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

[NicoleLarson]

Here is a link to an write-up on the Chase Aeroplan cc. I got the card because AC is my main airline, otherwise I would've likely passed. AmEx and Chase both transfer to Aeroplan at 1:1, so if I were in your position I'd likely get either one of the MR earning-AmEx cards or CSP or CSR and transfer points to AC. Also note that AC biz class is okay -- comparable with any US-based airline (AA, United, etc.). They mostly put their 'pods' on overseas flights or on 5+ hour flights within Canada and the US (but not always -- you have to check to see if the flight has lie flat seats).

If the flights you want to book are on AC Rouge I'd recommend to avoid them. Neither dh nor I like to fly Rouge -- dh flat-out refuses to fly on any AC Rouge planes; I will if it's a direct flight at the times that I prefer, otherwise I will fly AA. Rouge planes are awful and they don't have biz class, just premium economy and economy (premium economy is terrible; I imagine that economy is even worse -- take what I say with a grain of salt as I'm just shy of 6' tall).

All wonderful info, thank you so much. So yes, they are direct flights from MCO to Toronto on Rouge. My DH and I are very tall as well so that does not seem like a fun trip. I will say when I looked at seats a business class did pull up as 2&2, economy is 3&3? But you've never seen business class on a rouge flight? Any particular AmEx you recommend? We try to stay away from anything that has more than $100 AF

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

All wonderful info, thank you so much. So yes, they are direct flights from MCO to Toronto on Rouge. My DH and I are very tall as well so that does not seem like a fun trip. I will say when I looked at seats a business class did pull up as 2&2, economy is 3&3? But you've never seen business class on a rouge flight? Any particular AmEx you recommend? We try to stay away from anything that has more than $100 AF

Biz class on Rouge is premium economy; meaning less leg room, spotty service and somewhat limited overhead bin space. It's honestly a terrible product and we hope that AC will get rid of it. Three hours from Orlando to Toronto or Montreal would be barely bearable on a Rouge plane, but if AA or United have a direct flight, I'd take that over a Rouge plane any day.

I'd recommend the AmEx personal platinum if you can swing the $6k SUB. With airline ($200), Saks ($100), hotel ($200) and Uber credit ($200) credits, plus the $100 GE or $85 TSE more than make up for the AF. You might be able to pull up 125k or 150k MR offers through the card match tool. There is a lot of value on this card.

 

[afan]

For Disneyland. If diamond with hilton and the points being the same, since they are next to each other. Would you do the hilton garden inn or the home 2 suites? Home has free breakfast but which I'm guessing would come out better than the $10/pp credit we'd get from diamond at the garden. Not worried about views our upgrades, we won't be in the room until after fireworks.

These are both a little closer than the hyatt and it's been requested that she wants a real bed since the pull out at the hyatt wasn't good last time. They have two bed rooms but not on points and I haven't been upgraded to anything, even a higher floor, on either stay. So Hilton points it is

 

[NicoleLarson]

Biz class on Rouge is premium economy; meaning less leg room, spotty service and somewhat limited overhead bin space. It's honestly a terrible product and we hope that AC will get rid of it. Three hours from Orlando to Toronto or Montreal would be barely bearable on a Rouge plane, but if AA or United have a direct flight, I'd take that over a Rouge plane any day.

I'd recommend the AmEx personal platinum if you can swing the $6k SUB. With airline ($200), Saks ($100), hotel ($200) and Uber credit ($200) credits, plus the $100 GE or $85 TSE more than make up for the AF. You might be able to pull up 125k or 150k MR offers through the card match tool. There is a lot of value on this card.

Thank you so much for all of that, truly a lifesaver!!! That AMex does sound like it has a lot to offer. Can you please help with where the card match tool is?

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

Hi all, you were so helpful lastyear that I wanted to run by some thoughts on a new card/cards we were thinking of getting to offset some travel cost.

1) First off, we are going to want you to list ALL credit cards you were approved for in the last 24 months.

07/20 - CHASE Sapphire Preferred

DH-none

2) Secondly we'll want to know a little bit about you. Specifically - what you spend, and what you want to earn!

• What amount of spend would you put on a card monthly (i.e. groceries, gas, insurance, cable, cell phone, other expenses)?

~$1500- this varies widely

• Do you currently payoff your CCs in full every month or do you carry any balances/pay any interest?

In full, never a balance

• What airport(s) do you typically fly out of?

Mco, TPA, Jax

• Do you have a preference of Frequent Flyer program?

No

• Does SOUTHWEST Airline service your airport?

Yes

• Do you have a Hotel Rewards program preference?

No

• Do you currently have travel points or miles in any program? Skymiles, not very many maybe 10000
• What at your specific goals for churning credit cards?

Big trip to Canada

• When do you plan to take these trips?

June 2022

• Who does your travel party consist of? (Spouse, Kids (& ages), other relatives/friends)

2 Adults, 2 kids

So this all started by looking at flights. I've read good things about air canada and even better things about their business class. I saw that Air canada just launched a new Chase card, Aeroplan. Intro offer is 2, 50,000 mile tickets ($4000 spent in 3 months) ; that would cover 2 business class tickets. In addition, there's 3x points on groceries and restaurants. Is there a different card/Airline you all would recommend instead?

Next, looking at possibly getting a hotel card. Looking at the Chase Marriott brilliance card? The 3 free nights seem good but it doesn't look like there are many 50000/night rooms to max out the reward. I'm finding 60000 and 35000.
Open to any other ideas. I will say, we normally get pretty good hotel rates since my DH is gov't so I dont know that a hotel card is the best option for us.
We honestly don't do a lot of traveling to far destinations since we live in FL, we drive most places. We usually rent a beach house for a vacation, use our DVC points or stay at UO hotels with an AP discount. That may change as the kids get older and we do different things besides amusement parks. Okay, hopefully that's enough, probably too much info. Thank you and happy new year!

Thank you so much for all of that, truly a lifesaver!!! That AMex does sound like it has a lot to offer. Can you please help with where the card match tool is?

Since you are looking for a card with an AF around $100, I actually might recommend your spouse also get the CSP. While it isn't the all-time high, it's still 60,000 UR, which is a currency you are used to and value at 1.25cents per point (cpp). Plus, if you support the spouse, you'll get 20,000 points. The increased support bonus ends 1/4/2022, after which it will only be 15,000 UR.

So essentially, you'd get 80,000 UR between the two of you in a very versatile currency (UR) which you are already familiar with, for $4,000 spend and a $95 AF. I would value 80k UR at $1,000.

If you think Amex is the way to go instead, you can just google cardmatch tool. You may be able to pull up the 150k offer for $6k spend, but there is that $695 AF. We have lots of Amex and the SUBs are great. But comfort level between a $100 AF and $695AF is definitely a different animal.

 

[IFlossU]

Sooo…Just checked my AA account. I spent $45 on a gift card at CVS and earned 7500 miles from that single purchase The deal was spend $45 get 1000 miles plus the 5x bonus. So I was thinking I would get 5000 miles (if it even posted ) but guess I got another 2500 too. Not complaining, that was “easy money”

 

[miztressuz]

Sooo…Just checked my AA account. I spent $45 on a gift card at CVS and earned 7500 miles from that single purchase The deal was spend $45 get 1000 miles plus the 5x bonus. So I was thinking I would get 5000 miles (if it even posted ) but guess I got another 2500 too. Not complaining, that was “easy money”

Guess the glitch is still going. IME for offers that have different target amounts (you were targeted for 1000, some people were targeted for 500 points) they've been posting both offers even though you only activated the one. I'm not gonna complain

 

[EACarlson]

For Disneyland. If diamond with hilton and the points being the same, since they are next to each other. Would you do the hilton garden inn or the home 2 suites? Home has free breakfast but which I'm guessing would come out better than the $10/pp credit we'd get from diamond at the garden. Not worried about views our upgrades, we won't be in the room until after fireworks.

These are both a little closer than the hyatt and it's been requested that she wants a real bed since the pull out at the hyatt wasn't good last time. They have two bed rooms but not on points and I haven't been upgraded to anything, even a higher floor, on either stay. So Hilton points it is

For the room I prefer the Home2. Having a separate area with a couch makes a difference to me travelling with my two kids. Also the full size fridge is very nice for multi night stays. The breakfast isn't great but it's not horrible either.

Checking my AMEX offers, I have an offer on my Gold for 2,500 bonus MR for spending $5,000 in 90 days, usable up to three times during the 90 day period. I usually spend about that much anyway.

 

[afan]

For the room I prefer the Home2. Having a separate area with a couch makes a difference to me travelling with my two kids. Also the full size fridge is very nice for multi night stays. The breakfast isn't great but it's not horrible either.

Good to know! It's just 2 of us and it'd be for 3 nights. Looking to do their xmas party next year on a thursday and then 2 park days. We'd fly down Thurs morning and leave Sunday. It being closer than the hyatt is also nice should we want a break during the day.

 

[WVMomof3]

Nothing like waiting till the last minute, but managed to spend my very first MR point to get my $80 off on Amazon just now.

Also got DD to sign up for the Freedom Flex. I think this is her 6th card. Though i am not sure she has actually used any of her points. Lol. Need to work on that better. Other DD flew to Phoenix this weekend for her bowl game on her new SW points. She was very happy not to be paying cash for the tickets. They were way too pricey. Hopefully she doesn’t get stuck there with all the flight cancellations.

Happy new year everyone! As you can tell I lead an exciting life since im posting 5 min till midnight. . I am actually surprised I am still awake.

 

[Alexle2007]

 

[Alexle2007]

Nothing like waiting till the last minute, but managed to spend my very first MR point to get my $80 off on Amazon just now.

Also got DD to sign up for the Freedom Flex. I think this is her 6th card. Though i am not sure she has actually used any of her points. Lol. Need to work on that better. Other DD flew to Phoenix this weekend for her bowl game on her new SW points. She was very happy not to be paying cash for the tickets. They were way too pricey. Hopefully she doesn’t get stuck there with all the flight cancellations.

Happy new year everyone! As you can tell I lead an exciting life since im posting 5 min till midnight. . I am actually surprised I am still awake.

I feel you! It is bedtime here except DS stole the pug!

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

NEW 2022 Thread is now live! Our 5th EDITION!

I love credit cards so much! v5.0 - 2022 (see first page for add'l details)

If you've posted anything here recently OR asked a question, you may want to re-post over on the new thread. This thread will be locked soon!

 

[DaveL]

So close to 1k pages.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

There was definitely a lower number of comments and views this year. The churning game is cyclical, people come and go... I love that we have some "new blood" so to speak on the thread though - and maybe 2022 will see a resurgence of activity here as more people return to Disney parks and consequently stumble onto the DISboards looking for info on how to save money for Disney trips!

 

[Judique]

Nothing like waiting till the last minute, but managed to spend my very first MR point to get my $80 off on Amazon just now.

Also got DD to sign up for the Freedom Flex. I think this is her 6th card. Though i am not sure she has actually used any of her points. Lol. Need to work on that better. Other DD flew to Phoenix this weekend for her bowl game on her new SW points. She was very happy not to be paying cash for the tickets. They were way too pricey. Hopefully she doesn’t get stuck there with all the flight cancellations.

Happy new year everyone! As you can tell I lead an exciting life since im posting 5 min till midnight. . I am actually surprised I am still awake.

Happy New Year! I woke up at 12:03 when my neighbors started (or restarted) shooting off fireworks. TV was still on but I didn't even look for a channel as ball drop was over probably before I was fully conscious, and then off course I had to attend to nature.

But, I came upon the Amazon MR deal also and was able to order 2 booster seats for my grands. The less expensive backless ones are smaller and easier to manage for the few short trips they will ride with me. They've been in the weight/height range for quite a while, but I'm really sick of the big seats right now. And if their mama wants them in the bigger seats she can always come do the work! I'll actually move the bigger seats to my less used van (has 7 seat spots). The girls always want to ride in the van anyway, more entertainment, can see better, TV, etc.

I just like getting around in the little car.