I love credit cards so much!

[speedyfishy]

see it are:

• Do what I did to get the Amex Business and do it as travel planning. Except you start to look at the Chase categories and that is more than a little intimidating. I don’t know how to make it fit.
• Apply as if DH did not already have a CIP for his business. My name is on the DBA license, the city license, and on a federal licensing form he was required to do. So if it came to documentation I actually could provide. If I did that though should I do the same business name as his or change it? I could do our last name instead I guess.
• I am a government attorney (prosecutor). So not a business BUT in theory I could do private practice and be a sole practioner on my own. I am not going too, but I guess if Chase asked I could say I wanted the option?!? This option makes me worry a bit and realistically if they denied and wanted more information I probably would just say never mind.

I think all options would work. I’m not sure what is best. For my CIP I acted like after l graduate I was going to start my own legal practice. I got approved with that.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Southwest Flights are now bookable through November 3rd. I haven't tracked release times recently but they were up and available for purchase by 6:55am Eastern today which seems pretty early for them (yay Southwest IT).

For those looking at travel dates beyond November 3rd, the next release is scheduled for May 31 so we are in for a loooong wait!! That is a major release as it will cover Thanksgiving and Christmas travel dates. That release date is subject to change and you can track it here.

A LITTLE TIP: If you have a roundtrip planned leaving 11/3 or prior and returning after 11/3, book your one way ticket now for the date that is available. There is no advantage to purchasing "round trip" with Southwest (some might argue it's actually a disadvantage) so don't wait for the next release.

 

[hsmamato2]

Put the spend on the CIP, but hit the MSR by funding a BMO Harris account. You can open their checking, saving, and money market account funding 1k for each. You can open accounts every 30 days. That gives you 6k of the 7k. Just make sure you can float 3k for a bit and make sure you can meet the requirements to keep it fee free. You can also close it early and just pay a small fee. I opened three to fund my Delta Business and the points posted without any problems.

This sounds interesting

 

[hsmamato2]

I just read 10pm est on the pricing thread.

where is the pricing thread?

 

[speedyfishy]

This sounds interesting

It was super easy for me. You apply online. Some people have problems with their security questions but I had no issues. You also have to call in to set up the account and they just ask what you are using it for. I said as a separate account to save money. There are a lot of ways to avoid fees just check to make sure you can avoid them. The account can be closed in 6 months with no fee. Also, there have been lots of DPs that it doesn’t code as a cash advance, but I set mine to the lowest amount possible before funding just incase.

If you are trying to hit minimum spend on a Visa though I thought PNC was easier to deal with. You can fund 2k for a checking and 2k with a savings for them.

If you have any questions I’ll do my best to help. I have only PNC and BMO once, but there have been DPs of people having 8+ accounts.

 

[DisneyMandC]

I am a government attorney (prosecutor).

Hey, me too!

And yes, agree with everyone else to do sole proprietor. I did sole proprietor for myself for the Marriott business card, and did sole proprietor for DH for CIP (though he actually does have a legitimate eBay/Fulfillment by Amazon selling business).

 

[disneymagicgirl]

HEY...Don't you come in here with your facts and try to ruin my hopes for a higher signup on CSR...

You could get the csp, meet spend for points, then upgrade/PC to csr for 1.5x redemption.

 

[pillow]

You could get the csp, meet spend for points, then upgrade/PC to csr for 1.5x redemption.

@disneymagicgirl Off topic . . . did you get your reservation this morning?

 

[hsmamato2]

ok.... for the first time, I'm seriously looking at marriott nights and flights..... can someone point me to a primer to read? I need to understand how it works, and is SWA or Jetblue a better deal? which category level? This is the first time I'm considering sacrificng my Swolphin points for such a thing..... it's also pretty much the first time I'll have enough spg to convert into a package..... I need more details please!

 

[disneymagicgirl]

@disneymagicgirl Off topic . . . did you get your reservation this morning?

I got it last night....for Alaska you mean, right? Southwest was today too. Ha! Lots going on early this am.

So for Alaska I am sticking with DCL. My quote for 2 connecting 7As was $14,700 on 5/27. Ouch.
So I emailed her to knock us down to connecting deck 2 cat 9s. I haven’t gotten the new amount back yet It will save me around $3400 by my calculations, making the trip more palatable.
I could’ve decreased even more by doing the 5/20 sailing but my DS would have to miss 5th grade promotion. Nice thing about 5/27 is DH uses one less vacation day too.

I ruled out NCL Bliss because I read you can’t leave the kids in the club and go ashore. That won’t work with a 3 war old.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

ok.... for the first time, I'm seriously looking at marriott nights and flights..... can someone point me to a primer to read? I need to understand how it works, and is SWA or Jetblue a better deal? which category level? This is the first time I'm considering sacrificng my Swolphin points for such a thing..... it's also pretty much the first time I'll have enough spg to convert into a package..... I need more details please!

I’m interested in these too. It says on the website to call to book. So we can’t look at any availability or whatever without calling?

 

[1st*toright]

OK, signed up for SPG Biz. Decided it was too good to pass up. My travel next week should kill the MSR on the CIP, and I can move on to the SPG spend, and start scouting our 2019 family trip to spend our points on! Having some criteria (like finding a good match between a Marriott Residence Inn property and a Southwest destination) should help me come up with a vacation that is both economical and unusual. DH loves exploring cities (not much of a hang on the beach kind of guy) and we've mostly spend time on the east and west coasts, so there are lots of cities in the US we could explore! Or I could use the nights/flights to do something international, maybe, if I can find a single hotel room that will fit all 4 of us for a week (more challenging abroad, I think) and a good airline partner to trade points to...
Oh the possibilities... I'm never happier than when I have a trip to plan

 

[Pooh2]

Jet Blue Mastercard Question:

I signed up for the 2x points for this quarter. My offer is 2x on gas, utlities, dept stores.
Does anyone know what qualifies as a dept store? Would Home Depot, Lowe's, CVS count?
Does not seem to be much info on the web about Jet Blue offers..

 

[Psychodisney]

I looked into it before b/c I keep seeing commercials on tv and it is for military/veterans and their families.

ETA: if you see something that says otherwise I’d love to know

I signed my non-military DS22 up for it in November of 2017. He needed a rental car after an encounter with a deer. I found USAA through Mousesavers. Don't trust your google search. As long as you are a US citizen, I think you are eligible.

 

[vanjust14]

Southwest Flights are now bookable through November 3rd. I haven't tracked release times recently but they were up and available for purchase by 6:55am Eastern today which seems pretty early for them (yay Southwest IT).

For those looking at travel dates beyond November 3rd, the next release is scheduled for May 31 so we are in for a loooong wait!! That is a major release as it will cover Thanksgiving and Christmas travel dates. That release date is subject to change and you can track it here.

A LITTLE TIP: If you have a roundtrip planned leaving 11/3 or prior and returning after 11/3, book your one way ticket now for the date that is available. There is no advantage to purchasing "round trip" with Southwest (some might argue it's actually a disadvantage) so don't wait for the next release.

Thanks for posting this! I'm waiting for December 15. May 31 is too far away!!!!

 

[pillow]

ok.... for the first time, I'm seriously looking at marriott nights and flights..... can someone point me to a primer to read? I need to understand how it works, and is SWA or Jetblue a better deal? which category level? This is the first time I'm considering sacrificng my Swolphin points for such a thing..... it's also pretty much the first time I'll have enough spg to convert into a package..... I need more details please!

Frequent Miler did a great analysis on this a while back. United is best (extra points). Stick with the top right corner of the charts if you can (lowest category Marriott). Try this -
http://frequentmiler.boardingarea.com/2017/01/06/11-things-need-know-marriott-travel-packages/

 

[pillow]

I got it last night....for Alaska you mean, right? Southwest was today too. Ha! Lots going on early this am.

So for Alaska I am sticking with DCL. My quote for 2 connecting 7As was $14,700 on 5/27. Ouch.
So I emailed her to knock us down to connecting deck 2 cat 9s. I haven’t gotten the new amount back yet It will save me around $3400 by my calculations, making the trip more palatable.
I could’ve decreased even more by doing the 5/20 sailing but my DS would have to miss 5th grade promotion. Nice thing about 5/27 is DH uses one less vacation day too.

I ruled out NCL Bliss because I read you can’t leave the kids in the club and go ashore. That won’t work with a 3 war old.

For some reason I was thinking you were booking this morning. Yeah - expensive - ouch. We had luck upgrading at the port. It may be more difficult for you with 2 rooms, but you can always try. I paid something like $630 to upgrade from a cat 9 (C I think?) to a 5 something at the port.

 

[1st*toright]

I signed my non-military DS22 up for it in November of 2017. He needed a rental car after an encounter with a deer. I found USAA through Mousesavers. Don't trust your google search. As long as you are a US citizen, I think you are eligible.

I think USAA may have different requirements for different products. I know that parents can pass along USAA membership to their kids - my dad was a member, so I could be a member, and my kids can be members, even though I did not serve.

 

[pillow]

I signed my non-military DS22 up for it in November of 2017. He needed a rental car after an encounter with a deer. I found USAA through Mousesavers. Don't trust your google search. As long as you are a US citizen, I think you are eligible.

What? I thought USAA was just for military families too. I don't care about the car rentals; its the INSURANCE I want!

 

[elgerber]

It was super easy for me. You apply online. Some people have problems with their security questions but I had no issues. You also have to call in to set up the account and they just ask what you are using it for. I said as a separate account to save money. There are a lot of ways to avoid fees just check to make sure you can avoid them. The account can be closed in 6 months with no fee. Also, there have been lots of DPs that it doesn’t code as a cash advance, but I set mine to the lowest amount possible before funding just incase.

If you are trying to hit minimum spend on a Visa though I thought PNC was easier to deal with. You can fund 2k for a checking and 2k with a savings for them.

If you have any questions I’ll do my best to help. I have only PNC and BMO once, but there have been DPs of people having 8+ accounts.

I had a legit BMO account years ago, I could open new ones now and use my Delta Biz Amex to fund and meet my MSR?