I love credit cards so much!

[calypso726]

I totally missed this! Thank you for pointing it out. I have the Business Platinum so for now it looks like the annual fee will stay at "only" $450.

I'm sure the $200 Uber credit is very appealing to some people, although I have never even thought about using Uber.

I heard it can be used for Uber eats too.

 

[Ngwira]

Just booked our flight to the Canadian Rockies, 2 adults plus 2 children, direct flight from Newark to Calgary for 50,000 aeroplan miles (Air Canada) plus $223 in taxes.
Miles were transferred from the bonus I got from my Amex platinum. Thank you to everyone who helped me with my first award redemption. We're spending Easter/Spring break 2018 at the Chateau Lake Louise for free thanks to Chase and the flights paid for by Amex (except for taxes).

 

[Lain]

Need to make sure I'm not missing anything. DH and I just started this churning last week. He has just received his INK business Preferred and has met MS and shoukd be getting his CSR in the mail any day. I should be getting my CSP any day as well. Now, I have to buy around $1000 in Disney gift cards for a trip later this month. We do not need this charge to meet MS on the CSR and CSP so my plan is to just buy the gift cards at a grocery store with my Amex for the 6% cash back. I just want to make sure I'm not missing a better deal with the new Chase cards.

Have you looked into funding a Disney Vacation Account with $1000 charged to the CSR? DVA codes as "travel," qualifies for the CSR's $300 travel credit and 3x points for travel. If you have a DVA that's been open longer than 120 days, you also get a $20 Disney gift card for every $1000 spent. If not, see if you can at least fund a DVA with $300 from the CSR and apply that to your upcoming trip, using the statement credit to "erase" that amount from your trip.

ETA: Of course, there are other uses for the $300 travel credit. The category is very broad. So if you don't use it towards Disney, you can use the credit to cover a number of direct and incidental costs of your upcoming trip (e.g., ground transportation, hotel, airfare, airline fees, etc.).

 

[eeyoresmom]

MS usually refers to manufactured spending but looking at this in context I am guessing you mean minimum spend. Correct me if I'm wrong. If not, then my question would be do you have a Freedom card? If so, groceries are 5x UR points this quarter. Given a choice between 6% cash back and 5% UR points, I would go for the UR. However, I also tend to value variable miles higher than cash back due to the way I redeem. If you value your UR points the same as a cash back point and you don't need the gift cards to make the required bonus spend, then definitely go for the 6% cash back.

I did think MS meant minimum spend! Thank you.

 

[eeyoresmom]

Have you looked into funding a Disney Vacation Account with $1000 charged to the CSR? DVA codes as "travel," qualifies for the CSR's $300 travel credit and 3x points for travel. If you have a DVA that's been open longer than 120 days, you also get a $20 Disney gift card for every $1000 spent. If not, see if you can at least fund a DVA with $300 from the CSR and apply that to your upcoming trip, using the statement credit to "erase" that amount from your trip.

ETA: Of course, there are other uses for the $300 travel credit. The category is very broad. So if you don't use it towards Disney, you can use the credit to cover a number of direct and incidental costs of your upcoming trip (e.g., ground transportation, hotel, airfare, airline fees, etc.).

Hmmm, see, so glad I asked. The only other charges we will make for this trip is food.Does anyone know if Disney restaurants ( we'll be doing mostly counter service since we did a trip with deluxe dining in March and are still full), codes as travel or dining? May I ask, because its late and my brain hurts and I don't fully understand the $300 credit what you would do?? Amex for 6% cash or CSR?

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Hmmm, see, so glad I asked. The only other charges we will make for this trip is food.Does anyone know if Disney restaurants ( we'll be doing mostly counter service since we did a trip with deluxe dining in March and are still full), codes as travel or dining? May I ask, because its late and my brain hurts and I don't fully understand the $300 credit what you would do?? Amex for 6% cash or CSR?

I would personally do the CSR to fund a DVA, if it was being applied to a reservation and you have had the DVA open more than 120 days. If you need the money in the parks, then it doesn't make sense. You get 3x points from CSR and another 1.5x if redeemed for travel, making it 4.5%. The DVA gives you another 2% bonus bringing it up to 6.5% plus the flexibility of the variable points.

If you have the Freedom card, then I would use that at a grocery store for 5% plus the 1.5x redeemed for travel, making it 7.5% and then deposit it into a DVA for another 2%, making it 9.5% savings.

 

[calypso726]

Hmmm, see, so glad I asked. The only other charges we will make for this trip is food.Does anyone know if Disney restaurants ( we'll be doing mostly counter service since we did a trip with deluxe dining in March and are still full), codes as travel or dining? May I ask, because its late and my brain hurts and I don't fully understand the $300 credit what you would do?? Amex for 6% cash or CSR?

If you are staying on property and use your CSR for room charges connected to your magic band then you will get 3x. The magic band charged to the room will code as hotel for travel. This way all your souvenirs, dining etc. will get 3x coded as travel and trigger your $300 credit. This is what we do now to make sure we get 3x at WDW.

 

[Alice Sr.]

I was in a hurry for my points to post earlier this year. Had 2 cards ( 1 biz, 1 personal) with 2 different experiences. I hit the business spend just a day or two before the statement period ended. Paid the bill on the day it closed. The bonus points did not post until about 5 days after the following cycle ended. On the personal card, I hit the spend prior to the closing date and went ahead and paid the bill. The bonus points hit shortly thereafter.
I would go ahead and pay the bill. Don't wait for it to close. Hopefully the points will hit your account before you need them.
On opening day, the fares might be the best they will be....and they might not. I would get an estimate of how many of the tickets you think you can cover with the points and hold off on paying cash for those!

Thank you! Thank you! This is exactly the kind of info I was hoping to get. I will go ahead and get the GC's tomorrow and pay the balance off as soon as they post. I would prefer to have the points available to book as soon as the window opens. Unless the prices are really out of line I will go ahead and book, I can always ask for a credit if the price goes down.

 

[AmyAnne]

Hmmm, see, so glad I asked. The only other charges we will make for this trip is food.Does anyone know if Disney restaurants ( we'll be doing mostly counter service since we did a trip with deluxe dining in March and are still full), codes as travel or dining? May I ask, because its late and my brain hurts and I don't fully understand the $300 credit what you would do?? Amex for 6% cash or CSR?

In addition to what others have said, I would think that whether you use the CSR or AmEx depends upon what your other spending is. The $300 travel credit from CSR can be used for lots of things, so I doubt that you would have a problem "spending" that on other things besides WDW, but I could be wrong. If you don't have $300 worth of other travel spending, then it seems that you should use the CSR. Similarly, if I recall correctly, the 6% back on groceries is only up to a certain annual amount. If you're going to spend that amount on groceries in a year, then maybe you should use a different card (like the Freedom, which I think is 5% back on groceries this quarter). If you're not going to max out the 6% limit on groceries, then it seems to make more sense to use the AmEx.

ETA: I just realized that you listed the options as Ink, CSP, and CSR, so never mind what I said about the Freedom. I'm not sure what the benefits are for the new Ink card, but you can always get Disney gift cards at Office Depot, which codes as office supplies.

 

[codylamb18]

If you are staying on property and use your CSR for room charges connected to your magic band then you will get 3x. The magic band charged to the room will code as hotel for travel. This way all your souvenirs, dining etc. will get 3x coded as travel and trigger your $300 credit. This is what we do now to make sure we get 3x at WDW.

Hmmm didn't know room charges code as travel (duh) so I could use my Sam's Club MasterCard and get 3% back! Score!

 

[eeyoresmom]

I would personally do the CSR to fund a DVA, if it was being applied to a reservation and you have had the DVA open more than 120 days. If you need the money in the parks, then it doesn't make sense. You get 3x points from CSR and another 1.5x if redeemed for travel, making it 4.5%. The DVA gives you another 2% bonus bringing it up to 6.5% plus the flexibility of the variable points.

If you have the Freedom card, then I would use that at a grocery store for 5% plus the 1.5x redeemed for travel, making it 7.5% and then deposit it into a DVA for another 2%, making it 9.5% savings.

Thank you but I don't have a DVA or a Freedom. Current cards between DH and I are Amex, Disney Visa, Ink, CSR and CSP.

 

[eeyoresmom]

If you are staying on property and use your CSR for room charges connected to your magic band then you will get 3x. The magic band charged to the room will code as hotel for travel. This way all your souvenirs, dining etc. will get 3x coded as travel and trigger your $300 credit. This is what we do now to make sure we get 3x at WDW.

Ok, so by using the CSR I am essentially getting 3% back ( but worth 4.5% when redeemed through UR for travel) or I can get 6% cash back by using my Amex to buy gift cards. I don't have an open DVA so no extra 2% there. Is the 4.5% in UR more valuable somehow than 6% cash? I'm starting to see how the cc companies are still making money with these promotions. It's a lot of thinking!

 

[wendow]

@BruinEd03 Thank you for the math! I am pretty convinced based on your numbers that maybe I should keep my CSR rather than the CSP.

And thanks to all who chimed in and gave advice on where to go next. I am liking the Marriott for both myself (currently 4/24) and dh (once he is under 5/24) followed by Ink using my eBay 'business'. Question about that business though, is there a certain amount I need to actually be making to justify it to Chase? Some years I sell a lot and I've made a couple thousand. Other years...like this year...life is way too busy to sell much and I am not making money there.

 

[wendow]

Speaking of dh & I both getting Marriott cards, I thought I would share my 'horror' story with you all that still haunts me as I have gotten into this cc travel hacking thing. So, 4 years ago, we decided to sell the house we had lived in for 12 years and either buy another in the same area we lived in b/c we needed more space OR maybe move back to TX where we are from. Our house sold super fast and we weren't sure what we wanted to do so we decided to move into an extended stay hotel while dh applied for jobs in TX and we tried to decide. We ended up in a Marriott Town Place. When I went to look at it before we moved, the manager suggested I open the Marriott CC. It had a 70k signup bonus plus she was impressing upon me how many points we could earn since we would be there for awhile. I politely declined not having a clue what I was turning down. We lived there for 3 1/2 mos. I have no idea how many points we would have racked up but the thought of what could have been makes me want to cry. I was so, so dumb about stuff like this. I guess most people are but I hope I never am again.

 

[Albort]

Speaking of dh & I both getting Marriott cards, I thought I would share my 'horror' story with you all that still haunts me as I have gotten into this cc travel hacking thing. So, 4 years ago, we decided to sell the house we had lived in for 12 years and either buy another in the same area we lived in b/c we needed more space OR maybe move back to TX where we are from. Our house sold super fast and we weren't sure what we wanted to do so we decided to move into an extended stay hotel while dh applied for jobs in TX and we tried to decide. We ended up in a Marriott Town Place. When I went to look at it before we moved, the manager suggested I open the Marriott CC. It had a 70k signup bonus plus she was impressing upon me how many points we could earn since we would be there for awhile. I politely declined not having a clue what I was turning down. We lived there for 3 1/2 mos. I have no idea how many points we would have racked up but the thought of what could have been makes me want to cry. I was so, so dumb about stuff like this. I guess most people are but I hope I never am again.

u win some, u lose some. you just have to move forward... I remember redeeming my freedom points a few times... i probably redeemed $600 total... man if i would have saved them, id probably be up 120k!

 

[wendow]

u win some, u lose some. you just have to move forward... I remember redeeming my freedom points a few times... i probably redeemed $600 total... man if i would have saved them, id probably be up 120k!

Oh don't get me started on that lol!! We have had a Freedom card since 2007 that has been our main card for much of those years. We *always* redeemed for cash until about 6 mos ago :thud: I am sure I have redeemed thousands...

 

[calypso726]

Thank you but I don't have a DVA or a Freedom. Current cards between DH and I are Amex, Disney Visa, Ink, CSR and CSP.

If your trip is is 120 days or more away, or if you plan on going to WDW again sometime down the line, I'd suggest opening a Disney Vacation Account. Getting a $20 Disney gift card back for every $1,000 I was going to spend anyhow is a very nice perk for us. The fact that CSR codes as travel on it is even better.

Ok, so by using the CSR I am essentially getting 3% back ( but worth 4.5% when redeemed through UR for travel) or I can get 6% cash back by using my Amex to buy gift cards. I don't have an open DVA so no extra 2% there. Is the 4.5% in UR more valuable somehow than 6% cash? I'm starting to see how the cc companies are still making money with these promotions. It's a lot of thinking!

Totally depends on how you value your points and what you might need them for. If you are using them as straight cash back, then no. If you are using them to transfer to airline miles then maybe. 50,000 UR points redeemed for a travel purchase with points is worth $750. I believe (correct me if I'm wrong) that 50,000 Amex Blue cash points is worth $500. For me, 50,000 UR points is usually worth anywhere between $1,000 - $8,000 since I will transfer them to an airline frequent flyer program and book airfare in first class.

Speaking of dh & I both getting Marriott cards, I thought I would share my 'horror' story with you all that still haunts me as I have gotten into this cc travel hacking thing. So, 4 years ago, we decided to sell the house we had lived in for 12 years and either buy another in the same area we lived in b/c we needed more space OR maybe move back to TX where we are from. Our house sold super fast and we weren't sure what we wanted to do so we decided to move into an extended stay hotel while dh applied for jobs in TX and we tried to decide. We ended up in a Marriott Town Place. When I went to look at it before we moved, the manager suggested I open the Marriott CC. It had a 70k signup bonus plus she was impressing upon me how many points we could earn since we would be there for awhile. I politely declined not having a clue what I was turning down. We lived there for 3 1/2 mos. I have no idea how many points we would have racked up but the thought of what could have been makes me want to cry. I was so, so dumb about stuff like this. I guess most people are but I hope I never am again.

Hindsight is always 20/20. Just keep swimming ...

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Thank you but I don't have a DVA or a Freedom. Current cards between DH and I are Amex, Disney Visa, Ink, CSR and CSP.

Do you have the Ink Preferred or the Ink Cash? If you have the Ink Cash, you can buy Disney gift cards from Staples or Office Max for 5x UR points and then transfer it to the CSR for a total of 7.5%. If you have the other Ink card, you don't get that bonus. In that case, I would go for the 6% with the Amex card. I like cash as it can be used and leveraged for deals that can't be paid for with points. Others may always opt for UR points though.

 

[eeyoresmom]

Do you have the Ink Preferred or the Ink Cash? If you have the Ink Cash, you can buy Disney gift cards from Staples or Office Max for 5x UR points and then transfer it to the CSR for a total of 7.5%. If you have the other Ink card, you don't get that bonus. In that case, I would go for the 6% with the Amex card. I like cash as it can be used and leveraged for deals that can't be paid for with points. Others may always opt for UR points though.

Thank you. It's the Ink Preferred. I may go with the Amex and cash back here but open a DVA since we go to WDW a few times per year.

 

[eeyoresmom]

@calypso726 , thank you. How does transferring to a FF program increase the points value? Is there a downside to doing this?