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

[Killer Fish]

I feel like I am doing the Chase Reserve thing wrong. I have always just paid the annual fee but should I be downgrading it and upgrading my Chase Freedom/or my Chase Freedom unlimited to somehow double dip the credit? I was one of the original sign ups so my annual fee was charged in November and my new $300 credit won't start until 12/26. At this point if I were to downgrade my reserve would the AF refund be prorated since it is past 30 days. Final question would be how long would I need to wait to upgrade my Chase Freedom unlimited card back up to a Chase Reserve. I hope that question made sense.

 

[hsmamato2]

The only reason I can think of is if the CSR portal is still running on Expedia and not cxLoyalty. Do you see "Powered by Expedia" in the CSR portal and "Afar" in the CSP? I'm thinking if you call in, the phone people will be with cxLoyalty, so it won't work, but I'm not sure.

Should be 11,483 UR with CSP if I did that right lol.

thank you for that! Arg! it's frustrating to see it thru one portal but not the other! (I'm looking for a friend who only has CSP,that's why I'm asking) I wonder if it would be a good option for them to PC a CSP-CSR,get this deal,and also use the TC....Would a pc mean the TC is available right after upgrading? ETA- if you pc from CSP-CSR- do you get the prorated refund of the CSP AF? So it would be ....upgrade-$550 AF. Use $300 TC right away- effective cost to PC is $250-prorated AF?(=?)

 

[hsmamato2]

The only reason I can think of is if the CSR portal is still running on Expedia and not cxLoyalty. Do you see "Powered by Expedia" in the CSR portal and "Afar" in the CSP? I'm thinking if you call in, the phone people will be with cxLoyalty, so it won't work, but I'm not sure.

Should be 11,483 UR with CSP if I did that right lol.

oh! I went back and compared. It doesn't say what it's powered by, but I did notice the two pages load very differently now that You've pointed it out. IS this permanent,or are they both changing? so this is what that higher AF will get you .....

 

[wanderlust7]

thank you for that! Arg! it's frustrating to see it thru one portal but not the other! (I'm looking for a friend who only has CSP,that's why I'm asking) I wonder if it would be a good option for them to PC a CSP-CSR,get this deal,and also use the TC....Would a pc mean the TC is available right after upgrading? ETA- if you pc from CSP-CSR- do you get the prorated refund of the CSP AF? So it would be ....upgrade-$550 AF. Use $300 TC right away- effective cost to PC is $250-prorated AF?(=?)

oh! I went back and compared. It doesn't say what it's powered by, but I did notice the two pages load very differently now that You've pointed it out. IS this permanent,or are they both changing? so this is what that higher AF will get you .....

It's not permanent. Chase is migrating the travel portal from Expedia to cxLoyalty. Apparently, CSR hasn't been migrated yet? Can anyone confirm? Do you see the Swan Reserve in the CSR portal?

Rather surprising since I think they started the migration back in early November.

For the upgrade, your friend would get a prorated refund of the CSP AF, then several months later charged the $550 CSR AF. They can use the travel credit right after upgrading. It should be possible to use the $300 TC twice on one AF and come out ahead.

 

[SleepyatDVC]

Well, P2 FINALLY got approved! He applied on 12/6/2021.

He got the email requesting additional information (proof of ID and FL business address) the next day (12/7/21). Sent requested documents the same day.

Didn't hear back. The automatic message on the phone line went pending a few days later. He tried calling a few times. Didn't have the patience to wait, so hung up while on hold. Stayed pending for over a week.

Finally got through to someone earlier this week after a long hold time, got transferred 3 times and had to give the same info each time, got texted a verification code twice by different representatives. Later rep kept putting him on hold while she "checked" on something. Sounded like roosters crowing in the background! Was so noisy on her end. When she finally got back to him, she kept saying "hello, hello? since no one is answering, I'm going to disconnect the phone now." Got P2 (DH) so MAD. He kept replying to her and she couldn't hear him. He said she literally only gave it 10 seconds before she hung up, not even time to unmute if he had used that function. I told him that she probably had to go feed the chickens! Lol. He was NOT a happy P2. He had enough and was not calling back that day.

Got a NEW email from Chase asking P2 to re-send the info on 12/15/2021. Something about not sending handwritten or expired documents which none were. Resent all the same documents again on the same day.

P2 calls again today. No wait! After asking all the same questions and verifying some information over the phone and a few times on hold, he was approved for the CIC with a $3K CL!! We can work with that. He asked for it to be sent to him expedited to his business address here in FL (instead of our home address in NY), so we should get it by next Tuesday!

It was painful but successful. It was worth a call in even though his was a sole proprietorship application. It would have stayed in limbo for a least a few weeks if not the full month. It need eyes on the actual application to push it through. I just wanted to know approved or denied, so that I could move on.

Thanks to everyone that held my hand!

We got the CIC in the mail today! Just in time to pay some bills.

Question about paying our DVC to help complete my MSR - what is the best alternative to just paying the dues in full (one contract at a time) online? Purchase (Disney) GCs at Staples and use to pay down the dues balance? I poked around on the DVC website. I am signed up for monthly auto-pay. I don't think I can make partial payments with a CC, only payment in full, unless it was with a Disney GC of Disney redemption card.

 

[WVMomof3]

How fast do Amex support points post? Just wondering if I did right now would it count for 2021 max points or 2022 with next statement?

 

[wanderlust7]

How fast do Amex support points post? Just wondering if I did right now would it count for 2021 max points or 2022 with next statement?

2-3 days usually. So it would count for 2021.

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

Well had my sewer line snaked today.....and I have roots! The tech was shocked since in 2005 we had the line from the house to the street completely replaced! Tomorrow I will find out the true damage when they send a camera in. And I'm over here trying to plan my credit card game for this. UGH.

I'm 4/24. I recently got the CIC#2 in October. Just hit my spend on that. I've been debating when/if I do the MDD (as I'm about to downgrade my CSR). I have the $8k hilton FNC I could put it towards (I'd wait until Jan if I can, so the spend can go on the new year). But that seems a rather weak choice.

I got a CIU in 6/21. I got a CIP (which I changed to a CIC) in 1/20. I guess the amount it's going to cost will play into this as well. I know lots are jumping on the Venture X, but I don't want to go over my 4/24 for that. I hit 3/24 in April 22. I have no idea the spend I'm looking at either. UGH. So I guess tomorrow I'll know more and I'll decide which way to go w/ a new card. Hoping the fix is something not too $$$$. But the amount of roots he was pulling, I feel like I'm screwed!

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

I feel like I am doing the Chase Reserve thing wrong. I have always just paid the annual fee but should I be downgrading it and upgrading my Chase Freedom/or my Chase Freedom unlimited to somehow double dip the credit? I was one of the original sign ups so my annual fee was charged in November and my new $300 credit won't start until 12/26. At this point if I were to downgrade my reserve would the AF refund be prorated since it is past 30 days. Final question would be how long would I need to wait to upgrade my Chase Freedom unlimited card back up to a Chase Reserve. I hope that question made sense.

I was a 10/16 CSR person. I paid my AF on 12/7. I just did the "double dip" as my credit reset on 12/16. As soon as I see that credit to my card I'll downgrade to the freedom flex. I might try and push through the GE/TSA tomorrow real fast. I can get same day appts so that shouldn't be an issue. Others said I'll get some of my $550 back when I downgrade. I don't know what amount that will be.

 

[afan]

Well had my sewer line snaked today.....and I have roots! The tech was shocked since in 2005 we had the line from the house to the street completely replaced! Tomorrow I will find out the true damage when they send a camera in. And I'm over here trying to plan my credit card game for this. UGH.

I'm 4/24. I recently got the CIC#2 in October. Just hit my spend on that. I've been debating when/if I do the MDD (as I'm about to downgrade my CSR). I have the $8k hilton FNC I could put it towards (I'd wait until Jan if I can, so the spend can go on the new year). But that seems a rather weak choice.

I got a CIU in 6/21. I got a CIP (which I changed to a CIC) in 1/20. I guess the amount it's going to cost will play into this as well. I know lots are jumping on the Venture X, but I don't want to go over my 4/24 for that. I hit 3/24 in April 22. I have no idea the spend I'm looking at either. UGH. So I guess tomorrow I'll know more and I'll decide which way to go w/ a new card. Hoping the fix is something not too $$$$. But the amount of roots he was pulling, I feel like I'm screwed!

Are they your trees causing the issue? I'd remove those to keep it from happening again.

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

Are they your trees causing the issue? I'd remove those to keep it from happening again.

17 years ago we got rid of the tree that caused the issues. There is a tree right by the street I wanted gone for years, but the ex loved it! I told him if that tree caused the damage I'm killing him. But they hit roots not even 25 feet out. Then he went 50 feet out and hit more roots. I'll be interesting to see what is causing the issues. UGH.

 

[hsmamato2]

It's not permanent. Chase is migrating the travel portal from Expedia to cxLoyalty. Apparently, CSR hasn't been migrated yet? Can anyone confirm? Do you see the Swan Reserve in the CSR portal?

Rather surprising since I think they started the migration back in early November.

For the upgrade, your friend would get a prorated refund of the CSP AF, then several months later charged the $550 CSR AF. They can use the travel credit right after upgrading. It should be possible to use the $300 TC twice on one AF and come out ahead.

Thanks...that's what I thought. So apparently this new move is taking away anything even remotely close to on property..... unless I'm missing something.(I mean that road where you can get by without a car etc if needed)

 

[iujen94]

I’ve got the AMEX Bonvoy Biz card with a $5k credit limit. I got it in May 2021 and have used it relatively consistently thanks to a bunch of Swolphin trips. This is my only AMEX card. We are staying at a Marriott property over Spring Break, and I think I may end up spending up to $7k on the trip. If I ask AMEX for a credit increase, how likely am I to get one? Will that show up as a hard pull on my credit report, or otherwise have unintended consequences? And can I do this by AMEX’s version of SM (do they HAVE a version of SM??), or would I have to call? Thanks for any advice!

 

[becauseimnew]

I feel like I am doing the Chase Reserve thing wrong. I have always just paid the annual fee but should I be downgrading it and upgrading my Chase Freedom/or my Chase Freedom unlimited to somehow double dip the credit? I was one of the original sign ups so my annual fee was charged in November and my new $300 credit won't start until 12/26. At this point if I were to downgrade my reserve would the AF refund be prorated since it is past 30 days. Final question would be how long would I need to wait to upgrade my Chase Freedom unlimited card back up to a Chase Reserve. I hope that question made sense.

The only thing I would say is that if you bought any flights with that first CSR you’ll lose that travel protection.

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

I was a 10/16 CSR person. I paid my AF on 12/7. I just did the "double dip" as my credit reset on 12/16. As soon as I see that credit to my card I'll downgrade to the freedom flex. I might try and push through the GE/TSA tomorrow real fast. I can get same day appts so that shouldn't be an issue. Others said I'll get some of my $550 back when I downgrade. I don't know what amount that will be.

Fyi, for GE you pay the fee immediately when you do the application online, and you can schedule the appt for a future date.
For TSA, you pay when you go to the appt.

Just thought that might be helpful if you didn't want to run tomorrow if you're doing GE. This is from recent memory, so ymmv if anything has changed.

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

I feel like I am doing the Chase Reserve thing wrong. I have always just paid the annual fee but should I be downgrading it and upgrading my Chase Freedom/or my Chase Freedom unlimited to somehow double dip the credit? I was one of the original sign ups so my annual fee was charged in November and my new $300 credit won't start until 12/26. At this point if I were to downgrade my reserve would the AF refund be prorated since it is past 30 days. Final question would be how long would I need to wait to upgrade my Chase Freedom unlimited card back up to a Chase Reserve. I hope that question made sense.

thank you for that! Arg! it's frustrating to see it thru one portal but not the other! (I'm looking for a friend who only has CSP,that's why I'm asking) I wonder if it would be a good option for them to PC a CSP-CSR,get this deal,and also use the TC....Would a pc mean the TC is available right after upgrading? ETA- if you pc from CSP-CSR- do you get the prorated refund of the CSP AF? So it would be ....upgrade-$550 AF. Use $300 TC right away- effective cost to PC is $250-prorated AF?(=?)

Here's my experience, a bit convoluted. But not sure the travel credit double dip will work, for those hoping for that. Had the OG CSR from 8/2016:

June
PCed CSR from 2016 to CFU
Lowered limit to 5,000
Apped for CSP
Met MSR and received 100k bonus

July 30
PCed the CFU (which used to be the CSR) back to CSR
Has to have a 10k limit, so pulled from another cc
Change was immediate in the app
Immediately able to redeem for travel at 1.5cpp

For me this was a math exercise. Less the $300 travel credit, the card AF is $250 or 16,000ish points. Since I knew I was going to use the portal for some travel purchases, it made sense to pull the trigger rather than wait until the CSP is a year old and upgrade that.

Here's how the AF and Travel credit worked out:

Sept 2020 AF of $450 posted
Dec 14 2020: Travel credit reset and begins posting
After I PCed in June 2021, received prorated AF refund back-dated to September 2020 for $112.50 (3 months)
Aug 2021 Received $300 Travel Credit
Nov 1 2021 AF of $550 posted

I wasn't trying to double-dip the travel credit, just really wanted the CSR back and chose this route rather than an MDD. From what I can tell though, I don't really think I'll come out ahead on the TC. The Nov 2021 AF has posted and I've put eligible travel spend on the card after statement closed on Dec 12, and haven't received any additional credit. Perhaps I will after the New Year? But from my vantage points, I think the travel credit I received in Aug 2021 is going to take me through to Aug 22, in which case I really haven't double-dipped the travel credit (again, wasn't my intention). @wanderlust7, any thoughts? The T&Cs are very confusing:

$300 Annual Travel Credit: A statement credit will automatically be applied to your account when your card is used for purchases in the travel category, up to an annual maximum accumulation of $300. Annual means the year beginning with your account open date through the first statement date after your account open date anniversary, and the 12 monthly billing cycles after that each year. (For applications submitted before May 21, 2017, annual means the year beginning with your account open date through the first December statement date of that same year, and the 12 billing cycles starting after your December statement date through the following December statement date each year.) Call the number on the back of your card to see when you are eligible for your next $300 Annual Travel Credit.

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

I’ve got the AMEX Bonvoy Biz card with a $5k credit limit. I got it in May 2021 and have used it relatively consistently thanks to a bunch of Swolphin trips. This is my only AMEX card. We are staying at a Marriott property over Spring Break, and I think I may end up spending up to $7k on the trip. If I ask AMEX for a credit increase, how likely am I to get one? Will that show up as a hard pull on my credit report, or otherwise have unintended consequences? And can I do this by AMEX’s version of SM (do they HAVE a version of SM??), or would I have to call? Thanks for any advice!

Sorry, this doesn't answer your question, but any reason you wouldn't get a new card with a new MSR for $7k spend? I know you wouldn't get the Bonvoy points for charging to a Bonvoy card in that case, but a SUB is going to beat a multiplier anyday. Amex is great about issuing new cards, including biz cards.

 

[calypso726]

We got the CIC in the mail today! Just in time to pay some bills.

Question about paying our DVC to help complete my MSR - what is the best alternative to just paying the dues in full (one contract at a time) online? Purchase (Disney) GCs at Staples and use to pay down the dues balance? I poked around on the DVC website. I am signed up for monthly auto-pay. I don't think I can make partial payments with a CC, only payment in full, unless it was with a Disney GC of Disney redemption card.

I’d definitely pay with Disney GCs that earned 5x by purchasing at Staples or OD/OM. I don’t do the monthly auto pay on my own contracts so I am not sure how that works. I like doing the pay in full at once each year. This gives me the opportunity to jump on Disney GC deals and max out Freedom cards with Disney GCs throughout the year. I will forego 5X on them when an opportunity for 10% or better off arises. This year I wound up saving about $1100 in my annual dues with various discounts on Disney GCs and earned 5x on most of the dues.

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

PSA:

Passport rates are increasing ($20) December 27.

Also, supposedly REAL-ID for domestic travel will go into effect May 2, 2023 (this can has been kicked down the road many times, so who knows). Some people suggest if you are applying for a passport and don't want the DMV hassle, to just get a passport book + passport card.

 

[iujen94]

Sorry, this doesn't answer your question, but any reason you wouldn't get a new card with a new MSR for $7k spend? I know you wouldn't get the Bonvoy points for charging to a Bonvoy card in that case, but a SUB is going to beat a multiplier anyday. Amex is great about issuing new cards, including biz cards.

Excellent question - and the answer is, I’ve got a whole list of cards in my application lineup, and usually don’t have trouble meeting SUBs. I irrationally love my Bonvoy points because of the dang Swolphin!