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

[sinnika]

That’s weird, I’ve never seen a $30 retention. There is a $300 offer and a 30k MR one on the Gold. It’s not too early to ask since it would be your first retention.

This is my first time asking for a retention offer from Amex. My statement just closed on March 26 and the AF has not posted yet. It should post any day now since I signed up on April 2, 2022. I’m leaving today for 5 weeks in Europe. Grandson #2 is due in 10 days. I didn’t want to bother calling when I’m out of the country. I’ve managed to use $80 of the Uber credits, but only cashed in on a few of the Cheesecake Factory $10 gift cards or purchases of cheesecake. Can you only apply for a gold card once in a lifetime? I honestly haven’t used MR points for travel. United points through my UR or United CC’s have been my go to since traveling back and forth from Houston to Frankfurt over the last 18 months. DD has temporary orders to San Antonio in September for 5 months. She’ll be in a course to become a critical care nurse. She won’t know her next assignment until this summer (could be Anchorage or San Antonio). I’ll decide my next travel cc when she gets her orders. Maybe an Alaska Airlines cc if she gets stationed there. San Antonio is less than 3 hours drive away so you can guess what I’m hoping for! And just a few photos of her beautiful family and the village where she lives in Germany.

 

[spacerangerqueen]

I received an upgrade offer on my Bonvoy Amex. I have the lowest one, former SPG card. The offer is 50k bonvoy points after $2500 spend in 6 months. I'm out of Marriott points since our Hawaii trip, so would be nice to have more. However, it looks like the Bevy doesn't come with an annual free night. I don't see it being a good deal to switch from paying a $95 AF for a FNC to paying a $250 AF for no FNC.

 

[nlenguyen]

I looked this morning to see if there were any My Chase Offers. None. What is going on? The past two quarters I have not been given anything.

 

[wanderlust7]

This is my first time asking for a retention offer from Amex. My statement just closed on March 26 and the AF has not posted yet. It should post any day now since I signed up on April 2, 2022. I’m leaving today for 5 weeks in Europe. Grandson #2 is due in 10 days. I didn’t want to bother calling when I’m out of the country. I’ve managed to use $80 of the Uber credits, but only cashed in on a few of the Cheesecake Factory $10 gift cards or purchases of cheesecake. Can you only apply for a gold card once in a lifetime? I honestly haven’t used MR points for travel. United points through my UR or United CC’s have been my go to since traveling back and forth from Houston to Frankfurt over the last 18 months. DD has temporary orders to San Antonio in September for 5 months. She’ll be in a course to become a critical care nurse. She won’t know her next assignment until this summer (could be Anchorage or San Antonio). I’ll decide my next travel cc when she gets her orders. Maybe an Alaska Airlines cc if she gets stationed there. San Antonio is less than 3 hours drive away so you can guess what I’m hoping for! And just a few photos of her beautiful family and the village where she lives in Germany.

You can chat to ask for a retention. Most Amex cards are once per “lifetime”. Some years (maybe 7) after you cancel, Amex might forget you had it.

Have a great trip!

 

[ten6mom]

EBCI does check you in but it checks people in by date they purchased EBCI, so lots of people must have bought before me. Once checked in though, it offers you upgraded boarding which I totally would have done but without a decent internet connection, by the time I connected they were gone. DH also needed to check in and I didn’t get him EBCI. We made it though, back of the plane but now sitting at the gate in Denver for flight to Chicago. Super long day. Left resort at 630 am, will get to our house around 1 am.

Oh I see; thank you very much.
Glad you made it home safely!

 

[sinnika]

So I forgot to purchase travel insurance and can’t get through to Travelguard. Any suggestions for travel insurance? Most important thing for me is hospital coverage if I get sick or injured and medical evacuation coverage back to the US. All flights are on points so no cost there.

 

[ten6mom]

So as some of you know, I have 200K miles parked (stranded, IMO!) in Virgin Atlantic. The original intent was to fly to Japan (me and my husband) but I just don't think a trip like that is in our future right now due to schedules and other financial considerations.

However, my mom and aunt and niece are planning a trip to Japan in 2024 (not sure what month) and I would love to use those points to get them at least a 'free' ticket or two. They don't even care about first or biz class, but I recall the fuel surcharges (this would be using Virgin miles to fly on ANA) were quite high... probably more than it would cost just to purchase a regular coach ticket. Am I correct in thinking that even IF I could find 3 coach tickets (round trip) using those miles, it would literally cost as much or more in fuel surcharges than if she just paid cash?

 

[StephPlum]

Not a great week.

First, Chase notified me of potential fraud on my Marriott card. Yeah, I wasn't buying anything at a hardware store in Oklahoma. So that card was cancelled and I see a new number already on my account. Weird the charge is still pending. I never use that card but used last month for one of the $5 restaurant credits and tried to use in NM for one of the hotel nights. Tried because they used the AMEX Marriott that is on file instead of what I handed them.

Second, Finished taxes for 2022 and found out I could not use my business CC to pay on my personal account. At least the payment companies would not take it. So that didn't help with my MSR. Also on taxes, working from home or my companies implementation of that is messing with my local taxes. Between the workplace and my residence, the local income tax is 2.5%. That is what was withheld but for some reason the tax agency is saying I owe another $500 so I'll have to call to find out why or fix.

Third, maybe this is related to #1. Going through my credit card accounts and see a charge for a flight on United pending. I have 3 flights upcoming on United but they are all on points. Hopefully this is not a larger fraud issue on my Chase cards. Currently on hold with United to see if it is an error or if I need to cancel that card as well......

And lastly, I am a victim of that glitch where I can't transfer points to my other cards now. I have to go back and read up on how others solved or if it is still going on. I only have 50 "stranded" on DH's biz card right now.

Need some good news.

 

[georgina]

So I forgot to purchase travel insurance and can’t get through to Travelguard. Any suggestions for travel insurance? Most important thing for me is hospital coverage if I get sick or injured and medical evacuation coverage back to the US. All flights are on points so no cost there.

i have used GeoBlue a couple of times. Well, I never actually had to use it, but have purchased Medical travel through them for travel out of the US.

Second, Finished taxes for 2022 and found out I could not use my business CC to pay on my personal account. At least the payment companies would not take it. So that didn't help with my MSR. Also on taxes, working from home or my companies implementation of that is messing with my local taxes.

I had some trouble with one of the IRS payment processers and a Chase Ink card in January, but was able to switch to a different one of the 3 and it went through. Edit to clarify, I used a different payment processor with the Chase Ink and it worked. I think I used the third one on the right on the payment page, can't remember which one that is.

 

[smerkel14]

Hello Credit Card Gurus! I am a newbie looking for some advice. We are going to Disney in June and have rented a timeshare so only need to buy park tickets. I am looking to open a new credit card(s) to take advantage of the big expenditure. Ideally, I would keep the card(s) that I open but am ok to have to cancel. I have considered buying from UT for cheaper tickets but am also wondering if purchasing gift cards first and then purchasing from Disney would be better. My mind is spinning!! Please help!
Here are our details:
We-myself, dh, and 3 teens
Ticket costs-$3200-3500(not set on what tix yet)
Pay off balances monthly approx. $800-1000
Groceries and gas are biggest expenditures
Current cards(all have been opened 3+years)-
Disney Visa
Costco Citi
Amazon Prime

I was thinking about dividing the cost between a Chase Freedom Unlimited/Flex card and Citi Simplicity/Rewards+. Is it even possible to open 2 cards in such a short amount of time? It's probably not the best idea but I am new to even considering looking at new cards and making the most of the situation. Thoughts? Better ideas?

 

[wanderlust7]

Second, Finished taxes for 2022 and found out I could not use my business CC to pay on my personal account. At least the payment companies would not take it.

Had the same issue with an Ink. Paid with PayPal instead with the same card and it worked.

 

[lsutigers03]

If you’re applying for a SW personal and business card do you need to wait at all between the applications?

 

[elgerber]

i have used GeoBlue a couple of times. Well, I never actually had to use it, but have purchased Medical travel through them for travel out of the US.


I had some trouble with one of the IRS payment processers and a Chase Ink card in January, but was able to switch to a different one of the 3 and it went through.

Interesting. My dd paid hers with her new BBP no problems.

 

[IFlossU]

Hello Credit Card Gurus! I am a newbie looking for some advice. We are going to Disney in June and have rented a timeshare so only need to buy park tickets. I am looking to open a new credit card(s) to take advantage of the big expenditure. Ideally, I would keep the card(s) that I open but am ok to have to cancel. I have considered buying from UT for cheaper tickets but am also wondering if purchasing gift cards first and then purchasing from Disney would be better. My mind is spinning!! Please help!
Here are our details:
We-myself, dh, and 3 teens
Ticket costs-$3200-3500(not set on what tix yet)
Pay off balances monthly approx. $800-1000
Groceries and gas are biggest expenditures
Current cards(all have been opened 3+years)-
Disney Visa
Costco Citi
Amazon Prime

I was thinking about dividing the cost between a Chase Freedom Unlimited/Flex card and Citi Simplicity/Rewards+. Is it even possible to open 2 cards in such a short amount of time? It's probably not the best idea but I am new to even considering looking at new cards and making the most of the situation. Thoughts? Better ideas?

I’d apply for a Chase Ink Cash business card and buy the $3500 in Disney gift cards at Staples or Office max for an additional 5x points. Or if you’re wanting a personal card maybe a Sapphire Preferred. There are many ways to go about it. However, the 4 cards you chose are probably the least rewarding With that amount of spend you can get a much better return by looking for a card with a higher sign up bonus than the ones you mentioned. I think Chase Ultimate rewards are a good currency if you’re not planning to take a deep dive into credit card rewards. The business cards have much higher sign up bonuses and $0AF.

 

[wanderlust7]

Interesting. My dd paid hers with her new BBP no problems.

I think it’s an issue with Chase business cards. I also paid with a Hilton Biz with no issues.

 

[wanderlust7]

If you’re applying for a SW personal and business card do you need to wait at all between the applications?

The usual 3 month advice still applies. But if you needed to do them close, do the biz one first as there’s a soft 1/30 rule on biz cards (2/30 on personal).

 

[happ]

Hello Credit Card Gurus! I am a newbie looking for some advice. We are going to Disney in June and have rented a timeshare so only need to buy park tickets. I am looking to open a new credit card(s) to take advantage of the big expenditure. Ideally, I would keep the card(s) that I open but am ok to have to cancel. I have considered buying from UT for cheaper tickets but am also wondering if purchasing gift cards first and then purchasing from Disney would be better. My mind is spinning!! Please help!
Here are our details:
We-myself, dh, and 3 teens
Ticket costs-$3200-3500(not set on what tix yet)
Pay off balances monthly approx. $800-1000
Groceries and gas are biggest expenditures
Current cards(all have been opened 3+years)-
Disney Visa
Costco Citi
Amazon Prime

I was thinking about dividing the cost between a Chase Freedom Unlimited/Flex card and Citi Simplicity/Rewards+. Is it even possible to open 2 cards in such a short amount of time? It's probably not the best idea but I am new to even considering looking at new cards and making the most of the situation. Thoughts? Better ideas?

I'd focus on a card with a high welcome bonus since you have a sizeable spend. You'd likely earn more from the bonus than you'd earn in a year of regular spending on the cards mentioned. If you're comfortable with a biz card, the Ink Cash suggested above is a great idea.

 

[sinnika]

Just made it to the Polaris lounge in Houston! Thank goodness for pre-check. The security line was long if you didn’t have it! So I scoped out the menu ahead of time from a blog but it has changed since then. The chowder was the bomb with just enough kick for this transplanted Texan. The Peruvian corn cakes looked amazing but I couldn’t get past the texture of the beef, so I ordered the Polaris burger. I’m making up for not trying out the lounge before. And it’s all because of travel points!

 

[mmmears]

Had the same issue with an Ink. Paid with PayPal instead with the same card and it worked.

I think it's Chase. We paid a portion early just now with a Biz Plat with no issues whatsoever. Was going to pay more with my CIC but I think we can hit the MSR without the taxes so I decided to wait. It sounds like I can't count on taxes to finish up that one.

 

[LB002]

What cards to get next?
- We have $12k in expenses coming in the next 2.5 months (home improvement and a big celebration), with another $10k-ish over the summer.
- We aren't newbies, we have a steady rythm of Chase business and personal cards. We did CSR/CSP in the last year for P1 and in last 3 years for P2. We both got new CIU last week with the SUB already met. I like the versatility of UR, and P2 goes along with whatever I plan.
- P2 has Amex Gold and has held Amex Platinum, but P1 has had neither.
- Have flights for a family event coming up that would be on Jet Blue - maybe a JB card?
- We have Hilton Surpass, maybe another Hilton Amex? We are Hilton "people", but have 2 Marriott stays coming up for 2 family events. So maybe a Marriott card?
- Going to Europe this summer, so UR will be used towards flights. It seems hotel rooms for 4 are not points-eligible, but any direction/advice on how to save there would be appreciated.
- Planning HI next year, so possibly a Hawaiian Air card, but we have a stash of Amex points we are building for those flights, so anotherAmex could work towards that.
- Lounge access is nice, but not a main priority for us.

I'd appreciate any advice or perspective! Thanks!!!