I love credit cards so much!

[Disneyonmymind]

I must be really bad at the gift card game, because I don’t get them that much off. I won’t buy them for a whole trip either, because I don’t want to be stuck with Disney gift cards if plans change. So usually I just get a few hundred bucks worth for incidentals.

ETA:
I am thinking in terms of taking the kids only on last minute vgt rates and the convo to DH needs to be “free cruise on points.”
For our normal family dcl I will still pay with cc.

I did get the Lowe’s $10/$50 for gift cards and occasionally pick up one free. I’m impressed with you paying whole trips that way!

I am missing something. How do you get one free? I want a free one!

 

[disneedee]

How about a cashback card like the Discover IT? It is giving 5x back on grocery this quarter. Then use the cashback to pay cash for SW flights? Amex also has some good cash back cards. One gives 6x back on groceries.

I do erewards surveys for SW points. Slow earner, but it does build over time. Last year I earned enough doing surveys for 2 round trip flights to FL for this summer. You can also shop online through the portal to earn SW points.

And if you have a Chase card that earns UR points you can transfer them to SW is you have a Sapphire (some other Chase cards also transfer to SW).

Need to stick with the business cards that don’t show on the lol/24 report so I can get back I good place with chase next feb.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Yes just made it this past week. She went to apply my points and I thought it sounded a bit higher than I expected so I told her to hang on and I calculated it at a few less. Turns out their screen shows them the total package amount and does not consider payments made to Disney so after she looked at another screen she was able to confirm the $200 was made and adjusted their side to just require the remaining balance. It was super simple since I just emailed her asking her to call me instead of having to bounce around on the phone. So in the end I used a Bounce Back offer with Dining only added from Disney and moved it and paid all but the initial $200 with UR points. One note tho, before you move it to Chase call and make any arrangements you need since at that time you own the reservation, Afterwards it becomes a TA owned reservation and you'll need to have Chase make changes.

This is exactly what I did. Booked a bounce back while at Disney with the dining plan only and paid the $200. Once I got home I got a form from Chase to start the process to have it moved over, this MUST be done within Disney's 30 day window from the booking date. It took about a week for Disney to process the form and then Chase owned it. Your MDE will change a bit, the make a payment will vanish so then you know it got transferred. That point the reservation does not require a payment so you can sit and wait until you have the points, make sure you make the final payment before 30 days out by Disney's terms! This was all done with ticketless packages, Room only might be a bit different terms...

@DaveL - thanks so much for sharing all your experience booking through points! Especially some of the ins and outs of transferring an existing reservation to Chase. For those of us planning to do so in the future it is SUPER helpful I think it could be easier to just pay the $200 deposit and be able to book on my own on the Disney site and then transfer to Chase when discounts are released than trying to coordinate all of that through them. Your comments and experience are great to hear!!

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Need cc advise. I need sw points to book January flights for family. Just about done with my spy bz spend which I think I can transfer to sw, but need flights for 6 of us. No more chase until after feb 2019 as I am 8/24 and SO is also out until 2019 lol/24. Are there other ax bzn cards that I could get that could be used somehow for sw?

How many Marriott points do you current have?
How many SPG points will you have when you get done with your current MSR?
What cards have you gotten in the past year (month and year approved)? I may have some thoughts for you but don't want to steer in the wrong direction

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

This post cracks me up cause you do sound like a total newbie....and I gotta say, I love it...

I will admit, I don't know everything I'm normally not into this Plastiq thing but now that I have the CIP it makes sense in some situations.

If I'm doing the math right - I pay a $10,000 bill, I pay $250 in fees so $10,250 goes on my card and I'll earn 30,750 URs. I could cash them out for $307.50 and come out $57.50 ahead. Or I could go the travel route and I get $461.25. In rough numbers it's like buying a night at a Disney Deluxe resort for $250 - basically sounds like 45% off to me haha!

I'm not sure I really need more URs in the queue at this point...but I'll find a use for them.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

SO’s CIC came yesterday and the MSR is already complete with an engagement ring purchase! I’m picky and wanted to help pick it out lol. I kinda also want the proposal to happen when we visit Disneyland.

Congrats!

 

[wendow]

I will admit, I don't know everything I'm normally not into this Plastiq thing but now that I have the CIP it makes sense in some situations.

If I'm doing the math right - I pay a $10,000 bill, I pay $250 in fees so $10,250 goes on my card and I'll earn 30,750 URs. I could cash them out for $307.50 and come out $57.50 ahead. Or I could go the travel route and I get $461.25. In rough numbers it's like buying a night at a Disney Deluxe resort for $250 - basically sounds like 45% off to me haha!

I'm not sure I really need more URs in the queue at this point...but I'll find a use for them.

Your math looks right to me. As long as the CIP continues to code 3x, I'm paying everything I can through plastiq using my CIP. I *always* need more UR's!

 

[DisneyMandC]

@DaveL - thanks so much for sharing all your experience booking through points! Especially some of the ins and outs of transferring an existing reservation to Chase. For those of us planning to do so in the future it is SUPER helpful I think it could be easier to just pay the $200 deposit and be able to book on my own on the Disney site and then transfer to Chase when discounts are released than trying to coordinate all of that through them. Your comments and experience are great to hear!!

Agreed!! Even though the Chase reps have been great to work with so far, I’ve had some truly amazing Disney CMs when booking in the past and would rather book with them and transfer.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Agreed!! Even though the Chase reps have been great to work with so far, I’ve had some truly amazing Disney CMs when booking in the past and would rather book with them and transfer.

I like to book online because...when it comes to booking my Disney trip I feel like Ron Swanson in a Lowe's: (Hope somebody here is a Parks & Rec fan and gets this one...)

 

[DisneyMandC]

I like to book online because...when it comes to booking my Disney trip I feel like Ron Swanson in a Lowe's: (Hope somebody here is a Parks & Rec fan and gets this one...)

LOL I really laughed at this because my DH and I are currently standing in a Lowe’s and I’m typing this on my phone!!!

And I do agree with that, though I will say that I wish I knew the name of the CM who helped me book my honeymoon trip. I called thinking I would book a split stay with part of the week at a savanna view room at AKL and the other half at a moderate. He explained the AKL partial view standard rooms to me and we ended up booking a standard room instead and he put all these notes on our account about how we were honeymooning and really wanted a great view and it was our first on site WDW trip together. Needless to say, we ended up with a killer view from our room and spent 8 days at AKL!!

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Your ring sounds beautiful. I didn’t trust SO with getting me a ring either lol. He knows nothing about jewelry and honestly I’m not super “girly” so I didn’t know a lot either. We went looking weeks ago and learned about the color scale, clarity and different cuts lol. Once we saw some rings in purpose and looked at the diamond charts we designed the ring on brilliant earth. They have a 30 day refund policy so if I don’t like it we can return it.

I think that’s so sweet your family was there for the proposal!!

I am not really girly either, so I was a bit worried about something being really gaudy. DH picked the diamond halo ring- big center diamond with a circle of small diamonds around it. It is a pretty simple style, with more character than just a solitaire, but still timeless. And it looks great with the diamond eternity band. I love it so much and often get random compliments on it when I am out shopping. I am really happy that I opted for the higher quality stone rather than a slightly bigger size because it is really captivating.

And the family being there made it a bit stressful, honestly. Everyone knew the reason that we were all getting together, which put a bit of pressure on us. Though, it was very sweet. DH got down on one knee and read a poem he had written me.

 

[disneedee]

How many Marriott points do you current have?
How many SPG points will you have when you get done with your current MSR?
What cards have you gotten in the past year (month and year approved)? I may have some thoughts for you but don't want to steer in the wrong direction

I have no Marriott points. Will have 40000 spg after spend. Figure I need about 120000 sw to book flights. Currently have none. Want sw because of less chance of loosing them if something happens and flights have to be canceled. Want to take my 85 yr old parents to dL before Christmas is gone.

Don’t have my cc charts at home so not going to be able to come up with exact on that.doesnt everyone do this stuff at work. . Really want to get back in the chase game. Credit karma shows both So & I each have 17 open cards. I do remember that SO will drop to 3/24 in Jan 2019. And I drop to 4/24 in October2018. Some of the current ones for me are freedom,boa premium,barclay travel, citi, Alaska, ax bzn spg, ax everyday, ax everyday plus, ihg.... SO has CSR, Alaska, discover it,barclay travel, citi, freedom unlimited.

 

[calypso726]

So a 50k + 60k SW double dip will get you 114k SW points with MSR and that’s worth approx. $1,687 (without assuming any value for the CP usage).

Thanks for chiming in on SW RR CP value. I'v flown SW maybe once in the last 5 or 6 years so I am not really familiar with the pricing on the airfare.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

I have no Marriott points. Will have 40000 spg after spend. Figure I need about 120000 sw to book flights. Currently have none. Want sw because of less chance of loosing them if something happens and flights have to be canceled. Want to take my 85 yr old parents to dL before Christmas is gone.

Don’t have my cc charts at home so not going to be able to come up with exact on that.doesnt everyone do this stuff at work. . Really want to get back in the chase game. Credit karma shows both So & I each have 17 open cards. I do remember that SO will drop to 3/24 in Jan 2019. And I drop to 4/24 in October2018. Some of the current ones for me are freedom,boa premium,barclay travel, citi, Alaska, ax bzn spg, ax everyday, ax everyday plus, ihg.... SO has CSR, Alaska, discover it,barclay travel, citi, freedom unlimited.

So #1 - I don't want you to risk a Chase shutdown. I will recommend some Chase cards here...but you need to determine if you're at risk.

1) You and your Player 2 could both open a Marriott Business card. This card is NOT subject to 5/24. You earn 75,000 Points for spending $3,000. You stated that you will soon have 40,000 SPG points (which becomes 120,000 Marriott points). With these cards, you would earn 78,000 Marriott points each. I'm not going to bore you with the details of how to combine those points but you could get them all into one Marriott account through some different methods and you'd have 276,000 Marriott points total. With this total you could redeem though Marriott nights & Flights for 120,000 SW RR points and you'd get a bonus 7 night cert for a cat. 1-5 property. 120,000 SW points will likely cover $1,700 - $1,800 in flights.
2) You and your Player 2 could both open a Hyatt card. This card is also NOT subject to 5/24 and the signup plus MSR would earn 42k pts. Hyatt points transfer to Southwest at 5:2.4 I believe and if you transfer 50k points you get a kicker. In theory you could transfer 8k URs (if you have them) to Hyatt to hit that 50k mark and so that signup + some URs could be worth 29k-30k Southwest points (times 2 = about 60k Southwest points worth $850ish). (I know these are rough numbers but I'm not as familiar with the Hyatt program)
3) You could earn AMEX MRs from cards like the BGR, Biz Plat, BlueBiz+, and Biz Green, and transfer to SPG then to Marriott. AMEX MRs are 3:1 to SPG and then 1:3 to Marriott so it's basically 1:1 from AMEX MRs to Marriott. Then you could revert to step 1 and make them Southwest through a Nights and Flights.

I believe those are all the ideas I can come up with Again I'll reiterate that getting Chase cards when you are > 5/24 (even though the cards themselves are not subject to 5/24) can be risky due to all the shutdown reports.

EDIT: I should also add that you could just take your 120,000 Marriott points (from your 40k SPG) and based on the new conversion program that I think it coming soon you can turn that into 50,000 SW points (without the whole nights and flights thing).

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Thanks for chiming in on SW RR CP value. I flown SW maybe once in the last 5 or 6 years so I am not really familiar with the pricing on the airfare.

No worries - It's one of the few airline miles where you can pretty much put an accurate cpp on it! I'd say > 90% of flights are going to be in the 1.4cpp - 1.6cpp range.

 

[pillow]

I must be really bad at the gift card game, because I don’t get them that much off. I won’t buy them for a whole trip either, because I don’t want to be stuck with Disney gift cards if plans change. So usually I just get a few hundred bucks worth for incidentals.

ETA:
I am thinking in terms of taking the kids only on last minute vgt rates and the convo to DH needs to be “free cruise on points.”
For our normal family dcl I will still pay with cc.

I did get the Lowe’s $10/$50 for gift cards and occasionally pick up one free. I’m impressed with you paying whole trips that way!

Thats the downside once you've purchased a gift card. You gotta use at Disney! Except you probably could resell them fairly easily I think (based on the number of folks on the gift card thread lol). Most of mine come from the Kroger 4x deal.

 

[babyready]

This isn't some great info! I have never thought of using MRs for nights and flights (maybe I haven't been paying attention)!

 

[pillow]

I will admit, I don't know everything I'm normally not into this Plastiq thing but now that I have the CIP it makes sense in some situations.

If I'm doing the math right - I pay a $10,000 bill, I pay $250 in fees so $10,250 goes on my card and I'll earn 30,750 URs. I could cash them out for $307.50 and come out $57.50 ahead. Or I could go the travel route and I get $461.25. In rough numbers it's like buying a night at a Disney Deluxe resort for $250 - basically sounds like 45% off to me haha!

I'm not sure I really need more URs in the queue at this point...but I'll find a use for them.

This was exactly my train of thought. It essentially amounts to almost half off towards travel. I don't need the UR's either right now, but there is no harm in earning the 3x through plastiq. If I decide to "cash out," I can do that at any time. I can't think of a downside to using Plastiq when you have the CIP.

 

[KPK02090]

This is SO HELPFUL because this is EXACTLY what I want to do. I’ve never done a bounce back offer, but I’m going to neee three separate rooms for 2019 so I’m hoping I can get a bounceback offer for one room and then just book the other two with whatever available discounts Disney has. Thanks for sharing!!

I think you can actually book up to 3 rooms on a bounceback offer. Not 100% sure, but could be worth looking into.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

This isn't some great info! I have never thought of using MRs for nights and flights (maybe I haven't been paying attention)!

Isn't or IS? LOL It's not necessarily a great use of MRs. In an absolute vacuum if you had 270,000 MRs...you could cash them out for $3,400 with a Schwab plat. You could get gift cards totaling $2,700. You could potentially get even more value from another redemption method.

OR you could transfer to SPG, then to Marriott and get a nights and flights. The 120k SW points are worth $1,800 let's say. The 7 nights at a Cat 5 (let's assume it's $150 per night) would be $1,050. So you just got $2,850 of value. Barely more than the Gift cards and LESS than the Schwab or other methods.

It's more palateable in a situation where you need to top off your Marriott points balance to hit a nights and flights and you already have a bunch of the points needed.