I love credit cards so much!

[gottalovepluto]

Anyone done this? https://www.doctorofcredit.com/citi...lable-nationwide-direct-deposit-not-required/

I'm thinking of kicking off my venture into bank bonuses with this as I have the $20k now but that will dwindle in the months to come as I pay off some store cards that have 0% offers expiring.

I should be able to get the $500 bonus I think. Just wondering if anyone else has done a Citi Offer before.

I did the $200 and my bonus posted right before it’s due date.

My advise is don’t call Citi “to assure your bonus is attached” as people on DoC and Reddit did. It’s worthless. I did (and got lucky) because after half an hour or more on the phone I was transferred to the right person who was able to see it was attached even though every other rep said it wasn’t. Stupid rabbit hole that was!

But... it’s Citi Bank. Just remember their name actually starts with an s and you’ll be ready to deal with them. Screenshot everything, fullfill the requirements 100%, be willing to contact Citi if your bonus doesn’t come through AFTER the fine print says it’s due, and then be ready to CFPB quickly from there. I highlight after because the number of people screaming about not getting their Citi bonus, despite not hitting the due by date, because “the rep said no code was attached!” is egregious. I highlight the CFPB because if 2 phone calls to Citi doesn’t result in your bonus (if it doesn’t post automatically it’s due to their crap IT) Citi will string you along forever. At the end 95% of people get their bonus so I do recommend it but with the serous caveat that their nickname is well deserved.

 

[LynnTH]

@LynnTH I have never taken a cruise to Alaska but spent a lot of time up there. Seward is a quaint little town that caters to cruisers. Whittier has an amazing one way tunnel in and out of the town, the longest in North America. If anyone in your group has an interest in amazing engineering feats this would be the choice. The town itself is pretty lackluster though.

Thanks. I like just walking around the towns. Sounds like Seward would be better for that.

 

[LynnTH]

We’ve done both Princess (2018) and Disney (2015) to Alaska. The Disney cruise went to Tracy Arm Fjord and Princess went to the Hubbard Glacier and Glacier Bay. There is nothing in this world like Glacier Bay! Given that, we enjoyed the Princess itinerary more. Also, the Naturalist on Princess was terrific (she was a whale specialist). DCL had a Naturalist too, and I recall him being good, but I was just more impressed with the one on Princess. Having said that, I still prefer DCL in general cause you know, its DCL! For Alaska though, I think I'd go with the best itinerary. And I would 100% get a balcony stateroom (this is probably more affordable on Princess). It rains a lot in Alaska, so if you get a balcony room, make sure its covered (some are not).

On the trip we took last summer, we flew into Anchorage 10 days before the cruise and did some traveling on our own (we rented an RV). I actually enjoyed this more than the cruise to tell you the truth. If you can do either a northbound or southbound trip to allow for independent travel, I would highly recommend that. Denali is stunning + Seward was fun to visit as well.

PM me if you have questions. Happy to help.

Thanks. Picking up lots of good info. Will certainly help with the research. I know we won’t go DCL. Way too expensive. Will look at Princess itineraries.

 

[LynnTH]

We did the Alaska cruise in and out of Vancouver with DCL. We actually considered other less expensive cruises but stuck with DCL for one main reason. We have Platinum status with them. Some excursions are going to get booked by Platinum members before anyone else can book them. We don’t have status with other cruise lines. The cruise was amazing and I’d do it again. Maybe with DCL and maybe not. No matter what cruise line you pick, do make sure you have a balcony! I could care less if we have a balcony or not on Caribbean cruises. I think it is worth it to have on an Alaska cruise. If you sail in or out of Vancouver do spend a day or two extra exploring the city. It’s wonderful and reminds me of San Francisco as far as the vibe. There’s lots to do and we really enjoyed ourselves. We stayed at a Westin on SPG points back in 2014.

Yeah. I think we will have t have a balcony. Just had sticker shock on price compared to Caribbean cruise. That’s a good idea about taking a few days in Vancouver. Sounds like a fun place.

 

[LynnTH]

It took me all day to catch up. For those of you who are stressed every time you apply, add me to the club. I don't find it fun until after there is an approval.



Thank you for sharing your fabulous pics every day! I really enjoy seeing them, and I'm glad to hear that you are having such an amazing time in Antarctica!



We cruised Alaska with DCL in 2011 (the first year there). With it being 1/2 sea days, we were very happy to be on DCL as we enjoy the shows and activities they offer, but they don't go to Glacier Bay. We needed to do a RT cruise and yes, Vancouver is the way to go. The passage is really beautiful and you miss it if you sail from other ports. We used our balcony a lot, so to me it was totally worth it. I'm a warm weather beach lover, and I was a bit apprehensive, but honestly it was so amazing and worth the cold. I liked it so much I was willing to do the Norway/Iceland cruise last summer, another cold cruise, and I'd be happy to take either one again. So I guess I like the cold weather cruises now.

Guess I can hope for above average weather. My brother and SIL were on one this July and it was in the 70s and 80s. They did say that was not normal. Have not talked with them yet as DH can’t be around if I am going to keep this a surprise.

 

[Haley R]

Have you tried the cap1 prequalified tool to make sure you have a shot at the Venture? We’ve yet to figure out what makes Cap1 tick but it seems the card showing on your prequalified gives you better chance of approval.

I don't know Dh's social otherwise I would try it now. I just did mine and the Venture wasn't one of the cards listed for me. We almost always try to apply under his name because he has a full time job.

 

[LynnTH]

We are first time cruisers, Alaska booked on DCL for next May/June. As a first time cruiser, I have no status. I know the chances are I could be locked out of our preferred excursions so I did it the churner way. I booked 2 excursions thru UR portal, float plane and Mendenhall Glacier and whale watching tour. For the 3rd, I couldn’t find what we wanted on UR portal, so I booked Yukon adventure and Dogsled ride with Chilkoot Charters which is pretty highly recommended over on the DCL section here on DIS. It was $410 for 3 people, so I used 40k URs as a statement credit on CSR which I used to book it. The vendors for the other 2, I researched both here and on places like TripAdvisor to make sure they had good ratings.
As for a balcony, that was way out of our budget, but even though it’s a long shot, I’ll ask about upgrades at the port.

I guess the balcony will depend on if we bring the kids or not. Whale watching and dogsled sound fun. I will have to research those also.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Okay so I've been doing my research (or trying to) about the Barclay Arrival + and the Capital One Venture cards. It looks like both would be good options to help us save on our train tickets for Japan. Lower MSR on Venture, but more miles earned with the Arrival + so I'm not sure which one will end up being better.

The main thing I need to figure out is if JTBUSA will come through as a travel expense. I plan on emailing/chatting with both companies to see if they know. Does anyone have a preference for one card over the other?

Also, can you product change the Venture to a no AF card?

ETA: Apparently the Japan Rail Pass does NOT count as travel with the Barclay card. I'm glad I checked. Now I'm looking into the Venture card.

Also check out the BOA Premium Rewards Card. $500 bonus for $3k spend. There’s also GE credit and an airline credit. If you open a BOA savings account you can deposit rewards in it (you can open online) or use as a statement credit. Not limited to travel purchases.

 

[Haley R]

Also check out the BOA Premium Rewards Card. $500 bonus for $3k spend. There’s also GE credit and an airline credit. If you open a BOA savings account you can deposit rewards in it (you can open online) or use as a statement credit. Not limited to travel purchases.

Thanks, I'll look into that one, too. The Barclays is off the table since we can't use it for the Japan Rail Pass. I'm interested in the Venture, though, because it says you can use it for Airbnbs. I wonder if there is any restrictions on that?

ETA: Does the BOA card offer the same travel credit that erases travel expenses? We will be buying our rail pass at the end of this month so that's the main reason I'm looking into the Venture.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Thanks. Didn’t know I that Whittier and Seward were both ports into Anchorage. I will have to check Costco but that would mean not using the CSR points.

Well, you could if you charged it to CSR and used URs for a statement credit. You can compare booking thru the portal to booking with Costco to see how many URs each would take. For our cruise I used URs for excursions and since it’s DCL, I have discounted Disney GCs plus bank bonuses and cashback cards (Discover and BOA) for the actual cruise (which I did book thru Costco). Obviously you wouldn’t do Disney GCs but you could check out some bank bonuses for sure.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Thanks, I'll look into that one, too. The Barclays is off the table since we can't use it for the Japan Rail Pass. I'm interested in the Venture, though, because it says you can use it for Airbnbs. I wonder if there is any restrictions on that?

ETA: Does the BOA card offer the same travel credit that erases travel expenses? We will be buying our rail pass at the end of this month so that's the main reason I'm looking into the Venture.

The BOA has no restrictions on what you use it for. There is a minimum number of points to redeem though, like $25 worth. I just deposited in my bank account

https://www.bankofamerica.com/credi...ewards-credit-card/?campaign=4022680~35~en_US

 

[Haley R]

The BOA has no restrictions on what you use it for. There is a minimum number of points to redeem though, like $25 worth. I just deposited in my bank account

https://www.bankofamerica.com/credi...ewards-credit-card/?campaign=4022680~35~en_US

I guess my question is can we use our miles AFTER we have made the purchase? Like with the Venture card you can use your miles after you've made the travel purchase and can "erase" the travel expense.

 

[kmc8826]

Okay so I've been doing my research (or trying to) about the Barclay Arrival + and the Capital One Venture cards. It looks like both would be good options to help us save on our train tickets for Japan. Lower MSR on Venture, but more miles earned with the Arrival + so I'm not sure which one will end up being better.

The main thing I need to figure out is if JTBUSA will come through as a travel expense. I plan on emailing/chatting with both companies to see if they know. Does anyone have a preference for one card over the other?

Also, can you product change the Venture to a no AF card?

ETA: Apparently the Japan Rail Pass does NOT count as travel with the Barclay card. I'm glad I checked. Now I'm looking into the Venture card.

I have had both. You can product change the Venture to a no fee. I changed mine to the quicksilver last year.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

I guess my question is can we use our miles AFTER we have made the purchase? Like with the Venture card you can use your miles after you've made the travel purchase and can "erase" the travel expense.

I’m not sure what you’re asking. You can use them any time. It’s like cash.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

I guess my question is can we use our miles AFTER we have made the purchase? Like with the Venture card you can use your miles after you've made the travel purchase and can "erase" the travel expense.

 

[amalone1013]

We have the AMEX deal on both of our Hilton cards that says 10% back. Here is the info from RMN:
View attachment 373274

When I go through RMN to Staples.com I can see the Airbnb gift cards so I think it should work, but I would hate to buy a ton in gcs and it not work.

That looks like the same kind of RMN offers I used. I understand not wanting to get a ton. I'd think about trying one and seeing how it went, and if that possible discount is worth it... it probably depends on how much you need and if you can wait for another deal. That's how I'd weigh it.

 

[Haley R]

View attachment 373279

Honestly I think I'm just confused on the whole travel "erasure" idea. So we plan to get our rail passes from JTB USA. They are a Japan travel agency. I'm not really sure if we should be buying these with a certain card or how we should be doing this. I found out the Barclay card won't work because the Japan Rail Pass doesn't count as travel. I don't think we could use any of these cards to directly buy the rail passes. Does it make the most sense to just apply for a card and take out a statement credit?

I guess we should just focus on the card that will give us the best points for travel. Both the Venture and BOA cards are 2x points for travel right?

 

[Haley R]

That looks like the same kind of RMN offers I used. I understand not wanting to get a ton. I'd think about trying one and seeing how it went, and if that possible discount is worth it... it probably depends on how much you need and if you can wait for another deal. That's how I'd weigh it.

Thanks! Our total Airbnb stay is going to be around $620. We currently have $115 in Airbnb gift cards so we still need around $500.

 

[wendow]

I'm interested in this card as well. So the Disney tickets coded as travel for reimbursement at the full 1%?

I bought the DLR tickets from Last Minute Travel, and yes, they did code as travel so I could use the points to 'erase' the charge. I plan to buy the WDW tickets from UCT, and the DP's I've read say that will code as travel for the Arrival+.

Buying tickets directly from Disney will not code as travel, but as entertainment.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

guess we should just focus on the card that will give us the best points for travel. Both the Venture and BOA cards are 2x points for travel right?

Don’t think of BOA card as “points” It’s a cashback card. It earns 2% on travel and dining, 1.5 on everything else.
If you meet the MSR without spending on any dining or travel, you will have $545. If you spend some of the $3k MSR on dining or travel, you will have more that $545 (like $560). We used it for a few months at the beginning of last year and ended up with $700+ which I used to buy discounted Disney GCs (I actually bought the Disney GCs with my Discover at Sam’s Club, deposited the money from the BOA card into my account and paid the Discover Card from that account)