I love credit cards so much!

[gottalovepluto]

I would put a small charge on the card to generate a statement. I referred someone about 6 months ago, she opened the card but I never got the referral bonus. I kept waiting for a statement so I could check, but I never got one. When I SM'd Chase they said they won't generate a statement if there are no charges on the card. I don't know if that's just the case for the Disney card, but it wouldn't hurt to buy a pack of gum with the card and see what happens. I hope it posts soon for you!

You need to call Chase, something went wrong tracking your referral, like @SouthFayetteFan said you'll get a $0 statement and the referral dollars will show. That was literally my Sept statement on this card last year, $0 and $50 earned in Disney rewards. I'd call now and don't talk about the SM at all just explain it's been 6 months and you have gotten the referral bonus. Getting referrals when they don't track is hard so be ready to fight and go through hoops, some people get them credited, some don't.

 

[gottalovepluto]

I'm so sad! We've used it twice, and hopefully next weekend... and then at the beginning of April, fingers crossed! I guess they're owned by the yogurt place there and they're shutting down that, the PP restaurant, and Einsteins and putting in something new. Maybe the new place will do PP, all of the employees we've talked to have said they've had a huge jump in business.

Well... darn. Hoping it just stays in limbo through June...

 

[1st*toright]

tbh, chase freedom cards will always be there. the SPG biz currently at 35k is at its historic high. It may not come back again because of the merge. Id go for the SPG Biz now if u can make that minimum spendings. after your done, u can go for the freedom card. Freedom card may be 30k for u too.

I would make sure you have a use for the SPG points before you apply for that card. It is a great offer but having points you have no use for isn't exactly a great plan. Now there are a ton of uses for SPG points so I'd be shocked that you can't find a use for them but just know what your plan is before you apply

You are both right, of course! Its the FOMO that is driving me towards the SPG.

Our family trip for 2018 is pretty much already planned and budgeted for (not a lot of chain hotels involved, so mostly paying out of pocket on this one), but for 2019 I'm thinking of doing a trip to some US city that we've never been to. We have not been socking away as much money towards the next vacation as usual (due to DH's job situation), so planning a trip that will be mostly paid for by points is appealing. I was looking at the Marriott flight/hotel deals - that might work well because we could do an urban Residence Inn and get a room in a city that 4 of us could share for a week without being crammed in, and we have the CP and plenty of Southwest points to get us wherever we are going. So I don't have a specific use for the SPG points, but I think that they would facilitate my general travel plans in the (relatively) near future.

It would be my first Amex in years.

 

[WVMomof3]

Aren't you a little old to be going to the Prom??

This has nothing to do with anything but until recently, I really thought you were retired and in your 60s. I guess because you post a lot, assumed you didn't work, and your football thing in your sig, I just assumed was from one of your kids playing. Then you mentioned when talking about FIRE I think that you hope to be FI in your 40s. Then looked closer at your sig and see trip as a child in 1997. lol I guess you are not in your 60s! Anywho... Funny how you picture people just from their postings.

 

[Angrose]

Just to add some clarity here, I can confirm that you DO NOT need to generate a statement to receive a referral. It'll just post a $0 statement and show the $50 or $100 Disney Rewards transferred to your account.

Funny, that's not what the Chase person told me. Between July and Dec of last year I didn't use my Disney card at all so no statements were generated. So you're saying if the referral had posted properly then I would have received a statement even with zero spend on the card?

 

[Albort]

You are both right, of course! Its the FOMO that is driving me towards the SPG.

Our family trip for 2018 is pretty much already planned and budgeted for (not a lot of chain hotels involved, so mostly paying out of pocket on this one), but for 2019 I'm thinking of doing a trip to some US city that we've never been to. We have not been socking away as much money towards the next vacation as usual (due to DH's job situation), so planning a trip that will be mostly paid for by points is appealing. I was looking at the Marriott flight/hotel deals - that might work well because we could do an urban Residence Inn and get a room in a city that 4 of us could share for a week without being crammed in, and we have the CP and plenty of Southwest points to get us wherever we are going. So I don't have a specific use for the SPG points, but I think that they would facilitate my general travel plans in the (relatively) near future.

It would be my first Amex in years.

SPG goes to marriott at 1:3 ratio. So 35k SPG --> 105,000 Marriott points. u be halfway to your Marriott flights and hotel deal.

 

[shairpdrh]

Interesting, because over on the cruise forum, multiple people have said they used Discover. I don’t think the 5% would work anyway, it would be a total crapshoot to try it. Also have an understanding they take Disney GCs thru Costco travel. But I also forgot Costco doesn’t do AMEX either.

Sorry if I gave misinformation. This was based on my reading of their T&C and my experience this morning booking through a Costco Agent. I did forget to add Disney GCs to the list because I was just thinking of the cards you listed. Good luck tomorrow.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

This has nothing to do with anything but until recently, I really thought you were retired and in your 60s. I guess because you post a lot, assumed you didn't work, and your football thing in your sig, I just assumed was from one of your kids playing. Then you mentioned when talking about FIRE I think that you hope to be FI in your 40s. Then looked closer at your sig and see trip as a child in 1997. lol I guess you are not in your 60s! Anywho... Funny how you picture people just from their postings.

WOW I was so thinking the same thing earlier today when @wendow said she had kids driving and I was like "she seems so young to have kids that old, hahaha!"... It's funny when you have a mis-perception hahaha! Just to be clear...I am 34, married with 2 wonderful children who are Elem School/Preschool aged And I just really love my high school football team, can count on one hand the number of games I've missed since 1998 (and we've played a lot of games )

 

[Angrose]

You need to call Chase, something went wrong tracking your referral, like @SouthFayetteFan said you'll get a $0 statement and the referral dollars will show. That was literally my Sept statement on this card last year, $0 and $50 earned in Disney rewards. I'd call now and don't talk about the SM at all just explain it's been 6 months and you have gotten the referral bonus. Getting referrals when they don't track is hard so be ready to fight and go through hoops, some people get them credited, some don't.

Thanks for this. I've closed the card since then so it's moot now anyway. It had been more than 24 months since I last received the bonus so I just opened a new account and got a shiny new $200 gift card (and used a DISer's link of course). This is good to know if it ever happens again though.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Funny, that's not what the Chase person told me. Between July and Dec of last year I didn't use my Disney card at all so no statements were generated. So you're saying if the referral had posted properly then I would have received a statement even with zero spend on the card?

Yes - I wouldn't trust those Chase CSRs...sad to say that but most of these front line cust service folks don't know anything. They just make up some explanation... Kinda like calling people at the Disney reservation center, hahaha!

 

[pillow]

I’m planning on booking online with Costco since I have no status. 2-3hours is not an option during work hours so if I can’t do it fairly quickly tomorrow morning, I guess I’ll be on hold all evening. Any idea what time they close phone lines?

Shouldn't the rates be on their site tomorrow so that you won't have to call? I've never checked their site on opening day since I always book early (and hence must call). Unless there is some delay, you should simply be able to login and book - especially if you are paying with a cc vs gift cards.

 

[peel]

Let the annual fee and the points post. Don’t pay the fee. Call to cancel. As long as you do it within 30 days of the fee posting you will get a refund. I’d ask for a retention offer though. I saw some people on Reddit getting a statement credit equal to the annual fee. So then you can potentially wait another year and get the points again and then after the full year call to cancel.

I have both personal SW cards. My fees posted first, and then my anniversary points were added to my RR account about a week later. I waited until the points were safely in my account and called to cancel the Premier first. They immediately gave me a $100 credit, which erased my AF and left me with a spare $1. Then I called to see if they'd offer a retention bonus for the Plus. They didn't, but I decided in the end to keep it open for another year. I figure if I can get a couple of referral bonuses between the two cards it will be worth the $69 total.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Sorry if I gave misinformation. This was based on my reading of their T&C and my experience this morning booking through a Costco Agent. I did forget to add Disney GCs to the list because I was just thinking of the cards you listed. Good luck tomorrow.

Not misinformation. I checked the link you posted and I do think Discover is questionable at best. The people on the cruise forum may have used it in the past but it may not currently be an option. I appreciate all info.

 

[wendow]

WOW I was so thinking the same thing earlier today when @wendow said she had kids driving and I was like "she seems so young to have kids that old, hahaha!"... It's funny when you have a mis-perception hahaha! Just to be clear...I am 34, married with 2 wonderful children who are Elem School/Preschool aged And I just really love my high school football team, can count on one hand the number of games I've missed since 1998 (and we've played a lot of games )

Hold up! Are saying I'm old lol?!?

I have those misperceptions about people here all the time. I remember when @vanjust14 first mentioned her son in college, my jaw dropped .I thought she was like 23yo with just her little one. Now I have to reconfigure her all over in my head!

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Shouldn't the rates be on their site tomorrow so that you won't have to call? I've never checked their site on opening day since I always book early (and hence must call). Unless there is some delay, you should simply be able to login and book - especially if you are paying with a cc vs gift cards.

That’s the plan, unless I can’t get online for some reason. Like a crashing website, or some such nonsense. Lol.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Hold up! Are saying I'm old lol?!?

I have those misperceptions about people here all the time. I remember when @vanjust14 first mentioned her son in college, my jaw dropped .I thought she was like 23yo with just her little one. Now I have to reconfigure her all over in my head!

I mean like...not old...like old old... just, you're probably not in your early 30's...but...I mean...well...I should stop before I dig too deep hahahahaha!

 

[3 DD love princesses]

I'm hoping to provide some more data points for the group in the next week or so about booking Disney through Chase Cruise and Tour. Specifically, I'm planning to call in and book a room for November at the current rack rate, and see if I'll be able to get any available discounts applied at a later date, or if I'll have to rebook. I've heard conflicting reports (if you have additional info, I'd love to hear it!).

Anyways, I figured that since I'll be on the phone with either Leon or Melissa per the DisChurners reddit page, I'd throw it out to the group at large to see if anyone had any questions they wanted answered that I might be able to squeeze in! Let me know if you think of anything and I'll write it down so I can remember to ask. I'm planning to call in the next week or so, potentially this Sunday (if they're open/working then?) to book my trip and ask questions.

I was told I would have to cancel and rebook. No modification

I have a very basic SW question that I feel like I should know the answer to! My DH's annual fees will be hitting. When is the best time to call and cancel. I know I want to see the bonus points post, but do I pay the fee and then call? Or call when I get the bill before I pay the fee?

Statement closed on the 5th points in rr account on the 6th. Canceled on the 6th. No problem. And no offer to keep it.

Questions? Oh yes I have questions! First off welcome back Leavin around
Memorial weekend for our trip. I know from experience food is very expensive
in Hawaii. Did you find any relative inexpensive places to eat? What did you guys do
for fun? I'm literally pitching pennies for "things to do" while there. It seems activites
can be expensive and i have older girls who like adventure stuff. I'm hoping for
lot of beach days.

What did you think of Costco? Do they pretty much have the same stuff as mainland
ones? We will be staying around same area as you (Westin) so how was traffic and
ease of getting around?

Did you see any interesting gift cards/discounts at their Costco? Looking at the website
i saw little.

I hope you had a good time.

Send me a pm I can send you a lot of info

 

[jhoannam]

@wendow Did you say you pay your kids' dance/activities with Plastiq? Does everything through Plastiq earn 3 points using CIP?

UGGHH I need help.

So DHs new job is a pain in my rear. I told him not to forget me on personal assistant's day.

He was offered a stipend (pathetic one) to rack up tons of miles on his own vehicle, or rent cars and expense it. However, being a small company they are learning as they go and I am guessing they won't be happy to pay $250 a week for rental cars for his travel. I am trying to find them at decent rates (Costco, Hilton site, and SW site are looking good) but also maximize point value for ourselves. Prior to this, his last company had him renting at hertz. Cost billed to their company acct but he got hertz points, so that was nice.
We don't want him driving his personal vehicle for a lousy $400/month so I need to figure this out.

Any ideas on best way to book to get most points out of the transactions? Trying to avoid the southwest site because it seems to be airport pickup only which means I'd need to drive him to get the car and pick up him up. That would stink but airport parking would stink more. I can do a neighborhood location of enterprise through Hilton or American Express.

Best suggestions for car rentals to max points?

I don't know about maximizing points, but if you go through USAA Tavel portal you get some really awesome rates, even better than Costco.
https://www.usaa.com/inet/asc_renta...a_ref=asc_SD_rental_car&flowExecutionKey=e1s1
And I think you can link your United Account and get some UA points.

 

[elgerber]

Nice surprise, I just went to book the Courtyard at my dd's college, and the points went down from 20k per night to 15k per night! Would have been great if they had always been that low, but great news for graduation and going up to help her move out of her apartment after graduation. Will stretch all those SPG points even farther.

 

[linzjane88]

I also have been toying with the idea of the SPG card and was leaning towards 'no' until I read the above posts.

If both DH and myself got the SPG Biz (already did the personals and closed them 2 years ago) and earned the bonus that would be 70k SPG bonus+14K bonus from spend--> sent to Mariott at 1:3= 252000 Mariott points which if used for nights and flights would earn me 7 free nights +100k SW miles which would mean a companion pass? That can't be how that works...

I don't love the idea of 14k in spend but if I funneled everything through (including using Plastiq) we could make it work.