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

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I feel like such an amateur! So you are mostly using a couple cards at a time with a lot set aside?
Sort of. I think many of us sign up initially for the sign up bonuses. Usually I'll carry that card until I've met the terms of the sign up bonus. Then it's up to the card whether it gets carried. Chase tries hard with quarterly offers in addition to offers described below. Right now I have a Disney card with 10X at gas stations. It's definitely worth it to carry that card for the next 3 months. Disney Dollars can be used to pay my DVC dues as well as Disney gift cards.

But, many of us keep a lot of our cards for offers, especially the Chase and Amex cards that have no annual fee.

Just recently Chase gave 'Flash deals' and some of us got 20% off at Best Buy, Home Depot, CVS, Shell and several other spots. I got this on two cards and was able to pick up $325 in Disney Gift cards for $260, saving $65. I also filled up the gas guzzling van that I rarely drive using several cards, one after the other as it will take about 30 gallons when empty.

Also very recently there were ShopDisney 10% offers. It was 10% off $50, which is a savings of $5 on each card that had the offer. I had 3 offers, saving me a total of $15.

The two cards that had the Best Buy, Home Depot offers stay in my sock drawer and only get used when something worth it comes along.

In some situations such as American Express there is a limit on the number of cards you can hold. Supposedly it's 5 cards. Some of their offers can be very good and can help pay for the fee cards. In addition many of the hotel cards offer a free night certificate each year. I keep 2 cards for this reason only as the FNC is almost always worth more than the annual fee.

There are other cards that are gone once we've had them a year. They don't pay their way.

After doing this for years, I've learned to keep a small notebook in my bag. If I see a good offer, I'll make sure I'm carrying the card, write down the offer and date and make sure I use the offer. I also got 20% off at Jimmy John's, and McDonalds. Not pressured to use those unless the Happy Meal people are around. Probably should pick up a small gift card.
 
Got my biz flight to Tokyo on JAL using AA today! Now to wqit for barclays to post my miles and the return to open up. I'll book DL if I don't have the AA yet and then see if it's open when I do get the miles.
how! details!
 
I have had a really hard time finding sitters for my dog for the upcoming busy holiday season, and have spent hours on Rover going through various profiles since he's not an easy dog to find the right sitter for. He doesn't get along with all dogs, will adjust to cats but it takes a mellow cat and at least a day before he stops barking at it, be carried up and down flights of stairs (he had emergency back surgery two years ago when he became paralyzed - fortunately I had just received the Amex Plat and I exceeded that MSR within a day), and has food allergies so he shouldn't eat another dog's food. The Rover sitter that I used just a couple weeks ago raised her daily rate from $40 to $65 after he stayed with her. :oops: Most of the sitters within 20 minutes of me seem to charge $50-$55/day on average, although I've seen some at $150/day.o_O

So to me, having your DS watch your dogs seems like a blessing.:-)
there is a dog hotel near us they charge 60$ a day its not to bad is rover that much better?
 
there is a dog hotel near us they charge 60$ a day its not to bad is rover that much better?
The one near me allow the dogs to just play all together in a large play space; the last time he was there he got written up for not playing nicely with the other dogs (he's a terrierX). In addition to his back surgery and my desire to not experience a repeat, I just don't want him around a large number of dogs especially big dogs in case they decide to play roughly. So Rover is the best option for him, preferably with someone who doesn't have other pets, who only takes one dog client, and who has no stairs - it's hard to find. (I seriously look through every photo posted on their profile to see what the background environment looks like.) Anyways, I see a possible side hustle in the future!

But it has its downfalls. The first one I booked for a couple weeks ago canceled last minute on me due to a "family emergency." I reached out to a previous sitter who was no longer on Rover and she agreed to watch him. But then the next day she canceled last minute due to a "family emergency." Then I found a Rover sitter who would take him last minute (day of departure, I was past the refundable deadline for my hotel), and after his stay with her she raised her rates from $40 to $65. After searching last week, I finally reached out to a couple sitters who showed up on my Rover search that seemed like possibilities. One canceled our meet and greet because her smallish dog had been attacked at the dog park. The other seems professional and nice, so I've booked several stays with her to the tune of almost $900 in the next couple of months.

My DH and DD guilted me into getting a dog when DD was in 5th grade ("Every kid should grow up with a dog!" they said). I've had dogs and/or cats non-stop for 30 years now, I've always been the primary one who loves on them and arranges everything for them. I'm tired. I want to sleep in on weekends. I want to travel on a whim. He's going to be our last dog. I'm sure I'll miss having him around but it is a lot of responsibility.
 


The one near me allow the dogs to just play all together in a large play space; the last time he was there he got written up for not playing nicely with the other dogs (he's a terrierX). In addition to his back surgery and my desire to not experience a repeat, I just don't want him around a large number of dogs especially big dogs in case they decide to play roughly. So Rover is the best option for him, preferably with someone who doesn't have other pets, who only takes one dog client, and who has no stairs - it's hard to find. (I seriously look through every photo posted on their profile to see what the background environment looks like.) Anyways, I see a possible side hustle in the future!

But it has its downfalls. The first one I booked for a couple weeks ago canceled last minute on me due to a "family emergency." I reached out to a previous sitter who was no longer on Rover and she agreed to watch him. But then the next day she canceled last minute due to a "family emergency." Then I found a Rover sitter who would take him last minute (day of departure, I was past the refundable deadline for my hotel), and after his stay with her she raised her rates from $40 to $65. After searching last week, I finally reached out to a couple sitters who showed up on my Rover search that seemed like possibilities. One canceled our meet and greet because her smallish dog had been attacked at the dog park. The other seems professional and nice, so I've booked several stays with her to the tune of almost $900 in the next couple of months.

My DH and DD guilted me into getting a dog when DD was in 5th grade ("Every kid should grow up with a dog!" they said). I've had dogs and/or cats non-stop for 30 years now, I've always been the primary one who loves on them and arranges everything for them. I'm tired. I want to sleep in on weekends. I want to travel on a whim. He's going to be our last dog. I'm sure I'll miss having him around but it is a lot of responsibility.
Dogs are a lot of work and responsibility, but I wouldn't trade it for the world! It is inconvenient, expensive, etc. But I love my dogs like they are my children!! lol.

I had a really bad experience my first and only time I used Rover (won't go into details, but it was awful!). And that was with someone who had the best and most reviews in my area. Then I used a "dog hotel" close to us that had amazing reviews and came highly recommended by others, and had a HORRIBLE experience leaving my dog there. He came home and cowered every time we came near him and flinched like we were going to hit him for an entire week after that. I am sure they were doing something to him, as we saw him on the camera the first day playing with other dogs, and never saw him again after that first day. They denied it. He is also a terrier, so high energy, but that is NO excuse to hit a dog.

We now leave my dogs with my mother. She is somewhat irresponsible too, and definitely doesn't care for the dogs the way I would or give them that much attention, but they get to stay in our house where they are comfortable at least, so there's that. I also have a friend come in daily (and pay her to do so) to let them out while my mother is at work. Although it's somewhat of a hassle to coordinate, I can see the dogs on our cameras when she comes and they are so happy to see her, so I am willing to go the extra mile for them to be less stressed while we're gone. It's not a perfect scenario, but it's what we can work with for now. After two bad experiences, I barely trust anyone with my dogs at this point.
 
I had my new reading glasses for three weeks before I lost them. This is not good!

I hear you. I have an almost 16 year old who has to be carried up and down stairs and a high energy 1.5 year old. So I've scoured Rover and really don't want someone with a dog watching them unless it's small and older. Then there is the sleeping arrangements. The younger dog sleeps with me. My son swore she wasn't sleeping in his bed but where do you think she slept? And putting them in someone else's house is stressful. Then feeding (half Farmer's dog, half kibble) and meds gets involved.

And OMG on the rates. I had some pretty reasonable options ($50/day for both dogs).

I won't say I won't be stressed while I'm gone (mainly because the older one sometimes wakes me up at night to go out by panting and he'll sleep through that and the younger one won't go out on her own and he's impatient), but hopefully I'll come home to two dogs and a 17-year old who knows he's about to get a PS5 partly because he did something responsible for once in his life!
Pets are wonderful but they also present travel problems . . . I miss having a dog but this post reminds me how much easier cats are, at least for now. Once they get older we might need more than someone coming in once a day for food/water/litter box/a bit of playtime, but we have left them for almost a week and come home to no issues.

But good that you have the PS5 as an incentive for your son!
 


I did my Best buy and Home Depot on Oct 2, Sunday and the purchases have already posted as October 2, so, I think you will be fine. It may take a week or more to get the credits.

Yes, I used a Staples offer that expired Sept 4 for a purchase on Sept 4, and it credited 17 days later. I actually split the transaction on three cards, and the same expiring Staples offer was on the other two cards that I used, and those cards showed the credit within 5 days.

I did the same, mine have posted also. Silly me, I took DH and DS with me and ended up with 2 more Halloween blowups on the front lawn. At least I saved $10 on them (assuming the credit posts). I still have CVS, McD, Jimmy John's, Macy's and Dollar Tree 20% but I'm pretty sure I'll only use CVS.

Thanks! Stopped by Best Buy this morning and will stop at Home Depot this evening. I was surprised that the gift card rack at Best Buy had spaces for Amazon gift cards (I would have thought they wouldn't carry them) but unfortunately all of the spaces were empty. Fortunately there were a few Disney GCs.

I might also stop at CVS but the max is $5 so it might depend on how crowded it is.
 
Sort of. I think many of us sign up initially for the sign up bonuses. Usually I'll carry that card until I've met the terms of the sign up bonus. Then it's up to the card whether it gets carried. Chase tries hard with quarterly offers in addition to offers described below. Right now I have a Disney card with 10X at gas stations. It's definitely worth it to carry that card for the next 3 months. Disney Dollars can be used to pay my DVC dues as well as Disney gift cards.
But, many of us keep a lot of our cards for offers, especially the Chase and Amex cards that have no annual fee.

Just recently Chase gave 'Flash deals' and some of us got 20% off at Best Buy, Home Depot, CVS, Shell and several other spots. I got this on two cards and was able to pick up $325 in Disney Gift cards for $260, saving $65. I also filled up the gas guzzling van that I rarely drive using several cards, one after the other as it will take about 30 gallons when empty.

Also very recently there were ShopDisney 10% offers. It was 10% off $50, which is a savings of $5 on each card that had the offer. I had 3 offers, saving me a total of $15.

The two cards that had the Best Buy, Home Depot offers stay in my sock drawer and only get used when something worth it comes along.

In some situations such as American Express there is a limit on the number of cards you can hold. Supposedly it's 5 cards. Some of their offers can be very good and can help pay for the fee cards. In addition many of the hotel cards offer a free night certificate each year. I keep 2 cards for this reason only as the FNC is almost always worth more than the annual fee.

There are other cards that are gone once we've had them a year. They don't pay their way.

After doing this for years, I've learned to keep a small notebook in my bag. If I see a good offer, I'll make sure I'm carrying the card, write down the offer and date and make sure I use the offer. I also got 20% off at Jimmy John's, and McDonalds. Not pressured to use those unless the Happy Meal people are around. Probably should pick up a small gift card.
Thanks. How do you know about offers? Do you have to check?
 
I feel like such an amateur! So you are mostly using a couple cards at a time with a lot set aside?
Usually I’ve got a few in the wallet. One for dining, one for gas, one for groceries and one for office supply stores (to buy merchant or fee free gift cards). Those cards can vary depending on what cards I have and what ecosphere of points I’m trying to beef up. I will also carry a 1.5x and/or 2x card for non category spending. The sock drawer cards tend to be the hotel and airline cards for the most part along with Amex Platinum cards as well as some of my really old cards that I can’t close because they help my average age of accounts.
 
So I just made a reservation for Aulani through David's and it says that since they are in Canada that there may be foreign transaction fees. I planned to put it on the CIU that I am meeting the MSR on. I know they have a foreign transaction fee because I got a fee for a legit business purchase the other day. I assume paying with it through PayPal would still incur the fee? It still makes sense for me to put the charge on it, just wondering if there is a way to get around it.
 


How do you know about offers? Do you have to check?
Yes for most offers. The normal Chase offers and Amex offers will be found by searching for them on each card in your online account. Once in a while when Chase has a bonus spend offer like the 10x on gas for up to $1500 spend until the end of the year, they will you send an email.
 
But I love my dogs like they are my children!!
❤️
I had a really bad experience my first and only time I used Rover (won't go into details, but it was awful!)
One time I got a phone call while I was on a layover 1600 miles away in BWI when I saw someone calling me with an unfamiliar number. I ignored it, like I do with numbers I don't recognize. When I listened to the message, it was a person who said she had my dog (NOT the Rover sitter I hired) because he jumped into her car (he LOVES going on car rides) as she was getting into it. She didn't know where he'd come from, only that he was in her car now, and she was calling me since my number is on his collar. I was able to get the Rover sitter connected to this kind stranger and he ended back up where he should've been but OMG. This was during a 1 hour layover at an airport hundreds of miles from home. Ugh.
 
❤️

One time I got a phone call while I was on a layover 1600 miles away in BWI when I saw someone calling me with an unfamiliar number. I ignored it, like I do with numbers I don't recognize. When I listened to the message, it was a person who said she had my dog (NOT the Rover sitter I hired) because he jumped into her car (he LOVES going on car rides) as she was getting into it. She didn't know where he'd come from, only that he was in her car now, and she was calling me since my number is on his collar. I was able to get the Rover sitter connected to this kind stranger and he ended back up where he should've been but OMG. This was during a 1 hour layover at an airport hundreds of miles from home. Ugh.
Oh I would be so desperate and freaking out!

Thankfully (so I couldn’t stress the entire time we were gone), I didn’t realize our Rover experience was bad until we returned and I tried to coordinate picking up our dog. The sitter proceeded to tell me she had to go out of town and I could pick up the dog the next day. Um what?! I told her I needed to get the dog that day as was agreed upon when I hired her. She proceeded to tell me I could essentially “break into” her house through the back door, which I did because it was 11am and she wasn’t going to be back home until the next day?! Ok no that doesn’t work you can’t leave the dog that long. When I got inside, there were dogs everywhere cordoned off by gates in each room, and I proceeded to find my dog locked in his crate, with a soiled blanket. So who knows how long she was gone before I messaged her. Total disaster. Needless to say, I have serious trust issues with Rover and dog hotels now.
 
You've been lucky. I've always been afraid that a cat would get blocked (especially male cats, which are what I had for 17 years) and that is a dire situation that needs immediate attention.
Yes, I have been thinking about what we will do as the cats get older (they are 11 now; both females) or if they develop any medical issues.

ETA--Just to clarify, we've always had someone come in once a day. I'm thinking that twice a day might be necessary in a few years.
 
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You all are definitely making me feel better about leaving the dogs with ds. These stories are unreal.
We tried to have our neighbors watch our dog overnight (<24 hours) and he refused to leave his crate in the morning. I'm pretty sure he has to have someone stay with him in our house. AND he has to trust that person. So basically, its either my kids babysitter or maybe my mom. I'm screwed if neither of them are available.
 
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