I love credit cards so much!

[Lain]

So, if I did try for the Chase Marriott Business I would need to wait until I am 0/30 with Chase, which would be the middle of August. Or I just wait on Chase Cards until December when one of the cards drop off and get a card with UR points. I just hate to waste having organic spending like this. Any other business cards that are not Chase that anyone can recommend that would work but not count in the 5/25 for Chase. (As I read it all Chase cards will count in the 5/25 even if they are business). But the SPG Business card would not affect that at all correct?

Some links that should answer your questions:

http://www.doctorofcredit.com/chase-524-rule-explained-detail-need-know/

http://www.doctorofcredit.com/which-business-credit-cards-report/ ("Amex does not report to the personal bureaus" and "Chase does not report business cards to the personal bureaus")

 

[King of Naboombu]

Newbie here with a question. I have only ever used points for cashback or statement credits before, but now I am trying to make better use of my points and looking at using CSP for travel redemption.

When booking hotels through UR portal is there a lot of fluctuation in the rates? I am looking to book Swan for 4 nights in early Nov. Last week it was around 19k/night and now it is over 24k/night. My issue is that this is a non-refundable rate so I was going to wait until closer to the trip. I have read travel blogs that say it is best to book around 60 days out for best rates. Anyone have pointers or experiences to share regarding when to book or using points on non-refundable rates?

 

[peel]

(As I read it all Chase cards will count in the 5/25 even if they are business).

From the link @Lain shared:
"Keep in mind that even though Chase business cards do not normally report, they will still be counted as Chase has this information internally."
"Update: It seems like Chase business cards aren’t count."

I'm looking for recent DPs of whether this is still the case.

 

[amalone1013]

That's awesome. I fund about $4-5,000 per year into a 529 account for the kids. Currently it's just a automatic transfer from our bank. It'd be great if I can get UR points for this. I'd rather not pay a fee for it, but it might be worth it if it generates enough points per dollar.

EDIT: I wonder if there is any way to pay off some of my student loan this way? I have a 2.2% interest rate so I'm not terribly inclined to pay that off too early, but points might change that thought.

If you look on their website, they have a list of loan providers they work with. I've been reading up on it... We're down to just over $7k in student loans, but I was thinking about using them for min spends. I haven't tried yet though.

 

[gottalovepluto]

The magic words that worked for me were, "I'm not responsible for the charges on the card."

Yes! That's also a key phrase to remember as I have also seen others say that as well. (My trouble came with the follow-up "do you ever use the card?" where I stumbled and said sometimes, I tried to circle back to "I'm not responsible for the card" but she was having none of it at that point.)

 

[calypso726]

Adding to the list of #firstworldproblems and #whatwouldyoudo:

So DH got an offer from American Airlines. The offer is to take a 6 day 5 night trip to Maui, stay at the Westin Ka'anapali, car rental for the duration and 5,000 AA miles for $649 total. We'd have to respond by the end of the month and then have one year to go and use it. In return, we sit through a 90 minute - 2 hour timeshare presentation. We've never been to Maui, we can swing the fee and we can fit it into the vacation schedule next year ... barely. My problem is that I can't find ANY saver awards available for a flight with lie flat seats on any bloody airline for the month we'd be able to go. I'm toying with the idea of booking a refundable fare and then waiting to see if saver awards get released. I'd hate to get stuck with a high fee refundable fare. We could just blow it off and not take the offer, but YOLO, you know. I'm not sure how booking in economy and upgrading with miles works since I've never done that but I am willing to look into it. I'm just wondering if there is anything I'm missing or should look into. So if anyone has ideas or suggestions, I'd appreciate it. Thanks!

 

[platamama]

That's awesome. I fund about $4-5,000 per year into a 529 account for the kids. Currently it's just a automatic transfer from our bank. It'd be great if I can get UR points for this. I'd rather not pay a fee for it, but it might be worth it if it generates enough points per dollar.

EDIT: I wonder if there is any way to pay off some of my student loan this way? I have a 2.2% interest rate so I'm not terribly inclined to pay that off too early, but points might change that thought.

I was thinking in terms of meeting min spend it is a decent option, but even as a regular way to fund a 529 it could make sense.

If you just get 1x UR then I wouldn't think it makes much sense. If you have FU and get 1.5x then it's a small net positive (or bigger depending on how you use your points) or you could transfer those points to CSR to amplify those points to yield 2.25x thru UR portal. FM posted that GoC cards are being rolled out at other stores regionally where you could potentially get bonus category spending, e.g. HEB, which is really sweet. Alas, no luck in my state.

The GoC website indicates that any state tax deduction that you get with your 529 contributions remains the same, so that's definitely a plus.

I believe you can pay off your student loan this way too, as Amalone says.

 

[havaneselover]

That's awesome. I fund about $4-5,000 per year into a 529 account for the kids. Currently it's just a automatic transfer from our bank. It'd be great if I can get UR points for this. I'd rather not pay a fee for it, but it might be worth it if it generates enough points per dollar.

EDIT: I wonder if there is any way to pay off some of my student loan this way? I have a 2.2% interest rate so I'm not terribly inclined to pay that off too early, but points might change that thought.

I've read there is but don't know for sure. I put $500/month into my kids' 529s. This will hopefully help me earn my CSP sign on bonus this Fall.

 

[peel]

Adding to the list of #firstworldproblems and #whatwouldyoudo:

So DH got an offer from American Airlines. The offer is to take a 6 day 5 night trip to Maui, stay at the Westin Ka'anapali, car rental for the duration and 5,000 AA miles for $649 total. We'd have to respond by the end of the month and then have one year to go and use it. In return, we sit through a 90 minute - 2 hour timeshare presentation. We've never been to Maui, we can swing the fee and we can fit it into the vacation schedule next year ... barely. My problem is that I can't find ANY saver awards available for a flight with lie flat seats on any bloody airline for the month we'd be able to go. I'm toying with the idea of booking a refundable fare and then waiting to see if saver awards get released. I'd hate to get stuck with a high fee refundable fare. We could just blow it off and not take the offer, but YOLO, you know. I'm not sure how booking in economy and upgrading with miles works since I've never done that but I am willing to look into it. I'm just wondering if there is anything I'm missing or should look into. So if anyone has ideas or suggestions, I'd appreciate it. Thanks!

I don't have any advice except GO FOR IT! First world churning problems, indeed!

 

[AmyAnne]

I was thinking in terms of meeting min spend it is a decent option, but even as a regular way to fund a 529 it could make sense.

If you just get 1x UR then I wouldn't think it makes much sense. If you have FU and get 1.5x then it's a small net positive (or bigger depending on how you use your points) or you could transfer those points to CSR to amplify those points to yield 2.25x thru UR portal. FM posted that GoC cards are being rolled out at other stores regionally where you could potentially get bonus category spending, e.g. HEB, which is really sweet. Alas, no luck in my state.

The GoC website indicates that any state tax deduction that you get with your 529 contributions remains the same, so that's definitely a plus.

I believe you can pay off your student loan this way too, as Amalone says.

Holy cow. It looks like this could be an excellent way to pay off student loans.

 

[Ava]

your math is correct if your want to see the redemption from chase portal. 2 things come to mind though. Because the AU is free on the CSP, your earning potential might be higher if you have a ton of AU. CSR AU cost an additional $75. 2nd thing is your assuming your using the portal. Ive never actually done that, but if you are spending your points on the portal, then it works for you. haha.

edit: one thing that should be mentioned is that CSP = 1 year waived AF while CSR is not. So might be hard to judge it.

As for transfer points to partners, you can see how much cpp by take the value of the room with cash and dividing it with the number of points requires... So like a $250 room that is going for 30,000 points = .0083 cpp. which isnt worth it. better to redeem cash first!

All good points to think about. My wife is currently an AU on my CSP, but I most likely would not pay the $75 to add her on the CSR. I've already had the CSP for over a year so the waived first year of AF is kind of a wash at this point.

So far I've only used my points to redeem for airfare through the portal, which was just a 1.25 cpp value from the CSP (I didn't have CSR yet at the time), but good to know on checking the cash rate for hotels before using UR points. For hotels I may also transfer UR points to the hotel program depending on the value & # of points needed through the hotel program vs through UR. It's the airline frequent flier programs I don't really understand. It seems to take more work to really understand how to get the best value from those, like searching for Saver Awards, knowing which airlines are part of the same alliances and which program's points to use to get the best value, etc. It may take me a while to work up to that.

 

[Lain]

FM posted that GoC cards are being rolled out at other stores regionally where you could potentially get bonus category spending, e.g. HEB, which is really sweet. Alas, no luck in my state.

Holy cow. It looks like this could be an excellent way to pay off student loans.

I've read GoC cards may expand to BBY. Now, if they're considered GCs, could you buy BBY GCs at a discount when PPDG or Cashstar runs those promos (and earn 3x or 5x UR with Ink), use BBY GCs to buy GoC, and essentially pay down your student loans at a discount or funnel the savings into a 529? I haven't put much stock into it because from everything I've read, GoC seems to be having some issues. DPs report the max eGC amount reduced from $500 down to $300, and physical cards going OOS or possibly being pulled from TRU since you can still load a max $500 on them.

ETA: I've posted this before, but it bears repeating since the subject of student loans has come up again. I've been paying student loans serviced by AES and Mohela using CIP via Plastiq, and they've been coding as 3x, which more than offsets the 2.5% fee.

 

[amalone1013]

Does anyone know if AMEX can see past customer service chats? I messed up and ended up with a returned payment fee (mad at myself!) but figured it was worth a shot to see if they'd waive it... the first person told me they couldn't because it wasn't their error. I wondered if I tried again the next person would see I had just asked.

 

[Lain]

Does anyone know if AMEX can see past customer service chats? I messed up and ended up with a returned payment fee (mad at myself!) but figured it was worth a shot to see if they'd waive it... the first person told me they couldn't because it wasn't their error. I wondered if I tried again the next person would see I had just asked.

Yes, it says on the chat window that conversations are recorded. I had to chat with customer service recently and got disconnected. When I opened a new chat window and got a new rep, he was able to look into my account and found where we left off in the prior chat.

 

[amalone1013]

Yes, it says on the chat window that conversations are recorded. I had to chat with customer service recently and got disconnected. When I opened a new chat window and got a new rep, he was able to look into my account and found where we left off in the prior chat.

Thanks for the reply. It makes sense it'd be easy for them to see.

 

[LYSE]

Thanks for the reply. It makes sense it'd be easy for them to see.

Just because they can see it doesn't mean you can't try again, I would call in this time and ask for them to waive it, and don't only ask for them to waive it, come up with a plan so it wont happen again like say adding another bank account and say you'll setup auto pay from that one instead.

That way your saying "Can you please waive it since it's the first and only time it's going to happen? I've taken steps to avoid this in the future"

 

[jhoannam]

As for transfer points to partners, you can see how much cpp by take the value of the room with cash and dividing it with the number of points requires... So like a $250 room that is going for 30,000 points = .0083 cpp. which isnt worth it. better to redeem cash first!

At what point is it more favorable to redeem points? I'm looking at a hotel. Cash for 4 nights would be $750, points needed 62,374 = .0118

Thanks

 

[Albort]

Newbie here with a question. I have only ever used points for cashback or statement credits before, but now I am trying to make better use of my points and looking at using CSP for travel redemption.

When booking hotels through UR portal is there a lot of fluctuation in the rates? I am looking to book Swan for 4 nights in early Nov. Last week it was around 19k/night and now it is over 24k/night. My issue is that this is a non-refundable rate so I was going to wait until closer to the trip. I have read travel blogs that say it is best to book around 60 days out for best rates. Anyone have pointers or experiences to share regarding when to book or using points on non-refundable rates?

chase portal was wonky the last time i booked. The rates would change constantly... and go back and forth. This is from my experience though. Like i would check out, the room was $109. Then it fails at check out, i try again, this time the room rate is $129. But at that point i was like damn, but i still needed the room, so i check out again, it errors out AGAIN... so i thought 3rd times the charm on getting the $129 rate... well its back down to $109. :\ i did get the room at $109 at the end.

At what point is it more favorable to redeem points? I'm looking at a hotel. Cash for 4 nights would be $750, points needed 62,374 = .0118

Thanks

anything above .01 is usually good... but its up to you to decide if its a good deal(depends on how u value the points). The way i see it is that if you redeem cash, its $.01 per point. So if you can achieve higher than that, your getting your worth for. Anything less than $.01, you might as well redeem it to cash and use that cash to pay for the room/airfare. For your example, if you were to redeem 62,374 points to cash, u get $623.74. your short $126.26... thats covered within the points. probably worth doing!

 

[Lain]

Sad news. It looks like my rent payment with CIP/Plastiq is now coding as only 1x. I guess that gravy train had to end some day.

I'm going to be switching that expense over to my Amex PRG, which has an offer for 6,000 additional MR points each time I spend $3,000, up to 3 times, so that's effectively 3x MR points on my next $9,000 of spend until 9/29. That's around the time I was thinking about applying for the CSP bonus anyway, and I was a little worried how I'd make the minimum spend with so many big expenses tied to the CIP. Problem solved!

 

[Ngwira]

Adding to the list of #firstworldproblems and #whatwouldyoudo:

So DH got an offer from American Airlines. The offer is to take a 6 day 5 night trip to Maui, stay at the Westin Ka'anapali, car rental for the duration and 5,000 AA miles for $649 total. We'd have to respond by the end of the month and then have one year to go and use it. In return, we sit through a 90 minute - 2 hour timeshare presentation. We've never been to Maui, we can swing the fee and we can fit it into the vacation schedule next year ... barely. My problem is that I can't find ANY saver awards available for a flight with lie flat seats on any bloody airline for the month we'd be able to go. I'm toying with the idea of booking a refundable fare and then waiting to see if saver awards get released. I'd hate to get stuck with a high fee refundable fare. We could just blow it off and not take the offer, but YOLO, you know. I'm not sure how booking in economy and upgrading with miles works since I've never done that but I am willing to look into it. I'm just wondering if there is anything I'm missing or should look into. So if anyone has ideas or suggestions, I'd appreciate it. Thanks!

Wow, all I ever get are invites by timeshare companies to stay in Washington DC or Ocean City, MD..LOL