I love credit cards so much!

[calypso726]

she's weary of the whole CC churning thing to begin with so I'm not sure if she'd agree to it.


Which ones would you suggest? I already have: Freedom, CSP, CSR, CIP, IHG, Amazon, Disney. I plan to PC my CSP to a Freedom Unlimited after I get the referral bonus. We've never flown Southwest, and while I'm not opposed to it I feel like it'd be a waste to get the CC's if I won't benefit from using the bonuses towards a Companion Pass. That leaves Marriott (which I am interested in) and United (which I could take or leave). IIRC, Hyatt and British Airways aren't subject to 5/24. I don't know if it's worth applying for a United card just to double dip on 5/24 when I don't really fly with them.


So it sounds like the current cards will still be useful in the short term, for the bonuses if nothing else.

DH wasn't to sure about the whole CC travel hacking thing either. One first class flight on an international airline changed his mind set. He's all in now. Earlier this month he came to me to let me know the property taxes would be due at the end of them month and asked which credit card he should get to pick up an easy bonus. He has a new Amex Schwab Plat card now LOL

I'm in the same boat as you with SW. I like the airline but wouldn't fly it enough to get good use of the CP so my efforts go elsewhere. In your shoes, I'd get the Marriott and United card. The Marriott card gives you a free night every anniversary. This far outweighs the fee. DH and I each have the Marriott card and made sure to get it the same month so our anniversary night would be available at the same time and expire at the same time. The nights have never gone unused. We always use them to stay for a free weekend near WDW. There are 3 category 4 and 5 properties there and one or two include breakfast with your stay. I've never seen a Marriott near WDW for $85 per night or less. So to me it is a weekend in WDW and my hotel stay is $170 all together. I call that a bargain. If you do find this a good deal and can make use of it long term but only one of you can get the card now, then do so and make sure the other is below 5/24 a year from now and then get the second card for that spouse.

I don't fly United anywhere near as often as a I fly AA and other One World partners. None the less, we have those cards too and keep them for a few reasons. If you have the United card you will have access to extra award flight availability. Non card holders will not see the same award flights that card holders see when they log in to their FF account. When you use the United Mileage X app to purchase gift cards with whatever form of payment you are using (doesn't have to be your United cc) if you are a card holder you will get a 25% bonus on the United miles you earn. So, if I were to buy a $100 gift card on the app for Bath & Body works which is currently at 5x, I'd get 500 United miles, plus another 125 mile bonus since I am a United cc holder, plus whatever I earn for using whatever credit card I am paying with. In addition, the United card comes with 2 lounge passes every year. So, even if the United card isn't a keeper card it might be worth getting for the bonus and it would be easy to keep the points from expiring by using the app periodically. Chase UR points transfer 1:1 with United so you can easily beef up the balance for an award ticket down the line. Hope this helps.

 

[hsmamato2]

Just did my 2nd round at WM thru Chase portal for 10x points (mix of WM gc and some stuff) not egiftcards tho.... shop thru chase says 2x points...how does that figure with the 10x thru chasepay deal? it 12? (prob too much to hope for)

 

[Lain]

Just did my 2nd round at WM thru Chase portal for 10x points (mix of WM gc and some stuff) not egiftcards tho.... shop thru chase says 2x points...how does that figure with the 10x thru chasepay deal? it 12? (prob too much to hope for)

You should get 10x on your entire order, but an extra 2x on only the non-GC stuff.

When Walmart and Chase Pay had their last promo, this is how it worked out for me. Chase Pay credited 10x for the entire order, including WM GCs, but Shop Through Chase credited 2x for only the non-GC amount.

 

[Lain]

When you use the United Mileage X app to purchase gift cards with whatever form of payment you are using (doesn't have to be your United cc) if you are a card holder you will get a 25% bonus on the United miles you earn. So, if I were to buy a $100 gift card on the app for Bath & Body works which is currently at 5x, I'd get 500 United miles, plus another 25 mile bonus since I am a United cc holder, plus whatever I earn for using whatever credit card I am paying with.

You should actually get an extra 125 miles for having a United card tied to MPX, for a total of 625 miles!

 

[Lain]

We were at Disneyland on Tuesday and Wednesday too and it was so HOT! We definitely noticed that the crowds increased around 3pm. The crowds in years past usually drop off on Wednesday but unfortunately it didn't happen this year. It sounds like you had a great trip! When we returned to Northern CA were were freezing after being in summer like temperatures all week.

We came back to wind and rain!

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Anyone know why my best buy online purchase (MacBook) would show only 30 UR points pending for shop thru chase? It says qualifying amount is $29.99. I don't know where that would even come from...it is one item, a MacBook for about $1200.

 

[tinkerbellfl]

Hi everyone! I have been lurking on the Disboards for a while and have finally decided to join! It seems like you guys are experts on the whole credit card "churning" and rewards thing, and I was wondering if you have some time if you might be able to help me out.

I'm looking to take a trip to Disneyland sometime next fall. I'm an AP at WDW and recently went to DL this year and loved it and now want to go back! I'm hoping to somehow cover my trip with a lot of hotel points and airfare points, so I'm hoping someone might be able to give me some pointers. I'm not expecting to have the trip entirely paid for through points, but even if I could knock off the airfare and part of the hotel cost I'd be thrilled!

I flew out of MCO direct last time, which I'd probably do again, so I'm open to pretty much every major airline as a possibility if I can get it covered with points. I was looking at hotels and it looks like a couple of the good neighbor hotels there could qualify for the SPG or Marriott points, so I was looking at those cards as well as maybe a Delta card. I go to WDW all the time, so even if there's an annual fee on a card I'd be open to it if I got something like a free night once per year that I could use in Orlando. I have excellent credit and currently have a few major credit cards - Disney Visa, Capital One, BoA, Amex Blue Cash, and all have been opened for quite a while so I wouldn't anticipate getting denied based on applications or anything.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. There will be two of us going on the trip, in case that helps. Is there a starting point as far as which card I should start with that someone can recommend?

Thank you in advance!

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Anyone know why my best buy online purchase (MacBook) would show only 30 UR points pending for shop thru chase? It says qualifying amount is $29.99. I don't know where that would even come from...it is one item, a MacBook for about $1200.

UUGGH, the small print says not avail on apple products. really!? this is like a full time job keeping up with this stuff. I passed on a better cash price for the laptop because the bonus points thru chase shopping were gonna make best buy the better overall deal. annoying.

 

[Albort]

What is the status of the Marriott & SPG merger? I was going to apply for the personal Marriott card as my last 5/24 slot, but I probably wouldn’t do it until January. Will it still be worth it then, or should I just wait for whatever the merged version ends up being?

It is confirmed this morning that Marriott & SPG program will stay intact till the end of 2018. There was also some added bonus for SPG premium holders for hertz status and something about roll over nights from 2017 to 2018 but expires now at the end of 2018.

Which ones would you suggest? I already have: Freedom, CSP, CSR, CIP, IHG, Amazon, Disney. I plan to PC my CSP to a Freedom Unlimited after I get the referral bonus. We've never flown Southwest, and while I'm not opposed to it I feel like it'd be a waste to get the CC's if I won't benefit from using the bonuses towards a Companion Pass. That leaves Marriott (which I am interested in) and United (which I could take or leave). IIRC, Hyatt and British Airways aren't subject to 5/24. I don't know if it's worth applying for a United card just to double dip on 5/24 when I don't really fly with them.

i think ur just missing the Freedom card right? so last 2 slots should be marriott and Freedom card... :]

 

[peel]

UUGGH, the small print says not avail on apple products.

I was just coming back here to break that bad news to you after double checking. So sorry!

 

[Albort]

DH wasn't to sure about the whole CC travel hacking thing either. One first class flight on an international airline changed his mind set. He's all in now. Earlier this month he came to me to let me know the property taxes would be due at the end of them month and asked which credit card he should get to pick up an easy bonus. He has a new Amex Schwab Plat card now LOL

so modest @calypso726
@Ava what she meant was, I fly first, enjoy economy!
sorry calypso726, you said it so well the first time u mentioned it... XD

Hi everyone! I have been lurking on the Disboards for a while and have finally decided to join! It seems like you guys are experts on the whole credit card "churning" and rewards thing, and I was wondering if you have some time if you might be able to help me out.

I'm looking to take a trip to Disneyland sometime next fall. I'm an AP at WDW and recently went to DL this year and loved it and now want to go back! I'm hoping to somehow cover my trip with a lot of hotel points and airfare points, so I'm hoping someone might be able to give me some pointers. I'm not expecting to have the trip entirely paid for through points, but even if I could knock off the airfare and part of the hotel cost I'd be thrilled!

I flew out of MCO direct last time, which I'd probably do again, so I'm open to pretty much every major airline as a possibility if I can get it covered with points. I was looking at hotels and it looks like a couple of the good neighbor hotels there could qualify for the SPG or Marriott points, so I was looking at those cards as well as maybe a Delta card. I go to WDW all the time, so even if there's an annual fee on a card I'd be open to it if I got something like a free night once per year that I could use in Orlando. I have excellent credit and currently have a few major credit cards - Disney Visa, Capital One, BoA, Amex Blue Cash, and all have been opened for quite a while so I wouldn't anticipate getting denied based on applications or anything.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. There will be two of us going on the trip, in case that helps. Is there a starting point as far as which card I should start with that someone can recommend?

Thank you in advance!

Most people who enter the world of churning are always told to start with the chase cards. Chase cards have a 5/24 rule which basically means that you can open up to 5 credit cards in a 24 month cycle. CSR, CSP, Freedom, Freedom Unlimited, Marriott, and United cards fall under this rule. Depending on how far your looking is how you would want to plan as well as what your spendings is on. Id probably start with Marriott, Freedom Unlimited, Freedom card, maybe 1 other card. then when im close to travel, apply for both CSR/CSP at once to get the 100k. but thats just me. we all have different strategies.

UUGGH, the small print says not avail on apple products. really!? this is like a full time job keeping up with this stuff. I passed on a better cash price for the laptop because the bonus points thru chase shopping were gonna make best buy the better overall deal. annoying.

im assuming your taxes qualified for extra points? thats pretty hilarious i must say haha. yeah shop with chase is weird.
point world problem...

 

[pinkxray]

I am thinking of trying for the SW card next. If I apply for the business card now since it still has 60000RR can I wait until the personal card has 50000RR to get the companion pass? Or do I have to get them both at the same time for some reason?

 

[Alexle2007]

Do IHG and Hyatt avoid the 5/24 rule? I have an open Chase slot which I am thinking I will use for Marriott. DH has 3 open slots so I would apply for him also. We never fly United although I am looking at them for a possible trip to Australia.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Hi everyone! I have been lurking on the Disboards for a while and have finally decided to join! It seems like you guys are experts on the whole credit card "churning" and rewards thing, and I was wondering if you have some time if you might be able to help me out.

I'm looking to take a trip to Disneyland sometime next fall. I'm an AP at WDW and recently went to DL this year and loved it and now want to go back! I'm hoping to somehow cover my trip with a lot of hotel points and airfare points, so I'm hoping someone might be able to give me some pointers. I'm not expecting to have the trip entirely paid for through points, but even if I could knock off the airfare and part of the hotel cost I'd be thrilled!

I flew out of MCO direct last time, which I'd probably do again, so I'm open to pretty much every major airline as a possibility if I can get it covered with points. I was looking at hotels and it looks like a couple of the good neighbor hotels there could qualify for the SPG or Marriott points, so I was looking at those cards as well as maybe a Delta card. I go to WDW all the time, so even if there's an annual fee on a card I'd be open to it if I got something like a free night once per year that I could use in Orlando. I have excellent credit and currently have a few major credit cards - Disney Visa, Capital One, BoA, Amex Blue Cash, and all have been opened for quite a while so I wouldn't anticipate getting denied based on applications or anything.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. There will be two of us going on the trip, in case that helps. Is there a starting point as far as which card I should start with that someone can recommend?

Thank you in advance!

West Coast Best Coast!! (Native CA here!)

2 of you going is great- you can double all these offers. Basically, what spend you can handle will be your limit!

Yep, start with Chase. CSP & CSR double dip if you can meet the spend. Apply for the one you want the most, if you don't get instant approval call recon, after approval (if approval is granted same day) apply for the 2nd card. This has been getting around the 1 sapphire bonus rule, idk how long it will work. Chase Ink Preferred for the bonus points, it's a business card that won't count towards your 5/24 status but you can't have any Chase apps in the 30 days prior fyi. Disney premier has a spend $500 get $200 gift card offer, annual fee $45- this will count towards 5/24 BUT it does not come under 5/24. Since you have the no-fee Disney card so you could refer your travel partner and get $50 disney dollars, they get the $200 offer AND you get the $50 disney dollar offer. win-win! Also- do that once you're over 5/24. Confusing I know, so apply for Disney cards after you're over 5/24 and you'll still get approved, do it before you're 5/24 and it becomes one of your 5 first slots. FYI there is so much talk about Chase and 5/24 because Chase UR points are some of the most flexible out there, transfer partners for airlines and hotels and the option to book your travel through their portal and redeem your points for 1.25x/1.5x their value!

Barclaycard Arrival+ should be on your radar, 40,000 bonus points worth $400 in statement credit towards any travel purchases you put on the card, traditionally easier to get than Chase cards but recently they have gotten more strict. I love this one because it's so flexible!

Idk what airlines you should be looking at, only card I know is Delta so here's my bit on that one: I got the Delta amex this year, you can search our thread here for more info on it. The best offer on the card right now is found via referral, 60,000 miles for 3K spend and $50 statement credit after you first Delta purchase. If you can't find mile flights you can redeem miles towards the cash price of a flight, so that bonus is worth $600 towards a Delta ticket while you hold the Delta credit card. This card will count towards your 5/24 status (unless you get the business card- I think, double check that! not sure what that bonus is running now) so hit this after you're done with Chase (unless your timeline is too tight and you really want the Delta card).

Before you apply anywhere read through Point 6- Card Issuer Specific on this website for things to know BEFORE you apply with any card issuers. https://www.doctorofcredit.com/credit-card-reference-pages/ This will help you with things like "5/24" and how many cards you can apply for over how many days.

Feel free to come join us on our closed Reddit group. You don't have to have any history on Reddit, any DISers are welcome! We continue the discussion over there and you can see what referral bonuses most of the main credit cards out there are offering (sometimes referral offers are better than public offers, sometimes they're the same, sometimes public offers are better- so you should check all before applying for a card). Message @Albort or @SouthFayetteFan to join our closed group- we don't flame!

 

[wendow]

I am thinking of trying for the SW card next. If I apply for the business card now since it still has 60000RR can I wait until the personal card has 50000RR to get the companion pass? Or do I have to get them both at the same time for some reason?

You do not need to apply for both at the same time. You just need all the points to post in the same calendar year for the CP.

 

[wendow]

Do IHG and Hyatt avoid the 5/24 rule? I have an open Chase slot which I am thinking I will use for Marriott. DH has 3 open slots so I would apply for him also. We never fly United although I am looking at them for a possible trip to Australia.

Yes, IHG and Hyatt are not subject to 5/24. You could double dip this last spot and go for both Marriott and United.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Darn! Chase is strict on their $400 10x purchase limit this time! $418 purchase on reddit posted as earning 4,018 points. Was hoping to squeeze some more points out of this puppy, but it's not to be. Purchase limits are strict this time folks.

 

[Lain]

I am thinking of trying for the SW card next. If I apply for the business card now since it still has 60000RR can I wait until the personal card has 50000RR to get the companion pass? Or do I have to get them both at the same time for some reason?

To get the SW CP, you have to earn a total of 110k eligible RR points in the same year.

You can apply for the SW Biz now, but make sure you don’t get close to or hit the minimum spend until next year, so you’ll earn the 60k RR signup bonus in 2018. The points have to post in 2018. If you meet the spend too fast and hit it in 2017, and your signup bonus posts in 2017, they won’t count towards CP in 2018 when you're trying for the personal card bonus. You can wait for the personal cards to have a better offer next year to earn those additional 50k RR in 2018 to give you CP for the rest of next year and 2019.

People apply for two SW cards at the same time when the combined signup bonuses will earn them CP, especially if they time it right for nearly two years. Also, because SW cards are subject to the 5/24 rule, some people may be applying for two cards using their last 5/24 slot. Another reason is applying for two Chase personal cards results in only one hard pull of your credit report.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Hi everyone! I have been lurking on the Disboards for a while and have finally decided to join! It seems like you guys are experts on the whole credit card "churning" and rewards thing, and I was wondering if you have some time if you might be able to help me out.

I'm looking to take a trip to Disneyland sometime next fall. I'm an AP at WDW and recently went to DL this year and loved it and now want to go back! I'm hoping to somehow cover my trip with a lot of hotel points and airfare points, so I'm hoping someone might be able to give me some pointers. I'm not expecting to have the trip entirely paid for through points, but even if I could knock off the airfare and part of the hotel cost I'd be thrilled!

I flew out of MCO direct last time, which I'd probably do again, so I'm open to pretty much every major airline as a possibility if I can get it covered with points. I was looking at hotels and it looks like a couple of the good neighbor hotels there could qualify for the SPG or Marriott points, so I was looking at those cards as well as maybe a Delta card. I go to WDW all the time, so even if there's an annual fee on a card I'd be open to it if I got something like a free night once per year that I could use in Orlando. I have excellent credit and currently have a few major credit cards - Disney Visa, Capital One, BoA, Amex Blue Cash, and all have been opened for quite a while so I wouldn't anticipate getting denied based on applications or anything.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. There will be two of us going on the trip, in case that helps. Is there a starting point as far as which card I should start with that someone can recommend?

Thank you in advance!

OMG- I forgot to say Imho you should get extra for your first post being in our thread over here

 

[Lain]

Darn! Chase is strict on their $400 10x purchase limit this time! $418 purchase on reddit posted as earning 4,018 points. Was hoping to squeeze some more points out of this puppy, but it's not to be. Purchase limits are strict this time folks.

I was hoping my Best Buys carry VCGs so I could get in on the 10x deal but use it for some future spending. Because with all these offers between Chase, Amex, and Target, I have more deals than I need right now, but they’re good enough that I’ll want to lock them in for when I actually need them.

Unfortunately, two of my local Best Buys don’t seem to have VCGs. I’ll check two more, but if I come up empty handed I may end up buying gas cards.