I love credit cards so much!

[Albort]

My first search for New Orleans to Honolulu came up with no non-stop flights at all. I'll keep looking, but it seems like we'll have a layover regardless of which airline we end up going with. Might be using those lounge benefits on some cards afterall. LOL. Just want to get the best bang for our buck.

sad news in the lounge world... Alaska lounges now limit PP to PP holder only. :\ was announced today. That makes the Amex Plat more attractive now.
Too many PP users.

 

[Hatwriter456]

Has anyone else signed up for/used Credit Journey -- the free credit monitoring service offered through your Chase account? Incidentally, one of the factors it monitors is new accounts in the last 24 months. However, I believe the score is derived from TransUnion (please correct me if I'm wrong).

I've been using the Chase "Credit Journey" since it started for the Slate card. The information is based on your Experian credit report, not Transunion. The information provided is very basic: credit score (FICO), utilization, % of on time payments, average length of credit, # of credit inquires for the last 2 years, and # of open accounts. I also use the free credit score (FICO) provided by Discover (you don't have to have a Discover card - I don't) and it's based on Experian data too, but I like the way it's formatted better than the Chase version. I get my "FAKO" Vantage score based on my Transunion credit report from my Capital One card. I also use Credit Karma. Credit Karma gives you a "FAKO" Vantage score based on Transunion and Equifax - the Vantage credit scores are garbage. But, what I do like about Credit Karma is that I can see condensed versions of my credit reports, ages of each account, and hard pulls with dates. The only thing I can't see if what companies have done soft pulls. So, if you need to see the exact dates of when your credit card accounts were opened you can find it there. BTW, my credit score from Chase/Discover were pretty close to the scores provided to me when we refinanced our house.

 

[Lain]

sad news in the lounge world... Alaska lounges now limit PP to PP holder only. :\ was announced today. That makes the Amex Plat more attractive now.
Too many PP users.

I wouldn't be surprised if this is part of a trend towards more restrictions. We've been turned away from or told to come back by the Air France/KLM Lounge at SFO a few times due to capacity (or really to make room for their actual passengers). It's not a nice look.

There are just too many CSRs and Platinums out there, and soon the Altitude Reserve is supposed to offer PP too. We know the CSR has been wildly popular, but it seems like every young professional and techie here in the SF Bay Area has it. And with unlimited guests in your traveling party allowed in, that's just asking for crowds. I believe Amex limits your guests to two for both PP and Centurion Lounges. But even the Platinum card is common enough. Luckily, we have a Centurion Lounge at SFO, which we'd always choose over PP, and my wife has never been turned away in the many times she's visited, but the lounge does get crowded -- most recently even on an early Saturday morning trip.

 

[calypso726]

Thanks so much! I must say your strategies and travel stories are definitely my goals...LOL. I know it takes time to learn all the ins and outs. I'm hoping I can pick up on all this quickly. Started researching flights to Hawaii and looking at where we might want to stay. I'm so thankful this for this hobby because without it, Hawaii is definitely something we would have had to wait a lot longer to experience.



My first search for New Orleans to Honolulu came up with no non-stop flights at all. I'll keep looking, but it seems like we'll have a layover regardless of which airline we end up going with. Might be using those lounge benefits on some cards afterall. LOL. Just want to get the best bang for our buck.

@mhartman09 You're welcome! It does take a little bit of effort and does seem overwhelming at first. However, there are big pay-offs with even a small bit of effort. Compared to the bloggers who write about this stuff, I barely have a clue what I'm doing. Yet, I consider what we have managed to accomplish a huge success! I can only imagine what things might be like if I actually put some real effort into this hobby. I am thankful to the bloggers that do this for a living and share their strategies.

All things being equal, I would prefer a non-stop flight. There are circumstances that I would purposely book a connecting flight in lieu of a non-stop. If MIA had a non-stop to HNL on a plane that does not have a lie flat seat in the business/first cabin I would not book that flight. That is a loooong time in a reclining seat. No thanks. I would intentionally find a connecting flight in DFW where I know they have a plane with lie flat seats and book that flight instead. So, my first concern is always how long is the flight and what are my seat options. This is mostly because DH has turned into a seat snob and I'll admit it's rubbing off on me too If I am going to connect then I will look for the flight that offers me a reasonable amount of time to connect should there be a delay and that has plenty of other connecting flight to my destination. I prefer no less than a 2 hour window when possible. If we are on time, then I will go to the lounge. We bring all lounge access cards with us. That will include, DH's Chase United Club credit card which we keep just for the lounge membership, an American Airlines Executive card which we also keep for lounge access, an Amex Platinum card which will cover Delta and Centurion lounges and the Priority Pass card from the CSR since it has the best lounge access. This way, no matter what terminal we eventually wind up in at a given airport, if they have a lounge we are getting in.

Clearly, we like lounge access and if DH is willing to pay for those AFs to get it, well I'm not gonna complain Seriously though, as our travelling habits increased due to this hobby we began to appreciate the benefits of some of the super high AF cards beyond the bonus points. Keep in mind we started off with the goal of one big trip and getting the best bang for our buck too. That was 5 years ago. Now, we take 2 or 3 big trips and numerous long weekends throughout the year. @Lain mentioned dining at French Laundry in an earlier post which is on the bucket list, so now I am toying with adding another day when we go see Hamilton in San Francisco this July or simply booking a whole other weekend to San Fran just to do that! So thank you for that @Lain and DH thanks you too, only he doesn't know it yet LOL 5 years ago I would have said that was crazy and so was making a transcontinental flight to see Hamilton, much less a transatlantic flight to London to see the Harry Potter play. Now, it doesn't seem as crazy to me. So, beware that this hobby can take you in directions you never expected. Getting the best bang for our buck still falls into our Venn diagram but a larger portion of it is what experience do I want to have.

 

[gottalovepluto]

sad news in the lounge world... Alaska lounges now limit PP to PP holder only. :\ was announced today. That makes the Amex Plat more attractive now.
Too many PP users.

We were just about to use that benefit for the first time next week- I could cry! Only 3 out of 4 of us have PP. Oh well, I guess we'll spring for the 1 day pass if we get stuck in an airport for an extended period of time, barring that (which hopefully doesn't happen!) it looks like we'll just spend our time hunting up the nearest Starbucks as per usual.

 

[hsmamato2]

oh what? I can't get into the lounge unless we're flying on Alaska air now? that's inconvenient.... are you allowed to go in and get snacks to take with you at these lounges?

 

[mhartman09]

@mhartman09 You're welcome! It does take a little bit of effort and does seem overwhelming at first. However, there are big pay-offs with even a small bit of effort. Compared to the bloggers who write about this stuff, I barely have a clue what I'm doing. Yet, I consider what we have managed to accomplish a huge success! I can only imagine what things might be like if I actually put some real effort into this hobby. I am thankful to the bloggers that do this for a living and share their strategies.

All things being equal, I would prefer a non-stop flight. There are circumstances that I would purposely book a connecting flight in lieu of a non-stop. If MIA had a non-stop to HNL on a plane that does not have a lie flat seat in the business/first cabin I would not book that flight. That is a loooong time in a reclining seat. No thanks. I would intentionally find a connecting flight in DFW where I know they have a plane with lie flat seats and book that flight instead. So, my first concern is always how long is the flight and what are my seat options. This is mostly because DH has turned into a seat snob and I'll admit it's rubbing off on me too If I am going to connect then I will look for the flight that offers me a reasonable amount of time to connect should there be a delay and that has plenty of other connecting flight to my destination. I prefer no less than a 2 hour window when possible. If we are on time, then I will go to the lounge. We bring all lounge access cards with us. That will include, DH's Chase United Club credit card which we keep just for the lounge membership, an American Airlines Executive card which we also keep for lounge access, an Amex Platinum card which will cover Delta and Centurion lounges and the Priority Pass card from the CSR since it has the best lounge access. This way, no matter what terminal we eventually wind up in at a given airport, if they have a lounge we are getting in.

Clearly, we like lounge access and if DH is willing to pay for those AFs to get it, well I'm not gonna complain Seriously though, as our travelling habits increased due to this hobby we began to appreciate the benefits of some of the super high AF cards beyond the bonus points. Keep in mind we started off with the goal of one big trip and getting the best bang for our buck too. That was 5 years ago. Now, we take 2 or 3 big trips and numerous long weekends throughout the year. @Lain mentioned dining at French Laundry in an earlier post which is on the bucket list, so now I am toying with adding another day when we go see Hamilton in San Francisco this July or simply booking a whole other weekend to San Fran just to do that! So thank you for that @Lain and DH thanks you too, only he doesn't know it yet LOL 5 years ago I would have said that was crazy and so was making a transcontinental flight to see Hamilton, much less a transatlantic flight to London to see the Harry Potter play. Now, it doesn't seem as crazy to me. So, beware that this hobby can take you in directions you never expected. Getting the best bang for our buck still falls into our Venn diagram but a larger portion of it is what experience do I want to have.

I'm definitely researching things all the time now, so the hobby has already changed a lot for me. Growing up with a single mom who worked A LOT we weren't able to take many trips. That's not to say we didn't have family vacations that I will remember and cherish forever, but we rarely traveled outside of our state. Since DH and I are in a position where we have pretty good careers and we are fortunate enough to be able to afford at least some trips, I'd really love to do family vacations to take my son to places I never was able to visit, and of course mommy and daddy trips are nice too. This hobby is something that can help me make those trips way more than they could ever be without it. Trying to learn and absorb as much info as I can and make plans for goals to reach.

Based on what I'm seeing out of MSY, there will be no direct flights. Of course, I'm looking at flight info for current times since March 2019 is not available to see yet, but I'd imagine it would be the same. There were several connecting through DFW so that's definitely an option. I think we'll need to look into resorts first though, so we can pick where we are staying. Then I'll worry about the flights more. Besides our honeymoon in the Bahamas, DH has only flown once to Ohio and I've flown a few times to Texas and Ohio, but still nothing compared to most of you here. This will definitely be a whole new world for me.

 

[calypso726]

I'm definitely researching things all the time now, so the hobby has already changed a lot for me. Growing up with a single mom who worked A LOT we weren't able to take many trips. That's not to say we didn't have family vacations that I will remember and cherish forever, but we rarely traveled outside of our state. Since DH and I are in a position where we have pretty good careers and we are fortunate enough to be able to afford at least some trips, I'd really love to do family vacations to take my son to places I never was able to visit, and of course mommy and daddy trips are nice too. This hobby is something that can help me make those trips way more than they could ever be without it. Trying to learn and absorb as much info as I can and make plans for goals to reach.

Based on what I'm seeing out of MSY, there will be no direct flights. Of course, I'm looking at flight info for current times since March 2019 is not available to see yet, but I'd imagine it would be the same. There were several connecting through DFW so that's definitely an option. I think we'll need to look into resorts first though, so we can pick where we are staying. Then I'll worry about the flights more. Besides our honeymoon in the Bahamas, DH has only flown once to Ohio and I've flown a few times to Texas and Ohio, but still nothing compared to most of you here. This will definitely be a whole new world for me.

You aren't alone. My mom was a single mom that worked 2 jobs to put food on the table. We were very poor and even lived in the projects for a time. There were no vacations in my childhood to speak of. I was in my mid 20's the first time I flew in an airplane. DH and I are also very fortunate to have good careers that allow us to afford nice vacations. This hobby though is what allows us to do the things we never thought were in reach for us.

 

[Albort]

You aren't alone. My mom was a single mom that worked 2 jobs to put food on the table. We were very poor and even lived in the projects for a time. There were no vacations in my childhood to speak of. I was in my mid 20's the first time I flew in an airplane. DH and I are also very fortunate to have good careers that allow us to afford nice vacations. This hobby though is what allows us to do the things we never thought were in reach for us.

one day... just maybe one day....... haha

 

[mhartman09]

one day... just maybe one day....... haha

GOALS!!!! For sure!

 

[calypso726]

PSA: I just read that the Amex Platinum business card will be decreasing the pay with points option. Starting June 1st they will no longer give 50% percent of the points back instead it will be 35%.

On the upside, I won't be struggling to divide spend wth the goal of maxing MR points and diverting some of my UR earnings.

 

[calypso726]

one day... just maybe one day....... haha

I am currently working on that for 2020 LOL

 

[gottalovepluto]

oh what? I can't get into the lounge unless we're flying on Alaska air now? that's inconvenient.... are you allowed to go in and get snacks to take with you at these lounges?

Where'd you see that?

 

[AmyAnne]

For my next card, I am thinking about the Barclay Arrival Plus. It has a 50,000 point sign-up bonus that looks like it can be redeemed for at least $500 of various travel expenses. And the AF is waived the first year. Any thoughts on this card?

 

[Albort]

I am currently working on that for 2020 LOL

take me with u please...

 

[mhartman09]

Where'd you see that?

There was a thread on reddit posted yesterday on this topic.

 

[Eighty8Keys]

Where'd you see that?

The Points Guy tweeted about it yesterday. According to him, the change goes into effect May 1, and affects the airline’s lounges in Los Angeles (LAX), Portland (PDX) and Seattle (SEA). Here's a link to the article. (I hope that worked, I don't think I've linked anything before.)

 

[hsmamato2]

The Points Guy tweeted about it yesterday. According to him, the change goes into effect May 1, and affects the airline’s lounges in Los Angeles (LAX), Portland (PDX) and Seattle (SEA). Here's a link to the article. (I hope that worked, I don't think I've linked anything before.)

Bleh And I was planning on stopping in Seattle on May 7...... perfect timing! Oh well, I guess I won't worry about something I never tried in the first place, just thought it would be fun to see how the other half flies lol

 

[Ngwira]

one day... just maybe one day....... haha

Maldives??

 

[Albort]

The Points Guy tweeted about it yesterday. According to him, the change goes into effect May 1, and affects the airline’s lounges in Los Angeles (LAX), Portland (PDX) and Seattle (SEA). Here's a link to the article. (I hope that worked, I don't think I've linked anything before.)

i see the change of PP guests, but i cant find where u need an alaska air ticket to get in...