I love credit cards so much!

[Psychodisney]

I have a very basic SW question that I feel like I should know the answer to! My DH's annual fees will be hitting. When is the best time to call and cancel. I know I want to see the bonus points post, but do I pay the fee and then call? Or call when I get the bill before I pay the fee?

 

[DisneyMandC]

Add your findings to my post on DisChurners. I know several have wondered about discount addition/modification. I am hoping that its possible seeing how from Melissa it sounds like they are a standard TA and that's already possible with other TA's. I have a res with Disney for late 2018 I want to rebook with Chase but been waiting to see if I can get a bounce back this summer or anything better first.

Definitely will! I'm planning to do one night (haven't decided which hotel yet) in November with one day tickets. My dates fall right in the historical blackout zones for free dining though, so I will probably be trying to get a room discount applied. I'm planning to use this trip to try to book a bounce back offer for the following year. I've never booked a bounce back before, so I need to read up on it a little more.

 

[trenty]

Just to expand upon Calypso's great post above and something that was touched on yesterday, with the exception of the Visa, MC, and Amex gift cards, all of the other gift cards mentioned above, including many chain restaurants, can all be purchased electronically using the Ink products via the Gyft app and received instantaneously to obtain the 3X/5X. Using this method, we find it's rarely necessary to actually go to an actual office supply store anymore.

Disney gift cards are not available via Gyft, so if you truly have no other option to purchase Disney gift cards than you will have to go to one of the stores. However, by simply obtaining a Sam's Club membership online (if you don't have one already), you can take Walmart gift cards purchased via the Gyft app and subsequently use those to purchase Discounted Disney cards via the Sams website or local store. Once you recoup your membership fee, there really is no reason to not save approximately 8%-10% on all Disney gift card purchases versus only 5% by purchasing directly from the office supply store.

Can you use a Walmart or Sam's GC to pay the Sam's Club Membership Fee?

 

[Friendlyadvice2]

Can you use a Walmart or Sam's GC to pay the Sam's Club Membership Fee?

I usually use an Amex offer or something similar to get a new membership each year, but I see absolutely no reason why you can't do this as I've been prompted to renew my membership while checking out in store and could have easily paid for it with the same electronic gift card I was using to pay for my other items.

 

[speedyfishy]

I have a very basic SW question that I feel like I should know the answer to! My DH's annual fees will be hitting. When is the best time to call and cancel. I know I want to see the bonus points post, but do I pay the fee and then call? Or call when I get the bill before I pay the fee?

Let the annual fee and the points post. Don’t pay the fee. Call to cancel. As long as you do it within 30 days of the fee posting you will get a refund. I’d ask for a retention offer though. I saw some people on Reddit getting a statement credit equal to the annual fee. So then you can potentially wait another year and get the points again and then after the full year call to cancel.

 

[Lain]

So my question is this: A large portion of my minimum spend on my new SPG biz was Disney resort reservations for an upcoming trip. We're leaving this weekend for Aspen and I'm sure lift tickets alone are going to run well over $1000, plus there will be other expenses. I don't have a new card in hand to start meeting the minimum spend on, so I hate to waste that spending. Can I use my SPG biz for those expenses (which would put me well over the $5000 min) and then later on when I get a new Chase card cancel the Disney reservations on the SPG biz and put those charges on the Chase card? Will AmEx be ok with that, as long as I did spend a legit $5000 within three months? Also, do I need to cancel and then re-book, or can I call Disney and move the charges to the new card?

Thank you!

Yes, you can do this.

However, there's a small quirk in the system.

Total amount of "spending" does count towards the $5k MSR for the purposes of "getting" the 25k Starpoints bonus. So if you have your Disney reservations on the SPG Biz, then add lift tickets onto the SPG Biz, which takes you over the $5k MSR, your 25k Starpoints may actually automatically post to your SPG account within a day or two, even if you later return/cancel items that take you back under MSR.

"Refunds" don't count against the $5k MSR for the purposes of "keeping" your 25k Starpoints. If you later cancel your Disney reservations or have Disney change the charge to another card, and this takes you under $5k, Amex would be within their right to claw back the 25k Starpoints even if they've been deposited into your SPG account. So to be sure you get to keep your signup bonus, you'll need to spend $5k in 3 months from opening of your card.

My personal anecdote to this is I got my SPG Biz with a $10k MSR back (25k SPG/$6k, another 10k SPG/$4k) in November and bought a $1200 iPhone X on the SPG Biz. Due to quality control issues, I ended up going through about 6 iPhones before getting one without a flaw. Those iPhone X purchases triggered my first $6k MSR even though I returned each iPhone before buying another one (I wouldn't have hit $6k spend so quickly if I didn't count the iPhone transactions), and my 25k Starpoints appeared in my SPG account a day or two later. Along with other spend, those 6 or 7 iPhone purchases also triggered the $10k MSR way before I actually spent that much if I took out the iPhone returns, and another 10k Starpoints posted to my account. Once in my SPG account, I could have easily spent or transferred them. Conceivably, Amex could have clawed back the bonus points but didn't. Rather than piss off Amex and risk a clawback, I dutifully kept spending on the SPG Biz until I was really over $10k, disregarding the returns.

 

[hsmamato2]

Be gone @snugglebug !! Banned! Banned I say! LOL JK we aren't Reddit still love you!

I'm glad you have some experience with this to help @MinnieMay out. Not having any CC debt of my own I felt complete out of my league on what advice I should give after @MinnieMay explained their situation!

ETA: just re-read this and I'm not happy glad you have debt to deal with just glad our poster found someone else- gah! You know what I mean!

@snugglebug I think what gottalovepluto is trying to say is.... thanks for the detail into your situation to help snugglebug.... BUT....and this holds true in most cases which is why it's advised to do this 'game' with no past debts is when calculating the 'savings' of rewards usage, you must also include the 'loss' of paying interest on debts not yet paid. Which in *many* cases means an ongoing cycle of interest charges which not only mitigates any rewards earned, but perpetuates the cycle,since if a person can't 'pay as they go' then the spending isn't in line with the income,etc. (and we all know how compound interest gets calculated on a cc) So while not *EVERY* story is exactly the same, the basics hold true for most people. I get what @snugglebug you're saying regarding your points, just clarifying the general wisdom that is still 100% true in this game. (not putting anyone down,just explaining why things work as they do)

 

[hsmamato2]

Yes. We used Uber last Sunday afternoon. It was 23.85 + tip for Dolphin to MCO.

did you Uber from the airport too? how did it go?

 

[goodeats]

I have a very basic SW question that I feel like I should know the answer to! My DH's annual fees will be hitting. When is the best time to call and cancel. I know I want to see the bonus points post, but do I pay the fee and then call? Or call when I get the bill before I pay the fee?

I would think you need to pay the fee to get the points. You could call and ask I would think?

I had the Disney Premier Visa and called to downgrade (the 2% cashback was not worth the fee to us) after the fee hit. They credited me the $49 right away.

 

[1GoldenSun]

"Refunds" don't count against the $5k MSR for the purposes of "keeping" your 25k Starpoints. If you later cancel your Disney reservations or have Disney change the charge to another card, and this takes you under $5k, Amex would be within their right to claw back the 25k Starpoints even if they've been deposited into your SPG account. So to be sure you get to keep your signup bonus, you'll need to spend $5k in 3 months from opening of your card.

Great! Thanks! This will work, then. I will have $5000 spent on the card within three months, I'm just going to exchange one charge for another.

 

[Friendlyadvice2]

I would think you need to pay the fee to get the points. You could call and ask I would think?

I had the Disney Premier Visa and called to downgrade (the 2% cashback was not worth the fee to us) after the fee hit. They credited me the $49 right away.

No, actually the SW anniversary points and the annual fee are two distinct items; receiving the anniversary points is not contingent on paying the annual fee. A previous poster articulated it well, however retention offers can vary greatly between different card holders.

 

[miztressuz]

My aunt is a TA who specializes in cruises. Goes on 3-5 cruises each year and is a major bargain hunter for herself (and her clients). SHe says Disney cruises are just not worth the cost compared to other cruise lines. And she books a lot of Disney cruises but feels the value just isn't there. Main reason we've not take a Disney cruise.

So value can be found in different ways. If you look at pure cost to cabin/itinerary perspective, your Aunt is correct. However, when we take a Disney cruise we don't worry about anything. The ships are always clean and in good repair, except for the over zealous dining team on the Wonder all the CM's we've interacted with are excellent, service and activities suit our desires. We found after taking our first one or two DCL cruises when we cruised other lines we noticed how often we had issues either nit-picky or legit (I'm looking at you NCL laundry that manages to lose one piece of clothing on each cruise) and started laughing about it. We figured it out when we went back on DCL and realized like 3-4 days into the cruise we didn't once have a snarky comment or mishap to overcome like we did on NCL. So we trade off depending on what we want out of the cruise: experience goes to DCL, itinerary goes to someone else.

Value is so subjective!

We’ve done 5 cruises on Disney. Every one was amazing. Alaska is crazy expensive. We’re doing it in August. Between Costco, onboard booking, and paying with gift cards (which you can’t do on all the lines) we are probably paying 65% of the fare. It helps. I see why others try other lines for Alaska but Disney’s product is fantastic. In terms of trend, though, I think the value is declining.

I agree, as they price themselves higher as much as we love it we're not sure we can justify the price. I'm hoping with the new ships it starts stabilizing. I need some Mid Ship Detective and Animators Palate (etc etc) every so often

I'll chime in with the other perspective. I suppose if bargain hunting is the motivation, then DCL would not be worth it. They are expensive. Value, on the other hand, is something that is very subjective and what is important and worth the cost to one person, may not be worth it to another. To me, the value is with DCL. When I compare our experience on RCL and Carnival to any of our DCL cruises then DCL wins hands down, no contest. The food was better, the service was laughably waaay better, the ship was cleaner on the inside and outside etc. But that still is not what has me hooked with DCL. Its the people. The fellow cruisers and the staff. On our very first Disney cruise which was the DVC member cruise in 2010. A year before that cruise we were getting to know our fellow cruisers here on the DIS in the cruise meets thread. We had a blast and by the time we boarded the ship we had friends that we linked dining with and got to know better throughout the cruise. The following year, we did it again and added even more amazing people to our group. There is now a group of about 40 of us that regularly keep in touch on the "social media site that shall not be named". Of that group, 20-30 of us regularly cruise together and meet up in WDW, or DLR and there's one other couple that has done ABDs with us. We are all good friends and have been there for each other IRL not just on fun vacations. Those amazing people would simply not be in my life if we had chosen to cruise on a less expensive cruise line. I can't put a price tag on that.

Liking this just once isn't enough! That's exactly it for us. We've done 4 NCL and 4 DCL (and 2 on Princess) and DCL wins hands down BUT NCL wasn't bad if you go in with the right perspective and we'll continue to cruise with them. DCL is a treat for us, we grabbed a placeholder but with the price increasing I'm not sure we'll get back within the 2 years to use it. But we will go back, it just might take longer to save for it. Every cruise or line is what you make of it. We had planned to do Alaska with Princess but we have a non-refundable deposit with NCL that has to be used next year so we'll be doing it with them instead. But nothing says we can't go twice, right? And now let the points game begin...

 

[Judique]

Just referred my darling youngest daughter for the fee free Disney card. She applied and was instantly approved! I am going to do the spend on this card (putting gas in van for the trip in 10 days if the card gets here on time). This is her first and probably only Chase card as she is not interested in credit card churning (unlike older daughter).

So, $100 Disney dollar referral and $200 credit or gift card, whichever happens - I've had them say statement credit in the past and send a gift card so not worried either way.

Just wondering how soon the referral $ will post as I want to use them this trip at Disney in 11 days!

 

[miztressuz]

I received my Discover it card yesterday. Do I need to register in order to take advantage of the 5% category? Thanks

And to add on to a previous answer, you only get the 5% on transactions made after you register so make sure you register asap for each quarter. You should be able to register for Q1 and Q2 right now.

I would think you need to pay the fee to get the points. You could call and ask I would think?

I had the Disney Premier Visa and called to downgrade (the 2% cashback was not worth the fee to us) after the fee hit. They credited me the $49 right away.

No, actually the SW anniversary points and the annual fee are two distinct items; receiving the anniversary points is not contingent on paying the annual fee. A previous poster articulated it well, however retention offers can vary greatly between different card holders.

Just to piggy back here, I have an odd situation with my SW card but it just emphasizes @Friendlyadvice2 answer here. My anniversary points post in Jan on my anniversary, but my AF doesn't hit until Aug. So the two are not dependent on the other.

 

[hsmamato2]

And to add on to a previous answer, you only get the 5% on transactions made after you register so make sure you register asap for each quarter. You should be able to register for Q1 and Q2 right now.





Just to piggy back here, I have an odd situation with my SW card but it just emphasizes @Friendlyadvice2 answer here. My anniversary points post in Jan on my anniversary, but my AF doesn't hit until Aug. So the two are not dependent on the other.

how can that happen? the anniversary points are based on when you opened the card,so the AF should be due then also.....FWIW I have 2 sw cards, I got one retention bonus(keep the 3k points plus $70 credit so fee free) and possibly going to ask for another retention offer on 2nd one soon

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Just referred my darling youngest daughter for the fee free Disney card. She applied and was instantly approved! I am going to do the spend on this card (putting gas in van for the trip in 10 days if the card gets here on time). This is her first and probably only Chase card as she is not interested in credit card churning (unlike older daughter).

So, $100 Disney dollar referral and $200 credit or gift card, whichever happens - I've had them say statement credit in the past and send a gift card so not worried either way.

Just wondering how soon the referral $ will post as I want to use them this trip at Disney in 11 days!

Referral should post on your next statement close date.

 

[1GoldenSun]

Ok, so I am over the $5000 spend on my SPG biz. When do the signup points post to my account? Is it not until I actually pay the amount I owe? I went ahead and paid the amount showing up as owed although it's not due yet, but apparently I can't pay pending charges. Do I have to wait until the pending charges become current charges and pay that off before I'll get the signup bonus?

 

[wendow]

I agree that value is subjective. Like I said, my aunt is looking for the bargain (and typically finds it as she cruises for so little $). She wants to cruise a lot and there have been years, she's gone on 7-8 a year. I think she mostly cruises RC followed by Princess. I know she has some kind of status with RC, been on every ship, knows bunch of their crew...She also has met people over the years on her cruises that are all now life-long friends and they all cruise together, have meetups all over the world, etc. So, she would argue those experiences aren't unique to DCL.

However, she has no particular attachment to Disney, nor is she cruising with kids (other than occasionally with her grands who are not into Disney) so there really is no reason to pay more for DCL. All of us here on this thread love Disney and many would say it's worth it just cause it's Disney. As much as I'd love to try DCL, we cannot afford their pricing for our fam of six.

 

[miztressuz]

how can that happen? the anniversary points are based on when you opened the card,so the AF should be due then also.....FWIW I have 2 sw cards, I got one retention bonus(keep the 3k points plus $70 credit so fee free) and possibly going to ask for another retention offer on 2nd one soon

Like I said, odd situation. I had applied for the Plus by accident but didn't want to rock the bonus boat so I waited until before the next AF would hit to PC it to the Premier. They changed it but because it had a different AF they had to wait 3 months to charge it (I forget the logic on why, still seemed weird at the time) which she said would be the March stmt. Ok, so I got the increased anniversary points on my anniversary but March came and went with no charge. I'm not going to call them, hehe. But eventually in Aug they remembered and it's been Aug ever since. Kinda odd but I'm sure there's others out there like me because of that odd 3 month policy (which may or may not exist anymore. I never churned this card so this was some years ago)

 

[Judique]

Referral should post on your next statement close date.

It says next payment date March 18 but I have no balance and can't figure out what date is the closing date, so I'll probably get the dollars for my next trip.