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

[sinnika]

For those who have flown across the pond westbound from London, is there usually a high fee (tax) to pay along with points? I just booked a one way after a DCL cruise from London to Houston in premium economy and the tax was $327 in addition to the 45,000 United points. I don't have MR points yet but could certainly earn some before this flight in Sept 2022. I do have Capitol One miles that I could use as well. The eastbound was $5.60 in tax plus the points with United miles.

 

[tink1970]

Planning a 3 night trip to Nashville in January.
1 night at Thompson in the Gulch neighborhood to take advantage of Amex Plat credit
2 nights at Kimpton Aertson in Midtown to take advantage of a 40% off sale, and love the Kimpton brand

Myself, husband and 2 kids, 8 and 12. We've never been to Nashville. What should we know about these two areas? Nashville in January? Any recommendations for kids?

Thanks in advance!

I love the Thompson-I've been twice and headed back next month. DH and I usually just go and chill out there, so no great suggestions other than just walking the neighborhood and eating .

Enjoy your trip!

 

[Psychodisney]

A DP on AmEx Platinum retention offers. My annual fee is going to come up in November, so I chatted with them today. She asked me all kinds of questions - what I use the card for, why I initially applied, etc. She pointed out what all credits I had used - the airline credit, Saks, Uber and the paypal offer. She then told me that since I had been with AmEx for 4 years, she could offer me $150 off of the annual fee. I told her I'd think about it. She then came back and offered a $300 discount on the annual fee if I spend $4,000. She also told me that the offers can change daily. I told her again that I'd think about it. I'll probably chat back with them next week or so and see what they say.

DH got an offer of a $550 statement credit with $4,000 spending, so I hate to take anything less than that honestly. We'll see what they say next time. I definitely won't be spending $695 for it.

Did you call or chat on line?

 

[palhockeymomof2]

Thanks! It's tomorrow

We went to the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose. I've wanted to go for years. It's a 2 hr flight for us so still kinda crazy but not too bad.

View attachment 612576

Great Picture…

 

[ski_mom]

Did you call or chat on line?

I chatted

 

[CyndiLouWho]

For those who have flown across the pond westbound from London, is there usually a high fee (tax) to pay along with points? I just booked a one way after a DCL cruise from London to Houston in premium economy and the tax was $327 in addition to the 45,000 United points. I don't have MR points yet but could certainly earn some before this flight in Sept 2022. I do have Capitol One miles that I could use as well. The eastbound was $5.60 in tax plus the points with United miles.

It's the fee to leave LHR. On BA flights from LHR to ORD taxes are over $1k in taxes. On AA, it's $300+.

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

Chase is offering free Instacart Express memberships through April of 2022 (source DOC). https://www.instacart.com/store/partnerships/chase

Will auto-renew after that, so you can go ahead and cancel right away and it will still stay active til April (the screen prompts make it seem like you should wait to cancel, but you can cancel right away- I did.) Also, if you had an active membership as of September 30, 2021, you are excluded from the promotion. Perhaps another household member could set up an account and you could even support for $10.

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

We LOVE the Aertson in Nashville! It's our go-to hotel when in Nashville. It's close to Vandy if there's a basketball game or anything that would interest your family. It's also fairly close to Broadway and tons of restaurants. I'm not sure if you have boys or girls but there is good shopping in the Green Hills area too. We mail go to Nashville to shop and eat. There is also a Top Golf in Nashville but you'll need a car to get there. It will likely be cold in January but, depending on where you are coming from, nothing too bad.

I love the Thompson-I've been twice and headed back next month. DH and I usually just go and chill out there, so no great suggestions other than just walking the neighborhood and eating .

Enjoy your trip!

Thanks y'all. We are coming from WI so it's bound to be warmer there than here in January! We don't have any big intentions, so these are perfect suggestions - dining out, walking around and just enjoying a weekend away is fine by us.

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

Wow, DH's was still alive this morning (I checked) but now it isn't. My 48 months is up in 7 days. So close!!

Reports of in-branch still being live at 100k. Fingers crossed it stays that way for another week (probably a long shot?)!

 

[magicalfoursome]

Planning on a WDW trip in October 2022. Thinking of applying for a Marriot credit card to use the rewards at the Swan or Dolphin. I plan to pay it off each month. There is a deal out there now for 125,000 bonus points if you spend $5,000 in the first three months plus you get a free night. It has an annual fee of $95. Is it worth it? Is this a good offer from Marriott?

 

[Arcades]

Planning on a WDW trip in October 2022. Thinking of applying for a Marriot credit card to use the rewards at the Swan or Dolphin. I plan to pay it off each month. There is a deal out there now for 125,000 bonus points if you spend $5,000 in the first three months plus you get a free night. It has an annual fee of $95. Is it worth it? Is this a good offer from Marriott?

If you're willing to get business credit cards, American Express' Marriott Bonvoy Business card is currently offering 125,000 SUB and 2 Free Night Certificates (up to 35,000). There's also the added bonus of not adding to your 5/24 count (and Amex generally being more lenient on business cards than Chase or other issuers).

 

[magicalfoursome]

If you're willing to get business credit cards, American Express' Marriott Bonvoy Business card is currently offering 125,000 SUB and 2 Free Night Certificates (up to 35,000). There's also the added bonus of not adding to your 5/24 count (and Amex generally being more lenient on business cards than Chase or other issuers).

Thank you for your reply but what is the difference with a business credit card? And what is a 5/24 count?

 

[Arcades]

Thank you for your reply but what is the difference with a business credit card? And what is a 5/24 count?

Business credit cards are offered to businesses. The application will have a section for the business applying and the underlying officer or owner that looks very similar to a personal credit card application. Individuals, even those without real businesses, can apply for business credit cards using their SSN as the Tax ID number and applying as a sole proprietorship (your title would be "Owner"). If you were ever asked what your business is, you could say you sell things on Amazon. Personally, I say my business is "[my real job] consultant". For business income, list at least $1,000 (I use 10% of my actual income). For time in business list 1 year -- this way you can say it is a new business and your business income is your anticipated income (e.g. no business tax returns filed). I have never been asked any of these questions by Amex or Chase -- and only once was I asked to confirm my business mailing address (same as my home address).

5/24 refers to Chase's credit card restriction that you can only be approved for 5 personal credit cards (across all credit card issuers) in a 24 month time period. If you reach 5/24, then Chase will automatically deny you for new credit cards (business or personal). Amex business cards do not report to your personal credit, so Chase doesn't count them towards the 5 card limit (Chase also does not count their own business credit cards -- which is why you see members here applying for their business Ink products regularly to get more cards).

It may seem intimidating at first, but business cards are the real secret to maximizing credit card rewards because you double or triple the number of sign up bonuses you can get over time (particularly with Amex's 1 bonus per card per lifetime rule and Chase's 5/24 rule). Most issuers have business credit cards and most don't count towards 5/24 (Capital One being the exception amongst major companies).

Hope this helps.

 

[magicalfoursome]

Business credit cards are offered to businesses. The application will have a section for the business applying and the underlying officer or owner that looks very similar to a personal credit card application. Individuals, even those without real businesses, can apply for business credit cards using their SSN as the Tax ID number and applying as a sole proprietorship (your title would be "Owner"). If you were ever asked what your business is, you could say you sell things on Amazon. Personally, I say my business is "[my real job] consultant". For business income, list at least $1,000 (I use 10% of my actual income). For time in business list 1 year -- this way you can say it is a new business and your business income is your anticipated income (e.g. no business tax returns filed). I have never been asked any of these questions by Amex or Chase -- and only once was I asked to confirm my business mailing address (same as my home address).

5/24 refers to Chase's credit card restriction that you can only be approved for 5 personal credit cards (across all credit card issuers) in a 24 month time period. If you reach 5/24, then Chase will automatically deny you for new credit cards (business or personal). Amex business cards do not report to your personal credit, so Chase doesn't count them towards the 5 card limit (Chase also does not count their own business credit cards -- which is why you see members here applying for their business Ink products regularly to get more cards).

It may seem intimidating at first, but business cards are the real secret to maximizing credit card rewards because you double or triple the number of sign up bonuses you can get over time (particularly with Amex's 1 bonus per card per lifetime rule and Chase's 5/24 rule). Most issuers have business credit cards and most don't count towards 5/24 (Capital One being the exception amongst major companies).

Hope this helps.

Thanks so much!

 

[Psychodisney]

Planning on a WDW trip in October 2022. Thinking of applying for a Marriot credit card to use the rewards at the Swan or Dolphin. I plan to pay it off each month. There is a deal out there now for 125,000 bonus points if you spend $5,000 in the first three months plus you get a free night. It has an annual fee of $95. Is it worth it? Is this a good offer from Marriott?

I'm not a Swan/Dolphin expert, but the business nights at 35K are probably not enough for Swan or Dolphin. Make sure you can use the 35K nights for something you want.

 

[becauseimnew]

I'm not a Swan/Dolphin expert, but the business nights at 35K are probably not enough for Swan or Dolphin. Make sure you can use the 35K nights for something you want.

The SUB is 125k points + 2 50k FNC… the yearly FNC is 35k

 

[Psychodisney]

A DP on AmEx Platinum retention offers. My annual fee is going to come up in November, so I chatted with them today. She asked me all kinds of questions - what I use the card for, why I initially applied, etc. She pointed out what all credits I had used - the airline credit, Saks, Uber and the paypal offer. She then told me that since I had been with AmEx for 4 years, she could offer me $150 off of the annual fee. I told her I'd think about it. She then came back and offered a $300 discount on the annual fee if I spend $4,000. She also told me that the offers can change daily. I told her again that I'd think about it. I'll probably chat back with them next week or so and see what they say.

DH got an offer of a $550 statement credit with $4,000 spending, so I hate to take anything less than that honestly. We'll see what they say next time. I definitely won't be spending $695 for it.

I got brave and chatted this morning. I also was questioned quite a bit and tried to really convince me how great the Equinox credit is...lol. The initial rep told me my AF in Nov would be $695. Retention specialist did say $550. Eventually got around to offering me 40,000 MR for spending $3000 in 3 months. I accepted. I do use the uber, airline and Sax credits and some offers. (DH gets better offers, his account has been open for 2.5 years, minimal spend). Overall, I use this card rarely.

 

[becauseimnew]

I got brave and chatted this morning. I also was questioned quite a bit and tried to really convince me how great the Equinox credit is...lol. The initial rep told me my AF in Nov would be $695. Retention specialist did say $550. Eventually got around to offering me 40,000 MR for spending $3000 in 3 months. I accepted. I do use the uber, airline and Sax credits and some offers. (DH gets better offers, his account has been open for 2.5 years, minimal spend). Overall, I use this card rarely.

I chatted this morning, hoping to get the 60,000 offer I keep seeing, but the best I’ve gotten is 40,000 for $4k.

 

[jujubiee4]

We went to the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose. I've wanted to go for years. It's a 2 hr flight for us so still kinda crazy but not too bad.

How was this? I have flight credits/points everywhere and need to start getting rid of them.
Looking for somewhere easy and short flight. Did you stay at hotel.(im in Calif)

 

[jujubiee4]

For those that cancelled their Japan trip are you rescheduling for next 2022? 2023?
I was going to wait until 2023 but my husband says some form of Covid will probably
always be around and prob masks. So if a Country is open for US visitors we should just go.

Actually this question is for anyone planning to to travel out of their country.