I love credit cards so much!

[CyndiLouWho]

I am currently planning our spring break 2019 trip to California. Plan to use JetBlue points to fly into Long Beach from Philly. Should I fly into LAX instead? Or John Wayne or Burbank? Will rent a car to see Los Angeles and drive down to San Diego. Likely fly out of San Diego. I have some Hyatt and IHG points to use.. plus over 120,000 UR. Plan to buy my Disneyland tickets on last minute travel clubs website to save $$. Has anyone here done this specific trip? Any tips would be great.
I’m thinking about getting Amex’s new Hilton card to burn points at the hotel Coronado.

Have done part of that trip. On SW, found John Wayne (ANA) to be best for proximity to DLR and $. LMTClub did have best price on DLR tickets. We stayed at a good neighbor hotel across the street (a bit closer than the bigger chains, booked with UR points) called Camelot Inn.
Have not stayed at Hotel Coronado, but honeymooned in San Diego almost 30 years ago & remember how lovely it was.

 

[AquaDame]

need more info. destination, origin, and what points do you have?

edit: nvm, i saw your other post... lol still need the rest.

We're in PDX but could feasibly leave from SEA or take a short hop to YVR/SFO/LAX if we find something good. We were thinking of either flying into Cape Town, Johannesburg or Nairobi (we are considering going to two camps). I've got 141,321 miles on Alaska; since they used to partner with Delta it seemed like a good idea - now its not as great as it was but they still do partner with airlines that could get us there... if I could find something. :/

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Just found this on VFTW. It worked in my existing account

'Promo code localfavorite is good for $10 off your next Uber ride taken by May 1.

In the Uber app go to Payment and scroll down to ‘Add Promo/Gift Code’. I had no problem adding it to my account. This certainly won’t last.'

 

[Mopedmom1]

scroll down to ‘Add Promo/Gift Code’. I had no problem adding it to my account. This certainly won’t last.'

You're right, it didn't last. No luck for me, but thanks for passing it along!

 

[amalone1013]

I am currently planning our spring break 2019 trip to California. Plan to use JetBlue points to fly into Long Beach from Philly. Should I fly into LAX instead? Or John Wayne or Burbank? Will rent a car to see Los Angeles and drive down to San Diego. Likely fly out of San Diego. I have some Hyatt and IHG points to use.. plus over 120,000 UR. Plan to buy my Disneyland tickets on last minute travel clubs website to save $$. Has anyone here done this specific trip? Any tips would be great.
I’m thinking about getting Amex’s new Hilton card to burn points at the hotel Coronado.

Where are you planning to go in LA? I've been out there twice, both hitting multiple places in LA, and once we drove to San Diego. I'd price compare (more important if you're using variable points like UR, SW) but remember the value of your time too, and avoid backtracking because that time adds up!

Red is 2015, Green is 2016.

2015 we backtracked all over the place! My excuse is it was the first vacation I planned, and also not the most optimal as I didn't know DH was planning on proposing in DLR, and had arranged for family to fly out there.

But 2015 (red):

• Day 1: Flew into LAX, drive to Upland to stay with DH's brother for the night
• Day 2: Universal, drive to hotel by DLR that night
• Days 3-5: DLR, same hotel for 3 more nights
• Day 6: Warner Bros Studio Tour (can see the lot from US), then drive to San Diego - what the heck were we thinking??
• Day 7: Sea World
• Day 8: San Diego Zoo,
• Day 9: USS Midway, drive back to Upland to stay last night with DH's brother
• Day 10: Fly out of LAX early afternoon

2016 (green):

• Day 1: Fly into LAX, Santa Monica Pier, head to hotel in Glendale
• Day 2: Pick up rest of family at Burbank Airport, go to La Brea Tar Pits and Griffith Park
• Day 3: Universal Studios, last night at Glendale hotel
• Day 4: Long Beach, USS Iowa and Queen Mary, stay the night on QM
• Day 5: Ferry to Catalina Island, drive to DLR hotel
• Days 6-7: DLR with everyone
• Days 8-10: DLR just us, last morning spent time in Downtown Disney before flying out of SNA; others went to San Diego for a day then flew out of SNA or ONT

I planned 2106 to minimize driving time, plus it put our park time at DLR from Tues - Sat. I wanted to minimize weekend time because it was July, even though that's a busy time anyways.

 

[calypso726]

We're in PDX but could feasibly leave from SEA or take a short hop to YVR/SFO/LAX if we find something good. We were thinking of either flying into Cape Town, Johannesburg or Nairobi (we are considering going to two camps). I've got 141,321 miles on Alaska; since they used to partner with Delta it seemed like a good idea - now its not as great as it was but they still do partner with airlines that could get us there... if I could find something. :/

I was able to find a flight on Alaska's website from SEA-JNB in business on Emirates in a non mixed cabin. Either way, I don't think you have enough miles for 2 people in business RT. The lowest redemption possibility is Cathay Pacific and that is 62,500 each way so you'd need at least 250,000 AS miles and as high as 480k AS. The other thing to keep in mind is the further out you book the better your odds are of finding a non mixed cabin. If you are searching for September and October now, your odds are more limited since those flights were released 2 to 3 months ago respectively. My suggestion would be to pick up a couple of more Alaska cards, personal and business (124,000 AS) and a couple of SPG cards, personal and business. The SPG cards will get you 30K SPG after spend points each which equates to 120,000 SPG points. When transferred to AS you'd get an additional 5K points bonus so that would be 145K AS miles. This would give you 410,000 AS miles which is a lot closer to what you might need.

 

[justme0729]

Could I be added to the list for the 50,000 point referral links for the southwest credit cards?

 

[miztressuz]

Did I miss this posted previously?
http://www.hustlermoneyblog.com/shoprite-chase-pay-promotion/

So my ShopRite web page advertised this promo BUT it only listed the CFU card as eligible. That post says CF as well, how do you find out what cards will actually work?

ETA: Ok if you click further sometimes you can answer your own question There was a 'learn more' button and ShopRite says that CF, CFU, Sapphire, and CSR all earn the 10x using Chase Pay up to $400. As if you wouldn't have, CF cards have to have the 5x categories active to make the 10x.

 

[Tikitoi]

Also when you go back to 4/24 in June are you planning to do a Chase Double Dip and if so which 2 cards?

I know this question wasn't intended for me...But I am in this situation...So I plan to apply for either CSP or CSR but also would like another Chase that is specific to a hotel such as Hyatt (for Vegas reasons )...Is this a good plan...?

I don't want to do both CSR & CSP because I'm not sure I want to handle 8K spending. Though I do keep going back and forth between those 2 but at least I have some time to decide...Thoughts?

 

[kayteekt]

Alright so i got the CIC for DH's newly incorporated business. He already had the CIP and since I still have to enter his social assuming you can't have the same card twice.

I'm debating if our next move is to go ahead and get the spg cards we don't have. I have the personal, but we could get bus 2xs, and DH a personal. I signed up 2 springs ago when it was a 35k sign on. I've done some research but I still would hate to go ahead and then they raise the offers in the spring. Aghhh...

Also, app rules for amex 1/5, etc... are those for just amex cards or for all cards like chase's 5/24 rule?

 

[GlamMistress]

I'm in the same boat - trying to pick my next card. Thinking about the Hilton Aspire that's coming out later this month. Also considering the SW companion pass. My husband hates SW but he would learn to love it if it means a zillion free flights... especially with Hawaii coming soon. I guess I sort of feel stuck right now. I don't have a plan of where I want to go next... but I know I need more points. I've also never had the SPG but I have a lot of Amex cards already so that's problematic.

 

[WVMomof3]

Could I be added to the list for the 50,000 point referral links for the southwest credit cards?

Do you mean you want to use a link or post a link? Either way, they are over on our reddit group. You will need to pm @Albort or @SouthFayetteFan with your reddit name to get into the group if you have not already.

 

[WVMomof3]

I know this question wasn't intended for me...But I am in this situation...So I plan to apply for either CSP or CSR but also would like another Chase that is specific to a hotel such as Hyatt (for Vegas reasons )...Is this a good plan...?

I don't want to do both CSR & CSP because I'm not sure I want to handle 8K spending. Though I do keep going back and forth between those 2 but at least I have some time to decide...Thoughts?

Think of what exactly you want to do with the points. It looks like the Hyatt is at 40,000 points and only for Hyatt. The CSR and CSP both 50K and can be used for anything if you decide Hyatt doesn't work, or transferred 1:1 to Hyatt for 50k Hyatt points. So it seems both CSR and CSP would be the better value, unless the Hyatt has other perks that you value. I am currently doing the 8k spend, so I know it can be tough. I knew I had 2 big expenses coming up, car insurance and tuition so it is making it a little easier.

 

[Alexle2007]

I know this question wasn't intended for me...But I am in this situation...So I plan to apply for either CSP or CSR but also would like another Chase that is specific to a hotel such as Hyatt (for Vegas reasons )...Is this a good plan...?

I don't want to do both CSR & CSP because I'm not sure I want to handle 8K spending. Though I do keep going back and forth between those 2 but at least I have some time to decide...Thoughts?

The Hyatt is not under the 5/24 rule so you could still get that card later if you went for the CSP and CSR on your double dip.

 

[afan]

My suggestion would be to pick up a couple of more Alaska cards, personal and business (124,000 AS)

I forgot AS had a business card. Is it just as easy to get a business card with BofA as it is the others? Do they report like the others so it wouldn't could as 5/24? It's the same offer as the personal 30k for 1k spend, but I could do that without issue. The cards with the 4-5k spend aren't realistic for me without huge purchases and I've already got my travel that I'm paying for mostly paid for this year.

 

[elgerber]

I am currently planning our spring break 2019 trip to California. Plan to use JetBlue points to fly into Long Beach from Philly. Should I fly into LAX instead? Or John Wayne or Burbank? Will rent a car to see Los Angeles and drive down to San Diego. Likely fly out of San Diego. I have some Hyatt and IHG points to use.. plus over 120,000 UR. Plan to buy my Disneyland tickets on last minute travel clubs website to save $$. Has anyone here done this specific trip? Any tips would be great.
I’m thinking about getting Amex’s new Hilton card to burn points at the hotel Coronado.

I have not done that exact trip, but before you book anything, I would check one way rental rates. We had planned to fly into San Francisco, drive to LA and fly out of there. Turns out one way rentals were more than double going that direction, than if we had started out in LA and flew home from San Francisco. We ended up flying from SF because it was cheaper than that one way rental car. Just something to check on to see if you are better off flipping your trip. It might not make any difference, but it was huge for us.

 

[hsmamato2]

I also recently got the BOA premium card for my DH. It has a $95 annual fee. It includes a global or precheck. Cash back (2 points on travel and dining and 1.5% on all other) (similar to purchase eraser on Capital one). Also, an annual allotment of $100 toward airline charges other than airfare. I used up 2017's credits on SWA EBC. Seems like a keeper...you net $5 after the annual fee even without any cash back! $500 rewards initially. I probably won't use it for much other than airline incidentals.

I was just going to ask...is there a way to use that $100 on SWA flights? EBCI.... how about taxes and fees,will that be allowed? Also wondering how does that purchase eraser work for this card? Is it travel expenses only?

 

[AmyAnne]

I was just going to ask...is there a way to use that $100 on SWA flights? EBCI.... how about taxes and fees,will that be allowed? Also wondering how does that purchase eraser work for this card? Is it travel expenses only?

I'm not sure if I should promote another site here, but flyertalk has extensive and up-to-date threads on what counts for these travel/airline credits for each airline. For many, you can purchase gift cards, but only in certain amounts to trigger the credit. And what works can change from year to year - for example, United used to work for certain gift cards but no longer does. It's possible you could buy a SW gift card and have that trigger the credit.

 

[hsmamato2]

Just found this on VFTW. It worked in my existing account

'Promo code localfavorite is good for $10 off your next Uber ride taken by May 1.

In the Uber app go to Payment and scroll down to ‘Add Promo/Gift Code’. I had no problem adding it to my account. This certainly won’t last.'

thanks! I didn't get it,where is the best place to stalk for uber codes? I need some

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

I know this question wasn't intended for me...But I am in this situation...So I plan to apply for either CSP or CSR but also would like another Chase that is specific to a hotel such as Hyatt (for Vegas reasons )...Is this a good plan...?

I don't want to do both CSR & CSP because I'm not sure I want to handle 8K spending. Though I do keep going back and forth between those 2 but at least I have some time to decide...Thoughts?

One strategy on hitting a larger spend amount if you have the cash is to prepay things such as utilities, cable bills, etc. Then you don't owe on those bills for a few months afterwards.

Another strategy I've employed at times is to buy gift cards (usually to grocery stores and gas stations) that we regularly shop at to cover our next few months expenses.