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

[Sheree]

DH being an AU doesn’t preclude him from applying for the card. If you really want to remove him, just use chat.

would he be eligible for sub?

 

[CyndiLouWho]

would he be eligible for sub?

Yes, as long as he hasn't had the card before (as primary cardholder) Make sure to keep track on a spreadsheet.
Also, Hilton has points pooling.
https://www.hilton.com/en/p/hilton-honors/buy-give-receive-points/

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

Anyone do a refi through better with the Amex offer? It's all the talk on one of my FB pages. I refi'd last year, but people are getting 2.5% and they are getting $2k back from Amex, which likely would cover most of my closing costs. I got 2.99% last year. So getting 2.5% would be nice. There's no harm in applying right?

Also if I am looking to do a refi, but also want to do a new card, I'm guessing I should do the card before starting the refi right? I'm not too worried if I didn't get approved on the refi (though saving some money each month would be nice). This is not my forever home. I'll likely be selling it in the next 6-10 years. With how insane the market is, I owe $280ish and my house likely could sell $400k. It's funny, last year we were slightly worried about the 20% equity to refi, this year, clearly not going to be an issue.

In other news, I've gone WAY down the MS/VGC rabbit hole, if anyone needs an update w/ that. WM is not playing nice anymore with most cards. But OD/OM has cards they do like....so I've been buying those this week, LOL.

I'm also only $700 away from hitting my CIU. I never thought in millions years I'd hit a $7500 spend w/o using Venmo. But $2400 in gift card purchases helped, LOL. So now I'm starting to look at my next plan. I guess the dilemma is still, do I do the MDD and be 5/24 until at least 4/22? Do I do the IHG card, and then the MDD (hoping the 100k offer is still there)? Do I do the CSP only, then upgrade back to the CSR later, then be able to do the IHG later this year? Ahhhh, choices!

I forgot how much I dislike the Barclays Biz site. Do I pay on my company account or my card account or doesn't it matter?

Did you get the mailer? 8/15 the biz will move to the regular Barclay site! I'm soooo happy, though I will likely close the biz. When the AF hits. I haven't decided if I want to close the Biz or the personal. I want to try churning (which I think I'd have more luck w/ the personal, since I've had that since 2017).

I thought 0 balances increased my score. I go to great lengths to pay them off at the closing date so they report zero. It would be way easier to just pay the statement balance. Am I doing it wrong?

From what I've read, reporting 0 is as bad as being max. They say it's good to have at least a few dollars on it when they report.

DP to share for P2:
June
PCed CSR from 2016 to CFU
Lowered limit to 5,000
Apped for CSP
Met MSR and received bonus

Today
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
Can now redeem for travel at .015

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

Once the CSP is a year old, I’ll PC it to a no-annual fee card.

I was also able to transfer points between accounts. Can’t recall if I previously had them linked, so not sure if that’s why this is working again.

So you upgraded a month later the same card you downgraded to? I'm just trying to follow as I need to downgrade my CSR and I'm debating if I try the MDD or not. Is there a reason you didn't do the MDD? I just want to make sure I have a CSR by next spring for the 1.5x as well.

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

Oh one more question......if I try for the MDD when I'm at 3/24, and get denied, the CSR....I'm still at 4/24 right?
And I need to have $15k in credit to play with for both, right? Business credit lines aren't applied to that correct? I think I've read some like to keep that on cards so they can move it around when they call. Is that better than lowering the limit to free up $15k? My CSR has $17.5 line on it right now. What would I drop that to when I PC it?

What's the minimum credit line you can have on a card (like the Bonvoy or IHG)?

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Anyone do a refi through better with the Amex offer?

I tried Better.com for a new mortgage last month. Filled out online, "preapproved" got a phone call to set up a time for the mortgage person (?banker) to call. They never called. Crickets. Literally never heard from them again. It's not like I'm high risk, DH & I both have credit scores over 800.

 

[happ]

I'm trying to sift through the info - but what makes this a not good idea?

It's because Chase limits you to 5 new cards (from any bank) in 24 months and the Disney bonuses are weak compared to other cards. I still have the no-fee Disney card that I got years ago and plan to keep it, but I wouldn't use a 5/24 slot on it today especially since I'm in one player mode. Some people still like to get it though since the required spend is low.

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

If y'all haven't joined AARP there are chase offers on many cards for $8 back making the membership $4! My friend saved like $300 on her rental this summer using them. And AARP has no age limit, LOL. One of the travel hack guys I follow on Tik Tok blew up and is on the cover I think for telling people about this, LOL.

 

[havaneselover]

Anyone do a refi through better with the Amex offer? It's all the talk on one of my FB pages. I refi'd last year, but people are getting 2.5% and they are getting $2k back from Amex, which likely would cover most of my closing costs. I got 2.99% last year. So getting 2.5% would be nice. There's no harm in applying right?

Also if I am looking to do a refi, but also want to do a new card, I'm guessing I should do the card before starting the refi right? I'm not too worried if I didn't get approved on the refi (though saving some money each month would be nice). This is not my forever home. I'll likely be selling it in the next 6-10 years. With how insane the market is, I owe $280ish and my house likely could sell $400k. It's funny, last year we were slightly worried about the 20% equity to refi, this year, clearly not going to be an issue.

In other news, I've gone WAY down the MS/VGC rabbit hole, if anyone needs an update w/ that. WM is not playing nice anymore with most cards. But OD/OM has cards they do like....so I've been buying those this week, LOL.

I'm also only $700 away from hitting my CIU. I never thought in millions years I'd hit a $7500 spend w/o using Venmo. But $2400 in gift card purchases helped, LOL. So now I'm starting to look at my next plan. I guess the dilemma is still, do I do the MDD and be 5/24 until at least 4/22? Do I do the IHG card, and then the MDD (hoping the 100k offer is still there)? Do I do the CSP only, then upgrade back to the CSR later, then be able to do the IHG later this year? Ahhhh, choices!


Did you get the mailer? 8/15 the biz will move to the regular Barclay site! I'm soooo happy, though I will likely close the biz. When the AF hits. I haven't decided if I want to close the Biz or the personal. I want to try churning (which I think I'd have more luck w/ the personal, since I've had that since 2017).


From what I've read, reporting 0 is as bad as being max. They say it's good to have at least a few dollars on it when they report.


So you upgraded a month later the same card you downgraded to? I'm just trying to follow as I need to downgrade my CSR and I'm debating if I try the MDD or not. Is there a reason you didn't do the MDD? I just want to make sure I have a CSR by next spring for the 1.5x as well.

I’ve been toying with a refi mainly to take a small amount of equity out to redo my bathroom. I would still have more than 60% equity in my house and the bathroom is 27 years old so it needs to be done soon.

 

[Judique]

For all of my flights out of MDW I've always used Park N Fly on 47th. The one time I flew out of ORD recently I booked a room at the Hampton O'Hare with parking for $167. I had the family for an 8am SW flight out of ORD, not getting them up at 0300 to drive.

My Amex Rose Gold has a 15$ off 75$ on ParknFly, just in case anyone is using it check your Amex.

 

[wanderlust7]

Sigh. Need to get the kids' passports renewed (well, technically a new application since you can't renew them). Having trouble finding appointments at the post office. The site is so glitchy. Anyone know what time exactly at 4 weeks appointments are released? Guess I'll try midnight EST first.

Earliest we'd need them is April. But I hear they're so backed up right now. Debating if we should pay for the expedited.

 

[PoohNFriends]

Not sure about your MDD questions. I’ve never attempted.
As far as United or American, I prefer the American terminal (3) because the United terminal (1) is so huge. It takes so much time after arrival to get out of ORD vs MDW and the United adds to that. Parking at ORD is a nightmare vs MDW too. Last week, we used PreFlight parking (Irving and Mannheim). They pick up by the Hilton.
So for us, even though MDW is a further drive, it is a better travel experience overall for us.

Might have to try this. We drive to MDW but Lyft or have family drop us off at ORD. Next week flying SW to MCO and I compared Lyft to parking at MdW. Parking will be $150 but Lyft was $80 each way, so parking it is.

Hmmmmmmm, maybe I'll see what's out there for American SUBs. If the airlines are fairly similar, I'd rather have the less chaotic experience at ORD.
We literally live the exact same miles from ORD & MDW. Obvi I prefer MDW since it's smaller. Most of the time we park ourselves, unless it's a longer stay which makes rideshare cheaper. I've never used the offsite parking at either airport so I'll have to look into those.

 

[MinnieMay]

In other news, I've gone WAY down the MS/VGC rabbit hole, if anyone needs an update w/ that. WM is not playing nice anymore with most cards. But OD/OM has cards they do like....so I've been buying those this week, LOL.

I'm also only $700 away from hitting my CIU. I never thought in millions years I'd hit a $7500 spend w/o using Venmo. But $2400 in gift card purchases helped, LOL. So now I'm starting to look at my next plan. I guess the dilemma is still, do I do the MDD and be 5/24 until at least 4/22? Do I do the IHG card, and then the MDD (hoping the 100k offer is still there)? Do I do the CSP only, then upgrade back to the CSR later, then be able to do the IHG later this year? Ahhhh, choices!

I am interested in your MS/VGC update. I have been trying to search your past posts (also @havaneselover) to try to come up with a plan of my own to maximize my 5X spending categories on CFF and CIC. I was also looking for newbie details on DisChurners but didn't really find it. I know things always change in that regard.

 

[ep1229]

Monday or tuesday I'll have p2 refer me a csp link and hope i get it. may try mdd for csr otherwise I'll pc cfu back to csr later

You can only PC once every 12 months.

 

[havaneselover]

I am interested in your MS/VGC update. I have been trying to search your past posts (also @havaneselover) to try to come up with a plan of my own to maximize my 5X spending categories on CFF and CIC. I was also looking for newbie details on DisChurners but didn't really find it. I know things always change in that regard.

I have two CICs. So I try to buy $5k/month in fee free visa gcs. I usually convert them to $499.54 money orders two at a time at food lion. I then use three money orders to pay my mortgage and deposit the other seven in my two checking accounts. So far so good.

 

[elgerber]

Two things...
Have I been reading correctly, if using a CP on a SW flight, you only have to buy EBCI for the main person?

my CIU tracker says I have $2.53 left to spend before my bonus. But I have returned over $750 of stuff in the last 2 months. I fully intend to re-spend that, but it might take a bit, would they claw back the 75000? if they might, I will just Venmo the amount of the returns to my dd.

Ok, 3 things, I also have Disney room deposits on there, that I will not know if I am actually using those rooms or cancelling until closer to October (trying to get the rest of my DVC night still), which is 2 months after my spend is due. Will that cause a problem, if that amount is refunded down the line?

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Hmmmmmmm, maybe I'll see what's out there for American SUBs. If the airlines are fairly similar, I'd rather have the less chaotic experience at ORD.
We literally live the exact same miles from ORD & MDW. Obvi I prefer MDW since it's smaller. Most of the time we park ourselves, unless it's a longer stay which makes rideshare cheaper. I've never used the offsite parking at either airport so I'll have to look into those.

We're very similar, 15 miles from ORD, 20 from MDW but roughly the same amount of travel time in traffic. We usually use MDW for convenience and SW points. I will say I'm still salty about a UA flight 10 years ago, so usually choose AA if flying our of ORD.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Sigh. Need to get the kids' passports renewed (well, technically a new application since you can't renew them). Having trouble finding appointments at the post office. The site is so glitchy. Anyone know what time exactly at 4 weeks appointments are released? Guess I'll try midnight EST first.

Earliest we'd need them is April. But I hear they're so backed up right now. Debating if we should pay for the expedited.

Actually we found we couldn't even make appointments online. Our local PO used to be so good, but apparently they transferred all the staff elsewhere. We showed up for our appointment to find there was only one person staffing the place so she couldn't do any passport appointments. After 2 cancellations, we were told to try the next suburb over, (that's where all their employees were transferred) & we made an appointment on the kiosk in the lobby (far less glitchy than online). Apparently the post office can only see the appointments scheduled on the day of, not sooner, so they don't know they have appointments. In addition once we finally got to the appointment, their camera was down, so they sent us to Walgreen's for photos (hint: bring your own photo). Now we wait 4-6 months.

 

[calypso726]

If y'all haven't joined AARP there are chase offers on many cards for $8 back making the membership $4! My friend saved like $300 on her rental this summer using them. And AARP has no age limit, LOL. One of the travel hack guys I follow on Tik Tok blew up and is on the cover I think for telling people about this, LOL.

Became a member years before I turned 50. Great discounts! BA business or first gets $200 off when booked through AARP.

 

[platamama]

Sigh. Need to get the kids' passports renewed (well, technically a new application since you can't renew them). Having trouble finding appointments at the post office. The site is so glitchy. Anyone know what time exactly at 4 weeks appointments are released? Guess I'll try midnight EST first.

Earliest we'd need them is April. But I hear they're so backed up right now. Debating if we should pay for the expedited.

I don't know what time the appointments open, sorry.* But last month (6/25) I took DD in to get her passport renewed (expiring this November when we are supposed to go to Costa Rica - who knows if that will actually happen at this point) and decided to go ahead and pay for expedited service. The USPS had a sign posted that said passports could take 18 weeks or more with regular service. That was cutting it too close for my comfort especially since I have to decide whether or not to keep the United award tickets 30 days prior to departure if I want to get a full refund. We ended up getting her passport back in 3 weeks! In the interim I saw several news articles saying there was such a backlog with getting passports that some people couldn't go on their trips which had me worried, but DD's passport came very quickly. Was it due to expedited service? I have to assume it was.

But you're looking at April which is a lot farther out than November...

Oh, another issue I had was with the first USPS appointment, DD and I showed up and the worker insisted that both parents (with government issued documents) had to show up for the appointment to go through with processing the application for a 16 year old (it did not say anywhere in the paperwork I looked through that that was necessary). So I had to make a 2nd appointment when DH could leave work to meet us at USPS to try again...and of course that time the other USPS employee never even asked to see DH at all. Be prepared for both parents to show up, otherwise you need a notarized letter or something like that giving permission for the one parent to go through with the application.

Excellent point from @CyndiLouWho to bring your own passport photos. My Costco stopped doing them; I ended up going to AAA for DD's.

*Have you tried changing the time & date setting on your computer to push you to another time zone? I had to do that back when I was searching for covid vaccine availability and it worked great since Walmart's website populated appointments at midnight EST.

 

[Arcades]

Who in the world spends $25,000 on restaurants in 6 months!? I think it would take me 25 years to spend that much. lol Am I reading that wrong?

Some very hungry people lol. I would just look at it as 15 MR/$1 at restaurants for 6 months, which is an amazing multiplier regardless of whether you cap it or not. 125,000 MR is better than most Platinum offers, too.