I love credit cards so much!

[Artygal90]

Hi everyone! If there's somewhere else I should post this question please let me know...still learning about how to levy credit card points to save on travel!

I've got a goal to spend 10 days in Disney and Universal in early May 2020 for an important birthday. I'd like to do it all or mostly on points so I can save other travel funds for places we haven't been already. Thankfully I've got a good runway to rack up lots and lots of points! Can anyone tell me approximately how many Chase UR points I would need to book 5 nights at a Disney resort (deluxe, mod, or value, or the Swan/Dolphin) as well as theme park tickets, all through the Chase portal? Any info on the same amount of points needed for a 3-night stay at Universal? I'm planning to try for the Southwest Companion Pass to cover our flights as we live near a Southwest hub. Currently I only have my little old Visa credit card I've had forever - very basic and with my regular bank. I'm doing all my research before I jump in and start signing up for cards left and right. I'd ask this on the r/churners subreddit but I'm a bit nervous as they are less friendly there to newbies :/

Any advice is appreciated! Thanks!

 

[Lain]

It won't work. When you get to Visa checkout, there is no way to select the Amex card. There is a message that says "This merchant does not accept Amex." Bummer.

Wow. Costco really blacklisted Amex everywhere.

 

[miztressuz]

Wow. Costco really blacklisted Amex everywhere.

It's their new 4 letter word I think.

 

[liloca]

Ok so I think I came out with a new plan for me. For DH I will wait for the denial letter and go from there.

So my cards now are:
- Capital One Quick silver - Aug 2017
- Chase Slate - Jan 2018 ‍‍‍

So I am thinking on going for the AA Citibank card next making me 3/24, in the summer go for CIP x/24, and end of the year go for the double dip CSP/CSR for my last 2 slots.
Or should I do CIP first and then AA Citibank?

 

[AndPeggy]

@WVMomof3 also, to add to this list, CVS and Simons Mall. If you do make a purchase, u can always see if Amex is receive Level2 or Level3 data on the actual transaction. If you see something, then id readd the amount back to the MSR amount.



not sure where to start, the only things i can help u out with is points! awardmapper will show all the locations of the big hotels and how many points required per night. awardhackers will show u what kind of flights are available at what points... in general, Korean Airline is probably the cheapest, a UR partner too @ 25k RT. You may need to call in for it.

Thanks. I’ll check out those sites. I hope to be at 3/24 by early 2020 and to earn a CP for SW.

 

[Albort]

Ok so I think I came out with a new plan for me. For DH I will wait for the denial letter and go from there.

So my cards now are:
- Capital One Quick silver - Aug 2017
- Chase Slate - Jan 2018 ‍‍‍

So I am thinking on going for the AA Citibank card next making me 3/24, in the summer go for CIP x/24, and end of the year go for the double dip CSP/CSR for my last 2 slots.
Or should I do CIP first and then AA Citibank?

is there a particular reason u went for a Chase Slate?

 

[gottalovepluto]

Hi everyone! If there's somewhere else I should post this question please let me know...still learning about how to levy credit card points to save on travel!

I've got a goal to spend 10 days in Disney and Universal in early May 2020 for an important birthday. I'd like to do it all or mostly on points so I can save other travel funds for places we haven't been already. Thankfully I've got a good runway to rack up lots and lots of points! Can anyone tell me approximately how many Chase UR points I would need to book 5 nights at a Disney resort (deluxe, mod, or value, or the Swan/Dolphin) as well as theme park tickets, all through the Chase portal? Any info on the same amount of points needed for a 3-night stay at Universal? I'm planning to try for the Southwest Companion Pass to cover our flights as we live near a Southwest hub. Currently I only have my little old Visa credit card I've had forever - very basic and with my regular bank. I'm doing all my research before I jump in and start signing up for cards left and right. I'd ask this on the r/churners subreddit but I'm a bit nervous as they are less friendly there to newbies :/

Any advice is appreciated! Thanks!

So using URs to book you can redeem them at a rate of 1.25 cents per point with a CSP or 1.5 cents per point with a CSR. You want to make sure you have a CSR when it's time to book your trip for the 1.5 rate. You can book most anything that is available to the chase travel supplier, Expedia. Go research the cash rates for what you want on Expedia to get an idea of what you'd be looking at. 10,000 Chase UR points would get you $150 towards travel if you had a CSR, $125 if you had a CSP/CIP. The tickets are currently booked by calling in at the same rates as above.

You are playing a long game so I think it's worth mentioning piling up the UR points is a decent strategy because if they or Disney change anything in the meantime the min value you'll get from these points is their cash value of 1 cent per point.

Do not start signing up for cards left and right. You need a solid plan so you get the right bonuses in the right order and don't get locked out of any card bonuses because you have too many credit cards or too many cards too fast from that specific issuer. It's generally recommended to start with Chase so I'd sketch out yourself a Chase plan of attack. Because you want the CP that requires a different sort of Chase card attack than might be usual so planning everything out timing wise is going to be KEY for you.

Do you have a business? Do you have a "business"? Yes to either or those q's opens up a whole world of credit cards. You know, I sold something on ebay last year and I'm kinda thinking I'm gonna do that again this year- boom! business!

Read through the wiki pages on the r/churning thread a bit. Lots of great info, you don't need to talk to anyone. Don't be afraid to ask q's here if you get confused- you are right we are MUCH nicer than r/churning (although some of us are also seen over there- albeit I'm not always on best DIS behavior )

Are you a member of our private group on reddit? Just message @SouthFayetteFan or @Albort to join! We support each other over there and there a couple threads on info that gets too complicated to go into over here. (But most of the discussion action is all to be found here!)

 

[snugglebug]

I couldn't add my Delta or BCP. I gave up. Not sure what the problem is

I attempted to add my SPG Biz and get the same error. They had no problem putting a $1 hold on my card twice though lol

 

[linzjane88]

DH was in dire need of a new card for his "business".

Instant approval . That's much better than the pending/wait for a few days setup I got!

P.S. OMG that's 10k more spend by the end of June

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

An unexpected bonus of my requesting my new CIP to be expedited ... I just received a second card in the mail (presumably the original?). I think that means DH will have a card to use if he wants? I assume since I've already called to activate that it's good to go?

 

[wendow]

I attempted to add my SPG Biz and get the same error. They had no problem putting a $1 hold on my card twice though lol

I could never figure it out. I even tried to add a Visa but it wouldn't take that either. Just created a whole new Visa Checkout account. Bought a Costco cashcard and paid with Visa.

 

[wendow]

DH was in dire need of a new card for his "business".

Instant approval . That's much better than the pending/wait for a few days setup I got!

P.S. OMG that's 10k more spend by the end of June

Which card did you get?

 

[wendow]

Wow. Costco really blacklisted Amex everywhere.

Wish your idea would work. It's an awesome thought. Costco is my nemesis now since they don't take Amex.

 

[Artygal90]

So using URs to book you can redeem them at a rate of 1.25 cents per point with a CSP or 1.5 cents per point with a CSR. You want to make sure you have a CSR when it's time to book your trip for the 1.5 rate. You can book most anything that is available to the chase travel supplier, Expedia. Go research the cash rates for what you want on Expedia to get an idea of what you'd be looking at. 10,000 Chase UR points would get you $150 towards travel if you had a CSR, $125 if you had a CSP/CIP. The tickets are currently booked by calling in at the same rates as above.

You are playing a long game so I think it's worth mentioning piling up the UR points is a decent strategy because if they or Disney change anything in the meantime the min value you'll get from these points is their cash value of 1 cent per point.

Do not start signing up for cards left and right. You need a solid plan so you get the right bonuses in the right order and don't get locked out of any card bonuses because you have too many credit cards or too many cards too fast from that specific issuer. It's generally recommended to start with Chase so I'd sketch out yourself a Chase plan of attack. Because you want the CP that requires a different sort of Chase card attack than might be usual so planning everything out timing wise is going to be KEY for you.

Do you have a business? Do you have a "business"? Yes to either or those q's opens up a whole world of credit cards. You know, I sold something on ebay last year and I'm kinda thinking I'm gonna do that again this year- boom! business!

Read through the wiki pages on the r/churning thread a bit. Lots of great info, you don't need to talk to anyone. Don't be afraid to ask q's here if you get confused- you are right we are MUCH nicer than r/churning (although some of us are also seen over there- albeit I'm not always on best DIS behavior )

Are you a member of our private group on reddit? Just message @SouthFayetteFan or @Albort to join! We support each other over there and there a couple threads on info that gets too complicated to go into over here. (But most of the discussion action is all to be found here!)

That's *exactly* the info I was looking for! Off to spend a few hours on Expedia. I will def. be in touch on Reddit. And I do actually have a real business, so business cards are definitely something I'm looking into. I've been reading all the Reddit threads and plotting everything out very carefully since I am not the type to start this without a solid plan...my itinerary for our latest trip was planned out by the hours and stretched 15 pages long with info on dining, transportation, etc.!

Thanks for the feedback!

 

[liloca]

is there a particular reason u went for a Chase Slate?

I went for the 0% apr but that was before I learned about churning , so one spot gone for being clueless!

 

[Albort]

I went for the 0% apr but that was before I learned about churning , so one spot gone for being clueless!

no loss what so ever. if you dont care about the 0% apr, call them to see if they would switch that to a freedom card. you lose out on bonus but hey, its still a great card to earn 5x UR points.

 

[DisneyMandC]

An unexpected bonus of my requesting my new CIP to be expedited ... I just received a second card in the mail (presumably the original?). I think that means DH will have a card to use if he wants? I assume since I've already called to activate that it's good to go?

Yes, the same thing happened to me even though I called to have my DH's CIP expedited as soon as he was approved. So we each have a card with his name on it to use.

 

[Disneyonmymind]

I have a question about Plastiq. I opened a new account and set up four payments on Friday night. They all hit my card but only one was mailed today. The others still say in process. Why don't they send them all? Does that mean they have a problem with my payments or are they just slow?

 

[linzjane88]

SPG. I left out some details in all my excitement. Haha.

 

[Albort]

I have a question about Plastiq. I opened a new account and set up four payments on Friday night. They all hit my card but only one was mailed today. The others still say in process. Why don't they send them all? Does that mean they have a problem with my payments or are they just slow?

maybe the other 3 are ACH payments? those would probably take 2-3 days to clear from today. check will arrive a week later.