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

[Judique]

@Judique - I think I remember correctly that you pay DVC dues with gift cards and you pay ahead (next year's dues before the statement posts). I have never paid ahead. I usually wrap up each year by October and then accumulate cards from Oct-Jan to apply to my DVC after my statement posts. This year, I finished paying this year's dues few months ago. I recently bought $150 in gc (discounted of course). I was going to wait until January to apply them to my account, but with all the gc fraud going on, I think it might be best to apply them to my DVC account now for 2025. What do I need to be aware of if I do this? Will I still have a payment due in January? Or will the payments move up like they do when I apply gift cards after my statement posts? Anything else I should be aware of? TIA!

With all the great deals on gift cards this year I finished paying really early (Dec or Jan) also. I now have a very small stash leftover so no big worries. It's under $200 leftover from my family trip in March. I'm fairly comfortable with that amount, especially since I've had them since at least February when I started collecting extra for the March trip.

However 2-3 years ago I did apply gift cards as early as October or November to my account. They came off the top and confused me greatly in how they were accounted for. I eventually figured out what I owed on each contract separately. But because of that, this year I waited until the statement posted before applying anything.

Gift card fraud is a low hanging cloud that bothers me significantly. For that reason I will hold off on collecting more cards until closer to statement issue time this year. If nothing else jumps up I know I can get 5% with my CIC at Staples. I've learned that I have a low risk tolerance for any kind of gift cards.

This won't stop me if I get good offers closer to November/December time frame, but, I'll probably pass if chances come in July/August/September time frame.

Going back to your question about payment due in January, if I remember correctly, yes, I did have a payment still due in January, but prorated over the remaining balance owed, unlike when the statement posts and it moves along monthly. I think that was the cause of my consternation because I'm meticulous about expenses and was expecting 'no' payment due for several months. Instead, I had the gift card investment and the payment all at once which lessened the breathing time between payments.

In any event I can't pass up gift cards but I do try to be extremely careful with them, keeping records and receipts.

 

[afan]

I've seen bits and pieces of people discussing the Amex back button trick but the exact process of how this should be executed is not clear to me. Can someone kindly explain. I've been in pop up jail for quite some time so looking for a how to earn some sign up bonuses with Amex, apart from the NLL Hilton links that are available.

I would search r/churning if you can. But I believe you ignore the pop up and hit the back button and apply again. Not fully sure if it still works or not though.

 

[StephPlum]

I'm retired and now on pension income with savings. I 'rarely' take anything from savings, just when I grabbed 20K for something substantial. Soon I'll have to take rmd's whether I need the money or not.

For applying for credit cards I've been able to easily get approved using my pensions. But, if income ever becomes an issue I'll claim the 'savings'. Or I'll do household income and add in DD's income. Not sure how kosher any of this is. Amex gives the option to supply net worth but I can see that leading to a flurry of offers to manage assets.

I got denied for a card when I was applying for a CIP several years ago. 5 minutes later I applied for a CIU and got approved. Amex hadn't wanted to give me a SUB in ages, then last year easily approved for the Hilton Surpass through DOC. Then a couple of weeks ago gave me the upgrade offer for the Brilliant. CC companies will do what they need. If they are pushing something they'll take a chance.

In less than 100 days, I’ll be in this position - RETIRED!! I am not sure what I’ll do regarding credit card app income for the first 8 years before I take SS and pension. I have some deferred income coming the first 3 years then living off savings for 5. High cash flow, low income for those 5 years. I may use the future “income” number knowing my saving would cover it easily. Not sure until I get there.

Just signed up for a US bank bonus to utilize my work’s easy direct deposit. Maybe the last one. Until I get SS and/or pension, I’d have to find bonuses that work on account transfers as deposits. First world problems that won’t bum me out as I’ll be retired!!

 

[trenty]

With all the great deals on gift cards this year I finished paying really early (Dec or Jan) also. I now have a very small stash leftover so no big worries. It's under $200 leftover from my family trip in March. I'm fairly comfortable with that amount, especially since I've had them since at least February when I started collecting extra for the March trip.

However 2-3 years ago I did apply gift cards as early as October or November to my account. They came off the top and confused me greatly in how they were accounted for. I eventually figured out what I owed on each contract separately. But because of that, this year I waited until the statement posted before applying anything.

Gift card fraud is a low hanging cloud that bothers me significantly. For that reason I will hold off on collecting more cards until closer to statement issue time this year. If nothing else jumps up I know I can get 5% with my CIC at Staples. I've learned that I have a low risk tolerance for any kind of gift cards.

This won't stop me if I get good offers closer to November/December time frame, but, I'll probably pass if chances come in July/August/September time frame.

Going back to your question about payment due in January, if I remember correctly, yes, I did have a payment still due in January, but prorated over the remaining balance owed, unlike when the statement posts and it moves along monthly. I think that was the cause of my consternation because I'm meticulous about expenses and was expecting 'no' payment due for several months. Instead, I had the gift card investment and the payment all at once which lessened the breathing time between payments.

In any event I can't pass up gift cards but I do try to be extremely careful with them, keeping records and receipts.

Thank you. Like you, I am meticulous with keeping track of my expenses, so I think that would confuse me too. But I do understand how it works, based on your explanation. I only have one contract, so maybe it will be more cut-and-dry. But I would rather have the payments pushed forward to give me time to accumulate more gift cards.

I am not rushing into buying a large amt for DVC. I bought the $150 recently because it was at a 12% discount. I think I decided that if I could save at least 10%, I would buy in advance. I did transfer it to a very old card I have. Not sure if that will prevent any fraud. I guess I will just check periodically to make sure the money is still on there.

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

Has anyone recently filed a claim with your CSP for cancelled travel? I cancelled a DCL cruise after the first penalty date due to a cancer diagnosis. My cruise was paid using Disney gif cards and only $30.19 of the cruise was paid with my CSP. Airfare and hotel were on points which were redeposited back to my United and Hyatt accounts so I was only claiming the deposit from the cruise that I was losing. The claims department only reimbursed the $30.19. My daughter used her CSP for the majority of the cruise price so she should receive her deposit back (20% of the cruise fare which came to a little over $700 which was the 20% deposit). We had adjoining cabins and one of her children were booked in our cabin and the other in theirs as the rooms we chose only held 3 passengers.

I'm so sorry for your diagnosis. I was cancelling travel in December 2022 to start chemo, but thankfully everything I had on the books was still refundable.

My understanding is that the CSP/CSR coverage for cancellation due to illness does only cover the amount you put on the card. The other benefits, like trip interruption/delay, are triggered as long as you have put at least part of the trip on the card. That's why a lot of folks put their taxes and fees on the their card to activate that coverage.

 

[hsmamato2]

The PP restaurants I've been to, they swipe your card before they seat you and then the amount is taken directly off the bill.



You do lose them because the PP will expire when you cancel the card.



Second AF should be charged the same day as the first one. Since it's after July 1, you'll be charged the new AF of $195.

Thank you! so I guess my timing is all off for even using the PP on this card b/c it's not worth the new AF to me- funny Af charge should drop right after I wanted to use those PP..... but I'll be in a foreign country and prob not able to connect to 'net easily at that point..... How long after charge appears do I have to cancel and get full refund/not pay AF?

 

[leeniewdw]

I'm retired and now on pension income with savings. I 'rarely' take anything from savings, just when I grabbed 20K for something substantial. Soon I'll have to take rmd's whether I need the money or not.

For applying for credit cards I've been able to easily get approved using my pensions. But, if income ever becomes an issue I'll claim the 'savings'. Or I'll do household income and add in DD's income. Not sure how kosher any of this is. Amex gives the option to supply net worth but I can see that leading to a flurry of offers to manage assets.

I got denied for a card when I was applying for a CIP several years ago. 5 minutes later I applied for a CIU and got approved. Amex hadn't wanted to give me a SUB in ages, then last year easily approved for the Hilton Surpass through DOC. Then a couple of weeks ago gave me the upgrade offer for the Brilliant. CC companies will do what they need. If they are pushing something they'll take a chance.

I didn't bother to call to try to address the denial, mostly because I needed to get the points to where they needed to be and once I did that I figured I'd re-apply after 30 days and call if I need to see if they'll reconsider. We do work very PT jobs, but we aren't "earning" much. I don't even know if a 401k withdrawal or roth conversion counts as "income"? I'll get taxed on it, so maybe? Anyway, we won't do that until early fall once we know how our income/expenses/taxes/etc will shake out for the year. The denial cited debt to income ratio and the ONLY debt is CC that we pay off each monthly obviously. It just happened to be a decent balance on 1 card because I had medical expense and was just waiting for the HSA reimbursement. ANYWAY -- I was in a rush and didn't even think about it.

In less than 100 days, I’ll be in this position - RETIRED!! I am not sure what I’ll do regarding credit card app income for the first 8 years before I take SS and pension. I have some deferred income coming the first 3 years then living off savings for 5. High cash flow, low income for those 5 years. I may use the future “income” number knowing my saving would cover it easily. Not sure until I get there.

Yes, I guess we all need to research best way to appropriately address the different 'income'. It was a stupid mistake on my part not getting all my ducks in a row before applying. I really think it was just that 1 card that had a decent balance at the time of application -- my P2 just got an AMEX Gold a few months ago and I'm sure I used the same income estimate. This is our first year of dramatically lower income -- I was still getting a severance for half of 2023.

Congrats on the impending retirement! We have enjoyed every second of it so far (we retired Nov 1 2022). We've already taken great advantage on scheduling vacations and using the points we earned in the lead up. P2s PTO policy was crap, so it's been so nice to go whenever we want. We NEVER took 2 week vacations (impossible for him, less so but still tricky for me), so heading out for 15 nights next week is so special (kinda sad too to be unable to do that for our entire adult working career!)

 

[hsmamato2]

If you get it in June, I think you'd be able to get 6 quarters of credits out of 1 AF. You'd only get 5 if you do it in July. Similar to how the triple dip in December works.

Or is the goal a more organic use? Maximizing the number of quarters would probably involve buying GC.

question on the 'quarters' -next one starts July1,correct? So if I had a hilton brand stay how would this work, if I have a gc worth $50 from last quarter, and I use my Hh biz to book/pay for a night, would I then present the gc at checkout (or is at checkin?) to reduce the cc bill, then the cc bill would trigger the next $50 quarterly discount automatically? (so my planned stay would be July 1-3, is this doable?)

 

[afan]

Found out last night that SEA has a couple free little libraries, only bummer is they are near A1 and A3 so not helpful for a lot of people. Brought a book and left it since I haven't gotten around to putting it in one near my house. Not many other airports have them but I think it's a great some do.

 

[hsmamato2]

I'm retired and now on pension income with savings. I 'rarely' take anything from savings, just when I grabbed 20K for something substantial. Soon I'll have to take rmd's whether I need the money or not.

For applying for credit cards I've been able to easily get approved using my pensions. But, if income ever becomes an issue I'll claim the 'savings'. Or I'll do household income and add in DD's income. Not sure how kosher any of this is. Amex gives the option to supply net worth but I can see that leading to a flurry of offers to manage assets.

Do you just put amount of pension income into the household income box? What about where they ask about what type of work you do?

 

[sinnika]

I'm so sorry for your diagnosis. I was cancelling travel in December 2022 to start chemo, but thankfully everything I had on the books was still refundable.

My understanding is that the CSP/CSR coverage for cancellation due to illness does only cover the amount you put on the card. The other benefits, like trip interruption/delay, are triggered as long as you have put at least part of the trip on the card. That's why a lot of folks put their taxes and fees on the their card to activate that coverage.

Thank you for the explanation. That makes sense. I’m looking forward to my next Disney cruise with my grands when this is all better. In the meantime I’m living vicariously through their Disneyland trip this weekend. They managed rope drop both days!

 

[Judique]

In less than 100 days, I’ll be in this position - RETIRED!! I am not sure what I’ll do regarding credit card app income for the first 8 years before I take SS and pension. I have some deferred income coming the first 3 years then living off savings for 5. High cash flow, low income for those 5 years. I may use the future “income” number knowing my saving would cover it easily. Not sure until I get there.

Just signed up for a US bank bonus to utilize my work’s easy direct deposit. Maybe the last one. Until I get SS and/or pension, I’d have to find bonuses that work on account transfers as deposits. First world problems that won’t bum me out as I’ll be retired!!

Retired at 65 but I also deferred my Social Security until age 70. My math told me I'd have to live until about 80 to make it pay so I took that gamble!

I've never messed with any bank bonuses. But I've read that some can be funded with credit cards. I thought I saw one like that on DOC just recently.

I prefer to think of 'income' as 'money coming in' as opposed to a paycheck.

 

[wanderlust7]

Has anyone recently filed a claim with your CSP for cancelled travel? I cancelled a DCL cruise after the first penalty date due to a cancer diagnosis. My cruise was paid using Disney gif cards and only $30.19 of the cruise was paid with my CSP. Airfare and hotel were on points which were redeposited back to my United and Hyatt accounts so I was only claiming the deposit from the cruise that I was losing. The claims department only reimbursed the $30.19. My daughter used her CSP for the majority of the cruise price so she should receive her deposit back (20% of the cruise fare which came to a little over $700 which was the 20% deposit). We had adjoining cabins and one of her children were booked in our cabin and the other in theirs as the rooms we chose only held 3 passengers.

I'm sorry to hear this.

I think the reasoning isn't because you only put that amount on the CSP, but that the rest is on gift cards. The guide to benefits has this under trip cancellation:

"No benefit will be paid for any Eligible Travel Expense unless a portion of such Eligible Travel Expense has been charged to the Account."

There was a recent thread that travel insurance doesn't cover gift card payments. I had no idea. Here's the link to that thread. Link One insurance said they'd cover if you could produce the receipts for the GC. Maybe it's worth getting the insurance to clarify why you were only reimbursed that amount.

 

[StephPlum]

My dates aren't open yet but narrowing down hotels for Switzerland and Italy for next year (will take any recommendations for Rome, Florence, Interlaken, Lucerne and Zurich). Found this interesting on Chase Portal. They had two hotels which said you could book on Chase portal and get benefits hotel loyalty program. The current price was 1000 a night so out of my range. Maybe they've always had this and I look at much cheaper places so I never noticed.

 

[StephPlum]

Retired at 65 but I also deferred my Social Security until age 70. My math told me I'd have to live until about 80 to make it pay so I took that gamble!

I've never messed with any bank bonuses. But I've read that some can be funded with credit cards. I thought I saw one like that on DOC just recently.

I prefer to think of 'income' as 'money coming in' as opposed to a paycheck.

Yeah, On the US Bank account I could put the initial deposit to open on a credit card - so I did use the one I am working on an MSR. But I still need direct deposits. There are some savings bonuses where you just need to deposit new money. That would work for me in the future.

I like to use those bank bonuses for rental cars, gas or other OOP expenses when I travel.

 

[wanderlust7]

Thank you! so I guess my timing is all off for even using the PP on this card b/c it's not worth the new AF to me- funny Af charge should drop right after I wanted to use those PP..... but I'll be in a foreign country and prob not able to connect to 'net easily at that point..... How long after charge appears do I have to cancel and get full refund/not pay AF?

You have 30 days for full refund.

question on the 'quarters' -next one starts July1,correct? So if I had a hilton brand stay how would this work, if I have a gc worth $50 from last quarter, and I use my Hh biz to book/pay for a night, would I then present the gc at checkout (or is at checkin?) to reduce the cc bill, then the cc bill would trigger the next $50 quarterly discount automatically? (so my planned stay would be July 1-3, is this doable?)

This should work. Some have had problems with the GC, hopefully you don't.

 

[wanderlust7]

I've seen bits and pieces of people discussing the Amex back button trick but the exact process of how this should be executed is not clear to me. Can someone kindly explain. I've been in pop up jail for quite some time so looking for a how to earn some sign up bonuses with Amex, apart from the NLL Hilton links that are available.

This is beyond my risk tolerance, so I haven't followed very closely. I think one version involves calling to push a pending app through.

Something is fine with Amex until it's not. In the next wave of shutdowns, there'll be lots of discussion about the possible causes. This may or may not be one, but I'm sure it'll be brought up.

 

[FoxC63]

Howdy Friends

I'm still so new to traveling with points so I'm trying to gain a better understanding. I only have a Chase FF and a lot of points!
I found two articles on how I might go about using points for travel, isn't it best to book through Chase? We don't have anything with Southwest, is there anything I need to signup for in order to get SW airline tickets and earn rewards? We have Amex Delta, which has been 99% our only means of air travel.

You Can Now Book Southwest Flights Via Chase Travel—And Earn Rapid Rewards Points While Doing So

How to Transfer Chase Points to Southwest

Thanks so much!

@sinnika and @TheOneWithTheTriplets - Cancer sucks! I hope you're doing well.

@StephPlum Congrats on your retirement! DH has five more years to go and has been holding on with stage 2 follicular lymphoma. There are only four stages. God is Good!

 

[wanderlust7]

Howdy Friends

I'm still so new to traveling with points so I'm trying to gain a better understanding. I only have a Chase FF and a lot of points!
I found two articles on how I might go about using points for travel, isn't it best to book through Chase? We don't have anything with Southwest, is there anything I need to signup for in order to get SW airline tickets and earn rewards? We have Amex Delta, which has been 99% our only means of air travel.

You Can Now Book Southwest Flights Via Chase Travel—And Earn Rapid Rewards Points While Doing So

How to Transfer Chase Points to Southwest

Thanks so much!

@sinnika and @TheOneWithTheTriplets - Cancer sucks! I hope you're doing well.

@StephPlum Congrats on your retirement! DH has five more years to go and has been holding on with stage 2 follicular lymphoma. There are only four stages. God is Good!

Booking through Chase is like booking third party. Depending on the airline, it can be a hassle if you need to change or cancel. I don't know how things work with SW. These are the questions I'd be asking. If you booked nonrefundable, would you be able to use the travel fund directly on SW or it needs to go through Chase? If there's a price drop or schedule change, how would that work? If you book refundable, does it come back as cash or points?

If you transferred the points to SW instead, all awards are refundable and it doesn't matter what rate you book, you'd get points back and taxes refunded. Price drops and schedule changes (free change to higher fare) are easy to do online. Con is if you canceled, the points would be stuck as SW points.

You need to have a CSP, CSR, or CIP (business card) to transfer to partners.

In terms of value, if you only have a FF, you'd get 1 cent per point through the portal. Same as the cash out rate, so you might as well do that. If you upgrade to a CSP/CSR or apply for one, you'd get 1.25 cpp with CSP and 1.5 with CSR through the portal. If you transferred to SW, it ranges from around 1.15 to 1.4. You'll have to check your specific flight.

 

[SleepyatDVC]

How is everyone using the annual $300 travel credit through Capital One Venture X?

I have no problem using up the $300 on P2's CSR card but we don't need car rentals, we are using Hyatt points for hotel stays this year, and I already purchased air tickets (via AA Citi for my parents, Amex Delta Gold for myself, and JetBlue points for my kids) already for this year. We used the branded CC for the free checked in luggage.

Only big trip I have planned this year is a staycation in NYC in August for my 55th birthday...

Any ideas for using up the CO Venture X $300. I really don't want it to go to waste and I don't want to wait until the last minute to scramble to use it... Is it ONLY for hotel, flights and/or car rentals booked through their travel portal?

TIA