I love credit cards so much!

[Angrose]

I'm not a Barclay expert but I seem to recall that they are a little picky about people having multiple Barclay cards. I currently have two Barclay cards - got the Arrival Plus first, then a few months later wanted to apply for the AA Aviator, and I recall being worried that Barclay was going to deny for too many applications. I did get both, so maybe I was worried for nothing. And perhaps submitting two on the same day is a way around that. Hopefully some Barclay experts will weigh in.

I also leave DH out of my credit card hobby (he has a job that requires a security clearance, including a credit check, and is opposed to a bunch of credit cards appearing on his report). I think it's an excellent idea to add your son as an AU. I use my kids' AmEx AU cards online -- how is anyone to know that my 19 yo son is not really the one ordering cat litter from PetSmart?

@hsmamato2 I agree that Barclay can be picky. I think @AmyAnne was lucky. I got the Arrival+ in April and then wanted the Hawaiian Airlines card. I applied for the HA card in June, but was denied. Too soon I think. I read that spacing the apps out 6 months is better. In Nov I was approved for the JetBlue card, so the 6 month rule held true in my case. When I applied for the JB card, I was a bit cheeky and applied for the Wyndham card at the same time and that one was denied. I did call recon to inquire and they said too many cards opened this year. DH got the Arrival+ in July so I'm thinking of going for the Hawaiian card or JetBlue for him now. He has fewer cards opened than I do so hopefully it would be approved. I've also read differing opinions that you can only have 2 Barclay cards at a time, but I've seen a few cases of people having 3. I may cancel my Arrival+ in March before the annual fee posts and then try my luck with another card later in the year.

I also try to limit the cards I get for DH. He just doesn't want to deal with it so if I can do it for him it's all good, but if I ask him for anything special or to carry more than 2 cards in his wallet he would not cooperate. Of course, he didn't complain about our trip to Hawaii that was 3/4 paid for by points, lol!

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

I did make the mistake of adding my wife as an AU on both of those cards mentioned, but again, that was before I knew better. We have been talking about this together and are on board with it so far. We do currently pay what we can with our Discover, and pay off at each month, so I don't think the spend minimums will be too big of an issue. Unfortunately, some of our big payments (day care, mortgage, car payment) do not accept CC's, only ACH transfers.

What you mentioned in bold is exactly what we are wanting/hoping to do, just trying to map out the necessary path to do so. Right now it seems as though it would be a combination of Chase SW cards (Premier AND Plus?) followed by either the CSP or CSR (the AF for the CSR kind of scares me!). Both my wife and I doing this over a staggered schedule and then combine the points on the CSP/CSR(s)?

Any guidance on how to navigate through this?

So if you give us all of this info below I think we can give you some great recommendations:

• When do you plan to travel? EDIT - I think you said Jan 2019, sorry should've remembered that lol
  
  
• How many people are in your travel party (and ages of children at time of travel)?
  
  
• Are you attempting to stay on-site (Disney Resort) or off-site?
  
  
• Just to confirm - you are the cardholder and wife is the AU on the Chase Disney? When (Month/Year) did you open that card?
  
  
• Just to confirm - you are the cardholder and wife is the AU on the AMEX Delta card? When (Month/Year) did you open that card?
  
  
• Are you sure you have no other approved credit cards in the last 24 months?
  
  
• Do you have any other open chase cards currently (from more than 24 months ago)?
  
  
• What airport are you traveling from?

 

[rcoy64]

So if you give us all of this info below I think we can give you some great recommendations:

• When do you plan to travel? EDIT - I think you said Jan 2019, sorry should've remembered that lol - Correct, January 2019 (wife wants to do the 1/2 marathon, too!)
  
  
• How many people are in your travel party (and ages of children at time of travel)? 4, 2 adults, 2 kids (6/4)
  
  
• Are you attempting to stay on-site (Disney Resort) or off-site? Onsite
  
  
• Just to confirm - you are the cardholder and wife is the AU on the Chase Disney? When (Month/Year) did you open that card? Yes. 02/17
  
  
• Just to confirm - you are the cardholder and wife is the AU on the AMEX Delta card? When (Month/Year) did you open that card? Yes. 05/17
  
  
• Are you sure you have no other approved credit cards in the last 24 months? No others in the last 24
  
  
• Do you have any other open chase cards currently (from more than 24 months ago)? Would need to pull credit to confirm, but do not believe so. Side note, I am an AU on a BOA purchase card through my employer, but I don't believe that should count on my credit in any way.

edit: pulled report and do have one department store (Banana Republic)card opened 02/17

• What airport are you traveling from? IND

 

[pinkxray]

I have a stupid question for those who know Chase cards. Last month there was 10% using Chase Pay at Walmart. I ended ordering xmas gifts and used Chase Pay at Walmart just based on seeing it on this thread.
My question is how would I know about this if I didn’t see it on this thread? Was it mentioned somewhere on Chase, like offers somewhere?

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

• When do you plan to travel? EDIT - I think you said Jan 2019, sorry should've remembered that lol - Correct, January 2019 (wife wants to do the 1/2 marathon, too!)
  
  
• How many people are in your travel party (and ages of children at time of travel)? 4, 2 adults, 2 kids (6/4)
  
  
• Are you attempting to stay on-site (Disney Resort) or off-site? Onsite
  
  
• Just to confirm - you are the cardholder and wife is the AU on the Chase Disney? When (Month/Year) did you open that card? Yes. Late 2016/Early 2017 (Would need to pull credit report to confirm)
  
  
• Just to confirm - you are the cardholder and wife is the AU on the AMEX Delta card? When (Month/Year) did you open that card? Yes. Feb 2017
  
  
• Are you sure you have no other approved credit cards in the last 24 months? No others in the last 24
  
  
• Do you have any other open chase cards currently (from more than 24 months ago)? Would need to pull credit to confirm, but do not believe so. Side note, I am an AU on a BOA purchase card through my employer, but I don't believe that should count on my credit in any way.
  
  
• What airport are you traveling from? IND

Thanks - follow up questions:

• Do you have a resort category in mind (value, mod, deluxe) or even a specific resort in mind?
  
  
• How many nights?

IND to MCO is a great route that is regularly available on Southwest for around $100 each way or about 12,000 points round trip. With the resort questions answered, I should be able to give you a pretty nice recommendation here.

 

[mhartman09]

I have a stupid question for those who know Chase cards. Last month there was 10% using Chase Pay at Walmart. I ended ordering xmas gifts and used Chase Pay at Walmart just based on seeing it on this thread.
My question is how would I know about this if I didn’t see it on this thread? Was it mentioned somewhere on Chase, like offers somewhere?

I actually received an email from Chase about the Chase Pay bonus at Walmart. Not sure if everyone got one, but I did and so did DH.

 

[rcoy64]

Thanks - follow up questions:

• Do you have a resort category in mind (value, mod, deluxe) or even a specific resort in mind? This is open. We were spoiled by Wilderness Lodge in Nov, but really open to any. Ideally would be able to add DDP, so not sure the Swan and Dolphin are an option.
  
  
• How many nights? At least 4, prefer 6 and willing to pay the difference.

IND to MCO is a great route that is regularly available on Southwest for around $100 each way or about 12,000 points round trip. With the resort questions answered, I should be able to give you a pretty nice recommendation here.

 

[Lain]

I have a stupid question for those who know Chase cards. Last month there was 10% using Chase Pay at Walmart. I ended ordering xmas gifts and used Chase Pay at Walmart just based on seeing it on this thread.
My question is how would I know about this if I didn’t see it on this thread? Was it mentioned somewhere on Chase, like offers somewhere?

I’d suggest adding doctorofcredit .com and slickdeals .com to your daily reading.

 

[gottalovepluto]

I have a stupid question for those who know Chase cards. Last month there was 10% using Chase Pay at Walmart. I ended ordering xmas gifts and used Chase Pay at Walmart just based on seeing it on this thread.
My question is how would I know about this if I didn’t see it on this thread? Was it mentioned somewhere on Chase, like offers somewhere?

Not a stupid question!! Sometimes Chase sends out an email, sometimes they don't. I've gotten emails about 50% on the time. Like @Lain said DoC and slickdeals will help but we're pretty good too, I don't think we've missed one yet on our thread over here! Personally, I read DoC, Reddit and us. I get myself in trouble on slickdeals because I see something on a big sale and decide I absolutely need it. I don't. So, I had to stop daily reading there due to my lack of self discipline to resist a good sale!

 

[WVMomof3]

I have a stupid question for those who know Chase cards. Last month there was 10% using Chase Pay at Walmart. I ended ordering xmas gifts and used Chase Pay at Walmart just based on seeing it on this thread.
My question is how would I know about this if I didn’t see it on this thread? Was it mentioned somewhere on Chase, like offers somewhere?

I have yet to figure out these offers. I still can't figure out where the Marriott offers were that people were talking about.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

@rcoy64 - Here's some thoughts:

HOTEL

• For 6 nights at a Moderate Resort you could use URs (Chase Ultimate Rewards) to book your hotel for free if you have between 100,000 and 150,000 points
• For 6 Nights at Wilderness Lodge (one of the cheaper deluxe resorts) you could use URs to book your hotel free if you have between 150,000 and 200,000 points

* the variations are based on what room category is actually available and the actual dates you pick as well as whether you use the CSP or CSR. These are somewhat hypothetical and could be different when you look at your actual resort (and when Disney releases rate increases in June for 2019). It's POSSIBLE that Disney may release a discount that can help you save points but those have had limited room categories and dates so best to plan for the worst in this scenario - if you have leftover points that's not a bad thing!
* one comment I'd make regarding the DDP - are you sure that's a good deal for your family? The math overwhelmingly says it's a bad deal for probably 90% of people and if you're trying to do a free/cheap trip it may be a lot better to pay OOP (out of pocket). I'm going to assume no dining plan for some of my comments here.

So to earn those points you probably want to look at a combination of these cards (that both you and your wife could get and then combine points on):

• CSR: 50k URs for $4k spend
• CSP: 50k URs for $4k spend PLUS add'l 5k for adding an AU
• CIP: (Business Card) 80k URs for $5k spend
• Possibly Chase Freedom and Freedom Unlimited although these are lesser recommended cards

I know the $450 annual fee on the CSR is scary but remember you will get 2x $300 travel credits to use and you can get TSA pre-check for free as well if you don't have that. I believe you could use the first year's Travel Credit on an Undercover Tourist ticket purchase. You could also use the second year travel credit by charging dining and souven'ears () to your room while at Disney. If you want to avoid the CSR that's ok too - the CSP charges no annual fee and is a strong points earner as well. If you're going to use the URs to book a room keep in mind that the CSR has a 1.5 travel multiplier and the CSP has a 1.25 travel multiplier. What that means is when redeeming through the CSR your points are worth about 20% more than when redeeming through a CSP. You'll need to do the math to see what makes sense for you. There is a new rule that you can only earn a signup bonus on the CSR OR CSP but not both - however you can get around that by applying for both at the exact same time (something to keep in mind)...

Looking at those signup bonus options - it's pretty easy to see how you earn 200,000 URs or more thru just 3 cards if you get a good strategy. You'll want to have these points by October or sooner if possible to book your room before availability starts to get sparse.

FLIGHTS

For flights - it seems like a 50k Southwest offer would work perfect. You'd earn 52k RR (Rapid Rewards) points after the minimum spend and from what I can see that would probably cover your flights for 4.

You could also go for 2 Southwest cards and hit the companion pass. Make sure that ONE person applies for both cards in that scenario though, the way to the CP (companion pass) is to earn 110,000 points in one calendar year. This can be achieved via a SW Plus and SW Business card combo. That would potentially give you enough points for THREE round trip flights for your family of 4 using the CP for one of the tickets (this is based on the assumption of $106 each way). Hello multiple trips????

Southwest will probably release the schedule for January sometime between May and July so you'll want to have earned some of the points by then to book right when they are released (in case the flights increase in price - keep in mind that Southwest points are tied to the price of the flight). Also another tip - try not to add any AU cards under the spouse's name on any of these cards to avoid hurting their 5/24 status.

SUMMARY

Basically by doing 3 UR cards and 2 SW cards you can earn enough points to fully cover a 6 night hotel stay on Disney Property and earn a SW Companion Pass and enough SW points to take 3 round-trip flights for your family. The combined minimum spend on those 5 cards would be $17,000 and when completed you'll still have a bunch of 5/24 slots left to try and do the same plan over again and have another free Disney trip!

 

[jujubiee4]

@hsmamato2 I agree that Barclay can be picky. I think @AmyAnne was lucky. I got the Arrival+ in April and then wanted the Hawaiian Airlines card. I applied for the HA card in June, but was denied. Too soon I think. I read that spacing the apps out 6 months is better. In Nov I was approved for the JetBlue card, so the 6 month rule held true in my case. When I applied for the JB card, I was a bit cheeky and applied for the Wyndham card at the same time and that one was denied. I did call recon to inquire and they said too many cards opened this year. DH got the Arrival+ in July so I'm thinking of going for the Hawaiian card or JetBlue for him now. He has fewer cards opened than I do so hopefully it would be approved. I've also read differing opinions that you can only have 2 Barclay cards at a time, but I've seen a few cases of people having 3. I may cancel my Arrival+ in March before the annual fee posts and then try my luck with another card later in the year.

I also try to limit the cards I get for DH. He just doesn't want to deal with it so if I can do it for him it's all good, but if I ask him for anything special or to carry more than 2 cards in his wallet he would not cooperate. Of course, he didn't complain about our trip to Hawaii that was 3/4 paid for by points, lol!

This is definitely YMMV. I have an arrival plus from last year or year before. I downgraded to no fee in the summer. I applied and
got Hawaiian air end of May/June. Applied and approved Jetblue Plus Dec 31st. I was not sure i would receive it since I got the Hawaiian
card. I do my apps in 3 or maybe 2 so i didn't want to waste a "pull" on one card so i called right after i got the instant approval and
asked if I could get something else like the American aviator they constantly send offers for. She got took the financial infor and SS#
and came back after 5 minutes to say I was approved but only for 5k credit line. That is really low compared to other barclay cards
we have. I took it but yesterday called to say i changed my mind. So i would have had 4 Barclay cards.....3 in the last 6 months.

 

[Ava]

So bummed about the MASSIVE devaluation of IHG points. Had planned to use my signup bonus at the HIE Springdale which is next to Zion NP. It's now going to be 40,000 IHG points a night when rates are showing $97 for a night in February. The cpp is terrible.

I went ahead and used 60,000 points to book the Intercontinental Times Square for NY Comic con weekend (october). It's going up to 70,000 IHG points soon so figured to get in while the getting is good.

Boo! I hadn't heard about it until this post, so thanks for the info. Here's the full list of changes if anyone else has IHG stays planned.

Thankfully none of the hotels near Disneyland are on the list; I'm planning to use points plus my free anniversary night to cover 4 nights at DLR this summer.

 

[jujubiee4]

A smack in the head moment for me. I got the alaska card too early. I was going to use
it for hawaii but got Hawaiian card and using that.

I hate seeing a buy one fare and get the companion free offer...go to waste. Even worse
I hate trying to plan to go somewhere "just to go" so you don't lose points/promotions.

 

[pillow]

Had planned to use my signup bonus at the HIE Springdale which is next to Zion NP.

We just stayed there in October. That is a FANTASTIC hotel! I booked it when the cost was 20K points - feel like I got a great deal at that price. I definitely would not pay 40K!

 

[jujubiee4]

Smack my head moment. Someone here (? lain) mentioned signing up for Virgin Americas mileage program because Alaska Air was giving away miles as they converted to one program. Signed up for both DH and myself Got an email today giving us each 10k miles, which is enough for a trip from say Seattle to Vancouver, which might be handy as I haven't found direct flight from OHare to Vancouver. Bad news, I forgot to sign DS up for an account, so I guess he's walking

It's funny you get the email saying you got the 10k and its good for a round trip...I looked at their travel
map/miles and thought...round trip from where???? lol so more local but those miles do help if you want
to go cross country

 

[jujubiee4]

I think that's my apple wallet problem...old phone! I have iphone 5s,and no intention of upgrading as long it still works..... so I guess I'm limited to newer devices and online apple pay options if I want to max that category..... I'm not going to sweat it. OT from that subject..... I've been reading my own post questions here to clarify my thoughts.... I think I'm going to 'mess with' my own accts and keep Dh's 'clean for the next year anyway if I applied for JB Barcs,and the Barcs Arrival, do they allow two apps together? (I have great credit) I'm tossing these two around still,and I want both, but the Jb one is going away very soon so I have to make a decision. From what I've read the points don't expire,so I could find a use for them I'm sure. OH!! I forgot to ask.... In the past DH and I always got the AU/spouse card. Now I'm rethinking that (we always did it to meet the spend organically) think it would work to get on in teen sons name as AU,and DH can use it too if needed?(different first names tho)

YMMV but i like to do my apps in multiples also. I don't need the jetblue card for this year but
couldn't pass up the 60k points. I did the online app got the instant approval and called cust
service specialist (that is who i asked for) curious if i could get the aviator. There was silence
then she took down info and came back and i got approved but with low limit. The next day or
day after i called to say i changed my mind. I have other spends i need to meet so its going
to be TIGHT for a few months. **She did ask why i needed another credit card so soon**

 

[Ngwira]

We just stayed there in October. That is a FANTASTIC hotel! I booked it when the cost was 20K points - feel like I got a great deal at that price. I definitely would not pay 40K!

Yeah, looks like I'll be paying cash.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

So when you go to generate a referral link now for Southwest - the facebook option is GONE and it only generates 40k links. This whole thing might have been a strange mistake on Chase's part. I'm not trying to start a conspiracy/panic here but I assume Chase could shut down those 50k links at any time so if getting a 50k Southwest Plus or 50k Southwest Premier card is important to you - I'd move quickly. (Of course I also know nothing and they could go up to 60k next week too hahaha). Good Luck everybody - I find myself saying this a lot lately: make the choice that's best for you!

Do you mean it's only giving you the option for Email or Twitter? The Facebook option is the one that disappeared for most people (and was the one where you could generate a 50k link.

EDIT: And yes the 50k links that people generated a day or 2 ago are all still currently working. Hopefully they continue to work, the problem is people that didn't do it a day or 2 ago now can't get a 50k link generated so they're out of luck as most people would prefer the 50k/$2k link vs the 40k/$1k link.

So on Southwest for Chase ReferAFriend on Monday people had the following options: Email (no idea what offer); Facebook 50k; Twitter 40k; Immediate Copy your link 50k.

From what I know now when somebody goes to the same ReferAFriend page for Southwest you only receive the Email and Twitter options. Facebook and the Immediate copy options have been removed. That's why there's some question as to whether the 50k release was an accident as they've removed those options now.

Wow, I tried it yesterday afternoon and it gave me a direct link, but I just went back and don't get that link anymore. I see the Email/FB options. So it was working until mid-afternoon yesterday.

The referral links that have been posted are working just fine. I think there's a bunch of people that updated their links on the DISchurners reddit page to the 50k link.

The problem is just that people that didn't generate their links yesterday can't do it now for 50k, that's all.

BAD NEWS...Those 50k Southwest referral links don't work anymore. I know I posted a warning that this could happen this morning - but I'm literally SHOCKED that I was right. I still think a public 50k offer is available on Reddit r/churning (it's the inflight link) so if anybody needs that let me know. Who knows how long it will last though...

To those that spent the time updating your links to 50k - time to go back and update them again to 40k, bummer!

 

[gottalovepluto]

BAD NEWS...Those 50k Southwest referral links don't work anymore. I know I posted a warning that this could happen this morning - but I'm literally SHOCKED that I was right. I still think a public 50k offer is available on Reddit r/churning (it's the inflight link) so if anybody needs that let me know. Who knows how long it will last though...

To those that spent the time updating your links to 50k - time to go back and update them again to 40k, bummer!

Chase must have hired someone from Citi IT for the new year...