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

[Sheree]

We are headed to Portugal in August. Where in Portugal are you planning to go in Januaheadedd

We are headed to Portugal in August. Where in Portugal are you planning to go in January?

headed to Lisbon in July. day trip to Fatima and day trip via train to Sintra are all we've planned. not staying at chain hotel, actually using $$! but wanted something cute and oldish. then heading to Barrcelona

 

[Haley R]

IIRC, he did fine on the Germany flights last year. The Japan flights might have been difficult for him, but those were probably almost double the length of the Europe flights. The time adjustment isn't near as bad in Europe either. So it might not be as big of a gamble for next year as you think. Plus he will be a whole year older. As you know, a year at that age is a huge difference. All that being said, there are lots of great domestic destinations too. You could do domestic next year and save some flight pts for a big international trip in '26.

Right when he turned 4 he turned into a terror so I can’t even imagine traveling internationally right now with him. He was a relatively easy 2 and 3 year old but 4 has hit us hard and we’ve been really struggling with him. I hope by 5 things are better but our neighbor down the street has a son turning 5 this month and she said it hasn’t gotten better for them. Dh said we should go ahead and book England but make sure everything is refundable so we might do that. I suggested to dh maybe we try 3 week-long domestic trips spread out throughout the year instead.

 

[Judique]

I had some trouble using them for online purchases, more than one store rejected the card until I registered it and had a name to put in to match with the credit card number. I don't remember exactly which ones, but it was enough that I usually just register them now before making and online purchase.

I just put my name in there without registering. There are a few other products I've used them to buy that worked easily but I do recall having a problem somewhere and just switched to a regular credit card.

 

[Judique]

Went to the car dealership for a minor service this past week and when it came time to pay I presented the latest card I'm working on.

The person says to me 'we are now charging 2.75% to use a credit card'. Really?? Then he says it's only about $2! Actually that would have been $2.59. He said you can use a debit card, write a check or pay cash. Those are three things I almost never do and I'm not about to start. I mean I never use a bank issued debit card.

Put my credit card away and dug out a new $200 visa gift card and said 'run this as debit'.

If they had raised the price of the service to include the charge, I probably wouldn't have given it much thought. After all, everything seems to be more expensive these days. But making me aware that they wanted me to pay the fee for using the card really irked me.

The Google review is coming on that one.

 

[havaneselover]

Anyone

Went to the car dealership for a minor service this past week and when it came time to pay I presented the latest card I'm working on.

The person says to me 'we are now charging 2.75% to use a credit card'. Really?? Then he says it's only about $2! Actually that would have been $2.59. He said you can use a debit card, write a check or pay cash. Those are three things I almost never do and I'm not about to start. I mean I never use a bank issued debit card.

Put my credit card away and dug out a new $200 visa gift card and said 'run this as debit'.

If they had raised the price of the service to include the charge, I probably wouldn't have given it much thought. After all, everything seems to be more expensive these days. But making me aware that they wanted me to pay the fee for using the card really irked me.

The Google review is coming on that one.

One of my doctors and my dentist started charging something around 3% so I use my debit. But I wouldn't expect that at a car dealership. I get it, but it's definitely annoying.

 

[Best Aunt]

The person says to me 'we are now charging 2.75% to use a credit card'. Really?? Then he says it's only about $2! Actually that would have been $2.59. He said you can use a debit card, write a check or pay cash. Those are three things I almost never do and I'm not about to start. I mean I never use a bank issued debit card.

Put my credit card away and dug out a new $200 visa gift card and said 'run this as debit'.

Well this is helpful, I never thought of doing that.

 

[Maryrachel713]

AU advice. My younger sister has a score of 590. She was in school and her ex paid most bills. She graduated a year ago with a fair amount of loans and a single card with a $300(?!?) limit. No late payments so I’m guessing the low score is because basically all she has is debt. Not concerned about responsibility at this time.

Any downside to making her an AU on one of my cards? She doesn’t need the actual card. If I do, card with a high limit? Frequent use? Have CSP, venture x, freedom, Amex gold (and P2 has some too).

Open to feedback on any of the above, especially if I’m confused about her score.

 

[hsmamato2]

It doesn't matter if you have tonpull stuff out or not, they can still see it and make you get rid of it. If it's more than 3 oz it's not worth the hassle. Either get a smaller container to take what you need for the trip or check it.

Thànks- my home airport doesn't care- but that might be rare- I'll decant into smaller tho I was just feeling lazy lol

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

AU advice. My younger sister has a score of 590. She was in school and her ex paid most bills. She graduated a year ago with a fair amount of loans and a single card with a $300(?!?) limit. No late payments so I’m guessing the low score is because basically all she has is debt. Not concerned about responsibility at this time.

Any downside to making her an AU on one of my cards? She doesn’t need the actual card. If I do, card with a high limit? Frequent use? Have CSP, venture x, freedom, Amex gold (and P2 has some too).

Open to feedback on any of the above, especially if I’m confused about her score.

See if the Gold has an offer for adding an AU. We added my brother to my Plat to help him build credit and I happened to have a spend and earn offer for adding an AU. Otherwise, not sure it matters--just something with no annual fee. Also, a card you plan to keep.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Anyone have any recent DPs on BMO checking account bonus as to what might count as DD? DOC info is old.

 

[Best Aunt]

Has anyone ever returned something that they had delivered by Instacart?

I didn't have the energy to go to Home Depot, so I decided to try having Instacart shop and deliver for me. Big mistake. After they delivered, I looked in the bag and realized that they had brought me the item that I requested, but it's defective. I'm going to have to take it back to the store. I do have the receipt which was emailed to me. Hopefully the store has a clerk who knows how to do a return when there's no barcode to scan.

 

[djmeredith]

Has anyone ever returned something that they had delivered by Instacart?

I didn't have the energy to go to Home Depot, so I decided to try having Instacart shop and deliver for me. Big mistake. After they delivered, I looked in the bag and realized that they had brought me the item that I requested, but it's defective. I'm going to have to take it back to the store. I do have the receipt which was emailed to me. Hopefully the store has a clerk who knows how to do a return when there's no barcode to scan.

I returned something to Target once because it was the wrong item. I don't remember the details, but I didn't have any problem.

 

[Best Aunt]

I returned something to Target once because it was the wrong item. I don't remember the details, but I didn't have any problem.

Thanks!

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Has anyone ever returned something that they had delivered by Instacart?

I didn't have the energy to go to Home Depot, so I decided to try having Instacart shop and deliver for me. Big mistake. After they delivered, I looked in the bag and realized that they had brought me the item that I requested, but it's defective. I'm going to have to take it back to the store. I do have the receipt which was emailed to me. Hopefully the store has a clerk who knows how to do a return when there's no barcode to scan.

There's actually a place on Instacart app for problems/returns. If its relatively small they'll refund immediately no questions asked.

 

[Best Aunt]

There's actually a place on Instacart app for problems/returns. If its relatively small they'll refund immediately no questions asked.

Ooh, helpful. I'll check. Thank you.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Couple DPs
First, AF posted on my Disney Premier. Called to PC to Disney Visa no AF and was told I needed a 5k minimum credit line to PC. Weird. I keep most of my sock drawer cards around 2-3k but Marriott card was high and had room to move $3k.
Second, DH was instantly approved for CIU with my support. He was holding a CIU, CIC and SW Biz with $5k, 8k and 13k CLs respectively. New card has a $6k limit. His last biz card was in December.

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

His last biz card was in December.

Last Chase biz card, or last biz card generally?

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Last Chase biz card, or last biz card generally?

Both. He got SW biz 12/23 and SW personal 11/23. The only thing he had this year was an Amex upgrade offer he took for BCE.

 

[disneybirds]

@mom2febgirls Sorry for the delay, but had company this weekend and I needed time to write all this out. Happy to answer any questions.

Flights:
Around 6 months:
Booked 4 direct Delta flights from ATL to VCE on Virgin Atlantic. 120K MR points and $22 for economy. Booked tickets in 2 sets of 2, so we could get upgraded. DH and I were upgraded to Comfort Plus.
Booked 4 connecting United Flights from FCO to ATL for 143K UR points and $255 for economy.
Around 3 weeks:
Direct Delta flights for 4 people from FCO to ATL showed up on Air France for our departure day for 143K MR and $906 for economy. We switched flights, so now I have 143K United points that need to be used. Had to sit in the very back of the Delta plane with no chance of upgrades, but the direct flight was worth it to us.

Route:
Venice - 2 nights
Aqua Palace Hotel - booked 2 rooms for 150K UR points total. Hotel was on the canal so we were able to take a water taxi directly from the airport to our hotel. Nice breakfast. Toured Doge's Palace and San Marco Basilica. Took gondola ride and got lost many, many times. Italo train from Venice to Florence - business class.

Florence - 4 nights
Stayed in an VRBO near the Duomo and paid cash. Booked Tuscany tour with UR points. Paid cash for Duomo, Accademia, Uffizi and pasta making class.
Trenitalia train from Florence to Naples - business class. Hired Rainbow Limos to pick up us at the Naples airport, take us to a pizza place for lunch, stop at Pompeii with a guided tour, and drop off in front of hotel in Positano (very important since there are so many steps). Highly recommend Rainbow Limos.

Positano - 3 nights
Hotel Ville del Palme - booked 2 rooms for 185K. Family owned B&B. Small rooms and bathrooms, but we had a nice terrace and the family that owes it is wonderful! Probably 400+ steps to the beach so you need to be in shape. Paid cash for boat tour of Capri, tour of Capri in a red vintage Fiat with Paulo (fabulous), ferry ride to Amalfi. Booked a photographer in Positano and love the pics. Rainbow Limos picked up at the hotel and took us back to the Naples airport. Italo train from Naples to Rome - business class.

Rome - 3 nights
Hotel Artemide - booked 2 rooms for 243K points. Hotel breakfast buffet was amazing - probably nicest buffet I have ever seen. Hotel staff were wonderful. No thoughts on the location since we were so tired by this point that we took a taxi everywhere. Most rides were 15-20 euro and most wanted cash. We used the FreeNow app for most rides back to the hotel. Booked the Vatican guided tour and Trastevere food tour with UR points. Paid cash for the Colosseum Underground Tour and golf cart with Rolling Rome.

We had originally planned this trip for May 2020 to celebrate our daughter's high school and college graduations. Fast forward 4 years and we were celebrating a college graduation, 25th birthday, and our 30th anniversary. We spent alot of points, but who knows when we will have this opportunity to travel overseas with our two daughters like this again.

Thoughts: We definitely used more cash that I was expecting and ended up going to the ATM 4 times. We used cash for taxis, small shops, water taxis, cleaning fee for vrbo, and tips for tours. I wish we had booked a driver from Positano to Amalfi since we didn't have a chance to see Ravello. We probably should have booked a car for pickup in Rome (or just had the driver take us all the way to Rome) since it took an hour to get a taxi at the train station. Took me almost a week to fully recover once we got back, but it was a wonderful trip with our two adult daughters (22 and 25) and lots of wonderful memories!

 

[Maryrachel713]

See if the Gold has an offer for adding an AU. We added my brother to my Plat to help him build credit and I happened to have a spend and earn offer for adding an AU. Otherwise, not sure it matters--just something with no annual fee. Also, a card you plan to keep.

Oh great tip thank you!