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

[calypso726]

Hi pals I'm back with another "wwyd" question So Booking a hotel on points- I can spend 80k Hyatt (transferred UR's,I already have 65k in there,just need another 14k to top off) or 145k IHG.... I tend to hold onto my IHG b/c they're super useful to my travel style (really big footprint,easy to use) Hyatt ,I love the redemption but such a small footprint..... wwyd-?

I value my Hyatt points the most and my Chase points are essentially Hyatt points most of the time. For me this would depend on a few factors. One is chasing Globalist status with Hyatt. If that is not a factor, then it would come down to location and experience that I am looking to obtain. Another consideration is the value of the points. 145k IHG points can be purchased for $725 so that’s what they are worth to me. 80k Hyatt points are worth between $1800 - $2200 to me. All things being equal, I would do the IHG points and just buy more with a bonus offer when needed.

 

[Crazed4DisneyinSC]

I haven't looked into it too deeply yet, but wondering if those of you who have HYSA with Discover are moving money elsewhere, now that CapOne took over. I did get the official email about my Discover HYSA and also credit card. I use my Discover card alot for quarterly categories so as long as that doesn't change in the near future, I'll keep that. But wondering if there's a better bank to move some savings to...

 

[hsmamato2]

I value my Hyatt points the most and my Chase points are essentially Hyatt points most of the time. For me this would depend on a few factors. One is chasing Globalist status with Hyatt. If that is not a factor, then it would come down to location and experience that I am looking to obtain. Another consideration is the value of the points. 145k IHG points can be purchased for $725 so that’s what they are worth to me. 80k Hyatt points are worth between $1800 - $2200 to me. All things being equal, I would do the IHG points and just buy more with a bonus offer when needed.

I appreciate the insight.... I think I'm a bit backwards, I have a harder time using Hyatt, and IHG mid level stays seem to be my jam

 

[becauseimnew]

Hi pals I'm back with another "wwyd" question So Booking a hotel on points- I can spend 80k Hyatt (transferred UR's,I already have 65k in there,just need another 14k to top off) or 145k IHG.... I tend to hold onto my IHG b/c they're super useful to my travel style (really big footprint,easy to use) Hyatt ,I love the redemption but such a small footprint..... wwyd-?

I would transfer the 14K to Hyatt. I've had 48K points in my Hyatt account that I haven't used because of the small footprint and we travel as a family.

 

[MsOnceUponATime]

I'd wait in the same size or longer pre-check line, just so I don't have to take half my clothes off . More benefits than just a shorter line on pre-check.

Same, our home airport is small but pre-check still wins just because I don't have to remove my clothes. What we won't do it Clear at our home airport, takes longer than pre-check.

RAISING MY HAND AND NODDING ALONG! I do not want to take off my shoes, sweatshirt, jacket, etc. ever ever!!

Hi, I haven’t posted in awhile. Mostly doing US travel. I’m going on a last minute trip to Helsinki. I’m in Houston but can reposition. I want to arrive on June 26. I’m returning from Helsinki and going to Baltimore on July 9th. I have Chase UR points, cap1 points and AmEx MR’s. Looks like any biz seats are out of reach unless I can find one for under 100,000. Is it worth upgrading from my free points.yeah to the higher level to help in my search? I may move Amex points to Hawaiian for my return to Baltimore on Alaska Airlines. Would love any suggestions or advice. Thanks

Waving to you from the Galleria! Welcome back to posting.

 

[LynnTH]

Rookie Mistake.... Ughh! Waiting on my Bonus for US Bank Silver Checking Account, that I opened for DH. Still no bonus, so I chatted with them. Apparently, his other account was not closed until 5/1/24 - so was not after the 12 month time frame. I didn't keep track of the closing date, like an idiot... Now, I will open an account for me. Pretty sure my previous account was opened and closed in 2023.

 

[havaneselover]

Chase refunded my points for the cruise princess canceled in less than a month. I’m fairly impressed. Now I can transfer the cruise I rebooked to Chase Travel and pay off most of the balance.

 

[happ]

How long does Chase usually allow reconsideration? I thought it was 30 days. I messed up and applied too early for the CSP when it was the 100k offer. I tried recon yesterday and was told it's still saying too early (bonus posted 6/4/21). Rep said wait a day and maybe it will change. Today it's the same story, except now they're saying the app won't be able to be reconsidered and to apply again. I applied on 5/9. Should I even bother calling again?

Nevermind: just read a comment on DoC that says you can't recon a 48 month rule denial. Oh well.

 

[afan]

I haven't looked into it too deeply yet, but wondering if those of you who have HYSA with Discover are moving money elsewhere, now that CapOne took over. I did get the official email about my Discover HYSA and also credit card. I use my Discover card alot for quarterly categories so as long as that doesn't change in the near future, I'll keep that. But wondering if there's a better bank to move some savings to...

Most hysa have similar interest rates unless you are ok with fintech or something like that.

If it's because of the merger, everything is staying the same for now. I have hysa with both cap 1 and discover and I'm leaving them alone. I also have amex and ally. I like to keep my buckets separate and not have to sort it out on a spreadsheet

I don't find any one of them any better or worse than the other. I always push money into them from my bank and push from the hysa. The only pull is from my investment place because it's easiest that way.

If/when it all becomes one, and I don't know that we fully know what will happen, I'll most likely move one of them since I don't want them mixed and I already have 2 savings with cap 1, it was an old ing.

Or if I had enough to get a bonus, or if I'd only opened it for a bonus, I'd move it.

 

[eticketplease]

I already have 2 savings with cap 1, it was an old ing.

Is your savings rate updated to the current rates?
My ING ones never were so that is why I opened my discover one in the first place.
There was a lawsuit but I think it was dismissed.

Cap 1 used to have a great checking product before ING that was similar to schwab and Ally that would reimburse ATM fees the next business day with no cap, earned interest and there was no DD or Minimum balance requirements.

 

[havaneselover]

On hysa, I still have my money in c1 (although I keep most of my savings in t-bills). I don’t love c1’s ethics, personally, but have been too lazy to move it.

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

I think this is airport dependent. Even with SEA as my home airport, I rarely wait more than 5 min for precheck. If the line is a little long I'll use clear with it but that doesn't really save time just steps.

MCO it's bad but the reg lines are way worse.

It's even terminal dependent! In DTW Delta has its own terminal (complete other bldg). When my BF was at Spirit we flew out of North, and the TSA line was so short. I was thru TSA nearly as fast as him (he always uses KCM). At McNamara (Delta) the TSA lines are so long! And then I've been sent to the basement 3 levels down before when the lines have been long. My BF easily waits almost 20 min sometimes for me to get through. And I always get the wrong line w/ the agent who is taking forever to look over bags, sending things back through etc.

This I can answer from my own perspective.... I had one adult child who loves the game along with me- we would hammer out terms ahead of time,so I would tell him that in fairness, he's p2, he apps, I spend x amount,he spends x amount, we split the points fairly along those lines. (I always gave him more than myself as a boost to his beginner attempts. It always worked well, now he's old enough that he does it on his own,and we 'support' each other as needed.

How old is your son? My daughter is 20, so she's not hitting these spends, LOL. And honestly right now she can't even book hotels, etc, so she can't really travel without me yet.

I haven't looked into it too deeply yet, but wondering if those of you who have HYSA with Discover are moving money elsewhere, now that CapOne took over. I did get the official email about my Discover HYSA and also credit card. I use my Discover card alot for quarterly categories so as long as that doesn't change in the near future, I'll keep that. But wondering if there's a better bank to move some savings to...

I'm using Wealthfront for the bulk of my savings. They give you a bit of a boost to start, and then have been higher than Discover in general. My BF and DD have accounts too. I think we're all at the base rate right now as we haven't gotten any "boosts" in awhile. But if you're interested I'd be happy to share said boost, LOL.

 

[MsOnceUponATime]

As much as I hate to be so ambiguous about this post, I am here to write:

Yellowstone hotels? Everything looks so... outdated. I'd like to stay at the Old Faithful Inn, but can't justify the cost with the reviews that it ha,s and not having any cell service (wifi) or decent food for meals. Old Faithful Lodge? Old Faithful Snow Lodge? "offsite"?

Looking at Sept 26-30. Will fly in from DEN and get a rental car.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Crazed4DisneyinSC]

As much as I hate to be so ambiguous about this post, I am here to write:

Yellowstone hotels? Everything looks so... outdated. I'd like to stay at the Old Faithful Inn, but can't justify the cost with the reviews that it ha,s and not having any cell service (wifi) or decent food for meals. Old Faithful Lodge? Old Faithful Snow Lodge? "offsite"?

Looking at Sept 26-30. Will fly in from DEN and get a rental car.

Thanks in advance.

We stayed in Canyon Lodge cabins, which were nicer than expected (they had a full bathroom), but there was a check-in issue and our room wasn't ready until like 6-7pm! It was the day after a snowstorm so they were likely short staffed or something, but there were SOO many people waiting in the lobby for rooms to be ready.
We also stayed in Old Faithful cabins, which were rough because they had no bathroom and they were pretty primitive (no AC/heat), but it was location, location, location for us. We could see Old Faithful 10 steps from our cabin, and then the main lodge was so close to walk into for a coffee or muffin in the morning. It was so nice to be RIGHT there when we woke up and go walking the trails.
In general, I think Yellowstone lodging is more dated, but I took advice from the internet and others on here, and am SO glad we stayed in park instead of outside. It was a lot of driving, and I can't imagine if we had to drive into the park every day on top of that!

 

[afan]

Is your savings rate updated to the current rates?
My ING ones never were so that is why I opened my discover one in the first place.
There was a lawsuit but I think it was dismissed.

Cap 1 used to have a great checking product before ING that was similar to schwab and Ally that would reimburse ATM fees the next business day with no cap, earned interest and there was no DD or Minimum balance requirements.

No, I opened a 2nd acct with them for the hysa. The old ing one is a holding place for the money that gets invested, it generally is only there until it hits at least 1k and then it gets moved. It was already linked to my investment place and the bump in interest isn't enough for the hassle of opening a new acct and changing it.

The hysa is my emergency savings so it does grow, though I took all the interest it had earned out a few months ago to invest. Discover has my rainy day fund, amex is my car and ally is for the boys (dogs).

I am hoping the payout from cap 1 for the whole name/not a high interest rate thing, actually happens as I'll get something there. Once everyone on reddit started talking about the acct name thing I opened the hysa so I don't think I missed out on much. I also didn't have my emergency savings there at the time so I didn't lose out on much.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

For those of you with a P2/3/4/etc who is an "adult" child, how often are you doing the spend for them? And are you giving them the perks? I had my 20yo sign up for the CSP (meaning I signed up). I'm hitting the spend. I figure since we are the same household, we can combine points. But I might let her keep them. We'll see. With the Marriott 5 FNC back, I told her we might be doing that card next. She really wants to do an All Inclusive this summer. So I told her we'll look and see and use those if we can (assuming she's approved). I'm locked out of the 5FNC until probably October. But I think the BF can do it. So I'll likely have him do it.

I am new to the adult child player 2 (I call her player 1.5). I posted a week or so ago that she got the Schwab platinum. We basically did it as we are trying to get points in place for airline seats in late 2026. With the $8,000 spend requirement over 6 months for the bonus, she could probably hit it on her own, but I want the MRs ASAP so I will be helping her out.

Before she applied, I told her I would pay for the AF, but that meant I got the points and the airline credits. I let her keep the Saks credit (LOL--so generous of me--it's a PITA to use and she actually has a Saks by her). Me keeping the points just means that I will use those points for her part of the airfare when it comes time to book. In other words, since she travels with me, it's all a communal effort. As for the other card perks, I actually just sent her a spreadsheet yesterday with all of them to keep straight. If she doesn't have any use for the streaming credit, I can put it to use. She gets the UBER, Walmart, etc.

 

[leeniewdw]

Hi, I haven’t posted in awhile. Mostly doing US travel. I’m going on a last minute trip to Helsinki. I’m in Houston but can reposition. I want to arrive on June 26. I’m returning from Helsinki and going to Baltimore on July 9th. I have Chase UR points, cap1 points and AmEx MR’s. Looks like any biz seats are out of reach unless I can find one for under 100,000. Is it worth upgrading from my free points.yeah to the higher level to help in my search? I may move Amex points to Hawaiian for my return to Baltimore on Alaska Airlines. Would love any suggestions or advice. Thanks

Have you tried the free version of seats.aero? I think the free version allows you to search w/in 30 days.

 

[leeniewdw]

We stayed in Canyon Lodge cabins, which were nicer than expected (they had a full bathroom), but there was a check-in issue and our room wasn't ready until like 6-7pm! It was the day after a snowstorm so they were likely short staffed or something, but there were SOO many people waiting in the lobby for rooms to be ready.
We also stayed in Old Faithful cabins, which were rough because they had no bathroom and they were pretty primitive (no AC/heat), but it was location, location, location for us. We could see Old Faithful 10 steps from our cabin, and then the main lodge was so close to walk into for a coffee or muffin in the morning. It was so nice to be RIGHT there when we woke up and go walking the trails.
In general, I think Yellowstone lodging is more dated, but I took advice from the internet and others on here, and am SO glad we stayed in park instead of outside. It was a lot of driving, and I can't imagine if we had to drive into the park every day on top of that!

We've stayed in Roosevelt Lodge Cabins (campground style bathrooms and very spartan cabins) and LOVE them. They are as cheap as you can get in-park. I totally agree about being in-park being worth it -- like you said, there's already so much driving. In-park lets you stay out later and closer to dark (we do not drive after dark in that region) and also if you want to get up and out early for wildlife viewing, you are saving so much time. We like to drive out to Lamar Valley from Roosevelt Lodge and set out some chairs (we buy cheap chairs from Walmart in Bozeman after we land) and binoculars and just enjoy the evening and maybe a glass of wine as we sit out and look for animals. Then we head back to our lodging as the sun sets.

We've also stayed at Lake Cabins and the OF Snow Lodge. We're more interested in wildlife and less crowded areas/hikes so we'd probably not stay near OF again, but we have been there. But it's a great location if it's a first time.

 

[reliev]

Have you tried the free version of seats.aero? I think the free version allows you to search w/in 30 days.

it does, but i became too much into using it, and bought the subscription.

 

[MsOnceUponATime]

We stayed in Canyon Lodge cabins, which were nicer than expected (they had a full bathroom), but there was a check-in issue and our room wasn't ready until like 6-7pm! It was the day after a snowstorm so they were likely short staffed or something, but there were SOO many people waiting in the lobby for rooms to be ready.
We also stayed in Old Faithful cabins, which were rough because they had no bathroom and they were pretty primitive (no AC/heat), but it was location, location, location for us. We could see Old Faithful 10 steps from our cabin, and then the main lodge was so close to walk into for a coffee or muffin in the morning. It was so nice to be RIGHT there when we woke up and go walking the trails.
In general, I think Yellowstone lodging is more dated, but I took advice from the internet and others on here, and am SO glad we stayed in park instead of outside. It was a lot of driving, and I can't imagine if we had to drive into the park every day on top of that!

hold up - no bathroom? Each room does not have their own bathroom?
And I thought the map looks like there'd be a lot of driving if we stay offsite. Thanks for noting that.