I love credit cards so much!

[Ava]

I have resigned myself to never being able to completely catch up on this thread. From now on just assume I’ve only read the most recent few pages before jumping back in with a post, lol.

I got my SPG Biz card in the mail today, and already made my first charge towards the MSR. Tomorrow I’ll chat AmEx to find out the exact date I have to meet it by. It will be a lot easier if I can get in three rent payments vs just two. I did end up getting my wife an “employee” card during the application process, and it came in the same envelope with my card, so that will help put more spend on the card. I also still have about $1600 left to meet the MSR on my Marriott Biz; I SM’d Chase and they said I have until June 23 to meet the spend, which by my calculations is 4 months from account opening but I’m not arguing. So the spends on both of those cards will take me through June. Then I have to decide my next move.

I also got the letter from Chase about the changes to the IHG free night. Bummer, but I’m not surprised based on the “eligible hotels” language in the info for the new cards. I have an unrestricted free night for this year but my wife just got her card in Feb so her first anniversary night will be capped. It actually probably won’t be a big deal for us since we don’t tend to stay at high-end properties with two young kids, but I may still cancel before our AFs hit next year partly because of the difficulty I’ve had getting points owed to me from completing the Q1 Accelerate offers. For some reason my 3-night stay in DC in Feb didn’t post to my account properly and I’ve been going back & forth with them trying to get all the points & nights credited. I’m still missing 28.8K points so haven’t been able to book the last 2 nights I need for Disneyland this July.

Oh, when did the 80K sign up bonus for the IHG card start showing up? DW applied in mid-Feb under the 60K for $1K offer but she hasn’t gotten her bonus yet. Wondering if there’s any chance of her getting matched to the higher offer or if she applied too long ago at this point.

 

[OhanaCuz]

Kind of a serious question...

What do you tell people when they mention the negatives of having credit cards?

I have co-workers here at my job that are somewhat light churners and always ask me for some advice on what card to go for next. I'll give them some suggestions, but occasionally I'll have another co-worker chime in with "credit cards are bad" and "I can't believe you guys pay those crazy interest rates." I'll mention that you don't pay interest on credit cards if you pay your balance in full every month but I don't think they quite get it.

It's also the same with my family (not married). I never ever share any financial info with them about how much I make and they see me traveling all the time. They don't quite get the idea/process of churning and always give me a mini lecture about compound interest and how it's bad for you.

Anybody else been in this situation?

I mention my credit score and the fact I never pay interest. Conversation killer for sure.

I know that there are better bonuses out there for the true churners. But for those of us taking churning slow, the CF and CFU are awesome if you want to maximize earning URs without constantly meeting a minimum spend. For everyday spending when not meeting a minimum spend, the 5X the CF gets is tough to match. I use it for things I would buy anyway, and I don't ever MS. I do not have the CFU, but it will be my next card. My thinking is to use it for categories I am not earning 5X with the CF, 2X on the CSP, Amex, or Discover IT 5x cash back categories. I won't get any new cards until I have had the Discover It for a year - trying to maximize the double cash back they offer so most of my spending goes on that right now. When the year is up I will only use the Discover It for the 5x categories.
Now if I churned like some of you do here, of course, CFU would be a card I would not be eager to get. I just can't stomach always trying to meet a minimum spend or MSing to meet a minimum spend. I give you all a lot of credit. But for me, taking it slow is the only way I could play this game.

This is me too. I've been doing CSR and CFU for quite a while.

I have resigned myself to never being able to completely catch up on this thread. From now on just assume I’ve only read the most recent few pages before jumping back in with a post, lol.

I can relate so much to this one!

 

[gottalovepluto]

I literally have not one snarky comment on this- not one. I just... I can’t even... of course they did. Anger -> laughing it off -> resignation = must be some sort of anger processing step program I’m working through... I want them all in JAIL. And I know it will never happen. Dang. Resignation again. https://thepointsguy.com/news/equifax-sent-wrong-letters-to-consumers-affected-by-hack/

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

@thevalley - I'm sorry you got caught up in the Reddit issues today. Somehow comments were not posting, Reddit indicates it's fixed but not all comments have been restored from what I can see. Can you please create a new comment in the "CHASE" support thread tomorrow - just say "Hello"...Once we see an actual comment appear there then I'll have you copy and paste the actual support link info in there. Tag me or send me a PM and we can work through this more to get your links up there.

 

[Judique]

I have resigned myself to never being able to completely catch up on this thread. From now on just assume I’ve only read the most recent few pages before jumping back in with a post, lol.

I got my SPG Biz card in the mail today, and already made my first charge towards the MSR. Tomorrow I’ll chat AmEx to find out the exact date I have to meet it by. It will be a lot easier if I can get in three rent payments vs just two. I did end up getting my wife an “employee” card during the application process, and it came in the same envelope with my card, so that will help put more spend on the card. I also still have about $1600 left to meet the MSR on my Marriott Biz; I SM’d Chase and they said I have until June 23 to meet the spend, which by my calculations is 4 months from account opening but I’m not arguing. So the spends on both of those cards will take me through June. Then I have to decide my next move.

I also got the letter from Chase about the changes to the IHG free night. Bummer, but I’m not surprised based on the “eligible hotels” language in the info for the new cards. I have an unrestricted free night for this year but my wife just got her card in Feb so her first anniversary night will be capped. It actually probably won’t be a big deal for us since we don’t tend to stay at high-end properties with two young kids, but I may still cancel before our AFs hit next year partly because of the difficulty I’ve had getting points owed to me from completing the Q1 Accelerate offers. For some reason my 3-night stay in DC in Feb didn’t post to my account properly and I’ve been going back & forth with them trying to get all the points & nights credited. I’m still missing 28.8K points so haven’t been able to book the last 2 nights I need for Disneyland this July.

Oh, when did the 80K sign up bonus for the IHG card start showing up? DW applied in mid-Feb under the 60K for $1K offer but she hasn’t gotten her bonus yet. Wondering if there’s any chance of her getting matched to the higher offer or if she applied too long ago at this point.

Congrats on the Biz card.

The 80K offer has been around at least since 2015 which is when I got it. It used to pop up on uncompleted bookings on the IHG site.

 

[Lain]

Oh, when did the 80K sign up bonus for the IHG card start showing up? DW applied in mid-Feb under the 60K for $1K offer but she hasn’t gotten her bonus yet. Wondering if there’s any chance of her getting matched to the higher offer or if she applied too long ago at this point.

Chase generally matches better offers within 90 days of applying for a card, so it sounds like there’s hope for DW’s card if you request a match via SM.

 

[KSR0330]

Yes. And if you want CSR 1.5x rate or CSP/CIP 1.25x rate you need to be holding that card at time of booking. In general I think most of us hold onto 1 premium card for these benefits and downgrade the rest of the cards.

You’d need a CSP, CSR, or CIP to transfer to Chase’s travel partners too. If you want to use UR points for WDW/US, then yes, it sounds like you need access to the UR portal or Chase’s Tours and Cruise Dept. and you’d need one of the premium UR cards.

Thanks! I got a CSP last month. My plan is to get a CIP next and then a SPG for points to use at Swan/Dolphin. Would it be crazy to get a Capital One Venture for the travel credit that I can use at Undercover Tourist for park tix? I also want a CF, but don't have anything to PC to it, so I would just need to apply for it. (I'm 4/24 now, one of which drops off in Sept and another in Jan).

 

[amalone1013]

Last night we stopped at target because DH needed socks. Went through self checkout and I used Samsung pay... DH goes, oh, we should of used the new card! I said don't worry, I did

 

[GlamMistress]

I literally have not one snarky comment on this- not one. I just... I can’t even... of course they did. Anger -> laughing it off -> resignation = must be some sort of anger processing step program I’m working through... I want them all in JAIL. And I know it will never happen. Dang. Resignation again. https://thepointsguy.com/news/equifax-sent-wrong-letters-to-consumers-affected-by-hack/

I know.
My husband received a letter from ExpressScripts yesterday approving his prescription... for a doctor that is 8 states away for a medical condition he doesn't have. He spent an hour on the phone already today trying to get it sorted out. It's unreal.

To clarify: it was addressed to DH with our address plain as day and everything.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Fun!!! Might want to consider springing for the 3 day ticket when you get closer to your trip*. Our “Disney Springs” sucks to put it nicely. And a good chunk of the end of it with Earls/Rainforest Cafe/ESPN/movie theaters will be in the process of being demolished. And the World of Disney Store is only operating at part capacity as its undergoing a major refurbishment that will last all year. *unless you have other LA plans of course!

Yeah we did a little bit of Disney Springs when we were there in 2016. I told DH that for now I'm just going to buy two day tickets, but if we're getting through our second day and decide there's something else we want to do, we'll go ahead and buy a third day. If not, we'll just do some Disney Springs and then look for something else to do in LA. We were only there for four days before and one of those days was DL, so we can definitely find something else to do!

I love how spontaneously (and serendipitously) all of this came together!

Right?! I really don't know how this came together so well... I still have to book our tickets back, but based on the prices I'm seeing on Google Flights I'm thinking the ticket price might come down another $30 or so, so I'm going to keep a price tracker on it and see what happens. We still can't figure out how DH accumulated so many United points, but I'm not complaining!

@DisneyMandC yay happy birthday t ok you! So glad you're going! DH is so mad Paint the Night comes back just after we leave this time around - hey, I am too!0

Sounds like you need another trip...

 

[DisneyMandC]

I know.
My husband received a letter from ExpressScripts yesterday approving his prescription... for a doctor that is 8 states away for a medical condition he doesn't have. He spent an hour on the phone already today trying to get it sorted out. It's unreal.

To clarify: it was addressed to DH with our address plain as day and everything.

I received an e-mail last week thanking me for enrolling online in My Verizon... except I haven't had Verizon service in over two years. The phone call to their fraud department reminded me of why I'm not longer a customer of theirs.

 

[Lain]

we'll just do some Disney Springs

Lol. It’s still just “Downtown Disney” at the Disneyland Resort.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Just booked our DVC reservation at Poly for our WDW trip next March! It says we have 334 days to go. So excited for this trip, as it will be DD's first. I am just imagining all of the fun things to do with her and it is making me giddy. We already have our park tickets, so I just have to worry about airfare and dining. Will probably use Delta points to book the flights once award tickets are up. I even marked our dining reservation and fast pass dates on my calendar.

 

[Lain]

Thanks! I got a CSP last month. My plan is to get a CIP next and then a SPG for points to use at Swan/Dolphin. Would it be crazy to get a Capital One Venture for the travel credit that I can use at Undercover Tourist for park tix? I also want a CF, but don't have anything to PC to it, so I would just need to apply for it. (I'm 4/24 now, one of which drops off in Sept and another in Jan).

Just a few thoughts:

• You're at 4/24, so you've got one slot left for a personal card before you're out with Chase for a lot of their cards until Sept.
• You can (and should) get either the CIP or CIC next (depending on whether you value the signup bonus or bonus categories). There's a rumor the CIC's 50k UR signup offer may expire 5/20/18. Neither card will add to your 4/24 with Chase.
• Getting a SPG Biz after the CIP or CIC won't add to your 4/24 with Chase. The current public offer is back down to 25k SPG points after $5k MSR/3 months.
• Going for the Capital One Venture will add to your 4/24 with Chase and push you to 5/24. I can't weigh in on whether you should get the card or not; but if you do, you should wait until you use your last slot on a Chase card subject to the 5/24 rule.
• September is 4-5 months away. The CIP or CIC and SPG will have you spending a combined $6-8k in MSR during that time.
• You could use your last slot to get the Chase Freedom in the next 4-5 months, until another card drops off in September. See if you have a preselected (targeted) offer in your Chase account for this card.
  
• For timing purposes, keep in mind CF's 5x categories for April-June are grocery stores, PayPal and Chase Pay, which should be very easy to max out. July-September's categories haven't been announced, but has historically been something like restaurants.
• You could use your last slot to double dip the CF and another one of Chase's 5/24 cards (maybe a personal Marriott to transfer points to SPG?), which will take you to 6/24, so you'll need 2 cards to drop off without adding any more, so until January, before you can apply for another one of Chase's 5/24 cards.

ETA: Correction.

And just another thought. You could consider getting the CIC first, instead of the CIP as you planned to next, because the CIC is currently at a higher 50k UR offer that's usually only available in-branch through a Chase BRM, and the rumor is the offer will expire 5/20/18. In addition to the higher signup bonus, the CIP is a solid UR earner that'll get you 5x at office supply stores (think gift cards) and gift card apps; and internet, phone and cable bills, all for $0 AF. The CIC carries a MSR of $3k/3 months.

If you apply for the CIC this month, you can get the SPG Biz next, then the CF with your last slot in the next 4 months. When a card drops off in September, and you're back down to 4/24, you'll be at about 4-5 months since getting the CIC. Keep a slot open for the CIP at about 6+ months after getting the CIC. Most people think the public 80k UR signup bonus will stick around for the CIP.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Lol. It’s still just “Downtown Disney” at the Disneyland Resort.

Oops. And here I'd finally gotten used to calling it Disney Springs at WDW

 

[peel]

It looks like IHG is even blocking a lot of 40,000 properties from the free night.
http://mommypoints.boardingarea.com...sary-award-night-list-of-excluded-properties/

 

[miztressuz]

Just a few thoughts:

• You're at 4/24, so you've got one slot left for a personal card before you're out with Chase for a lot of their cards until Sept.
• You can (and should) get either the CIP or CIC next (depending on whether you value the signup bonus or bonus categories). There's a rumor the CIC's 50k UR signup offer may expire 5/20/18. Neither card will add to your 4/24 with Chase.
• Getting a SPG Biz after the CIP or CIC won't add to your 4/24 with Chase. The current public offer is back down to 25k SPG points after $3k MSR/3 months.
• Going for the Capital One Venture will add to your 4/24 with Chase and push you to 5/24. I can't weigh in on whether you should get the card or not; but if you do, you should wait until you use your last slot on a Chase card subject to the 5/24 rule.
• September is 4-5 months away. The CIP or CIC and SPG will have you spending a combined $6-8k in MSR during that time.
• You could use your last slot to get the Chase Freedom in the next 4-5 months, until another card drops off in September. See if you have a preselected (targeted) offer in your Chase account for this card.
  
• For timing purposes, keep in mind CF's 5x categories for April-June are grocery stores, PayPal and Chase Pay, which should be very easy to max out. July-September's categories haven't been announced, but has historically been something like restaurants.
• You could use your last slot to double dip the CF and another one of Chase's 5/24 cards (maybe a personal Marriott to transfer points to SPG?), which will take you to 6/24, so you'll need 2 cards to drop off without adding any more, so until January, before you can apply for another one of Chase's 5/24 cards.

Slight correction, SPG Biz is 5k in 3 months, the Personal is 3k in 3 months.

 

[CoP Luv]

It's been a wonderful weekend.

First, I got approved for the IHG which I am now not happy about, burning my 3/24 slot. I know it's not too big of a deal to most, but I am playing this very conservatively with apps.

Second, only hours after the IHG approval, we got a HUGE surprise bill for something that needs to be paid by the end of the month. I don't do surprise bills. They make me ill. This one has kept me up at night even though we have the money to pay it, and thank goodness for an emergency fund, but now I have to pay back our emergency fund. To me, that's debt, even if it is to ourselves and I don't like debt. At all.

Anyway, this bill is to the tune of $10k. I can pay for it with a cc but at a 1.87% fee.

1/17 - CSR
Summer/17 - Disney Visa
3/18 (last week) - IHG

Credit: Mid 8's

Travel Plans: Europe this summer, but that is paid for. Fall: Weekend trip to Disney but no parks, just on-site hotel and flight. Next Winter: Cruise but that is paid for, but will need flights and possibly pre-cruise stay (and if I can convince DH to do a two week vacation, a 5 bight trip before in Disney but this probably not going to happen)

We generally lean towards United because we are in a hub city and have a decent amount of miles. Most of the time have cheap(er) flights to Florida which is where we will need to fly in the next year.

What is my best option for a MSR for $10k that I can wipe out in one swipe?

 

[miztressuz]

It looks like IHG is even blocking a lot of 40,000 properties from the free night.
http://mommypoints.boardingarea.com...sary-award-night-list-of-excluded-properties/

Well that's absolutely terrible. All their language so far has been based on point values and nothing else for exclusions. So I'm hoping it's a programing error when they generated the list, and not that they'll be raising the points for those hotels. I see something from Chase in my informed delivery email so I guess that's my bad news letter to make it official.

 

[Lain]

Slight correction, SPG Biz is 5k in 3 months, the Personal is 3k in 3 months.

Thanks for that! I should refrain from any heavy thinking before my first cup of coffee.