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

[LadyBeBop]

I’m a complete newbie to the credit card points game. However, I’ve been following this thread for several months and I’ve listened to a number of podcasts regarding credit card points for travel.

Yesterday, I broke down and applied for the Chase Sapphire Preferred. Got approved immediately.

The main reason now: We are doing some landscaping to our front yard. We already have the funds, but a $3,000 landscaping project on the CSP will do a lot toward reach a $4,000 minimum spend.

The landscapers want $1,000 now. I realize I won’t get the card for another week. But the account is open. I put the card in my Apple Pay wallet. The card in the wallet shows the last four digits only. Is that normal? Will I just have to suck it up and just put the remaining $2,000 on the card?

Also, is there a way to find out my credit card number? Again, I have the funds, but I want to buy SW airfare. I found some reasonably priced airfare for February to visit my daughter in Houston.

As always, many thanks.

Update. Could not use Apple Pay for the first $1,000. So I wrote them a check. We will still owe about another $2,000 when they finish the job in about three weeks. I remember our property tax bill is due in late October. So that will get us well over minimum spend.

Went ahead and bought the tickets for the Houston trip on Apple Pay. However, I’ve checked the Chase site daily. It still shows as a 0 balance on my card, but $188 card usage this week. (I told y’all this was a good deal.) I’m a little confused and concerned. Will I still get the 2X 188 points? I’d even be happy with 1X 188 points.

Hoping to get the actual card soon. Definitely by the 31st. Autopay on Spotify hits on the 1st and Netflix on the 2nd.

 

[Frwinkley]

There is no amount limit on the DD to get the bonus. I just DD a few hundred dollars from my actual paycheck and it worked perfectly. As a secondary DP, I used DD from my paycheck to triggers DHs bonus. My name was not on his account, but my DD worked to trigger his bonus.

Does the DD have to be recurring or can it be one time only?

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

Wanted to give praises to AC today. I cancelled a flight home from Europe in December on Thursday; I had used one of dh's Priority Rewards (give 50% off points bookings in biz class) to book the flight. I noticed that it hadn't gone back into his account, so I called. Turns out that it had expired in June, 2023 (with the Priority Rewards you have to book the flight before the expiry, but can travel after). But there was a change in the itinerary and I used that as my excuse to cancel the flight; when I cancelled the flight I wasn't given any sort of warning that I would lose the reward.
I spent almost 45 mins on the phone with the CSR, who said that he had to file a report and a lead would call me back within 4 hours. I was on the phone with him while he filed the report, which is why it took so long. Anyways 4 hours comes and goes and no phone call.
So this afternoon I called back to see why no one called yesterday. There were no notes in the file, nada. The CSR had to talk to her lead (who was on the phone, so we waited 20 mins for her to free up), who had to go back and listen to the entire phone call , which is fine, but the call was 45 mins, so I was on hold the entire time. After almost 2 hours on the phone the lead decided that due to the mix-up and since they value dh's business (I sure hope so with the amount he spends with them in a year) they would provide me (well dh, but he isn't 'allowed' to use the Priority Rewards within NA -- they are far more valuable for international travel) with another Priority Reward. Woohoo! I would've been so mad at myself if I had lost one of the rewards.
I did mention to the CSR that it would be very helpful if there was a way customers could see if they would lose a reward when they cancel bookings made with them. It would certainly have given me pause if I had known I would lose it when I cancelled the flight.

 

[djmeredith]

Is this necessary? I bought physical Disney GC and the charge came from walmart.com (so no reason it wouldn't work).

I think Walmart eGC doesn't work as I see that it doesn't go into cart first. Looks like it goes through Cashstar.

ETA: Anything that gets added to cart first and you checkout as normal should be charged by walmart.com and should work. That's my understanding anyways!

You are probably right. I wasn't sure, so I did it the way I knew would work.

 

[IFlossU]

Does the DD have to be recurring or can it be one time only?

Just once to receive the bonus.

I encourage everyone who is considering doing bank bonuses to read the terms and conditions very closely. It’s easy to miss something and not receive the bonus, or get charged the monthly fee due to overlooking the fine print. Please read everything carefully.

 

[disprincessbear]

P2's plan to open a Chase Ink Preferred is a solid plan, since right now it has the amazing 100k SUB for only $8k spend instead of $15k, $95 AF. Since you are familiar with the Chase UR ecosystem, I think it makes sense for P2 to support P3 for the Ink Preferred as well for the additional 40k support points (if P3 sells anything on marketplace or has any type of side hussle, P3 has a business).

2 CIP= 100k + 100k + 40k+ 8k +8k= 256,000 URs.

Thanks so much! P1 teaches CPR on the side occasionally, so we could potentially make that work. I don’t think P3 has a side hustle of any sort but I’ll look into it more. We’ll have to stretch a little to make the sub but we could stretch to it with some GCs if that’s still a thing.


@wanderlust7 - we have a Harris Teeter in town. Do they participate in these amazing Kroger deals? I always shop at Publix, so I don’t know much about this program.

 

[Limes96]

I’m annoyed this morning because I noticed one of my Chase cards was charged for my Walmart+ subscription instead of the Amex plat. It must have messed up my default card when I used one of the Chase Walmart offers online. I switched it back but I wonder if Walmart would help me switch payment methods after the fact. I only got it in the first place because it’s free on the plat. I certainly never planned to spend actual money on it.

 

[leeniewdw]

Quoting myself to update this story. This week I got my letter with my GE card. My DH did not. We waited a day or so and it still didn't come. Since we have no trips planned until December, neither of us actually logged back into the website to see anything. Well, we did that yesterday for DH and interestingly, he's now set to "conditional approval" but still needs an interview BUT!!! It offers a zoom option! I presume that's because they have his photo and fingerprints from the Shannon interview. So we need to schedule that and he should be good to go.

Quoting myself again. I posted this on July 12 about my DH's GE application and how despite not getting conditional approval before we left for our Ireland trip, they let him get photo and fingerprints in SNN when we were departing Ireland (they do preclearance in Ireland). When we got home we realized he still needed an official interview but his options included Zoom. We dragged our feet and at the time our next flight was December. Well, today we finally signed in to get it scheduled and the earliest is late November. We're just dumb for not knocking it out as soon as we realized. And of course we're thinking about flying to MCO in -- mid November.

What's the "search for interview" service that I've seen mentioned here? Might try to snag an earlier appt. When I looked for in person interviews, CLT just shows "appts full thru 9/23" as opposed to "next available on XX/XX". It's all our own fault, but I swear zoom interviews were plentiful when we first looked in July. Ugh,

 

[reliev]

Quoting myself again. I posted this on July 12 about my DH's GE application and how despite not getting conditional approval before we left for our Ireland trip, they let him get photo and fingerprints in SNN when we were departing Ireland (they do preclearance in Ireland). When we got home we realized he still needed an official interview but his options included Zoom. We dragged our feet and at the time our next flight was December. Well, today we finally signed in to get it scheduled and the earliest is late November. We're just dumb for not knocking it out as soon as we realized. And of course we're thinking about flying to MCO in -- mid November.

What's the "search for interview" service that I've seen mentioned here? Might try to snag an earlier appt. When I looked for in person interviews, CLT just shows "appts full thru 9/23" as opposed to "next available on XX/XX". It's all our own fault, but I swear zoom interviews were plentiful when we first looked in July. Ugh,

https://appointmentscanner.com/
got my kids GE interview pretty far out.
Then got one last week so I rescheduled, really beat me going to the site all the time. (I tried for a few days gave up seemed like a waste of time to me).
the best part is the guy only asked her if she was born on her birthday as well as what school she went to she just mumbled and turned around but when it was time to take her picture she responded very clearly. Oh to be a kid again.

 

[leeniewdw]

https://appointmentscanner.com/
got my kids GE interview pretty far out.
Then got one last week so I rescheduled, really beat me going to the site all the time. (I tried for a few days gave up seemed like a waste of time to me).
the best part is the guy only asked her if she was born on her birthday as well as what school she went to she just mumbled and turned around but when it was time to take her picture she responded very clearly. Oh to be a kid again.

Perfect! I see the also support the Zoom appts which would obviously be our preference! Thanks!

I'm not sure why he needs this, because they asked him all the questions in Ireland, but I suppose because he wasn't already into "conditional" status, there was more to be done bureaucratically. So he'll probably just be asked the same questions he was asked in person and finally be done with it. Would REALLY like to have it in MCO if we decide to go in November.

 

[iujen94]

Thanks so much! P1 teaches CPR on the side occasionally, so we could potentially make that work. I don’t think P3 has a side hustle of any sort but I’ll look into it more. We’ll have to stretch a little to make the sub but we could stretch to it with some GCs if that’s still a thing.


@wanderlust7 - we have a Harris Teeter in town. Do they participate in these amazing Kroger deals? I always shop at Publix, so I don’t know much about this program.

I could find Wanderlust’s prior post about Kroger - was it about fuel points? If so, Kroger and HT typically (always?) have corresponding fuel points promos. So if Kroger is offering 4x on GCs, odds are good that HT will as well. You’ll need to sign up for a VIC account (their “frequent shopper” program). Then you need to go into the HT app and “clip” the electronic coupon to get the 4x fuel points. You can use your fuel points at almost any BP station.

Here’s how the math works out: I bought a $500 Disney gift card, which will earn me 2000 (500 x 4) fuel points. 1000 fuel points = $1 off every gallon of gas in a fill-up. Since my car holds about 16 gallons of gas, this means my 2000 fuel points will save me about $32 on gas. PLUS I used my AMEX Gold card for 4x MRs on groceries. So I also wound up with 2000 MRs points, worth about $30 to me. So my net cost for that $500 Disney gift card is more like $438 - a 12.4% discount.

 

[leeniewdw]

I could find Wanderlust’s prior post about Kroger - was it about fuel points? If so, Kroger and HT typically (always?) have corresponding fuel points promos. So if Kroger is offering 4x on GCs, odds are good that HT will as well. You’ll need to sign up for a VIC account (their “frequent shopper” program). Then you need to go into the HT app and “clip” the electronic coupon to get the 4x fuel points. You can use your fuel points at almost any BP station.

Here’s how the math works out: I bought a $500 Disney gift card, which will earn me 2000 (500 x 4) fuel points. 1000 fuel points = $1 off every gallon of gas in a fill-up. Since my car holds about 16 gallons of gas, this means my 2000 fuel points will save me about $32 on gas. PLUS I used my AMEX Gold card for 4x MRs on groceries. So I also wound up with 2000 MRs points, worth about $30 to me. So my net cost for that $500 Disney gift card is more like $438 - a 12.4% discount.

Thanks so much for this example!

 

[calypso726]

It's been a productive travel hacking weekend wrapping up come more of the plans for my niece's graduation VV cruise trip to Greece next year. I was able to book our positioning flights to EWR using UTB. Availability on points for the Conrad Midtown finally came up and I have 2 nights booked there. No idea yet what show we will see in NYC, but I will leave that up to her as we get closer.

Our cruise has an overnight in Mykonos, so I reached out to the Baos cocktail bar and restaurant in Mykonos for sunset reservations. She saw this place in IG and was enchanted with the idea of the ocean water being "right there" and splashing up as you sit and dine. I also went ahead and booked us for one night at the Boheme Mykonos. I thought she might like the idea of overnighting and waking up with a beautiful view. It's an SLH Hyatt property so that will knock off another brand for me. (ETA: I was wrong about this and should look at things more closely before making assumptions) It was 45k Hyatt points for one night which came up to 2.8 cpp when factoring in the cash cost.

Next, I need to figure out how long we are in Santorini and what she might like to do. If time permits, I may book one of those flying dress Santorini photo shoots. It seems like something that would appeal to her. Heck it appeals to me. Well not so much the flying dress as the cool photoshoot

 

[newski_mom]

DS has lost his iphone. Are there any deals now with CC to get any kind of deal on a new iphone. It doesn't necessarily have to be the newest model. The good thing is the phone was paid off, so we won't have any kind of trade, but he also won't have a chunk to pay off before being able to add a new phone to the plan.

I tried looking for benefits with the CSR, but didn't see anything currently being offered.

Just wondered if there's anything out there that might help! Thanks!

 

[AmyAnne]

Just once to receive the bonus.

I encourage everyone who is considering doing bank bonuses to read the terms and conditions very closely. It’s easy to miss something and not receive the bonus, or get charged the monthly fee due to overlooking the fine print. Please read everything carefully.

Speaking of this, can someone remind me: To transfer $ once the 90 days is up, is it better to push money out of the Chase account to the external account or pull it from the external account? (Will be transferring to Ally, if that matters.)

 

[wanderlust7]

I could find Wanderlust’s prior post about Kroger - was it about fuel points? If so, Kroger and HT typically (always?) have corresponding fuel points promos. So if Kroger is offering 4x on GCs, odds are good that HT will as well. You’ll need to sign up for a VIC account (their “frequent shopper” program). Then you need to go into the HT app and “clip” the electronic coupon to get the 4x fuel points. You can use your fuel points at almost any BP station.

Here’s how the math works out: I bought a $500 Disney gift card, which will earn me 2000 (500 x 4) fuel points. 1000 fuel points = $1 off every gallon of gas in a fill-up. Since my car holds about 16 gallons of gas, this means my 2000 fuel points will save me about $32 on gas. PLUS I used my AMEX Gold card for 4x MRs on groceries. So I also wound up with 2000 MRs points, worth about $30 to me. So my net cost for that $500 Disney gift card is more like $438 - a 12.4% discount.

I know nothing about this (no Kroger nor need for gas), so thanks for answering the question!

It's been a productive travel hacking weekend wrapping up come more of the plans for my niece's graduation VV cruise trip to Greece next year. I was able to book our positioning flights to EWR using UTB. Availability on points for the Conrad Midtown finally came up and I have 2 nights booked there. No idea yet what show we will see in NYC, but I will leave that up to her as we get closer.

Our cruise has an overnight in Mykonos, so I reached out to the Baos cocktail bar and restaurant in Mykonos for sunset reservations. She saw this place in IG and was enchanted with the idea of the ocean water being "right there" and splashing up as you sit and dine. I also went ahead and booked us for one night at the Boheme Mykonos. I thought she might like the idea of overnighting and waking up with a beautiful view. It's and SLH Hyatt property so that will knock off another brand for me. It was 45k Hyatt points for one night which came up to 2.8 cpp when factoring in the cash cost.

Next, I need to figure out how long we are in Santorini and what she might like to do. If time permits, I may book one of those flying dress Santorini photo shoots. It seems like something that would appeal to her. Heck it appeals to me. Well not so much the flying dress as the cool photoshoot

SLH doesn't count as a brand, unfortunately, since it's a partnership like MGM was. Sounds like a great trip! I'd like to go back to the Greek Islands some day.

 

[havaneselover]

Speaking of this, can someone remind me: To transfer $ once the 90 days is up, is it better to push money out of the Chase account to the external account or pull it from the external account? (Will be transferring to Ally, if that matters.)

Shouldn’t matter.

 

[georgina]

Speaking of this, can someone remind me: To transfer $ once the 90 days is up, is it better to push money out of the Chase account to the external account or pull it from the external account? (Will be transferring to Ally, if that matters.)

Never noticed a difference; I almost always push from an account when transferring

 

[calypso726]

SLH doesn't count as a brand, unfortunately, since it's a partnership like MGM was. Sounds like a great trip! I'd like to go back to the Greek Islands some day.

Well darn. That’s what I get for making assumptions and not looking at the list more closely lol Thanks for the heads up. Would have done it anyway even if I’d realized just because it looked like a cool place.

 

[elgerber]

I've been gone since the 18th, what did I miss? LOL.

Is it just me, or is anyone else unable to sign into Disney Gift Cards? I tried for a week or two before we left, and just now, and I still can't sign in.