I love credit cards so much!

[CyndiLouWho]

Cashing out URs... it burns!

I’ve reconciled myself with it. Of course it would be awesome if Disney came back but I doubt it.
I saved URs for cruise excursions, booked 2 thru the portal, cashed out 40k for the rest. There is nothing else in the portal I want right now.

 

[Judique]

The Delta offers are pretty sad right now. I did a 60k points + $50 statement credit for delta purchase. Which reminds me, I need to sell the $50 gc I bought! I’d definitely wait for a better offer. I did the delta gold biz.

Yes, when I looked it was not worth my time. I'm pretty lazy about this stuff. Mostly go after low hanging fruit like the Amex gold card where I know it will work long term and has a good start up.

And, right this minute, because I can ditch this idea and switch gears in a millisecond - I'm waiting to go back under 5/24 and pick up all the UR's I can and that will take me until late next year.

Meanwhile I'm looking at DD's 800+ (the younger one) credit score, her good paying job, and her well established credit that I've helped her nurse along since she was 13, and I want to talk her into a few more cards. But that's an uphill and then some, battle. I have a son with the same credentials and he's not going to budge that I can see. Both are super conservative and savers. Getting them to make a little dent in this hobby would satisfy my lust for points, even if I didn't get a penny! I should just be thankful they are how they are. Maybe I should talk to them about FIRE? That might appeal in a certain way.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

I think if you call they can issue you a check...or if you wait long enough they'll automatically issue a check. OR you might be able to transfer that credit to another AMEX card with a balance.

For my mom, they just credited it right back to her bank account. When I called they didn’t even want to send a check.

 

[striker1064]

I am having trouble with the PNC approval also. And I've had one account for the last 23 years until the new Discover checking I just opened.

At some point in 2018, they seem to have gotten extremely Chex/EWS sensitive. Who knows what their threshold is now. I've heard it's still possible to go in-branch to open though, so sooner or later I will just do that for the bonus.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

All that AA talk, prompted me to look at my account. Yeah, on the phone with them now, someone with my name just took a flight with almost all my miles last week!

 

[shairpdrh]

2 totally unrelated questions

1. For anyone recently approved for CIC, how long did it take to get your card?

Felt like forever, but it looks like it was 8 days from approval (applied 12/23, received on 12/31).

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Fraud on loyalty accounts is possible and occurs more than we probably realize. For Example...You can book a SW flight for anybody with your points. This is why I advocate having that "points balance" spreadsheet so you know everything is right, and I would check at least quarterly (personally I check all my balances monthly).

I need to do this. I just have a rough idea in my head. New Years resolution

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Felt like forever, but it looks like it was 8 days from approval (applied 12/23, received on 12/31).

Good to know, over the holiday. DH applied 12/30. Waiting impatiently

 

[Judique]

Thanks to everybody who replied on my little "touring plan" scenario. I read them all and will take all the wonderful points brought up to formulate a plan.

Also - didn't realize so many folks were interested in AA miles! Who in here is chasing a 2nd (or more) Biz AA and is trying to find mailers? (Keep in mind you don't need one of these mailers for the first card)

Which one are you considering? My choice was 2 for many of the same reasons others cited, especially the 'back in the room' on Friday night. But, @calypso726 has seen the show and she threw a wrench in that. I'd still go number 2 because you would have seen it on Wednesday already. I'm not much of an over and over again person, probably because I'm almost twice your age and I've been there done that so often that Disney doesn't have much that I can't just shove off to the side until next trip. I'm in the range of close to 60 or more Disney trips since 1989. During my early DVC days I went 3-4 times per year. Now its once or twice and only fall and winter.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

can you tell me what mailer this is to watch for?

CitiBusiness AAdvantage Platinum Select

 

[mamathompson]

Is anybody in our group churning AA cards? Are people looking for personal, business, or both offers? I'm continuing to read up on this personally as it could become a minor part of my 2019 strategy and just want to know who else wants to be kept up to speed on things if I find anything out OR anything changes.

I'm interested in getting in on this. I would probably be looking for business cards to start with.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

That explains why I couldn't find a way to send an SM this morning and had to use their crappy chat feature.

I know 400k sounds like a lot but the path is:
- P2 refer P1 to CIP
- P2 CIC
- P1 CIU
- P1 modified double dip CSP/CSR (with referral from P2 on the CSP)
- P1 CIC
- Plus some 5x on Chase Freedom categories

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

I'm interested in getting in on this. I would probably be looking for business cards to start with.

So for the first one you don't need to worry about mailers. You can just find the best public offer - depending on what you want there are a couple public offers it seems and a dummy booking offer too. Then subsequent AA biz cards (which you can ONLY do every ~95 days) need to come from these mailers.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Can't count those CIP referral "chickens" before they hatch. Chase could pull a CSR/CF on us real quick.

Check my plan...I am only counting on two "self" referrals for a total of 30k in that figure. Of course if I can generate some other referrals that even makes that number higher!

Also @Andysol and @striker1064 - you guys need to setup an avatar!

 

[Judique]

I am debating spending on the Amtrak World card to get up to status. The card gives you 1,000 Tier Qualifying Points per $5,000 spent, up to a maximum of 4,000 TQPs per year. I realized thanks to the 3x promo I'll have my first $5k hit this statement, so I'd still need to spend $15k on the card to get the others.

Amtrak status gets bumped up at 5,000 TQPs, so I'll need to spend $500 on Amtrak travel this year to get the other 1,000 TQPs. That has already happened and those TQPs will post by April. Priority boarding at Union Station and Penn Station is worth the cost.

So that leaves the $15k to spend... this would be much easier if P2 or I could ever get approved for those dang PNC accounts.

This doesn't really warrant a response, it's more of a stream of consciousness.

I'm an audience for your stream of consciousness as I'm very much interested in continuing to earn Amtrak points. So keep talking. I think there are a few more listening as well.

 

[havaneselover]

I canceled CIP after my annual fee hit. Do I have to pay the annual fee and wait for it to be credited back or pay the balance less the annual fee ($0.99)?

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Which one are you considering? My choice was 2 for many of the same reasons others cited, especially the 'back in the room' on Friday night. But, @calypso726 has seen the show and she threw a wrench in that. I'd still go number 2 because you would have seen it on Wednesday already. I'm not much of an over and over again person, probably because I'm almost twice your age and I've been there done that so often that Disney doesn't have much that I can't just shove off to the side until next trip. I'm in the range of close to 60 or more Disney trips since 1989. During my early DVC days I went 3-4 times per year. Now its once or twice and only fall and winter.

Well - I respect @calypso726's comment about HEA not being the same as Wishes from the room BUT we are definitely watching fireworks from the room because it's part of why the MK view room was on the "Disney bucket list".

Rivers of Light was a perfectly nice show...but not a "must do" for us on this trip. I could see us watching that show every 2-3 trips (similar to what our attitude was towards IllumiNations - whereas HEA, Fantasmic, and SW fireworks are an every trip thing for us).

I think I've decided to skip RoL and watch HEA from our room that evening which puts me into option 3 or 4. In addition to the show not being a must do, the other reason I'm leaning towards this is because if we rope drop MK on Wednesday AND then stay out until 10pm for EMH (with an afternoon break in there), and then rope drop AK on Thursday (we rope drop every day), do I really want to be in a park until 8pm that day...If we leave AK by 6:30 we can have a nice evening and get to bed early after the fireworks (or go ride the monorail to Poly for a Dole Whip, LOL!)

That leaves me with watching HEA in the park on Wed or Fri. If weather looks bad for either night we will watch it on the opposite night. If weather looks good both nights then I'm leaning towards riding during the EMH on Wed and watching HEA from the hub on Friday.

*I reserve the right to change all plans...multiple times...between now and when I leave, lol!

 

[Mopedmom1]

So keep talking. I think there are a few more listening as well.

When @striker1064 talks....people listen! (Sorry, cheesy, I know. I just HAD to. And probably half this board won't get it! Lol)

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

You can ask for snail mail or they will do that automatically or maybe ask for it to be credited to another amex.

I should have read before replying!

LOL - it's always good to hear two people say the same thing!! That means either I was right or we both are crazy! I'm good with either option

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

Well - I respect @calypso726

I think I've decided to skip RoL and watch HEA from our room that evening which puts me into option 3 or 4. In addition to the show not being a must do, the other reason I'm leaning towards this is because if we rope drop MK on Wednesday AND then stay out until 10pm for EMH (with an afternoon break in there), and then rope drop AK on Thursday (we rope drop every day), do I really want to be in a park until 8pm that day...If we leave AK by 6:30 we can have a nice evening and get to bed early after the fireworks (or go ride the monorail to Poly for a Dole Whip, LOL!)

That leaves me with watching HEA in the park on Wed or Fri. If weather looks bad for either night we will watch it on the opposite night. If weather looks good both nights then I'm leaning towards riding during the EMH on Wed and watching HEA from the hub on Friday.

*I reserve the right to change all plans...multiple times...between now and when I leave, lol!

These were my thoughts, too