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

[thevalley]

I could use some good advice. I am 1/24 and no travel plans. So what would be a good recommendation. Do I do a mdd on the sapphires or go for the venture x or cic/ciu? I’m stuck. Thanks

 

[becauseimnew]

I could use some good advice. I am 1/24 and no travel plans. So what would be a good recommendation. Do I do a mdd on the sapphires or go for the venture x or cic/ciu? I’m stuck. Thanks

Personally I would go with the no-AF card, CIC would be my go to. No point in paying fees if you have no plans to use the benefits.

 

[disprincessbear]

Looking for someone’s thoughts on our situation! I’ve been playing around with it and I’ve hit a wall.

Currently have (all in the past 3 years):
Barclay Arrival +
CSR (me)
CSR (husband)

I also have a Chase Freedom I’ve had for at least 5 years.

I just had a baby in December (yay!) and have the medical bills coming up (boo!). I just realized this morning this is a great opportunity to meet a new minimum spend! I’m looking at approx 2500-3000 still to pay.

We are going to Disney this November, so I would love to rack up some more points to get the bill down more. We currently have a total of $3474 in points between the above mentioned cards. We are driving our van so we don’t need plane tickets or rental cars, and we are staying on Disney property.

I can also use this card for all purchases until we go - we spend around 2000-2500 a month on our cards. Neither of us own a business so we can’t do business cards.

Thank you to anyone who reads all this! I’ve learned so much from this community.

 

[LynnTH]

Thinking of opening Wyndam Rewards Biz Card - basically so I can status match to Caesars Diamond. This card won't be counted in the 5/24 correct?

 

[IFlossU]

Looking for someone’s thoughts on our situation! I’ve been playing around with it and I’ve hit a wall.

Currently have (all in the past 3 years):
Barclay Arrival +
CSR (me)
CSR (husband)

I also have a Chase Freedom I’ve had for at least 5 years.

I just had a baby in December (yay!) and have the medical bills coming up (boo!). I just realized this morning this is a great opportunity to meet a new minimum spend! I’m looking at approx 2500-3000 still to pay.

We are going to Disney this November, so I would love to rack up some more points to get the bill down more. We currently have a total of $3474 in points between the above mentioned cards. We are driving our van so we don’t need plane tickets or rental cars, and we are staying on Disney property.

I can also use this card for all purchases until we go - we spend around 2000-2500 a month on our cards. Neither of us own a business so we can’t do business cards.

Thank you to anyone who reads all this! I’ve learned so much from this community.

I would consider either the Capital One Venture X, or a CIC/CIU. Whichever you think would provide the most value for you.

 

[reliev]

so anyone got the door dash to extend 2 years? what was the trick? mine still says 1/31 expiration.

 

[pinkxray]

Annual fee on my CSR posted. Ugh. $550 is so high. I wish it was $499. I hate having an annual fee over $500. The pay yourself back has been great this year and I do like booking all my travel on the card.
I think I’m going to waste UR’s to cover it. That wipes out a good chunk but I have some more coming from my new Flex MSR and the bonus on groceries.

 

[pinkxray]

@HaleyR- I saw your posts of your trip. Sorry to hear it wasn’t the best time. How did you like the Poly studio?
I am planning a trip next fall and choosing between Poly and Fort Wilderness cabins. Am I remembering correctly that you stayed at the cabins this year?
Or I might just scrap Disney altogether and use Chase points to stay at Hard Rock at Universal. I am so over Disney’s crowds. I’m thinking we might do more of a staycation at Disney and hit Universal and Legoland for rides.

 

[ski_mom]

I can't believe I did this. I saw SW Priority card fee post, and I thought that the $75 reset, but it doesn't reset until tomorrow. I just spent $75 that probably won't be credited, now I'll have to buy $75 in Gift cards tomorrow that I won't need since I can't use it to buy Early Boarding.

So, we can use our $75 travel credit on gift cards? My $199 fee for the personal priority card just posted (2/1) and I definitely want to cancel because DH now has the SW cards to get the CP for the next two years.

How do you know when the travel year resets? I've always just used mine to pay the taxes on flights paid with points, but that would be great to get $75 in gift cards!

Also, do you know how long after the fee posts that you can cancel the card to get the annual fee back? We have flights on 2/25 & 3/6 and if I could use the card for the upgraded boardings, I could save DHs for another trip.

Thanks for any advice!

 

[SleepyatDVC]

I just received a large legal bill that needs to be paid within 30 days. Their PREFERRED method of payment is by credit card.
Cha Ching!!!

It is large enough to fulfill the Chase biz MSR in one shot. Unfortunately, it will be the first of several bills. The legal fees are actual business expenses. So, I need a new biz card (or 2) ASAP.

I forget how to generate a biz support link. I've done it before but can't find it again. (Maybe instructions to do so would be a good item to add to the information posts on page 1.)

Also, I plan on applying through businesses with separate EIN and not as a sole proprietorship. I will most likely have to call in to verify my ID before any approvals since I have fraud alerts (not credit freezes) on my credit reports. So, no instant approvals for me. It's held up approvals before even on biz cards that use EIN and not my SS, because as the principal applying, they still need my SS.

So, here's my question, which biz card to get and should I lower the CL now or when I call the recon line (since I have to call in no matter what.)

Biz #1 - has CIU with $15k CL
Biz #2 - has CIU with $45K CL

Thinking of applying through Biz #2 for a CIC? And asking recon to move $20K of CL over. Or should I lower it now?

Do I need to wait 30 days to apply through Biz #1? 2 separate businesses with 2 different EINs. Our business banker applied for both of them simultaneously for us in either 2018 or 2019.

Has anyone figured out how to get instant approvals when they have a fraud alert on file? I'm guessing not because that would defeat the purpose of the alert. Lol.

Any advice? Thanks.

ETA: Maybe I should go for the CIP since I could probably complete the $15k MSR in 3 months with the legal fees? But it seems 150k URs on 2 SUB seems better than 100k URs on 1 SUB. Assuming I get approved for 2 cards, of course.

I don’t have a fraud alert on file…but as you said I’m think it’s not possible to get an instant approval.

Chase has the 1/30 business card rule so even though it’s two separate businesses, if you are applying for both with your SS number the second would probably be denied.

saw you found how to generate a support link….I’m going to assume you generated it from P2s business card for you to apply or the reverse….Chase does not allow self support

As long as your velocity is okay, I would do 2 biz apps (spaced appropriately). You'll get additional support points doing it that way:

CIU
support 20k?
SUB 75k
1.5x earninging 11,250
----------------
106,250

Plus, there's no AF.

Interesting! I forgot about the 1.5x.

Well, I applied for 1 CIC for biz #2 already because it had a CIU already. As expected, the application went pending. Next month, will apply for biz #2 to get the 1.5x factor. I'm guessing it is okay to have 2 CIU for the same business?

Thanks for opening my eyes to another possibility.

DP - My CIC was approved for biz #2 after calling the recon line and then being transferred over to fraud dept, as expected. It took FOREVER, over an hour what with the hold and having to talk to 2 reps.

I am STILL on the phone after asking for cards to be expedited. The rep from Fraud had to put me on hold to see what she could do. From what I remember, the fraud dept did not have that capability. Last time I had to contact regular customer service and they canceled the first set sent and then expedited new cards to me. Let's see if she could pull it off.

I did NOT have to moved any of the previous CL over, so now have an obscene amount on the cards. Too bad we can't buy a car with credit cards. That would be sooooooo sweet! Lol.

My next biz card will be the CIU (again) as suggested but NOT looking forward to this torturous phone call again.

 

[becauseimnew]

So, we can use our $75 travel credit on gift cards? My $199 fee for the personal priority card just posted (2/1) and I definitely want to cancel because DH now has the SW cards to get the CP for the next two years.

How do you know when the travel year resets? I've always just used mine to pay the taxes on flights paid with points, but that would be great to get $75 in gift cards!

Also, do you know how long after the fee posts that you can cancel the card to get the annual fee back? We have flights on 2/25 & 3/6 and if I could use the card for the upgraded boardings, I could save DHs for another trip.

Thanks for any advice!

You can check online, under reward dashboard, it will tell you when the fee will reset and once it does the tracker will move to zero. I didn't even think to look before I made those purchases :headbang:.
I've read that buying GC on SW will count toward the credit, I haven't done it. I too was using the credit to pay for the 911 fee, until we got stranded and realized that it offered zero travel protection. Cost us about $500 in hotel nights. Don't do it, use a card that has travel protection. (CSR/CSP/Amex Plat).

The fees always post on the 1st of the month, your credits reset after your statement closes. And you have 30 days to cancel the card.

 

[becauseimnew]

DP - My CIC was approved for biz #2 after calling the recon line and then being transferred over to fraud dept, as expected. It took FOREVER, over an hour what with the hold and having to talk to 2 reps.

I am STILL on the phone after asking for cards to be expedited. The rep from Fraud had to put me on hold to see what she could do. From what I remember, the fraud dept did not have that capability. Last time I had to contact regular customer service and they canceled the first set sent and then expedited new cards to me. Let's see if she could pull it off.

I did NOT have to moved any of the previous CL over, so now have an obscene amount on the cards. Too bad we can't buy a car with credit cards. That would be sooooooo sweet! Lol.

My next biz card will be the CIU (again) as suggested but NOT looking forward to this torturous phone call again.

Congrats and good luck on the next application. Maybe reduce the credit limits on the older cards?

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

Yesterday at 2pm, Chase responded to my SM that they would expedite my new CIU. By noon today it was on my doorstep! Wow, that's fast.

Made a partial payment on my property taxes and that card came just in time for the Kroger gc 4x fuel points that just launched today. I like it when the timing works out- so often I feel like I'm failing.

 

[miztressuz]

FYI for people doing the casino to hotel partner status matching, MGM (fka Mlife) changed their status year from September to January. So your MGM status reset yesterday (2/1/2022) and you'll want to rematch to Hyatt before the end of the month when Hyatt status expires.

The dates I have marked on my calendar are now:
Jan 1 Update Wyndham from Caesar's
Feb 1 Update MGM from Hyatt
Feb 1 Update Caesar's from Wyndham
Mar 1 Update Hyatt from MGM

For this year Wyndham had automatically extended everyone's status as of 12/31/2021 until 12/31/2022 so we didn't need that step this year. But all the rest will be expiring as normal. Between yesterday and today I got our casinos updated since they both expire 1/31 now. Have one more reminder set for Hyatt in a month when it expires on 2/28.

And if you have no idea what I'm talking about, here's an overview. https://milestalk.com/the-status-ma...o-status-match-opportunities-year-after-year/
(Just one of several blogs that cover this. I just selected this one for the seemingly comprehensive outline of the many programs out there, to give a starting point.)

Wyndham challenge status match is not active still, so it's not as easy to get started as when I did it. But once you get into one program other opportunities may present themselves later. Even if you never stay at some of the programs, they may get you discounts or give an entry point into something you do care about. Both MGM and Caesar's have partnerships with cruise lines. If you have no other avenue for a cruise discount, this might be one way to get it. Stuff like that.

 

[ski_mom]

You can check online, under reward dashboard, it will tell you when the fee will reset and once it does the tracker will move to zero. I didn't even think to look before I made those purchases :headbang:.
I've read that buying GC on SW will count toward the credit, I haven't done it. I too was using the credit to pay for the 911 fee, until we got stranded and realized that it offered zero travel protection. Cost us about $500 in hotel nights. Don't do it, use a card that has travel protection. (CSR/CSP/Amex Plat).

The fees always post on the 1st of the month, your credits reset after your statement closes. And you have 30 days to cancel the card.

Thank you so much for the explanation! My statement closes on the 5th, so I'll check it after that and probably try buying a gift card at that time. It looks like technically I could use the upgraded boarding on our Feb 25th flight, wait for the credit to post and have a couple of days to cancel the card to get the fee back, but I'll have to think about if I want to have to remember to do that on vacation and trust myself to not mess it up!

Good advice on lacking the travel protection when using them for the 911 fee. Not really sure what I'll use the gift card for if not that though. Now that it's usually just DH and myself flying, we have plenty of SW points. Last year I used our AmEx plat credits for SW too. I'm thinking of doing the United travel bank this year though to build up some credits with them since we have plenty of points, but I haven't decided on that yet either.

Anyway, thanks again for the info!

 

[magickingdomprincess]

I could have sworn that (somewhat) recently I read on this thread that there was somehow a way to extend SW travel credits, and I could have sworn I bookmarked or took a screenshot of the post, but now I can't find it. I went back and looked through 10 pages of posts, and tried the search function but can't find it. Does anyone remember that discussion or did I make it up? I'll admit my memory's not the best. Thanks!

 

[Psychodisney]

I could have sworn that (somewhat) recently I read on this thread that there was somehow a way to extend SW travel credits, and I could have sworn I bookmarked or took a screenshot of the post, but now I can't find it. I went back and looked through 10 pages of posts, and tried the search function but can't find it. Does anyone remember that discussion or did I make it up? I'll admit my memory's not the best. Thanks!

You need to wait for them to expire and then call. It will cost you $100 of the credit to give them new life. I think you get 6 months and it can Be used for anyone.

 

[DaveL]

We just got back from a 3 night stay in a poly studio. This is the first trip we’ve ever been so excited to drive home. The crowds and standby lines were insane and genie+/LL makes standby SO slow. We had lots of monorail issues to both MK and Epcot from the poly and TTC. Our passes expire in May and I’m not sure we’ll even use them again even though we only live an hour away. If crowds don’t thin out at all we most likely will let them expire. I never thought we would be in this position. Our ds is only 21 months and he talks about Disney all the time but this trip was not magical for any of us.

I know I should really not think this going into it, but I've pretty much decided this summer trip will be the last Disney trip, and its really only on because I have gift cards from a June 2020 trip that was canceled... I am going to start looking into Universal for DD and I next year. At least there I don't yet know the 50+ things they now charge for that were free...

 

[miztressuz]

Thinking of opening Wyndam Rewards Biz Card - basically so I can status match to Caesars Diamond. This card won't be counted in the 5/24 correct?

Should not. It's issued by Barclays and they don't report biz cards to personal reports. I haven't seen any DPs of it being an exception.

 

[Judique]

I know I should really not think this going into it, but I've pretty much decided this summer trip will be the last Disney trip, and its really only on because I have gift cards from a June 2020 trip that was canceled... I am going to start looking into Universal for DD and I next year. At least there I don't yet know the 50+ things they now charge for that were free...

DD is taking the kids on a Disney cruise and then doing a few nights at Disney afterwards.

I'm planning on suggesting Legoland to her as it may be more fun for the girls right now.