I love credit cards so much!

[speedyfishy]

I want to make sure I understand this CIP.

It's a business card, right? Is that why it doesn't count for the 5/24 rule? It looks like the signup bonus is 80,000 points for $5000 spend in three months. Are these UR points? I'm still not sure what you can use these URs for and what the value of them is. I tend to think in terms of Marriott points; I know what they're worth because I've been dealing with them for a while. I have some UR points on my CSP now but I've never used them for anything.

Seems like this might be a good next move. Would it be a problem that I've gotten two business cards in the last three months? Or would they not even know since they're two separate banks?

Yes it’s a business card. UR points are way better than Marriott points. You can transfer them to Marriott if you want, but I think that’s a poor value. They can be used on Chase’s travel portal to book flights and hotels. You can also book Disney vacation packages and cruises. The points can also be transferred to to 9 airline programs (British Airways, Flying Blue, Korean Air, Singapore Airlines, Southwest, United, Virgin Atlantic and Aer Lingus and Iberia) and four hotel programs (Hyatt, IHG, Marriott and Ritz-Carlton). All transfer ratios are 1:1.

It can also be redeemed for cash 80k UR is $800 in cash but that’s a poor value too.

 

[gottalovepluto]

@SouthFayetteFan had an interesting observation on Reddit today regarding Amex posting spg to spg accounts and now I'm looking for DPs. The issue: Amex says you've earned X amount of spg points on the amex login. This number is accurate. When you go to the SPG website not all of the points have transferred to SPG. I realized I have 7,500 SPG points earned from a referral last week showing in my Amex account but that they never posted to my actual SPG account. So: has anybody earned points in last week on an Amex SPG card AND seen the points show in their SPG account in the last 5 days?

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

@SouthFayetteFan had an interesting observation on Reddit today regarding Amex posting spg to spg accounts and now I'm looking for DPs. The issue: Amex says you've earned X amount of spg points on the amex login. This number is accurate. When you go to the SPG website not all of the points have transferred to SPG. I realized I have 7,500 SPG points earned from a referral last week showing in my Amex account but that they never posted to my actual SPG account. So: has anybody earned points in last week on an Amex SPG card AND seen the points show in their SPG account in the last 5 days?

My points earned on Monday and Wednesday this week transferred. ONLY my points from Sunday are missing. The problem is the increased offer came out Thurs/Fri so a bunch of referrals were probably used then and they posted for people on Sunday and then never transferred to SPG! The AMEX CSR I spoke to today specifically said the points from Sunday were still pending but the ones from Mon & Wed had completed transfer. He couldn't explain why that happened but told me not to worry, that the points will post eventually. I'll keep you guys posted here.

This is also why it would make sense to keep track of all your loyalty accounts in a spreadsheet. I have every account (Southwest for all 4 of us, Marriott, SPG, Hilton, IHG for me and wife, etc...) in one spreadsheet and I make sure all my pending points get transferred AND that no fraud occurs on my accounts.

 

[elgerber]

@SouthFayetteFan had an interesting observation on Reddit today regarding Amex posting spg to spg accounts and now I'm looking for DPs. The issue: Amex says you've earned X amount of spg points on the amex login. This number is accurate. When you go to the SPG website not all of the points have transferred to SPG. I realized I have 7,500 SPG points earned from a referral last week showing in my Amex account but that they never posted to my actual SPG account. So: has anybody earned points in last week on an Amex SPG card AND seen the points show in their SPG account in the last 5 days?

Dh's SPG Biz met the spend last week. Points showed on AMEX a couple days later, and then the following day showed up in his SPG account.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

I'll add to my own comment...here's what I track on my loyalty accounts tab of my financial spreadsheet:

Program Name: I track the following: Southwest, Marriott, SPG, Hilton, IHG, AMEX MRs, Chase URs, American, Delta
Person: Me, Wife, Daughter1, Daughter2
Points Total: Sometimes I make this a formula and will show my gross total with pending (not yet completed) redemptions subtracted out so that it matches my actual account balance
Updated As Of: date I last looked at this accounts login
Last Activity: Date of last qualifying activity
Expiration Date: Formula based on last activity field and how those points expired - grayed out if No Expiration
Approx. Value: An approximate value of the points in my account based on MY valuation or redemption value
Notes: Notes regarding pending activity or other things to watch for (expected referrals, etc.)
Membership ID: The ID associated with the program - helpful when booking flights and such

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Dh's SPG Biz met the spend last week. Points showed on AMEX a couple days later, and then the following day showed up in his SPG account.

Thanks for the info and Sorry we weren't more clear - we are specifically chasing referrals here. Points from spend on statements don't appear to have any issue. Personally I've isolated it to referral bonuses which were awarded by AMEX on Sunday 3/4/18.

 

[Lain]

@SouthFayetteFan had an interesting observation on Reddit today regarding Amex posting spg to spg accounts and now I'm looking for DPs. The issue: Amex says you've earned X amount of spg points on the amex login. This number is accurate. When you go to the SPG website not all of the points have transferred to SPG. I realized I have 7,500 SPG points earned from a referral last week showing in my Amex account but that they never posted to my actual SPG account. So: has anybody earned points in last week on an Amex SPG card AND seen the points show in their SPG account in the last 5 days?

Anyway to get a better breakdown of Starpoints earned YTD on the Amex website (to compare to my SPG account)? All I see is it points me to my SPG account for more detail. No changes to my SPG account points balance since the close of my last statement.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Anyway to get a better breakdown of Starpoints earned YTD on the Amex website? All I see is it points me to my SPG account for more detail. No changes to my SPG account points balance since the close of my last statement.

So AMEX basically updates that total daily if any referrals post. SPG referrals typically post to your SPG account within 2-3 days. I can't find any way to actually get detail on the AMEX site BUT I check my balances with them daily so that's how I can pinpoint when a referral posts.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

My SPG biz is here!!!!!

App’d and approved 3/1...for anyone else waiting.

 

[ski_mom]

This is also why it would make sense to keep track of all your loyalty accounts in a spreadsheet. I have every account (Southwest for all 4 of us, Marriott, SPG, Hilton, IHG for me and wife, etc...) in one spreadsheet and I make sure all my pending points get transferred AND that no fraud occurs on my accounts.

I'll add to my own comment...here's what I track on my loyalty accounts tab of my financial spreadsheet:

Program Name: I track the following: Southwest, Marriott, SPG, Hilton, IHG, AMEX MRs, Chase URs, American, Delta
Person: Me, Wife, Daughter1, Daughter2
Points Total: Sometimes I make this a formula and will show my gross total with pending (not yet completed) redemptions subtracted out so that it matches my actual account balance
Updated As Of: date I last looked at this accounts login
Last Activity: Date of last qualifying activity
Expiration Date: Formula based on last activity field and how those points expired - grayed out if No Expiration
Approx. Value: An approximate value of the points in my account based on MY valuation or redemption value
Notes: Notes regarding pending activity or other things to watch for (expected referrals, etc.)
Membership ID: The ID associated with the program - helpful when booking flights and such

So do you just check each account each month to be keep your spreadsheet up to date? I always have good intentions, but I'm not always the best at keeping everything updated.

May I ask how you have your spreadsheet organized? Do you have each program across the top and the each item you're tracking listed in column A? So, I'm thinking column A would have Points total, Updated as of, etc and then labeled across the top would be Southwest, Marriott, etc??

I may be completely off base too lol!!

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

So do you just check each account each month to be keep your spreadsheet up to date? I always have good intentions, but I'm not always the best at keeping everything updated.

May I ask how you have your spreadsheet organized? Do you have each program across the top and the each item you're tracking listed in column A? So, I'm thinking column A would have Points total, Updated as of, etc and then labeled across the top would be Southwest, Marriott, etc??

I may be completely off base too lol!!

Actually the headers I listed are my "COLUMNS" and the loyalty programs are my "ROWS". I am obsessed with personal finance so I have a HUGE spreadsheet where I track literally everything - this included, lol.

I check these programs AT LEAST monthly. The goals when I'm checking are as follows:

• Make sure all earnings have posted (i.e. credit card spend, sign up bonuses, referrals, special promos - i.e. Marriott Twitter, other activity)
• Log any redemptions I've made to make sure the points debited for a redemption match
• Make sure no fraudulent activity has occurred - it sucks but sometimes people can hack your loyalty account and book flights or stays using your points. Never happened to me but I know it has to some people.
• Determine if I have points expiring soon and find a way to keep them active (i.e. a shopping portal or put $5 on a CC or something)

I also have a section at the bottom of the sheet where I track any Southwest monetary Flight credits I have (which I get from time to time) as well as when our TSA Precheck expires and when my Free Nights (i.e. Marriott and IHG) expire.

 

[Calfan]

My SPG biz is here!!!!!

App’d and approved 3/1...for anyone else waiting.

Awesome! I applied and was approved 3/2, so hopefully that means my card will show up tomorrow. Really want to have it by Monday morning so I can put my registration fees for the runDisney Wine & Dine Two Course Challenge on it and get that MSR started (silver lining to the DVC early race registration being postponed from today until Monday )

 

[disneymagicgirl]

I booked the same cruise! Also on deck 2. I see a Dischurners meet coming!

How awesome! Dischurners meet for sure!

 

[1GoldenSun]

Ok, UR sound pretty good; I'm sold! I think I'm going to go ahead and apply for the CIP (online since I have a "business"). This time I'll probably take my time and take the full three months to meet the minimum spend. I just don't have any more big purchases to make after spending $10,000 in two months to get the two AmAx biz cards. By that time, it'll be mid-June and I can downgrade my CSP to a a Freedom to hold onto the UR I have on that. Then (after a suitable interval) I can re-apply for the CSP and also the CSR. That also gives me time to plan how in the world I'm going to spend $8000 in three months.

After that I think we'll start working on DH.

I also need to figure out when/if I'm going to cancel cards with annual fees, which is pretty much all the cards I currently have. Do you pay the fee once, and then cancel it right before it comes due the following year, or do you cancel before it even comes due? Can you even do that? I'm keeping the cost of the annual fee in mind when considering the value of the signup bonus, but only for one year. I can't pay ALL of these annual fees interminably or it would eat up all my gains, so I need to figure out when it's best to cancel.

 

[gottalovepluto]

My points earned on Monday and Wednesday this week transferred. ONLY my points from Sunday are missing. The problem is the increased offer came out Thurs/Fri so a bunch of referrals were probably used then and they posted for people on Sunday and then never transferred to SPG! The AMEX CSR I spoke to today specifically said the points from Sunday were still pending but the ones from Mon & Wed had completed transfer. He couldn't explain why that happened but told me not to worry, that the points will post eventually. I'll keep you guys posted here.

This is also why it would make sense to keep track of all your loyalty accounts in a spreadsheet. I have every account (Southwest for all 4 of us, Marriott, SPG, Hilton, IHG for me and wife, etc...) in one spreadsheet and I make sure all my pending points get transferred AND that no fraud occurs on my accounts.

That makes sense for me. My person was approved Fri so I would have gotten the points around Sun. Alrighty! Very happy to know it’s just a day or two having issues!

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Ok, UR sound pretty good; I'm sold! I think I'm going to go ahead and apply for the CIP (online since I have a "business"). This time I'll probably take my time and take the full three months to meet the minimum spend. I just don't have any more big purchases to make after spending $10,000 in two months to get the two AmAx biz cards. By that time, it'll be mid-June and I can downgrade my CSP to a a Freedom to hold onto the UR I have on that. Then (after a suitable interval) I can re-apply for the CSP and also the CSR. That also gives me time to plan how in the world I'm going to spend $8000 in three months.

After that I think we'll start working on DH.

I also need to figure out when/if I'm going to cancel cards with annual fees, which is pretty much all the cards I currently have. Do you pay the fee once, and then cancel it right before it comes due the following year, or do you cancel before it even comes due? Can you even do that? I'm keeping the cost of the annual fee in mind when considering the value of the signup bonus, but only for one year. I can't pay ALL of these annual fees interminably or it would eat up all my gains, so I need to figure out when it's best to cancel.

@calypso726 is the queen of "annual fee management" haha! She seems to know which make sense for her and which don't.

I'm the king of "no annual fees" - I avoid them at all costs and cancel or downgrade A LOT of cards after 12 months. Unless I'm able to generate referral activity on a card if it has an AF it's gone! haha!

I'm sure others are somewhere in between. I think this is really a card specific question - it might make sense for you to list all the cards you have that carry an AF and we can give some recommendations on what makes sense, what you can downgrade, and what has got to GO!

 

[wendow]

Ok, UR sound pretty good; I'm sold! I think I'm going to go ahead and apply for the CIP (online since I have a "business"). This time I'll probably take my time and take the full three months to meet the minimum spend. I just don't have any more big purchases to make after spending $10,000 in two months to get the two AmAx biz cards. By that time, it'll be mid-June and I can downgrade my CSP to a a Freedom to hold onto the UR I have on that. Then (after a suitable interval) I can re-apply for the CSP and also the CSR. That also gives me time to plan how in the world I'm going to spend $8000 in three months.

After that I think we'll start working on DH.

I also need to figure out when/if I'm going to cancel cards with annual fees, which is pretty much all the cards I currently have. Do you pay the fee once, and then cancel it right before it comes due the following year, or do you cancel before it even comes due? Can you even do that? I'm keeping the cost of the annual fee in mind when considering the value of the signup bonus, but only for one year. I can't pay ALL of these annual fees interminably or it would eat up all my gains, so I need to figure out when it's best to cancel.

CIP is a good choice!

Whether or not to pay the AF's depends on whether you are keeping the card. I have some that I love and will pay the fee on (even the...ouch...$450 CSR). Others, I wait till the fee hits and then either cancel or change the card to a free product.

 

[linzjane88]

I'm approved!

I take back everything I said about regretting applying for it. Hawaii 2019 here we come!

 

[wendow]

@1GoldenSun I've been out a lot today and wasn't sure if you got signed up for the DISchurners group yet. We use the group to give back to each other by using each other's links when we apply You can join and also put your links up.

 

[wendow]

CIP is a good choice!

Whether or not to pay the AF's depends on whether you are keeping the card. I have some that I love and will pay the fee on (even the...ouch...$450 CSR). Others, I wait till the fee hits and then either cancel or change the card to a free product.

ETA: doing this a lot today lol cause I feel I am playing 'catch up' all day! As @SouthFayetteFan said, some cards are keepers because you can get enough from the referrals to make them worth it. I changed a card at the end of last year...my CSP...down to a no-fee version and I've had two people in my life ask me for my referral...AHH!!!! But I was trying to avoid the AF. However, just one of them using my referral would have paid the fee for a year.