancel the Plat after a year? If you don't have another MR holding card (and it sounds as though you don't) then those points will disappear if you don't use them before cancelling the card.


TL;DR- this is a great offer, but only great for YOU if you know what your goal is for the MRs you earn. Otherwise, it's a very expensive, shiny coupon book.

(ps I have a platinum, but I also book international trips with my MRs 2-3/year in a normal year and am an elite with Delta so I do have plans for every MR I earn)

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

MI has been getting hit with rain in insane amounts. Last night we had a storm that dumped 5" in 30 min in some areas. Roads are flooding. So many of my friends have lost cars, everything in their basement, etc. My house is a 1979 Pulte Special. I have a small area "finished" in the basement. We've had water "leak" when we've had bad rains in the past. My ex tried to seal it with some goo, and duct tape (no one said he was smart or handy) on the areas of the basement walls we have exposed. The main leak area is on the side of my house where the land is just a squishy mess nearly 24/7. Add in rain, and well....you get water. Add in A LOT of rain like we've been getting, and well now I have more water in my basement.

I've tried building up the land around the wall, but bags of dirt can only get you so far. I've been stalling on having it looked at because the leaks are behind the only finished part of my basement. It doesn't seem worth it to have that area tore up and then pay to have it fixed. It'll also look like crap left damaged. UGH.

I guess I need to see if maybe this is covered by my insurance. My dad "has a guy" who says I likely need to dig up outside around the wall, fill w/ limestone, etc and then cover back up. He says just getting my walls fixed won't do much. From what I've read, the squishiness of the yard on that side of the house, is leading to the water (and I'm sure there is wall damage too as I have leaks in other areas). I just don't know what to do! At the same time, I hate spending money like this. Especially on "not fun" things.

Then I remind myself, this all **** I'll likely have to fix when/if I sell my house. Unless I sell in the winter, LOL. But I know I'm supposed to disclose these things. I'm still bitter that the previous seller didn't mention the sewer backing up into the basement. So just after moving in, we had to drop $7k to fix the pipe that ran to the sewer (tree roots) and tear up/replace part of our driveway.

Credit card spend? Right? That's what I'm trying to use to cheer myself up. UGH.

I am trying to figure out this process. When you say "loading," do you mean loading a Serve Card? If so, which Serve do you use? I see there are 3 different options.

I have the green. It is fee free as long as you have $0 balance when the statement closes (which I think is the end of the month for me).

 

[havaneselover]

MI has been getting hit with rain in insane amounts. Last night we had a storm that dumped 5" in 30 min in some areas. Roads are flooding. So many of my friends have lost cars, everything in their basement, etc. My house is a 1979 Pulte Special. I have a small area "finished" in the basement. We've had water "leak" when we've had bad rains in the past. My ex tried to seal it with some goo, and duct tape (no one said he was smart or handy) on the areas of the basement walls we have exposed. The main leak area is on the side of my house where the land is just a squishy mess nearly 24/7. Add in rain, and well....you get water. Add in A LOT of rain like we've been getting, and well now I have more water in my basement.

I've tried building up the land around the wall, but bags of dirt can only get you so far. I've been stalling on having it looked at because the leaks are behind the only finished part of my basement. It doesn't seem worth it to have that area tore up and then pay to have it fixed. It'll also look like crap left damaged. UGH.

I guess I need to see if maybe this is covered by my insurance. My dad "has a guy" who says I likely need to dig up outside around the wall, fill w/ limestone, etc and then cover back up. He says just getting my walls fixed won't do much. From what I've read, the squishiness of the yard on that side of the house, is leading to the water (and I'm sure there is wall damage too as I have leaks in other areas). I just don't know what to do! At the same time, I hate spending money like this. Especially on "not fun" things.

Then I remind myself, this all **** I'll likely have to fix when/if I sell my house. Unless I sell in the winter, LOL. But I know I'm supposed to disclose these things. I'm still bitter that the previous seller didn't mention the sewer backing up into the basement. So just after moving in, we had to drop $7k to fix the pipe that ran to the sewer (tree roots) and tear up/replace part of our driveway.

Credit card spend? Right? That's what I'm trying to use to cheer myself up. UGH.



I have the green. It is fee free as long as you have $0 balance when the statement closes (which I think is the end of the month for me).

Ugh. I'm sorry

 

[palhockeymomof2]

MI has been getting hit with rain in insane amounts. Last night we had a storm that dumped 5" in 30 min in some areas. Roads are flooding. So many of my friends have lost cars, everything in their basement, etc. My house is a 1979 Pulte Special. I have a small area "finished" in the basement. We've had water "leak" when we've had bad rains in the past. My ex tried to seal it with some goo, and duct tape (no one said he was smart or handy) on the areas of the basement walls we have exposed. The main leak area is on the side of my house where the land is just a squishy mess nearly 24/7. Add in rain, and well....you get water. Add in A LOT of rain like we've been getting, and well now I have more water in my basement.

I've tried building up the land around the wall, but bags of dirt can only get you so far. I've been stalling on having it looked at because the leaks are behind the only finished part of my basement. It doesn't seem worth it to have that area tore up and then pay to have it fixed. It'll also look like crap left damaged. UGH.

I guess I need to see if maybe this is covered by my insurance. My dad "has a guy" who says I likely need to dig up outside around the wall, fill w/ limestone, etc and then cover back up. He says just getting my walls fixed won't do much. From what I've read, the squishiness of the yard on that side of the house, is leading to the water (and I'm sure there is wall damage too as I have leaks in other areas). I just don't know what to do! At the same time, I hate spending money like this. Especially on "not fun" things.

Then I remind myself, this all **** I'll likely have to fix when/if I sell my house. Unless I sell in the winter, LOL. But I know I'm supposed to disclose these things. I'm still bitter that the previous seller didn't mention the sewer backing up into the basement. So just after moving in, we had to drop $7k to fix the pipe that ran to the sewer (tree roots) and tear up/replace part of our driveway.

Credit card spend? Right? That's what I'm trying to use to cheer myself up. UGH.



I have the green. It is fee free as long as you have $0 balance when the statement closes (which I think is the end of the month for me).

what a pain….our basement flooded right after we bought our home 34 years ago…so frustrating, it wasn’t covered by homeowners insurance unfortunately. We had a French drain installed along the one wall of the basement that was the problem.

 

[mmmears]

My husband received an American Express platinum mailer for 150,000 membership rewards after $6000 spend in 6 months. I'm torn. The $695 fee is so high - I do have an existing Audible subscription that could be transitioned to this card to offset some of that increase. 150k MRs is very tempting. I am not experienced with AmEx MRs. We have a CSR, CF, and 2 CIC cards that we use regularly.

I am currently patiently (maybe not)for my Peloton Bike to be delivered - a purchase prompted by the basically free access I've had to their app for the last 7 months thanks to the CSR benefit and one that will earn 10x UR on the purchase of the bike.

Realistically, we travel by air a couple times a year and maybe 4 or 5 other weekend trips by car. Am I just being suckered in with a high reward offer?

I'll chime in and say that it's a great offer if you have a use for those points. We have used MRs for lie-flat seats to Europe a few times, so to us they are a great point to collect. You can also use them for domestic flights (we've done that, too, but the return per point isn't the same). So for me, yes. For you? It really depends on how much those MRs are worth it to you.

As to the very hard to use "benefits" it also depends if they are useful to you. We use the Uber ones for Uber Eats, and generally get the value of them each month. Saks is easy for me to use up (buying stuff I'd just buy elsewhere anyway), but some others are proving to be a challenge. We have a Centurion Lounge at our local airport, so that was a huge benefit for my family (but now with their restricted hours not so much).

Also, yay for the Peloton! We got the 10x URs on ours and it was just the icing on the cake here. I hope you don't have to wait long. Maybe we were just lucky here but it was less than 48 hours from the time we ordered it to when I finished my first ride. Hope you love it!

 

[Oscar Madison]

Edit: Double Post. Sorry

 

[Oscar Madison]

AMEX Bonvoy Biz question:
Can I use the same offer at Lowe’s as my P2 if it is loaded on both cards in the account?
Thank you!

 

[MinnieMay]

MI has been getting hit with rain in insane amounts. Last night we had a storm that dumped 5" in 30 min in some areas. Roads are flooding. So many of my friends have lost cars, everything in their basement, etc. My house is a 1979 Pulte Special. I have a small area "finished" in the basement. We've had water "leak" when we've had bad rains in the past. My ex tried to seal it with some goo, and duct tape (no one said he was smart or handy) on the areas of the basement walls we have exposed. The main leak area is on the side of my house where the land is just a squishy mess nearly 24/7. Add in rain, and well....you get water. Add in A LOT of rain like we've been getting, and well now I have more water in my basement.

I've tried building up the land around the wall, but bags of dirt can only get you so far. I've been stalling on having it looked at because the leaks are behind the only finished part of my basement. It doesn't seem worth it to have that area tore up and then pay to have it fixed. It'll also look like crap left damaged. UGH.

I guess I need to see if maybe this is covered by my insurance. My dad "has a guy" who says I likely need to dig up outside around the wall, fill w/ limestone, etc and then cover back up. He says just getting my walls fixed won't do much. From what I've read, the squishiness of the yard on that side of the house, is leading to the water (and I'm sure there is wall damage too as I have leaks in other areas). I just don't know what to do! At the same time, I hate spending money like this. Especially on "not fun" things.

I would use a professional, who has great references, at least so you know exactly what needs to be done to fix it correctly the first time. We have seen a lot of misinformation out there as to how to deal with water problems. From my understanding and experience (admittedly limited), digging it up and filling it with limestone and covering it back up would only make it worse because any type of gravel is porous (empty spaces between the rocks hold water), and limestone itself is porous so a double whammy. What you probably need is a properly installed foundation drain of some type, and proper grading away from the house, also attention to the gutter and downspout situation. Once you have the water problem taken care of, then you can safely spend money on fixing the inside damage, knowing that you won't have the same thing happen again when another bad storm comes around. My contractor told me water is a building's greatest enemy. He says we have to take care of water issues asap, or we will end up spending more on fixing things a second time.

 

[mhartman09]

Hi Dischurner friends! Been quite a while since I've been able to pop in here. Lots going on for us over the last several months - new job, COVID, etc. Finally getting back to where I'm ready to app for a new card. Feels like its been forever. Its time to hit the CSP for DH. He got thr CSR bonu back in April 2017 so timing should not be an issue. Since I'm so out of the loop lately, I want to confirm before I do his app. Since I have CSR and not CSP, there isn't a way for him to use a support link from me, right? If not, I will be heading to Dischurners for a link. Just wanted to be sure first.

 

[WVMomof3]

Hi Dischurner friends! Been quite a while since I've been able to pop in here. Lots going on for us over the last several months - new job, COVID, etc. Finally getting back to where I'm ready to app for a new card. Feels like its been forever. Its time to hit the CSP for DH. He got thr CSR bonu back in April 2017 so timing should not be an issue. Since I'm so out of the loop lately, I want to confirm before I do his app. Since I have CSR and not CSP, there isn't a way for him to use a support link from me, right? If not, I will be heading to Dischurners for a link. Just wanted to be sure first.

Unfortunately, there is no support links from the CSR. I am assuming he has already PCd or closed his original CSR. Good luck!

ETA- just wanted to add you could PC your CSR to a CSP and support that way if you didn’t care about keeping 2 of them.

 

[mhartman09]

Unfortunately, there is no support links from the CSR. I am assuming he has already PCd or closed his original CSR. Good luck!

ETA- just wanted to add you could PC your CSR to a CSP and support that way if you didn’t care about keeping 2 of them.

Thanks. He actually PC his CSR to a CF quite some time ago so no problem there. We use my CSR to pool all points for Chase, so I'd like to keep that one as is.

 

[Alexle2007]

Two Up for HR Chesapeake Beach! At 15k, it is a steal! And the best part my baby gets to vacation with us! We received an upgrade to suite without asking. Two full baths and parlor for DS. I had got a change to my reservation and was perplexed when it said 2 rooms and thought my concierge had messed something up when she added Puggles to the reservation.

 

[afan]

Two Up for HR Chesapeake Beach! At 15k, it is a steal! And the best part my baby gets to vacation with us! We received an upgrade to suite without asking. Two full baths and parlor for DS. I had got a change to my reservation and was perplexed when it said 2 rooms and thought my concierge had messed something up when she added Puggles to the reservation. View attachment 592198View attachment 592199View attachment 592200View attachment 592201View attachment 592202View attachment 592203

So much nicer than the 2nd floor room I got at the hyatt house this weekend. Not that I expect an upgrade and there are only 5 floors but I'd like to be higher. Was at least quiet.

 

[Judique]

Two Up for HR Chesapeake Beach! At 15k, it is a steal! And the best part my baby gets to vacation with us! We received an upgrade to suite without asking. Two full baths and parlor for DS. I had got a change to my reservation and was perplexed when it said 2 rooms and thought my concierge had messed something up when she added Puggles to the reservation. View attachment 592198View attachment 592199View attachment 592200View attachment 592201View attachment 592202View attachment 592203

I'm at the Hyatt in Ocean City this weekend and they are treating me very well also!

My first night was at Holiday Inn and Suites and they were also outstanding, with newly renovated rooms. I got the larger end room suite and ocean front - very nice upgrade.

Hyatt was able to get me in my room shortly after I checked out and I was also upgraded to oceanfront here. I never expect a suite as they are king and I'm usually booking the 2 queens, plus these nights in summer are usually sold out.

And, although they are not on the beach, there is no shortage of dogs, both in the hotel and on the streets, just not on the boardwalk. I did find the pet relief area sort of by accident - since we have 2 cars, I was looking for street parking and found it close to the pet area. It's very small but adequate to get the job done and bagged, with a disposal bin fairly close.

The beach was windy but still very pleasant today. I actually sat out on the sand for awhile today. Usually I walk early morning and maybe in the evening. Today I did all three.

Tomorrow afternoon we go home.

 

[Judique]

So much nicer than the 2nd floor room I got at the hyatt house this weekend. Not that I expect an upgrade and there are only 5 floors but I'd like to be higher. Was at least quiet.

I actually got offered my choice of oceanfront on 4, 5 or 6. I said, whichever is ready first. I got 6th floor of 7. Last month I had 7th.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

MI has been getting hit with rain in insane amounts. Last night we had a storm that dumped 5" in 30 min in some areas. Roads are flooding. So many of my friends have lost cars, everything in their basement, etc. My house is a 1979 Pulte Special. I have a small area "finished" in the basement. We've had water "leak" when we've had bad rains in the past. My ex tried to seal it with some goo, and duct tape (no one said he was smart or handy) on the areas of the basement walls we have exposed. The main leak area is on the side of my house where the land is just a squishy mess nearly 24/7. Add in rain, and well....you get water. Add in A LOT of rain like we've been getting, and well now I have more water in my basement.

I've tried building up the land around the wall, but bags of dirt can only get you so far. I've been stalling on having it looked at because the leaks are behind the only finished part of my basement. It doesn't seem worth it to have that area tore up and then pay to have it fixed. It'll also look like crap left damaged. UGH.

I guess I need to see if maybe this is covered by my insurance. My dad "has a guy" who says I likely need to dig up outside around the wall, fill w/ limestone, etc and then cover back up. He says just getting my walls fixed won't do much. From what I've read, the squishiness of the yard on that side of the house, is leading to the water (and I'm sure there is wall damage too as I have leaks in other areas). I just don't know what to do! At the same time, I hate spending money like this. Especially on "not fun" things.

Then I remind myself, this all **** I'll likely have to fix when/if I sell my house. Unless I sell in the winter, LOL. But I know I'm supposed to disclose these things. I'm still bitter that the previous seller didn't mention the sewer backing up into the basement. So just after moving in, we had to drop $7k to fix the pipe that ran to the sewer (tree roots) and tear up/replace part of our driveway.

Credit card spend? Right? That's what I'm trying to use to cheer myself up. UGH.

Sadly, I have quite a bit of flooding experience. Our last house flooded twice in 3 years, the second time it was 4 feet and we lost furnace & water heater and had to move out for 10 days. Flooding in Chicago in 2013 was very bad, closing expressways and roads everywhere as rivers overflowed. Our house had 3 sump pumps and an ejector pump all of which were overwhelmed in the flooding that year. Our insurance covered $10 of a $25k plus loss. We got enough money to cover a new furnace and the cleanup crew that removed everything in our basement to a dumpster. We had also gotten insurance coverage 3 years prior for flooding, which was only 3-4 inches. Of course that made our insurance rates go way up and when we sold the house in 2014, only 1 insurance company would even cover us for the new house. What you probably need, which I think someone else mentioned, is a French drain system connected to a sump pump which removes the water (unless the problem is a crack in your foundation, but you need to look behind the finished walls to find out). You need to remove any finish materials, like walls and flooring, that have gotten wet or you risk mold issues. Good luck, it's an awful situation.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Two Up for HR Chesapeake Beach! At 15k, it is a steal! And the best part my baby gets to vacation with us! We received an upgrade to suite without asking. Two full baths and parlor for DS. I had got a change to my reservation and was perplexed when it said 2 rooms and thought my concierge had messed something up when she added Puggles to the reservation.

Nice! You have the best luck with upgrades. The most I've gotten is a balcony at Swan. At Hilton, despite me being Diamond, they told me all suites were booked for the weekend and as we walked by every day we could see the cleaning seal intact the whole time.

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

what a pain….our basement flooded right after we bought our home 34 years ago…so frustrating, it wasn’t covered by homeowners insurance unfortunately. We had a French drain installed along the one wall of the basement that was the problem.

Sadly, I have quite a bit of flooding experience. Our last house flooded twice in 3 years, the second time it was 4 feet and we lost furnace & water heater and had to move out for 10 days. Flooding in Chicago in 2013 was very bad, closing expressways and roads everywhere as rivers overflowed. Our house had 3 sump pumps and an ejector pump all of which were overwhelmed in the flooding that year. Our insurance covered $10 of a $25k plus loss. We got enough money to cover a new furnace and the cleanup crew that removed everything in our basement to a dumpster. We had also gotten insurance coverage 3 years prior for flooding, which was only 3-4 inches. Of course that made our insurance rates go way up and when we sold the house in 2014, only 1 insurance company would even cover us for the new house. What you probably need, which I think someone else mentioned, is a French drain system connected to a sump pump which removes the water (unless the problem is a crack in your foundation, but you need to look behind the finished walls to find out). You need to remove any finish materials, like walls and flooring, that have gotten wet or you risk mold issues. Good luck, it's an awful situation.

I think my BF and a friend mentioned the french drain. I have a sump pump which seems to be handling the water. It really is just that side of my house is squishy and damp 24/7. It doesn't get much sun. I've tried to build up the slope, but the dirt you can get at HD isn't the ideal kind. In the grand scheme of things it's not much water....it puddles in the basement. I'm working on getting some shelves and moving more stuff off the floor in that area. And luckily I don't think there is any damage to the finished area......as I think it trickles down the wall to the floor and then seeps out. The BF is going to come look at the outside and see what he thinks. He apparently rebuilt the retaining wall at his last house. He was quoted $17k and managed to do it himself for $2k. So I'm all for him doing it, LOL.

Today was one of the days where I'm over being a home owner. I had a total breakdown. UGH.