I love credit cards so much!

[amalone1013]

Ok. So I have around $15k left on my car loan. We've got most of that to pay it off already and will definitely have the rest in the next few months, if not sooner. But I could spread it out a bit to play nice with the companies. $15k at the 2.5% fee with Plastiq is $375, bit I will probably leave my current auto payment alone so it would be a little less than that overall.

My cards (6/24):

• SPG Personal 6/16, Disney 9/16, CSR 10/16, Sw Plus 5/17, Sw biz 5/17, Marriott Personal 9/17, CFU 9/17, SPG biz 10/17
• Older cards: no fee Barclay Arrival, Discover It

DHs cards (4/24):

• Arrival Plus 3/16, Disney 9/16, SPG personal 9/16, CSR 8/17, SPG biz app pending currently
• Older cards: Discover it

We have:

• 170k UR points
• 47k SW RR
• Hopefully 129.5k SPG total = 23k currently +7k to transfer from my in-laws + 49.5k if DH's biz card app goes through + 50k tied up in a Dolphin reservation
• $150 Barclay Arrival
• $350 Discover cashback, which to me is either for GCs to use on a trip (ie rental car or restaurants) or to erase a travel charge

(ETA to combine SPG/Marriott points)

So the Dolphin reservation isn't set in stone, I just wanted to book it just in case before they changed the category. It's my backup anniversary plan - 6 nights there plus a few more nights at Disney World this fall.

But what I'd really like to work towards is a Europe trip. I have enough Marriott/SPG points currently with DH's biz card to get about two weeks of hotels in London/Paris from my research. I'd like to aim for sometime in the next 6-12 months, but it will all depend on if DH can take a week or so unpaid (hence the backup anniversary plan ). I'm at a loss on flights, and know I'd be behind the curve for fancy first class or anything, but I'm just happy with free/low cost so we can survive economy.

The only other solid plan I have in mind currently is keeping DH open to get a SW CP in his name for 2019-2020.

I've already planned out a lot of the SPG biz spending; between taxes, some travel to my hometown, wedding gifts, several annual membership fees, and 3 months of easily changed recurring bills would be $4500+, so I'm not worried about supplementing that. I was thinking more along the lines of using it to easily knock out 2-3 cards with $5k+ min spends, while putting all regular expenses towards SPG biz if needed.

So now... Any suggestions?

 

[disneedee]

Amazon +Jetblue double stack just got nuetured. .

???????

 

[disneedee]

Does jet blue business (Barclay) show on the 5/24?

 

[Lain]

So now... Any suggestions?

Just be aware that auto payments through Plastiq with Amex are hit or miss.

And you and DH don’t have a CIP?! Have DH apply for the CIP! 80k UR for $5k MSR. Put at least some of your auto payment on the CIP using Plastiq to hit the MSR, earn that big signup bonus. The payment amount and transaction fee should earn 3x UR, which more than negates the 2.5% fee. After that, it’s up to you whether you want to use the balance of your car loan to hit MSRs on other cards for bonuses, or pay the rest using CIP for 3x UR.

 

[Albort]

???????

you're able to earn 3 jetblue points per $1 spent on amazon. Jetblue just announced they will no longer off that.

Does jet blue business (Barclay) show on the 5/24?

YMMV. There are some conflicting DP that says otherwise. It shouldnt though.

 

[Calfan]

any Californians? only one i know is @gottalovepluto
https://swacaliforniamillions.com

for the rest of you guys... https://www.southwest.com/flight/contest/201860142327161

@CaliforniaGirl09

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Ok. So I have around $15k left on my car loan. We've got most of that to pay it off already and will definitely have the rest in the next few months, if not sooner. But I could spread it out a bit to play nice with the companies. $15k at the 2.5% fee with Plastiq is $375, bit I will probably leave my current auto payment alone so it would be a little less than that overall.

My cards (6/24):

• SPG Personal 6/16, Disney 9/16, CSR 10/16, Sw Plus 5/17, Sw biz 5/17, Marriott Personal 9/17, CFU 9/17, SPG biz 10/17
• Older cards: no fee Barclay Arrival, Discover It

DHs cards (4/24):

• Arrival Plus 3/16, Disney 9/16, SPG personal 9/16, CSR 8/17, SPG biz app pending currently
• Older cards: Discover it

We have:

• 170k UR points
• 47k SW RR
• 57k Marriott
• Hopefully 110.5k SPG total = 4k currently +7k to transfer from my in-laws + 49.5k if DH's biz card app goes through + 50k tied up in a Dolphin reservation
• $150 Barclay Arrival
• $350 Discover cashback, which to me is either for GCs to use on a trip (ie rental car or restaurants) or to erase a travel charge

So the Dolphin reservation isn't set in stone, I just wanted to book it just in case before they changed the category. It's my backup anniversary plan - 6 nights there plus a few more nights at Disney World this fall.

But what I'd really like to work towards is a Europe trip. I have enough Marriott/SPG points currently with DH's biz card to get about two weeks of hotels in London/Paris from my research. I'd like to aim for sometime in the next 6-12 months, but it will all depend on if DH can take a week or so unpaid (hence the backup anniversary plan ). I'm at a loss on flights, and know I'd be behind the curve for fancy first class or anything, but I'm just happy with free/low cost so we can survive economy.

The only other solid plan I have in mind currently is keeping DH open to get a SW CP in his name for 2019-2020.

I've already planned out a lot of the SPG biz spending; between taxes, some travel to my hometown, wedding gifts, several annual membership fees, and 3 months of easily changed recurring bills would be $4500+, so I'm not worried about supplementing that. I was thinking more along the lines of using it to easily knock out 2-3 cards with $5k+ min spends, while putting all regular expenses towards SPG biz if needed.

So now... Any suggestions?

A quick tip - I'd pick a currency and express your Marriott and SPG points combined as one or the other, lol. I usually go the Marriott route because it makes me feel more awesome!

If you're talking about spending $15k...then you're looking for big MSRs probably...have you considered entering the world of AMEX Membership Rewards (MRs)? You could (each) look to get the Business Gold Rewards & Blue Business Plus cards (or go real big with a Business Platinum). None of these cards will affect you or your husband's 5/24 status. I know that not many of us here are well versed in MRs (I claim to be the king of the Schwab Cashout)...I'd imagine @calypso726 has some understanding of the travel partners based on her area of expertise. On the personal card front, you could look to get Arrival Plus and/or BofA Premium Rewards cards if you aren't worried about your 5/24 status anymore...but you'll be back to 4/24 in 6 months sooooo that's a tough call.

EDIT: I also like @Lain's suggestion of getting a CIP for your husband!

 

[Sun_soakin]

I would start with Chase Ultimate Rewards Cards. For some Chase cards you need to be under 5/24 to get approved.

Do you have a business? It can be a “Business” The CIP will give you 80,000 UR points after you spend 5k in three months.

You can transfer Ultimate Rewards points to 9 airline programs (British Airways, Flying Blue, Korean Air, Singapore Airlines, Southwest, United, Virgin Atlantic and Aer Lingus and Iberia) and four hotel programs (Hyatt, IHG, Marriott and Ritz-Carlton). All transfer ratios are 1:1. You can also book flights and hotels on the chase travel portal. You can also call the chase cruise department to use points to book a cruise and Disney packages.

You can also double dip with the CSP/CSR. The CSR has a high annual fee of $450 dollars but you get Global entry or TSA precheck fees reimbursed and a $300 travel reimbursement every year. If you can spend 8k in three months, you have to apply for both on the same day. Preferably, a business day incase you get the 30 day message. If you can’t spend 8k I’d pick which one you think is a better value. Some people think the CSR with the $450 annual fee is worth it. others would rather the CSP where the annual fee is waived the first year. They are both definitely worth it in the first year if you can get both bonuses. After your first year one of those cards you should downgrade. You may even want to downgrade both to a no fee version.

You can also look into Amex Delta Business and the Amex Starwood Business. Delta maybe helpful for your flights. And Starwood can be used for Starwood and Marriott properties.

This was so helpful, thank you! What is the double dip and the 30 day message? Is there an article on maximizing the chase rewards? Can you transfer the global entry certificate to someone (our kids or maybe my parents)? My husband actually has a business he runs some things through, so that we could do. Spend requirements are fine too since our usual cc spend is $5-8k/mo (although that includes approx $2k in Costco groceries that would need to be on a visa).

 

[kmc8826]

Ok. So I have around $15k left on my car loan. We've got most of that to pay it off already and will definitely have the rest in the next few months, if not sooner. But I could spread it out a bit to play nice with the companies. $15k at the 2.5% fee with Plastiq is $375, bit I will probably leave my current auto payment alone so it would be a little less than that overall.

My cards (6/24):

• SPG Personal 6/16, Disney 9/16, CSR 10/16, Sw Plus 5/17, Sw biz 5/17, Marriott Personal 9/17, CFU 9/17, SPG biz 10/17
• Older cards: no fee Barclay Arrival, Discover It

DHs cards (4/24):

• Arrival Plus 3/16, Disney 9/16, SPG personal 9/16, CSR 8/17, SPG biz app pending currently
• Older cards: Discover it

We have:

• 170k UR points
• 47k SW RR
• 57k Marriott
• Hopefully 110.5k SPG total = 4k currently +7k to transfer from my in-laws + 49.5k if DH's biz card app goes through + 50k tied up in a Dolphin reservation
• $150 Barclay Arrival
• $350 Discover cashback, which to me is either for GCs to use on a trip (ie rental car or restaurants) or to erase a travel charge

So the Dolphin reservation isn't set in stone, I just wanted to book it just in case before they changed the category. It's my backup anniversary plan - 6 nights there plus a few more nights at Disney World this fall.

But what I'd really like to work towards is a Europe trip. I have enough Marriott/SPG points currently with DH's biz card to get about two weeks of hotels in London/Paris from my research. I'd like to aim for sometime in the next 6-12 months, but it will all depend on if DH can take a week or so unpaid (hence the backup anniversary plan ). I'm at a loss on flights, and know I'd be behind the curve for fancy first class or anything, but I'm just happy with free/low cost so we can survive economy.

The only other solid plan I have in mind currently is keeping DH open to get a SW CP in his name for 2019-2020.

I've already planned out a lot of the SPG biz spending; between taxes, some travel to my hometown, wedding gifts, several annual membership fees, and 3 months of easily changed recurring bills would be $4500+, so I'm not worried about supplementing that. I was thinking more along the lines of using it to easily knock out 2-3 cards with $5k+ min spends, while putting all regular expenses towards SPG biz if needed.

So now... Any suggestions?

Southwest RR won’t help you get to Europe, so depending where you live I would consider either a United card or Delta. I am not familiar with United, but I know our flight to Maui was on one of the big jets that had just returned from Amsterdam and in it economy was bearable because it was 2 seats, 3 in middle, other 2 on side. There are a lot of Delta non stops to Europe too. You could get both Delta business cards right now with the added bonus and that wouldn’t impact your status with Chase and add 150,000 skymiles.

If you needed more skymiles you could always convert some of the SPG (easy to do and gives you a 5,000 bonus for every 20k).

I have not delved into Membership Rewards so I can’t speak to that (something to look forward to I guess). I have read though that if you convert those to airline miles you do have to pay a minor excise tax. If you could get the 100,000 offer might work well though.

 

[wendow]

any Californians? only one i know is @gottalovepluto
https://swacaliforniamillions.com

for the rest of you guys... https://www.southwest.com/flight/contest/201860142327161

What is with all the SW love for California peeps!?! Happy for y'all. @Lain is Cali too.

 

[Sun_soakin]

We are waiting for my husband's AMEX SPG biz card to come in the mail. That's a 7k min spend. My daughter just had 2 ER visits, an ambulance ride, and 4 nights in the hospital w/MRI and other expenses. I expect about $12,500 out of pocket, but just a guess based on our insurance cap. However, I am wondering when the final bill will come. I know they go back and forth with the insurance company first. I really hope I can use this toward min spend.

I’m sorry you’ve had all that going on with your daughter. I’m totally kicking myself for not having started this 6 mo ago b/c we could have made serious progress with all the medical stuff we paid for (a major surgery and 4 sets of braces). I just used a regular cash back rewards card and then reimbursed from our HSA.

 

[linzjane88]

I'm super late responding to this as I wasn't really online at all since Friday. I was laughing so hard while catching up. I must say, while I was correct on the gender of those everyone was guessing at, their ages are a whole other story. You can definitely add me to the list of people who thought Albort was mid 20s. Had to search Albort too and those threads are too funny! Can't believe we have such a celebrity in our midst.

Still have to check out SouthFayetteFan's thread on the Stay Play Dine promo. That one has confused me for a while.




I have to admit, I do read some of TPG's stuff, but I don't put much stock into his advice when it comes to applications. I've seen enough comments in the churning sub on him. Definitely love Doc and of course this thread is my go-to!




This is sooooo true!! It's especially true for me now that I've learned about using Gyft with my CIP for gift cards. I think back on all the money we've spent through the years before I really understood the benefit of cc points and I could pass out. Just Saturday he was sitting at the computer and mentioned he was about to order something online and I (loudly) said "WAIT, don't click place order! Let me check Gyft." He keeps saying this is worse than when I started couponing and I would freak if he stopped at the store on the way home and bought something I had a coupon for in my binder. I've tried going over the ins and outs on which card to use for what and when we can use a cc to buy a gift card for certain purchases, but he says it's just too much to remember. I think now I'm getting the point across that if he can't keep up, he better check in with me before he buys anything to see if we can maximize our return.


So in July I'll have had my CIP for a year and I'm trying to decide if I should keep it or PC to CIC. I thought about applying for the CIC outright instead of PCing, but I wasn't sure about getting another biz card from Chase. However, I seem to recall reading here that someone else recently suggested doing this. Technically I do have a legit biz now (I recently decided to become a TA) so I suppose that could work in my favor.

Depending on your spend goals it might work to write a tiny sticky on the front of the card with "gas" or "dining". I cut up some blank labels really small and arranged my husband's wallet for my own benefit. I got sick of trying to explain what cards to use where. Lol.

 

[wendow]

Been super-dee-duper busy lately! Had my fav painter back today. He still doesn't take CC's but his price is so reasonable and I only had him paint my 2-story foyer so I just sucked it up (unlike last time when I about fainted that he didn't take cc's after his website said he did and he painted my whole house and the cost was $3500...but really, I'm over it...).

Gotta decide on my next card. It's keeping me up at night. I think they call this an addiction, and I need some kind of intervention lol. I'm so torn. I want the spg biz. I'm just scared of the 7k spend. If I can use plastiq to pay my mortgage, it's doable. Without that, no way. Would you guys risk the RATs and also would you risk plastiq starting to deny letting me pay my mortgage with the nifty work-around we've been doing?

Speaking of plastiq, did you gals who were having trouble get anywhere with yours...I think @disneymagicgirl and @pillow is who I am thinking of...?

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

DISchurners SURVEY Reminder:
Thanks to 37 folks that took the time to answer a 10 question survey (the 3rd survey in our series, lol).

This survey takes < 5 minutes, asks some questions about "support" links, helps rank our favorite programs, and gets an idea of how active we are as "churners". https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ZF57SRQ

One initial fact that is awesome to see...of the 23 people that have shared support links, 11 have received at least one click. That's awesome to hear, just great to see all of us giving back to each other via this community. Also - for those that haven't had a click, I hope that isn't viewed as discouraging...the best way to potentially gain some "support" is to stay active here, help others, answer questions, and provide valuable info

I'll hold off on giving any hints to favorite programs until we get a larger sample size.

 

[Albort]

This was so helpful, thank you! What is the double dip and the 30 day message? Is there an article on maximizing the chase rewards? Can you transfer the global entry certificate to someone (our kids or maybe my parents)? My husband actually has a business he runs some things through, so that we could do. Spend requirements are fine too since our usual cc spend is $5-8k/mo (although that includes approx $2k in Costco groceries that would need to be on a visa).

double dipping in credit card terms means to apply for 2 cards at once. The result of this is it will usually result in 1 credit card pull. The main reason we double dip for example is because Chase only allows us to have a single Sapphire card. By applying for both Sapphire cards at once, you can get both. 30 day message usually means your application is submitted and the computer doesnt like something so its often held to be reviewed. The best way to maximize chase rewards is to have the quadfecta(ink, Sapphire, Freedom x2). this covers a huge category. Yes, u can pay for someone else's GE. I paid for my moms.

What is with all the SW love for California peeps!?! Happy for y'all. @Lain is Cali too.

heh, its a way to compete against Alaska i guess... Both airlines are fighting over Californians business haha.

 

[wendow]

I’m sorry you’ve had all that going on with your daughter. I’m totally kicking myself for not having started this 6 mo ago b/c we could have made serious progress with all the medical stuff we paid for (a major surgery and 4 sets of braces). I just used a regular cash back rewards card and then reimbursed from our HSA.

I can't tell you how many times I've kicked myself that I didn't start sooner. We've had a lot of medical over the last three years that I mostly wrote checks for until 18 mos ago And then there was the almost 4 mos we lived in a Marriott hotel, and I didn't open the CC because I was "responsible" and not interested in more CC's Oh well, live and learn, right? You are here now and once you see what all is out there, it will change the way you use CC's.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

I can't tell you how many times I've kicked myself that I didn't start sooner. We've had a lot of medical over the last three years that I mostly wrote checks for until 18 mos ago And then there was the almost 4 mos we lived in a Marriott hotel, and I didn't open the CC because I was "responsible" and not interested in more CC's Oh well, live and learn, right? You are here now and once you see what all is out there, it will change the way you use CC's.

How dare you be responsible and not open a CC... hahaha!

 

[wendow]

How dare you be responsible and not open a CC... hahaha!

Don't remind me how 'responsible' I was...I can't stand thinking about all the Marriott points we'd have earned

 

[Lain]

heh, its a way to compete against Alaska i guess... Both airlines are fighting over Californians business haha.

Just saw in yesterday’s news that Alaska is already cutting back on former Virgin America routes in California.

 

[Lain]

I want the spg biz. I'm just scared of the 7k spend. If I can use plastiq to pay my mortgage, it's doable. Without that, no way. Would you guys risk the RATs and also would you risk plastiq starting to deny letting me pay my mortgage with the nifty work-around we've been doing?

I’m not going to be much help. I hesitate to make a recommendation either way because the 35k SPG points is such a big offer, but I’d hate to put you in a situation where you can’t meet the big $7k spend or tell you that Plastiq for mortgages on Amex will be ok. I just don’t know for sure. I know Amex doesn’t want mortgages paid using Plastiq. I also know that if you can get a payment through Plastiq, there’s no way Amex can tell what it’s for or to whom just from the way the transaction posts. You’ll remember about a week ago @Albort and I posted how Plastiq posts on our SPG Bizs. If you do decide against moving your mortgage over to meet an SPG Biz MSR, you still have a really good thing going with the CIP. And if a $5k MSR is easier, the 25k SPG points offer is a solid offer that’s still around and will be around again. Don’t feel like you’ve missed out on anything.