I love credit cards so much!

[mom2elal]

For those with kids around 11, do you do clothes as gifts for Christmas? We've never done them as gifts for DS, although I buy plenty around the holidays, since he needs them anyhow. But with the tree going to look very sparse this year, I thought maybe I should wrap his new UA and Vineyard Vines items and put them around the tree??? But then there's the dilemma that his current sweatshirts and shirts are looking pretty small at the moment and he could probably use them now. I am blaming my VV AmEx offers for this pickle Next year we won't have this issue as much since he'll be required to wear a uniform and won't need as many casual/school clothes.

My yds is 11 and we're giving him a Fortnite t-shirt and some fuzzy socks that he loves. We've also done slippers and robes before.

 

[elgerber]

First off - I’m sorry about your crappy week and the job situation.

I maintain that something is amiss with your application situation here. This is all weird and messy and atypical. I’d wait for the letter and maybe it will provide insight into how you can fight this.

Yeah, it makes no sense. I do have a new car loan, but my lease ended, so we had to get a new car, and the SW Biz from a month ago. But that's it, since an AU in 7/2017. And my Chase credit journey has my score at 826 and my income ratio with Chase is at about 28%. I've been a Chase cardholder since 2003, with never so much as a single late payment.
Now I will pout and be annoyed every day the letter isn't here yet LOL.
Is it normal for recon not to talk to me though?

 

[Lain]

They've stopped sending me those offers at all. Never got one for free MR's.

You probably hurt Amex’s feelings when you didn’t respond to their Centurion Card invitation.

 

[GlamMistress]

Did everyone see that Sephora is 3% cash back on Dosh now? Stack with 9x MR on Amex.

Big Kohl's cash success today. I had $105 in my account. DH needed new headphones for his flight to Vegas tomorrow. Wireless Beats were on sale half off, down from $200. Boom = free headphones!

 

[Lain]

OMG, after 16 days of the 2 week message on my SW personal, it changed to 7-10 days this afternoon!!! There went my SW CP!
I haven't had a new personal card in over a year, and only the one Chase Biz card that they know of :-(

That just caps off the week that started with the news that I am probably going to lose my job.

 

[Judique]

@AmyAnne and @tink1970 thanks for the thought on DH borrowing my card. Reality is no way will he use mine. He is pretty patient with “use this card now not this one” but at the same time I just told him about the whole pop up Amex thing and he was like “we don’t need anymore cards anyway.” I then had to break it to him that just applied for him for the Arrival Plus and he might be getting a call as not instant approval and it went pending. Figured he needed to know since they might call. I guess I will stop applying for today.

Right now I am actually considering him just keep putting everything on the Amex AU for my Biz Plat or even breaking out another card for dining/groceries. Maybe use the ink cash for dining and the FU for groceries.



I can only imagine how frustrated you are since you have a redemption in mind. This would be his first MR earning card so at this point I am tempted to just give a break from Amex and concentrate on keeping myself on their good graces. I understand not wanting to put money on cards if it will all be pointless anyway no matter what.

Feel blessed @tink1970 you keep getting the pay over time offers. I am like @Judique and have got nothing. In fact I got all excited I got something in the mail yesterday about it. And the incentive to join? Not anything at all. Apparently I can still get new Amex cards (finger crossed) but am not incentive worthy.

For me, other than a few offers like Lowes, Staples and the MR's for pay over time, Amex has been okay. I really can't complain. I'm just wanting all of the offers!

I've been approved instantly for my Amex cards. I do have a relationship going back to 2001 and in the past have put as someone here said in one post 'I've put tens of thousands' on my cards. This only slowed down recently when I got into using other cards and my expenses dwindled considerably.

Sometimes there's just no reason why something happens. I was reading somewhere where someone got approved after applying 4 times, with no real huge increase in spend. I think a lot of this is random.

 

[Judique]

You probably hurt Amex’s feelings when you didn’t respond to their Centurion Card invitation.

Nah...that was quite some time back and they've been pretty good to me since considering how I'm rolling these days! Just an FYI - there was a time when I had a player two. I think that helps a lot sometimes.

 

[havaneselover]

Did everyone see that Sephora is 3% cash back on Dosh now? Stack with 9x MR on Amex.

Big Kohl's cash success today. I had $105 in my account. DH needed new headphones for his flight to Vegas tomorrow. Wireless Beats were on sale half off, down from $200. Boom = free headphones!

I think Ebates is 8% in store for Sephora right now.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

I was able to locate the SW Plus 50,000 offer on my flight home thanks to (@disneymagicgirl - was this you?) a recommendation to download the Airtime Player App. I was never able to locate the offer on the SW app or website . Instant approval! I haven't received it yet, but I'm not planning on touching it until January. There's no way we can travel in the first quarter of the year, so I'm in no rush to get the CP as early as possible.

Yay, glad it worked!

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Yeah, it makes no sense. I do have a new car loan, but my lease ended, so we had to get a new car, and the SW Biz from a month ago. But that's it, since an AU in 7/2017. And my Chase credit journey has my score at 826 and my income ratio with Chase is at about 28%. I've been a Chase cardholder since 2003, with never so much as a single late payment.
Now I will pout and be annoyed every day the letter isn't here yet LOL.
Is it normal for recon not to talk to me though?

I’ve been talking this up to my parents for so long and finally my dad app’d For a card. I don’t remember which one, but it wasn’t chase. Anyways, they had just closed on their house and were denied the card. I told him to call recon and discuss the inquiries (mortgage related) and get it pushed through but I don’t think he did.
Anyways, he is otherwise well qualified like you. I think maybe the car loan thing throws them off and the house purchase. See what the letter says and reapply in 30 days.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Yeah, it makes no sense. I do have a new car loan, but my lease ended, so we had to get a new car, and the SW Biz from a month ago. But that's it, since an AU in 7/2017. And my Chase credit journey has my score at 826 and my income ratio with Chase is at about 28%. I've been a Chase cardholder since 2003, with never so much as a single late payment.
Now I will pout and be annoyed every day the letter isn't here yet LOL.
Is it normal for recon not to talk to me though?

I do not think that is normal. I’ve never heard of somebody attempting to contact recon twice and being told they could not speak to somebody regarding the decision.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Is it normal for recon not to talk to me though?

Not normal. I helped a fam member on a Chase recon where they straight up got bad info. Idk if recon just didn’t want to deal with him or wasn’t trained or what, it was over a holiday weekend. In your shoes I would HUCA Monday and not mention today’s call.

 

[elgerber]

Not normal. I helped a fam member on a Chase recon where they straight up got bad info. Idk if recon just didn’t want to deal with him or wasn’t trained or what, it was over a holiday weekend. In your shoes I would HUCA Monday and not mention today’s call.

Thanks. I may try again then. Did I mention my mortgage is also with Chase LOL?

 

[kidsfirsttrip]

Doc article about Amex offer and using an amazon gc
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.do...-gift-card-with-a-shop-with-points-order/amp/

 

[AmyAnne]

Can someone check my math? I'm trying to decide if I want to make a stop at Office Depot tonight for the Happy Guy cards. I just finished the Best Buy/SB deal on one card and have the offer on two more so I am also deciding about doing that deal again. This is what I have calculated:

Best Buy spend $300 get $30 back = 10%
Swagbucks spend $100 get 750 SB = 7.5%
Also get 1% back in MR points = 1%

Office Depot spend $150 get $20 off = 13.3%
Use Ink+ or AmEx Blue Biz for 5%

Am I missing anything? It looks to me like the deals are pretty much equivalent.

 

[mmmears]

Wow. Can't believe I finally caught up. Sorry if I've missed stuff... there was a lot to read today!

The AMEX stuff has me worried. I think we will definitely slow way down for 2019.

I could really layer this then...buy Amazon GCs at our grocery store for 12% back in fuel perks with my BBP...So many possibilities! It sounds like I'd need to make sure I still owed a small balance after using the GCs so that I could then use my 1 MR point and put a small balance on the BBP to qualify for the 20%.

This 20% Off with MR points...Is that a one-time use thing?

Thanks for posting this. I checked my new Amazon account yet again because of your post, and I had the offer!

Please y'all remind me not to read "mommy points" Summer Hull on TPG EVER AGAIN. Today she annoyed me so much I actually posted a comment. It was my first (and hopefully last) ever. Ugh, just ugh

Thank you and back to credit cards...I have the weirdest offer on my Amex--9X UR points at Sephora. Guess I'll be stocking up on sunscreen and DD's expensive makeup (okay, mine too). Combining with Miles Plus Shopping portal (6X) this can earn me both flexible and targeted miles. Whoo hoo!

I had to look up that article. What an entitled crybaby. I like lounges, and I am willing to push if I can prove I have a right to be in one, but I'm not going to go so far as to fight with airport security. Also, what's wrong with her husband that he can't look after 2 kids for a few days? Glad you commented.

I just replied to this similar question somewhere else. For me, it has changed just within the last week. I purchased lots of Amazon gift cards at Best Buy, Staples, Lowes, etc., with cash back offers. On Black Friday, I was able to apply a single MR point for the 20% discount, then pay the remainder with my Amazon gift card balance. From Cyber Monday through Thursday, I could apply a single MR point for the 20% discount, but I was forced to complete the purchase with my AmEx card. Starting yesterday, I am again able to apply my AmEx gift card balance.

It's really wonky - it happened in my wife's account and my account, and I checked multiple browsers.

Thanks so much for your quick reply! Based on this I used the 10% off Best Buy to get Amazon GCs to use for this order and it worked!

Today I booked our flights from Tokyo to Osaka. I compared flying ANA using United miles which had saver awards at 5,000 UA miles per person and no taxes and fees vs booking through the Chase UR portal which was 5,363 pp for the same flights. I booked using UA miles since I've earned well more than that via MPX. We are arriving in Tokyo and spending a couple of nights there before the ABD trip. I really want to check out the robot restaurant. With that in mind, I decided to book our hotel in Tokyo for the 2 nights. I saw that the Park Hyatt was over $1,000 per night! I've never stayed at a Park Hyatt but holy guacamole! I really did not want to spend nearly 134,000 UR points for 2 nights just to see what the Park Hyatt was like. I decided to check out how many Hyatt points it would be and it was 30,000 per night. Well that's more palatable. So, I transferred 60k UR points to Hyatt, they posted instantly and I booked 2 nights.

I also went ahead and booked our airport terminal hotel in Dubai with 12,888 Chase UR points since we have an overnight layover getting in at 9:30 pm and departing at 10 am the next day. Small price to pay for getting to fly back on a plane with a shower I suppose. I'm just happy not to be paying real money for this stuff.

I love reading about how you spend your points - thanks for sharing. I have heard good things about the Park Hyatt in Tokyo. We have stayed at the one in Paris and it was really nice, and have the one in NY booked for spring (using points like you did - it's also coming up as over 1K per night in actually money but I'm not sure it's really worth all the Hyatt points vs a cheaper place), and I have my eyes on the one in Sydney if we ever decide to go there.

I hope you don’t see the start of a family as the end to traveling. Infants require you to lug around a lot of stuff, but they’re totally easy to travel with. Toddlers are more challenging, but require less stuff and are more self sufficient. They’ll soon need extra seats or a bigger room, but the points and miles game really helps defray the cost. Some of our fondest family memories are on vacation.

So true. We had a blast going to Hawaii with DD right after her first bday, and then going back once a year (plus trips to WDW) while she was still in preschool and we could travel whenever we wanted to. Some of my best memories are from those trips. We did find that those trips were better for us than, say, a trip to Japan or Europe with a toddler. But I have friends who've been all over the world with their twins and they are in 2nd grade now. Kids can get used to travel if you start them early.

OMG, after 16 days of the 2 week message on my SW personal, it changed to 7-10 days this afternoon!!! There went my SW CP!
I haven't had a new personal card in over a year, and only the one Chase Biz card that they know of :-(

That just caps off the week that started with the news that I am probably going to lose my job.

Just want to say that I'm sorry you're having such a bad week and I hope next week is better.

 

[speedyfishy]

I took your advice and applied for the Gold today for DH. AND a pop up. Amex really does not like him.

3 cards with Amex. The SPG now a Lux, the Delta personal platinum, and the Delta business platinum. I have been putting spend on all 3 sporadically enough that have had to pay it off at least every payment cycle. In fact balances on 2 of the 3 right now. The pop up says “based on your history with Amex welcome offers” which is the part which would apply to him as he all 3 cards he has ever had he has never closed. His first Amex the Delta personal is over 5 years old. The SPG will be two years in March. He got the Delta Biz in September 2017. I. know that the problem is the Delta Biz which they didn’t want to give us the bonus on in the first place.

So my question @Lain, @SouthFayetteFan, @Albort given that do you think it is even worthwhile to put even more spend on the other Amex cards? Or should I just let it go right now? I am inclined to try making even more spend but in this situation I almost feel like that Amex really does not like him and no matter what happens with the spend he is on the bad list. He somehow got on it with the Delta Plat Biz last October and then the escalation to finally get the points feels like if we did have a chance of getting out of the hole we don’t now. The 4 times dining on MR’s would be nice enough that I am even considering just getting him on as AU on my card for now. (Which I kind of don’t want to do as it goes against the conventional wisdom on here but it is tempting as he eats out everyday, also does the grocery shopping). I also downgraded his Reserve so I don’t have a great card for his dining right now. Thoughts?

Ugh, I’m sorry you are still getting the popup. I think I would try some small spend and try again in January if you really want him to get the Gold. I personally think it’s the best card but I wouldn’t direct all spend to Amex to get it. Maybe some occasional charges spread out will do the trick. I’m trying for SO again in a few weeks after putting $1300 on his cards so I’ll report back if that worked.

OMG, after 16 days of the 2 week message on my SW personal, it changed to 7-10 days this afternoon!!! There went my SW CP!
I haven't had a new personal card in over a year, and only the one Chase Biz card that they know of :-(

That just caps off the week that started with the news that I am probably going to lose my job.

I’m so sorry you are having a crappy week.

 

[AmyAnne]

OMG, after 16 days of the 2 week message on my SW personal, it changed to 7-10 days this afternoon!!! There went my SW CP!
I haven't had a new personal card in over a year, and only the one Chase Biz card that they know of :-(

That just caps off the week that started with the news that I am probably going to lose my job.

I'm sorry to hear about your run of bad news. Hopefully Chase has some incorrect info in its database--I think that happened to someone else here not too long ago--and you can get it straightened out and get approved.

 

[gottalovepluto]

—

 

[gottalovepluto]

Can someone check my math? I'm trying to decide if I want to make a stop at Office Depot tonight for the Happy Guy cards. I just finished the Best Buy/SB deal on one card and have the offer on two more so I am also deciding about doing that deal again. This is what I have calculated:

Best Buy spend $300 get $30 back = 10%
Swagbucks spend $100 get 750 SB = 7.5%
Also get 1% back in MR points = 1%

Office Depot spend $150 get $20 off = 13.3%
Use Ink+ or AmEx Blue Biz for 5%

Am I missing anything? It looks to me like the deals are pretty much equivalent.

Nope. I think most of us maxed out the $30 off $300 BB awhile ago so we’re excited to see the OD offer.