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

[Judique]

The 2% rewards that you get when becoming an Office Depot member does not apply to gift card purchases:

Members earn 2% back in rewards in store and online on almost every item including technology, furniture, supplies and services. The only items members do not earn rewards on include: Office Depot Marketplace items, delivery fees, postage stamps, gift or pre-paid cards, any services relating to Tech, furniture, marketing or administrative, or any third-party services.

At one point when they first revamped the program you earned rewards on gift card purchases but they got rid of that pretty quickly.

Oh well! I was actually quoting what they said to me. I originally wasn't expecting rewards of any kind so not a big deal.

 

[Judique]

Nice haul! I never seem to get cooperative cashiers for multiple transactions. I get the "money laundering" excuse.

On a side note, sadly I don't think you will earn Office Depot rewards from the gift card purchases. Same thing at staples.

No biggie. The cashier and the manager were the ones leading me to believe I would get them. I'll probably just get the 2% off whatever my friend spent. I haven't actually read any t&c's, but I did attend to setting up the online account.

 

[Psychodisney]

No biggie. The cashier and the manager were the ones leading me to believe I would get them. I'll probably just get the 2% off whatever my friend spent. I haven't actually read any t&c's, but I did attend to setting up the online account.

Just like Disney bus drivers In general it seems like we all know more than the Chase reps, Disney bus drivers and OD/OM cashiers and managers.

 

[reliev]

Did you ever use the luggage service with mde going to wdw? How it was so much easier than lugging it around and that's without the potential of stairs.

I fully plan to use it from my Tokyo hotel to tdlr. Then I'll send my main suitcase to Osaka and my souvenir bag to my last Tokyo hotel. I'll use a small carryon to fly to Okinawa and then send my main suitcase and potentially the small one from Osaka to Tokyo. It's just easier to deal with a backpack period when dealing with train stations and walking blocks. I did not enjoy lugging my suitcase up all the stairs in the paris metro.

no, but i moved to this area because of the mouse but yeah im thinking it's totally worth the 40$ when I went to menton and Italy it was a true pita to lug 2 bags around.
My friend and I have been discussing and he goes what if our bags get lost I said its japan they are efficient.

 

[havaneselover]

I did my first trip to Staples this morning. Planning at least three more. And my van goes in for an oil change tomorrow. I'm telling them when they give me the list of things it needs fixed that I'm only fixing what has to be fixed to pass the safety inspection next month. It's at the stage where annual check ups cost four figues (but it's been paid for for a decade). Thankfully I have a 10% off Midas Chase offer.

 

[catsinawindow]

Just confirming: I can book a hotel for my sister using Hyatt points (that I plan to convert UR to), correct? If it makes any difference, I will be staying at the same hotel, on the same dates, in a separate room. So I would essentially be booking two rooms on points.

 

[hayesdvc]

I have had a SW Business Visa Card for more than 24 months. How long do I need to have it cancelled before I apply for a new one?

TIA

 

[palhockeymomof2]

I have had a SW Business Visa Card for more than 24 months. How long do I need to have it cancelled before I apply for a new one?

TIA

30 days….if you are close to your anniversary date you could let the Anniversary RR points hit your account before closing…also make sure it’s 24 months from when you earned the bonus

 

[Alexle2007]

Just confirming: I can book a hotel for my sister using Hyatt points (that I plan to convert UR to), correct? If it makes any difference, I will be staying at the same hotel, on the same dates, in a separate room. So I would essentially be booking two rooms on points.

Yes, but you will only earn nights toward status on one room.

 

[Alexle2007]

I did my first trip to Staples this morning. Planning at least three more. And my van goes in for an oil change tomorrow. I'm telling them when they give me the list of things it needs fixed that I'm only fixing what has to be fixed to pass the safety inspection next month. It's at the stage where annual check ups cost four figues (but it's been paid for for a decade). Thankfully I have a 10% off Midas Chase offer.

Did you do the 8 you are allowed per the flyer?

 

[palhockeymomof2]

Did you do the 8 you are allowed per the flyer?

Not the OP…but I purchased 8 this morning

 

[mmmears]

We took out the United Credit Card earlier this year, but in order to get the full sign up bonus we had to spend $20,000 in 6 months (gulp). So we bought a whole bunch of $1,000 visa cards at Simon Mall - the cards have a fee of $3.95 each. There are no extra fees if buy them in the mall - you can also buy them online but there is a rigorous sign up process (or so I'm told - I have never actually tried it) and there are additional fees.

In the mall itself, you have to go into the mall management office or designated gift card place and specifically request the $1000 Visa gift cards.

Is the only benefit to the Simon visa cards that they come in $1K increments? We have one nearby, but have never bought a card there.

 

[havaneselover]

Did you do the 8 you are allowed per the flyer?

Yes, eight.

If I do four trips, that's $6400 about every four weeks. My problem is I am not deposting money orders at B of A anymore after they returned my last two. I wonder if I can use the Capital One ATM to deposit them.

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

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.

Flying Blue could be a decent option. Looks like (from a quick glance) there are flights from PIT for as low as 75k +$191 OW in biz class to Paris (CDG), on Delta and Air France metal, in mid-June of 2023. If you wanted to reposition to JFK, there are flights to Rome for 62k +$202, OW biz (4 seats June 19).

We are a big family as well, and so it's always a dilemma if everyone is going to fly in biz class, or how that works. We also like to fly to Europe in biz and return in economy. The challenge with Europe on points is I find that you have to either do cash or points, but doing one way on cash and one way points doesn't work bc the one way fares are super high in cash. Seems OW in econ can be found for around $15k +148ish euros, CDG-JFK.

So, for 4 people=

62k*4= 248UR
15k*4= 60UR
= 308 UR

Remember, flights and trains within Europe are very inexpensive, so it's easy to fly to one city but return from another.

Last hint, for Flying Blue (Air France, for example), I really like SeatSpy. It's a free program or you can do a paid membership to see biz class fares. They'll show you the pts and fees for NONSTOP routes, for a whole year, in a really quick glance. Here's JFK-CDG, for example. It's really easy to see availability just by hovering over the dates. You should 100% always confirm the true availability with the actual program you are booking before transferring points. If you see something you like, do not hesitate these days. It'll be gone in a heartbeat.

 

[elgerber]

I need to transfer URs from P2's account to my account for the first time. Does it matter which account I use to SM to request the transfer? Thank you.

I would use the person whose account you want to take them out of. I am not sure they would just give you someone elses UR's without that person contacting them.

 

[reliev]

Flying Blue could be a decent option. Looks like (from a quick glance) there are flights from PIT for as low as 75k +$191 OW in biz class to Paris (CDG), on Delta and Air France metal, in mid-June of 2023. If you wanted to reposition to JFK, there are flights to Rome for 62k +$202, OW biz (4 seats June 19).

We are a big family as well, and so it's always a dilemma if everyone is going to fly in biz class, or how that works. We also like to fly to Europe in biz and return in economy. The challenge with Europe on points is I find that you have to either do cash or points, but doing one way on cash and one way points doesn't work bc the one way fares are super high in cash. Seems OW in econ can be found for around $15k +148ish euros, CDG-JFK.

So, for 4 people=

62k*4= 248UR
15k*4= 60UR
= 308 UR

Remember, flights and trains within Europe are very inexpensive, so it's easy to fly to one city but return from another.

Last hint, for Flying Blue (Air France, for example), I really like SeatSpy. It's a free program or you can do a paid membership to see biz class fares. They'll show you the pts and fees for NONSTOP routes, for a whole year, in a really quick glance. Here's JFK-CDG, for example. It's really easy to see availability just by hovering over the dates. You should 100% always confirm the true availability with the actual program you are booking before transferring points. If you see something you like, do not hesitate these days. It'll be gone in a heartbeat.

View attachment 716863

dang taxes went up from February but a great deal.

 

[Alexle2007]

Yes, eight.

If I do four trips, that's $6400 about every four weeks. My problem is I am not deposting money orders at B of A anymore after they returned my last two. I wonder if I can use the Capital One ATM to deposit them.

Do you have PNC? That’s where I deposit mine without any problem.

 

[havaneselover]

Do you have PNC? That’s where I deposit mine without any problem.

I don’t right now (have in the past). But I don’t think we have pnc atms around but I’ll check that out (I think I can get another bonus since it’s been more than 24 months.

 

[bbsearchlight]

Is the only benefit to the Simon visa cards that they come in $1K increments? We have one nearby, but have never bought a card there.

Yes, the fact that they come in $1K increments and only cost $3.95 make it easy to hit a high spend amount for a signup bonus and don't use up as many of the spots that you are limited to when paying taxes to the IRS processors.

Would it be cheaper to buy gift cards in a supermarket and use the supermarket bonus or gas points? Possibly, but since most supermarkets only have a $500 visa gift cards, it would take double the amount of gift cards to hit the spend bonus.

If you are going to Simon Mall to buy these for the first time, call your local mall management office first and check if they sell the $1000 visa cards (most malls do, but not all) and also check their hours...some malls only sell it on weekdays from 10 - 4. And some of the smaller malls only have one person who sells it, so if that person is out for the day, you have to come back another day when they are there. The bigger malls have longer hours and multiple people who sell it.

 

[Crazed4DisneyinSC]

so Turo is a legit option for car rentals? I was considering booking something,and paying the cost with UR points on statement (regular rental options are still crazy high)

We had a really positive experience with our Turo rental in August. We were met at the airport so no going out of the way, and we were driving off within 2 minutes of meeting the cars owner. Everything is basically done in app, so it did not take nearly as long as you’d be waiting at an Enterprise counter for example. We did get the cheapest insurance option for peace of mind, but had no issues whatsoever. When our flight was delayed by two hours on our departure, the owner had no problem accommodating an extension for no extra charge. Will definitely use Turo again, and it was half the cost. It’s basically the Airbnb equivalent for car rentals.