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

[becauseimnew]

It's not the best redemption value but I bought GCs at Ride Aide and paid with my MR points at the store. 10,000 MRs=$70. I had enough MRs to buy a $400 Disney gift card. I used URs, some Discover IT cash and another minor reward for the rest. I combined them on the Disney gift card site and used the gift cards to pay for the tix. You can only use two forms of payment but I had enough on the two gift cards to cover the 3 tix.

The CM was willing to put the fourth ticket I needed for a friend in another transaction - that one was paid for without gift cards. But if I had a third gift card it would have been doable.

DISCLAIMER: there are MUCH better redemption options for MRs. This one worked for me. Others would probably not do this. I equate it to having $500 to spend on anything. Some women would get an expensive handbag. Others (me) would never spend the money on a handbag. For me, spending my MRs this way was great; others would say, "no way." Going to get a $70 GC today.

I totally get it... When Amex had their bonus last year on "cover your charges,"I think it was about $90 for 10,000 MRs, I cashed out a lot of MRs.

 

[disfanforlife]

I just got an email from Best Buy that if I spend $250 with my Best Buy credit card I will get a $25 best buy e gift card. I know my Best Buy does have Disney gift cards. So, it is 10% discount IF you have use for the $25 Best Buy e- card. Not sure if I will do this deal or not.

 

[afan]

Had an offer on my gold card for an extra mr per dollar for grub hub purchases though the end of the year.

 

[chattadisser]

Ugg - I messed up on my AmEx $30 Paypal credit. I had $18 left to get, so placed an order from Walmart to use it. I had received a $6 shipping credit from paypal for a return that I had made and it used that credit first and only charged my AmEx card $12, so I basically wasted that extra $6 that I had gotten back from the shipping refund. This stuff is so hard to use to it's fullest advantage!!

I don't know if you have pets or not, but I use the PayPal credit each month at Petco. Easy to do and free dog & cat food. Otherwise I hardly ever use PayPal .

 

[wanderlust7]

I've been using the Paypal Pay in 4 for purchases >$30 to use multiple plat credits. It works pretty well. If the charge is $60, it puts a pending charge of $15 for the first payment, but I just go in and pay off the first payment as $30, then the other $30 on another card. It's like being able to split payment but in a roundabout way.

Payments are every 2 weeks, so you could time it to use credits over 2 (maybe 3?) months too.

 

[bbsearchlight]

Just as a public service announcement, I purchased a $100 Verizon gift card in a Verizon Corporate Store using my Chase Ink Plus card and it did not earn the 5 points per dollar, even though it clearly says Verizon Wireless on the statement. I also purchased a $25 Verizon gift card directly from the Verizon website and that also did not earn 5 points per dollar. Did anyone else have an issue with Verizon Wireless charges not earning 5X on Chase ink cards?

 

[wanderlust7]

I have the below offer on my plat AmEx. Is it worth getting dd a card? Could I also get the dog a card (or does AmEx require a SSN for each card member?) and between the 2 cards get 40K MRs and 1 x $175.00 AF?

"When you add Additional Card Members, you can earn 20,000 Membership Rewards® points after they spend $2,000 in eligible purchases on the Card in their first 6 months of Card Membership. You're just a couple clicks away from adding Card Members. What are you waiting for? The annual fee for up to three Additional Platinum Cards is $175."

Just saw on DoC that there are actually 2 different offers. The one I got, it's clear from the fine print that it's 5000 MR per AU. Apparently, there is another version that's 20k for one AU, but that's still the maximum you can get.

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/targeted-american-express-add-an-authorized-user-get-20000-points/

 

[Missyson]

For anyone contemplating this hobby, but not sure you can do it without getting a lot of cards - it is doable on a small scale. Yes, taking advantage of SUBs and churning is very lucrative. I have said it here before that I am in awe of the people who can do that; I don't have it in me. That being said, with my 6 cards that I do not churn I was able to:

-book SW flights for a summer DW trip - 4 round trip tickets - only OOP was the $5.60 each fee. I could cover this with my Discover IT cash back if I wanted; but I won't.
-buy 3 Park Hopper/Water park tix for 8 days using MRs, URs and a few other minor reward things - no OOP. (4th park hopper was bought by the friend who will be traveling with us)
-have DVC so no OOP there except my dues (which I sometimes cover with rewards).
-will get Disney GC using MRs and URs from now until the trip to hopefully have no (or very little) OOP food and expenses while at DW. Also currently taking advantage of 5x rewards on the Chase Disney card that rarely use.

So if I can pull off getting enough Disney GCs with my CC rewards this 8 day vacation will cost me $44.80 (and DVC dues which I pay whether I go on vacation or not). I currently have enough MRs and URs to cover all meals and have some extra spending money.

So if you think you can't get a free or an almost free vacation without serious churning, think again. Careful planning and careful use of CC rewards makes it possible. I put just about all household expenses that don't require converting MOs, etc or cost me more money to use CC on my 6 cards.

Disclaimer: you need to always pay your CC bills in full or this hobby is not worth it. I pay them weekly - sometimes more than weekly.

ETA: the only annual fee card I have is the CSP ($95) and I pay that fee with my Discover IT cash back. So no AFs for me either. And I won’t do business cards.

ETA2: If once you find that you can do this on a small scale, you can try churning or expand your card collection at your comfort level. I do very occasionally add or replace a card. Most recently I swapped my CF for the CFF and got P2 the CFU.

This is great. I think this is a little more in line with the way I am approaching credit cards right now. You mentioned Chase (I’m assuming you have the 3) and Discover IT. I’m curious what the other 2 cards are?

 

[trenty]

This is great. I think this is a little more in line with the way I am approaching credit cards right now. You mentioned Chase (I’m assuming you have the 3) and Discover IT. I’m curious what the other 2 cards are?

Amex everyday
CSP
CFU
CFF
Discover It
And not really used chase Disney but using it now for 5x rewards since I have a trip planned.

 

[ski_mom]

I don't know if you have pets or not, but I use the PayPal credit each month at Petco. Easy to do and free dog & cat food. Otherwise I hardly ever use PayPal .

That's a good idea - I don't have a pet, but I've been getting things from Walmart since they take paypal too. You can even do a ship to store or something that is available in store (not the grocery pickup) and use paypal, so that's not too bad either.

I've been using the Paypal Pay in 4 for purchases >$30 to use multiple plat credits. It works pretty well. If the charge is $60, it puts a pending charge of $15 for the first payment, but I just go in and pay off the first payment as $30, then the other $30 on another card. It's like being able to split payment but in a roundabout way.

Payments are every 2 weeks, so you could time it to use credits over 2 (maybe 3?) months too.

That's an interesting idea. I might try it this month since I always have to use both DH and my credits.

 

[becauseimnew]

I’ve just been using the Plat credit to reload our Chick-fil-a account.

 

[Hoosier John]

For anyone contemplating this hobby, but not sure you can do it without getting a lot of cards - it is doable on a small scale. Yes, taking advantage of SUBs and churning is very lucrative. I have said it here before that I am in awe of the people who can do that; I don't have it in me. That being said, with my 6 cards that I do not churn I was able to:

-book SW flights for a summer DW trip - 4 round trip tickets - only OOP was the $5.60 each fee. I could cover this with my Discover IT cash back if I wanted; but I won't.
-buy 3 Park Hopper/Water park tix for 8 days using MRs, URs and a few other minor reward things - no OOP. (4th park hopper was bought by the friend who will be traveling with us)
-have DVC so no OOP there except my dues (which I sometimes cover with rewards).
-will get Disney GC using MRs and URs from now until the trip to hopefully have no (or very little) OOP food and expenses while at DW. Also currently taking advantage of 5x rewards on the Chase Disney card that rarely use.

So if I can pull off getting enough Disney GCs with my CC rewards this 8 day vacation will cost me $44.80 (and DVC dues which I pay whether I go on vacation or not). I currently have enough MRs and URs to cover all meals and have some extra spending money.

So if you think you can't get a free or an almost free vacation without serious churning, think again. Careful planning and careful use of CC rewards makes it possible. I put just about all household expenses that don't require converting MOs, etc or cost me more money to use CC on my 6 cards.

Disclaimer: you need to always pay your CC bills in full or this hobby is not worth it. I pay them weekly - sometimes more than weekly.

ETA: the only annual fee card I have is the CSP ($95) and I pay that fee with my Discover IT cash back. So no AFs for me either. And I won’t do business cards.

ETA2: If once you find that you can do this on a small scale, you can try churning or expand your card collection at your comfort level. I do very occasionally add or replace a card. Most recently I swapped my CF for the CFF and got P2 the CFU.

This is very good info! Can you expand on how you use MRs to pay for tix/GCs.

This is great. I think this is a little more in line with the way I am approaching credit cards right now. You mentioned Chase (I’m assuming you have the 3) and Discover IT. I’m curious what the other 2 cards are?

What a GREAT story! I feel like this might be good for @SouthFayetteFan to post on Page 1 for Apprehensive/Slow Churners as a testimonial (if both parties agree, of course). It could just be a one-liner linked to this/these post(s)

 

[havaneselover]

At ds’ football game. It is so cold and windy here. Will really appreciate my trip to sw Florida.
And my platinum PayPal credits are going for dorm room purchases. First up is a duvet cover and insert from urban outfitters.

 

[trenty]

What a GREAT story! I feel like this might be good for @SouthFayetteFan to post on Page 1 for Apprehensive/Slow Churners as a testimonial (if both parties agree, of course). It could just be a one-liner linked to this/these post(s)

Thank you. Fine with me if others think it would be helpful.

 

[Limes96]

I'm using my PayPal credit this month to go towards a frivolous purchase. I'm getting a loungefly mini backpack. It's cream colored with tropical foliage on it and Kevin and Dug from Up. I always thought those bags were cute but too expensive! With the PayPal credit it's only moderately expensive. Lol. But I will love it.

 

[becauseimnew]

I'm using my PayPal credit this month to go towards a frivolous purchase. I'm getting a loungefly mini backpack. It's cream colored with tropical foliage on it and Kevin and Dug from Up. I always thought those bags were cute but too expensive! With the PayPal credit it's only moderately expensive. Lol. But I will love it.

yay! that's way better than food.

 

[softballpooh]

For those of you who received the 3/31/21 expiring bonus offer on the Chase Disney card go back and check again today. It reset and I was able to add the 5% grocery stores and restaurants April 1-June 30. www.chase.com/mybonus

 

[afan]

For those of you who received the 3/31/21 expiring bonus offer on the Chase Disney card go back and check again today. It reset and I was able to add the 5% grocery stores and restaurants April 1-June 30. www.chase.com/mybonus

Really hoping I get an offer when my card finally comes, maybe tomorrow. But I don't know if they are that nice to brand new cards. I at least have grocery on my hyatt which I'll start using this weekend.

 

[CookieandOatmeal]

For those of you who received the 3/31/21 expiring bonus offer on the Chase Disney card go back and check again today. It reset and I was able to add the 5% grocery stores and restaurants April 1-June 30. www.chase.com/mybonus

I tried again today and still nothing for me. Bummer!

 

[gottalovepluto]

I tried again today and still nothing for me. Bummer!

Nothing on my no-fee UA today either