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

[snugglebug]

For those that use VGC at Costco, have you done any returns lately? My last 2 returns went back to the card used, which was not a VGC thankfully. Last night, I didn't have my receipt and wasn't sure if I had used VGC, I asked for a gift card before she completed the return and while she said okay, she then said "sorry, it didn't let me". I'd prefer not to have returns go back to a VGC so I'm not sure what to do here. Previously they would prompt for my card, but now it seems to be all automatic.

I don't do a lot of returns, but I do buy clothing there and there's always a chance it won't fit or, like last night's return, the stitching comes undone. I do hold on to VGCs for a bit, but it'd be a pain to sift through and find the right card and then monitor it for the return. Trying to decide my strategy going forward.

 

[reliev]

FWIW, I did get the email and this morning my Dashpass says "Active" but expires January 31, 2022

im going to wait when I went on it said my billing started today so I don't want to pay for something I can get for free once the glitch is fixed.

 

[LynnTH]

FWIW, I did get the email and this morning my Dashpass says "Active" but expires January 31, 2022

You can build their credit before 18. AMEX allows an AU to be 13 yo and Chase has no minimum age IIRC.

This is what we did with both kids. They were AU's on our cards at a young age. Now they have some of their own cards and they both have credit over 800. So it pays to start their credit early.

 

[StephPlum]

thanks for this! Super helpful. I can't wait for my oldest daughter to be 18 (5 more years) so I can start "building her credit"

I’d make her an AU on one of your cards to build her credit. Did this with DS and he left college with a CS in the 800s.

 

[StephPlum]

For those that use VGC at Costco, have you done any returns lately? My last 2 returns went back to the card used, which was not a VGC thankfully. Last night, I didn't have my receipt and wasn't sure if I had used VGC, I asked for a gift card before she completed the return and while she said okay, she then said "sorry, it didn't let me". I'd prefer not to have returns go back to a VGC so I'm not sure what to do here. Previously they would prompt for my card, but now it seems to be all automatic.

I don't do a lot of returns, but I do buy clothing there and there's always a chance it won't fit or, like last night's return, the stitching comes undone. I do hold on to VGCs for a bit, but it'd be a pain to sift through and find the right card and then monitor it for the return. Trying to decide my strategy going forward.

This seems to be new And it sucks. It seems like they have to do the return on the original card and won’t give a Shop card anymore (at least at my Costco). It does go back to the VGC and I’ve learned to hold those VGCs (write Costco on them) even if 0 balance until I am sure I won’t return something. Just bought a hoodie that is going back so I’ll have this same issue.

 

[sinnika]

no advice, just curious how you were able to get 500000 Cap One points?

Two years ago, someone had posted on the disboards about a capital one spark business card offer. It was 50,000 points for a certain spend and then if you had a $50,000 spend in six months you earned another 150 thousand points. We have a legitimate business and it was a hard stretch to do it but I managed and stocked up on supplies in that six month window to do the spend. I got 375,000 points total from that! I’m hoping that comes along again! I see they have a similar offer now for $3000 cash but I like getting points so I can hoard them! Ha ha Ha first time hoarding points!

 

[MsOnceUponATime]

Most people would advise against cashing out for gift cards as it isn't a good return.

If you have no immediate need, I always like to wait for a transfer bonus. Here is a historical list. For example, there were 3 Hilton transfer bonuses last year, ranging from a 30-40% bonus. Hilton already transfers at 1MR=2HH points, so if you're also getting a bonus, you really are getting a great redemption.

Thanks. Yes, I was not planning to redeem for gift cards, but it is an option.

Are you speaking of bonsuses on Hilton's end or on Marriott's end? How do I monitor that? I have to look at all of my emaills from Hilton and Marriott and wait for them to announce?

 

[iujen94]

This seems to be new And it sucks. It seems like they have to do the return on the original card and won’t give a Shop card anymore (at least at my Costco). It does go back to the VGC and I’ve learned to hold those VGCs (write Costco on them) even if 0 balance until I am sure I won’t return something. Just bought a hoodie that is going back so I’ll have this same issue.

Yep same issue here. I did a return of an online order (that I had bought with a VGC) in store. I asked if I could just get a Costco GC, but they said with online it had to go back to the form of payment (which made it seem like maybe it would be different if the purchase had been in store...but maybe not). Fortunately it was only about $35, so not a super expensive lesson to learn.

 

[becauseimnew]

I hate all of these flight changes. I feel like our flights are constantly being changed. Ugh. I’m having a hard time keeping up with these changes, because that means we have to change car rentals. And other things.
and I always pick the perfect flight time (for more money/points up front) which then becomes a crappy flight. I’m sure you are all going through the same.

 

[wanderlust7]

Two years ago, someone had posted on the disboards about a capital one spark business card offer. It was 50,000 points for a certain spend and then if you had a $50,000 spend in six months you earned another 150 thousand points. We have a legitimate business and it was a hard stretch to do it but I managed and stocked up on supplies in that six month window to do the spend. I got 375,000 points total from that! I’m hoping that comes along again! I see they have an similar offer now for $3000 cash but I like getting points so I can hoard them! Ha ha Ha first time hoarding points!

You can convert the $3000 to 300k miles if you were interested in that offer.

https://onemileatatime.com/reviews/credit-cards/capital-one/capital-one-spark-cash-plus/

 

[snugglebug]

This seems to be new And it sucks. It seems like they have to do the return on the original card and won’t give a Shop card anymore (at least at my Costco). It does go back to the VGC and I’ve learned to hold those VGCs (write Costco on them) even if 0 balance until I am sure I won’t return something. Just bought a hoodie that is going back so I’ll have this same issue.

Yep same issue here. I did a return of an online order (that I had bought with a VGC) in store. I asked if I could just get a Costco GC, but they said with online it had to go back to the form of payment (which made it seem like maybe it would be different if the purchase had been in store...but maybe not). Fortunately it was only about $35, so not a super expensive lesson to learn.

I wonder if it's worth buying a Costco GC online and then using that instead of the VGC. I wonder if they'd give a new shop card or go back to the original. I've always thought it was difficult to get a refund posted back to a VGC, but maybe it's not as bad as I'm imagining.

 

[Pixiedustspreader]

Are you working on the MSR on the SW card you got in October? Isn't the 3 month MSR period up?

I got the SW personal in October as well, 3 month MSR is up but there is another 50K RRs up for grabs for 12 mo spend.

 

[Pixiedustspreader]

I got in on the Away Luggage CSR deal. My two bigger carry-ons with battery charger just arrived. I don't see the wall adapter for the charger any where - have the cords, but no adapter. It seems from the instructions that there is one that should be included. Anyone else experience this? Maybe I am overlooking them?

 

[thevalley]

Does anyone know if the venture x card is expedited?

 

[reliev]

I got in on the Away Luggage CSR deal. My two bigger carry-ons with battery charger just arrived. I don't see the wall adapter for the charger any where - have the cords, but no adapter. It seems from the instructions that there is one that should be included. Anyone else experience this? Maybe I am overlooking them?

ours was inside the suitcase.

 

[GZanta77]

I got in on the Away Luggage CSR deal. My two bigger carry-ons with battery charger just arrived. I don't see the wall adapter for the charger any where - have the cords, but no adapter. It seems from the instructions that there is one that should be included. Anyone else experience this? Maybe I am overlooking them?

I seem to recall someone posted a few pages back that they had the same issue and called Away to be told that they had discontinued the adapters.

Edit: Found it - Post #992

@sinnika What ever became of your (lack of) dust covers from Away? I just received our small carryon suitcases today and both came with dustcovers. One bag came with a mini pouch with a variety of power adapters, while the other did not. It was unexpected surprise!

I emailed Away, and no kidding, they responded within 3 minutes. Unfortunately, they said the power adapters/mini pouch had been discountinued, so depending on when a bag was produced, it may or may not be included.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

I hate all of these flight changes. I feel like our flights are constantly being changed. Ugh. I’m having a hard time keeping up with these changes, because that means we have to change car rentals. And other things.
and I always pick the perfect flight time (for more money/points up front) which then becomes a crappy flight. I’m sure you are all going through the same.

There's an app called TripIt that I use. It tracks hotel, flights etc and you can do it for multiple trips. SW is the only one it has a hard time tracking but if you forward an email with itinerary change, TripIt will change it. It keeps flight numbers, confirmation numbers, arrival times etc. You can add in activities as well.

 

[ski_mom]

Just wanted to share my DP - my Hilton Biz AmEx card's annual fee was posted 1/13/22 and was auto paid on 1/31/22. I hadn't been paying enough attention, so I hadn't asked about a retention offer before the fee posted, but I chatted with them and ended up getting $225 offer, which I thought was great. The annual fee is only $95, so they are basically paying me $130 to keep the card for a year.

 

[iujen94]

Does anyone know if the venture x card is expedited?

Yes. I was shocked how quickly mine came. I think it came in just a day or two.

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

Thanks. Yes, I was not planning to redeem for gift cards, but it is an option.

Are you speaking of bonsuses on Hilton's end or on Marriott's end? How do I monitor that? I have to look at all of my emaills from Hilton and Marriott and wait for them to announce?

The transfer bonus is in Amex's transfer to travel partners section of their website. Amex provides the bonus. For example, right now there is a 20% transfer bonus for Aeromexico:



You can monitor for bonuses a few ways.
1. I'll do a quick google "Amex transfer bonus" search a couple times a month, and a couple of the points blogs keep a running list of any active transfer bonuses.
2. Log into Amex and go to the transfer page and see if there are any offers