I love credit cards so much! v6.0 - 2023 & 2024 (see first page for add'l details)

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

I come close to maxing out my hsa each year between employer funds and payroll deductions and have some of it invested in a fund. I know it'll be there for medical expenses and ins premiums when I retire but I would also rather use that money now for some medical expense vs going into my savings. It's what it's for and given a high deductible, high copay plan, to me it's there to use now not just to save for later.

I also have at least 20 years until I can retire, while the rules for what you can do with the hsa money may very likely stay the same, maybe it won't. I also don't want to be so organized that I don't lose receipts during that time.

I'm at a little over 30 years from when I could potentially retire. The idea of saving receipts for that long is quite daunting!

But I do need to learn more about HSAs to make sure I'm maximizing my options/usage within what is feasible for me to do. So thanks everyone for sharing your perspectives and knowledge.

 

[VGCgroupie]

My Hilton GC order was placed midday on 12/23, got an email today confirming my credit will post (Amex Biz Plat). Pretty fast.

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

My Hilton GC order was placed midday on 12/23, got an email today confirming my credit will post (Amex Biz Plat). Pretty fast.

Placed ours yesterday, got the email today. Woohoo

 

[Budzooka]

I'm at a little over 30 years from when I could potentially retire. The idea of saving receipts for that long is quite daunting!

But I do need to learn more about HSAs to make sure I'm maximizing my options/usage within what is feasible for me to do. So thanks everyone for sharing your perspectives and knowledge.

I also contribute to an HSA but don’t take any distributions. I look at it as a different pot to be able to pull from in retirement when needed. My account is at Fidelity and have it set up to automatically invest in a mutual fund when the contribution is made each month. To be able to grow tax free has enormous benefit.

 

[eticketplease]

Merry Christmas Eve!

Does anyone happen to know if the AmEx Gold Dunkin Donut $7 monthly credit works for sending gift cards? The giftcard website seems to be managed by DD so I'm thinking it might.

I don't have that card but I remember hearing that it could be used to purchase gift cards. Not sure about sending gift cards.

 

[hsmamato2]

I'm still sitting on a few Hilton gc bc they were free....haven;t yet had the chance to try them bc it seems like you won't know if you can use them for a stay until checking out,at which point you may end up paying oop!

 

[hsmamato2]

another question for pc'ing CSR timing..... is there a reason to wait on this? TC came thru (once I figured out the timing lol) - if I paid the AF in May, that means it'll be charged again in May,right? but if I want to avoid the AF I need to do this before end of this month,right?

 

[ten6mom]

Good morning! I hope everyone had a great Christmas and first night of Hanukkah!

What is the current experience with combining Chase points with another household member?

My husband (who has transferred to me before) gets a message today that says "There's been an issue. We can't process this right now, please try again later."

I don't know if this is part of a more widespread thing that I thought I read about (but am not sure is still a problem), or just a one-off.

 

[eticketplease]

Good morning! I hope everyone had a great Christmas and first night of Hanukkah!

What is the current experience with combining Chase points with another household member?

My husband (who has transferred to me before) gets a message today that says "There's been an issue. We can't process this right now, please try again later."

I don't know if this is part of a more widespread thing that I thought I read about (but am not sure is still a problem), or just a one-off.

I just transferred this am just fine. Have you tried again?

 

[havaneselover]

My tickets to LHR are such a mess. I bought Premium Economy non-stop tickets IAD to LHR and Economy home. The times were perfect (10 PM departure from IAD so DD could work a full day and 5 PM departure from LHR so we'd have time to get from Southampton). Of course both flights changed--the IAD to LHR isn't ideal but we could make it work. The LHR to IAD is not feasible (DCL says don't book anything before 2:15 and the flight is at 12:45). The changes were both over three hours. The issue is I thought I was being clever using points and cash so I'm stuck with Virgin points. Plus all the other premium economy tickets (United and American) are much more expensive now. I'm hoping I can rebook Virgin through Richmond. Looks like I can do Premium to London and Economy home for 36k more Virgin points but they'd refund me $500 or so. The times work. Just one connection. But honestly this is way too complicated--this is what I get for booking right away.

 

[afan]

My tickets to LHR are such a mess. I bought Premium Economy non-stop tickets IAD to LHR and Economy home. The times were perfect (10 PM departure from IAD so DD could work a full day and 5 PM departure from LHR so we'd have time to get from Southampton). Of course both flights changed--the IAD to LHR isn't ideal but we could make it work. The LHR to IAD is not feasible (DCL says don't book anything before 2:15 and the flight is at 12:45). The changes were both over three hours. The issue is I thought I was being clever using points and cash so I'm stuck with Virgin points. Plus all the other premium economy tickets (United and American) are much more expensive now. I'm hoping I can rebook Virgin through Richmond. Looks like I can do Premium to London and Economy home for 36k more Virgin points but they'd refund me $500 or so. The times work. Just one connection. But honestly this is way too complicated--this is what I get for booking right away.

I think they moved a lot of flights around the past few days. My may flight went from leaving Seattle around 330 pm and getting in at around 9am to 530pm and getting in around 1130 am. Not a huge change but I feel like I lost half a day there. Not as bad as what you have since I'm not going on a cruise but still frustrating.

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

another question for pc'ing CSR timing..... is there a reason to wait on this? TC came thru (once I figured out the timing lol) - if I paid the AF in May, that means it'll be charged again in May,right? but if I want to avoid the AF I need to do this before end of this month,right?

If you're done using the benefits, you can PC back. I believe someone else in the thread even got a prorated annual fee refund when they PCed before the second fee hit but after they used the 2nd travel credit. We had to keep ours open because we were in the midst of a claim on the travel insurance and I didn't want to mess anything up by PCing the card while awaiting that reimbursement.

 

[lsutigers03]

DW has the US Bank Business Triple Cash. A payment posted on 12/23 and as of today that amount hasn’t been added back to the available credit. How long should it take? We didn’t do the central account with hers just the single card.

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

I've got credits I need to figure out and use ASAP. I'm trying to come to terms with the fact we're leaving $150 at FB in Vegas unused and our $100 Wynn spa credits. We're still hopeful we can use the Caesar's (we can go to Windsor's if needed) before we loose all status. We were going to go the last 2 weekends, but it didn't pan out. I was going to use my $150 Delta stay credit too while there.

So I have $150 Delta stay to use before 12/31. And when I SM'd Chase to ask when my CSR Travel credit reset they told me 1/1. But they were wrong. It reset 12/13. I plan on downgrading the card. AF posted on 12/1 and the rep told me I have 41 days to downgrade. So I'm going to assume 41 days to use that $300 first. I went back and forth on whether to keep the card, but I have the CSP. So I think I'll downgrade the CSR to a freedom. I was just approved for the Venture X, so I'll keep the PP lounges, and if I need to, I can always upgrade the CSP to the CSR at any point. Since the Door Dash $5 can't be stacked anymore, I guess I would have to just use the $5 towards to the $20/dashmart credit.

I over think everything, LOL. $550 - $300 = $250. But if you take the $25 Door Dash/Mart credit you come out $50 ahead. I've been using the credit for toilet paper and paper towels, lol. I'm just trying to tell myself I'll be okay w/o it, LOL.

So what should I use the $300 and $150 on? Since we non-rev, nothing is ever truly set in stone. I do have our 3rd attempt at a trip to Ireland planned for March. I'm debating if I book stuff for that trip and if it doesn't pan out, I'm just out the $450. Although, would I be out it w/ Chase? If I was to prebook a hotel using my CSR and I got the $300 travel credit, I would get that back if it was refundable, on the freedom I downgrade to. So I guess I'm out nothing. My only true risk is Amex clawback, right?

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

I forgot to add, my BF has 2 Hilton FNC set to expire 1/8/25. We contacted Hilton and they said to contact them closer to the expiration to get an extension. My son was in the hospital and it's been a nightmare here so we haven't been able to travel. We were hoping to possibly extend to Feb, but Hilton said they give 2 weeks. We'll probably try to use them over MLK weekend somewhere then. Anyone gotten Hilton to extend past 2 weeks?

New offer on my Chase SW cards this morning…spend at least $50 at a Home Improvement store and get 10% back up to $15 one time use. Home Depo is close and carries Disney GCs so will buy $150 on each SW card.

OOOh, I'll need to look, since I "work" at HD now, LOL.

Last time my DH and I traded in our iPhones for $800 credit on brand new phones, they tried to claim that something was wrong with one of the phones and they weren’t going to give us the credit for it, nor would they give the phone back to us. We had to fight with them for the credit, and I remember it being stressful and like an “appeals” process, all the while kind of shady too. What they were claiming was wrong was definitely not, and I had to start getting kind of ugly with them. Maybe it’s because we had to ship the phones to them that they tried to pull one over on us, but next time I would 1) make sure to take pics and video of the phone powered and working before shipping it out, and 2) take it to a store to trade in, if possible.

I heard ATT was doing that like crazy. So I made sure to turn in my phones in store. I made sure they noted no damage when I turned them in too!

Are there any experts out there for the CSR upgrade/downgrade process? I’m thinking of closing my DH’s CSR, but I was hoping to use the $300 TC first. When I look at his account, I don’t see a counter like I did previously showing the $300 and how much had been spent so far. Does that mean it hasn’t reset yet? The AF hit and the payment is due on 1/13, and the next closing date is 1/16. I sent an SM to ask but they gave very generic answers as far as dates, saying the TC will reset on the 1st statement after the enrollment date (date card was opened). Am I missing something with how the process to double-dip should work? Thanks for any help!

This is what I was told from Chase via SM. Not sure if it helps or not:
This year's Annual Travel Credit will reset on the first statement date after your enrollment date anniversary, which is the date you became a Chase Sapphire Reserve cardholder. Any eligible travel category purchases posted to your account after that date will earn three points per dollar.

It sounds like yours hasn't reset yet. Not sure why it shows as unused though. Did you get charged the AF yet? DH's was charged 12/1.

I haven't used DH's TC yet, but I did go ahead and use his precheck credit for my renewal. It previously showed as Unused, and now switched to the Used tab, even though the charge is still pending.

Hopefully this helps some.

Okay this has been my fun recently. AF posted 12/1. SM told me the credit resets 1/1. But I called today and the rep stated it actually reset on 12/13. So now I'm in a race to use them.

I'm still sitting on a few Hilton gc bc they were free....haven;t yet had the chance to try them bc it seems like you won't know if you can use them for a stay until checking out,at which point you may end up paying oop!

I had struggles using them at 3 different Hiltons. Then finally they worked in San Diego. The guy was shocked because they didn't work the day prior! He did say they did a reset of the computers or something. I was just happy to finally get to use $300 worth!

 

[afan]

. I was going to use my $150 Delta stay credit too while there

You can book something for 2025 but they will clawback if it gets cancelled. Also need to make sure it's a prepaid rate. I have mine booked for May next year.

I'll probably leave the plat hotel credit on the table again. I always find it hard to use.

 

[havaneselover]

I used my Amex BBP for tax payments this year. Unfortunately I didn't pay attention and my last $9k of spend was at 1x MRs I know it's only $100 or so I left on the table, but it's still annoying.

 

[Crazed4DisneyinSC]

Has anyone stayed at a Hilton Vacation Club property in Orlando, either Mystic Dunes or Aqua Sol? DH and I are going to Disney for a long weekend next September, and both of these “resort” properties are only 10k pts a night for a 1 Br king suite, full kitchen and living area, 1000sq foot space, which seems like a steal for the 3 nights we’ll be there. There is also around a $30 resort fee per night, but Hilton members get resort fees waived on points bookings, right? Our needs aren’t much as we’ll just be using room to sleep, amenities will likely be lost on us this trip. I’m afraid I’m missing something here though… is it this cheap bc they try to rope you into a timeshare presentation?

 

[eticketplease]

Has anyone stayed at a Hilton Vacation Club property in Orlando, either Mystic Dunes or Aqua Sol?

I hope it is not bad. I booked Mystic Dunes for the night we land before moving on property. It will be the $30 resort fee as I used the $150 delta.com/stays credit for it rather then using a FNC

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

You can book something for 2025 but they will clawback if it gets cancelled. Also need to make sure it's a prepaid rate. I have mine booked for May next year.

I'll probably leave the plat hotel credit on the table again. I always find it hard to use.

But if I book refundable, essentially I'm out nothing, correct? Book a room prepaid for $150, get the amex credit. Cancel the room, get the $150 back from the hotel, Amex charges me $150. I'm out nothing. Is my math mathing?