I love credit cards so much!

[GZanta77]

All these approvals today!!! AWESOME!.....giving me an itchy trigger finger, but I am still working on 3 MSRs.

 

[speedyfishy]

I upgraded to the new Marriott card. I will get 6x for every dollar spent at a Marriott. What card should I use now for my room charges at Atlantis? The Marriott or the CIP? I’m leaning towards the CIP because I value UR more and I’m not even 100% sure the room charges will code as a Marriott.

 

[Ngwira]

Congratulations to all those who are being approved for Chase cards! Unfortunately, DH and I won't be under 5/24 until February 2019. The good news is that I have our travel planned out and paid for with points until August 2019 so come February, I will start building up my UR balance again. I also have the CFU so any non bonus spend will go on that card and will be redeemed using my CSR for the 50% bonus.

DH and I talked this morning about WDW in April and June 2019 and then Toronto and Niagara Falls for August 2019. I checked Air Canada and flights for this August are $77 one way from Newark. I won't even need miles or points for flights that cheap. Here's hoping that flights for August 2019 follow the same trend!

 

[WDWRook]

Has anyone actually booked a Disney cruise with Chase Travel? Or will I get to be the guinea pig?

Yes, we booked a cruise in January 2019 via UR points. Very easy. Just called the Chase Travel line, told them the details of the trip and cabin I wanted, and it was done. I entered the booking number into the Disney website within minutes of booking and it showed up right away. We got the welcome envelop a couple weeks later.

Now, I still need to call to setup ground travel and I need to book flights and hotel stays before and DVC stay after.

 

[vanjust14]

So excited! I just did a double dip for the Saphire cards and was instant approved for both!

I applied for the CSR on my phone and a couple minutes later applied for the CSP on my computer.

I used DiS links for both cards!

CONGRATS!! I'm planning to do this myself in the next couple of days, wish me luck!

 

[amalone1013]

Thanks @WDWRook - I was just reading your post about when you'd called I saw that they tried to steer you away from booking yourself and then transferring, so I wonder what they'll say when I tell them we've had our reservations for two months...

Since I plan on calling, does anyone have any Disney Cruise questions they'd like me to try and ask?

My main goals tonight are

• Finding out if I can still transfer our reservations over to Chase, or if I need to cancel and rebook
• To make sure I could book something in MILs name
• See what they say about paying with gift cards...

This weekend DH brought up a good alternative to my plan of applying all of those points to the ILs cruise, which would be to instead use them to cover their flights, hotels, etc (especially as we'd like to take them to Epcot and Kennedy Space Center before the cruise). Decisions, decisions... But I still want to ask all of my questions, because now I have an idea for the approximately $1400 in UR points we should earn from the CIP sign up...

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

@SouthFayetteFan and other SW wizards.

So I am planning out our travel for cousin's wedding/Disneyland. And then I realized that week is actually Thanksgiving. I thought it was the week after initially. So instead of flying in and out of DTW, we are now planning to fly in and out of MDW so that we will at my parent's for Thanksgiving.

Since the SW dates don't open until the end of the month, I used the previous weeks schedules to plan out our flights. I assume that they will remain pretty consistent. My plans look like this:

Nov. 16 - MDW - PHX, 7:30am
Nov. 18 - PHX - SNA, 8:10am
Nov. 21 - LAX - MDW, 9:05am

I am planning to fly out from LAX because it is a nonstop flight to MDW. I am aiming for all nonstop, since changing planes with a 13 month old sounds less than attractive.

So my questions is, should I transfer UR before the booking window opens? How long does it take points to transfer? Current rates are showing at costing around 80k SW for all 3 passengers on all legs. Will the flights likely cost more since it is a holiday week or will they start low if I book right at the start? I am thinking it would be best to book the Nov. 21 (day before Thanksgiving) flight first, since it might be more in demand. I have only flown SW a few times and never on reward tickets. Appreciate any help.

 

[miztressuz]

Has anyone actually booked a Disney cruise with Chase Travel? Or will I get to be the guinea pig?

I haven't booked yet, but I did recently call to get the skinny because we have a future cruise deposit on NCL and a placeholder with Disney. So I asked about both but I think the placeholder with Disney is a different animal and I would have had to transfer that within 30 days like a regular booking to be able to use Chase. However, the NCL is a deposit that tied to a Latitudes account so you can book those straight with NCL or your TA when you want to pick the cruise. I picked the CSR option in the Cruise and Tours automated line and spoke with Leon. He confirmed that you do have to use your UR points at the time of a money transaction, but since I had a deposit cert on NCL I could use that to book the cruise and then for final payment, or when I want to make a payment, I'd have to use any UR's I wanted to use then. Which if true is exactly what I want to do, so that would be awesome. But if I didn't have one and was paying cash for the deposit, if I had any UR's I wanted to use I'd have to do it at the time of deposit.

For pricing he said whatever I can find on the provider website is what they have access to, so I can use that to estimate how many points I'd be able to use. Basically, they don't have any special rates like other TA's might do with block bookings and whatnot, just whatever you'd have public access to (either NCL/DCL site or your Latitudes/Castaway member pricing) Which is ok with me because just being able to use UR to pay for part of the cruise gets me a better discount than any other site I've seen.

I'd be happy to hear anyone else's experience. I just keep thinking it's too good to be true I can use my UR's at final payment this way for NCL (because it's exactly what I want to do, and that hardly ever happens to me ) I think I goofed myself for using Chase for Disney but that's ok, I've got some time to save up for that one if we take it.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

@SouthFayetteFan and other SW wizards.

So I am planning out our travel for cousin's wedding/Disneyland. And then I realized that week is actually Thanksgiving. I thought it was the week after initially. So instead of flying in and out of DTW, we are now planning to fly in and out of MDW so that we will at my parent's for Thanksgiving.

Since the SW dates don't open until the end of the month, I used the previous weeks schedules to plan out our flights. I assume that they will remain pretty consistent. My plans look like this:

Nov. 16 - MDW - PHX, 7:30am
Nov. 18 - PHX - SNA, 8:10am
Nov. 21 - LAX - MDW, 9:05am

I am planning to fly out from LAX because it is a nonstop flight to MDW. I am aiming for all nonstop, since changing planes with a 13 month old sounds less than attractive.

So my questions is, should I transfer UR before the booking window opens? How long does it take points to transfer? Current rates are showing at costing around 80k SW for all 3 passengers on all legs. Will the flights likely cost more since it is a holiday week or will they start low if I book right at the start? I am thinking it would be best to book the Nov. 21 (day before Thanksgiving) flight first, since it might be more in demand. I have only flown SW a few times and never on reward tickets. Appreciate any help.

I have only transferred URs to Southwest a couple of time (and it has been awhile - probably 2 years ago) but I recall it being an instant transfer. Hopefully somebody else can chime in with a more recent DP.

The schedules can change between releases but usually aren't too drastic in my experience (unless you've unfortunately picked a poorly performing route where they make some major changes). Given your city pairings, you probably won't see that kind of issue!

I would book all of this the morning of release for sure (especially since you're using SW points and can rebook if they drop). I also agree with booking 11/21 first then move backwards from there. If somebody can provide a solid DP that the transfers are still instant, I wouldn't transfer your points ahead of time. You don't want to transfer too many or too little points anyways (obviously you'd prefer to keep them as URs for the flexibility and only transfer what you have to).

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

I have only transferred URs to Southwest a couple of time (and it has been awhile - probably 2 years ago) but I recall it being an instant transfer. Hopefully somebody else can chime in with a more recent DP.

The schedules can change between releases but usually aren't too drastic in my experience (unless you've unfortunately picked a poorly performing route where they make some major changes). Given your city pairings, you probably won't see that kind of issue!

I would book all of this the morning of release for sure (especially since you're using SW points and can rebook if they drop). I also agree with booking 11/21 first then move backwards from there. If somebody can provide a solid DP that the transfers are still instant, I wouldn't transfer your points ahead of time. You don't want to transfer too many or too little points anyways (obviously you'd prefer to keep them as URs for the flexibility and only transfer what you have to).

Yes, I would rather keep the URs and transfer only what I actually need. What time does the booking window open? Midnight? Sometime in the morning? I want to make sure I am up and ready to go to get this all done as easily and quickly as possible.

ETA: I am on Eastern time.

 

[Budzooka]

I have only transferred URs to Southwest a couple of time (and it has been awhile - probably 2 years ago) but I recall it being an instant transfer. Hopefully somebody else can chime in with a more recent DP.

The schedules can change between releases but usually aren't too drastic in my experience (unless you've unfortunately picked a poorly performing route where they make some major changes). Given your city pairings, you probably won't see that kind of issue!

I would book all of this the morning of release for sure (especially since you're using SW points and can rebook if they drop). I also agree with booking 11/21 first then move backwards from there. If somebody can provide a solid DP that the transfers are still instant, I wouldn't transfer your points ahead of time. You don't want to transfer too many or too little points anyways (obviously you'd prefer to keep them as URs for the flexibility and only transfer what you have to).

I can confirm that SW transfers are instant.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Also, should I create RR accounts for DH and DD now or can I add numbers later? Adding later would probably save time during booking.

 

[3 DD love princesses]

I also went ahead and scheduled one of my student loan payments to start being paid by Plastiq every month and canceled my autodraft. I just made another $400 student loan payment and it's currently pending with 3x UR on my CIP, so I feel fairly comfortable doing this. I'll probably pay this loan off at the end of the summer (also with CIP), but at least I'll get a couple extra URs out of it until then. After that, I might switch my Fed Loan Servicing loans to Plastiq too... we'll see.

Check your email I found the plastiq email in my spam that was offering a lower % fee for the first three months if you did it for reoccurring payments.

I wanted to join in on the approvals so I applied for the CIC. I got denied after recon, the line was going to 7-10 days because an AU card isn’t removed. He still denied me because I just got the CIP. I got in in November 2017! SO got his CIP in March and then got a CIC in April no problem. I have bad luck.
He said I can call reconsideration tomorrow to try again.

To make myself feel better I applied SO to the Amex Delta Biz. Instant approval. Amex is the best. (the RAT team makes my life difficult, but I really love them.)

Shocked he told you to call tomorrow. Good luck. I’m waiting for my letter before I try calling back.

So would we be okay only getting the two CIP cards and no other cards? I hope we have enough time between now and when we want to book flights/hotels to earn the points.

If you can do more I’d go for it to get more than your flights free.
If your DH is okay applying for the CIP I’d do that and when you are almost finished meeting the spend then have him refer you for a CIP. Then once you are have almost met your spend have DH double dip the CSR and CSP. Then you can redeem your ur points at 1.5x.
Plastiq helped meet our spend. Met it in less than the first month thanks to all student loans, toy hauler loan, van loan, Mortage it doesn’t take long add it up.

DH and I currently get 3% back on our checking account per month if we make 15 transactions with over $10 for each transaction. He is a little worried we will lose that 3% cash back by charging everything to credit cards.

Does a your checking have a bill pay? Does that count as a transaction? Paying your cc bill you could do it in multiple payments to get the 15 transactions

@SouthFayetteFan and other SW wizards.

So I am planning out our travel for cousin's wedding/Disneyland. And then I realized that week is actually Thanksgiving. I thought it was the week after initially. So instead of flying in and out of DTW, we are now planning to fly in and out of MDW so that we will at my parent's for Thanksgiving.

Since the SW dates don't open until the end of the month, I used the previous weeks schedules to plan out our flights. I assume that they will remain pretty consistent. My plans look like this:

Nov. 16 - MDW - PHX, 7:30am
Nov. 18 - PHX - SNA, 8:10am
Nov. 21 - LAX - MDW, 9:05am

I am planning to fly out from LAX because it is a nonstop flight to MDW. I am aiming for all nonstop, since changing planes with a 13 month old sounds less than attractive.

So my questions is, should I transfer UR before the booking window opens? How long does it take points to transfer? Current rates are showing at costing around 80k SW for all 3 passengers on all legs. Will the flights likely cost more since it is a holiday week or will they start low if I book right at the start? I am thinking it would be best to book the Nov. 21 (day before Thanksgiving) flight first, since it might be more in demand. I have only flown SW a few times and never on reward tickets. Appreciate any help.

I like using points to book tickets since swa changes prices. This way if it goes lower the points go back to your account. If you pay for the flight you get the money on a voucher good for 1 year from the date you First booked.

 

[amalone1013]

So I asked about both but I think the placeholder with Disney is a different animal and I would have had to transfer that within 30 days like a regular booking to be able to use Chase.

This is interesting... our reservation is from a placeholder, the ILs is not. Right now our cost with the placeholder discount is $4207 plus we get the $100 on board credit. Price has gone up a bit and with losing the placeholder, new cost is $4858. If we redeemed all $1400 in UR points on it, it'd bring it down to $3458, but we're only 'saving' $750 by using 95k UR points... I don't know if I could bring myself to do that!

 

[DisneyMandC]

Check your email I found the plastiq email in my spam that was offering a lower % fee for the first three months if you did it for reoccurring payments.

I looked, but no luck I was really hoping to get that.

 

[3 DD love princesses]

Also, should I create RR accounts for DH and DD now or can I add numbers later? Adding later would probably save time during booking.

Go ahead and create accounts for them but you can use your rr points to book flights for them. If you use points you don’t earn points.

 

[3 DD love princesses]

I looked, but no luck I was really hoping to get that.

Bummer but it’s still works out in the end with using the CIP.

 

[Budzooka]

I'm joining the approval party today! I applied for the CIP yesterday and got the 30 day notice upon application and it then changed to the dreaded 7-10 days on the status line this morning. So, I called the business recon line and they told me I had too many cards. I asked him to review them with me and they had me at 6/24, but were including 2 AU that I was removed from earlier this year. I told him I didn't think those should count, but he told me they did because they were opened in the last 24 months. After quite a bit of back and forth, he put me on hold for a long while to get back on and tell me they could remove those AU cards from consideration! I had to tap dance through questions about my "business", but was able to answer well enough to get approved.

Thanks for the input from you guys on the best way to move forward.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

This is interesting... our reservation is from a placeholder, the ILs is not. Right now our cost with the placeholder discount is $4207 plus we get the $100 on board credit. Price has gone up a bit and with losing the placeholder, new cost is $4858. If we redeemed all $1400 in UR points on it, it'd bring it down to $3458, but we're only 'saving' $750 by using 95k UR points... I don't know if I could bring myself to do that!

If the price goes up, I wouldn't pay with UR. It is a not a good return on value.

 

[speedyfishy]

Shocked he told you to call tomorrow. Good luck. I’m waiting for my letter before I try calling back

Yeah, it was odd. He said it was my right to call reconsideration again, but I’d have to wait until tomorrow since I did it already today. I really don’t know if you have to wait a day before HUCA though, but I’m going to wait.