I love credit cards so much!

[Albort]

The Discover and Freedom have a lot of overlap. I haven’t used my Freedom at all this quarter as I am just concentrating on maxing out Discover. So it probably wouldn’t be my first choice. The Freedom Unlimited is a good overall card with a low required spending limit. It is my fall back go to card when I want to use a Visa, it doesn’t fit into a category, and I don’t have a minimum spend I am working on.

whats the appeal of your discover card over your freedom card? i have mine the other way around haha.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Irritating travel night here...

Had to book a hotel for work for a trip in August in a high tourist area. Good news is it's a $310/night Marriott, so lots of points coming my way for a stay I ultimately pay for. Bad news is that the hotels in this area have always charged a first night's deposit at the time of booking that my coworkers and I end up having to front the cash for for over two months. Bummer, but it is what it is. Well this year I guess Marriott changed its policy and I know have to pay for TWO NIGHTS of my three night stay upfront which just seems ABSURD!! So now I'm out $620 until the end of July when my work reimburses me.

Then, I went and tried to book mine and DH's tickets to Tulsa for August through Delta. DH has a leftover credit on his Delta account where work was going to fly him somewhere and then had to cancel it last minute and the credit came back to him to use. Yay for us! The credit will pay for his whole ticket. Bad news is I can't get the stupid thing to work online and now I'm going to have to call Delta tomorrow

 

[Lain]

If you have been following along you might have seen talk about business cards. If you have a business or even a “business” (i.e. sell to neighbors/friends crafts) you could get the Chase Ink Cash. My husband just got his and I love it. No annual fee and 5 times Ultimate Reward points at office supply stores. The reason that is important is you can get Disney Gift cards. Get the gift cards and use it to pay your remaining balance on the Disney trip. The CIC is also great since it is 2 times the points on gas and eating out. You can use it for the travel UR points or simply cash it out.

The CIC is a great idea and probably the top plan for an “achievable” spend and great rewards.

@570traveler - the CIC is a solid recommendation if you're ok with applying for a "business" card.

Office supply stores sell Disney, Amazon, Starbucks, gas, restaurants, and digital entertainment gift cards (e.g., iTunes, Netflix, Hulu), which means you can earn 5x UR by purchasing gift cards at Office Depot/Office Max/Staples, then spending those gift cards where you would've spent cash or earned <5% cash or points back otherwise. If going to your local office supply store is too inconvenient every time you need to buy a gift card, there are apps like Gyft and Swych that sell eGift cards to a wide variety of merchants that also earn 5x UR on the CIC, which let you buy from your smartphone.

You said you have $2000 left to pay for your Disney trip, with most of that saved up. If you mean you have the cash for it, get the CIC, buy Disney gift cards with the CIC and earn 5x UR back (10,000 UR points = $100), then use the cash to pay off your credit card, and you'll be 2/3 of the way through the CIC's $3,000 minimum spending requirement. Alternatively, if you have a Sam's Club membership, you can buy Walmart eGift cards on Gyft, earn 5x UR by paying with your CIC, take the Walmart gift cards to Sam's Club to buy Disney gift cards at ~4% off.

The current offer on the CIC is 50,000 UR points for a $3,000 minimum spending requirement in 3 months, with no annual fee. The rumor is this bonus offer will end on 5/20/18 (and possibly, the CIC may even stop accepting new applications). Compare this 50,000 UR offer to Chase's other "premium" travel cards, the Chase Sapphire Preferred (CSP) and the Chase Sapphire Reserve (CSR), which both also have 50,000 UR bonus offers for $4,000 MSR/3 months, and carry annual fees. 50,000 UR is equivalent to $500 in cash, but if you decide to really get into this game and go for Chase's premium travel cards, the CSP and/or CSR, or Chase's more premium business card, the Chase Ink Preferred (CIP), then you can transfer those points to the higher end cards and redeem at 25-50% greater value.

 

[disneedee]

The CIC is a great idea and probably the top plan for an “achievable” spend and great rewards.

Behind that I’d still rank a CF above a CFU in this scenario. If they just went and bought $1,500 of Disney GCs at a grocery store they’d get $225 back (15%). On a CFU they’d get $172.50 on that same $1,500. Can always apply for a CFU in a couple months then or PC the CF to a CFU once maxing the 5% for the quarter.

Can you show me the math on the cf getting $225 back on $1500. I was thinking I was getting $75 back on $1500.?

 

[GZanta77]

Can you show me the math on the cf getting $225 back on $1500. I was thinking I was getting $75 back on $1500.?

I think he was counting the new card bonus of $150 + the qtrly spend 5% bonus of $75.

 

[kmc8826]

whats the appeal of your discover card over your freedom card? i have mine the other way around haha.

Well my big reason is actually rather silly. My husband does all the grocery shopping and also has a hard time remembering which card to use where. You know how Discover lets you pick from a variety of designs? Easy for him to remember to use his American flag card at the grocery store. I’d rather do that then have him start confusing the Freedom and FU and have him use the Freedom at Costco. Plan is to max out the Freedom at the end of the quarter with Chase Pay at Best Buy with gift cards.

 

[calypso726]

Another random question. Eventually I’ll know all the answers and can stop pestering everyone! When you aren’t trying to get to your MSR, are there any cards in particular that give you the most bang for your buck? I have a CITI card that earns me total 2% and I always thought I was doing pretty good with that.

I rotate cards depending on what I am purchasing and if there is a bonus category. CF for the 5x on whatever the current bonus category is the the quarter. CSR for dining and travel 3x. Ink+ for cable, internet, phone and purchasing 3rd party merchant gift cards at office supply stores for 5x. Various AMex card if I am taking advantage of an Amex offer on that card. SPG 1.25x until August 1st. I value the airline partners so it gets all my non category spending. After that my non category spend will go to an Amex Blue Business card for 2x.

No, I haven't been there! And you saying the beds are atrocious makes me scared to ever go there!! I'm so picky. I love the beds at BLT, Poly and BC. Even when dh & I stayed at POFQ last month for a night, I couldn't sleep. I didn't like the bed at all. Too lumpy.

None of us found the beds at Aulani uncomfortable and we were traveling with a party of 20 or so. They aren't DCL beds by any stretch of the imagination, but they were fine. Perhaps it was a bad one out of the bunch.

Tangentially related to my Japan questions...

Do we think co-branded cards like the Chase United cards put us into Chase shutdown territory, or are they focusing more on UR earning cards? Should DH and I go for United cards when I'm already holding 4 Chase cards (but could easily lie low on them until the first of next year if necessary)?

I am holding 10 Chase cards and so is DH. I have no plans to go for any Chase cards and will likely be eliminating a couple of them next year. I'd suggest finding out which airline will be the most likely, then decide.

Yeah - it’s a somewhat lazy way of saying you’re over 5/24. When asking for advice I always recommend people state their actual 5/24 status because there truly isn’t a good “definition” for it. I once had a guy tell me he was lol/24 and he was 7/24...ummmm no!

Basically I despise the term, but I’ll get off my soapbox now HAHA!

Fine, if you don't like LOL/24 I can switch it up to ROTFL/24. What say you

I wanted to circle back on this now that I've had a chance to get to my desktop computer.

I went to look at the Marriott Category 6 hotel that I stay at when I visit my daughter at University in England. The week I am planning to go it is 180,000 Marriott points (standard rate) and 967GBP for members or roughly $1311. WOW!!!! Not a bad return on those 5,000 "lost" Alaska miles!!! I will definitely be going for the Marriott hotel/air package with my Starpoints at least once if not twice before August. I/we go visit DD a lot

I was able to book the room for the week on points without having any in my account. So once I get the certificate, I will call and see if they can apply it.

Can someone confirm the steps for my plan so I don't trip up on anything?

1. Pool our household points by transferring DH's Starpoints to my Starwood account. This will take a couple days.
2. Transfer 100,000 Starpoints to my Marriott account. I assume this can be done online. Anything to be cautious of here? This will give me 300,000 Marriott points.
3. Call Marriott and have those 300,000 points converted into a Hotel & Air package. Which will yield me 120,000k Alaska miles (or 132,000 United miles) plus my Category 6 hotel voucher (worth $1311 to me for my Sept. stay).
4. As soon as the hotel certificate appears in my account (instantly?) call back to have the certificate applied to my reservation that is being held on points. Maybe I could do it at the same time as I book the hotel & air package? My thought in doing this right away would be to avoid a negative re-categorization in August, and as I already have my flights, I know when I'll be there.

I now have my booked hotel ($1311) and 120,000/132,000 miles for the original 100,000 Starpoints.

Rinse & Repeat as many times as I can before they change this, LOL.

Yes to all.

So is anyone combining all their SPG/Marriott points into one person's account, if they have two players? Just curious as I've now got 35k in my SPG account and 35k in DHs...

Yes, we do as well.

We have all our Marriott points consolidated in my account. (Not so humble brag...all 1.3million of them )

That's a LOT of SPG points from where I'm sitting

To those that say they don't quite understand Amex MRs as well as Chase URs:

• MRs can transfer to travel partners (not as many as UR and some not 1:1) - I use Delta (1000 MR = 1000 Delta) and Jet Blue (250MR = 200 Jet blue). There are other airlines and three hotel chains - Choice (1000=1000), Hilton (1000=2000) and SPG (1000=333). They also run sales. The one and only time I needed a Jet Blue transfer they were running a 250=250 sale.
  
• Amex has a travel portal where you can book travel. Works similar to Chase. Check point redemption to see where you can get the best value. I have never used the Amex travel portal as I have more UR and prefer to use them before my MR.
  
• You can use points to cover your charges, but I would not recommend it.
• You can redeem for gift cards, but I would not recommend it.
• You can shop with points, but I would not recommend it.

I do prefer Chase UR over Amex because Chase has much more flexibility and generally gives more value per point. But I collect MRs too, mainly for Delta and Jet Blue Flights.

MR actually has more transfer partners than UR. Not sure if that was a typo. MR has 19 transfer partners. 16 are airlines and 3 are hotels. 13 of the airlines transfer 1:1. Choice Hotel is 1:1, SPG is 1:.333 and Hilton is 1:2

UR has 13 transfer partners. 9 are airlines and 4 are hotels. All transfer 1:1

I also prefer Chase UR over Amex MR and would agree with the other excellent points you've made.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

So here is where DH is at...wondering what to do next. He would be eligible for a CSR/CSP double dip. The issue with that is all our points are sitting in his CSR. I want him to do a SW Biz/Personal combo when he is eligible. I am a tad confused on it. I guess might not be until late 2019 for a 2020/2021 CP since he got the SW Prem 6/17 and Plus 9/17. He couldn't get another personal bonus until late 2019, correct? So we will hold off for a 2020/21 CP.
I am thinking of getting him a SPG personal, just waiting for a decent sign up bonus.
Here are his cards:

Amex everyday 2008
CSR 2/2016
SW Prem 6/2017
SW Plus 9/2017
CIP 4/2018
SPG Biz 4/2018

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Can you show me the math on the cf getting $225 back on $1500. I was thinking I was getting $75 back on $1500.?

I think he was counting the new card bonus of $150 + the qtrly spend 5% bonus of $75.

Yup - was comparing CF and CFU signup bonuses plus 5% vs. 1.5%.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

So here is where DH is at...wondering what to do next. He would be eligible for a CSR/CSP double dip. The issue with that is all our points are sitting in his CSR. I want him to do a SW Biz/Personal combo when he is eligible. I am a tad confused on it. I guess might not be until late 2019 for a 2020/2021 CP since he got the SW Prem 6/17 and Plus 9/17. He couldn't get another personal bonus until late 2019, correct? So we will hold off for a 2020/21 CP.
I am thinking of getting him a SPG personal, just waiting for a decent sign up bonus.
Here are his cards:

Amex everyday 2008
CSR 2/2016
SW Prem 6/2017
SW Plus 9/2017
CIP 4/2018
SPG Biz 4/2018

Did you PC to that CSR? The open date of Feb 2016 throws me for a loop.

 

[platamama]

Plus for my BCP the grocery store I use for 4x fuel points (Fred Meyer, a Kroger chain) doesn't count as grocery so I don't earn 6%.
"

Oh, I miss Fred Meyer. I can see it being more like a Target or Walmart for cc coding though. Have you tried QFC? (Does QFC have a gas station?) The Kroger in my region has some kind of relationship with Shell gas stations and I think I can use fuel points there too but TBH I haven’t tried.

 

[Lain]

So here is where DH is at...wondering what to do next. He would be eligible for a CSR/CSP double dip. The issue with that is all our points are sitting in his CSR. I want him to do a SW Biz/Personal combo when he is eligible. I am a tad confused on it. I guess might not be until late 2019 for a 2020/2021 CP since he got the SW Prem 6/17 and Plus 9/17. He couldn't get another personal bonus until late 2019, correct? So we will hold off for a 2020/21 CP.
I am thinking of getting him a SPG personal, just waiting for a decent sign up bonus.
Here are his cards:

Amex everyday 2008
CSR 2/2016
SW Prem 6/2017
SW Plus 9/2017
CIP 4/2018
SPG Biz 4/2018

Did you PC to that CSR? The open date of Feb 2016 throws me for a loop.

@SouthFayetteFan's right. The CSR came out in August 2016.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Did you PC to that CSR? The open date of Feb 2016 throws me for a loop.

It has me thrown for a loop too...ha. Yes PC'd in Nov 2017 from CSP. BUT...AF just posted on 5/1/18...so really late. Travel credit comes again 11/2018, so I am assuming that is when the next AF will be due as well. But, yes, I am confused about it.

 

[linzjane88]

I don't have a QFC . Pretty much strictly Fred Meyer, Target, WM, and Safeway as far as grocery stores go. Other than those it's about a 45 minute drive to 'the city' for cool stores.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

It has me thrown for a loop too...ha. Yes PC'd in Nov 2017 from CSP. BUT...AF just posted on 5/1/18...so really late. Travel credit comes again 11/2018, so I am assuming that is when the next AF will be due as well. But, yes, I am confused about it.

Could you PC to freedom now and get the AF refunded, lol? Then do the double dip in a month?

 

[hsmamato2]

I was just doing some Marriott reading.... so a sweet spot might be my cat 8 hotel I'm wanting may be a 7 for a while.... I hope so!

 

[Lain]

I don't have a QFC . Pretty much strictly Fred Meyer, Target, WM, and Safeway as far as grocery stores go. Other than those it's about a 45 minute drive to 'the city' for cool stores.

Could you PC to freedom now and get the AF refunded, lol? Then do the double dip in a month?

@disneymagicgirl, this is my thought as well. Whatever the reason for the AF posting, if you PC the CSR, Chase should remove or credit the fee before you even have to pay it. This way, you clear DH's wallet of any Sapphire cards ahead of a double dip.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

DHs new CIP arrived today, all set up online now. Even made a purchase today. I’d like to get an employee card but they want SS#. Doesn’t count as an AU and 5/24 spot if I add myself, correct? Just freaks me out that they want my SS#

 

[Albort]

DHs new CIP arrived today, all set up online now. Even made a purchase today. I’d like to get an employee card but they want SS#. Doesn’t count as an AU and 5/24 spot if I add myself, correct? Just freaks me out that they want my SS#

correct, employee cards will not at towards your 5/24. Why they want SSN is weird, i dont recall having to do that on mine.

 

[pillow]

Ask me about the time I forgot the word "tortilla" and referred to it as "taco bread."

I always say weird stuff - more so as I age. I find myself talking about one thing while actually thinking about something else. News flash - that doesn't work!