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

[cookiecar]

The annual fee on my CSR just posted on the 1st. I am getting ready to PC the card (held since 2016) to a CFU so that I can apply for a new CSP in December. I'm sitting at 2/24. My credit lines could use some reductions, so I'm going to reduce a few to free up some credit for the new card. And I plan to transfer my URs to my existing CF card or to my husband's new CSR. Anything to remember or consider before proceeding?

 

[calypso726]

Happy Saturday everyone! It's a good start to a travel hacking weekend. I found 9 Chase offers for 10% off at OD/OM. I had the Amex offers for $25 off $100 at Staples, $25 off $250 at Best Buy as well. A number of Disney GCs are in my near future. Happy to get 10% off DVC dues and a future ABD trip.

I was recently approved for the 70K Alaska business card and made the MSR today in one transaction since BoA was offering the additional 2x points for purchases today. I guess I need to start looking for another MSR LOL

 

[AmyAnne]

Yes, I think you could request the card to be expedited; not sure if they are overwhelmed at all. I would app ASAP though, just in case. As long as you have a CapOne card, you should be good to get presale access.

Thanks. She applied for the Quicksilver (better odds of instant approval--which it was) plus the lower spend and less complicated rewards.

Capital One wants $16 to expedite the card, so she's going to give it a few days and see when the card ships via regular mail.

 

[AmyAnne]

My P2 was pre-approved and app'd for Savor One. I was able to get the virtual number within the app right away, we both already have Cap1 savings accounts. App'd on Tuesday and just got a message today that the card should be here on the 10th.

It looks like the regular presale at 10am does not require a Cap1 card, there is a special presale at 2pm for Cap1 cardholders. Sounds like some seats will be held for that second presale.

That's interesting--I didn't realize that the Capital One presale was after the regular presale. Maybe that will make it easier to get tickets (if some people get them through the regular presale)? Although it seems like this is just ridiculously popular.

 

[havaneselover]

Got two Western Union checks today for the money orders B of A returned. Tried to mobile deposit them with Capital One but they wouldn't let me mobile deposit them. I'll use the Wells Fargo ATM tomorrow.

 

[mom2febgirls]

Thanks. She applied for the Quicksilver (better odds of instant approval--which it was) plus the lower spend and less complicated rewards.

Capital One wants $16 to expedite the card, so she's going to give it a few days and see when the card ships via regular mail.

We applied Tuesday and the card shipped yesterday. It says it will be here on the10th

 

[leeniewdw]

Hi - was on 4 AA flights this week and on 2 legs, they offered a special limited offer for 50k miles if you sign up for their AA card, first year $99 fee waived and spend ANYTHING in first 30 days (might have been longer, but I don’t have it in front of me). I grabbed 1 app on each flight. They wanted you to apply on flight (paper or online) but I wasn’t up to it, but I think I can still apply with the special code on the app.

I can’t see the downside (I’m not worried about Chase 5/24) to get 100k if both me and P2 apply. We just finished up on the MSR for CIU Biz and an IHG, buy even if we hadn’t, a single purchase makes it a no-brainer?

I am pretty much brain drained after moving my 94 yo Mom into a memory care place and dealing with 3 sisters for 4 days (we get along fine, but moving and sorting thru your Mom’s possessions is just hard) and was a little weepy on the plane, so just grabbed the paper app and stuck it in my backpack.

 

[elgerber]

The pros have silicon tips and come with 4 sizes. The newer AirPods 3 are still plastic and one size but they more resemble the pros. If you don’t like the older AirPods then the pros might work since they come with resizable silicon tips. I like the way the older AirPods fit so I might go with those to save points. Also I don’t really use the features of the pros.

I can't do the regular Apple earbuds that used to come with the phones. I do love my AirPod Pros, they fit different than those, and much better.

 

[MouseOfCards]

Happy Saturday everyone! It's a good start to a travel hacking weekend. I found 9 Chase offers for 10% off at OD/OM. I had the Amex offers for $25 off $100 at Staples, $25 off $250 at Best Buy as well. A number of Disney GCs are in my near future. Happy to get 10% off DVC dues and a future ABD trip.

I was recently approved for the 70K Alaska business card and made the MSR today in one transaction since BoA was offer the additional 2x points for purchases today. I guess I need to start looking for another MSR LOL

Wow, that's excellent! Was considering the 70K Alaska biz card but stayed on the fence worried about the potential devaluation of Alaska miles at the end of the year. Glad to hear you were able to take advantage of their one day offer!

 

[BGparadise]

I am a bit newer to the travel card process. We have accumulated a fair amount of UR and are interested in booking airfare to Europe (open to destination) in June. I am a bit overwhelmed with the options and how to find availability. Any insights in how to find availability and best use of points would be appreciated:

- Is there a website/app for the process?

- If not are certain airlines best/easiest to look?

- How far in advance should we be looking?

any other helpful suggestions welcome

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

Sam's club offering $250 Instacart egiftcard for $199.98, 20% savings.

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

I am a bit newer to the travel card process. We have accumulated a fair amount of UR and are interested in booking airfare to Europe (open to destination) in June. I am a bit overwhelmed with the options and how to find availability. Any insights in how to find availability and best use of points would be appreciated:

- Is there a website/app for the process?

- If not are certain airlines best/easiest to look?

- How far in advance should we be looking?

any other helpful suggestions welcome

I really like point.me for people who are new to redeeming for award flights. I think there may be a 24 hour free trial. It is unique in that it works just like a travel search engine, but shows actual availability (although you should ALWAYS confirm that availability before transferring points).

I am a huge fan of Flying Blue (AirFrance/KLM) because it is reasonably priced. With travel demand being so high, anytime you can book 10-11 months in advance (right when airlines release their schedules) that's ideal. But seems you have some flexibility in destinations.

What airports would you be willing to fly out of?
How many UR do you have?
How many seats do you need and do you want economy or business class?

 

[calypso726]

Wow, that's excellent! Was considering the 70K Alaska biz card but stayed on the fence worried about the potential devaluation of Alaska miles at the end of the year. Glad to hear you were able to take advantage of their one day offer!

I am sure there will be a devaluation but the stopover or two on award flights is a nice option so hopefully they won't nerf that. None the less, it was a good offer that didn't ad to my 5/24 and helps with my airline miles diversification.

 

[BGparadise]

I really like point.me for people who are new to redeeming for award flights. I think there may be a 24 hour free trial. It is unique in that it works just like a travel search engine, but shows actual availability (although you should ALWAYS confirm that availability before transferring points).

I am a huge fan of Flying Blue (AirFrance/KLM) because it is reasonably priced. With travel demand being so high, anytime you can book 10-11 months in advance (right when airlines release their schedules) that's ideal. But seems you have some flexibility in destinations.

What airports would you be willing to fly out of?
How many UR do you have?
How many seats do you need and do you want economy or business class?

Flying out of Cleveland (prefer) or Pittsburgh. Currently have about 300k UR but do not expect to pay for all of our tickets as we may need 4 or 5 tickets. Open to Economy but if we can stretch and get Business for the eastbound flight that would be ideal since that is the more difficult leg.

 

[calypso726]

I am a bit newer to the travel card process. We have accumulated a fair amount of UR and are interested in booking airfare to Europe (open to destination) in June. I am a bit overwhelmed with the options and how to find availability. Any insights in how to find availability and best use of points would be appreciated:

- Is there a website/app for the process?

- If not are certain airlines best/easiest to look?

- How far in advance should we be looking?

any other helpful suggestions welcome

Flying into London would incur a higher dollar amount in taxes and fees than flying to other European cities. So do keep that in mind.

Availability depends on the airline and when they release seats. Some airlines release at 330 days out and some 355 days out. Since you are looking to fly in June seats for flights would have already been released. If you are looking to book flights in business or first, those seats are limited in number for award space, I will book the day the award availability opens for the airline.

You would need to start with knowing where you are flying to and from. Then search for which airlines fly those routes. Google flights or Momondo should give you a good idea. This would give you a decent idea of which airlines you may need to transfer to. Do make sure the availability is there before making a transfer to an airline partner because you cannot transfer back.

I just booked flights to and from Europe recently for next September and October so I will share what I did. I found award availability from Miami to Barcelona with a connection in Madrid on Iberia which is a Chase airline transfer partner. It was 51.5k Avios miles and $140 in taxes and fees per person for lie flat business class seats.

We are returning home via London on British Airways (also a Chase airline transfer partner) on lie flat business class seats which was 62.5k Avios plus $628 in taxes and fees per person See what I mean about travel to or from London? I could book Virgin Atlantic from London back to Miami and Chase has a 30% transfer bonus going on to transfers to Virgin but I had BA Avios to burn and decided to save my UR points.

Helpful suggestions: Be flexible on which airport you fly out of if you have multiple choices nearby. Positioning to a specific airport is a good strategy in some cases to get a great ward redemption.

 

[Alexle2007]

To transfer to Flying Blue, do I need to have my account established for a certain period or can I immediately transfer?

 

[bbsearchlight]

Thanks. That article muddies the water a bit on gift card payment, says sometimes the processors treat them as debit and sometimes not. Since you have to deduct the fee before entering the payment amount, if the processor charges the higher credit card fee I'm not sure what happens if the payment + fee ends up over the value of the GC. I guess I could always pay a little less and if I end up with a few bucks on the GC I can use them up at Costco.

Before they actually charge you, they will tell you what the total cost (with the service charge) will be. So if for whatever reason they don't charge the debit fee, you can go back and change the amount of the payment or just cancel the payment. There is no reason to pay a little less.

 

[Judique]

Yesterday my Disney friend and I went to Office Depot to purchase Disney cards at 10% off with my Chase card offers. Just us in the store and 2 cashiers plus a manager. Friend shopped for kiddie stuff for their trip while I bought the gift cards. I was doing 6 transactions. Cashier was very nice and asked me if I wanted to join the rewards program for 2% back. I did so.

After my 3rd transaction, the next one wouldn't go through without manager over ride. That's when I made the mistake of running one card twice. They had no problem with over riding the cash register, and at the end, both cashier and manager decided that it didn't like giving me 'all those rewards'. I spent $770, then my friend said, 'put my purchase on her number also' store items for about $50. Had to over ride again.

The employees were just fine with giving me all the transactions. Manager said that it usually asks at 10 gift cards, not after 3. So, the cashier will call him when someone wants 10 cards.

All's well that ends well. In total I get $66 cash back on the Chase offers and a total of almost $30 in points and Office Depot rewards.

In other news my Amex Best Buy offers for $25 off $250 credited. Shopped Nov 1, credit Nov 2. That was fast.

I have 2 more ShopDisney offers to do. After that hopefully more will come in.

I did get a cell phone bill offer in a wave of offers that appeared after I cleared 100 offers. It ends Dec 31st, for 10% up to $30. My November bill is already paid and I'll only owe $25 to $35 in December - unless somebody buys a phone. So I'll get a $2.50 to $3.50 credit. . Actually I have 2 offers, one on DD's au card as well as my card.

 

[hsmamato2]

Top up? How many points? The shopping points post within of few days of shipping.
I’ve managed to earn 30k points this year on the shopping portal. That’s the main shopping portal I use.

thanks...I forgot about the portal I'll take a look there

 

[reliev]

Got my Universal Japan tickets with the Wakuwari discount. Only available on the Japanese site so was a little tricky and ended up using the hotel address. Got the QR codes, so hope all is okay.

Didn't try Visa and MC since the English website says foreign ones aren't working. Amex worked perfectly fine on desktop. Didn't have to go through Apple Pay like some were saying on Reddit.

Express Pass hasn't opened up yet, hope I can get the one I want without issue.

nice, are you going out of Kyoto? i still am undecided if i can do 3 days of parks for my 9 day trip.