I love credit cards so much!

[thevalley]

We will be there November 5th to the 10th. Our ADR day is May 10th and I'd love to meet up with fellow Disboarders. We may do MVMCP on the 9th. Still debating. We will also be enjoying the last few days of Food and Wine.

Wow. We will be there at the same time. We are the 5-12. I would double check your dates. I say that because our ADR for the same time is starting May 9th. If I am wrong, I apologize but just trying to help out.

 

[KristiMc]

I have a Disney rewards question I have never had to ask before. I have some expiring in the months before our upcoming trip. Once I transfer them to a rewards card, then I am safe from expiration? Or do I have to use them and buy a gift card before they expire?
I have never had them long enough that they had expiration dates come up before.

The Rewards Cards do not expire any more so you will be good.

 

[miztressuz]

I have a Disney rewards question I have never had to ask before. I have some expiring in the months before our upcoming trip. Once I transfer them to a rewards card, then I am safe from expiration? Or do I have to use them and buy a gift card before they expire?
I have never had them long enough that they had expiration dates come up before.

Redemption cards issued after 2015 or 2016 don't have an expiration date on them anymore, so you should be able to redeem them to a card and be safe. (assuming you have one or order one without an expiration date listed on it)

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Along those lines, DH has 3 Chase cards with a total credit limit around 30%. Should I reduce any before trying for CIP? Any news on the 100k offer on CIP being available online?

It doesn’t seem like 100k is coming online. It seems it’s still only available thru BRM

Regarding credit limit - if you’re at 30% you should be good. I was more referencing those at 50% or greater reducing down to around 30% before applying

 

[afan]

Wow. We will be there at the same time. We are the 5-12. I would double check your dates. I say that because our ADR for the same time is starting May 9th. If I am wrong, I apologize but just trying to help out.

Mine's the 6th with a check-in of the 2nd so I agree it should be the 9th instead of the 10th. Our FP day is labor day, which is good and bad. Not as big of a deal to get up at 4am PST to do them but I'll be in SF with an early flight home so I won't get to go back to sleep for long. Part of why I like having the TA do the ADRs but I can't give up that much control with fp's.

 

[thevalley]

Mine's the 6th with a check-in of the 2nd so I agree it should be the 9th instead of the 10th. Our FP day is labor day, which is good and bad. Not as big of a deal to get up at 4am PST to do them but I'll be in SF with an early flight home so I won't get to go back to sleep for long. Part of why I like having the TA do the ADRs but I can't give up that much control with fp's.

Good luck!! I hope you get it all sorted out. We also did the MVMCP for the first night. Can’t wait. Should be fun.

 

[thevalley]

Mine's the 6th with a check-in of the 2nd so I agree it should be the 9th instead of the 10th. Our FP day is labor day, which is good and bad. Not as big of a deal to get up at 4am PST to do them but I'll be in SF with an early flight home so I won't get to go back to sleep for long. Part of why I like having the TA do the ADRs but I can't give up that much control with fp's.

ThankYou for reminding me. Ours for the FP is September 6. So hopefully it all goes well. My wife and I are doing our planning. Never been there before so this is all new to us.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Note to self...learn how to use spreadsheets

This... I'm embarrassed of how bad I am at Excel...

I am now a SAHM, but prior to that, a nurse. So I have never really needed them. I think the last I used excel was in high school...and I am 37 now...so yeah, need a major refresher.

Don’t let “spreadsheets” scare you from tracking this kind of stuff. This is basically using a spreadsheet to just organize data in columns and rows, not analyze or compute really. If you can write down what various components of your trip costs, you can probably pull this off. If you can use a sum function then you’re really in good shape.

Granted, I’m well versed in excel so I acknowledge it’s easy for me to sit here and say how simple this is, haha. But I don’t really require any of the complex functions in my churning spreadsheets.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

So I cancelled my SW card today and that brought my CL on Chase down to about 35%. You recommend waiting a few weeks to try for the CIP? I think I may be screwed. With 2 in college this fall and new roof and a few other things my DH wants to apply for a HELOC just in case we need it. From reading, I believe that counts as a Credit on my report so as soon as that goes through I will be back up to 5 until next January. I was thinking of trying to squeeze the CIP in there, but I don't want to mess up the HELOC either.

A HELOC should not count towards 5/24. It’s not a card account

I’d probably wait a few weeks to apply for CIP. You want to make sure that your report is showing that account as closed so Chase sees your exposure as reasonable vs. your income and will give you a new card. Were you considering going in branch for 100k or just doing the 80k offer?

 

[Ngwira]

Wow. We will be there at the same time. We are the 5-12. I would double check your dates. I say that because our ADR for the same time is starting May 9th. If I am wrong, I apologize but just trying to help out.

ADR day is the 9th. Thank you.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

It doesn’t seem like 100k is coming online. It seems it’s still only available thru BRM

Regarding credit limit - if you’re at 30% you should be good. I was more referencing those at 50% or greater reducing down to around 30% before applying

Yeah, I figured DH was ok. Before I cancelled my Marriott account, I was over 50% (which is funny because I’m the one with the part time job).

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Yeah, I figured DH was ok. Before I cancelled my Marriott account, I was over 50% (which is funny because I’m the one with the part time job).

Haha that’s great! I think reducing credit limits is something we should talk about here more now due to 1) shutdown risks (keeping those limits lower will certainly appear less risky) and 2) Chase tightening up on allowing you to move limit to open a card.

My method is to keep my limits overall reasonable, reduce cards I rarely (never) use to $500-$1,000, keep cards I use at $3-5k, and then keep all the rest of my limit ($15k+) consolidated on one card that I could move over to help open a new card. I’m not saying this is necessarily the “right” answer...but it’s what I do.

 

[Alexle2007]

SW HI teaser: https://www.southwestaircommunity.c...ends-to-Serve-Four-Hawaii-Airports/ba-p/72551

 

[Judique]

Can you get a Chase biz card with a "business" like you can with AMEX? And would that make things tougher for me for the SW CP when I am back under 5/24?

I am actually waiting to get a Chase business card. I can be in the rental business.

It's just that I wish Amex would pop up with a decent business card for the SPG/Marriott merger sooner rather than later!

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Don’t let “spreadsheets” scare you from tracking this kind of stuff. This is basically using a spreadsheet to just organize data in columns and rows, not analyze or compute really. If you can write down what various components of your trip costs, you can probably pull this off. If you can use a sum function then you’re really in good shape.

Granted, I’m well versed in excel so I acknowledge it’s easy for me to sit here and say how simple this is, haha. But I don’t really require any of the complex functions in my churning spreadsheets.

OK, I did it! Thanks for the nudge. It is a very simple one, but maybe when I have more time I can figure out how to make it calculate the value of my point redemptions. I just really started this churning in January, so adding up my travel thus far was pretty easy.

We are at $3223 of free travel.
That includes our trip to Cali for spring break (2nights hotel, rental car, SW flights x5) as well as a soccer tournament in Memphis last weekend.
In full disclosure, I had hilton, hertz, and some URs before I got involved in the churning, so I'm not sure we can say it is really since January since I am sure some of the points for those trips were already in my accounts before I started churning.

Next, I'd like to figure out a way to make one of these spreadsheets add up my costs/savings towards my Alaska 2019 cruise. Right now I just have it tracking on a 'note' on my phone. For example, bought a $25 Disney gc with a $20 BB gift certificate, savings $20. I'm not hard core churning for that cruise, but would like to save some money off the sailing with discounted gift cards, and also flights and pre/post hotel and rental car on points.

 

[calypso726]

u should tell him the 4x is to offset the loss of lounge access. Which is the only reason why the SPG Biz has that 4x category.

You know, I forgot to mention that as the reason why they added the 4x. I did mention it as another devaluation of the card. But good to know for anyone else who braves a retention call.

Is he going to offset the AF costs of the products too to make up for having to use more than one to get the same value now?
He really earned that retention, hopefully he still gets a bonus even though he still handed out points in the end
I'm glad though you found someone actually knowledgeable to have an intelligent discussion. Most times I get the talking point guys who have their talking points script and even when you disprove what they're saying, they can only stick to the script... because the company wouldn't be disingenuous at all, why would you as the customer doubt what my memo says??

That would have been an excellent point to bring up, but he specifically used cards I currently have and the Amex Blue business card which is no fee. This guy was on point. I was pretty blown away. Not only did he know his own company's products, he was pretty well versed in the competition. He almost sounded like one of us

Wow! I’m very impressed you went toe-to-toe for 52 minutes, and that your c.s.r., based on your impression him, really seemed to know the product and wasn’t just reading off talking points from marketing! Those 10k Starpoints sound well-earned!

Everyone going into a SPG retention call needs to bookmark this post!

That was the longest retention offer call I have ever experienced and the hardest one I've debated. That said, I really enjoyed speaking to the rep and I did learn something new from him too. He shared why they did away with the Amex business 50% back on paying airfare with points. He shared that the reason the Amex Blue business card exists is because of the change to the Amex Business Platinum regarding said 50% back. He shared his own fears about the changes with the SPG before they were announced and that he was pleasantly surprised that the "sky didn't fall". He also shared that he thought it very possible for improvements to be made down the line that would eradicate the 30% devaluation on non category spend. I won't hold my breath, but that would be a nice surprise.

Kind of For those of us traveling to WDW in Nov our ADR date is approaching. I know there are a few of us with overlapping dates. I'm there the 2nd to the 10th, solo starting the afternoon of the 6th. Going to MVMCP on the 8th. I know there had been chat about doing a meet up, and I know it's still 6 months away, but if we wanted to do it somewhere that needs an ADR we may need to figure it out

So, we are in WDW every single weekend in October and November. We make the 3 hour drive up Friday after work, check into BCV and head back home Sunday afternoon. So for your times frame we are there there Friday night the 2nd through Sunday afternoon on the 4th and Friday night on the 9th through Sunday afternoon the 11th.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

So, we are in WDW every single weekend in October and November. We make the 3 hour drive up Friday after work, check into BCV and head back home Sunday afternoon. So for your times frame we are there there Friday night the 2nd through Sunday afternoon on the 4th and Friday night on the 9th through Sunday afternoon the 11th.

Am I reading that statement correctly...lol! That's awesome!!

 

[calypso726]

Don’t let “spreadsheets” scare you from tracking this kind of stuff. This is basically using a spreadsheet to just organize data in columns and rows, not analyze or compute really. If you can write down what various components of your trip costs, you can probably pull this off. If you can use a sum function then you’re really in good shape.

Granted, I’m well versed in excel so I acknowledge it’s easy for me to sit here and say how simple this is, haha. But I don’t really require any of the complex functions in my churning spreadsheets.

You know, I really wish I would have kept track of all of it from the time I started. I'm another one that fears spreadsheets. DH likes them and I am surprised he doesn't have this info in a spreadsheet. I imagine it is because I am the one that does the trip planning and redeeming of the points and miles. I only know of few of the trip savings off the top of my head. I have no idea how much we have saved in travel. I do know that without this hobby we would never have traveled as much as we do. Best. Hobby. Ever.

 

[calypso726]

Am I reading that statement correctly...lol! That's awesome!!

Yup Plus the last weekend in September and one weekend in December. This is why I love my DVC I love my little escapes from reality.

 

[WVMomof3]

A HELOC should not count towards 5/24. It’s not a card account

I’d probably wait a few weeks to apply for CIP. You want to make sure that your report is showing that account as closed so Chase sees your exposure as reasonable vs. your income and will give you a new card. Were you considering going in branch for 100k or just doing the 80k offer?

That is good that it hopefully won't mess up my count. I had done a brief search when he mentioned getting one and I found where someone said that getting a Home equity loan would not count but getting a Line of credit would count. I just read it and had a brief cry and did not research it anymore.