I love credit cards so much!

[wendow]

I mean if you have no other Chase card to get and you're going over 5/24 why not?

So you finish your spend in BGR, hit SPG Biz, then double dip Marriott and Freedom and then hit SPG personal. That's a solid plan for the next 10ish months!!

I like your thinking! I just realized I can do the SW plus again. So sub that in for the CF and your plan is what I am going with! Thanks for your advice

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

I like your thinking! I just realized I can do the SW plus again. So sub that in for the CF and your plan is what I am going with! Thanks for your advice

I saw that! Awesome - better return and less min spend with the SW Plus!!

Then you're right near the end of the year for your husband's CP run! Obviously if a great opportunity pops up you can call an audible but otherwise you have an awesome plan to operate with!

EDIT: Actually more min spend but still AWESOME ha!

 

[wendow]

You guys are so awesome and so fast! That's great, I keep getting confused and this is nice and simple. The CSR is scary with the $450 AF, if I'd have thought about it at the beginning of the year when I was applying for GE I might have done it because between the travel and GE credits it would have almost paid for itself. But now with GE not being due for a few more years it becomes a tougher decision.

I hear you. I actually had no intention of keeping the CSR. But dh & I both got it and now, we'll be keeping his. The $300 travel credit is money I will spend anyways, so it's a nice gift imo and makes the AF $150 really. The difference between the CSP and the CSR's AF is now $55. We don't even eat out that much or travel a ton but that $55 difference, combined with the 25% better redemption, is not hard to make up. It would be at least worth working the numbers to see if it might make more sense.

I redeemed UR for 9 nights (2 rooms) at WDW this past Sept and the difference in redemption between the CSR and CSP was just over $400.

 

[Angrose]

my son in idaho called and wants the family to go to disneyland next christmas season. working around school and work schedules, it looks like early jan 2019 works best. now i have to figure out how to get 7 people to california. was hoping you all might have some suggestions for me. i've been playing the cc bonus game for a couple of years but spending it as i get it. trip to florida, trip to hawaii, multiple trips to idaho. was hoping you all could see an easy (cheap) way for me to get 7 of us from pdx to disneyland, LAX, SNA, ONT, LGB are all ok. here is what i have in cards currently.

me- ax blue 3-16, alaska 4-16 (j), freedom 5-16, ihg 5-16, ax blue + 7-16, ba 10-16 (a), fu 10-16 (a), b arrival + 11-16 (a), b arrival + 04-17, citi ty 7-17, alaska 8-17, boa rew 9-17.

spouse- ax blue 3-16 (a), alaska 4-16 (j), freedom 5-16 (a), csr, ba 10_16, fu 10-16, b arrival + 11-16, alaska 12-16, b arrival + 4-17 (a), citi ty 7-17, disc it 12-17

not pretty huh.

Maybe JetBlue cards for you and spouse? They fly PDX to LGB and sometimes offer $69 fares (4,000pts). I've warmed up to JetBlue since I can't get another SW card anytime soon. The 60,000 point offer is still available, but no one knows for how long:
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/barclaycard-jetblue-plus-60000-point-offer-highest-ever/

 

[afan]

I hear you. I actually had no intention of keeping the CSR. But dh & I both got it and now, we'll be keeping his. The $300 travel credit is money I will spend anyways, so it's a nice gift imo and makes the AF $150 really. The difference between the CSP and the CSR's AF is now $55. We don't even eat out that much or travel a ton but that $55 difference, combined with the 25% better redemption, is not hard to make up. It would be at least worth working the numbers to see if it might make more sense.

I redeemed UR for 9 nights (2 rooms) at WDW this past Sept and the difference in redemption between the CSR and CSP was just over $400.

Plus it has better travel delay. I'll be keeping it also for the travel insurance, something I didn't start worrying about until planning a trip to Europe but it's nice to know it's there.

The one thing I'm curious about and I haven't seen any dp's on it, which doesn't surprise me, is if it would cover the Nexxus fee. It gives me global entry and tsa precheck along with the "fastpass" into Canada but it's only $50 for 5 years. I got mine fall of 16 so I have a few years before I renew but even if I have to pay it's a better deal.

 

[pillow]

Would you mind sharing what hotels? This is on my list of possible summer vacation spots along with Belize.

Summer is the rainy season. I would probably avoid going then - especially if you want to drive from one destination to another. Apparently, the roads can be a mess during rainy season - some being impassable. Thats why we're making this fit into an extended spring break.

Day 1: Fly into San Jose, pick up rental and drive to Manuel Antonio National Park. Stay at Falls Resort for 3 nights in 2Q garden view (50,876 UR points) - http://fallsresortcostarica.com/. Lots of great hotels here. I wanted queens vs doubles and didn't want to spend a fortune.

Days 4 - 6: Drive to Monteverde and stay at Casa Batsu - $150/night out of pocket, and our room has a separate sleeping area for my DD and her friend. https://www.casabatsu.org/ (fabulous reviews on Tripadvisor too)

Days 7 - 9: Drive to La Fortuna/Arenal area and stay here 2Q beds (56,544 UR points) - http://www.hotelsilenciodelcampo.com/eng/index.html (they have hot springs on site here)

Day 10: Drive to LIR for afternoon flight home.

We used a local car agency, as they came highly recommended. I'm paying out of pocket for that. They only charged an additional $40 for pick up in SJO and drop in LIR.

Couple things - We really wanted to visit the Osa peninsula, but its SO FAR away, and I didn't want to spend the money to fly down there. We simply couldn't fit it in.

Also - lots of points/miles folks stay at the Andaz Hyatt Papagayo at only 15K Hyatt points - https://papagayo.andaz.hyatt.com/en/hotel/home.html
I was very tempted, as part of me loves a veg out resort stay. But my adventurous side won out. We'll go back and do the Andaz another time I hope.

I love trip planning. I can't wait to go!

 

[Louie7080]

Every time I read about the mortgage company Mr Cooper it makes me laugh

@jhoannam yup me and DH both have one so might be (ab)using that

@Louie7080 Definitely keep working on your husband! Mine was really nervous to begin with, but once we got free flights and 7 nights at the Dolphin for our honeymoon, and our credit scores went up 50-60 points to over 800, he was good with it. Now I label his cards so he knows which to use for what.

thanks for the encouragement! my husband says he is worried about identity theft, me spending too much on vacations. and me spending more just to get miles to take more vacations (though I've only spent more on travel, so that doesn't make sense). I've tried explaining to him that I spent more on travel last year not to get more miles but because I wanted to go and that these CC rewards would help me do it more cheaply or more comfortably but he doesn't listen very well. I think he is old school too and just doesn't get it. I'm not holding my breath for him to change his mind and will just try to get the rewards on my own. I think too that if it wasn't Disneyland or WDW that I was jonesing for, that he would be more supportive but visiting theme parks and cities are definitely not his favorite thing. Luckily we both like to hike in the mountains.

 

[wendow]

thanks for the encouragement! my husband says he is worried about identity theft, me spending too much on vacations. and me spending more just to get miles to take more vacations (though I've only spent more on travel, so that doesn't make sense). I've tried explaining to him that I spent more on travel last year not to get more miles but because I wanted to go and that these CC rewards would help me do it more cheaply or more comfortably but he doesn't listen very well. I think he is old school too and just doesn't get it. I'm not holding my breath for him to change his mind and will just try to get the rewards on my own. I think too that if it wasn't Disneyland or WDW that I was jonesing for, that he would be more supportive but visiting theme parks and cities are definitely not his favorite thing. Luckily we both like to hike in the mountains.

Oh my goodness, is this my mom posting lol You are seriously describing my stepdad! He will not get into the CC game at all. Afraid of identity theft and it 'ruining his credit'. No matter what you tell him, he knows better. He is seriously 'old school'! And again, he doesn't love Disney or theme parks. He likes coming to CO and camping and hiking. If I had any chance in talking him into CC churning, it would be because he got to hike more.

In all seriousness, my mom has not been able to convert my stepdad. He just will not go for the CC churning and he even keeps her from opening cards so it seems like at least your dh will allow you to open them on your own. Being in '1-player mode' isn't as good as '2-player mode' but plenty of people do it and it's better than 'no-player mode'.

 

[amalone1013]

To further widen the time off difference between me and DH, I got my first paystub of the year this morning and my PTO earned was higher... upon investigation on the HR website, it appears they may have increased it a bit for the <1yr and 1-4yrs categories. So 2 more vacation days a year for me

But that now means that I get 22 days off plus the ability to earn 2 extra days, and DH gets 10 plus 2 personal days. Boo.

 

[trenty]

SouthFayetteFan - thanks for adding me to your reddit page. I do plan to get a card or two this year and will use the referral links there.

 

[magickingdomprincess]

thanks for the encouragement! my husband says he is worried about identity theft, me spending too much on vacations. and me spending more just to get miles to take more vacations (though I've only spent more on travel, so that doesn't make sense). I've tried explaining to him that I spent more on travel last year not to get more miles but because I wanted to go and that these CC rewards would help me do it more cheaply or more comfortably but he doesn't listen very well. I think he is old school too and just doesn't get it. I'm not holding my breath for him to change his mind and will just try to get the rewards on my own. I think too that if it wasn't Disneyland or WDW that I was jonesing for, that he would be more supportive but visiting theme parks and cities are definitely not his favorite thing. Luckily we both like to hike in the mountains.

Except for the last part about hiking, this sounds exactly like my DH! I have gotten him to open a SW card once, but other than that he's just not into it. He did mention we should get a different everyday card that mgets better rewards, but I've been working on my min spend's so I haven't spent much time researching that. Trying to get my cp first then I'll figure that out. I'm hoping if I can make a solid plan for us to go to hawaii on mostly points that will help convert him. He's also just not that into Disney like I am so that doesn't help.

 

[calypso726]

You guys are so awesome and so fast! That's great, I keep getting confused and this is nice and simple. The CSR is scary with the $450 AF, if I'd have thought about it at the beginning of the year when I was applying for GE I might have done it because between the travel and GE credits it would have almost paid for itself. But now with GE not being due for a few more years it becomes a tougher decision.

If you are spending $300 or more per year in categories that codes as travel, then the card is basically a $150 per year card. I spend about $100 per month in tolls for work. My Sunpass tolls code as travel on the CSR. This is money I am spending with or without the CSR card. I like that I will get 3x for those tolls and at least $300 worth are being credited. That of course is if I choose not to use the CSR for some other travel purchase. I spend a lot on travel and the points I earn at 3x easily cover the $55 difference in fee between $95 and $150 per year. Don’t let the $450 per year scare you. Calculate your annual spending in travel and dining and see if it might make sense.

 

[jhoannam]

Except for the last part about hiking, this sounds exactly like my DH! I have gotten him to open a SW card once, but other than that he's just not into it. He did mention we should get a different everyday card that mgets better rewards, but I've been working on my min spend's so I haven't spent much time researching that. Trying to get my cp first then I'll figure that out. I'm hoping if I can make a solid plan for us to go to hawaii on mostly points that will help convert him. He's also just not that into Disney like I am so that doesn't help.

DH didn't really care what I did, I manage the finances so he just goes with it. But he has really enjoyed the benefits, for the first time in 5 years we got to spend Christmas with his family, thanks SW. He used to toss out the credit card mailers, now he saves them and ask if it's a good offer. That's how I got the Amex BGR 75k bonus, I'm sure he tossed many good bonuses.
Maybe find the right 'free' vacation to change his mind?

 

[hsmamato2]

I was just looking at my PTO tracking spreadsheet, to see how much time off DH would have next summer when he wants to do the cruise.

Right now he has 39hrs.
He's using 3 days at the end of the month, and 4 in April.
If we take a week trip (5 days) for our anniversary, he would only be back to 54 hours on June 1st. So after the cruise timeline/plan we're looking at, he'd have 12hrs left after.

I just told him he needs more vacation time.

always an issue here too....DH doesn't get a lot of vacation time (some sort of union package deal) so we always end up just taking unpaid days by the end of the year....he complains and I have to remind him that he won't treasure those days at work in his old age lol.... I have to force him to take days off anyway...this really limits our trips tho

 

[hsmamato2]

advice please....I'm keeping my CSR, and planning to ditch the csp when the AF comes due next....foolish idea since I'm only allowed one sapphire product? I feel like I'm losing something big since I've had that csp in my wallet for years.... but then again, I can always pc the CSR down later on if I need to right?

 

[hsmamato2]

Great! That means DH is 4/24, and will drop to 3/24 in 10/2018. In time for SW CP.

DH just got the BofA Premium Rewards card today. Trying to pair it with my new Discover It card for cashback for cruise.

can you provide more detail on that? I'm curious

 

[hsmamato2]

SPG Biz..... I'm eyeing this one (once I get the JB card done which shouldn't take long) for those points.... how challenging is it to prove you're a biz with this one? I do some selling on ebay etc but not much more at this point

 

[amalone1013]

always an issue here too....DH doesn't get a lot of vacation time (some sort of union package deal) so we always end up just taking unpaid days by the end of the year....he complains and I have to remind him that he won't treasure those days at work in his old age lol.... I have to force him to take days off anyway...this really limits our trips tho

Haha put it in perspective! DH has been getting lots of jobs at work and doing well (he's in sales/design) and he's got a couple big ones he's working on now, so if he gets one he wants to go in and try to negotiate for more time. Fingers crossed when that comes. He might be able to do them unpaid too, sometimes I get so stuck on the numbers in my spreadsheet I don't think about asking to do that.

 

[amalone1013]

SPG Biz..... I'm eyeing this one (once I get the JB card done which shouldn't take long) for those points.... how challenging is it to prove you're a biz with this one? I do some selling on ebay etc but not much more at this point

None. I only had SPG personal with AMEX, for about a year.

Applied for SPG Biz saying I was a selling business (also ebay) with $200 revenue ( a stretch). Got instant approval with $15k credit ilmit.

 

[hsmamato2]

None. I only had SPG personal with AMEX, for about a year.

Applied for SPG Biz saying I was a selling business (also ebay) with $200 revenue ( a stretch). Got instant approval with $15k credit ilmit.

thanks!