I love credit cards so much!

[Ngwira]

I'm just starting to look into the TY points. Do they have a portal similar to Chase that you would book a cruise through? Are the points basically worth a penny each toward a cruise?

Thanks!

Check out this blogpost for more details..
https://saverocity.com/travel/booking-disney-cruise-citi-thankyou-points/

 

[ski_mom]

Check out this blogpost for more details..
https://saverocity.com/travel/booking-disney-cruise-citi-thankyou-points/

Thanks! That's just what I was looking for. Sounds like it is pretty similar to booking cruises with Chase UR points which we used to book an RCI cruise.

I'm not sure what direction I'm going to head next, but I need to decide. I've got a couple of large purchases coming up I could use to easily meet the minimum spend.

Thanks again!

 

[shystalips]

What's up with chase? Today I got referral bonus offers for Disney Visa, Chase Freedom, and Sapphire preferred. All in one day.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

I guess im one of those point hoarders(post must have gotten deleted). Im currently in school so travelling is hard to do as i dont have much time to travel. Started September 2015 with a CSP, has currently 250k UR, 60k TY, with 100k UR coming in with my CSR. Ive only used points where it makes sense to me though. If the points dont come out ahead, i just use my travel cards.

i do think its better to use these points on hotels and plane ticket upgrades... Looking at air tickets dont seem worth using points imo. trips to asia(i travel to Taiwan once/twice a year to get fat basically ) are cheap, not worth using points.

I'm so jealous of your points accumulation.
Not sure where you live, but much of the year it is over 1k per person & often much more, for tickets to China. When I was considering China & compared March & June, March was 800ish, June was 1800ish. Multiply x3 for our family. Just couldn't manage the dates in March & couldn't manage the prices in June. So we're going to Disneyland in March instead.

 

[Albort]

I'm so jealous of your points accumulation.
Not sure where you live, but much of the year it is over 1k per person & often much more, for tickets to China. When I was considering China & compared March & June, March was 800ish, June was 1800ish. Multiply x3 for our family. Just couldn't manage the dates in March & couldn't manage the prices in June. So we're going to Disneyland in March instead.

huh, must be a hot time in June... just checked all the hot airfares and they all end in May... haha. Disneyland aint bad!
Theres also an idea of going on a tour, tour air tickets are a lot cheaper!

 

[calypso726]

I'm so jealous of your points accumulation.
Not sure where you live, but much of the year it is over 1k per person & often much more, for tickets to China. When I was considering China & compared March & June, March was 800ish, June was 1800ish. Multiply x3 for our family. Just couldn't manage the dates in March & couldn't manage the prices in June. So we're going to Disneyland in March instead.

Points accumulation is not too difficult if you keep at it and take advantage of the credit card offers. Many travel hackers will apply for 3 - 5 cards every quarter. I'm not that aggressive but before my first year was out I was able to accumulate 750,000 points and miles. Now, 5 years later DH and I maintain a little over 2 million points and miles between us while burning through 300,000 - 500,00 points and miles a year. We haven't done any MS since March of last year and we have done very little cc churning.

We will be in Disneyland in March too! We are there the weekend of March 18th-19th

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Points accumulation is not too difficult if you keep at it and take advantage of the credit card offers. Many travel hackers will apply for 3 - 5 cards every quarter. I'm not that aggressive but before my first year was out I was able to accumulate 750,000 points and miles. Now, 5 years later DH and I maintain a little over 2 million points and miles between us while burning through 300,000 - 500,00 points and miles a year. We haven't done any MS since March of last year and we have done very little cc churning.

We will be in Disneyland in March too! We are there the weekend of March 18th-19th

Bummer, we will just miss you! We will be there 3/25-3/31 which is DSs spring break at school.

I really just started with the CC/miles thing. I don't know if I could keep track of many more cards. Also we don't travel enough or spend enough to make the AF worth it for many cards. I'm thinking we will downgrade CSR after first year because of that.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

huh, must be a hot time in June... just checked all the hot airfares and they all end in May... haha. Disneyland aint bad!
Theres also an idea of going on a tour, tour air tickets are a lot cheaper!

Have been watching fares to China a couple years. They go way up for summer. Easily double by July what they are in winter. There is a specific tour we wanted to do, generally offered in March, June, July, December. March was way off DSs spring break, he would have been out of school all of March to do it. By summer fares are higher, then its hot & humid especially in Southern China. But I'll persevere & we'll get there eventually.

 

[AdamEfimoff]

I do not have a credit card. And will most likely never have one

 

[CyndiLouWho]

I do not have a credit card. And will most likely never have one

Then you're on the wrong thread.

 

[AdamEfimoff]

Then you're on the wrong thread.

Ha true. I just do not get the point of them

 

[havaneselover]

Ha true. I just do not get the point of them

Maybe try reading the thread. The point of them is pretty clear.

 

[calypso726]

I do not have a credit card. And will most likely never have one

Then you're on the wrong thread.

Ha true. I just do not get the point of them

For those of us on this thread, the point of using a credit card is to earn points/miles/cash back. This allows us to be able to travel on vacation for free, nearly free, travel more often, travel in a manner we wouldn't pay real money for, and or mitigate the costs of our vacations. I get zero benefit for using cash or a debit card to pay for the things I need. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. When I pay for those same things using a rewards earning credit card I get points and miles which I can use to book or pay for airfare, hotels etc.

I like to go on vacation and I like to not pay real money for the cost of my vacation as much as possible. I also like to experience a little bit of luxury when I travel but I don't want to pay for that either. Next weekend we are going to London, just for the weekend to see a show I still can't believe this is actually happening. Our flights are in first class and we used miles earned from our credit card to book them. I checked to see what my flight would cost in real money and it is over $18,000 per person. I would NEVER in a million years pay $18,000 for a flight, even if I had that type of disposable income. Yet, I get to experience that type of international flight thanks to my credit card(s) that earn points and miles. We are staying at a Radisson Blu in London near the theater. The rooms are $304 per night. We booked them using the points we get from our Club Carlson credit card. So, my only expenses will be the show tickets and food. If not for the credit card points hobby, there is no way I'd even contemplate going to London for the weekend just to see a show. Anyhow, I hope that helps show you the point of a credit card, at least from my perspective.

 

[ICF]

Ha true. I just do not get the point of them

Free stuff???

 

[AdamEfimoff]

I never knew that. Free Stuff Wow sounds great. I do get points with Virgin Loyalty Program. But I just feel with amount I earn I will be debt. Makes me feel bad if mum pays for premium economy Air New Zealand. I was thinking of upgrading. Not rich but a little money saved away

For those of us on this thread, the point of using a credit card is to earn points/miles/cash back. This allows us to be able to travel on vacation for free, nearly free, travel more often, travel in a manner we wouldn't pay real money for, and or mitigate the costs of our vacations. I get zero benefit for using cash or a debit card to pay for the things I need. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. When I pay for those same things using a rewards earning credit card I get points and miles which I can use to book or pay for airfare, hotels etc.

I like to go on vacation and I like to not pay real money for the cost of my vacation as much as possible. I also like to experience a little bit of luxury when I travel but I don't want to pay for that either. Next weekend we are going to London, just for the weekend to see a show I still can't believe this is actually happening. Our flights are in first class and we used miles earned from our credit card to book them. I checked to see what my flight would cost in real money and it is over $18,000 per person. I would NEVER in a million years pay $18,000 for a flight, even if I had that type of disposable income. Yet, I get to experience that type of international flight thanks to my credit card(s) that earn points and miles. We are staying at a Radisson Blu in London near the theater. The rooms are $304 per night. We booked them using the points we get from our Club Carlson credit card. So, my only expenses will be the show tickets and food. If not for the credit card points hobby, there is no way I'd even contemplate going to London for the weekend just to see a show. Anyhow, I hope that helps show you the point of a credit card, at least from my perspective.

 

[calypso726]

Free stuff???

But of course.

I never knew that. Free Stuff Wow sounds great. I do get points with Virgin Loyalty Program. But I just feel with amount I earn I will be debt. Makes me feel bad if mum pays for premium economy Air New Zealand. I was thinking of upgrading. Not rich but a little money saved away

Treat the credit card like you would a debit card or cash and you'd be fine.

 

[mhartman09]

Treat the credit card like you would a debit card or cash and you'd be fine.

Exactly this!! We use our cards to pay for things we would have paid cash (or used debit card) for in order to gain the rewards. I don't thinkof my credit lines as extra money in any way. To me it's just a different way to pay for the same things I was buying before and I get to reap the benefits of the card rewards so it's a win, win. Of course if someone isn't responsible with their cards it can lead to debt. For me it's about using them responsibly. If you are constantly paying interest on balances on cards, then it negates the rewards quickly.

 

[mitchwebb]

I also love the yearly Free nights with the Hotel Credit cards. They help to level out the yearly charge the credit cards have you pay. My IHG is $49 a year and my favorite. I'm using it for Intercontinental Monterery this weekend to go catch some of the AT&T Pebble Beach golf. Room was over $500 and I used my free night.

 

[mhartman09]

Now that DH has his CSR and will be getting the 100K bonus, I convinced him to do a Disney trip in late May/early June this year. We are also planning to go again next year, possibly for our son's Spring Break. Planning to book resorts for both trips using UR points. I know I can't redeem any points for park tickets, so I definitely want to try to maximize my savings and return on those.

I've read all over that tickets directly from Disney do not code as travel on most (if not all) cards, so I'm not sure which route we should go. I've also been checking into the benefits of annual passes, since we are planning to do 2 trips within 12 months of each other. Currently we can get 7 day park hopper tickets from UT for $1236.00 for the three of us. Three annual passes would be about $2,670.00. If I estimate tickets for our next trip to also be 7 day park hoppers at about the same $1236.00, even though I know the prices will increase by then, the estimated total for tickets for both trips would be $2,472.00. This is obviously cheaper than the annual passes by about $198.00, but I love memory maker and it's my understanding this is included with the annual passes, plus there are other benefits like the dining discounts which would close that price difference quickly. What would you pros do in this case? I'm thinking we should just go for the annual passes, but wanted to get your insight before pulling the trigger.

As far as paying for annual passes or tickets, are there any cards that would be better for this than others? I have the CSR and several cash back cards (Discover IT, Citi Double Cash, BofA Cash Rewards). DH has his CSR, which we are currently working on meeting minimum spend on, and Discover IT. I'm not sure which route I should take to maximize savings/return on this purchase. My first thought is to just use DH's CSR to help with minimum spend, but wanted insight from y'all before just going that route.

 

[Albort]

[QUOTE="mhartman09, post: 57102678, member: 562349"As far as paying for annual passes or tickets, are there any cards that would be better for this than others? I have the CSR and several cash back cards (Discover IT, Citi Double Cash, BofA Cash Rewards). DH has his CSR, which we are currently working on meeting minimum spend on, and Discover IT. I'm not sure which route I should take to maximize savings/return on this purchase. My first thought is to just use DH's CSR to help with minimum spend, but wanted insight from y'all before just going that route.[/QUOTE]

only thing i can think of is using your discover it to buy Disney Gift Cards @ Sams Club, or Target red bird card. 5x return.
or a regular 2% cash back return card(fidelity, double cash). 1.5x if you have a Freedom Unlimited.(i prefer earning UR pts than cash back).

as for AP, your going to Disneyland right? Another factor with 7 day park hopper is magic hours. Might be worth considering over dining discounts. maybe one person get AP only to get discounts? but then that person would get to sleep in... lol.