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

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

On a side note, I just saw I hit $5k spend on my Surpass for an extra 10K points. I'm trying to get to the $15k for the FNC. So if I do that, I earn the FNC, but also I'll get enough bonus points for 1-2 nights at the Hampton Inn at my beach in NC, YAY!

I went in and checked the rental cars I have for NC, not thinking they would drop but you never know. I booked for $250, they are now $700+ So I'm glad I booked when I did. I'm hoping that this craziness settles sooner than later! The BF is adding me to his flight benefits in October. I wanna start taking advantage, LOL. Though that's going to be a whole other thing to learn how to do!

Anyone on here experienced w/ ZED fares? Spirit doesn't have the greatest partners but with my summers off, I think I could definitely take advantage of some of the perks.....My BF thinks I'm crazy for being willing to "risk" stand-by and hang at the airport. I'm only 25 min from DTW, so it's not too terrible if I didn't get onto a flight. He is spoiled since he can get on any flight free on any domestic airline, unless they are oversold and the jumpseat is gone. But Alaskan and Hawaiian are ZED partners. So is Southwest and Jet Blue. There are some international too (KLM, Virgin, etc).

 

[alryan]

I noticed when I was checking my SW flights, that the bonus is now 65,000 pts. I wiped out our SW points for a trip in July.

If I apply for a SW card and meet the spend immediately do the SW points show up quick or does it take until the statements ends. Need to book out flights June 10 for Nov.

That's good to see the SW SUB higher. I see it's still the 40K with $1K MSR on the Chase site. I don't have a SW card at the moment. I wonder what the support offers are.

ETA: Update on DoC, looks like support links haven't changed yet.

 

[Alexle2007]

So then do you just log in to the school's website and pay $500 (or however much the VGC is for) at a time? I need to see if that's an option for DS's university.

Yep! I have to account for the fee and I typically leave a $1 or more to load to Amazon so I can $0 the card. I had 30 plus transactions last time since it was $200. I can then take advantage of the no fee MCGCs too.

 

[BenCampbell589]

I am going to Italy next month and this will be the first time I travel to Europe. I would like a credit card to take as a backup to my debit / ATM card. I'm searching for a card that will assist me with procuring rewards so I can travel more. I have seen mixed reviews about Discover, Capital One, and Chase. Some are blatantly negative, others are garishly positive, and the first one has brought my research to a halt. I've been reading forums here for weeks now and it's clear that the vast majority of you all are well-traveled. So I go to your accomplished personalities and wallets for direction. What credit card would you recommend for a beginner traveler who does not have a high-paying job?

 

[Albort]

I am going to Italy next month and this will be the first time I travel to Europe. I would like a credit card to take as a backup to my debit / ATM card. I'm searching for a card that will assist me with procuring rewards so I can travel more. I have seen mixed reviews about Discover, Capital One, and Chase. Some are blatantly negative, others are garishly positive, and the first one has brought my research to a halt. I've been reading forums here for weeks now and it's clear that the vast majority of you all are well-traveled. So I go to your accomplished personalities and wallets for direction. What credit card would you recommend for a beginner traveler who does not have a high-paying job?

i suggest any barclay card with no FTF as a backup. barclay cards are one of the few companies that offer chip and pin while most of the other banks are only chip and signature. I would say chase as your 2nd option if you havent completed your 5/24.
Discover card is great as a starter card to boost your credit score, so they should either be at the very beginning or later in the game.
Capital One has some decent cards but should be obtained in the later game as well.

so really, chase or barclay, chase will earn you better rewards, barclay will be a better travel backup card imo.

 

[AndreaDM]

Pretty sure the answer is no, but thought I'd ask anyway. If I add an AU to my United Explorer card, can I transfer that user's mileage to my account without paying the crazy high fees?

 

[afan]

I am going to Italy next month and this will be the first time I travel to Europe. I would like a credit card to take as a backup to my debit / ATM card. I'm searching for a card that will assist me with procuring rewards so I can travel more. I have seen mixed reviews about Discover, Capital One, and Chase. Some are blatantly negative, others are garishly positive, and the first one has brought my research to a halt. I've been reading forums here for weeks now and it's clear that the vast majority of you all are well-traveled. So I go to your accomplished personalities and wallets for direction. What credit card would you recommend for a beginner traveler who does not have a high-paying job?

Agree with @Albort. But please make sure your debit card doesn't charge a foreign transaction fee if you plan on using it for everything. If it does you really should find a barclays or chase card that doesn't have one and use it for your purchases and then just pay the fee if you need to get cash from an atm.

 

[becauseimnew]

Looks like Marriott ruined the best part of Marriott... point advanced reservations will only be held for 60 days.

 

[becauseimnew]

Also, DH received 6,000 SW points today. I’m not sure what promotion that’s for, not card anniversary. Anyone else?

 

[platamama]

I'm able to change my 7/4 and 8/5 flights on sw. But not 6/26 and not 8/8.

 

[LynnTH]

Just found the Biz #. 1-800-453-9719. Got the 7-10 days notice. Uggh.. Will probably have DH call. He does have a legit side business so no problem talking about that. I did lower some of his other cards - but only a few days ago. Wondering now if the Ink Unlimited or Ink Cash would have been easier to get.... Will have him call later and see what is up. He has to call anyway as for some reason they locked his Biz account and needs to call to get it unlocked. He doesn't currently have any Chase Biz cards so not sure why that happened.

Quoting myself. DH didn't get home until late last night so was unable to call. I called the automated line again this morning and it said " Approved"!! Yeah. Still have to have him call to unlock his online account but that will be nothing... so, I have 98,000 pending UR's on CSP and will soon have another 60,000 UR's pending on CSR. Then with this Biz Referral of 20,000 UR's plus 100,000 SUB plus 15,000 spend. I will be very close to a million UR's. I am such a hoarder.... Hoping can get traveling again soon. Waiting to hear if our August Cruise will be a go and what the stipulations will be. Fingers crossed!!

 

[ski_mom]

I'm able to change my 7/4 and 8/5 flights on sw. But not 6/26 and not 8/8.

Thanks for posting this! We are flying into the San Francisco area. It has opened up SFO, SJC and OAK as options - this is really going to save us on flights as well as a rental car, but I didn't know if there's a preference (easier to navigate) between SFO and SJC? We will be flying Southwest if that matters.

 

[alryan]

I'm able to change my 7/4 and 8/5 flights on sw. But not 6/26 and not 8/8.

Good to know. I got an email about a flight change an hour earlier for our 8/15 Hawaii flight, but then surprisingly it wasn't available for the free change. It's been so random lately.

 

[wanderlust7]

Thanks for posting this! We are flying into the San Francisco area. It has opened up SFO, SJC and OAK as options - this is really going to save us on flights as well as a rental car, but I didn't know if there's a preference (easier to navigate) between SFO and SJC? We will be flying Southwest if that matters.

What are your plans? SFO is connected to San Francisco by BART. SJC is a smaller airport than SFO, closer to Monterey if that's the direction you're heading.

 

[alryan]

Also, DH received 6,000 SW points today. I’m not sure what promotion that’s for, not card anniversary. Anyone else?

I think there's been some promos, maybe that? I either didn't get the promo, or couldn't do it without a SW card so I can't remember what they were. But 6,000 points when you weren't expecting it is nice!

 

[ski_mom]

What are your plans? SFO is connected to San Francisco by BART. SJC is a smaller airport than SFO, closer to Monterey if that's the direction you're heading.

We are going to a Giants game (as long as we can get tickets when they open them up for July) and not entirely sure past that. We've been to San Francisco before, but will just be DH and DS 19 on this trip, so probably mostly San Francisco area again.

 

[Shannon G]

Does MDD on SW cards still work? So, I could apply for one of the personal cards and, if I get instant approval, apply for one of the other personal cards? If I have to first close an existing SW Chase card, how long should I wait before attempting the MDD? I have an offer for 65k points with a $2k MSR - I know that the general thought is to try to apply near year end so that you hit the MSR early in the next year, maximizing the length of the companion pass, but we have 2 trips coming up this year that I could use the companion pass for, so I'd be fine with having it for this year & next if I can get it all done in time for our first trip (late July). We already have flights booked with points, so getting the companion pass would return points to my account (and, for one trip, to my mom's account, as she booked flights for us when I used up my points, lol)

I think I am currently at 2/24 (from two AmEx cards opened earlier this year). While I'd much prefer to do a MDD with the CSR and CSP, I've only had my current CSP since 6/2019, so I still have a while to go before that's an option. My only other thought is that I am planning more international travel in the next couple of years, so maybe I should look at some other card - tentatively planning a trip to Greece and Italy in either late May/ early June or late June / early July 2022 (Athens, Santorini, and Venice), but I am not sure yet what airline will have the best options for us or which tends to have the best miles redemptions, or if I should consider a hotel branded card instead. I am also hoping to possibly plan a trip to Bora Bora in 2023. We are on the east coast, so if it makes sense to go with the SW cards, I could use SW points to get us as far as California for that trip, and then switch to another airline to get to Bora Bora. Our preferred / closest airport is BDL (Hartford) but we can also easily fly from Providence or, for international trips, Boston, JFK, and LGA are all possible options as well.

 

[wanderlust7]

I am going to Italy next month and this will be the first time I travel to Europe. I would like a credit card to take as a backup to my debit / ATM card. I'm searching for a card that will assist me with procuring rewards so I can travel more. I have seen mixed reviews about Discover, Capital One, and Chase. Some are blatantly negative, others are garishly positive, and the first one has brought my research to a halt. I've been reading forums here for weeks now and it's clear that the vast majority of you all are well-traveled. So I go to your accomplished personalities and wallets for direction. What credit card would you recommend for a beginner traveler who does not have a high-paying job?

For Europe or any international travel, you want Visa or Mastercard. Amex is not commonly accepted and Discover rarely if ever.

Agree with @Albort that a chip and pin card is great to have. You can get by without one, but it's very handy to have at ticket machines. If you don't have one, you might need to use cash or find a person.

If you have use for AA miles, the Barclay's Aviator is at 60k miles for making 1 purchase. There's a link where you can get first year annual fee waived.

If chip and pin is not as high priority, then maybe the Chase Sapphire Preferred. Points are very flexible. Current offer is 80k and $50 grocery for spending $4000. Annual fee is $95. You can Pay Yourself Back for grocery, dining, home improvement (current categories) at 1.25 cent per point. So the bonus would be worth $1000 if you do that. Or you can transfer to partners such as Southwest or Hyatt.

Here's a good source for current best bonuses if you want to consider other cards. It also has the link to the Barclay's Aviator offer with waived AF.

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/best-current-credit-card-sign-bonuses/

 

[wanderlust7]

We are going to a Giants game (as long as we can get tickets when they open them up for July) and not entirely sure past that. We've been to San Francisco before, but will just be DH and DS 19 on this trip, so probably mostly San Francisco area again.

Then SFO will be a lot more convenient. For the days you're in SF, it's probably easier to not have a car. Parking's a pain.

 

[chattadisser]

Yep! I have to account for the fee and I typically leave a $1 or more to load to Amazon so I can $0 the card. I had 30 plus transactions last time since it was $200. I can then take advantage of the no fee MCGCs too.

Do you by any chance do this through FACTS? Just wondering as this may open up a new option for me.