I love credit cards so much!

[disneymagicgirl]

I was scared to log on this morning since I hadn't checked the thread since lunchtime yesterday. I was expecting to be 25 pages behind.
Happily I was only a few pages behind. Whooohooo! All caught up. Have a great weekend everyone. Ours is full of college football (gooooo Gamecocks!), youth flag football, and travel hockey.

 

[striker1064]

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

GO BULLDOGS CLANGA CLANGA

Also was approved for SPG Biz on 8/24 but no sign of it yet. Guess I'm gonna be calling Amex soon.

 

[mmmears]

Heading to LAX for my flight back home. My SO proposed this trip! I’m going to need some honeymoon ideas lol.

The Disneyland hotel was amazing. Worth 200k+ URs for the package. I could have gotten a better value out of them if I redeemed for first class travel somewhere or transferred to a Hyatt, but I prefer using URs for Disney trips.

It was so nice being on property and going back to the hotel for naps. Lol
We had so much time so we got to go slow and relax a bit. I do prefer the Grand Californian over the Disneyland hotel if you have some extra URs you want to burn. lol

We somehow spent $1125 on food for a five night trip. We only did one table service a day. We snacked a lot tho. You guys have to teach me your food tricks so I can lower this. SO has a new philosophy that there are no budgets in Disney so idk if I’ll be able to convince him to cut down.

We ate at Steakhouse 55, Blue Bayou, Cafe Orleans, Carnation Cafe, Jazz Kitchen, and Wine and Country Tratoria. I loved Steakhouse 55, Blue Bayou, Carnation Cafe, and Jazz Kitchen. SO and I agreed we would not go back to Wine and country tartoria. I didn’t like Cafe Orleans, but he did so we will be back lol. They gave us two extra beignets and a cute little Mickey made out of whipped cream for our engagement, that was very nice of them, so I will try them again.

We did a DVC tour for a $100 giftcard and four fastpasses each. It was about 40 mins so worth it for us. We also got to see an Aulani room, which was gorgeous. They didn’t use high pressure sales tactics and I simple said we couldn’t afford it right now. It’s real clever how they break the payment down to monthly payments over 10 years, like yeah we can afford $185 a month, but paying 12% interest goes against my FIRE plans. We will most likely buy dvc in the future though, but will pay cash and buy resale.

During the tour we said we couldn’t afford DVC. The guide asked where we were staying and how long. We said the Disneyland hotel and five nights. The guide said that’s like $3,000 how can you afford that and not DVC. I was like credit card points. He was like oh the Disney Visa. lol if only he knew...

CONGRATULATIONS!!! How magical! And I'm glad you had a nice stay at the Disneyland Hotel, too! (Disney Visa points LOL)

 

[palhockeymomof2]

We’re just starting our journey but was thinking about this (obsessively) after screen shoting it. I’m interested in the Amex offers I keep hearing about. If players can handle additional MSR is there any reason not to do something like this with Chase while also getting AMEX business cards between chase cards?

I don’t think so but I’m pretty new here..just found this thread in May..

 

[nhgirl]

I am trying to weigh out all my options on using points for 6/19 cruise to Alaska. I used DH Spg points to book Seatle Marriott Waterfront (33k Spg). We just cancelled our inside cabin and rebooked a balcony on NCL Bliss for the same week. So now we have to option to call Chase Cruise and Tours and transfer the reservation to them instead of using UR points or Marriott points on Jet Blue I have a couple of questions:

1. Can I use the points from Marriott Premiere Plus (100k) in combination with my UR points (120k) on this cruise?

2. Can I PC my CIP to CSR to get 1.5 redemption? I currently have CIC, CIP, Freedom (which was PC’s from CSP in June) and Marriott Premiere Plus.

3. Do I have to pay the cruise balance in full at the time it’s transferred to Chase or do they let me wait until the Feb. 16th PIF date?

 

[calypso726]

Cautionary tale on why I always advise planning the big trips two years out, giving yourself a year to accumulate the points so they are in place a year before you are ready to travel.

Yesterday, we got a corporate wide announcement that no one will be allowed to take more than 2 PTO days from mid November through the end of December. Fortunately, my Antarctica trip which leaves on Christmas day and returns 2 weeks later had already been approved so that was safe. However, I was planning on booking the Dubai/Maldives over-water bungalow trip trip for Thanksgiving 2019 Because our PTO time is based on fiscal year and not calendar year this leaves me scrambling to get this trip in this year before June You guys know I am stalking airline websites for award flights in first class as they are being loaded. Then, add the fact that I am married to the Plane Princess who will ask when we are flying a specific plane rather than when we are visiting a specific country Emirates A380 was the request this round. So the task became find award flights on Emirates A380 in first class either going or departing the Maldives, with business class acceptable on the opposite end, add a stop over in Dubai and then secure over water bungalows for a few nights in the Maldives before the weather is insufferable in Dubai, so I have a 2 month window and all on points because this trip is not in the vacation budget. To be continued ...

 

[afan]

Oiy! I checked in for my flt yesterday, get to the airport to go through security, pull the app up and my rez disappears and tells me to call or talk to an agent. So I call while I'm in line and the lasy says aomething about a flt to singapore. Uh no I'm going to SF and returning Mon. We reconfirm the confirmation and she refreshes it. All good now and flt delayed from 725 to 815.

Fine I'll go use the PP lounge in term A since I'm right by the train entrance. But omg it's a trek from the train to the club. Breakfast offerings not too exciting here but it looks like it opens before 7 now. I think the sign said 5.

So my nice little I'm not checking a bag, it's so early, I don't need to be there 2 hours early was a bit stressful. At least i kept my 7A seat assignment because when she first refreshed they weren't there. Drinking my water then I'll male the trek back.

 

[miztressuz]

I figured they wouldn’t make it that easy to earn Plat, but had to ask. I don’t have any more stays planned for this year so will just be Gold next year.

Do the credit card free nights count towards status? Next year I’ll have 4 of those between all my cards. If they count towards status I’ll make sure to use them, even if we just stay somewhere local for a night.

Yes they do! Any night counts; free certs, points booking, cash+points, or cash. If you've got a butt in bed they count it.

We did that last year when our cert was about to expire, just picked somewhere semi local and made a weekend out of it. We kept finding really cheap Marriott's in our usual travels so it didn't make sense to use a $85 cert on an $92 night when later we could hit a $100+ night. Later came, I was dopey and forgot we still had the cert and paid points instead (we've usually used it by that point so I think that threw me off), so I notice late in the year we still had the cert to use But it was a nice weekend, and oddly enough a fairly expensive hotel given the area we stayed, so it worked out.

 

[Lvsdisney]

I posted on the Disney GC thread but I figured I could ask here too...

I am planning on making a few stops today to pick up Disney GCs using the RetailMeNot app for the cash back. Has anyone found they did not receive credit for GC purchase at the following stores? CVS, Walgreens, Staples, Kohls

TIA!!

 

[linzjane88]

Oiy! I checked in for my flt yesterday, get to the airport to go through security, pull the app up and my rez disappears and tells me to call or talk to an agent. So I call while I'm in line and the lasy says aomething about a flt to singapore. Uh no I'm going to SF and returning Mon. We reconfirm the confirmation and she refreshes it. All good now and flt delayed from 725 to 815.

Fine I'll go use the PP lounge in term A since I'm right by the train entrance. But omg it's a trek from the train to the club. Breakfast offerings not too exciting here but it looks like it opens before 7 now. I think the sign said 5.

So my nice little I'm not checking a bag, it's so early, I don't need to be there 2 hours early was a bit stressful. At least i kept my 7A seat assignment because when she first refreshed they weren't there. Drinking my water then I'll male the trek back.

I feel your pain!
Glad you were able to get in to a lounge.

 

[miztressuz]

We’re just starting our journey but was thinking about this (obsessively) after screen shoting it. I’m interested in the Amex offers I keep hearing about. If players can handle additional MSR is there any reason not to do something like this with Chase while also getting AMEX business cards between chase cards?

I think that's generally the suggestion
If you can find business cards that don't report to your personal CR, which AmEx is one and I think another is Barclays, then that would work in between your Chase apps. You can also strategically do personal cards in there too as long as you keep in mind your 5/24 count, since I think that was a 48 month journey, so personal cards could drop off during that trip.

Amex used to be easiest, and they still are easy on approvals, but they have some anti-churning rules going on where they may approve you for the card but not give you the bonus. They at least have a warning message at time of application now that states this so you wouldn't be surprised later. It's relatively recent so we're all still trying to figure out the "rules" to that one to avoid it. Mostly it seems like put some spend on the cards you do have after MSR is met and you'll probably be good, but stay tuned as it unfolds. When you first start out you should be ok for a few cards though so I wouldn't stress about it yet.

I am trying to weigh out all my options on using points for 6/19 cruise to Alaska. I used DH Spg points to book Seatle Marriott Waterfront (33k Spg). We just cancelled our inside cabin and rebooked a balcony on NCL Bliss for the same week. So now we have to option to call Chase Cruise and Tours and transfer the reservation to them instead of using UR points or Marriott points on Jet Blue I have a couple of questions:

1. Can I use the points from Marriott Premiere Plus (100k) in combination with my UR points (120k) on this cruise?

2. Can I PC my CIP to CSR to get 1.5 redemption? I currently have CIC, CIP, Freedom (which was PC’s from CSP in June) and Marriott Premiere Plus.

3. Do I have to pay the cruise balance in full at the time it’s transferred to Chase or do they let me wait until the Feb. 16th PIF date?

1. No Can't use Marriott points to pay for the cruise. It would only be UR points. You'd be able to use your Marriott points for pre or post cruise stays, or if you booked through Marriott (I think I saw cruises there now) but then you still couldn't combine with UR (and it's probably a bad value, but I haven't looked at it really).

2. No The CIP is a business card so it seems very unlikely you can PC to a personal card like the CSR. You'd have to try to PC your Freedom to a CSR. You can get 1.25 redemption from the CIP, so have to decide if the extra .25 redemption value outweighs the AF (and it might depending on how many points you are using).

3. No If you get the right agent, you should only need to use your UR when it comes time for a payment, which conceivably isn't until PIF. There's a few we've found that I think are listed on the DISchurners page. Melissa, Leon, Terrence are the 3 that come to mind, but I can't think of their extensions right now. Some agents are weird and insist on payment at time of transfer but there's no reason for that.

 

[afan]

I feel your pain!
Glad you were able to get in to a lounge.

Made it back just in time for boarding to start. Just hoping there's a spot for my bag since I'm in thr last group. Makes miss AA since you get to board early with their credit card. I think there's too many AS card holders and smaller planes to do that but I miss it.

 

[MrPTato]

I posted on the Disney GC thread but I figured I could ask here too...

I am planning on making a few stops today to pick up Disney GCs using the RetailMeNot app for the cash back. Has anyone found they did not receive credit for GC purchase at the following stores? CVS, Walgreens, Staples, Kohls

TIA!!

CVS, Walgreens and Staples have worked for me. I have not tried Kohls...do they sell Disney?

 

[afan]

And the lady with the lap baby in the middle seat tried to switch with the guy on the aisle and he said no. Reapect to that but I'd have rather sat next to him since the baby shows no sign of sleeping. Man I'm cranky this morning

It looks like AS is using thw Virgin America planes on the shorter west coast routes amd the 737 for the longer. This means seat back entertainment (they have rocky horror as an option which is surprising) and a comfy seat which is great. But it means a noisy airbus plane and this boeing girl prefers the quieter hometown planes. Did see the Incredibles 2 plane but not the Disneyland one. Oh and my bag is safely stowed above.

I will say that loading the plane in europe does seem much more efficient than here.

 

[calypso726]

Congratulations!

I've watched a few weddings take place while staying at Boardwalk. Last one I saw was in January and the bride arrived at Seabreeze Point in Cinderella's Coach complete with the white horses and footmen - six I think, coming down from the International Gateway area. There was a 3 piece instrumental group playing and lots of us were watching (from a respectful distance). It wasn't a huge wedding - I'd say maybe 50-75 people, but the coach makes for great pictures and a beautiful entrance. I've seen it with a bride over at GF and near the wedding pavilion also but I thought it really looked so picturesque coming down from the Epcot area.

I love seeing the brides and weddings taking place in WDW. Every so often I tell DH I’d like to do a Disney vow renewal. His response is always ok but then no ABD or DCL that year. Clearly my love of travel exceeds my desire for Cinderella’s coach pictures. Sigh ...

 

[nhgirl]

1. No Can't use Marriott points to pay for the cruise. It would only be UR points. You'd be able to use your Marriott points for pre or post cruise stays, or if you booked through Marriott (I think I saw cruises there now) but then you still couldn't combine with UR (and it's probably a bad value, but I haven't looked at it really).

2. No The CIP is a business card so it seems very unlikely you can PC to a personal card like the CSR. You'd have to try to PC your Freedom to a CSR. You can get 1.25 redemption from the CIP, so have to decide if the extra .25 redemption value outweighs the AF (and it might depending on how many points you are using).

3. No If you get the right agent, you should only need to use your UR when it comes time for a payment, which conceivably isn't until PIF. There's a few we've found that I think are listed on the DISchurners page. Melissa, Leon, Terrence are the 3 that come to mind, but I can't think of their extensions right now. Some agents are weird and insist on payment at time of transfer but there's no reason for that.[/QUOTE]


Okay. So then I’ll use Marriott points for pre-cruise stay in Boston. Then I’ll see if DH can try to PC his CSP to CSR (?). I’ll call Cruise and Tour to change the booking over to Chase and try to rack up more UR’s before PIF. HUCA if the agent says I need to pay before PIF date.

Right now all we have are the 129k UR’s combined. I’m assuming the more points you use the better the redemption value to outweigh the AF right? Plus factor in the travel credit of $300?

 

[calypso726]

Continuing the saga of this unexpected award booking:

I was up until 3:30 am trying to make this happen last night. I ended up searching every route that Emirates flies to and from the US. I’m a fan of positioning flights but this wound up being more convoluted than I expected. I wound up finding flights for 2 on Emirates using Alaska miles out of Houston in first on an A380 with a stopover in Dubai for a few days. It was 150k AS miles each, thank you Marriott Travel packages. The return also is going to be on Emirates but in business class. I didn’t have enough miles to get both of us in first. I wasn’t about to buy the miles to top up either.
We booked flights on UA paying with MR points to get back home from Houston. I still need to book our flights to Houston and I will likely do that today.

I managed to find 2 nights at the Conrad Maldives that allowed booking an overwater bungalow at the standard award rate of 95k Hilton points each. I wound up booking a regular room at the standard award rate on our arrival and departure days because the OWB rooms were over 370k points a night for those days! I will simply hope for an upgrade with the diamond status we have from the Hilton Aspire. Worst case scenario is a 4 night split stay at the Conrad Rangali Maldives with 2 consecutive nights in an OWB. I’m not complaining.

We need to book the seaplane flight from Male to Rangali and it is $526 per person. This has to be booked through the Conrad. I am going to see about each of us pre paying a charge to our room with the Aspire cards since they get a $250 resort credit each year and then making another pre payment with each card again in January which should bring our costs down to $26 per person each way.

I called Starriott last night to move our Al Maha desert resort booking from April to March. No dice. The agents are unable to do anything with the all suite bookings at the moment. I Allen the hotel in Dubai and they can’t access or change the reservation either. So this will be a work in progress and I will have to wait until their IT gets their act together. I see a daily HUCA to check and see if the system is working. Plus, I need to find a backup plan for the Dubai stay if switching the reservation winds up being impossible. The rooms are over $1000 per night. Time to get the thinking cap on.

This unexpected booking is becoming quite the adventure. #firstworldproblems

 

[miztressuz]

1. No Can't use Marriott points to pay for the cruise. It would only be UR points. You'd be able to use your Marriott points for pre or post cruise stays, or if you booked through Marriott (I think I saw cruises there now) but then you still couldn't combine with UR (and it's probably a bad value, but I haven't looked at it really).

2. No The CIP is a business card so it seems very unlikely you can PC to a personal card like the CSR. You'd have to try to PC your Freedom to a CSR. You can get 1.25 redemption from the CIP, so have to decide if the extra .25 redemption value outweighs the AF (and it might depending on how many points you are using).

3. No If you get the right agent, you should only need to use your UR when it comes time for a payment, which conceivably isn't until PIF. There's a few we've found that I think are listed on the DISchurners page. Melissa, Leon, Terrence are the 3 that come to mind, but I can't think of their extensions right now. Some agents are weird and insist on payment at time of transfer but there's no reason for that.


Okay. So then I’ll use Marriott points for pre-cruise stay in Boston. Then I’ll see if DH can try to PC his CSP to CSR (?). I’ll call Cruise and Tour to change the booking over to Chase and try to rack up more UR’s before PIF. HUCA if the agent says I need to pay before PIF date.

Right now all we have are the 129k UR’s combined. I’m assuming the more points you use the better the redemption value to outweigh the AF right? Plus factor in the travel credit of $300?

For 129k UR, the .25 gets you an extra $323 in value. Minus out the $150 AF, assuming you budget the $300 travel credit, and it seems you'd come out ahead with the CSR.

+ 450 CSR AF
+2000 random estimate for cruise
-1935 129k UR @ 1.5
- 300 CSR travel credit
215 OOP

+ 95 CSP/CIP AF
+2000 random estimate for cruise
-1612 129k UR @ 1.25
483 OOP

So plug your numbers in and see how it works out for you, but since you have a large stash I'd have to think the CSR would be worth the AF this time.

When did Dh get the CSP? I think someone reported back they couldn't PC to the CSR until they had the CSP for a year. But I might be misremembering. Also, you should only need to PC to it when you're ready to redeem, so that could give you a couple months.

 

[Lain]

Catching up here and there.

Firstly, congratulations @speedyfishy! But you forgot the important part, did SO hit some MSRs with that ring purchase? Weddings are expensive, especially big ones, so there’s no need to tell you to maximize this cost with credit card bonuses.

Secondly, for those who have gotten the dreaded ineligible for welcome offer popup from Amex, interesting DP yesterday that the popup went away for someone 9 days after getting the popup on his first try: https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/9binld/comment/e55mlis?st=JLJM4CAO&sh=a778bf82 Looks like it’s not a permanent ban.

 

[nhgirl]

@miztressuz I should have PC’d my CSP to CSR instead of Freedom ugh.
DH just got his CSP in April. I think he’s 4/24.