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

[GZanta77]

I have ~15k in private student loans that I need to pay off (yay!)

The provider is Firstmark.

Does anyone have a creative idea for a way I can earn cc points for this payoff?

I don’t think I have it in me to do money orders (respect to any of you that do!), but I’m open to suggestions!

I have paid some of my son's student loans using Gift of College giftcards. I buy them at a local gas station using a card that earns 5%/5xURs (or sometimes 4%) on gas. I get the variable load cards that I can load $500 for a $5.95 fee - so I effectively come out $19 ahead with a 5% card. For a short while last year I had access to a new discover card with double cashback so was making 10% back on the gas quarter.

He doesn't have firstmark as a provider, but I think I have seen them listed as working with Gift of College.

 

[Albort]

Ok super quick question...Amex Green- right now it's 45k MR for 2k spend.... Bc I made this mistake before,I want to avoid it again, but not sure how to verify- can MR earned on the Green be transferred to partner hotel programs? Thanks

unlike chase cards, All MR earning card pool into a single MR account so yes, your green card earned points can go to a partnered hotel program.

 

[iujen94]

Oh yeahhhhh.... I forgot to value that in. So easily offsets the AF for that year.......

Plus the $300 travel credit eats away at a big chunk of that AF also!

 

[NewbieMom]

Question on PYB, I haven't really used it yet. We unexpectedly need a new water heater. Can I charge it on a CIU (1.5x) and use PYB through my CSR (another 1.5x)? Thinking not now that I typed that out. Is it only 1x if I charge on the CSR? I remember home improvement was a bonus category at one point but not sure if it's expired.

 

[hsmamato2]

unlike chase cards, All MR earning card pool into a single MR account so yes, your green card earned points can go to a partnered hotel program.

Ok thank you-bc as I noted in an earlier post, I mistakenly picked the one card that couldn't do this

 

[chattadisser]

No Staples cards for me. I went at 11am! So I'm thinking they didn't have any to start. Grrrrr!

Did you ask them if they had any? I went at noon and they were wiped out. I asked and the manager opened the kiosk and got more out for me. I always ask if there are none out. I may have opened the kiosk once and looked for more myself when there was no manager around to help.

 

[IFlossU]

Question on PYB, I haven't really used it yet. We unexpectedly need a new water heater. Can I charge it on a CIU (1.5x) and use PYB through my CSR (another 1.5x)? Thinking not now that I typed that out. Is it only 1x if I charge on the CSR? I remember home improvement was a bonus category at one point but not sure if it's expired.

You have to use your CSR to buy the water heater at a home improvement store. Then yes, you can use your points for PYB.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

Question on PYB, I haven't really used it yet. We unexpectedly need a new water heater. Can I charge it on a CIU (1.5x) and use PYB through my CSR (another 1.5x)? Thinking not now that I typed that out. Is it only 1x if I charge on the CSR? I remember home improvement was a bonus category at one point but not sure if it's expired.

You would have to put it on your CSR to use its PYB at 1.5

 

[georgina]

Question on PYB, I haven't really used it yet. We unexpectedly need a new water heater. Can I charge it on a CIU (1.5x) and use PYB through my CSR (another 1.5x)? Thinking not now that I typed that out. Is it only 1x if I charge on the CSR? I remember home improvement was a bonus category at one point but not sure if it's expired.

Yep, our charge last week at Home Depot is only giving 1x UR's. So it has expired. You can either earn 1x and PYB at 1.5, or earn the 1.5 with the CIU. I have this mental calculation frequently when deciding which card to use!

 

[pinkxray]

Hello,
I'm looking to do the exact same thing, apply for the Barclays Hawaii card to go to Hawaii in August 2022. I've never played the Credit card game before and am trying to figure out the process. I need 3 cards, Boyfriend and I and my 2 adult (employed) children with their SOs. They will each apply for their own card once I figure out when it's the best time to apply. My trip is early August (to celebrate my birthday), the kids will mostly likely cancel their cards after the trips so I'm trying to maximize without them having to pay for 2 years of fees. How did you decide when to apply for cards? and what are some of the creative ways with MSR? I told the kids I will help with the MSR. Thanks for any advice!!

I admit I am not the best person to ask when it comes to these things. I dabble in this much less many people on here.

I was originally planning June 2022 for Hawaii. Hawaiian opens flights around 11months out. I was going to apply for the card around May to make sure I met the spend and got the points before Flights opened. Family schedules forced me to bump up our trip to April. I decided to just apply now and see how it went. Our flights will open soon in a few weeks. I will spend the msr ASAP but don’t know when the points will post. I would have applied at least a month ago if I knew we were traveling in April. It took me two weeks to be approved. (Barclays usually calls for info but I never got a call or missed it)
I am also not good at making big msr. I have a lot to spend in the next month so I plan on pretty much prepaying things like phone bill and anything else I can prepay.
I also have to pay cash for some places in Hawaii like Turtle Bay and 2 nights rented points at Aulani. Will prepay anything I can for our trips that I know I won’t have the points to cover to help make the msr.
(I have been saving $$$ for over a year so have the cash to pay off whatever I spend out of pocket once it hits the card)
Like I said, I am not very heavy into this like some others. I will pay for flights and a portion of our hotels through points and the rest will be cash. I would say hopefully a $12,000(ish) trip will cost me about half that out of pocket which I am ok with. Others are able to pay nothing out of pocket.

 

[jenmsmith]

Here are some pictures from yesterday and today at mk! We’re having lots of fun and Ds is loving it

Precious!

 

[iujen94]

I admit I am not the best person to ask when it comes to these things. I dabble in this much less many people on here.

I was originally planning June 2022 for Hawaii. Hawaiian opens flights around 11months out. I was going to apply for the card around May to make sure I met the spend and got the points before Flights opened. Family schedules forced me to bump up our trip to April. I decided to just apply now and see how it went. Our flights will open soon in a few weeks. I will spend the msr ASAP but don’t know when the points will post. I would have applied at least a month ago if I knew we were traveling in April. It took me two weeks to be approved. (Barclays usually calls for info but I never got a call or missed it)
I am also not good at making big msr. I have a lot to spend in the next month so I plan on pretty much prepaying things like phone bill and anything else I can prepay.
I also have to pay cash for some places in Hawaii like Turtle Bay and 2 nights rented points at Aulani. Will prepay anything I can for our trips that I know I won’t have the points to cover to help make the msr.
(I have been saving $$$ for over a year so have the cash to pay off whatever I spend out of pocket once it hits the card)
Like I said, I am not very heavy into this like some others. I will pay for flights and a portion of our hotels through points and the rest will be cash. I would say hopefully a $12,000(ish) trip will cost me about half that out of pocket which I am ok with. Others are able to pay nothing out of pocket.

I’m also not great at maximizing my cashing in points. But I consider any piece that I get for “free” is amazing - and something I never could have done before finding this group, for sure!

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

Why does indecision have to be my problem? I've got to decide on the flights I have on hold for NC tonight. DS mentioned wanting to go somewhere else/different. We went to Virginia Beach when he was younger and he liked that, so he mentioned there. Issue is rental cars are $$$$$. I'm trying to think where else in the US I'd like to take the kidlets before they are older and out of the house. Their dad has said he's going to take them to Cali, so I don't want to show him up and do it. But I'm at a loss as to where in the US my kids would have fun in the summer.

Another thing leading to this, is that I have 2 IHG nights and 4 Marriott FNC I need to use, oh and a Hilton too. I wanted to save them for somewhere AWESOME. But I'm drawing a blank as to where that would be. I can't think of anywhere worthy to take the kids and use them. And I don't think I want to do somewhere like Mexico solo w/ them. So that leaves using them w/ my BF. Problem is, he doesn't know his schedule for the upcoming month till about the 20th of the month. And seeing that he's a reserve pilot, he can't drop trips or reschedule them. All he can do is call in sick. Which leaves me trying to grab flights at the last minute (if we're not having me try standby on Spirit, which he hates doing). So I don't know when/where to use all these free nights. The IHG expire in August and I think Dec. The Marriott are 1/22. And the Hilton is sometime in 22 as well.

Gah, I hate planning!

Did you ask them if they had any? I went at noon and they were wiped out. I asked and the manager opened the kiosk and got more out for me. I always ask if there are none out. I may have opened the kiosk once and looked for more myself when there was no manager around to help.

I did, they didn't have any. TBH, I don't think they even bother stocking them anymore at all. I've honestly given up on getting them.

 

[wanderlust7]

I have ~15k in private student loans that I need to pay off (yay!)

The provider is Firstmark.

Does anyone have a creative idea for a way I can earn cc points for this payoff?

I don’t think I have it in me to do money orders (respect to any of you that do!), but I’m open to suggestions!

If you want a more armchair churning way, you can pay it with Plastiq with 2.85% fee. Mastercard only, can't do it with Amex or Visa.

 

[NewbieMom]

Yep, our charge last week at Home Depot is only giving 1x UR's. So it has expired. You can either earn 1x and PYB at 1.5, or earn the 1.5 with the CIU. I have this mental calculation frequently when deciding which card to use!

Thanks! Since I don't have a MSR, I'm focusing on maximizing the bonus categories now. The way you put it I guess I can just charge to the CIU for 1.5 and not deal with PYB.

 

[platamama]

I have ~15k in private student loans that I need to pay off (yay!)

The provider is Firstmark.

Does anyone have a creative idea for a way I can earn cc points for this payoff?

I don’t think I have it in me to do money orders (respect to any of you that do!), but I’m open to suggestions!

Piggybacking on @GZanta77 's post, the SECURE Act modified the laws around 529 plans to allow paying off student loans (capped at $10K per beneficiary, I believe), so if your state allows a state tax deduction for 529 contributions then you may benefit from routing the money through the 529 first (only the first $10K of your loans though). I don't know the details of the changes, but might be something to look into. My state does allow me to deduct contributions to a 529, so I will be routing all money through DD's 529 before the money goes to whatever school she ends up attending. I wish there were stores here that allow me to buy GoC $500 cards with a $5.95 fee but with the dissolution of Babies/Toys R Us, I don't have any good opportunities.

 

[SueInBoston]

I admit I am not the best person to ask when it comes to these things. I dabble in this much less many people on here.

I was originally planning June 2022 for Hawaii. Hawaiian opens flights around 11months out. I was going to apply for the card around May to make sure I met the spend and got the points before Flights opened. Family schedules forced me to bump up our trip to April. I decided to just apply now and see how it went. Our flights will open soon in a few weeks. I will spend the msr ASAP but don’t know when the points will post. I would have applied at least a month ago if I knew we were traveling in April. It took me two weeks to be approved. (Barclays usually calls for info but I never got a call or missed it)
I am also not good at making big msr. I have a lot to spend in the next month so I plan on pretty much prepaying things like phone bill and anything else I can prepay.
I also have to pay cash for some places in Hawaii like Turtle Bay and 2 nights rented points at Aulani. Will prepay anything I can for our trips that I know I won’t have the points to cover to help make the msr.
(I have been saving $$$ for over a year so have the cash to pay off whatever I spend out of pocket once it hits the card)
Like I said, I am not very heavy into this like some others. I will pay for flights and a portion of our hotels through points and the rest will be cash. I would say hopefully a $12,000(ish) trip will cost me about half that out of pocket which I am ok with. Others are able to pay nothing out of pocket.

Thank you! I can't book airfare 11 months out because I have to wait for DVC 7 month window. So I think I will apply in early September, which will give me approx 3 months to meet MSR, points to post, and book air and dvc in Jan 2022. (My only creative way to meet MSR is to buy Disney gift cards to put towards our Aulani bill)..lol

 

[wanderlust7]

Dell is at 15% on Rakuten, if anyone has credits to use. Xbox GC still has the 10% off.

 

[iujen94]

Dell is at 15% on Rakuten, if anyone has credits to use. Xbox GC still has the 10% off.

Is the 10% off Xbox GCs a Dell thing or an AMEX thing? I’m seeing them full price on the Dell website.

 

[wanderlust7]

Is the 10% off Xbox GCs a Dell thing or an AMEX thing? I’m seeing them full price on the Dell website.

It's a Dell thing. Use code XBOX10.