I love credit cards so much! v5.0 - 2022 (see first page for add'l details)

[Judique]

We were in Charleston last summer - I agree with OP about the car - Don't forget the Charleston Tea Plantation. Its the only place in the US where tea is grown. A nice couple hours tour and tasting...
https://charlestonteagarden.com

Things are changing fast in the US Tea industry:

Now, the U.S. League of Tea Growers reports there are 60 farms in 15 states. Most were started in 2000 or later and several, including The Great Mississippi Tea Co. and Virginia First Tea Farm, are less than five years old.

 

[calypso726]

Having breakfast outside in Barcelona now. Weather is unreal. Dd just went to the room to shower. We leave for the port in about 90 minutes.

Arrived yesterday morning at 8. Cleared customs quickly, showed them our QR code, grabbed a taxi and was at our hotel before 9. I had used my Amex fhr credit and booked cotton house. It’s a special property for sure and staff are amazing. They upgraded us to a king room but the room didn’t end up being ready until 5 we had a tour booked for Sagrada familia and park guell using chase points. We enjoyed it but it was such a long day because neither of us slept on the plane. The hotel restaurant didn’t serve dinner until 8 and we just wanted to eat and go to bed so we ate off the tapas menu. Beds were heavenly.

Taxis have been easy to use. I have no clue who to tip what though. After all of the jumping through hoops everything has come together perfectly (so far).

Enjoy your trip. I am in the process of getting ready to book flights to Barcelona when my dates are released later this year for a 2023 Med cruise on Virgin. I also need to look into hotels since I plan to come in a couple of days early and check out the city. Post cruise we will be flying to Paris for a couple of days in Disneyland Paris and then off to Wales for a few days there. I will look into Cotton House and add it to my list of potential hotels in Barcelona. Thanks!

 

[Minnie368]

Has anyone used the Dell credit from the AmEx biz plat lately? Did you go through the /amex website or just the regular Dell website? The headphones I want to order are $100 off on the regular website but not on the special link website.

I'm pretty sure I've ordered through the regular website and received the credit in the past, but I'm curious if there are recent data points.

I’ve always just ordered through the Dell website and have never had an issue getting the credit. I’ve done it as recently as March this year.

 

[georgina]

I know the Chase Sapphire Card is great for travel, but has anyone just used it for the statement credit? I'm very leery of booking any travel through a 3rd party, given all the flight cancellations, COVID restrictions, etc. I'd much rather just book directly with an airline (although I would lose the extra percentage in points) and use the statement credit to offset that charge. Even with $800, that's still the best bonus around.

We have a CSR and after issues with using credits from cancelled 2020 flights, I rarely use the points for flights any more. I don't use it for straight up 1:1 statement credit either. I have been very happy with the PYB features at 1.5X, using for airbnb, charities, the annual fee, and dining. Not sure what the categories will be after June 30 though.

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

We were in Charleston last summer - I agree with OP about the car - Don't forget the Charleston Tea Plantation. Its the only place in the US where tea is grown. A nice couple hours tour and tasting...
https://charlestonteagarden.com

Things are changing fast in the US Tea industry:

Now, the U.S. League of Tea Growers reports there are 60 farms in 15 states. Most were started in 2000 or later and several, including The Great Mississippi Tea Co. and Virginia First Tea Farm, are less than five years old.

Speaking of teas, when we were at the Waldorf Astoria Pedregal in Los Cabos, they provided the most amazing tea- a French tea brand called Dammann Freres. When were in Paris we went to their little boutique store and bought some for ourselves and as gifts. I particularly like the one called Bali.

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

So I rescheduled our Italy trip to over Thanksgiving due to the heat and crowds. We'll be doing Venice and Rome instead of Tuscany/Rome. I am pretty stoked with our 5 biz class fares on KLM through AF Flying Blue:

Using the 25% MR bonus to Flying Blue right now:

44k MR adults One-way
33k MR kids under 11, One-way
0.08 cpp redemption! Taxes were about $500 RT

We splurged and booked biz class round trip. The KLM lounge in Amsterdam seems lovely. While my mother is young, she moves slowly and has some breathing issues, so I think the higher level of service and being able to rest for long-haul flights will be better. I love that this hobby allows us to give in a way we wouldn't be able to otherwise. No way could I pay $4k per ticket.

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

Amex has me so scared to cancel my Delta Gold Biz. I was in pop-up hell for almost 2 years. I got the free Hilton back in March, so I think I might have finally made them happy. I really want to jump on the Delta Plat Biz next time it has a high SUB. So I don't want to pay the $99 knowing I'll do that at some point. And they won't offer me any kind of retention offers.

I have FOMO worrying that Amex might offer some good credits w/ the biz cards (like the $10 phone credit). And I am worried cancelling might put me back on their crap list, but I opened this card back in 4/2019. So, I should be okay to cancel. I used $100 in offers last year, $25 to date this year. But with no flights planned on Delta anytime soon, I'm not saving any luggage costs in the near future.

UGH, why is this so hard for me, LOL.

 

[elgerber]

Amex has me so scared to cancel my Delta Gold Biz. I was in pop-up hell for almost 2 years. I got the free Hilton back in March, so I think I might have finally made them happy. I really want to jump on the Delta Plat Biz next time it has a high SUB. So I don't want to pay the $99 knowing I'll do that at some point. And they won't offer me any kind of retention offers.

I have FOMO worrying that Amex might offer some good credits w/ the biz cards (like the $10 phone credit). And I am worried cancelling might put me back on their crap list, but I opened this card back in 4/2019. So, I should be okay to cancel. I used $100 in offers last year, $25 to date this year. But with no flights planned on Delta anytime soon, I'm not saving any luggage costs in the near future.

UGH, why is this so hard for me, LOL.

Have you had the Blue?

 

[wweazel]

Things are changing fast in the US Tea industry:

Now, the U.S. League of Tea Growers reports there are 60 farms in 15 states. Most were started in 2000 or later and several, including The Great Mississippi Tea Co. and Virginia First Tea Farm, are less than five years old.

I stand corrected I am a little concerned about how I got that in my brain - too young for a senior moment!

 

[Judique]

I stand corrected I am a little concerned about how I got that in my brain - too young for a senior moment!

All I have are senior moments with an occasional lucid thought

 

[elgerber]

All I have are senior moments with an occasional lucid thought

Ditto!!

 

[ctinct]

All I have are senior moments with an occasional lucid thought

Amen!

 

[mmmears]

Having breakfast outside in Barcelona now. Weather is unreal. Dd just went to the room to shower. We leave for the port in about 90 minutes.

Arrived yesterday morning at 8. Cleared customs quickly, showed them our QR code, grabbed a taxi and was at our hotel before 9. I had used my Amex fhr credit and booked cotton house. It’s a special property for sure and staff are amazing. They upgraded us to a king room but the room didn’t end up being ready until 5 we had a tour booked for Sagrada familia and park guell using chase points. We enjoyed it but it was such a long day because neither of us slept on the plane. The hotel restaurant didn’t serve dinner until 8 and we just wanted to eat and go to bed so we ate off the tapas menu. Beds were heavenly.

Taxis have been easy to use. I have no clue who to tip what though. After all of the jumping through hoops everything has come together perfectly (so far).

I hope you have a fantastic trip! I was just looking at Barcelona hotels this afternoon (for a 2023 trip) so it's nice to read a good review of one here. Bon voyage!

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

How do you all decide whether to keep a card open or not if there are no retention offers and the card benefits aren't too appealing/covered by more than one card you already have? I mean for newer cards gotten in the past year or two.

 

[happ]

How do you all decide whether to keep a card open or not if there are no retention offers and the card benefits aren't too appealing/covered by more than one card you already have? I mean for newer cards gotten in the past year or two.

I try to base my decision on value. If I've gotten value out of using a card and think that will continue, I'll keep it. If a card no longer pays for itself or no longer suits my needs, then I usually cancel it.

 

[calypso726]

How do you all decide whether to keep a card open or not if there are no retention offers and the card benefits aren't too appealing/covered by more than one card you already have? I mean for newer cards gotten in the past year or two.

It depends on the card and how I value the card. It also depends on whether downgrading or product changing to another card will offer me value. PlanePrincess and I both got the CSR about the same time a month or so after launch. I never cancelled mine, I product changed it to a second Freedom card. Now I have 2 Freedom cards where I have the potential to max out the rotating categories each quarter. When my 48 months after bonus came and went, I applied for the CSP at 100k. When that hits 12 months, I may upgrade to a CSR and have DH product change his CSR or may PC mine to a Freedom Flex.

Last year I downgraded a personal Amex Platinum card because I had 2 business Plats. This year, I canceled the 2 business Plats and upgraded the downgraded card to a Platinum card because I had an upgrade offer for 25k MR for $2k spend in 6 months. I value the benefits and can fully utilize them so the fee doesn't bother me.

I very rarely would consider cancelling my hotel cards that offer a FN certificate even though between DH and I, we hold 2 IHG cards, 2 Brilliant cards, 1 BonBlah business card, 2 Hyatt cards, 2 Ritz Carlton cards and 4 Aspire cards. However, after the BonBlah devaluation, I find it may be challenging to use 4 Marriott FN certs at 50k even topped of with up to 15k points, plus the $300 credit in a way that I would find valuable and satisfactory each year. Therefore, I will be keeping the RC cards and cancelling the Brilliant cards.

If the current card benefits offer no value to me and PCing the card offers no value long term or short term, then I just cancel the card. Hope this helps

 

[pinkxray]

“DH” just had the annual fee for his CSP. I have a CSR which is almost 5 years old.
I am torn on whether I just have DH downgrade his CSP or I downgrade my CSR and use his support link to get a CSP. In that case, I would have him upgrade his CSP to CSR because I like to have one.

If I choose to downgrade my CSR, how long do I have to wait to apply for the CSP?

Also, double dip? I don’t even know if I want to bother with that. Seems like too much spend for me and the bonus for the CSR isn’t that much. Also the second card would still count towards my 5/5 status right?

 

[jujubiee4]

Cruisers here. Any particular company you like/experienced to book your travel insurance?

Anyone use Insure my trip ?

Also I paid for our fall cruise with Dis gift cards for the discount. Now i'm wondering if i should
have used Chase or Amex because of the built in travel ins? I haven't booked flights yet so
with all the delays cancellations I will use Amex or Chase but with points. Should I pay part of
it with the card for the insurance? Thanks

 

[calypso726]

Cruisers here. Any particular company you like/experienced to book your travel insurance?

Anyone use Insure my trip ?

We almost always use insure my trip.

 

[jujubiee4]

We almost always use insure my trip.

Thank you for responding. I added to my post above can you look it over and give possible
recommendations. Thank you!