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

[Judique]

PSA to get in your Hyatt reservations before May 20 8 am Central to lock in the current categories. Don't leave it to the last minute if you can since Hyatt has been glitchy. Have been reading about it and experienced it for myself today.

Booked with points and a SUA, it errored out at the end. Was panicking a bit since the availability looked gone. But then I see the reservation in my account, but no confirmation e-mail. Later on I refresh and it disappears from my account! Points and SUA were taken. After a bunch of back and forth with the Twitter concierge, I finally get it rebooked. They said it's a known issue.

Now I don't feel so old fashioned for handwriting down reservation numbers and cancelation numbers in the moment in my reservations book, instead of just relying on the trips pages or the emails.

Glad you got it done. The Hyatt's I use are not on the list for increases as far as I can tell. Was double checking because I have a one night that could be canceled or increased to 2-3 nights depending on how I feel that week.

 

[ahself]

Glad you got it done. The Hyatt's I use are not on the list for increases as far as I can tell. Was double checking because I have a one night that could be canceled or increased to 2-3 nights depending on how I feel that week.

I have 8 Hyatt trips booked over the next year, but only 1 of those properties is on the list for a category increase. However, I went ahead and booked them all because I'd rather lock in the points rates now vs. having to pay more later, e.g. 12k vs. 15k for Cat 3 Standard, 5k increase for Cat 4-7 Standard, 15k increase for Cat 8 Standard (e.g. Grand Hyatt Kauai). If plans change, I can cancel later, but I'd rather lock in the rate now.

 

[EACarlson]

Amex rules are 5 credit cards and 10 charge cards. Business or personal make no difference.

Amex charge cards include the following:

Centurion card
Centurion business card
Amex Platinum
Amex Business Platinum
Charles Schwab Plat
Morgan Stanley Plat
Mercedes Benz Plat (now discontinued but in case anyone still has it)
Amex Gold
Amex Business Gold
Amex Green
Amex business green
Amex business Plum card
I think the new Graphite business card is a charge card also, but I'm not 100% certain.

If I have forgotten any on that list, someone please feel free to chime in and add.

Safe to say that the rest of the business and personal cards in the Amex portfolio are considered credit cards. I have also once managed to get approved for a 6th credit card and it was for a Delta business gold with an NLL offer. Hope this helps

Biz Graphite is a charge, the Biz Plum no longer exists as far as I can tell.

The paranoia that it will disappear is where I'm at right now. The biz gold has an approval date of 05/16/25 based on what I put into Travel Freely. The first charge was made on 05/22/25. Part of me wants to wait until June so I can use the $20 office credit again and so hopefully the next AF will hit in July 2027 which would allow me to quickly use the $300 FHR credit. Does the AF for Amex upgrades function like a PC does with Chase? Meaning will the AF hit a few months after you upgrade or closer to right away like with a new account?

The prorated AF will be charged with the next statement. Just upgraded my No AF Hilton to a Surpass, got an email explicitly stating the prorated AF will be charged on my next statement and I can change back before then with no issues.

 

[EACarlson]

Applied for the Marriot Biz AMEX and AMEX demanded that I link my business bank account so they can verify the last three months of revenue. I don't have a biz bank account. I use a personal credit union account to accept electronic payments, but about half of my biz income is in cash. It's properly reported to the IRS but never goes through a bank. I exited out of the application and it says it's under review. Anyone been through this? What happened with it?

 

[wanderlust7]

The paranoia that it will disappear is where I'm at right now. The biz gold has an approval date of 05/16/25 based on what I put into Travel Freely. The first charge was made on 05/22/25. Part of me wants to wait until June so I can use the $20 office credit again and so hopefully the next AF will hit in July 2027 which would allow me to quickly use the $300 FHR credit. Does the AF for Amex upgrades function like a PC does with Chase? Meaning will the AF hit a few months after you upgrade or closer to right away like with a new account?

With Amex, you keep the same AF date. There'll be some refunding and charging prorated AF after upgrading, but the full AF date stays the same. So you can't really time the next full AF for the credits like that.

If you can easily use the mobile credits, the difference would only be $10 upgrading this month vs next.

 

[wanderlust7]

Applied for the Marriot Biz AMEX and AMEX demanded that I link my business bank account so they can verify the last three months of revenue. I don't have a biz bank account. I use a personal credit union account to accept electronic payments, but about half of my biz income is in cash. It's properly reported to the IRS but never goes through a bank. I exited out of the application and it says it's under review. Anyone been through this? What happened with it?

I found some DPs with a Google search. Seems to be fairly rare, but goes back many years. Here's a DoC post about it. Link

I think you'll need to call and maybe submit bank statements.

 

[Judique]

I have 8 Hyatt trips booked over the next year, but only 1 of those properties is on the list for a category increase. However, I went ahead and booked them all because I'd rather lock in the points rates now vs. having to pay more later, e.g. 12k vs. 15k for Cat 3 Standard, 5k increase for Cat 4-7 Standard, 15k increase for Cat 8 Standard (e.g. Grand Hyatt Kauai). If plans change, I can cancel later, but I'd rather lock in the rate now.

I don't want to transfer my Ultimate Rewards until I know I'm going. I would be using points that still have better than 1 to 1.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

I don't want to transfer my Ultimate Rewards until I know I'm going. I would be using points that still have better than 1 to 1.

What I have done with the URs worth 1.5 on my CSR is booked a far out fully refundable reservation with them. So when using PYB or transfer URs to SW or JB I’m not using the 1.5 URs.

 

[hsmamato2]

Biz Graphite is a charge, the Biz Plum no longer exists as far as I can tell.

The prorated AF will be charged with the next statement. Just upgraded my No AF Hilton to a Surpass, got an email explicitly stating the prorated AF will be charged on my next statement and I can change back before then with no issues.

TO upgrade the Hh cc, did you need an offer? was there a bonus?

 

[hsmamato2]

speaking of.... I just got a pop-up screen on a p2 amex page 100k for gold,8k msr- is this a good offer?

 

[becauseimnew]

What would you all do?
DD has a short repositioning flight (50 minutes) I can book AA main cabin for 8.5k + $5.60 or Alaska 9k + $19 for “first”.
We have 245k Alaska miles and 30k AA miles

 

[calypso726]

What would you all do?
DD has a short repositioning flight (50 minutes) I can book AA main cabin for 8.5k + $5.60 or Alaska 9k + $19 for “first”.
We have 245k Alaska miles and 30k AA miles

First, I would check the cash price and see if it is better for me to pay and earn miles/points over using them, if I know I can get a far better value down the line for said miles. Once I have made that decision, I would see if I need to factor in which one would allow me a checked bag if not doing carry on only. Lastly, all things being equal, in the current climate, I would rather book using the miles that belong to the airline metal I am flying and avoid partner flights in case something goes sideways, I don't need to deal with two airlines pointing fingers at each other to solve a problem.

 

[EACarlson]

TO upgrade the Hh cc, did you need an offer? was there a bonus?

No offer, I have a business stay that made the economics a no brainer to change it. No bonus but just the credits during that business trip will outweigh the AF. The only offer I ever see for upgrades is to go from Gold to Plat.

What would you all do?
DD has a short repositioning flight (50 minutes) I can book AA main cabin for 8.5k + $5.60 or Alaska 9k + $19 for “first”.
We have 245k Alaska miles and 30k AA miles

I would do Alaska. In my mind, the difference between 30k AA and 21.5k AA is a much bigger difference than 245 to 236.

 

[Judique]

What I have done with the URs worth 1.5 on my CSR is booked a far out fully refundable reservation with them. So when using PYB or transfer URs to SW or JB I’m not using the 1.5 URs.

Yes, and I've also considered doing just that. With the Hyatt transfer if I don't go, points would have to sit. I may want them sooner for another adventure. I've already got other nights also sitting with Hyatt that may not get used so I may have to book a refundable and then cash out 1 to 1 points that I've earned since, to use at Hyatt. With the boost the cash and points cost are almost equal and by using cash (credit card) I'll get points and little perks.

 

[Sheree]

well cancelled amex biz plat. only retention was 10k mr for 6k spend. nope! I have biz gold. down the road dh can get a personal plat f we feel we'll need it. we've met all of our msr for sub on last few cards e've opened but need to give it a rest for a bit. will concentrate on fnc with hilton surpass that we both have.

next trip for me and a friend is Peru and Machu Pichu. will have to see if any hotels are valid with csr the edit. also have 5 marriott fnc and will have 2 fnc for hilton. air will have to be on Peru airline to fly non stop from jfk to lima. need to see about point transfers.

 

[hsmamato2]

What I have done with the URs worth 1.5 on my CSR is booked a far out fully refundable reservation with them. So when using PYB or transfer URs to SW or JB I’m not using the 1.5 URs.

I'm thinking about this....so the main reason you'd book that far out is to use the others in the pool that are already 1:1? I confess this never even crossed my mind!

 

[palhockeymomof2]

I'm thinking about this....so the main reason you'd book that far out is to use the others in the pool that are already 1:1? I confess this never even crossed my mind!

Yes exactly to use the 1-1 points for PYB and transfers. Otherwise Chase would use my 1.5 points first

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

Hey all....My DD'S CSP has the AF posted. How do we go about transferring her URs to me. We are in the same "household". Her checking account still shows under my chase portal, but her CC's don't (her checking was once a HS account I was on). Should I PC her to a freedom then? She never spends on her cards, LOL. Is making a purchase once a year good enough to keep Chase happy? That said, I should probably tell her to use her Discover card, as that is her oldest.

First world problems here. We have 10 Marriott FNC to use between my DD and my BF. I'm trying to figure out the best ways to use these. We got them for the AI's in Mexico. My BF's expire 8/3 and I think my DD's expire in October. We might try an AI in Mexico, but I need other ways to use these up. Between our FNC w/ Hilton we used in Cabo, "our" beach house rental we had in NC, and my BF switching planes (and away at training for 2 months) it's been hard to use these up. I sat out the most recent 5 FNC offer, and we all passed on the Hilton FNC (which we always jump on), because it's been too hard to fit in all this travel, LOL. Plus we are planning on renting in NC again next "winter", so doesn't make sense. Depending on my daughter's exp date, she could use the FNC possibly in NYC for Harry. I need to give up my need to get the best value at this point, LOL.

Anything I should know before trying for the Atmos Biz card again? I was denied last time I tried. Knowing we'll have the house in NC again, and that flying non-rev through ATL to DTW is a NIGHTMARE, I need to restock the AA miles. And the Alaska awards are always cheaper!

Oh and I know banks look at CC's apps when getting a mortgage. Is it the same when you're looking at rental/investment properties? I'm going to assume it is. I've started my quest to get my BF to invest in a rental property. He's wanted to do storage units. but I'm really trying for a duplex, on the beach. There was an AMAZING one for $1.8 mill I really wanted him to jump on. It would have been a little stretch and used all of our savings. He wants to be practical, and wait till he upgrades, and we combine houses, LOL. I mean he says our budget is $1.2 mill now. But if I wait a year we can be looking at $2mill+. Plus I think we're going to for sure rent out my house when we combine. The idea being I can rent, generate about $20k in profit. I can use that to do all the fixes my house needs (a new deck, new driveway, new main sewer line to the street). And then fix up other things and when I sell it finally get WAY more for it than I could now. The market where I live is just going to stay insane! And I just want to add, never in 1 trillion years would I have thought 15 years ago that at 49 I would be "retired", making more than I did teaching (pension + WFH job) and be looking at my house being worth $700k, and be contemplating $2mill+ beachfront rental properties, LOL. Here's to swiping right on the right person, LOL (it's not all thanks to the BF, but a lot is, LOL).

 

[disneybirds]

What I have done with the URs worth 1.5 on my CSR is booked a far out fully refundable reservation with them. So when using PYB or transfer URs to SW or JB I’m not using the 1.5 URs.

How does this work? I booked a refundable reservation at the 1.5 UR before the changeover and then had to cancel. Those points are showing as worth only 1.0 now? I have been using my DH's points to transfer so I can keep mine at 1.5.

 

[wanderlust7]

Anything I should know before trying for the Atmos Biz card again?

1/12 new personal account unless you have BoA status.