I love credit cards so much!

[DisneyMandC]

I personally would not choose to stay in TS again, so I'd go for the Courtyard Central Park. But they both have similar positive reviews, so it's entirely personal about where you want to stay. I'm sure you know this too, but none of your 3 activities are close to either hotel. But you're close to subway lines and that's what counts. The High Line in spring is awesome!







Are y'all signed up for emails from the Rockettes website? We've gone the last two years so I get their emails. I frequently get 50% off offers. There's also almost always either a 50% off one ticket or buy one get one free offer for any performance except Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. You should never have to pay full price for tickets if you can go any other days.

Right now, BroadwayBox has "up to 50% off" with code BBOXN2:

https://www.broadwaybox.com/shows/radio-city-christmas-spectacular/

This TA thread has a ton of useful information. Several discount codes scattered throughout. Just apply it on the Christmas Spectacular website where it says "Apply Offer Code" to see which dates they work on.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTop...018_discount_code-New_York_City_New_York.html

https://www.rockettes.com/christmas/calendar/

I tried Broadway Box before, but unfortunately my dates aren't eligible for it I'm going on a busy day (Dec. 15 or 16) so there really aren't many discounts since the shows are going to be so busy then already. I'm definitely going to try TKTS though!

And I second The High Line in spring. We went in April and it was great. Unless people have small children and are worried about walking/using public transportation a lot, I wouldn't let distance from hotel to activities slow you down too much. DH and I stayed at the Marriott Downtown near the financial district when we went last year. We used the Moovit app to figure out how to get around on the subway and found it very easy!

 

[elgerber]

Has anyone else noticed a change with Amazon's pay-with-points? On Black Friday, I was able to apply $0.01 AmEx MR points and pay the remainder with Amazon gift cards, purchased at ~20% discount. Now when I apply MR points I am required to put the remainder on my AmEx card. I wonder if this is new or if I started doing something wrong.

I just did a dummy purchase, and it still worked for me, to use .01.

 

[wanderlust7]

Has anyone else noticed a change with Amazon's pay-with-points? On Black Friday, I was able to apply $0.01 AmEx MR points and pay the remainder with Amazon gift cards, purchased at ~20% discount. Now when I apply MR points I am required to put the remainder on my AmEx card. I wonder if this is new or if I started doing something wrong.

Do you have Amazon or Visa/MC gift cards in the order?

 

[platamama]

It's fun to read the churning stories!

I guess I started where a lot of us did - with a Disney Visa in 2009. I started reading more and spent a lot of time reading Flyertalk (my profile says I joined FT in 2011) and bloggers and really began in earnest in 2013 when DH and I each opened CSPs and Arrival+s and a BA Visa. We've been through a lot of cards, and actually churn some of them. Boy I miss the days of Bluebird, Serve, Redbird, AmazonPayments...though that's nothing compared to the stories of people buying US Mint coins with cc's and depositing the coins into their bank account! Including business cards, I'm at 14/24 (6/24 personal) and DH is 10/24 (3/24 personal). I've only recently tried MSing VGCs, and it's handy but not something I can say I enjoy doing. I used to have the old Blue Cash and I wish I had never PC'd that card to the BCP (now downgraded to BCE).

I like using miles & points to subsidize my travel and I don't expect a trip to be 100% free. I know my family wouldn't travel the way we do at all unless I was able to make it affordable on our income. Since starting this hobby, we've traveled to England, Ireland, France, Italy, Costa Rica, Hawaii, as well as other domestic destinations. We're off to Hawaii again in March for spring break (airfare paid with URs, hotel with Marriott points). The next trip I need to figure out is ways to see the Northern Lights. Our trips tend to average $1000/person/week inclusive of all airfare/transportation/lodging/food/activities when we travel internationally. Last week our Thanksgiving trip to Costa Rica worked out to $730 per person for the week for everything and I'm perfectly happy with that. I wrote up a Dischurners review of that hotel here:

https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...s-so-much-thread.3680669/page-4#post-59992007

 

[JKalai]

Reporting here from the Alaska Lounge in LAX. I remember reading a DOC article where they were denying all PP holders. It seems not to be the case anymore, but this place is CROWDED. I barely could find a seat and I’m traveling solo.

 

[miztressuz]

LOL - love how you're using the literal definition of churning!

I think we can all agree now that with AMEX once per lifetime, Chase 24mo and 48mo rules, Citi and BofA restrictions...that we have to embrace that churning is just the act of opening multiple cards for bonuses...and not truly opening the same card. It's crazy, but there aren't even many cards left that you can churn rapidly.

Even I have barely "truly churned" cards - here's my list:

• ME: Southwest Plus (1 time)
• ME: Southwest Premier (1 time)
• ME: Disney Visa (2 times)
• WIFE: Disney Visa (1 time)
• ME: BankAmericard (4 times)
• WIFE: BankAmericard (2 times)

I haven't technically "churned" a card since August 2017...Wow, lol!

Yeah, I'm a stickler sometimes but I agree, I think the new definition of just opening a card and then cancelling after the bonus is the new churner. Because I'm a card hoarder like @Judique , I do have opportunity to churn right now. I cancelled my SW Premier and while I thought that would be my first actual churn, technically I'm thinking about the SW Biz instead so it'll be like a churning cousin I guess, keep it in the same family I am pretty sure we're churning one, if not both of our Disney Visa's. I vacillate on churning my Discover it card - I know I can and probably should at some point but Discover is my oldest card issuer right now and the return is "low" comparatively (10% on 7,500) so not sure I want to rock the boat for that.

 

[hsmamato2]

The SW bonus is limited to once every 24 mos across all the personal cards. Which is why so many of us who want CP are trying for one pers & the biz

so if my pal got the bonus more than 24 mos ago and cancles her current card today.... whats a good timeline to reapply? she'll be on flight this next week or two-too soon?

 

[elgerber]

Anyone familiar with Best Buy rewards? I got a $10 bonus reward in the mail yesterday. There is game my dd wants, that if I pre-order, I will get a $10 reward. Can these be stacked?

 

[tink1970]

We also got invited to Scotland next June to see our pastor graduate from St. Andrews, so we are hoping to use points for that also.

Please PM me if you have any questions I could possibly answer about St Andrews. I've been 5 years in a row (dropping DD off at summer school) so while I might not know a lot, I know a lot more than I did in 2013 for my first trip

But since I stopped working (retired) I'm just genuinely unabashedly lazy.

I'm more obsessed with keeping up with this boards posts.

LOL! That's me to a t!

 

[JKalai]

Anyone familiar with Best Buy rewards? I got a $10 bonus reward in the mail yesterday. There is game my dd wants, that if I pre-order, I will get a $10 reward. Can these be stacked?

Yup.

 

[Psychodisney]

so if my pal got the bonus more than 24 mos ago and cancles her current card today.... whats a good timeline to reapply? she'll be on flight this next week or two-too soon?

I think she'd be fine.

 

[miztressuz]

AH! thanks for the reminder...... I was about to do some shopping..... I wanted to go instore to ruby tuesday,pf chang and 5 guys to buy gc...think it'll trigger the offer? I'm also not seeing the sams club x3 offers I saw the other day...then all the pages went wonky and showed no offers....I'd better leave it alone till it sorts out (this is ridiculous)

I think both our offers were specific for sams club .com and on Discover at least Sams instore and online code differently. So I'm not sure it'll work.

OT - but now I'm floored that Sams Club online is categorized as "merchandise" instead of "warehouse clubs" on Discover!!! Now I'm glad that my GC order was late and I had to buy in store so I know that amount counts for the category this year. Did this happen to anyone else with the non-warehouse designation?

This is 1000% why I am a slow churner! I'd churn much, much faster if we could handle the MSR's but we can't. I used to freak our about the 5k/3 mos ones but I've learned those are pretty doable for us. Anything more than that, or two MSR's going at once, and it's just too stressful for me and I start looking to spend money I wouldn't normally spend. Even with the slow churn though, we've paid for a WDW in full and about 3/4 of a DLR trip, as well as several small get-aways. I'm in 'hoarders' mode right now with my points because I'm unsure what next year's travel will look like

This is kinda hubby, when we have a spend to meet he's off to the races and wants to get it over with ASAP. Even though we discussed a couple times seeing how it goes for the first 2 months and then getting creative only if we have to, his nature overtakes that logic. He says now that just doing all natural spend on our 3k BBP MSR for the next 3 months is ok, but I think he's secretly hoping that our cars or something need work and it's finished off quick. (Please, universe, if you can hear me, this is NOT the wish we'd like you to grant. Thanks!)

I guess the question I had about the AMEX 10K points for pay over time had to do with wondering if it would negatively affect our credit scores or make it harder to get more cards in the future since we'd be turning it from a charge card to a credit card. This platinum is our main card and has seen most of our spend for the last 7 + years. (More on that when I find a chance to write up my "story").

The Pay Over Time doesn't change your card, it's just an option you can turn on or off for some purchases. It'll still be a charge card and nothing will change unless you decide to use that feature. You can always unenroll through chat after you get the bonus, I've read of people doing that if you're concerned about accidents.

 

[hsmamato2]

Here is my, probably not too helpful for your situation, DP...We took our fam of 6 to the PP restaurant at DIA a couple of weeks ago. I have PP through my Amex plat good for me and 2 guests and dh has PP with his CSR good for him and 2 guests. They allow $32/pp and our bill was only $84 total (for all 6!) so the server only ran one of our cards. Not sure if all the restaurant PP lounges work this way or not.

And I missed if you are trying to hit a lounge or restaurant. I think in a lounge you will need to pay the $32 for the fourth person.

this is helpful! We have 4 peeps,I have CSR,and we have some Hh provided one time PP passes to use,so if I'm correct that's 3 on my one PP and then 4th uses the single use(?) and I wanted to try restaurants- do you show the card upfront,or at time of payment? how exactly do you use it?

 

[hsmamato2]

I think both our offers were specific for sams club .com and on Discover at least Sams instore and online code differently. So I'm not sure it'll work.

OT - but now I'm floored that Sams Club online is categorized as "merchandise" instead of "warehouse clubs" on Discover!!! Now I'm glad that my GC order was late and I had to buy in store so I know that amount counts for the category this year. Did this happen to anyone else with the non-warehouse designation?



This is kinda hubby, when we have a spend to meet he's off to the races and wants to get it over with ASAP. Even though we discussed a couple times seeing how it goes for the first 2 months and then getting creative only if we have to, his nature overtakes that logic. He says now that just doing all natural spend on our 3k BBP MSR for the next 3 months is ok, but I think he's secretly hoping that our cars or something need work and it's finished off quick. (Please, universe, if you can hear me, this is NOT the wish we'd like you to grant. Thanks!)



The Pay Over Time doesn't change your card, it's just an option you can turn on or off for some purchases. It'll still be a charge card and nothing will change unless you decide to use that feature. You can always unenroll through chat after you get the bonus, I've read of people doing that if you're concerned about accidents.

I still can't figure out how to see if I got the bonus categories applies to my purchases on Discover

 

[Judique]

so no other info on using a PP with 4 people? I'm feeling anxiety and I need to force myself to try this for once!

I'm not an expert on this but I don't think you can use 2 cards at once to get 4 people in. You'll probably have to use 4 of your Hilton passes, if that is possible. This came up in the past and I think this was the answer.

 

[FloridaNative8]

Please PM me if you have any questions I could possibly answer about St Andrews. I've been 5 years in a row (dropping DD off at summer school) so while I might not know a lot, I know a lot more than I did in 2013 for my first trip

I absolutely will, thank you!! I've started to research places to stay and flight possibilities, and could use some advice!

 

[tink1970]

Share your churning history...fun little exercise to pass the time this week...
Another group I'm in has been doing this recently as we approach the end of the year - people sharing a little bit about how long they've been at this game and how many cards they've gotten during that time. This could help @Lain update his spreadsheet too At any rate, if you want to share I think we'd all be curious. I'll start!

I've always felt I was the cautionary tale so I have no problems sharing. In 2004, I was first denied Disney Visa. A family member had stolen my identity, run up credit cards and not paid them I had the hard choice of paying off several thousand dollars or pressing charges. I paid off the card, closed it, and spent a few years cleaning up my credit. (That's the cautionary tale of TRUST NO ONE ).

Once my credit bounced back, I was uber cautious with cards (for obvious reasons). Then, 2016 and the CSR happened. I had neither game plan nor logic. Rapidly went through cards and was 5/24 probably within 4 or 5 months. Then, figuring I was over 5/24, I got more. At my peak, I was something like 22/24 (plus 5 biz cards). Last November I got 5, then sort of got tired, frankly. (Cautionary tale of HAVE A PLAN!)

As of Sat, I'll be 4/12 and still 16/24. This month I closed 3 cards (Amex MB, Citi Prestige, Premier Disney). My P2 isn't (he consented to the CSR 1/17 and that's been it...sigh...).

The current cards I love- Amex gold, Amex plat (biz and personal), CFU.

Churning, earning and burning have helped defray the costs of several European trips (and created a lounge and hotel monster in DH), hotels for DD's seemingly eternal college search and "insurance" for last minute flights we might need. I'm excited about trying out Aer Lingus business and BA first (via Amex MR Avios transfer), Austrian Airlines business class (United via URs), and United Polaris business class (United via URs), American business (via AA through Citi/Barclaycard).

I've learned:

-I don't have to get every new card
-the game changes on a regular basis so a previous "keeper" card might not be that in the future
-URs are really only good (for me) to transfer to United
-not having an MSR isn't the end of the world!
-people use points and miles differently and that's fine...also fine if they ignore your fabulous advice re: cards

Long term plans are dependent on our travel needs for the next few years-I'll continue to replenish MRs and decide whether I'll try to get below 5/24 (that would be...in 12 months) or explore other options. It's nice to be sort of flexible

 

[BamaBoy]

So uhhh does anybody have a DP on the new free night with the SPG biz card?

Here's my experience and info so far:

1) My card opening date is 10/26/2017.

2) On 11/2/2018 I got the following email (truncated for time)...

You’re close to receiving a Free Night Award from SPG...Happy Card anniversary! We wanted to remind you that you will receive one annual Free Night Award from SPG® each year of Card Membership within 8-12 weeks after your Card Account anniversary date...You can redeem...at or under 35,000 points....You will receive an email from SPG to the email address listed on your loyalty member account confirming that the Free Night Award e-certificate has been deposited into your loyalty member account....To qualify...account must be open and not in default at the time of issuance...Thank you for your Card Membership...American Express Customer Care​

3) On 11/25/2018 my statement closes on the SPG Biz and my $95 annual fee is billed

4) My payment of this AF is due by 12/18/2018...

Conveniently for AMEX...8 weeks from my anniversary date is 12/21/2018. It sounds to me like I have to pay the annual fee to get this free night. Has anybody had their free night post yet from the SPG Biz (or even the SPG personal would be a meaningful DP). I was hoping this would work like the Chase Marriott card where I get my free night and then cancel...but I don't think that's going to be the case unfortunately.

My experience was exactly as you state. They are basically forcing you to pay the annual fee to get the free night, so I dropped the card. Not like Chase where you receive the free night based on keeping the card and being loyal in the previous year.

 

[striker1064]

Got a spend offer on my Barclays Wyndham - spend $750 each in December and January, get 1,000 bonus Wyndham points per month. I wonder if this has any correlation to my AF coming due next month. I'll probably spend it just to see if it helps with a retention offer.

I really appreciate your take on this. It helps me to lower my expectations. I've stayed at the Palace (top part, the towers) a few times over the years and that's the area (midtown, across from St. Patrick's) I'm used to. It's become too expensive lately, so I decided to use some points instead and this Hyatt looked nice and in an ok location. The only Park Hyatt we've ever stayed at is the one in Paris and that one was really nice. But this trip isn't until May so I have plenty of time to switch if it's not that great a place. I'd love to use those Hyatt points in Sydney, but I don't think we will get there any time soon. I want to go to the Moma and the Met this trip, plus maybe walk the highline. I don't expect another trip to NY anytime soon. I'm just adding these few days in NY onto a trip we are taking to Philadelphia.

I hear the PHs in Paris and Tokyo are the gold standards. I'm sure this will be great for you. It's definitely not the Palace, but not much is. It is fairly close the Moma/Met though.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

...Not like Chase where you receive the free night based on keeping the card and being loyal in the previous year...

Me...Loyal...to a card...

LOLOLOL!!!!

On a more serious note though, I will also be dropping the card like you though...just gonna wait until the last second in case something lucky happens w/ the free night.