I love credit cards so much!

[1st*toright]

And DH's CIP was expedited and arrived last night - so I'm finally good to actually pay my contractor. One question for the Plastiq experts - I used a referral link, so I will get $500 in free payments, after I pay $500. So I did one small payment and will set up the rest as a second payment. How long before the $500 in free payments shows up in my account? Do I have to wait, or can I just make my second payment immediately to use it?

 

[schmass]

And DH's CIP was expedited and arrived last night - so I'm finally good to actually pay my contractor. One question for the Plastiq experts - I used a referral link, so I will get $500 in free payments, after I pay $500. So I did one small payment and will set up the rest as a second payment. How long before the $500 in free payments shows up in my account? Do I have to wait, or can I just make my second payment immediately to use it?

I can't remember how long it took to show up in my account, but you need to wait until you see them there to use the fee free dollars. You will need to apply them to the payment to use them.

 

[Limes96]

And DH's CIP was expedited and arrived last night - so I'm finally good to actually pay my contractor. One question for the Plastiq experts - I used a referral link, so I will get $500 in free payments, after I pay $500. So I did one small payment and will set up the rest as a second payment. How long before the $500 in free payments shows up in my account? Do I have to wait, or can I just make my second payment immediately to use it?

Seems like they show up just as soon as they draw funds from your card and cut the check.

 

[wendow]

And DH's CIP was expedited and arrived last night - so I'm finally good to actually pay my contractor. One question for the Plastiq experts - I used a referral link, so I will get $500 in free payments, after I pay $500. So I did one small payment and will set up the rest as a second payment. How long before the $500 in free payments shows up in my account? Do I have to wait, or can I just make my second payment immediately to use it?

You’ve set up the payment but has it actually processed? Once that happens, like @Limes96 said, you should see the $500 ffd!

 

[Haley R]

No ur points today :’(

 

[speedyfishy]

Like, “oops, I didn’t mean to apply for another card”?

Exactly, lol but it’s really your fault for helping me out with the second Biz Plat app after the offer “expired”. I’ll be sure to thank you tho when I get my 100k MRs lol

Hahaha, keeping your budget straight with all the MS sounds terrifying. I hope you get some extra awesome redemptions out of it!!

My budget is thrown off lol I don’t budget for MS fees but I may need to. When things calm down I can reorganize it.

 

[DisneyMandC]

What’s the scoop with barclays? Do the biz cards report to your personal credit? How are they with ‘biz’ approvals?

Congrats too!

Not reported to personal credit. I didn’t get asked any business questions, but both DH and I had to do identity verification involving sending in copies of our DLs, SS cards, and a bank statement or utility bill. I was approved for $1000 CL on $2200 Biz income. Don’t care about the low CL since I plan on putting one small purchase on it every month and that’s it.

 

[SBWB48]

My budget is thrown off lol I don’t budget for MS fees but I may need to. When things calm down I can reorganize it.

I've basically kept one (or two) of the bank accounts I opened for a bonus solely for MS activity (deposits and payments), and I make the payments ideally from just that to try to keep everything straight

 

[speedyfishy]

So since I have no plan for my MRs I think instead of MSing on the Delta card I should just transfer MRs over for first? Is 34,000 MRs worth the upgrade from delta comfort to first for an international flight? I’m 5’10 SO is 6’2. I think it’s worth it. Right? If I need more MRs I should probably just get the business blue card with 2x MR on everything. I would only need half the amount of giftcards so the fees would be $210 instead of of $420. But no MQMs then, but I really don’t see a need for the MQMs.

 

[speedyfishy]

I've basically kept one (or two) of the bank accounts I opened for a bonus solely for MS activity (deposits and payments), and I make the payments ideally from just that to try to keep everything straight

Yeah I have been using my lovely PNC and Wells Fargo accounts. But I’m not keeping track of the fees for the giftcards and money orders. Sometimes I redeem some URs for cash to offset the cost, but I probably shouldn’t do that. I should just work MS fees into our monthly budget. I kinda just assume that the fees would be more than offset by bank bonuses. And obviously I’m getting way more value than the cost, but I should probably add a line in my budget for it.

 

[1st*toright]

Yeah I have been using my lovely PNC and Wells Fargo accounts. But I’m not keeping track of the fees for the giftcards and money orders. Sometimes I redeem some URs for cash to offset the cost, but I probably shouldn’t do that. I should just work MS fees into our monthly budget. I kinda just assume that the fees would be more than offset by bank bonuses. And obviously I’m getting way more value than the cost, but I should probably add a line in my budget for it.

I like to see that my bank bonuses compensate for any fees I incur, and I like to track the offset of discounts/travel credits against my AFs etc. I hate paying the fees, even though I know the value is there, so having one line in my YNAB budget where all fees/reimbursements/bank bonuses flow through reassures me that I'm covering the costs on a cash basis. But it is a bit of a pain to split out gift card fees etc - and I don't do anything like the creative spending you do, so it would likely be more time consuming for you to get granular about it.

I just got my TD bank bonus - it covered the Plastiq fees I incurred to meet the spend on my new CIP and then some. Win!

 

[familyman123]

I have a question on Chase UR points for cruises.

We have about 330,000 UR points and I'm looking at a cruise next year with two rooms. I called Chase and one thing they told me was that I could only pay in UR points for the first payment. As an example, if the deposit is $50 and I chose to only pay $50, then I could use 3,333 points at that time, but my next payment could not use any UR points. But I could make the first payment much more (say $5000 worth) and use all my chase points.

My questions
1. Is that correct? This is information from Chase UR agent, but I know Disney agents aren't always up to speed.
2. If it is correct, is there anyway around this rule (only first payment may use UR points) to make a small deposit now and pay a portion in UR points later?

 

[1st*toright]

My week of vacation visiting family in the boonies last week was virtually point-less (also, virtually free, so no complaints).

This weekend my theme song is going to be "You make me feel like a natural churner..." (Sorry Aretha!)

Flying to Chicago on SW points/CP pass, staying on Marriott points (with lounge access/free breakfast thanks to Marriott/Starriott status). CSR travel reimbursement dollars to claim, Amex MSR to meet. Amex lounge to explore. DH and I are looking forward to a kid-free, churn friendly weekend!

 

[tink1970]

So since I have no plan for my MRs I think instead of MSing on the Delta card I should just transfer MRs over for first? Is 34,000 MRs worth the upgrade from delta comfort to first for an international flight? I’m 5’10 SO is 6’2. I think it’s worth it. Right? If I need more MRs I should probably just get the business blue card with 2x MR on everything. I would only need half the amount of giftcards so the fees would be $210 instead of of $420. But no MQMs then, but I really don’t see a need for the MQMs

I think so! DL's eco comfort is fairly comfortable, especially if you're in the first row of EC+ since it's a bulkhead (normally) and we're all short...but it's so much nicer to fly up front! Do it -better food, lie flat seats, bigger screens. Please remember that Amex will charge you to transfer MRs to Delta but that fee is much less than the cost of biz/first.

As for MQMs-if you're not planning on being a Delta loyalty person (ie not a hostage) then no, not much point in it.

 

[speedyfishy]

I like to see that my bank bonuses compensate for any fees I incur, and I like to track the offset of discounts/travel credits against my AFs etc. I hate paying the fees, even though I know the value is there, so having one line in my YNAB budget where all fees/reimbursements/bank bonuses flow through reassures me that I'm covering the costs on a cash basis. But it is a bit of a pain to split out gift card fees etc - and I don't do anything like the creative spending you do, so it would likely be more time consuming for you to get granular about it.

I just got my TD bank bonus - it covered the Plastiq fees I incurred to meet the spend on my new CIP and then some. Win!

Yeah this is what I had to do. I also don’t have any vacation budget set up right now so I was also assuming the bank bonuses covered out of pocket expenses on vacation and the fees. I was splitting the bank bonuses to emergency fund, vacation fund and dvc fund. But it’s not working out since I move money around all the time to get more bonuses. It’s hard for me to keep track. I think I may just use an excel sheet? Instead of a budge app because the money moves all the time. I’m still trying to figure out a system that works for me.

The good thing is we have a decent 4 month emergency fund and my SO is maxing his 401k and IRA automatically from his paychecks. So we aren’t living beyond our means.

 

[speedyfishy]

I think so! DL's eco comfort is fairly comfortable, especially if you're in the first row of EC+ since it's a bulkhead (normally) and we're all short...but it's so much nicer to fly up front! Do it -better food, lie flat seats, bigger screens. Please remember that Amex will charge you to transfer MRs to Delta but that fee is much less than the cost of biz/first.

As for MQMs-if you're not planning on being a Delta loyalty person (ie not a hostage) then no, not much point in it.

Ugh, I didn’t know that. Thanks for the heads up. Seems like the most is $99 but maybe I should just MS the delta card lol. They also have the miles boost. Decisions decisions.... I think first tho either way is worth it even if I have to pay the fee.

 

[striker1064]

I just got my TD bank bonus - it covered the Plastiq fees I incurred to meet the spend on my new CIP and then some. Win!

Oh, how long did your TD bank bonus take? I'm about 60 days ahead of when I opened it so I feel like I should be seeing it soon.

 

[happ]

I tried a 3rd time for a retention offer on my delta biz gold card. This time I called a different number instead of the one on the card. I was offered 10K points to keep the card open. I accepted the offer, but I am second guessing myself. Is 10k points worth the $95 fee?

 

[1st*toright]

Yeah this is what I had to do. I also don’t have any vacation budget set up right now so I was also assuming the bank bonuses covered out of pocket expenses on vacation and the fees. I was splitting the bank bonuses to emergency fund, vacation fund and dvc fund. But it’s not working out since I move money around all the time to get more bonuses. It’s hard for me to keep track. I think I may just use an excel sheet? Instead of a budge app because the money moves all the time. I’m still trying to figure out a system that works for me.

The good thing is we have a decent 4 month emergency fund and my SO is maxing his 401k and IRA automatically from his paychecks. So we aren’t living beyond our means.

Yeah, I keep all my bank bonus accounts "off balance sheet" and don't include them in my budgeting software. I use part of our emergency fund to shuffle around to different banks, and I just kinda know how much is out there. When I close out a bank bonus account, I transfer the amount of the bonus I earned into our checking account and run it through the cc fee line, so there is always a stash of money sitting there to pay fees. The rest of the funds either get moved to a new bank for a bonus, or into one of my savings/holding accounts. None of that is used to cover regular life expenses, so it doesn't matter that it isn't accounted for in my budget. I do run all my (our) credit cards through our budgeting software or I'm sure I would lose track of what is going on!

 

[amalone1013]

I like to see that my bank bonuses compensate for any fees I incur, and I like to track the offset of discounts/travel credits against my AFs etc. I hate paying the fees, even though I know the value is there, so having one line in my YNAB budget where all fees/reimbursements/bank bonuses flow through reassures me that I'm covering the costs on a cash basis. But it is a bit of a pain to split out gift card fees etc - and I don't do anything like the creative spending you do, so it would likely be more time consuming for you to get granular about it.

I just got my TD bank bonus - it covered the Plastiq fees I incurred to meet the spend on my new CIP and then some. Win!

Yeah this is what I had to do. I also don’t have any vacation budget set up right now so I was also assuming the bank bonuses covered out of pocket expenses on vacation and the fees. I was splitting the bank bonuses to emergency fund, vacation fund and dvc fund. But it’s not working out since I move money around all the time to get more bonuses. It’s hard for me to keep track. I think I may just use an excel sheet? Instead of a budge app because the money moves all the time. I’m still trying to figure out a system that works for me.

The good thing is we have a decent 4 month emergency fund and my SO is maxing his 401k and IRA automatically from his paychecks. So we aren’t living beyond our means.

I split my stuff in YNAB also. I ended up putting a generic Travel category and that is where extra money from bank bonuses and other savings, etc go (like ebay sales). I apply generic fees to it too, like gift card fees or Plastiq fees. I also fund $100 a month into it from my budget. And then I also track all movement in and out in an excel doc, because when I use fuel points at the gas station I move the savings to this category, so it gets confusing.

Then I create a separate category for each trip. When I make a purchase from that trip, I categorize it as that and then if I need cash to cover it I move it from the generic Travel category. It's complicated but it's what works for me and makes me feel better. Then I know we're not going overboard on travel spending or chasing deals, but I can always look back a specific trip cost/item since it's split out.

Here's a snapshot:



The only cash I truly budget into these categories is the $100 a month into Travel fund, and the $450 into the cruise funds (mainly because I'm an overplanner and those numbers are based on using minimal points - should end up with a lot left over there!). The other categories all get paid out of the Travel fund. Sept and Nov only have cash in them because I've been changing things around a bit with flights/hotels. The budgeted amounts for annual fees and labor day are from me moving that cash out of the travel fund - that's also why that fund says -$83 were budgeted