I love credit cards so much!

[StephPlum]

RE IHG, the CC free night is good as long as you can book a standard room at the hotel, doesn't depend on reward availability. I've never tried to hold one with points then apply the certificate so not sure how well that works.

Thanks. That is good news.

I'm not sure about your IHG question re rewards availability = free night availability. I do see the Kimpton as available in July (16th). I think that would be a nice redemption as its a 60k hotel.

Also check out the Courtyard Downtown. The location looks good + you should be able to use the SPG Biz 35k cert. What is your anniv date on that card? My anniv date was 10/6 on my SPG personal and I don't have my cert yet . . .

Thanks. My anniversary is March 15th. I won't need the cert until July so should have enough time to get it.

 

[pillow]

I can’t help but it’s like how my spending on spg biz between the time my July statement closed and 8/1 got treated as August spending and was only worth 2 Marriott points /$ not 3. It’s minor compared to your issue but still seems unfair.

Is it in writing somewhere how that was supposed to be treated? I don't recall.

 

[pillow]

Marriott elite night drama . . . I have sent 5 SM's to Chase about missing elite nights from early August spend. It was my understanding that spend up until August 26 would count since you'd be earning towards those elite nights until that time. Chase is telling me that since the elite nights POST in early September (after the Aug 26th discontinuation of this benefit), I am not eligible. Does this make sense to anyone? Seems that as long as you EARN those credits before August 26th, you should still get them. Posting date should not be relevant. I need to go search for the letter Chase/Marriott sent about the discontinuation of this benefit and see how its worded.

Has anyone received elite night credits from August spend (pre Aug 26)?

I'm quoting myself as a follow-up . . .

I did find the letter from Chase regarding the elite night credit benefit elimination. It clearly states that elite night credits will be earned through the end of the August statement cycle. Its mind boggling to me that I have received 4 responses from Chase where they state that my spend is not eligible. As @amalone1013 would say . . .

 

[havaneselover]

Is it in writing somewhere how that was supposed to be treated? I don't recall.

Yes. It has to do with them saying the point is earned when the statement closes, not when you made the charge.

 

[Albort]

wow, the 15k Self referral bonus kicks in pretty quick... dont even have the card yet.

 

[linzjane88]

Thanks. I played with it a bit and it looks like they might start spamming my email, so I will cautiously look at the thread.

I must say, I have no SB love. Like less than zero. Every few months I will think "maybe now I'll like it?" and after clicking around and watching videos that slow my computer down and have a bunch of pop-ups I decided "Nope!". CC, churning, and gift carding have all spoiled me and getting a couple pennies for annoying videos just doesn't cut it. My BFF like it cause she can turn it on in the background at work but I don't have a job where I can do that. To each their own!

Also: I hate the Aviator Biz website. So so much hate. I got a late fee on our account because their website was designed by a monkey and when you login it doesn't take you to the 'main' account page it takes me to my DH's individual card which showed a 0$ and no payment due. Imagine my surprise when I checked my mail and found a statement with a $19 late fee . Even after logging in I thought there was an error because I could not find the balance or even the late fee. Only after clicking around did I find a tab for "company account" which showed everything. That website is absolute garbage and light years behind Chase, Amex, Barclays and Discover.

I sent a SM conveying my displeasure and letting them know I would likely not renew and also not spend further on that card until they develop a much better website.

 

[Jaime4004]

Saw First Man and enjoyed it. I could have done without the 27 min of previews before a movie that's 2 hr 10 min. The same guy that wrote the music from La La Land did the music for this movie. It's a good soundtrack that fits with the movie but part way through the movie I started to wonder if it was the same guy because it sounded similar. Ryan Gosling did a good job but I generally enjoy his movies.

Also enjoyed my gallon of coke and huge tub of popcorn for free from coke codes. Really wish the larges weren't so big but I never fill them full.

Do you think it's 10 yr old appropriate? DS loves space and the movie Apollo 13. This one looked maybe a little slower, more about the life of Neil Armstrong? I want to see it, just not sure if I should bring him along...

 

[amalone1013]

All this talk of AMC Theaters! Did you know that you could be earning at least 5 United miles per dollar spent on AMC GCs on the MPX app? Occasionally more during holiday promotions. +25% bonus miles if you’re a MileagePlus credit cardholder. You can purchase AMC GCs in exact amounts almost instantly after you get your total due at the ticket booth and concession stand.

Ah, but I get all of my amc and fandango gift cards at 10%-25% off or back... very rarely am I without a gift card

I thought the Stubs Premiere was $15? I haven't done the upgrade, but sounds like it's worth it.

They send me an offer every year to renew for $9.99. It was $15 my first year.

I usually get that too.

The Premiere program is pretty ridiculous, I didnt think it would last... dedicated ticket/concessions lines, concessions discounts... I love that your rewards can be used on fandango too. So I get fandango or amc gift cards for 10-25% off, if I buy tickets through fandango I go through ebates for 10 cents per ticket, stubs rewards have paid for itself many times over. And this summer fandango had a promo where every 4 tickets you bought you earned a $6 reward that was good for a few weeks. Not sure if that's still going. And I figured out recently that atom tickets also waives convenience fees and let's you use your stubs rewards with them, and Costco sells a $100 gift card pack for $75

 

[mhartman09]

I got an email today from BJs saying I could shop today and tomorrow with no membership. Checked on Disney cards, but it looks like those aren't included because it says "members only price" and asked me to log in.

 

[platamama]

Wanted to share my experiment here, and was gonna wait for the final results but if anyone else wants to give it a whirl:

I made an MPX purchase for a restaurant and used my new Amex Gold and it's pending...as Travel - Airline (shows on the app, not online). So I might get 4x restaurant, OR 3x airline OR 1x everywhere else. It hasn't posted yet so I don't have any confirmation. I'll follow up once I have more definitive information. Just thought it was interesting.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Is the SW AF returned pro rated if you cancel after the 1st 30 days? I need to cx DH's but his referral points won't post until his statement closes, which will make it too late for the full AF refund/30 day thing.

 

[Lain]

Wanted to share my experiment here, and was gonna wait for the final results but if anyone else wants to give it a whirl:

I made an MPX purchase for a restaurant and used my new Amex Gold and it's pending...as Travel - Airline (shows on the app, not online). So I might get 4x restaurant, OR 3x airline OR 1x everywhere else. It hasn't posted yet so I don't have any confirmation. I'll follow up once I have more definitive information. Just thought it was interesting.

I'm pretty sure it'll code as only 1x.

MPX never did pass through merchant category coding on Amex cards.

(MPX recently stopped pass through coding on Chase Sapphire and Ink cards too, with several DPs on reddit saying AirBnB GCs, which previously triggered the 3x travel categories on the CSR and CIP, earned only 1x.)

I purchased a $10 Starbucks GC on MPX recently using my Amex Plat,* and it posted as "UNITED AIRLINES 1-800-421-4655 TX"; click for details and you can see that the merchant is "MILEAGEPLUS X," the transaction is categorized as a "Special Service Ticket" with Passenger as "LAST NAME /MILEAGEPLUS X".

By comparison, an actual ticket purchased from United posts as "UNITED AIRLINES HOUSTON TX," with the merchant listed as "UNITED ELEC TICKETNG," categorized as "Flight on October 8" and Passenger as LAST NAME/FIRST NAME.

I have these two transactions on my most recently Amex Plat statement, and the MILEAGEPLUS X transaction earned only 1x, but the UNITED ELEC TICKETNG transaction earned 5x. Amex seems to have figured out a way to weed out MPX transactions from earning 5x. I expect MPX to work the same way with the Amex Gold.

*I could have bought a Starbucks GC on Gyft, OD/OM/Staples, Lowe's, through RMN offers, etc., but I was in a pinch and decided to take a small opportunity loss to put some spend on my Amex cards. There's also a small part of me that hopes MPX may start coding 5x again one day, as improbable as that is.

 

[Haley R]

Do you think it's 10 yr old appropriate? DS loves space and the movie Apollo 13. This one looked maybe a little slower, more about the life of Neil Armstrong? I want to see it, just not sure if I should bring him along...

It says the F word a couple times so if that bothers you than no. I personally thought it was pretty boring and almost fell asleep. It has a little about space but a lot of the movie is about his family and there are quite a few funerals.

 

[Lain]

Is the SW AF returned pro rated if you cancel after the 1st 30 days? I need to cx DH's but his referral points won't post until his statement closes, which will make it too late for the full AF refund/30 day thing.

Yes, Chase prorates their AF refund.

 

[mom2elal]

I order from Walmart about once every two weeks. I get most of my produce from Sprouts and my meat from Costco. I'm not a huge fan of either from Walmart. I will get produce from them if we are low but it's not my preference. May just be my store?? I do order a lot of other things from them like frozen veggies, snacks, cereal, bagels, as well as household items like kleenex, tylenol, shampoo, etc.

I think it's not just your store. Our WM has horrible produce.

 

[mom2elal]

As someone who very much wants both the Hyatt and IHG cards, I'm quite interested in this DP from yesterday of someone who was approved for the IHG at 40/24:

https://old.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/9njbdj/daily_discussion_thread_october_12_2018/e7nrxou/

Of course, scrolling down further, they only have 4 new accounts in the last 6 months, so that seems like that'll be a big factor if they aren't shut down.

Not quite 40/24, but I was approved for the IHG at 6/24 and it's been a couple of months and I haven't been shut down. I had done the dip-that-shall-not-be-named about 3 months before I applied for the IHG.

 

[mom2elal]

Honestly, I don’t know what a movie costs nowadays either. A few months ago, we were paying $13/ticket at AMC; more recently, we’re paying $7.79/ticket. I don’t really like the tickets from Costco because they’re blacked out for (most? all?) new releases on opening week and maybe the week after. We’ll often sneak in water, popcorn, and snacks, too; but when we do buy drinks and snacks, MPX can be really handy.

We've always been able to use Costco tickets at any movie, including new ones. They're not considered "passes" by the theaters.

 

[afan]

Do you think it's 10 yr old appropriate? DS loves space and the movie Apollo 13. This one looked maybe a little slower, more about the life of Neil Armstrong? I want to see it, just not sure if I should bring him along...

I heard the f word once and didn't notice any other swearing. There is death but you don't see it, though one part you do but there's 0 gore. You see a coffin lowered once otherwise the funeral stuff is all the after at the house stuff. It is about him, his family and his job. It's called first man not first trip to the moon, so it is about him. But I found a good amount about space.

I would say if he's seen hidden figures and liked it that this would be fine. It is 2 hours and 10 min though. I didn't get bored though but I knew what the movie was going in.

 

[speedyfishy]

so I love Walmart grocery. I’ll be going back to use the other Amex offer I have. The quality of the packaging I think compares to Fresh Direct. Everything was bagged properly and they asked me to check the produce quality and eggs before putting it in my car. Very impressed and the food is so cheap. Definitely recommend trying it and using the Amex offer if you have it. Oh, I also then parked and went inside and got a MO.

 

[georgina]

Check your BCE for an upgrade offer to BCP. Was just reading that there are some good offers floating around. I had one that waived the 95 fee for a year. I need to go back and see if that offer has changed.

I accepted an offer a week ago to upgrade - spend $1000, get $150 cash back. I had just downgraded 11 months ago because DH has a BCP and we didn't need 2. The AF just showed up on his so I may downgrade it. I hate how AmEx waits 2 months to credit rewards. He has cash back due from his Sept. statement, I am assuming it will still show up if I downgrade him?