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

[miztressuz]

If you have multiple credits from canceled flights do they pool together into one amount? I have an AMEX plat credit to finish and I read that booking flights under $100 will trigger the credit.

No, for SW they stay separated in their own reservation number. But you can combine them yourself doing the same thing - book another flight for the combined amount, use both credits, and then cancel to make one travel fund credit.

You can use 3 forms of payment for each ticket.

 

[IFlossU]

I've read the 5/24 rule is no longer enforced,

5/24 is definitely still enforced. Not sure where you read that it’s not. It’s very rarely bypassed, unless you have pre-approval from Chase. Even then I wouldn’t be overly confident.

With that said, there’s some fantastic bonuses available, as I’m sure you’ve read here we’re all about the Ink cards right now. Hard to pass up 90k UR for 6k spend. Also the AMEX business Platinum has an all time high bonus as well. I’m seeing 150k MR for $15k spend routinely offered. There’s a lot of great options right now. I’m personally a fan of transferable currencies, and that’s where I tend to focus most of my bonuses just for the flexibility. However, if you have a very specific redemption in mind it doesn’t hurt to check the co-branded cards. Since you have a P2 I would look for something you can support each through for an additional bump in points.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

Thank you! Any idea when the 90k bonus ends? I’d ideally not like to be worrying about two MSRs at the same time.

No idea exactly when, but the public offer says it’s ending soon…whatever that means…usually the support links last a little bit longer

 

[lsutigers03]

After not being very active with SUBs in 2022 we're looking to start ramping up again. For a few years we drank from the CIPpy cup (5 times each for P1 and P2, since 2019) and I'm wondering if that's still an option or if I should back off of those. Is there information or data points suggesting I should stay away from CIP for a while? Love me some UR points LOL

I'm going to grab as many Ink cards as Chase will give me. DW was approved for her second this week and once the support and bonus points post we'll have 300k UR. I want to save up as many as possible to fly us to Europe in first or business class.

 

[lsutigers03]

No, for SW they stay separated in their own reservation number. But you can combine them yourself doing the same thing - book another flight for the combined amount, use both credits, and then cancel to make one travel fund credit.

You can use 3 forms of payment for each ticket.

Thanks for the information. Can the credits be used to pay taxes if we use points to book a flight?

 

[palhockeymomof2]

Thanks for the information. Can the credits be used to pay taxes if we use points to book a flight?

Yes, I’ve used the credits to pay taxes when booking with points

 

[WDWRook]

Wait, one person can get multiple of the same Ink card? Can you refer to yourself as well?

 

[havaneselover]

Wait, one person can get multiple of the same Ink card? Can you refer to yourself as well?

Definitely don't refer yourself but yes multiple of the same Ink card.

 

[lsutigers03]

Yes, I’ve used the credits to pay taxes when booking with points

Thank you

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

I am LIVID. I opened a MMA acct at the same time as the $1k checking acct offer at Huntington. The interest rate stated was 3.66%. I've been earning $1 on $35k! I spent an hour on hold and getting transferred around on Friday trying to figure out what is going on. The best I could get was that I needed to go into a branch.

Then I asked if I earned the $1k bonus. They said no because my account dropped to $19997 for a few days. When I saw that it dropped I sent $10 over to the account. Why did it drop? I got a $5 statement I was not aware of and didn't get charged ANY OTHER MONTH, AND there was a random $3 fee assigned. I inquired as to why I got the fee, and they said I shouldn't have...they refunded it to me. I now have a complaint filed on not earning the bonus! I'm going to be MAD if the $3 fee THEY REFUNDED cost me the $1k! They've had $55k of my money since Jan and I've earned a whopping $4 in interest between the 2 accounts. If I don't get the $1k bonus, I will be LIVID.

I went into a branch on Saturday but they didn't have a banker. The teller was like WHOA, this is NOT COOL! And took all my info down. So I'm hoping this will all be fixed. She agreed on the fees I was charged, and the interest being off. So we'll see.

My JB Biz card statement closes today. I've been waiting over a month for my 80k points to post. I haven't checked the cost of flights in a long time since I don't want to see what it's going to cost us now. But I need to book seats for 3/19! So I need these points!!!! UGH.

Probably a CSR that didn't know that some sporting gear like hockey sticks and softball bats have warranties. I'd HUCA, also I'd do some more research about which sticks actually last. I've seen so many top end CCM and Bauer sticks break in the hands of 12 year olds this year I wouldn't trust any of them.

He has the Trigger 7. His Trigger 6 lasted him the year. He's trying to lobby for the Trigger 7 Pro, LOL. I'm hoping his growth spurt is getting close to being done. He's up to 5'7 now. But I think he's got a bit more before he's done. He's taller than both of us at this point. So I'm thinking he's gotten some of his grandpas' height, LOL.

 

[reliev]

i know a lot of you fly sw haven't seen a deal this good in a while
https://www.costco.com/southwest-airlines-$500-egift-card.product.100794974.html

 

[GZanta77]

My JB Biz card statement closes today. I've been waiting over a month for my 80k points to post. I haven't checked the cost of flights in a long time since I don't want to see what it's going to cost us now. But I need to book seats for 3/19! So I need these points!!!! UGH.

Just a heads up - I have often had success with JetBlue getting late price drops, especially if the flight looks less than 80% full. I will sometimes check daily from about 2 weeks out - for example, on a recent flight to San Juan that was booked at 18,000pts, I got that down to 13,100pts just 5 days before the flight. I usually find most success after 10pm ET or before 8am ET, not so much during the day.

 

[pompetti]

Hello,

Looking to take better advantage of Credit Card rewards. I have a few questions and am looking for some guidance.

Existing Credit Cards:

07/19 - AMEX Everyday Card
03/06 - COMENITY Sony Visa
08/16 - CHASE Sapphire Preferred
07/10 - CHASE Southwest Rapid Rewards
03/99 - BofA Visa Signature
06/16 - TARGET Red card
03/22 - CITI Home Depot (only thing opened in the last 2 years)

Credit score is ~820.

We charge pretty much everything except Target purchases to the CSP. It's payed off in full every month.
P2 is my DW, she is on the CSP and AMEX as approved user. She won't be participating much. I handle paying all the bills.

We usually spend 6K a month on the credit cards.

We like to take 2-3 big trips a year. We just came back from a week in Guadeloupe, and have an 8-day WDW trip planned for late June, and a 12-day trip to Fiji planned for August. We exhausted our UR points for the flights to Fiji.

We fly locally out of PVD (SW flies here), and BOS for international. We'll use JFK/EWR if it can get us a non-stop overseas.

We prefer AA for flights but don't have ton of miles (<20K) and about 25K for SW.

For hotels we have 26K points at Marriott.

I'd really like to accumulate enough points to fly business class for the 2 of us to the Maldives in Feb 2025 for our 10th anniversary.

From the longevity of our CSP and reading here, would our first step be to downgrade our CSP to CHASE Freedom, then individually re-apply for CSP to get the bonus? What happens to travel insurance and other benefits for flights/hotels already booked and paid with the CSP when we downgrade?

 

[have2getaway]

How consistent do Chase Ink Business Card applications have to be? The average sales and/or income reported might obviously be different from one year to the next. I’m assuming that’s okay?

 

[IFlossU]

How consistent do Chase Ink Business Card applications have to be? The average sales and/or income reported might obviously be different from one year to the next. I’m assuming that’s okay?

Yes, it’s ok.

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

I'd really like to accumulate enough points to fly business class for the 2 of us to the Maldives in Feb 2025 for our 10th anniversary.

You are in excellent shape to set yourself up to earn enough points to get you and your dw to the Maldives in 2025 in biz class. I'd recommend Qatar air biz class -- they partner with AA, which is fairly easy to accumulate pts with. You have the Citi and Barclay AA biz cards (though Barclay can be on the tough side for approvals) and also the personal cards, to get you the pts you'll need. The Barclay AA biz has 80k AA pts for $2 SUB currently, which is excellent (I just achieved the SUB and the pts have already posted to my account). Currently I believe you can book a one way ticket for 70k AA pts and I will say that Qatar Air has arguably the best biz class product in the sky (service, food, pajamas -- unusual in biz class -- all excellent). Look on the AA website and see if any of the routes suit you and decide if that's a route you want to proceed with. You'd have to be prepared to book your seats at 355 days out (next February). One biz card for you and 1 for your dw and voila, you have enough pts for 1 way biz class tickets.

In terms of hotels, a bit trickier. I stayed at the Ritz Carlton Maldives in September, but the cost on pts is high. However Marriott has some good SUBs out now. Waldorf Astoria Maldives is considered a highly aspirational property, but it costs 150k HH pts / night (Marriott and HH have stay 5 nights on pts only pay for 4), so you'd be looking at 600k pts for the WA Maldives, however I must caution that the WA is well-known for playing games with opening up rooms on pts, so it is not a route I'd recommend if you want firm plans in place at the T-1 yr mark. The Hilton Amingiri gets rave reviews, from what I understand it's much easier to book on pts and it costs less pts (I believe 80k pts / night, or it was several mth ago). You have the Hilton Aspire card, which gets you diamond status (which gives you and your guest free daily breakfast outside of N. America), 150k pts and a free night certificate (FNC) when you meet the $4k SUB. The FNC can be used at any property worldwide, including the Maldives, so if you go the Hilton route, you could stay 6 nights for the cost of 5. I don't want to overwhelm you with Hilton hotels, but there's also the Conrad Maldives, which is also fairly easy to book with pts. For hotels in the Maldives you have to have the pts in your account and be prepared to book your room at T-1 year.

With Marriott you are spoiled for choices: The St. Regis, W, Westin, Ritz Carlton and I'm probably missing a few. If it were me, I'd probably go the Hilton route due to the diamond status, ease of earning pts and excellent hotel options in the Maldives. You have healthy monthly spend, so you can easily meet the MSR for the Aspire, the Surpass, the personal card and the biz card. Plus when you stay at a Hilton property and pay with their card you earn a plethora of pts and can usually score good upgrades as a diamond member (I've been upgraded at every Conrad property I've stayed at, but it depends on occupancy and you can't count on an upgrade in the Maldives as most hotels there have clauses that don't require them to upgrade you, but no worries as almost every room there is *amazing*). Tagging @calypso726 as she is a Hilton card guru, has flown Qatar (I believe) and stayed at the Conrad Maldives.

 

[Maryrachel713]

Now I'm debating if we should get an Ink card. I wasn't going to for reasons I honestly don't even remember but now I'm second guessing.

 

[Psychodisney]

Hello,

Looking to take better advantage of Credit Card rewards. I have a few questions and am looking for some guidance.

Existing Credit Cards:

07/19 - AMEX Everyday Card
03/06 - COMENITY Sony Visa
08/16 - CHASE Sapphire Preferred
07/10 - CHASE Southwest Rapid Rewards
03/99 - BofA Visa Signature
06/16 - TARGET Red card
03/22 - CITI Home Depot (only thing opened in the last 2 years)

Credit score is ~820.

We charge pretty much everything except Target purchases to the CSP. It's payed off in full every month.
P2 is my DW, she is on the CSP and AMEX as approved user. She won't be participating much. I handle paying all the bills.

We usually spend 6K a month on the credit cards.

We like to take 2-3 big trips a year. We just came back from a week in Guadeloupe, and have an 8-day WDW trip planned for late June, and a 12-day trip to Fiji planned for August. We exhausted our UR points for the flights to Fiji.

We fly locally out of PVD (SW flies here), and BOS for international. We'll use JFK/EWR if it can get us a non-stop overseas.

We prefer AA for flights but don't have ton of miles (<20K) and about 25K for SW.

For hotels we have 26K points at Marriott.

I'd really like to accumulate enough points to fly business class for the 2 of us to the Maldives in Feb 2025 for our 10th anniversary.

From the longevity of our CSP and reading here, would our first step be to downgrade our CSP to CHASE Freedom, then individually re-apply for CSP to get the bonus? What happens to travel insurance and other benefits for flights/hotels already booked and paid with the CSP when we downgrade?

Yes, my first thought was downgrade CSP to a CF. You could also refer DW for her own CSP. Obviously, if you can do a business card, jump on the Ink bonus while it’s hot!

 

[calypso726]

Hello,

Looking to take better advantage of Credit Card rewards. I have a few questions and am looking for some guidance.

Existing Credit Cards:

07/19 - AMEX Everyday Card
03/06 - COMENITY Sony Visa
08/16 - CHASE Sapphire Preferred
07/10 - CHASE Southwest Rapid Rewards
03/99 - BofA Visa Signature
06/16 - TARGET Red card
03/22 - CITI Home Depot (only thing opened in the last 2 years)

Credit score is ~820.

We charge pretty much everything except Target purchases to the CSP. It's payed off in full every month.
P2 is my DW, she is on the CSP and AMEX as approved user. She won't be participating much. I handle paying all the bills.

We usually spend 6K a month on the credit cards.

We like to take 2-3 big trips a year. We just came back from a week in Guadeloupe, and have an 8-day WDW trip planned for late June, and a 12-day trip to Fiji planned for August. We exhausted our UR points for the flights to Fiji.

We fly locally out of PVD (SW flies here), and BOS for international. We'll use JFK/EWR if it can get us a non-stop overseas.

We prefer AA for flights but don't have ton of miles (<20K) and about 25K for SW.

For hotels we have 26K points at Marriott.

I'd really like to accumulate enough points to fly business class for the 2 of us to the Maldives in Feb 2025 for our 10th anniversary.

From the longevity of our CSP and reading here, would our first step be to downgrade our CSP to CHASE Freedom, then individually re-apply for CSP to get the bonus? What happens to travel insurance and other benefits for flights/hotels already booked and paid with the CSP when we downgrade?

You are in excellent shape to set yourself up to earn enough points to get you and your dw to the Maldives in 2025 in biz class. I'd recommend Qatar air biz class -- they partner with AA, which is fairly easy to accumulate pts with. You have the Citi and Barclay AA biz cards (though Barclay can be on the tough side for approvals) and also the personal cards, to get you the pts you'll need. The Barclay AA biz has 80k AA pts for $2 SUB currently, which is excellent (I just achieved the SUB and the pts have already posted to my account). Currently I believe you can book a one way ticket for 70k AA pts and I will say that Qatar Air has arguably the best biz class product in the sky (service, food, pajamas -- unusual in biz class -- all excellent). Look on the AA website and see if any of the routes suit you and decide if that's a route you want to proceed with. You'd have to be prepared to book your seats at 355 days out (next February). One biz card for you and 1 for your dw and voila, you have enough pts for 1 way biz class tickets.

In terms of hotels, a bit trickier. I stayed at the Ritz Carlton Maldives in September, but the cost on pts is high. However Marriott has some good SUBs out now. Waldorf Astoria Maldives is considered a highly aspirational property, but it costs 150k HH pts / night (Marriott and HH have stay 5 nights on pts only pay for 4), so you'd be looking at 600k pts for the WA Maldives, however I must caution that the WA is well-known for playing games with opening up rooms on pts, so it is not a route I'd recommend if you want firm plans in place at the T-1 yr mark. The Hilton Amingiri gets rave reviews, from what I understand it's much easier to book on pts and it costs less pts (I believe 80k pts / night, or it was several mth ago). You have the Hilton Aspire card, which gets you diamond status (which gives you and your guest free daily breakfast outside of N. America), 150k pts and a free night certificate (FNC) when you meet the $4k SUB. The FNC can be used at any property worldwide, including the Maldives, so if you go the Hilton route, you could stay 6 nights for the cost of 5. I don't want to overwhelm you with Hilton hotels, but there's also the Conrad Maldives, which is also fairly easy to book with pts. For hotels in the Maldives you have to have the pts in your account and be prepared to book your room at T-1 year.

With Marriott you are spoiled for choices: The St. Regis, W, Westin, Ritz Carlton and I'm probably missing a few. If it were me, I'd probably go the Hilton route due to the diamond status, ease of earning pts and excellent hotel options in the Maldives. You have healthy monthly spend, so you can easily meet the MSR for the Aspire, the Surpass, the personal card and the biz card. Plus when you stay at a Hilton property and pay with their card you earn a plethora of pts and can usually score good upgrades as a diamond member (I've been upgraded at every Conrad property I've stayed at, but it depends on occupancy and you can't count on an upgrade in the Maldives as most hotels there have clauses that don't require them to upgrade you, but no worries as almost every room there is *amazing*). Tagging @calypso726 as she is a Hilton card guru, has flown Qatar (I believe) and stayed at the Conrad Maldives.

We did visit the Maldives and stayed at the Conrad Rangali in an overwater bungalow. For that trip we flew Emirates in first on their A380 with the shower. The Conrad Rangali does have OWB at standard award pricing and can be booked with Hilton points or using a free night certificate from an Aspire or earned via spend on the business or Surpass card. What I liked about utilizing the Aspire card was the resort credits we were able to apply towards our sea plane transfers. After booking our OWB for our trip that was taking place the following calendar year, I wrote to the property and requested to charge $250 from my card and $250 from DH’s card for accounting purposes. Therefore we were able to use that year’s resort credit and the following year’s resort credit to pay for the sea plane transfer. Nice to knock $1,000 off that. The Aspire card comes with Diamond status which meant we got complimentary breakfast and cocktail hour.

At that time, we’d used Alaska miles to book Emirates for the flights so we could take advantage of a stopover and hit Dubai on the way and a stay at the Al Maha Desert Resort & Spa. Alaska doesn’t partner with them anymore but MRs and URs both transfer to Emirates.

AA miles are great for a Qatar flight. However you are risking availability for business class seats by waiting for AA to release award space. AA releases at 331 days out. Qatar releases at 360 days out and British Airways at 355 days out. Qatar and BA are both Avios miles. By the time AA releases flights, 29 days will have passed. Meanwhile, partner space would be available on BA 5 days after award space is released on Qatar.

If you are super flexible then maybe you get lucky with AA. Personally, I wouldn’t risk it. If you don’t have a bunch of Thank You Points that you can transfer sitting in a Qatar account then transfer MRs, URs or C1 points to BA and then transfer BA Avios to Qatar and have them ready to go at 360 days out.

You could also use AA miles to get to the Maldives on Cathay Pacific or Etihad.

 

[wanderlust7]

Just a heads up - I have often had success with JetBlue getting late price drops, especially if the flight looks less than 80% full. I will sometimes check daily from about 2 weeks out - for example, on a recent flight to San Juan that was booked at 18,000pts, I got that down to 13,100pts just 5 days before the flight. I usually find most success after 10pm ET or before 8am ET, not so much during the day.

Thanks for the tip! Does this require a cancel and rebook or is there a way to change to the same flight like Southwest?