I love credit cards so much!

[calypso726]

One of my goals is to the use the cards we have more effectively. I have the AA Platinum card but I'm clearly not using it right. Can you tell me why you use the shopping portal & what I can do with a rewards network to get more points? I'm still new at this and feel like I've thrown away so many opportunities already.
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Hi @mmmears - I’m sitting at the Centurion lounge in Miami and just starting to catch up on the thread so sorry for the delayed response. In order to use airline shopping portals you do not need to use their co-branded card to pay. My AA cards sit in a drawer.

Shopping portals are a way to earn more points, miles or cash back for your online purchases. Let’s say I wanted to purchase something at Macy’s. I would log into the AA shopping portal, search for the Macy’s link in the portal and go through there to pull up Macy’s and make my purchase. The shopping portal may be offering anywhere form 1 extra AA mile per $ to 10 or 15 extra AA miles per $ for my purchase because I took the extra step to go through the portal. Let’s say, I pay with my SPG card, the shopping portal is offering 2 points per dollar and my items are $100 not including shipping. Then I will get 200 AA miles, for the purchase, plus 100 SPG points for paying with that card.

I will often take things a step further. In the above example, I would purchase $100 Macy gift cards at Staples or Office Depot/Max so I can get 5x on my Ink Plus. Then I’duse the gift cards to purchase through the shopping portal and get 200 AA miles plus 500 UR points.

Most of the airlines have a dining rewards network. When you sign up they usually offer a welcome bonus. You link the card or cards you use to pay for dining at restaurants, Every time you dine at a restaurant on their network you will earn mile.

I hope this helps.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

You can make reservations without having the points, I would probably reserve both hotels for now, until you decide where you really want to stay.

But what an awesome trip!

That is a really good idea! This trip has so many moving parts. It's driving me crazy trying to coordinate all the dates. We are doing a 3 day stop over in London on our way to SA. The Marriott hotels in London cost a GOB of points, so we will pay to stay in a non Marriott hotel. Then we'll do the 5 nights at one of the Protea hotels just outside Kruger Park with day game drives into Kruger as well as tour the surrounding attractions. Then we'll move into Kruger for 2 nights at a SANParks tent camp. After that we'll go to an all inclusive safari camp (Shindzela) for 2 nights of pampering. My budget for the 12 days (14 days with flights) for 4 adults is $10,000, which is a super tight budget for this kind of trip. I am so excited to start booking stuff!!!! This is our bucket list last family vacation hurrah before our oldest child moves away and starts his post college career.

 

[snugglebug]

As I sit here at a hotel with my littles and my soldier son i need to say a big thank you to this group. I wouldn't be here without the knowledge i gained right here. Long story short, I have a health condition that does not allow for long car drives (I learned this week 5 hrs is my max and 6 is pushing it), I could not have afforded to fly here and rent a car. Thanks to CC points I've made it to Missouri twice this summer to witness both of my son's Army graduations. This week I was able rent a car (mine are not suitable for long distance driving according to my head) to drive from Texas and cover a hotel stop on the way up. I wish I could cover on base hotel with points, but that, gas and food have been my only out of pocket. If it isn't on points, we don't travel.

Thank you!

We can't even drive to Disney anymore, we have to fly. And no more Space Mountain for me Some days I wish I could replace my head.

Now to catch up on this thread before we venture out to find food. I've got a few days to enjoy my boy who will not be joining our next trip to DW, that's going to be so weird for me.

 

[amalone1013]

I just went looking at @SouthFayetteFan's Hilton by USO, since we're adding a day to our trip. I thought, hey, I have fancy new Hilton points

Ok, 27k pts for one night. But the flexible member rate is $92. Hmmm, I think I know how I'm going to finish off my MSR...

 

[Lain]

Guys and gals, if you don't hear from me after the next few days, my wife might've strangled me -- with good reason. (I won't blame you, hon!)

I couldn't resist and called in for the Amex Business Platinum 100k MR/$10k offer and got APPROVED!

I was thinking over what I posted last night, and then I remembered DUH the Biz Plat is an Amex biz card and won't affect my plans with Chase except for how much spend I'll put on their cards over the next 3 months. I need a break from Chase anyway.

Interestingly, while waiting for approval, the Amex rep pitched me on the BGR and was able to extend me a $75k MR/$10k/4 months, first year AF waived offer. Told me to call him directly whenever I'm ready for a new card.

Awww, who am I kidding, my wife probably won't notice any difference between the MB Plat and the Biz Plat, or the vanilla Plats that I canceled and are sockdrawered with the rest of them. So promise me we'll all stay mum about the $450 AF, ok?

 

[amalone1013]

Guys and gals, if you don't hear from me after the next few days, my wife might've strangled me -- with good reason. (I won't blame you, hon!)

I couldn't resist and called in for the Amex Business Platinum 100k MR/$10k offer and got APPROVED!

I was thinking over what I posted last night, and then I remembered DUH the Biz Plat is an Amex biz card and won't affect my plans with Chase except for how much spend I'll put on their cards over the next 3 months. I need a break from Chase anyway.

Interestingly, while waiting for approval, the Amex rep pitched me on the BGR and was able to extend me a $75k MR/$10k/4 months, first year AF waived offer. Told me to call him directly whenever I'm ready for a new card.

Awww, who am I kidding, my wife probably won't notice any difference between the MB Plat and the Biz Plat, or the vanilla Plats that I canceled and are sockdrawered with the rest of them. So promise me we'll all stay mum about the $450 AF, ok?

Now I'm tempted...

 

[Lain]

Sooooo if I let AMEX assign me a Hilton Honors number when I applied, how do i set up my online account?

Why not set up a Hilton Honors account before applying, so you can add your HH number in on the application?

 

[amalone1013]

Why not set up a Hilton Honors account before applying, so you can add your HH number in on the application?

Because that would have been the smart thing to do :

I looked through my emails because I thought I had one, but I didn't, so I figured whatever, they'll give me a number then! I figured it would be simple like it was with SPG and Marriott...

 

[Lain]

As I sit here at a hotel with my littles and my soldier son i need to say a big thank you to this group. I wouldn't be here without the knowledge i gained right here. Long story short, I have a health condition that does not allow for long car drives (I learned this week 5 hrs is my max and 6 is pushing it), I could not have afforded to fly here and rent a car. Thanks to CC points I've made it to Missouri twice this summer to witness both of my son's Army graduations. This week I was able rent a car (mine are not suitable for long distance driving according to my head) to drive from Texas and cover a hotel stop on the way up. I wish I could cover on base hotel with points, but that, gas and food have been my only out of pocket. If it isn't on points, we don't travel.

Thank you!

Now, if I'm going to visit him in Korea i know it will be on points and I know this is where I'll figure out how to do it. I've got the hotel figured out, IHG, lol

We can't even drive to Disney anymore, we have to fly. And no more Space Mountain for me Some days I wish I could replace my head.d

Now to catch up on this thread before we venture out to find food. I've got a few days to enjoy my boy who will not be joining our next trip to DW, that's going to be so weird for me.

I'm so sorry to read about your health condition, but so happy that this hobby lets you to do things that your health might have stopped you from doing! Churn on!

 

[kmc8826]

Guys and gals, if you don't hear from me after the next few days, my wife might've strangled me -- with good reason. (I won't blame you, hon!)

I couldn't resist and called in for the Amex Business Platinum 100k MR/$10k offer and got APPROVED!

I was thinking over what I posted last night, and then I remembered DUH the Biz Plat is an Amex biz card and won't affect my plans with Chase except for how much spend I'll put on their cards over the next 3 months. I need a break from Chase anyway.

Interestingly, while waiting for approval, the Amex rep pitched me on the BGR and was able to extend me a $75k MR/$10k/4 months, first year AF waived offer. Told me to call him directly whenever I'm ready for a new card.

Awww, who am I kidding, my wife probably won't notice any difference between the MB Plat and the Biz Plat, or the vanilla Plats that I canceled and are sockdrawered with the rest of them. So promise me we'll all stay mum about the $450 AF, ok?

First, congrats! Second, is the draw of the Business Platinum for you just the MR points? Since you cancelled the other ones the benefits were not enough of a draw?

I am in this weird holding pattern right now with what card to get. Trying to decide if I care about 5/24 with Chase. I also want to start with MR points. I can transfer them and help my sad Delta status. If nothing else they would be nice to have with the awesome Amazon promotions. I keep going back and forth which MR card to get. Just get the no fee Blue Business you all have talked about? Or just go for broke and all the miles and get a Platinum? If I figure I am getting 100k miles out of it I figure the $450 AF is "worth it" for at least one year.

 

[afan]

So is it worth $116 to upgrade to Main Cabin Extra on AA for a 5 hr flight?

No because at a good price that's 1/3 to 1/2 the price of that flight round trip. If all it does is give you a few extra inches I wouldn't. If that was to first class and it also got me a meal and a free checked bag if I didn't have a card that would cover it, then I would say yes because that would bring the actual upgrade down to about 76 bucks figuring 25 for the bag and 15 for the meal.

 

[Lain]

Hi @mmmears - I’m sitting at the Centurion lounge in Miami ...

Of course, where else would @calypso726 be?

In order to use airline shopping portals you do not need to use their co-branded card to pay. My AA cards sit in a drawer.

Shopping portals are a way to earn more points, miles or cash back for your online purchases. Let’s say I wanted to purchase something at Macy’s. I would log into the AA shopping portal, search for the Macy’s link in the portal and go through there to pull up Macy’s and make my purchase. The shopping portal may be offering anywhere form 1 extra AA mile per $ to 10 or 15 extra AA miles per $ for my purchase because I took the extra step to go through the portal. Let’s say, I pay with my SPG card, the shopping portal is offering 2 points per dollar and my items are $100 not including shipping. Then I will get 200 AA miles, for the purchase, plus 100 SPG points for paying with that card.

I will often take things a step further. In the above example, I would purchase $100 Macy gift cards at Staples or Office Depot/Max so I can get 5x on my Ink Plus. Then I’duse the gift cards to purchase through the shopping portal and get 200 AA miles plus 500 UR points.

Most of the airlines have a dining rewards network. When you sign up they usually offer a welcome bonus. You link the card or cards you use to pay for dining at restaurants, Every time you dine at a restaurant on their network you will earn mile.

I hope this helps.

@mmmears --

Just to add, there are dozens of different shopping portals that can earn you cash back, points towards cash or gift cards, airline miles, Marriott has one called More that earns you Marriott Rewards points, Chase has an Ultimate Rewards shopping portal that earns you UR points. Every time you shop online, you should check cashbackmonitor.com to see what all the different portals are offering per $1 spent. I'd suggest you stick to using a manageable number of portals that will earn you "currency" that you can use, whether that's Ultimate Rewards points, AA/UA/SW miles, or straight up cash, so that the rewards from your spending aren't diluted between more than half a dozen programs.

Several of the airline shopping portals have bonus spend offers going on right now:

Delta Shopping Portal Bonus: Spend $150 & Get 500 Bonus Miles

Alaska Shopping Portal Bonus: Spend $150-$500 & Get 300-1,500 Bonus Miles

United Airlines Shopping Portal Bonus: Spend $150-$600 & Get 500-3,000 Bonus Points

Southwest Shopping Portal Bonus: Spend $125-$550 & Get 250-2,000 Bonus Points

What points or miles are you interested in growing?

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Ok so does this chart mean that the Level 2 Marriott property I need to book is 10,000 a night with the 5th night free right now, but after 8/1/18 it will be 10,000/12,500/15,000 a night depending on the season?

If I make the reservation now, can I lock in the 10,000 points a night cost? Will this work for just a points reservation even if I don't have all the points in my account yet?

Well, it’s complicated. You’d want to check your specific hotel and see what its new category will be. Some are changing as of 8/18.
But if your hotel is going up, the. Yes you can book now and lock in the 10k points as long as the booking window is open.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

No because at a good price that's 1/3 to 1/2 the price of that flight round trip. If all it does is give you a few extra inches I wouldn't. If that was to first class and it also got me a meal and a free checked bag if I didn't have a card that would cover it, then I would say yes because that would bring the actual upgrade down to about 76 bucks figuring 25 for the bag and 15 for the meal.

Sorry, that’s for 3 of us. One way. I should have been specific. $38-40 each for flight paid in miles. Have multiple cards that give us free bags. I would have gone Biz class if they had sAAver for those.

 

[Lain]

First, congrats! Second, is the draw of the Business Platinum for you just the MR points? Since you cancelled the other ones the benefits were not enough of a draw?

I am in this weird holding pattern right now with what card to get. Trying to decide if I care about 5/24 with Chase. I also want to start with MR points. I can transfer them and help my sad Delta status. If nothing else they would be nice to have with the awesome Amazon promotions. I keep going back and forth which MR card to get. Just get the no fee Blue Business you all have talked about? Or just go for broke and all the miles and get a Platinum? If I figure I am getting 100k miles out of it I figure the $450 AF is "worth it" for at least one year.

Yes, if I'm being honest, I'm interested in the 100k MR points. I do want to eventually churn through the MR cards, but want to get their best offers.

I don't need 2 Amex Platinums overlapping each other! The Platinums have a terrible base earn rate and its bonus categories aren't very useable to me. Like @Ngwira said above, that's why most of my actual spend goes to Chase. I pretty much only put MSR, Amex Offers, and big ticket items that need purchase protection and extended warranty on my Amex cards.

The Biz Plat does have a 1.5x MR bonus for purchases over $5k, but it's not like I'm planning to make very many big purchases, and the Blue Biz Plus could do better at 2x MR on every purchase up to $50k/year. The Biz Plat also offers a 35% MR points rebate when you book flights with Pay with Points, which is nice if I were planning on making any redemptions, but I'm not.

It's not ideal that I paid a $550 AF on the MB Plat that I got back at the start of April and now a $450 AF on the Biz Plat, but both cards offer benefits with real money value that offset the fees. The big thing being the $200 airline fee credit, which I'll double dip on both cards in their first year.

I think strategically, where this card fits in is, when my MB Plat comes up for renewal next April or May, it'll make it easy for me to cancel it because I'll have the Biz Plat, which will continue to offer me Centurion Lounge Access and Hilton/SPG/Marriott Gold status, while I get what I need to done with Chase, and then apply for the Charles Schwab Platinum later in the summer when I (maybe?) cancel the Biz Plat.

ETA: I’ll add a few more specific thoughts later.

 

[calypso726]

Of course, where else would @calypso726 be?



@mmmears --

Just to add, there are dozens of different shopping portals that can earn you cash back, points towards cash or gift cards, airline miles, Marriott has one called More that earns you Marriott Rewards points, Chase has an Ultimate Rewards shopping portal that earns you UR points. Every time you shop online, you should check cashbackmonitor.com to see what all the different portals are offering per $1 spent. I'd suggest you stick to using a manageable number of portals that will earn you "currency" that you can use, whether that's Ultimate Rewards points, AA/UA/SW miles, or straight up cash, so that the rewards from your spending aren't diluted between more than half a dozen programs.

Several of the airline shopping portals have bonus spend offers going on right now:

Delta Shopping Portal Bonus: Spend $150 & Get 500 Bonus Miles

Alaska Shopping Portal Bonus: Spend $150-$500 & Get 300-1,500 Bonus Miles

United Airlines Shopping Portal Bonus: Spend $150-$600 & Get 500-3,000 Bonus Points

Southwest Shopping Portal Bonus: Spend $125-$550 & Get 250-2,000 Bonus Points

What points or miles are you interested in growing?

Excellent follow up @Lain

I stick to AA but will use MPX when I am out and about.

Actually did LOL on the Centurion Lounge comment.

Anyone wanna guess where I’m headed. This trip’s Themed nails below.

 

[GusGus16]

Excellent follow up @Lain

I stick to AA but will use MPX when I am out and about.

Actually did LOL on the Centurion Lounge comment.

Anyone wanna guess where I’m headed. This trip’s Themed nails below.

View attachment 339685

London and The Cursed Child? another Harry Potter lover here!

 

[miztressuz]

Thank you very much for explaining. I was starting to panic just a little. I need to book 5 nights in South Africa for July 2019. I am deciding between 2 Protea Hotels (both Level 2 - currently 10,000 points a night). I am just hitting the 50 week mark for the dates I want for July 2019. My 100,000 Marriott rewards points should hit my account in about 2 more months. Now I can rest a bit easier knowing its not a big rush to book by 8/1.

I am having a bit of a hard time deciding between the Protea Hazyview and the Protea Paul Kruger Gate.

Protea Hazyview: tons of points nights availability with all classes of rooms, in the little town near restaurants, grocery stores, and other activities/sites we want to do/see, a pretty hotel with a beautiful view but not as spectacular as the Protea Paul Kruger Gate, 20 minutes from the Phabeni Gate into Kruger Park, DH and kids prefer to stay in a town.

Protea Paul Kruger Gate: super popular because it looks like a true safari lodge, spectacular scenery/property with average rooms, isolated with no restaurants or grocery stores, 45 min - 1 hour from town with activities, only 5 minutes from the Paul Kruger Gate into Kruger Park, points nights are selling out super quickly so it may be hard to get 5 consecutive nights. I prefer to stay here due to the gorgeous property.

If I found the correct properties in the new chart, then Hazyview will actually go down to cat 1 for a standard redemption, but Kruger Gate stays a cat 2 and points will go up. New rates are in bold:

Protea Hotel Hazyview Protea Hotels South Africa 10,000 7,500 -2,500 1
Protea Hotel Kruger Gate Protea Hotels South Africa 10,000 12,500 2,500 2

So if I were you I'd definitely nab Kruger Gate now for both the better rate and because of low availability. You can also reserve Hazyview now and call in after the program change to have it adjusted to the lower rate; or just wait for the program change and see what happens for availability.

 

[calypso726]

London and The Cursed Child? another Harry Potter lover here!

It was such a great show! We actually saw it in London last year. I figured if we went all the way across the pond to see it then we’d make a point to see it in New York too. So that’s where we are headed.

We were lucky enough to get selected and given the code to purchase tickets on the second bulk release. We are flying on AA and used AA gift cards to pay for the flights. We’re using our free nights from both of our Hilton Aspire cards for accommodations.

We have a show for tomorrow but don’t know what it is yet. Tried the Broadway Roulette for the first time. I’ll find out tomorrow what we are seeing tomorrow LOL

 

[afan]

Sorry, that’s for 3 of us. One way. I should have been specific. $38-40 each for flight paid in miles. Have multiple cards that give us free bags. I would have gone Biz class if they had sAAver for those.

If it's for all of you and you want the extra space then I would do it. I don't find the need for the extra space between the two necessary for myself on that short of a flight but I know some are taller than I am