I love credit cards so much!

[CyndiLouWho]

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.

I'm impatiently waiting for booking to open at Swan so I can book our spring break trip next March. So fun!

 

[mefordis]

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?

Thank you for posting this as I'm in the same boat! I have 5k left on my SPG Amex 7k spend, then I have about 6k in hospital bills that I can use for a new card and I'm looking for recommendations. I am full at 5/24 but my husband I believe has 2 slots left, so maybe a Chase Freedom for him? That's not a lot of UR points though.

 

[amalone1013]

I'm training a new hire so I don't have chrome up (and this board) like I normally would... so my phone is going crazy this morning, and I know it's DH by the text tone. I finally pick it up and read, can we cancel the hotel for BILs wedding? I checked and it's free cancellation until tomorrow... so we can, but why would we do that? Oh, bc other BIL wants to book an Airbnb that will hold all of us, including in laws and DHs aunt, and cover it. Don't have to twist my arm!

 

[Calfan]

I received a letter in the mail from Amex yesterday regarding an increase in the annual fee on my Hilton Honors Ascend card to $95 and indicating I should call in if I reject this change. Why, yes, I do reject this change! I product changed to the no AF version to keep the card for purposes of any interesting Amex offers that might pop up. Otherwise, it isn't (and wasn't) a card I was planning to put any spend on. Got it initially for the 100,000 point bonus which I used to book two nights at the Los Angeles/Universal City Hilton for a trip this summer.

ETA: They will be giving me a pro rata refund of the current AF.

 

[Albort]

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

New land coming to Downtown Disney. I think its called Downtown Disney construction zone...

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?

Im not familiar with this card, i think the only person is is @calypso726 but its 3k for 50k, 10k for another 50k. 100k after 10k. This the only card(besides amex biz card but not at its highest) that has a high MSR. Could work well flying to europe. If not, CIP has a $5k MSR which is not bad. what about your SO? it would be a good chance to double dip the CSR/CSP combo, that would go up to $8k there.

 

[Lain]

New land coming to Downtown Disney. I think its called Downtown Disney construction zone...

I have the Disneyland Hotel booked for Thanksgiving, but I'm seriously considering changing the reservation over to the Grand Californian if the construction on that end starts looking really bad. It a shame because DD loves the DLH's pools. I suppose I'll get a better picture by the end of summer.

 

[speedyfishy]

My referral points for referring SO to the CIP are pending!! Thank you to everyone who told me they would post shortly and not to worry lol. It took about three weeks from approval.

 

[trenty]

Southwest Just Made It More Expensive to Redeem Points for Its Cheapest Fares

https://thepointsguy.com/news/south...itorial&utm_campaign=FACEBOOK-100000207263198

 

[WVMomof3]

Southwest changes point redemption.

https://thepointsguy.com/news/southwest-updates-points-value/

Has anyone cancelled a ticket booked through UR travel portal? Do you just get cash back travel funds added to your RR account?

 

[WVMomof3]

jinx @trenty lol

 

[amalone1013]

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

Dh keeps saying Disney Springs and Magic Kingdom... he'll be like, we can go from California Adventure to Magic Kingdom, and I say, that will take a while

 

[GZanta77]

I received a letter in the mail from Amex yesterday regarding an increase in the annual fee on my Hilton Honors Ascend card to $95 and indicating I should call in if I reject this change. Why, yes, I do reject this change! I product changed to the no AF version to keep the card for purposes of any interesting Amex offers that might pop up. Otherwise, it isn't (and wasn't) a card I was planning to put any spend on. Got it initially for the 100,000 point bonus which I used to book two nights at the Los Angeles/Universal City Hilton for a trip this summer.

ETA: They will be giving me a pro rata refund of the current AF.

I think my HHonors Ascend card is on its last legs too - don't know if I'll even bother with the no fee - might free up some space for a future Aspire.

 

[Lain]

Southwest Just Made It More Expensive to Redeem Points for Its Cheapest Fares

https://thepointsguy.com/news/south...itorial&utm_campaign=FACEBOOK-100000207263198

Southwest changes point redemption.

https://thepointsguy.com/news/southwest-updates-points-value/

Has anyone cancelled a ticket booked through UR travel portal? Do you just get cash back travel funds added to your RR account?

ooooh... @SouthFayetteFan isn't going to like this...

 

[thevalley]

@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.

Well i have my fingers crossed that this is working now. lol. thanks for looking into this for me. Last night was definitely a night i don't want to repeat. It was my first time posting on Reddit and i was lost not to mention that Reddit was acting up. thanks again to all!!!

 

[miztressuz]

Southwest Just Made It More Expensive to Redeem Points for Its Cheapest Fares

https://thepointsguy.com/news/south...itorial&utm_campaign=FACEBOOK-100000207263198

So anytime a program says new stuff is coming I figure it's not usually for the better. But I'm thinking this may not be as bad as it looks. So yes, it does suck that I still only earn 6RR/$ on Wanna Get Away but need 13x that to redeem them. However, if all fare classes are going to cost the same points (practically) do you get any benefits by booking the higher classes with points? If you get the same benefits that come with that fare class using points the same as cash, that seems like it might be ok sometimes.
If that's the case it seems like they just devalued the higher classes, as with all things being equal, everyone's going to pick the higher class fares to redeem.
I'm cheap so I don't know, the only time I've ever booked a standard fare was through work for a trip so I didn't pay for it (it was nice getting those points for free though! ) and we're not picky about most things so I always pick the cheapest fare option when paying points.
(Which is why one time we flew BWI-FLL with a layover in TPA both ways... but I got 2 RT flights for about 10k total) Well strike that 'always' I guess, we're getting older now and there are certain things hubby won't do anymore, like 6 or 7am flights, so I should probably start saying 'usually' instead

 

[1st*toright]

Southwest Just Made It More Expensive to Redeem Points for Its Cheapest Fares

https://thepointsguy.com/news/south...itorial&utm_campaign=FACEBOOK-100000207263198

I'm so confused - why would anyone ever use points for anything other than the cheapest fare on SW (unless the wanna get away was sold out)? Refundability is moot with points, and I'm not sure how many points I'd be willing to spend on a free drink. So this seems like it is mostly just increasing the point-expense for WGA fares.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Southwest - Updated point valuation Math
Thank you to those that posted this unfortunate news. The change to a factor of 78 certainly affects what these points are worth on a go forward basis - here's illustrations at various price points (my cpp valuations exclude the $5.60 you pay OOP):

• $103 Fare = 6,443 points = 1.51 cpp
• $143 Fare = 9,345 points = 1.47 cpp
• $176 Fare = 11,739 points = 1.45 cpp
• $209 Fare = 14,133 points = 1.45 cpp

It's always been generally understood that you get a higher cpp on lower cost flights. This certainly still holds true. Over numerous redemptions, I had decided personally that SW RR points were previously worth 1.61 cpp. Based on this update and my general flight cost of approx $130 I would say they are now worth about 1.48cpp. In simple terms what this means is 1,000 SW points used to be worth $16.10 and are now worth $14.80.

While devaluations are never good news - it is understood in this game. If you hang around long enough these things happen to you, many times over. Southwest has had much worse devaluations than this in the past actually.

If you have a lot of SW points (I have 559,738 to be exact) this does kind of stink. I had the value of those pegged at $9,012 entering today...and now they are worth $8,284...I lost $728. But you can't let yourself look at it that way, it's just part of the game. And $8k in free flights is still pretty great!

 

[Lain]

Some highlights from DoC this morning:

(Targeted) AmEx Offer: Amazon, Spend $50+ & Receive $20 Statement Credit/2,000 Membership Rewards

(Targeted) Plastiq 10% Back In Fee Free Dollars On New Recipients In April

Doesn't look like I'm targeted for either. Hope you guys have better luck!

 

[GZanta77]

So anytime a program says new stuff is coming I figure it's not usually for the better. But I'm thinking this may not be as bad as it looks. So yes, it does suck that I still only earn 6RR/$ on Wanna Get Away but need 13x that to redeem them. However, if all fare classes are going to cost the same points (practically) do you get any benefits by booking the higher classes with points? If you get the same benefits that come with that fare class using points the same as cash, that seems like it might be ok sometimes.
If that's the case it seems like they just devalued the higher classes, as with all things being equal, everyone's going to pick the higher class fares to redeem.
I'm cheap so I don't know, the only time I've ever booked a standard fare was through work for a trip so I didn't pay for it (it was nice getting those points for free though! ) and we're not picky about most things so I always pick the cheapest fare option when paying points.

Not exactly - all fares are based on the cash price. The higher fare buckets have a higher cash price so need more points. Might be the same number of points per $, but will still need considerably more points for the higher class fares.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

I'm so confused - why would anyone ever use points for anything other than the cheapest fare on SW (unless the wanna get away was sold out)? Refundability is moot with points, and I'm not sure how many points I'd be willing to spend on a free drink. So this seems like it is mostly just increasing the point-expense for WGA fares.

You'd only do it if the WGA fare was sold out (which although it's never happened to me, I know people who have done that). Typically in that scenario though the math previously just made sense to pay cash (not use points). With this change somebody caught in that rare scenario could actually redeem points now and now have it be a complete slap in the face.