I love credit cards so much!

[Albort]

Well if you can get the Marriott card with 100k bonus (supposedly expired but read up thread about links still working) I would consider that as you can link Marriott & SPG now & transfer points. Otherwise I'd go for Chase Sapphire Reserve or Sapphire Preferred.
ETA: You can use points earned from Sapphire cards to book Disney hotels, other hotels or airfare.

to add to this, spg transfers to AA.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Thank you so much! I had already linked my accounts, and lo and behold, when I just logged in to my Marriott account, it is showing me as Gold Elite status. Mystery solved

Ha ha. Replied at the same time I see you found it

 

[Alexle2007]

If DH applies for Marriott, I can add DS10 as an authorized user for the bonus points, correct? I don't want to add myself and have it count as one of my 5.

 

[Albort]

If DH applies for Marriott, I can add DS10 as an authorized user for the bonus points, correct? I don't want to add myself and have it count as one of my 5.

yes, u can add your dog too. they dont care. :]

 

[CyndiLouWho]

2 questions

I am currently working on 100k bonus from Marriott card. Originally signed up under 80k bonus, but it went to 100k two weeks later & when I contacted Chase, they said to let them know when I reached the 5k spend. I reached the original spend & 80k points credited, a few hundred from the 5k. Can I spend the 80k points or should I wait until they credit the other 20k?

Also, I vaguely recall someone mentioning SPG book 4 nights get 5th free or something like that. Anyone know details?

 

[Albort]

2 questions

I am currently working on 100k bonus from Marriott card. Originally signed up under 80k bonus, but it went to 100k two weeks later & when I contacted Chase, they said to let them know when I reached the 5k spend. I reached the original spend & 80k points credited, a few hundred from the 5k. Can I spend the 80k points or should I wait until they credit the other 20k?

Also, I vaguely recall someone mentioning SPG book 4 nights get 5th free or something like that. Anyone know details?

yes, u will get your 80k, then an adjustment of 20k.( at least thats what they did when i got them to match with ink+ and CSP)

 

[Albort]

Also, I vaguely recall someone mentioning SPG book 4 nights get 5th free or something like that. Anyone know details?

previous link didnt work...
but i found this... http://www.starwoodhotels.com/preferredguest/account/starpoints/redeem/rooms.html?language=en_US

High five: Redeem Starpoints® for five Free Night Awards -- we'll pick up the last night. And that's at any of our Category 3-7 hotels.

 

[belle1986]

Ok so is there time period I need to wait between getting new cards? I got the other two end of March. Those were the first I've applied for since my Disney visa in 2014. The Marriott looks like the obvious next choice.

 

[Albort]

Ok so is there time period I need to wait between getting new cards? I got the other two end of March. Those were the first I've applied for since my Disney visa in 2014. The Marriott looks like the obvious next choice.

depends on issuer. chase is 2/30, citi i think is 2/65 not sure about amex. just dont apply like crazy though, some people have been shut down for "Too many inquiries"

 

[belle1986]

depends on issuer. chase is 2/30, citi i think is 2/65 not sure about amex. just dont apply like crazy though, some people have been shut down for "Too many inquiries"

Ok. I should be good then.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

previous link didnt work...
but i found this... http://www.starwoodhotels.com/preferredguest/account/starpoints/redeem/rooms.html?language=en_US

High five: Redeem Starpoints® for five Free Night Awards -- we'll pick up the last night. And that's at any of our Category 3-7 hotels.

That's it. Thanks! Unfortunately one of the 5 days I want to book at Swan or Dolphin has no availability at either resort.

 

[calypso726]

How and how often does everyone check their credit score? I'm not a big-time player in this, but I have never really checked our scores.

I check every few months and it fluctuates. It drops a little after a new round of applications and then picks right back up again. I hover between 800 - 830 across all 3 bureaus and apply for about 5 or more cards per year.

Hi, I'm new to all this but have been reading along and so far my goals are to fly to WDW as often as possible lol. American Airlines is the carrier from my airport so I have the American Airlines Aadvantage Platinum Select Citi MasterCard and the SPG American Express card. I just met the spend on these to get the sign on bonuses so now I'm wondering what card to go for next?

I'd get the Chase Sapphire Reserve and Chase Sapphire Preferred if you are still under 5 new credit cards over the last 24 months. Then after a year downgrade one of those to the Chase Freedom. You can transfer UR points to British Airways and they are One World partner with AA. The BA Avios are distance based and even if the transfer doesn't pan out for you the UR points can be used to purchase travel with a 1.5 value through the CSR account portal.

 

[kmc8826]

I did NOT have a great morning. On the way into work I got an email from Chase that on my husbands account of notification of address change. About 20 minutes after that; still in car just had dropped off my girls to school, got fraud notification from Chase for a $876 on my husband's Reserve to Virgin Mobile. Do what I need to when first into work and then start dealing with it. For what it is worth a couple thoughts to all my fellow travel/card hackers.

• If you are signing up your spouse for cards with their permission just be aware that if there is a breach they are the ones who will ultimately have to deal with it. I tried but they could only talk to him or have him present to give me permission. (Which didn't work since he was at work too). He spent over an hour on the phone with chase. Basically someone got his social security number, birth date, and complete Reserve number. They had changed our address across both business and personal. He has been pretty sweet about it but judging from the texts I was getting while he was on the phone it was not an easy process.
• Request a free credit report from: https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action. Out of paranoia I requested and went through all 3 today.
• Be aware that authorized users do show up on the reports. I had a Barclaycard years ago and it is on his report. Discover is on there too; and he was always just an AU on that. Just something to think about.
• Check your credit score on one of your cards, but be aware that does not cover everything.

Sorry to be a downer because I do love this hobby, but this today has not been too fun.

 

[calypso726]

I did NOT have a great morning. On the way into work I got an email from Chase that on my husbands account of notification of address change. About 20 minutes after that; still in car just had dropped off my girls to school, got fraud notification from Chase for a $876 on my husband's Reserve to Virgin Mobile. Do what I need to when first into work and then start dealing with it. For what it is worth a couple thoughts to all my fellow travel/card hackers.

• If you are signing up your spouse for cards with their permission just be aware that if there is a breach they are the ones who will ultimately have to deal with it. I tried but they could only talk to him or have him present to give me permission. (Which didn't work since he was at work too). He spent over an hour on the phone with chase. Basically someone got his social security number, birth date, and complete Reserve number. They had changed our address across both business and personal. He has been pretty sweet about it but judging from the texts I was getting while he was on the phone it was not an easy process.
• Request a free credit report from: https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action. Out of paranoia I requested and went through all 3 today.
• Be aware that authorized users do show up on the reports. I had a Barclaycard years ago and it is on his report. Discover is on there too; and he was always just an AU on that. Just something to think about.
• Check your credit score on one of your cards, but be aware that does not cover everything.

Sorry to be a downer because I do love this hobby, but this today has not been too fun.

I hope your day gets better I'm sorry to hear you and DH had such a rough morning. Thanks for sharing your experience so others can be aware in case something happens. Unfortunately becoming a victim of identity theft and credit card fraud can happen to anyone at anytime. I don't think those in this hobby are any more at risk than anyone else who has a credit card or debit card. It's happened to most people I know at one point or another. It happened to me years ago before I ever discovered this hobby and once again just last year.

The advice of getting your credit report from all 3 bureaus once a year and checking it thoroughly is definitely a best practice. Another is to check the online accounts of all of your credit cards regularly. I check mine on a weekly basis. That was how I discovered some fraudulent charges on my Citi AA card. I saw 3 charges for various hotels in Texas. I called up Citi and let them know it wasn't me since I'd been home in Florida. They reversed the charges, cancelled the card and issued me a new one.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

I did NOT have a great morning. On the way into work I got an email from Chase that on my husbands account of notification of address change. About 20 minutes after that; still in car just had dropped off my girls to school, got fraud notification from Chase for a $876 on my husband's Reserve to Virgin Mobile. Do what I need to when first into work and then start dealing with it. For what it is worth a couple thoughts to all my fellow travel/card hackers.

• If you are signing up your spouse for cards with their permission just be aware that if there is a breach they are the ones who will ultimately have to deal with it. I tried but they could only talk to him or have him present to give me permission. (Which didn't work since he was at work too). He spent over an hour on the phone with chase. Basically someone got his social security number, birth date, and complete Reserve number. They had changed our address across both business and personal. He has been pretty sweet about it but judging from the texts I was getting while he was on the phone it was not an easy process.
• Request a free credit report from: https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action. Out of paranoia I requested and went through all 3 today.
• Be aware that authorized users do show up on the reports. I had a Barclaycard years ago and it is on his report. Discover is on there too; and he was always just an AU on that. Just something to think about.
• Check your credit score on one of your cards, but be aware that does not cover everything.

Sorry to be a downer because I do love this hobby, but this today has not been too fun.

Ugh. Sorry for you and your DH. Even before I had multiple CCs my Discover card was hacked. Twice. I have alerts on my cards for purchases over $500 because most of the time I am not spending that much. I also try to check my accounts frequently because they usually try to start with a couple small purchases before making big purchases.

What happened to you also happened to my BILs sister. She and her DH have ONE CC. It was hacked, addresses changed, the works. Apparently it took months to straighten out because the CC company didn't cancel the cards but tried to change settings & passwords. The person hacking must have called in and changed the address & contacts agin because it continued. She finally insisted on new account numbers. She uses this as proof you should not have multiple CCs.

 

[kmc8826]

I hope your day gets better I'm sorry to hear you and DH had such a rough morning. Thanks for sharing your experience so others can be aware in case something happens. Unfortunately becoming a victim of identity theft and credit card fraud can happen to anyone at anytime. I don't think those in this hobby are any more at risk than anyone else who has a credit card or debit card. It's happened to most people I know at one point or another. It happened to me years ago before I ever discovered this hobby and once again just last year.

Thanks Calypso. I agree that it happens across the board to everyone. We have had false charges before and had them taken care of (that is why using credit cards for everything is actually better then check or debit). Finding out though they also had his information was scary. I don't like that they were able to change our home address on the account, but am glad that chase was on top of it.

 

[calypso726]

She and her DH have ONE CC. It was hacked, addresses changed, the works. Apparently it took months to straighten out because the CC company didn't cancel the cards but tried to change settings & passwords. The person hacking must have called in and changed the address & contacts agin because it continued. She finally insisted on new account numbers. She uses this as proof you should not have multiple CCs.

I am sorry that happened to them. I'm not laughing at their misfortune at all. The statement in bold made me LOL because if that is the expected headache one must endure for having a single credit card then DH and I would have the mother of all migraines since we each have about 30 cards. The thought of an exponential headache with each card I apply for is cracking me up.

 

[AmyAnne]

http://www.marriott.com/marriott-rewards/connect-my-accounts.mi

Grab your status
Link your accounts and get your status matched, instantly. Then enjoy the benefits you've come to expect in not just one program but two.

looks like it does.

So here's a question from a total beginner on hotel statuses: To get the status benefits of the AmEx Platinum, do I link the credit card to my hotel rewards account or link the hotel rewards account to my credit card? In other, words, where do I start -- on the AmEx site or the hotel rewards website?

 

[elfof2moons]

You already have the Discover card so you can use the quarterly 5% bonus options to buy Disney cards, another option would be the Chase Freedom (no AF) which operates similar to Discover with rotating 5% categories that you could also use for buying Disney cards.

I just looked at my Discover account and apparently I have a 2% bonus on gas and restaurants. When I tried to see about the 5% bonus it said my account was not eligible for activation of the 5% bonus. Any thoughts? I will have to contact them about it on my next off day.

 

[afan]

I did NOT have a great morning. On the way into work I got an email from Chase that on my husbands account of notification of address change. About 20 minutes after that; still in car just had dropped off my girls to school, got fraud notification from Chase for a $876 on my husband's Reserve to Virgin Mobile. Do what I need to when first into work and then start dealing with it. For what it is worth a couple thoughts to all my fellow travel/card hackers.

• If you are signing up your spouse for cards with their permission just be aware that if there is a breach they are the ones who will ultimately have to deal with it. I tried but they could only talk to him or have him present to give me permission. (Which didn't work since he was at work too). He spent over an hour on the phone with chase. Basically someone got his social security number, birth date, and complete Reserve number. They had changed our address across both business and personal. He has been pretty sweet about it but judging from the texts I was getting while he was on the phone it was not an easy process.
• Request a free credit report from: https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action. Out of paranoia I requested and went through all 3 today.
• Be aware that authorized users do show up on the reports. I had a Barclaycard years ago and it is on his report. Discover is on there too; and he was always just an AU on that. Just something to think about.
• Check your credit score on one of your cards, but be aware that does not cover everything.

Sorry to be a downer because I do love this hobby, but this today has not been too fun.

That is a bad way to start the day. Thank you for the link, I haven't looked at mine for a few years and was able to get 2 of the 3. One didn't like the answers but I didn't like their questions and I answered correctly. Two were right though.

I also checked my fico on Discover and signed up for the Chase Journey. My scores have gone up since I opened the hyatt card last month, which is nice and what I figured would happen. The Chase thing was interesting but I didn't need it to add all my debt together, I know the mortgage and student loans amounts but I never think of them as a combined total, scary. But the credit report was nice for those to see how much they have actually gone down over the past few years.