I love credit cards so much!

[AmyAnne]

Guys - I know I'm doing something somewhat stupid...yet I'm still probably going to do it... I applied for the Delta Biz card completely to cash the points out for a Target gift card. I knew that the signup bonus would get me a $250 gift card (plus a $50 Delta GC I can sell on Raise) for my $2k in spend...

Now I went to pull the trigger and I'm like GAH this is such a waste of these points. BUT I have over 560k Southwest RR points. That's enough for my family for 4-5 years of travel. PLUS I have over a million Marriott points (or 333k SPG points) which can be transferred to airlines...so it's not like I need these Delta points. PLUS Pittsburgh flights with Delta seem terribly expensive and inconvenient.

So here I sit...wanting to snag a $250 Target GC at about 0.5cpp which is EXACTLY what I intended to do yet bemoaning the fact that these points could be worth more like 1.2cpp+ on a flight...First World Problems for sure, lol! Tell me I'm crazy...or I'm not crazy...

If you have no foreseeable use for the points as points, then get the GC. Does Delta ever runs redemption specials for points to GC?

 

[Judique]

So yesterday, read about how Marriott is changing Dolphin to a higher category and also changing the numbers of days prior to a reservation you can book. I checked SPG website for dates for Dolphin in March 2019. Availability the whole week I was looking. Transferred my Marriott points (and was waiting for points my mom is gifting me). Today I have enough points, search the same dates and no availability. None. Latest available is beginning of February. Other Orlando SPG properties are available, just not Swolphin

What gives? Is Marriott blocking the dates?

I'm not sure, but when I put in dates for a March reservation for Swan, I got a message to call. After playing around a bit I noticed the Swan and Dolphin were both blocked out for all rates, cash as well from Feb 9 on. So, if I were you I would call. All the other 'Lake Buena Vista' hotels are looking normal. It may be as simple as they haven't loaded next years rates yet and are in the process.

 

[3 DD love princesses]

Well, today's been a bad news/good news day. Bad news: we need (at least half of) a new roof. Good news: DH applied for the CSP (via a DISchurners referral link, don't worry!) and got insta-approved for a healthy line. So hopefully it comes before the roof bill comes. We debated long and hard about the CSR/CSP double dip, but can't justify the AF just yet (most of our travel is next year). We'll try for the CSP/CSR double dip in the second half of the year when I go under 5/24.

Congrats on the CSP! I really waited for the CSR and then missed out in the 100k. If you pay an ezpass that counts as travel. I was really hesitant and finally went for it. The rewards have been well worth it. 3x dining and travel. You have a year to use your travel credit. So if you aren’t ready now use it later. Worse case buy gift cards from southwest on their site before you loose the credit.

ETA you don’t know if the double dip will still be around when you are able to apply.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

That's a tough one! Especially since they never expire. Fwiw here's a couple questions I'd go through:
-Could my budget currently use the $250 target gift card? If so, don't feel guilty about using it!
-Do you see a potential redemption for them in the next year or two that works with your travel plans?
-Would you have to spend money to use them? (i.e. you have enough miles for two tickets but would have to pay cash for other family members)

Afraid I can't help with deciding if you're crazy or not! I was just looking at my current collection of debit cards and credit cards & am questioning my own level of sanity...

If you have no foreseeable use for the points as points, then get the GC. Does Delta ever runs redemption specials for points to GC?

Thanks! That makes me feel a little better - obviously it was my intention all along. I was perfectly happy with a 15% return for that signup bonus and I shouldn't be second guessing myself since I have no other practical use for the points

 

[CyndiLouWho]

I'm not sure, but when I put in dates for a March reservation for Swan, I got a message to call. After playing around a bit I noticed the Swan and Dolphin were both blocked out for all rates, cash as well from Feb 9 on. So, if I were you I would call. All the other 'Lake Buena Vista' hotels are looking normal. It may be as simple as they haven't loaded next years rates yet and are in the process.

Ugh, they were there last night. I hate calling and talking to people. Lol

 

[Albort]

Get to the juicy part. How?

3 words... MOVE TO TEXAS...
he does a lot of MS.

 

[Lain]

3 words... MOVE TO TEXAS...
he does a lot of MS.

Figured. The Bay Area is a M$ wasteland.

 

[Albort]

Figured. The Bay Area is a M$ wasteland.

not quite, i got a friend who was able to pull MO out of Walmart in the Bay Area... something you can try...

edit: should note... recently... like 1-2 weeks ago.

 

[Lain]

not quite, i got a friend who was able to pull MO out of Walmart in the Bay Area... something you can try...

Which one? There’s like ONE Walmart and two Neighborhood Markets, at least 40 miles away on my side of the Bay before I have to cross bridges and pay tolls.

 

[Albort]

Which one? There’s like ONE Walmart and two Neighborhood Markets, at least 40 miles away on my side of the Bay before I have to cross bridges and pay tolls.

i believe he went to the one in Freemont, bought VGC from the simon mall farther down. Im not sure, ill have to get back to u. He lives on east bay so i guess i guess its worth it for him...

 

[AmyAnne]

Ugh, they were there last night. I hate calling and talking to people. Lol

When I was trying to arrange our Hilton hotel reservation for Chicago using points, I needed to change dates -- which I couldn't do on the website without cancelling the whole thing and starting over (and potentially losing the 2 queen bed rooms). I called Hilton and the person who fixed the reservation was super-nice and super-helpful. Hoping the Swan/Dolphin person can help you.

 

[afan]

Which one? There’s like ONE Walmart and two Neighborhood Markets, at least 40 miles away on my side of the Bay before I have to cross bridges and pay tolls.

The closest to the city without going over a bridge is still the one in/near SJ? Not that there's anywhere in the city to put one but I'm surprised they haven't found somewhere in Daly City or Colma to put one. Went to SFSU and SJSU for my two degrees

 

[Lain]

The closest to the city without going over a bridge is still the one in/near SJ? Not that there's anywhere in the city to put one but I'm surprised they haven't found somewhere in Daly City or Colma to put one. Went to SFSU and SJSU for my two degrees

The closest Walmart to me is the one in Mountain View, at least 40 mins away. Once you get down to the South Bay and circle back up the East Bay, there are a lot more Walmarts and Neighborhood Markets, but I wouldn’t waste time, gas and toll like that. Not that I’d like to see Walmarts all over the place, but does Target really need two stores, less than 5 mins across from each other on the 280, in Daly City and Colma?

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

You guys are so awesome with your advice, I’d love to get your thoughts on my strategy/plans.

A little background …
We have been modest travel hackers for a few years, since being introduced to the concept by Calypso whom we have been lucky enough to travel with a couple times. We are a family of four. Although our daughter is now in college, she still travels with us for most of the trips.

We travel a lot. A lot. Last year I think I was home about 50-60% of the time Mostly Europe, Hawaii, and trips to WDW/DLR, but we also have more far away trips like South America and Asia planned in the near future. Calfan and I also love to do girls’ hiking trips. I have the companion pass for the WDW/DLR trips, and it has been fantastic. I’m hoping to use it for Hawaii by the end of the year before it expires, but my husband is planning to get it after me so one of us will be able to take advantage if they extend it to Hawaii.

We used to redeem for mostly saver economy awards on United, but after experiencing Business Class on British Air (cash) to London and United First & Polaris Business (award tickets) back and forth to China, we are all hooked. As my mom said, it’s hard to get the girl back on the farm

I always have a few flights for trips that I’m working on. I don’t mind paying cash for good fares, but I’m hoping to build up our UR accounts to do RT business for Japan and/or South East Asia in 2019 with awards for United. As I mentioned in a previous post, I also do quite a bit of traveling to England so I’m usually using lots of AVIOS for British Air or Aer Lingus now.

Goal:
My goal is to maximize my URs and to a lesser extent MR’s, which I can also use for British Air or its “sweet spot” redemption for partner Alaska Airlines flights from the West Coast to Hawaii. The four of us recently flew to Maui RT for 100k miles total, which was such an awesome bargain.

My strategy:
I’m really trying to be more strategic about maximizing my return on purchases. I’ve been taking advantage of shopping portals for a while, but I’m trying to be more consistent with them. I’m also starting to take better advantage of the cards in my wallet already. My husband and I both have the freedom card (product change downgrade from CSP) but we hadn’t really done any category spending. We are just getting going on this, and after the disaster I posted about a few days ago, I think my husband is more on board. I think he was having Seinfeld nightmares of me sitting in 1st class next to a super model and him squeezed in a middle seat in coach LOL.

Prior to this, I’d been using my CSR for travel/food, and my BarclayArrival Plus as my every day card to get the automatic 2x on everything. I always have misc travel charges so it was an easy way of not having to think and getting redemptions.

But with the goal to maximize URs, I’d like to move most of the BarclayArrival spends to a Chase card that hopefully will get me more than 1x for everyday purchases. My husband is also happy to be in dual-player mode. He’s taken advantage of a few things over the past few years, but we can definitely up his game. We are both self-employed; i have an LLC so I’ve taken advantage of a number of business cards. DH hasn’t yet, but he shouldn’t have a problem with getting business cards either.

Our big categories of spend that aren’t getting us a lot of return are Amazon and groceries. I believe Amazon gift cards are sold at Office Depot so I may try to use my CI to get 5x for that. Groceries I believe are usually 2nd quarter for CF, but something for the rest of the year would be great.

We own at DVC. I've been paying our dues by auto-withdrawal, but I may switch to paying all at once to use Disney Gift Cards bought somewhere i can get 5x for them.

I’m also considering paying our taxes on my Business Platinum Amex to take advantage of their 50% bonus MR on purchases over $5,000. We always have a *huge* tax bill so this could be a great source of MRs. I think I can deduct the fees as a business expense, but I will confirm with our CPA before doing it. I rarely charge on that card (a few flights), but they didn’t bat an eye when I told them the amount. I may also call Chase and see if they’ll go for it. I figured AMEX would be easier, but I’d prefer URs as they are more flexible.

What’s in my wallet?
Chase DisneyRewards: 6/8 (hasn’t been used in years) Authorized User
Barclay Arrival (8/13)
Chase Freedom (8/13) downgrade from CSP: DH is authorized user
Chase Freedom (11/13) downgrade from CSP: I’m authorized user on DHs
BarclayCard Hawaiian Airlines (2/14)
Chase United Mileage Plus (7/14 )
Chase Ink Plus (1/16); my second. They gave me a second one and I got rid of the first. Two bonuses!
Chase Sapphire Reserve (8/16). I love this card. The 100k miles was awesome.
American Express Business Platinum: (1/17) I had the personal first and then got this one and got rid of the personal with no problems because I told them I liked the business better. 100k miles each so pretty awesome
Citicards American Aadvantage (1/17)
Chase Southwest Business Premier (2/17)
Chase Southwest Plus (2/17)

My credit score is excellent—I know that doesn’t necessarily matter, but I’ll put it out there.

So I have 8 current Chase cards and I think I’m 4/24 (assuming AMEX business doesn’t show up in credit reports).

Culling:
In the next month, I’m planning to get rid of the Hawaiian Airlines card (we don’t use it as much since we’ve been flying Alaska), the American Aadvantage (which I only got to try to upgrade seats to Peru and they never came through and BOTH Chase Southwest Cards so that I can churn them in two years for another CP. I should also probably get rid of me as an AU on his Chase Disney Card, but it's an old card so that's nice for credit score.

Will Chase view getting rid of them all at once as a negative? The problem is that all the AFs are due right now.

Filling in holes:
We don’t have a great “everyday” card right now. I was thinking that the CFU might be a good card for that to get me at least 1.5x UR. But, since I only have one slot, maybe it’s smarter to go for the big bonus with the CIP? The CIP overlaps with my CSR and CF but the Advertising could be nice. that would be my fourth business card (overall) with Chase though and I don’t really spend a lot on the business cards. Not sure what they’d say about that. I could also try to product change the Freedom to the CFU. We’d lose the $150/15,000 miles but better than having two freedoms? Any thoughts?

After using that last 5/24 slot, I’m thinking about doing the Chase British Air, but I’m worried that I may have too many Chase cards? I don’t want a shut down issue. I’m also considering the Starwood Amex but the current 25,000 bonus doesn’t seem very big.

I’d like to get at least one or two more cards now, and then be in free/clear position again for the companion pass in 12/20.

DH:
DH is in a better position Chase-wise, BUT he needs to reserve 2 Chase spots for the companion pass at the end of the year 12/18 (to be used in 2019 and 2020)

What’s in DHs wallet?
BarclayArrivalPlus (8/13) Authorized User on mine
Chase DisneyRewards (6/08)
Chase Freedom (8/13) Authorized User on mine
Chase Freedom (11/13)
Chase Sapphire Reserve (8/16)

So he has 4 Chase cards, but is only 1/24.

He’s also had in the past the Hawaiian Card, the Chase United Card, and the Barclay Arrival (his own).

Culling: Nothing

Filling in Holes:
Chase Business Preferred (BUT this could be a problem with 1/12 for Southwest CP in December?)
Chase United (I think he hasn’t had it for 2 years)
Chase Freedom Unlimited for use as an everyday card (see above about possible product change for either his or my freedom).
Chase Southwest Business (end of year)
Chase Southwest Personal (end of year/beginning next year)
Eventually he wants to do the Amex Personal Platinum—he gets 100k offers pretty often.

I would love any ideas you guys have and please let me know if you see any potential issues/problems. I don't want to make a misstep!

 

[wendow]

3 words... MOVE TO TEXAS...
he does a lot of MS.

If we move back, I want details what your friend is doing

 

[Lain]

We have been modest travel hackers for a few years, since being introduced to the concept by Calypso whom we have been lucky enough to travel with a couple times.

Wait... so you know @calypso726 IRL? I’m going to need some time to process this (and the rest of your post!).

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Wait... so you know @calypso726 IRL? I’m going to need some time to process this (and the rest of your post!).

Lol, yes! We've overlapped on a couple Disney trips we have similar travel patterns, although we beat her to China by a year. I was hoping they'd move it up a year so we could be on another trip with them, but no cigar lol. I hang out a lot on the ABD forum too.

 

[Albort]

text

i honestly think your missing a hotel card...

SPG Amex, despite its low signups, its the most versitile card out there imo. its got 20+ airline partners at a transfer rate of 1:1.25, its got the 2nd biggest hotel chain in the world to your disposable.
Marriott Card also works too, but its not as great as SPG Amex imo. unless you consider a metal card a priority...

idk though, u have any goals? maybe the destination is worth looking around.

 

[snugglebug]

3 words... MOVE TO TEXAS...
he does a lot of MS.

If we move back, I want details what your friend is doing

Ok, I'm in Texas, I need details lol
I'm too scared of getting shut down to attempt anything.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

i honestly think your missing a hotel card...

SPG Amex, despite its low signups, its the most versitile card out there imo. its got 20+ airline partners at a transfer rate of 1:1.25, its got the 2nd biggest hotel chain in the world to your disposable.
Marriott Card also works too, but its not as great as SPG Amex imo. unless you consider a metal card a priority...

idk though, u have any goals? maybe the destination is worth looking around.

My goals are definitely miles for flights with UR or MR and getting more than 1x for everyday purchases. You are totally right! I'm definitely missing a hotel card, but oddly with all the travel we do, I rarely pay for hotels directly. Usually we are doing group tours or we are staying in vacation homes or flats. Great point about the transfer rate with spg though--I'd forgotten about that. I think they transfer to united, too, which is great for us.

Metal cards are definitely not a priority lol.