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

[DogCat]

I've got Instacart credits on a couple of cards also. I never use Instacart but DD does at times. I ignore almost all things like delivery services, Uber, Instacart but maybe I should at least familiarize myself and understand it in the event I need to use.

If these Kohl's credits repeat themselves, I might be tempted to load them and use them in tandem. I've had 3 kohl's offers each time and used all of them, but many are going as gift card xmas presents, plus reloading Amazon.

I do get a little irritated when I see how much more it costs using these services, but that's probably because I can so easily still shop for myself and I have the time. DD just doesn't consider expense because she is a different generation and also has a good income and few responsibilities.

I never use a delivery service either but I am trying to use the InstaCart and DoorDash credits using pickup. I was getting IC pickup at Aldi but they recently started requiring a minimum spend so I need to figure something else out. Near me, it seems very few places offer pickup.

 

[havaneselover]

I've got Instacart credits on a couple of cards also. I never use Instacart but DD does at times. I ignore almost all things like delivery services, Uber, Instacart but maybe I should at least familiarize myself and understand it in the event I need to use.

If these Kohl's credits repeat themselves, I might be tempted to load them and use them in tandem. I've had 3 kohl's offers each time and used all of them, but many are going as gift card xmas presents, plus reloading Amazon.

I do get a little irritated when I see how much more it costs using these services, but that's probably because I can so easily still shop for myself and I have the time. DD just doesn't consider expense because she is a different generation and also has a good income and few responsibilities.

I use my Instacart credits at Publix (I know they aren't as far north as you are). But the minimum pickup is $10. So I just buy things when they have bogo offers. I used my two $10 credits for three large cans of redi whip (a staple in my house) and three frozen pizzas.

 

[hsmamato2]

Both my CF Instacart credits hit. That was easy. Thanks @CyndiLouWho for explaining this!

Now on to buying SW tickets around $100 then figuring out how to build up the credit when I cancel

I;m still confused as to what credits I have on the account...where do I find these? are they listed somewhere? (this is why I gave up on IC awhile back,I can't figure it out)

 

[becauseimnew]

I need to use my Dell $200 credit, I know many buy Xbox gift cards, do you resell them? or just for personal use? We don't own an Xbox, my nephews only own PlayStations so I don't think these will be good gifts for them.

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

Wait.....Can I use my instacart credits at Total Wine? SCREW FOOD, I can get free wine, LOL!

 

[Alexle2007]

I need to use my Dell $200 credit, I know many buy Xbox gift cards, do you resell them? or just for personal use? We don't own an Xbox, my nephews only own PlayStations so I don't think these will be good gifts for them.

I used my XBox GCs to load Microsoft and purchased DS a Surface when he started private school and needed a laptop plus some accessories to go with it.

 

[Herding_Cats]

I have UR-to-United points, seat upgrade-using-miles question. We don't fly much, but are heading to Disney for race weekend soon. I have had our flights booked (through united, obviously) for months, but am 1st class curious, and it doesn't seem like a horrible deal (15k pts + $75/person.) HOWEVER. It says "waitlist" on the seat-booking page, even though it's obviously showing 1st class seats available to purchase. (Flight is a regional airport to O'Hare, and then to MCO for whatever that's worth.)

I don't really want to convert URs to miles and then not be able to use them. Can someone talk me through this? Is it a situation where they have allocated a certain number of seats for upgrade into "cash" and "miles" categories and all of the "miles" ones are already taken?

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

Okay in looking at the instacredits. To do pick up at any of the local places my order has to be $30-50+. But Total Wine is free delivery, LOL. So do you think if I place 4 orders using my 4 credits and set the same delivery time, there is a good chance the same person takes the orders? I would rather tip on 1 order than on each, LOL.

I can save $2 by doing a delayed delivery and choosing a block of time (like 7-9pm). I'm kinda bummed I can't use the credits all at once. I was giddy about getting a $$$$ bottle of bubbles for NYE, LOL. But I guess I can grab all my $10-20 bottles at a discount, LOL.

 

[havaneselover]

If anyone is looking for cheap sw fares, BWI to ATL (use low fare calendar) has lots of good options. One card down, two to go.

 

[becauseimnew]

If anyone is looking for cheap sw fares, BWI to ATL (use low fare calendar) has lots of good options. One card down, two to go.

Thanks for sharing, but what is your strategies with the credits. Do you put some in your name and some in other family member's name? or all yours?

 

[platamama]

Looking for advice for a first-timer to Royal Caribbean from people who've cruised on RC. I did check out the DIS RC forum, and learned a little, but this is my main stomping ground so I thought I'd ask here. Is there anything special I should know about RC? The last (and only) cruise I've done was the Disney Magic in the Caribbean over 10 years ago. After saying I wasn't planning on going on a cruise, now I'm looking at an Alaska cruise on RC, mostly because of the Amex offers lol.

I've gotten quotes off of cruisecompete with varying OBC offers, and am ready to put down a deposit. Is the non-refundable $750 deposit truly lost money or can it be re-applied to another cruise if we decide to make changes? I do plan on buying trip insurance with cancel for any reason clause.

Any recommended excursions at these ports?

• Sitka
• Juneau
• Icy Strait Point

 

[CyndiLouWho]

DD just doesn't consider expense because she is a different generation and also has a good income and few responsibilities

I'm not her generation but I've always hated shopping. Plus now with pandemic I still mask everywhere and hate going inside. Add my shoulder injury making it difficult to lift anything and Instacart is my new best friend.

I;m still confused as to what credits I have on the account...where do I find these? are they listed somewhere? (this is why I gave up on IC awhile back,I can't figure it out)

You can go into your Chase account and look at Benefits for your cards. Each one with the Instacart benefits will have it listed. It's really a Chase thing, you won't find it on Instacart. Chase credits your card after the charge posts.

Okay in looking at the instacredits. To do pick up at any of the local places my order has to be $30-50+. But Total Wine is free delivery, LOL. So do you think if I place 4 orders using my 4 credits and set the same delivery time, there is a good chance the same person takes the orders? I would rather tip on 1 order than on each, LOL.

I can save $2 by doing a delayed delivery and choosing a block of time (like 7-9pm). I'm kinda bummed I can't use the credits all at once. I was giddy about getting a $$$$ bottle of bubbles for NYE, LOL. But I guess I can grab all my $10-20 bottles at a discount, LOL.

I've not been able to combine credits, or orders for the same delivery person. Once I had the same person get my Costco and Aldi orders but that seems like a unicorn.

 

[platamama]

I need to use my Dell $200 credit, I know many buy Xbox gift cards, do you resell them? or just for personal use? We don't own an Xbox, my nephews only own PlayStations so I don't think these will be good gifts for them.

I recently bought Bose QC45 Comfort headphones for DD and she loves them. I will probably buy another pair once my Dell credit renews.

Thanks for sharing, but what is your strategies with the credits. Do you put some in your name and some in other family member's name? or all yours?

I'll share my strategy, which is to put all of them in DD's name as the transferable credit type of fare. Since I'm DH's CP for this two year stretch and I have enough RRs and URs to cover his flights, all the cc reimbursement fares go on DD's account. I make them transferable just in case those funds would help a friend or relative to fly with. Some of them are in larger chunks >$200, from combining smaller chunks into a new travel fund. I do this if I'm about to run into a problem with the 3 methods of payment since I generally want the 3rd payment to go on a CSP/CSR if she's traveling on her own.

I've also been doing the travel bank on DH's United account.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Any recommended excursions at these ports?

• Sitka
• Juneau
• Icy Strait Point

We did Mendenhall Glacier Tour and Whale watching. Excellent. Booked through Chase portal with URs.

 

[wanderlust7]

Looking for advice for a first-timer to Royal Caribbean from people who've cruised on RC. I did check out the DIS RC forum, and learned a little, but this is my main stomping ground so I thought I'd ask here. Is there anything special I should know about RC? The last (and only) cruise I've done was the Disney Magic in the Caribbean over 10 years ago. After saying I wasn't planning on going on a cruise, now I'm looking at an Alaska cruise on RC, mostly because of the Amex offers lol.

I've gotten quotes off of cruisecompete with varying OBC offers, and am ready to put down a deposit. Is the non-refundable $750 deposit truly lost money or can it be re-applied to another cruise if we decide to make changes? I do plan on buying trip insurance with cancel for any reason clause.

Any recommended excursions at these ports?

• Sitka
• Juneau
• Icy Strait Point

Which ship? We were on the Quantum for Alaska. I think changes have a fee of $100/person.

In Sitka, we did the "Sea Otters, Raptors and Bears Oh My" tour through the cruise line (only bookable that way). Weather wasn't great and we got a little queasy on the boat ride, but it was a well run tour.

In Juneau, we went to Mendenhall Glacier and then Tracy's King Crab Shack (so good). Rainy day and we got all wet, but Mendenhall was beautiful. We did the hike to the waterfall. Since it was 5 of us, a taxi was cheaper and I pre-booked one for $70 roundtrip. Plus they add a $10 surcharge/person to enter the park (in addition to the park fees). Driver was late due to cruise ship schedule changes (I guess he got busier), but he did text me and it was otherwise fine.

 

[havaneselover]

Looking for advice for a first-timer to Royal Caribbean from people who've cruised on RC. I did check out the DIS RC forum, and learned a little, but this is my main stomping ground so I thought I'd ask here. Is there anything special I should know about RC? The last (and only) cruise I've done was the Disney Magic in the Caribbean over 10 years ago. After saying I wasn't planning on going on a cruise, now I'm looking at an Alaska cruise on RC, mostly because of the Amex offers lol.

I've gotten quotes off of cruisecompete with varying OBC offers, and am ready to put down a deposit. Is the non-refundable $750 deposit truly lost money or can it be re-applied to another cruise if we decide to make changes? I do plan on buying trip insurance with cancel for any reason clause.

Any recommended excursions at these ports?

• Sitka
• Juneau
• Icy Strait Point

We did a private excursion with rum runners in Juneau. It was great. Meant to get to Mendenhall but I was a little under the weather and so we opted to sleep in.

 

[havaneselover]

Thanks for sharing, but what is your strategies with the credits. Do you put some in your name and some in other family member's name? or all yours?

I really should figure out a strategy. I just put half in my name and half in dd’s.

 

[happ]

I need to use my Dell $200 credit, I know many buy Xbox gift cards, do you resell them? or just for personal use? We don't own an Xbox, my nephews only own PlayStations so I don't think these will be good gifts for them.

A few weeks back, I tried to buy Xbox cards, and Dell cancelled my order. So I bought a portable ssd drive. I've also purchased a Bose speaker with credits.

 

[chattadisser]

I use my Instacart credits at Publix (I know they aren't as far north as you are). But the minimum pickup is $10. So I just buy things when they have bogo offers. I used my two $10 credits for three large cans of redi whip (a staple in my house) and three frozen pizzas.

Stealing this idea from you, Publix bogo is how we do most of our shopping.

Question about the Instacart, we have been leaving this on the table for some time and are just now trying to use it. So DH went into his CSR and registered for the Instacrt plus that comes with the CSR. He placed one order using the CSR. He's now trying to order under our Freedoms and other cards that have this benefit but the Instacart isn't letting him select the other cards, only the CSR. Does he need to "register" each card? Or should he be able to add the other cards in his Instacart account and then be able to select them when placing the order?

 

[havaneselover]

Stealing this idea from you, Publix bogo is how we do most of our shopping.

Question about the Instacart, we have been leaving this on the table for some time and are just now trying to use it. So DH went into his CSR and registered for the Instacrt plus that comes with the CSR. He placed one order using the CSR. He's now trying to order under our Freedoms and other cards that have this benefit but the Instacart isn't letting him select the other cards, only the CSR. Does he need to "register" each card? Or should he be able to add the other cards in his Instacart account and then be able to select them when placing the order?

I believe I had to register each card.