I love credit cards so much!

[Lain]

DP of someone’s Costco pharmacy coding as a drugstore on CF. (Idk if that is normal/known.)

https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/af6fry/comment/edvzm0v

Relatedly, Costco Gas codes as gas stations for 5x on CF this quarter.

 

[Psychodisney]

We've been told that the programs are highly competitive as well. Something like only 25% of qualified applicants are accepted. That left me scratching my head since there is such a shortage...why in the world not take more applicants if they are qualified?? Apparently, it comes down to instructors for the programs. Most nurses are making so much money in clinical work that they are not willing to leave that and go be an instructor for these programs. Since there is such an instructor shortage, there is also limited program spots and the nursing shortage continues.

My DD19 is in her second year studying nursing. Every program she applied to was a direct admit program. It is very competitive. Most schools, you do 2 years of prereqs, then, if you make the grades you get into the clinical portionof the education. Her program started with about 175 students and is now less than 100. She's still very excited about the potential career opportunities and is already planning on pursuing her DNP.
Like CyndiLouWho, I'm in the Chicago area. I've heard the stats she mentioned. I'm a PT and I feel that nursing gives my daughter more opportunity to advance her career and with the changing health care, DNPs will be very valuable.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Just was autoapproved for the SW Plus card using the 50,000 point link from Reddit. Now to finish the MS on my biz card and hit it on my Plus in the next 3 weeks.

Congrats! Well played 115k SW points (including MSR) and a CP for 22 months is still to me the most amazing deal in the churning game! It’s so awesome that many folks on this thread are able to get that!!

 

[disneymagicgirl]

DP of someone’s Costco pharmacy coding as a drugstore on CF. (Idk if that is normal/known.)

https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/af6fry/comment/edvzm0v

Yes it is normal...at least for my store. Sams too. And dosh credits for pharmacy at sams.

ETA: OH wait, I need more coffee. I was thinking it was coding as warehouse from last quarter....which it did. So I don't know about pharmacy for this quarter. Will keep an eye on this for more DPs. Thx!

ETAA: OK, so I went back to verify and my Costco and sams RXs for Q4 both coded as warehouse then. I see in that reddit thread that was the case for that person as well. Interesting that it coded pharmacy this time!

 

[1st*toright]

I currently have 3 Amex cards with airline credits. I quickly bought SW GCs with my Gold and MB Plat at the start of this year, but really hesitated whether I should keep my Biz Plat with SW for the GCs or switch it to an airline we fly more often like United or Hawaiian, for which GCs don't credit, but we could use on bags, and utilize the 35% MR rebate for coach fares paid with points. In the end, I wasn't sure I'd be able to use up $200 in incidentals on either airline this year, so I kept my selection with SW and bought another $200 GC.

I'm now sitting on $900 in SW GCs (still have some from last year).

So when is SW supposed to start flying to Hawaii?

I am right there with you (except slightly fewer cards). I bought SW GCs with DH's new plat in December, then again last week, so I have $400 sitting there now. I think I'm going to go ahead and do another $200 on my plat too. Of course, we also have a fair stash of SW points that we generally use for personal travel (and we have the CP). So here's hoping for some work travel this year - I know of one trip to DC that I can do on SW in the fall, at least, so that is something.

 

[magickingdomprincess]

My Chase Staples offers credited this morning! Purchased on Jan. 5.

My 10% purchase from 12/30 finally credited too! Now to wait for the 30% purchases from 1/9 and DH's from yesterday.

 

[LB002]

IIRC, DH has the Biz Platinum? A referral from that card will earn him 15k MR to his MR account. (Does he have the Business Gold Rewards or Business Gold card? That'll earn him 20k MR per referral.) Have DH log into the Amex Refer a Friend site with his account credentials to check what referral offers he has on his cards (and if he has several accounts, check them all). Copy the referral link from the card that gives the best referral bonus. Keep in mind, not all points are equal. 15k MR > 20k Hilton, etc. Also note that Amex MR cards are limited to 55k MR in referral bonuses per year. My feeling is, the best referral bonus is probably from DH's Biz Plat.

Copy the referral link, paste it in another browser or incognito window. If you're taken directly to the Biz Plat's application page, you don't want that, so find the banner/link to View All Cards with a Referral Offer, click Looking for a Personal Card, look through the different Amex products and find the Hilton Aspire (don't confuse it with the Ascend, etc.), click on Continue to Card Details and you'll be taken to the application page for the Aspire.

Why do you want the Hilton Aspire and who is going to use the Aspire benefits? The Aspire comes with, among many other things, complimentary Diamond status so if DH travels alone frequently, it may make sense for him to apply for the card and have that benefit attach to his Hilton account. The more info you provide, the better we can help.

Lain - DH has the Amex Biz Platinum (no co-brand) and a personal Gold (I am AU on the Gold, that is his oldest card).

We have his Amex linked to my Hilton rewards (he doesn't have). We travel as a family 4x a year to my hometown and stay Hilton (limited option, it is our favorite), and we took advantage of the recent Amex 50% extra transfer to Hilton and are using those points for a 5 night stay for a summer trip.

The benefits we would use:
$250 airline credit x2 (2019 and 2020) - value $500
need 15,000 more points for summer trip - value $150
weekend hotel night to be used in NYC - Value ~$300
Enough leftover points to cover some nights visiting family - value ~$500-$600
Diamond status and earning level for cash nights and possible perks during stays
possible resort credit for summer trip (have to see what's covered)
Airport lounge access- marginal bc not flying this year, but would use in Jan 2020

DH doesn't travel for work, I travel occasionally but on my work card.

We both have Global Access already

I have CSR as our primary travel card

We are not looking for luxury, we are looking to stretch out travel budget for family friendly trips

 

[WVMomof3]

So I'm a little slow, and just figured out what I need to do to actually "link" my rewards to Amazon, and I was able to link my amex just fine, but its now telling me that linking reward points is unavailable and I can't link my chase account... One of these days I will catch up!

I am getting this same unavailable thing.

 

[tink1970]

I am getting this same unavailable thing.

I initially got it too just kept on trying...so keep at it!

 

[disneymagicgirl]

I am getting this same unavailable thing.

me too

 

[calypso726]

Still no where near caught up so I'm just jumping in right here. If I missed anything, please let me know.
Just wanted to give a friendly reminder to all who have calendar year airline or travel credits. It's January and time for me and DH to purchase airline GCs. We do AA gift cards. Here is a reminder of some of the calendar year cards and also what we are doing/did to trigger the credit.

Citi Prestige (just DH) $250 airline credit. Purchase one $250 AA GC

P1 and P2
Amex Hilton Aspire: $250 airline credit. The preferred airline we chose is AA. Purchased $100 AA Gcs x 2 and one $50 AA GC
Amex Personal Plat: $200 airline credit. The preferred airline we chose is AA. Purchased $100 AA Gcs x 2
$50 Sax 5th Ave credit (Jan-Jun). Will be purchasing $50 Saks GC in store.
Amex Business Plat: $200 airline credit. The preferred airline we chose is AA. Purchased $100 AA Gcs x 2
Amex Rose Gold: $100 airline credit. The preferred airline we chose is AA. Purchased $100 AA Gcs
BOA Premium Rewards $100 airline credit. Purchased $100 AA GC

 

[Lain]

Lain - DH has the Amex Biz Platinum (no co-brand) and a personal Gold (I am AU on the Gold, that is his oldest card).

We have his Amex linked to my Hilton rewards (he doesn't have). We travel as a family 4x a year to my hometown and stay Hilton (limited option, it is our favorite), and we took advantage of the recent Amex 50% extra transfer to Hilton and are using those points for a 5 night stay for a summer trip.

The benefits we would use:
$250 airline credit x2 (2019 and 2020) - value $500
need 15,000 more points for summer trip - value $150
weekend hotel night to be used in NYC - Value ~$300
Enough leftover points to cover some nights visiting family - value ~$500-$600
Diamond status and earning level for cash nights and possible perks during stays
possible resort credit for summer trip (have to see what's covered)
Airport lounge access- marginal bc not flying this year, but would use in Jan 2020

DH doesn't travel for work, I travel occasionally but on my work card.

We both have Global Access already

I have CSR as our primary travel card

We are not looking for luxury, we are looking to stretch out travel budget for family friendly trips

The Hilton Aspire is a great card. You definitely get your value back on the $450 AF, and you certainly seem to have plans for its benefits.

Just a few thoughts --

- Are you looking at the Aspire as a keeper card? If so, double dipping (or triple dipping) doesn't really matter. If you plan to hold it for only a year then cancel, then you could triple dip the $250 airline credit if you timed your application for mid-November through most of December.

- Amex has gotten a lot stricter against customers who sign up for a card just for its signup bonus but put little to no spend on it after meeting MSR, then cancel after their year is up. If Amex deems you a "gamer" based on your "history" with their cards, they may deny you bonuses on any future card applications. So whoever applies for the Aspire, make sure to keep the card in their wallet and continue to put spend on it.

- The CSR and Biz Plat already gets you Priority Pass access for the cardholder and 2 guests (at most PP lounges/restaurants).

- The Biz Plat already gets you Gold status at Hilton. Diamond is obviously better.

- Since both you and DH are still under 5/24, are you sure you wouldn't rather get a few more Chase cards first? If you're open to business cards, Chase's three Ink business cards can net you at least 180k UR per player. And you can use UR to book cash rates at Hiltons or any other hotels (but you likely won't earn points on that cash stay).

 

[Lain]

Still no where near caught up so I'm just jumping in right here. If I missed anything, please let me know.
Just wanted to give a friendly reminder to all who have calendar year airline or travel credits. It's January and time for me and DH to purchase airline GCs. We do AA gift cards. Here is a reminder of some of the calendar year cards and also what we are doing/did to trigger the credit.

Citi Prestige (just DH) $250 airline credit. Purchase one $250 AA GC

P1 and P2
Amex Hilton Aspire: $250 airline credit. The preferred airline we chose is AA. Purchased $100 AA Gcs x 2 and one $50 AA GC
Amex Personal Plat: $200 airline credit. The preferred airline we chose is AA. Purchased $100 AA Gcs x 2
$50 Sax 5th Ave credit (Jan-Jun). Will be purchasing $50 Saks GC in store.
Amex Business Plat: $200 airline credit. The preferred airline we chose is AA. Purchased $100 AA Gcs x 2
Amex Rose Gold: $100 airline credit. The preferred airline we chose is AA. Purchased $100 AA Gcs
BOA Premium Rewards $100 airline credit. Purchased $100 AA GC

Latest DPs say Amex airline fee credit now works on single AA GCs up to $250. I've seen DPs about single $200 AA GCs successfully crediting floating around for months.

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ame...200-100-reimbursement-reports-aa-only-91.html

 

[Limes96]

Used two Chase offers that credited at the same time.
1/1 Used 30% back at Staples on Airbnb $50 gc plus some notebooks for DD for school
1/6 Used 10% back on Walmart Grocery pickup order, just bought regular groceries

Both of them credited 1/11

 

[GlamMistress]

Just grabbed the $30 off $60 Amex Amazon promo. Got myself some Whole Foods gift cards. I don't regularly shop there but reducing the grocery budget by $30 for one week is good. We eat expensive food anyway and I have Prime so I might as well go get some extra discounts too.

Oh and it is snowing here.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

My 10% purchase from 12/30 finally credited too! Now to wait for the 30% purchases from 1/9 and DH's from yesterday.

Mine just credited from 12/29 to....also waiting for the 30% off purchase from 1/7 to post

 

[palhockeymomof2]

Funny..(to me anywa)DP...applied and approved for the Amex BBP last week...haven’t received my card yet, but DHs employee card arrived today....

 

[Limes96]

So, I don’t follow the news much these days (used to follow the political stuff avidly but got burned out!). I’m aware there’s a govt shutdown. Does that mean anything for my kids getting their passports renewed soon? Also I have an appt for GE interview coming up in less than two weeks. Are they still doing those?

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

So aside from buying discounted Disney GCs and cashing out URs to “reimburse” yourself, is there any viable and scaleable (ie you can earn a lot of pts easily) churning avenue to Disney Cruises right now?

The death of URs for Disney frustrates me continually, lol.

 

[striker1064]

We have checked in to the hotel I've long touted as the best value Marriott category 5 free night you can use, that being the Residence Inn Manhattan/Central Park. We got here around 9 AM (early train), and even though our room wasn't ready yet, they allowed us onto the 3rd floor to have breakfast. That was nice. Breakfast is free for all staying at the Residence regardless of status.

P2 is Platinum Elite from the Ritz card. Once the room was ready, we were given a Platinum gift choice of 250 Marriott points or any one item from the snack bar. I just grabbed a local beer.

Thanks to status, we were upgraded to a Studio Grand Times Square Room on the 61st floor. It's a corner room with a view of the ball drop, for an idea of perspective. The view is of course incredible. The room? Not so much - it's small (although I knew that). It's also surprisingly not very clean. There's mold and mildew in the shower, and visible dust all around the bathroom mirror.

I have to say I'm really shocked. I've always heard how great this hotel is and it's consistently rated highly. I know mold happens in showers but I wouldn't expect it here.

Hopefully anyone else coming here soon has a better experience. We both remarked how glad we were to only be spending one night. I'm curious if this is just a bad room or an endemic problem.

Will post pictures after we get home tomorrow.