I love credit cards so much!

[miztressuz]

OK well that was a pretty significant oversight on my part! Not sure how I missed that tidbit. Lessons learned and all that....I guess I will have to formulate a new plan for next year!

Start working on a business (or a "business") and then look at the Inks? 50-80k per card right now isn't bad. Hopefully that sticks around. Otherwise AmEx is pretty fast and loose with their biz cards if you can make MR points work for you (or hotel or airline points)

 

[amalone1013]

its 94F and its 60% humid too... :\ its so miserable here.

It's not miserable until it's 100F and 100% humidity with a heat index of 112F

This makes total sense to me. I'm going to upgrade as I'm in the same boat as you.
Plus, DOC says:
The product is not available to either (i) current Cardmembers of any Southwest Rapids Rewards® Credit Card, or (ii) previous Cardmembers of any Southwest Rapid Rewards Credit Card who received a new Cardmember bonus within the last 24 months.
I think the key is NEW cardmember bonus. This is an upgrade offer, so it shouldn’t reset that clock.

That's what I think too. Plus I don't expect to apply for a SW card again myself until late 2020, unless things change.

Huh. Mommy Points is now TPG Family (yes, that TPG).

Dislike

 

[palhockeymomof2]

Hey y'all! I'm getting ready to book a hotel with UR points through the chase portal. Is there a promo code I can use?

I’ve never seen a promo code...but I’ve only had a UR card since May

 

[SBWB48]

That's what I think too. Plus I don't expect to apply for a SW card again myself until late 2020, unless things change.

Believe you and me (DH ) are on the same timeline since I recall us celebrating around this time last year as the approvals rolled in and CP goals underway lol. Correct me if I'm wrong

Got him to get the $100 retention on the Personal Premier (we canceled the SW Biz already since he needs to make room for the CIP and has the Marriott Biz from Feb) after the AF posted earlier this month. Since he theoretically "paid" the AF of $99, are you saying with the upgrade (assuming he gets targeted), he won't need to front the entire $149 for the Priority? Cause then, this makes more sense for us as well to upgrade his Premier since he won't need to apply for the SW cards again until late 2020 either unless I don't plan to move forward with CP plans (now that Chase/SW are making this a PIA). $50 for the incremental benefits (and a referral maybe if/when I apply for CP), I could live with...

ETA: Ok, so just read DOC re: pro-rated AF refund. This almost seems like a no-brainer for DH to upgrade, even without the upgrade offer in a way. $50 for the $75 credit alone and incremental benefits, along with the 7,500 anniversary points next year before likely canceling.

 

[Judique]

Bleh yes, in DC here and it has been nonstop. So many umbrellas and gloomy days, it looks like London.

The dummy booking 80k + $50 SC + $89 AF IHG offer is now public:

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/chase-ihg-premier-80000-points-50-statement-credit-offer/

Boy, is that ever shutdown bait. I'm not very concerned about my Chase accounts in general so a shutdown wouldn't bother me, so one of these days I'm going to be a DP when I double-dip the Hyatt and IHG cards. I got the Marriott biz safely in December at 16/24 so maybe that's giving me a false sense of security.

I've had my present IHG card since 2015 and got that same offer back then while doing a booking except for the fee being $49. I think its worth the $89 but why should I upgrade and pay $89 for the same thing.

 

[Lain]

I have discovered that there is another credit card churner and/or Swagbuck-er in my neighborhood and this person bought almost ALL of the Disney gift cards at my local Best Buy yesterday I was there two days ago and there was a mostly full row of $25 and a good number of $50 and some variables -- all gone except one lone $25. I took the $25 card to the cashier to ask if there were more somewhere in the store and he said No, someone bought all of them yesterday. I decided to buy a $50 Bed Bath & Beyond GC on the chance that I could convert it to a Disney GC. BBB is two stores down from Best Buy, and if I was stuck with a BBB GC it wouldn't be the end of the world -- fortunately I was able to convert it (one slight hiccup but it did work). As I was checking out at Best Buy with the BBB GC, I gave my Swagbucks QR code to the cashier and said that BBB wasn't as good as Disney but it would do, and he asked about the Swagbucks deal. I told him it was a reward for making a purchase at Best Buy and wondered if the person who bought all of the Disney cards was trying to get multiple rewards. The cashier did say that this person checked out in multiple transactions. Definitely someone with multiple AmEx cards . . . and maybe a Swagbuck-er who doesn't know the promotion is one per day . . .

I was thinking, doesn’t this person know the SB deal is once per day?! What a waste, and drawing so much attention to yourself, at that.

 

[striker1064]

I've had my present IHG card since 2015 and got that same offer back then while doing a booking except for the fee being $49. I think its worth the $89 but why should I upgrade and pay $89 for the same thing.

You shouldn't. You can just apply for a new one. It's allowable to hold both the $49 card and the $89 card. Definitely don't upgrade the $49 card, as any pending unrestricted free nights that might be left will become category-restricted.

 

[amalone1013]

Believe you and me (DH ) are on the same timeline since I recall us celebrating around this time last year as the approvals rolled in and CP goals underway lol. Correct me if I'm wrong

Got him to get the $100 retention on the Personal Premier (we canceled the SW Biz already since he needs to make room for the CIP and has the Marriott Biz from Feb) after the AF posted earlier this month. Since he theoretically "paid" the AF of $99, are you saying with the upgrade (assuming he gets targeted), he won't need to front the entire $149 for the Priority? Cause then, this makes more sense for us as well to upgrade his Premier since he won't need to apply for the SW cards again until late 2020 either unless I don't plan to move forward with CP plans (now that Chase/SW are making this a PIA). $50 for the incremental benefits (and a referral maybe if/when I apply for CP), I could live with...

I think so! I know I got my SW cards last May with just the goal of having CP for our September flights

@vanjust14 called in about her upgrade offer and was told they would refund the unused portion of the annual fee and then charge the new one. So I'm looking at my Plus card, and I got a $35 credit towards the fee as my retention offer. I don't think that will be affected (I'm assuming here). I'm expecting they refund 9-10 mths of my annual fee and then charge the $149. My AF posted June 1st and I don't have an upgrade offer yet, so I'm assuming I'll lose 3 months of the annual fee there.

I'd expect in your case:

• Paid $99 for my AF, got 6k anniversary points
• Got $100 retention offer
• Refund 'unused' portion of AF - not sure when yours posted, let's say you'll lose 3 months at $8.25ea = $74.25 refund
• Charged new $149 AF
• So you'd be paying an additional $73.75 for AF plus resetting your anniversary date by a few months, to get a $75 credit, 5kpts for upgrading, and then I don't know how much the other "benefits" benefit you

 

[SBWB48]

I think so! I know I got my SW cards last May with just the goal of having CP for our September flights

@vanjust14 called in about her upgrade offer and was told they would refund the unused portion of the annual fee and then charge the new one. So I'm looking at my Plus card, and I got a $35 credit towards the fee as my retention offer. I don't think that will be affected (I'm assuming here). I'm expecting they refund 9-10 mths of my annual fee and then charge the $149. My AF posted June 1st and I don't have an upgrade offer yet, so I'm assuming I'll lose 3 months of the annual fee there.

I'd expect in your case:

• Paid $99 for my AF, got 6k anniversary points
• Got $100 retention offer
• Refund 'unused' portion of AF - not sure when yours posted, let's say you'll lose 3 months at $8.25ea = $74.25 refund
• Charged new $149 AF
• So you'd be paying an additional $73.75 for AF plus resetting your anniversary date by a few months, to get a $75 credit, 5kpts for upgrading, and then I don't know how much the other "benefits" benefit you

Yep, we got DH the SW Premier and SW Biz in early June last year just in time to have CP for our August flights as well

I think because the retention is strictly a statement credit and no ties to the AF (though, when we math it, we always just associate it with the AF), agree that it should have zero bearing on the pro-rated refund. For us, his AF posted July 1, so even if we didn't get targeted for the offer and solely upgraded, we would come out ahead. I would expect the pro-rated refund to be $90.25 if we did it before this month is over, we pocketed the 6k anniversary points already, pay the $58.75 difference in AFs, get the $75 travel credit, earn the 7.5K next year before cancelling. Think I can live with that...

And that's assuming, we don't want to roll the dice and pay another $8.25 to see if he gets targeted in August

DH also has to have his wifi on flights, so the 20% back on in-flight purchases has 'some' monetary value for us...

 

[AmyAnne]

I was thinking, doesn’t this person know the SB deal is once per day?! What a waste, and drawing so much attention to yourself, at that.

I didn't think about the attention-drawing problem (I was just mad that my already convoluted process now has another step). Given that this person must have bought several thousand dollars, it's possible that the multiple transactions were only because of multiple AmEx offers. Although the fact that there was one $25 card left suggests maybe they were trying to maximize the SB offer by doing multiples of $50 (rather than $300 for the AmEx offer).

 

[Lain]

I didn't think about the attention-drawing problem (I was just mad that my already convoluted process now has another step). Given that this person must have bought several thousand dollars, it's possible that the multiple transactions were only because of multiple AmEx offers. Although the fact that there was one $25 card left suggests maybe they were trying to maximize the SB offer by doing multiples of $50 (rather than $300 for the AmEx offer).

Exactly. There’s no way I’d buy multiples of $25s or $50s if I wasn’t stacking SB; I’d just buy a $300 variable load GC to trigger the Amex Offer and be done with it.

 

[Alexle2007]

Okay, it's July in Maryland and it won't stop raining!!! What's up with that anyway?
This is the month where when I go to the beach, I'm escaping 95 degrees at home for a nice cool 90-85 at the beach in Ocean City. It's 77 and raining here right now.

The beach is looking much better but still the highs are only 80ish and 20% chance of rain one day, sunny on Friday and more rain Saturday. Our hotel has an indoor pool so not too worried and they have a great outdoor pool with a super kids area.

There's the greek festival at the convention center this weekend, so we'll get dinner there one night - rosemary chicken and roasted potatoes - yummy, plus lots of baklava. Other restaurant night will be Shark on the Harbor - my daughter's favorite. 3rd night is undecided but could involve crabs. Maybe we'll drive down to Chincoteague which means a Hawaiian chicken croissant at Sugar Bakers bakery. I have the old people's National Parks pass, so we will go to Assateague as well, watch the horses, walk the beach. I like to go by Wallops Island visitor center on the way to Chincoteague as they sometimes have interesting stuff going on.

The Chincoteague pony swim is today and the auction is tomorrow, so most of the action should be over by the weekend. I may have to rethink this as I don't want to spend time in traffic.

Edit: connection to churning and credit cards: 2 points nights and 1 free Chase night at Holiday Inn and Suites on 17th Street. Plus assorted gas gift cards bought with offers.

We escaped the MD rain for 116 degrees in Phoenix instead. I’ve seen pics of Hersheypark being flooded nd closed on Mon. That’s our go to amusement park since we’re on the MD/PA border.

 

[Judique]

Thank you. I read the reviews on that one and was discouraged by the fact that many mentioned it needs updates. I will take you positive review into consideration!

I may tend to overlook a bit of outdated if things are clean and in good repair. Yes, I would say that it is outdated as to up to the minute furnishings. And that may be more important to a younger person than it is to me.

I like that I can walk out to the beach directly from the hotel and the pool area and that it has a pool bar for quick offerings without having to go inside. I like that the beds are comfortable and I would say they are up to date and fresh. I like that there is usually a bell man there to help if needed, but if not needed they are still friendly.

Now, I'm staying at a Holiday Inn for the next 3 nights that can ask $500 a night in summer and I think it needs updating! But, its definitely not bad, just same furniture for the last 17 years.....was really considerably nicer than anything at this beach when it opened.

So now I'm waiting for the 'new' Hyatt, and thought I'd be staying there this trip!!

 

[Alexle2007]

When does the SPG biz perk of lounge access end? And why are all the Sheraton hotels I look at so outdated with only mediocre reviews??

Sadly, 7/31. The Sheraton Park at DL was definitely not outdated. We definitely enjoyed the club access for 3 nights and kept expenses down considerably since most days we only had lunch and snacked in the clubs apps in the evening.

 

[Alexle2007]

Regarding Clearwater...I was just looking at some places there last night.
Hilton- not so great reviews
Hampton inn-new and great reviews
Doubletree N Redington- good reviews , cheap!


Stayed at any? If not what places do you like? And weather for thanksgiving, yay or nay? We have done Marco island for thanksgiving but it is further south.

We stayed at the SandPearl resort and it was absolutely beautiful but not part of any of the chains. While I miss not getting the points or paying with points, we are totally ok with that since the resort is fabulous! But we upgraded to a beautiful one bedroom suite with ocean and bay views.

 

[calypso726]

still a very impressive list... even mine at a value of $22k is nothing compared to you even though i MS quite a bit now.
im guessing this is after a long time of collecting? I know i started this game 3 years ago next month...
im really excited to see your trip to Bora Bora and Maldives. That is also my dream destination.
Any plans for EK F or QR J or EY F redemption next time around?

I started travel hacking in 2012. Once I pull the trigger I will let everyone know. At this point, the priority will be to get the bungalows booked. Once that is done i wilm work on flights. I’m leaning towards EK or EY in F because ... showers LOL

Huh. Mommy Points is now TPG Family (yes, that TPG).

I was just coming over to announce that. I don’t have kids and I’ve followed her blog for 6 years. I wonder if TPG will turn into the Walmart or Amazon of travel hacking bloggers.

 

[wendow]

Sadly, 7/31. The Sheraton Park at DL was definitely not outdated. We definitely enjoyed the club access for 3 nights and kept expenses down considerably since most days we only had lunch and snacked in the clubs apps in the evening.

This is good to know! I got that impression also from when @Lain stayed there with his family. We would have considered it for our DLR trip in June but we could not all fit in one room and I doubted they would allow all 6 of us into the lounge. We also are RD'ers so we don't sit for breakfast anywhere lol.

 

[LynnTH]

Bought new appliances last month once we got DH's CIP ( A 4 piece suite with Fridge, Dishwasher, Stove and Microwave). A few weeks later they went on sale for a lower price. Went to Home Depot as they say they price match up to 30 days. They wouldn't do that because they were special order (All appliances are special order and come out of their Chicago location). So, then I remembered we paid with CIP which at the moment still has price protection. Sent in all the forms and was rejected because they don't match "seasonal sales". The ad showed 4th of July on it. I talked to them and said it was not a seasonal sale as they have been at this price for like 3 weeks now. So, they resubmitted and I called a few times to see if there was any progress. Called again today and was told it was approved and that they just needed to verify my address and will be sending a check out for $487.00 . I am so excited. I thought for sure they were going to deny it again for some reason... very surprised.

 

[Judique]

You shouldn't. You can just apply for a new one. It's allowable to hold both the $49 card and the $89 card. Definitely don't upgrade the $49 card, as any pending unrestricted free nights that might be left will become category-restricted.

I'm still trying to keep my 5/24 status intact, even though I did the Amtrak card. I need to get a couple of UR cards before too long. I went to 4/24 in June and then I'll be back there in the fall. (But then there's this spg card I want...).

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Question - DH never received the referral bonus for my sister's CIP - is this something we can try to contact Chase about, or just consider it a lost cause?

I want to say I remember @SouthFayetteFan having gone through something similar.

There might be hope, since you know the applicant and can produce their name and other info.

I once had success on this by calling in. We were both on the phone call and it took some pushing to get it done.