I love credit cards so much!

[SouthFayetteFan]

The current AMEX Delta offer expires 4/11, which would be about 7 weeks from SPG approval. I should be about done with SPG spend by then.

FYI - that offer is good through 5/16/18 That's through the support links

What would you recommend as a good primer to MR points valuations? It takes us a while to earn up points so I haven't really looked into what we can get for travel or transfers. I know it's all subjective, but I'd like to get a good idea of when a good value crosses my path so I don't miss out. Or I trade in 6 years worth of points for economy minus and then come to find out here that I could have traded those instead for that Air Force One package (haha)
My only frame of reference is what we get for gift cards every couple years which is .01 cpp for most, but the "good" ones are now around .006. And I know, I know, it's like nails on a chalk board to you guys I imagine but I don't regret my free snowblower hubby bought me with Home Depot gift cards he cashed in. Every winter I send a little of thought thanks to AmEx for that.

I'm an expert at earning them, lol...I just can't tell you what they're worth outside of my Schwab Plat theory cashing them out at 1.25cents each! When I earn them now (I cancelled my schwab plat) I cash out for gift cards at 1cpp and am happy to do so

 

[wendow]

I tried and it stated when i login i my account I was not eligible and I only have one checking with them. Unless i did something wrong and should not login.

I’ll try soon and report back!

 

[wendow]

Eh, depending on your background (I lived in the Caribbean and now live on the Emerald Coast), not everyone loves it. It's been a dream of my mother's for decades and I think she's going to be seriously disappointed after she visits in May. Everyone's definition of paradise is different (One of my oft quoted lines is "Is this Heaven? No, it's Iowa! If I hadn't remarried I'd be living there with cattle as neighbors.)

I agree. Having been to both the Caribbean and Hawaii, I prefer the Caribbean. My dh & kids haven’t been to either. I trying to sway them away from Hawaii. I’m pushing for Grand Cayman

 

[Tikitoi]

Thanks! I tried Sunoco and the bot text on the search page said I could use it at the pump but when I clicked on the link it didn't say it anywhere! And then Speedway was just confusing at first so I figured I check with you guys as I was sure someone said they bought gift cards to use on gas before - even if I had to use another brand to do it. After reading through Speedway's page again I think I know what I'm looking for there now. We're pretty stocked on other gift cards and we don't spend a ton on gas to make up the difference, so I thought maybe I could pre-pay our gas for a while with gift cards from the gas stations.
I really don't often step inside the stores so I had no idea Speedway sold so many gift cards until I looked through the site! I'll tuck that tidbit away for the future.

I've bought gas store and restaurant gift cards from Speedway. Especially during this Chase quarter. And since I accumulate Speedway points as well I was getting 1500 Speedway points per gift card purchase. So I'm over halfway to being able to put my Speedway points towards a VISA gift card.

 

[Ngwira]

I wanted that offer SOOOOO bad and didn't get one!!! I would have planned a cruise right away!

Man, wish I could give it to you. If I could I would. It’s on my bbplus, platinum and blue cash.

 

[afan]

I have never been. For our anniversary next year I gave DH choice of Alaska or Hawaii. He chose Alaska. Plus DS says he won’t go to Hawaii because we might die if a volcano erupts (he is king of worriers) Ironically when we took DS to Costa Rica at age 3, his bucket list was entirely composed of seeing a volcano.(he’s now 9)

Don't tell him that Alaska and Washington (since you'll be in Vancouver) are on the ring of fire and have volcano's. Don't let him read about Mt. St. Helens before you get back next summer And for sure don't let him look here https://www.avo.alaska.edu/activity/

I joke but I am glad I live on a hill and I know my ways out of the valley should I ever hear that something erupts. There are volcano evacuation route signs not far from where I live. I just hope if it ever happens it's Mt St Helens again and not Rainier because it's too pretty and it's closer.

 

[AmyAnne]

Yeah I looked at JFK from DCA, IAD, and RIC (home airport) but they were all more expensive and everything I’ve read made it seem like it’s a longer cab ride into the city from JFK. Also, I don’t know if this is still the case but last year our Delta flight flew in and out of that weird marine terminal at LGA?? It’s kind of an odd location but the TSA wait was basically zero so we got there way earlier than needed. I’ll know better for this year!

I wish southwest was better out of RIC. They used to have a great direct flight to MCO that we used for our honeymoon, but have ended that.

Did you also look at Newark? Whenever DH has to fly to NYC for business (a few times a year) he prefers to fly into Newark -- he says public transportation (train I think) is much easier from Newark than either JFK or LaGuardia.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Don't tell him that Alaska and Washington (since you'll be in Vancouver) are on the ring of fire and have volcano's. Don't let him read about Mt. St. Helens before you get back next summer And for sure don't let him look here https://www.avo.alaska.edu/activity/

I joke but I am glad I live on a hill and I know my ways out of the valley should I ever hear that something erupts. There are volcano evacuation route signs not far from where I live. I just hope if it ever happens it's Mt St Helens again and not Rainier because it's too pretty and it's closer.

Shhh. Don’t tell. He’s not good at geography yet. He is, however, already worried about the cruise ship sinking. We won’t be watching Titanic any time soon

ETA. A popular book series with 3rd graders is something called “I Survived...”. He now worries about sharks and tsunamis. We live in Chicago.

 

[pillow]

Did you get $25 or $10 offers?

I only got the $10. I haven't checked DH's account yet.

 

[babyready]

I got the Barclays Arrival Plus last May and earned the 50,000 point bonus (which is now over 62,000 points). I have not used any of the points yet, and it is a strong possibility that I won't in the next several months. I want to avoid paying the annual fee in late May, but I realize that if I cancel the card I will lose all of the points. Can I PC to the regular Arrival to avoid the annual fee and still keep my points?

I called to cancel mine yesterday and still have over 5000 points. She offered to downgrade me to an Arrival (no fee) or some other card I can't recall now. Also no fee.

After researching, I found that apps are closed on the no fee Arrival and is really only available through downgrade. Seems like a no brainer for me. No AF, no closing an account, can redeem at 2000 instead of 10000. I plan to downgrade, cash out my 5000 and then put it in the "sock drawer."

 

[miztressuz]

I'm an expert at earning them, lol...I just can't tell you what they're worth outside of my Schwab Plat theory cashing them out at 1.25cents each! When I earn them now (I cancelled my schwab plat) I cash out for gift cards at 1cpp and am happy to do so

Gotcha, and you showed my glaring labeling error of ".01 cpp" which would be one of the worst returns ever ! And this is part of the reason I avoid math as I know what I meant but I don't always label it correctly so anyone else does
So I checked in with hubby and we're sitting on about 48,000 MR between both our accounts, mostly his as I only just started using my card again a year ago. (but I did 10k in a year, i'm pretty proud of that one. go AmEx offers ) So the easiest would just be move them into another rewards program, but since we apparently paid the AF on the Green card already and past refund we can sit on them a bit until a good deal comes along.... I just have no clue what that might be.

I've bought gas store and restaurant gift cards from Speedway. Especially during this Chase quarter. And since I accumulate Speedway points as well I was getting 1500 Speedway points per gift card purchase. So I'm over halfway to being able to put my Speedway points towards a VISA gift card.

Great. And now I should figure out if I can squeeze another rewards program to track into the mix. Please don't tell me you earn rewards for gas at all? I never paid much attention to Speedway as I only go to one a few times a year and most rewards programs here only earn on the convenience store purchases which we don't usually use. But usually about every other fill up hubby hits the Speedway. If I can get points for gift cards, that might be more lucrative than the Acme program where the best we can do is about $17.

 

[elgerber]

Add me to the never been to Hawaii camp. Would love to go someday but no clue when that might happen. Could use my points to stay at Aulani but it’s just really not in the cards for the near future.

 

[afan]

Shhh. Don’t tell. He’s not good at geography yet. He is, however, already worried about the cruise ship sinking. We won’t be watching Titanic any time soon

ETA. A popular book series with 3rd graders is something called “I Survived...”. He now worries about sharks and tsunamis. We live in Chicago.

If it makes you feel better at 70, my mom is still scared of some bridges that go over salt water because she's scared of octopuses thanks to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea when she was young. She's ok on the ferry but I don't think she could do a cruise. She also avoids them at the aquarium, doesn't help the one at the Seattle Aquarium was an escape artist and could get out of his tank and cruise around the floor. I'm not sure he's still there though. And of course being the nice daughter I am I give her a hard time about this, especially lately with the home decor that has appeared the past few years. I never buy any of it but make sure to point it out when we're in the store

Now with the right earthquake, which probably could happen, Lake Michigan is big enough for a tsunami, but I won't give him that wild and crazy unlikely event. That book series doesn't seem age appropriate

 

[calypso726]

Why do I feel like the only one on this thread that has never been to Hawaii or has no current plans for Hawaii! I have never really had any desire to go, but Y'all are making me change my mind. lol

I never had the desire to go until they built Aulani. Having visited for the first time last year, I now want to see the rest of Hawaii and will likely go back every so often.

I was bummed to see it on only 1 of 3 cards.

Hate it when that happens. :-(

 

[wendow]

Did you get $25 or $10 offers?

I got both and they stacked! We got $35 off dinner tonight

 

[wendow]

I never had the desire to go until they built Aulani. Having visited for the first time last year, I now want to see the rest of Hawaii and will likely go back every so often.

Yep, my kids really want to go for Aulani. If we do end up going to Hawaii, I'll be picking the brains here for how to make Aulani happen for a fam of 6 for even just two nights.

 

[calypso726]

Yep, my kids really want to go for Aulani. If we do end up going to Hawaii, I'll be picking the brains here for how to make Aulani happen for a fam of 6 for even just two nights.

I'm doing that exact same plan for 2020. DH and I plan to take my mom, brother, sister in law and niece. So, 6 people. DH and I each picked up the Alaska Air card for the companion pass. I am planning to purchase an economy fare and get one free (ok for the price of the taxes) for each of them. That seemed the easiest route. I can always pick up a cash back card and erase the charges for the cost of the first flight and taxes if it's more than I want to pay. The rest would be using DVC points to stay. If I didn't have DVC points, I'd likely be using some cash back cards and bank bonuses to fund the cost of the hotel. Or, see if I could book it via Chase portal and use UR points to pay.

 

[Livelovedance]

This seems like a silly question but idk if I’m doing something wrong. How do you book SW flights using UR? I went in the travel section and searched some flights, but I don’t see SW. I don’t have flights to book right now, but I’m just trying to figure it out for future dates.

 

[wendow]

I'm doing that exact same plan for 2020. DH and I plan to take my mom, brother, sister in law and niece. So, 6 people. DH and I each picked up the Alaska Air card for the companion pass. I am planning to purchase an economy fare and get one free (ok for the price of the taxes) for each of them. That seemed the easiest route. I can always pick up a cash back card and erase the charges for the cost of the first flight and taxes if it's more than I want to pay. The rest would be using DVC points to stay. If I didn't have DVC points, I'd likely be using some cash back cards and bank bonuses to fund the cost of the hotel. Or, see if I could book it via Chase portal and use UR points to pay.

So, you picked up the Alaska card now for CP in 2020? How does that work? Renting dvc is probably my best (and least expensive) option I know my kids want this badly so I'd like to make Aulani a part of the trip. Do you know if it would be less expensive to do two studios or a 2-bedroom?

 

[wendow]

This seems like a silly question but idk if I’m doing something wrong. How do you book SW flights using UR? I went in the travel section and searched some flights, but I don’t see SW. I don’t have flights to book right now, but I’m just trying to figure it out for future dates.

Do you mean through the UR site? If so, you have to call them to book SW. However, the UR points transfer 1:1 to SW. So you could transfer to SW and then book on their site.