I love credit cards so much! v7.0 - 2025 (see first page for add'l details)

[*WDW*Groupie*]

I had completely forgotten about Plastiq. Duh. Thank you!

 

[EACarlson]

Ok folks.... Amex Plat....trying to assist a friend who has had this cc for years I guess,has like 2 million points (and never once used them) and wants to go to WDW. What's the best uses for those points to get her there? I'm pretty basic when it comes to how to use them- is there a way to use them for onsite stays or packages? or better to transfer to a hotel chain like Bonvoy or Hilton for use? I'm guessing her points could cover airfare and hotel and tix, just not sure how yet. Thanks!

I would go with transferring the points to Delta and either Bonvoy or Hilton. Personally I would go Hilton because I hate the idea of paying a resort fee for an award stay, but I could see the benefit of transferring to Bonvoy to do Swolphin. I've never seen a way to use points for park tickets other than the 0.6cpp cash redemption. FWIW, I'm booking an Orlando trip for September later this morning at 30k RT on Delta.

In other news, I just upgraded my Hilton AMEX No AF to the Surpass for the Gold status. I've got a weeklong business trip coming up that will make me more than the AF on dining credits, plus the upgraded earnings while I'm travelling OPM.

 

[hsmamato2]

I would go with transferring the points to Delta and either Bonvoy or Hilton. Personally I would go Hilton because I hate the idea of paying a resort fee for an award stay, but I could see the benefit of transferring to Bonvoy to do Swolphin. I've never seen a way to use points for park tickets other than the 0.6cpp cash redemption. FWIW, I'm booking an Orlando trip for September later this morning at 30k RT on Delta.

In other news, I just upgraded my Hilton AMEX No AF to the Surpass for the Gold status. I've got a weeklong business trip coming up that will make me more than the AF on dining credits, plus the upgraded earnings while I'm travelling OPM.

Thanks... I'm leaning away from Delta ATM b/c they have no nonstops from our airport.... and leaning towards swolphin b/c it's their first (prob only) WDW visit,and the location is incredible. (I love the springs Hiltons personally but I'm a regular visitor) Prob gonna see if they can transfer and book JetBlue,and possibly just cash out for tickets (b/c I know easy is a high priority for them)

 

[reliev]

Elevated SUB for the Schwab 150K MRs, I know I was complaining about the CSR $795 fee just a couple days ago, and already have 2 new MSRs, but I'm going to apply just to confirm I'm still in PUJ.

https://www.schwab.com/credit-cards/platinum-card

I tried to get the pop up, oh well lol.

 

[becauseimnew]

Elevated SUB for the Schwab 150K MRs, I know I was complaining about the CSR $795 fee just a couple days ago, and already have 2 new MSRs, but I'm going to apply just to confirm I'm still in PUJ.

https://www.schwab.com/credit-cards/platinum-card

Still in PUJ.

 

[becauseimnew]

I tried to get the pop up, oh well lol.

Congrats on the new card.

 

[Gator Kate]

Has anyone had success using a Chase offer at Aldi for a gift card purchase?

 

[trenty]

Chase Sapphire Preferred Ending 10% Anniversary Bonus​

The Anniversary Bonus is retiring. You will continue to earn 10% of your spend through 10/1/26.
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/chase-sapphire-preferred-ending-10-anniversary-bonus/

 

[reliev]

Congrats on the new card.

sorry i guess i wasnt clear, i didnt get the sign up bonus I need to time it around my annual fees so im not paying 2.

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

Chase Sapphire Preferred Ending 10% Anniversary Bonus​

The Anniversary Bonus is retiring. You will continue to earn 10% of your spend through 10/1/26.
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/chase-sapphire-preferred-ending-10-anniversary-bonus/

Chase keeps trying to restrict the usefulness of their Sapphire cards!

 

[miztressuz]

Has anyone had success using a Chase offer at Aldi for a gift card purchase?

Yes.

 

[smallsy]

If I downgrade the CSR to CSP before a trip that's already booked, do I lose the Edit perks like $100 resort credit and late checkout?

 

[Limes96]

Booked a 4-night cruise on Celebrity Reflection for June for my mom and me. They had an Aquaclass guarantee rate that was enticing. Was able to cash out $400 of capital one shopping rewards for celebrity gift cards and put the rest on my csr. Need to add drinks package and wifi but other than that we should be good to go.

I have a Celebrity cruise booked that I’d also like to cash out capital one shopping rewards for a gift card. Is it easy to apply to the fare? I assume you have to call it in.

 

[hsmamato2]

I tried to get the pop up, oh well lol.

OK.... can someone tell me why this is worth $895? (I really want that CSR offer but I've had it in the past) and since I'm in the dark with MR I have no idea here

 

[reliev]

OK.... can someone tell me why this is worth $895? (I really want that CSR offer but I've had it in the past) and since I'm in the dark with MR I have no idea here

sure ill try to keep it short.
I mainly use MR for flights I feel they have great value there and a ton of partners.
If you're able to use the credits, it pays for itself.
Streaming credits I use every month for our Hulu/Disney+ bundle (300$ a year).
Airline credit is hard to use; we'll see if this is valuable in the future (200$ a year).
If you're able to use fhr, you usually get 100$ in credits, and you can get qualifying nights with Hyatt/Hilton. I'm not team Marriott anymore, so I'm not sure about that brand, but I'd guess probably. You also get 200$ every 6 months (400$) total.
If you use Uber, you get 15$ a month. This is hit or miss for us.
Resy dining credit is 100$ a quarter or 400$ a year. I use Thrifty Traveler's tracker, and so far I've received 1098$ this year.
streaming credits I use every month for our Hulu/Disney+, etc. bundle. (300$ a year)
airline credit is hard to use well see if this is valueable in the future (200$ year)
If you're able to use FHR, you usually get 100$ in credits, and you can get qualifying nights with Hyatt/Hilton. I'm not team Marriott anymore, really, so not sure on that brand, but I'd guess probably. You also get 200$ every 6 months (400$) total
if you use uber you get 15$ a month this is hit or miss for us.
Resy dining credit is 100$ a quarter or 400$ a year. I use Thrifty Travelers tracker, and so far I'm at 1098$ that I've received this year. Ill have no issue getting at least another 200$ maybe more. Then you get the 5x on FHR bookings and 5x on all flights (unless you use something like expedia and i never do that).

 

[calypso726]

OK.... can someone tell me why this is worth $895? (I really want that CSR offer but I've had it in the past) and since I'm in the dark with MR I have no idea here

Sure, I'd be happy to share my take. If you did nothing more than make the MSR at 1x you would earn 162,000. You can cash out CS MRs at 1.1 so that would get you $1,782 at a bare minimum for the $895 for a profit of $887 if you did not take advantage of any single other perk/coupon that the card offers. However, when transferred to airlines, especially for premium award seats, the points can be worth far more than that.

So, let's say you get the card and do plan to not just get the MSR bonus, but decide you want to take advantage of the other perks while you are at it. Some perks are calendar year perks and some are quarterly perks. So you would do all of those perks this year, each remaining quarter and again come January and then again in April when Q2 hits.

The card offers an annual airline credit for incidentals of $200 each calendar year. While the UTB loophole is closed, I am guessing that other known processes still work. I will be testing that out come January. So that would be potentially $400 between this year and next year.

The card has a $600 credit offered at $300 twice a year Jan-Jun and Jul-Dec for one night prepaid stays at an Fine Hotel & Resort listed hotel or 2 night stays at a The Hotel Collection listed hotel through AmEx travel. So you can get the card now and use the first $300 before July for a booking made between now and however far out the booking calendar goes on Amex travel. Then in July you can do it again. Then in January 2027 you can do it again. That's $900 in benefits. If you are flexible, you can just search MaxFHR for locations and dates that may work for you when they are priced close to or below that $300. We just did 3 nights at the Waldorf Astoria in WDW this way. Last year I looked for dates that were in the $300 range and found 3 nights that were coming in at something like $305, $317 and $325 and we booked 3 separate reservations in the same room type using 3 different Amex Plats. We did get the $100 dining credit that comes with FHR bookings for each night too! So that was nice.

The card has a quarterly $100 Resy credit. We fluctuate between using the cards straight at a Resy restaurant or going in person to purchase a $100 gift card at a Resy restaurant. So that would be $400 in Resy credits between now and next May.

The card also has a quarterly Lululemon credit for $75. It is currently a bit tougher to get the full value by purchasing gift cards in person at the store as they are limiting those to $50 or $100 gift cards. Like anything else, there are work arounds which may or may not be worth your time and effort but potentially that is $300 worth of LLL merch or $200 in LLL Gift cards purchased in person.

The card also comes with a $209 annual Clear Plus credit. This is an incredibly valuable perk for me. Clear Plus with TSA precheck I have from Global entry (the card also has a Global Entry credit every 4 years) has saved me waiting in insane lines over the years.

The card also has a monthly $15 Uber credit ($20 in December). I don't Uber all that much, but I do use it for Uber Eats and make a habit of ordering super cheap bottles of red wine each month from Aldi which I can use to make pitchers of sangria for gatherings and such. Some Uber Eats places allow for order and pick up so that can save on delivery fees and eat up the credit.

There is a $25 monthly statement credit for digital entertainment that includes Disney Plus, Hulu, ESPN, the New York Times, You Tube, Paramount and Peacock. But note that the card gives you a Walmart Plus subscription credit every month and Walmart Plus gives you either Peacock or Paramount for free. Therefore it's basically a twofer in digital subscriptions.

On top of all that there's Centurion Lounge access, 10 visits to Delta Sky Club access when flying Delta, Priority Pass Select, Hilton Gold status, Marriott gold status, some car rental status that I never pay attention to and a myriad of other perks that I don't recall. Oh and the travel insurance is pretty decent too but CSR has the edge on that.

Hope that helps

 

[calypso726]

sure ill try to keep it short.
I mainly use MR for flights I feel they have great value there and a ton of partners.
If you're able to use the credits, it pays for itself.
Streaming credits I use every month for our Hulu/Disney+ bundle (300$ a year).
Airline credit is hard to use; we'll see if this is valuable in the future (200$ a year).
If you're able to use fhr, you usually get 100$ in credits, and you can get qualifying nights with Hyatt/Hilton. I'm not team Marriott anymore, so I'm not sure about that brand, but I'd guess probably. You also get 200$ every 6 months (400$) total.
If you use Uber, you get 15$ a month. This is hit or miss for us.
Resy dining credit is 100$ a quarter or 400$ a year. I use Thrifty Traveler's tracker, and so far I've received 1098$ this year.
streaming credits I use every month for our Hulu/Disney+, etc. bundle. (300$ a year)
airline credit is hard to use well see if this is valueable in the future (200$ year)
If you're able to use FHR, you usually get 100$ in credits, and you can get qualifying nights with Hyatt/Hilton. I'm not team Marriott anymore, really, so not sure on that brand, but I'd guess probably. You also get 200$ every 6 months (400$) total
if you use uber you get 15$ a month this is hit or miss for us.
Resy dining credit is 100$ a quarter or 400$ a year. I use Thrifty Travelers tracker, and so far I'm at 1098$ that I've received this year. Ill have no issue getting at least another 200$ maybe more. Then you get the 5x on FHR bookings and 5x on all flights (unless you use something like expedia and i never do that).

"Airline credit is hard to use; we'll see if this is valuable in the future (200$ a year)." Think creatively about pet fees. I was doing that before I knew about UTB

You also get 200$ every 6 months (400$) total. This was changed to $300 every 6 months and the main reason I took the card off the potential chopping block this year.

 

[hsmamato2]

sure ill try to keep it short.
I mainly use MR for flights I feel they have great value there and a ton of partners.
If you're able to use the credits, it pays for itself.
Streaming credits I use every month for our Hulu/Disney+ bundle (300$ a year).
Airline credit is hard to use; we'll see if this is valuable in the future (200$ a year).
If you're able to use fhr, you usually get 100$ in credits, and you can get qualifying nights with Hyatt/Hilton. I'm not team Marriott anymore, so I'm not sure about that brand, but I'd guess probably. You also get 200$ every 6 months (400$) total.
If you use Uber, you get 15$ a month. This is hit or miss for us.
Resy dining credit is 100$ a quarter or 400$ a year. I use Thrifty Traveler's tracker, and so far I've received 1098$ this year.
streaming credits I use every month for our Hulu/Disney+, etc. bundle. (300$ a year)
airline credit is hard to use well see if this is valueable in the future (200$ year)
If you're able to use FHR, you usually get 100$ in credits, and you can get qualifying nights with Hyatt/Hilton. I'm not team Marriott anymore, really, so not sure on that brand, but I'd guess probably. You also get 200$ every 6 months (400$) total
if you use uber you get 15$ a month this is hit or miss for us.
Resy dining credit is 100$ a quarter or 400$ a year. I use Thrifty Travelers tracker, and so far I'm at 1098$ that I've received this year. Ill have no issue getting at least another 200$ maybe more. Then you get the 5x on FHR bookings and 5x on all flights (unless you use something like expedia and i never do that).

Thank you!

 

[hsmamato2]

Sure, I'd be happy to share my take. If you did nothing more than make the MSR at 1x you would earn 162,000. You can cash out CS MRs at 1.1 so that would get you $1,782 at a bare minimum for the $895 for a profit of $887 if you did not take advantage of any single other perk/coupon that the card offers. However, when transferred to airlines, especially for premium award seats, the points can be worth far more than that.

So, let's say you get the card and do plan to not just get the MSR bonus, but decide you want to take advantage of the other perks while you are at it. Some perks are calendar year perks and some are quarterly perks. So you would do all of those perks this year, each remaining quarter and again come January and then again in April when Q2 hits.

The card offers an annual airline credit for incidentals of $200 each calendar year. While the UTB loophole is closed, I am guessing that other known processes still work. I will be testing that out come January. So that would be potentially $400 between this year and next year.

The card has a $600 credit offered at $300 twice a year Jan-Jun and Jul-Dec for one night prepaid stays at an Fine Hotel & Resort listed hotel or 2 night stays at a The Hotel Collection listed hotel through AmEx travel. So you can get the card now and use the first $300 before July for a booking made between now and however far out the booking calendar goes on Amex travel. Then in July you can do it again. Then in January 2027 you can do it again. That's $900 in benefits. If you are flexible, you can just search MaxFHR for locations and dates that may work for you when they are priced close to or below that $300. We just did 3 nights at the Waldorf Astoria in WDW this way. Last year I looked for dates that were in the $300 range and found 3 nights that were coming in at something like $305, $317 and $325 and we booked 3 separate reservations in the same room type using 3 different Amex Plats. We did get the $100 dining credit that comes with FHR bookings for each night too! So that was nice.

The card has a quarterly $100 Resy credit. We fluctuate between using the cards straight at a Resy restaurant or going in person to purchase a $100 gift card at a Resy restaurant. So that would be $400 in Resy credits between now and next May.

The card also has a quarterly Lululemon credit for $75. It is currently a bit tougher to get the full value by purchasing gift cards in person at the store as they are limiting those to $50 or $100 gift cards. Like anything else, there are work arounds which may or may not be worth your time and effort but potentially that is $300 worth of LLL merch or $200 in LLL Gift cards purchased in person.

The card also comes with a $209 annual Clear Plus credit. This is an incredibly valuable perk for me. Clear Plus with TSA precheck I have from Global entry (the card also has a Global Entry credit every 4 years) has saved me waiting in insane lines over the years.

The card also has a monthly $15 Uber credit ($20 in December). I don't Uber all that much, but I do use it for Uber Eats and make a habit of ordering super cheap bottles of red wine each month from Aldi which I can use to make pitchers of sangria for gatherings and such. Some Uber Eats places allow for order and pick up so that can save on delivery fees and eat up the credit.

There is a $25 monthly statement credit for digital entertainment that includes Disney Plus, Hulu, ESPN, the New York Times, You Tube, Paramount and Peacock. But note that the card gives you a Walmart Plus subscription credit every month and Walmart Plus gives you either Peacock or Paramount for free. Therefore it's basically a twofer in digital subscriptions.

On top of all that there's Centurion Lounge access, 10 visits to Delta Sky Club access when flying Delta, Priority Pass Select, Hilton Gold status, Marriott gold status, some car rental status that I never pay attention to and a myriad of other perks that I don't recall. Oh and the travel insurance is pretty decent too but CSR has the edge on that.

Hope that helps

Wow...this is all great info-thanks! I'm gonna save these for reference....

 

[reliev]

"Airline credit is hard to use; we'll see if this is valuable in the future (200$ a year)." Think creatively about pet fees. I was doing that before I knew about UTB

You also get 200$ every 6 months (400$) total. This was changed to $300 every 6 months and the main reason I took the card off the potential chopping block this year.

yep forgot when they updated it thanks for the link on the first one