I love credit cards so much!

[Albort]

What do we think will happen to the Chase Marriott and Amex SPG cards?

Amex SPG Personal: Consumer card, not “super premium,” I doubt it’ll be converted to Amex’s “super premium” Starriott consumer card. Per VFTW, it’ll be “grandfathered” — does that mean Amex will continue to keep the card as an SPG personal card? Or will Amex send this portfolio over to Chase?

Amex SPG Business: Small business card, which is what Amex got out of the Starriott cards negotiations. I think the SPG Biz is most likely to be converted to a Starriott Biz, if at all. If forceably converted, does this preclude us from getting a once in lifetime signup bonus by signing up for the new Starriott Biz since we’ll be deemed to have had this product by conversion?

Chase Marriott Personal: Consumer card which fits in with what Chase will be issuing. Will it be converted to the new Starriott personal card? I’m guessing we can cancel the card and sign up for the Starriott personal card bonus.

Chase Marriott Business: Chase won’t issue Starriott business cards, so either these accounts get sent to Amex or they get converted to one of Chase’s own products (like the Fairmont to CSP), maybe a CIP or CIC?

feels like a ton of swapping between Amex and Chase.
how i see it, Amex has regular card, biz card. Chase has the super premium(ritz?), regular, and biz.
Ritz - convert to CSR or the new Stariott.
my guess is SPG Personal will just continue until Amex or Marriott decides to end it. So my guess this card will continue for a year or 2.
Amex SPG Biz, ur probably right.
Chase Marriott Personal: probably convert to a Stariott card.
Chase Marriott Buz: my guess is new Stariott Biz or CIC.

I'm trying to follow the info on SPG/Marriott but it seems so confusing! DH has about 50k SPG I have 42k SPG and 120k Marriott. I was thinking about combining them for an air/hotel package on Marriott at some point. Should I be combining the points now? All our travel plans are set for this year and I don't have any specific plans to use it - should I pull the trigger now or wait it out?

Its so unknown right now. honestly lots of speculation.
- Just read that the OP who started all this says it will announce in August but wont combine till end of 2018. Source This is however countered by an actual card
- Speculation of no more airline partners seems fabricated. I want to believe that. The editor for OMAAT also confirms, the poster was posting with the same IP with different names
- Theres some speculations on how to get SPG customers happy, someone mentioned an offer to get SPGers to transfer to Marriott. (1:4 Ratio). They also think its probably best to split your SPG/Marriott points in half, keeping half on one side, half in another just in case.
- The idea of dynamic awards could be devastating idea imo. @SouthFayetteFan kinda talked about this earlier on since this is how SouthWest points are done. my thoughts is the dynamic award would most likely take away the Night and Flights program, there isnt a way to impliment this imo.
- Status is in 5 tiers. The strangest thing is that to get to the status, u need to have enough nights... and you also need to meet some kind of spending requirements. as of right now, we know the higher tier platinum will have a 30k required spendings. The idea of this is perhaps to encourage consumers to get a starriott credit card, to help with this spendings... instead of a general card(ie CSR, Amex Plat, TYP Prestige)
- Breakfast for status holders have been expended. How high of a status u need to get Free Breakfast, is currently unknown.
Theres a few others... but nothing too fascinating. it seems both sides will devalue.

My current ideal is just to hold off on anything rational until ppl start confirming. i think 16th, there will be some announcements. I doubt they will pull the plug immediately on anything.

edit: added more.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Well, I am feeling very fortunate this afternoon. Found out today that DH is getting a fantastic bonus from work that will pay off my student loan completely! I am so excited that we now have this opportunity to knock off a student loan payment and get $100 back in our budget every month!

That being said... I of course need everyone's help to figure out the best way to pay it

So it's a "private" student loan (a Perkins loan to be exact) not through anyone like Sallie Mae or Great Lakes or Fed Loan Servicing. I haven't used Plastiq yet, but I'm thinking my best option will be to use CIP to pay the loan with a check sent to the company through Plastiq for a 2.5% fee and 3x UR, correct? I will, of course, use a referral link when I do.

DH has a CIP that we just finished our MSR on and I'm planning to apply for my own CIP next month. Assuming I'm approved (only other business card is Marriott Biz back in January, so hopefully ok), I think I'm going to do a test payment through Plastiq just to make sure everything works out with this student loan processor like it should. As long as it does, I'll go ahead and pay everything else off through Plastiq.

Am I missing anything?

 

[StephPlum]

Marriott question. When do you normally see points in your Marriott account after a paid stay? Just stayed at a Marriott in Atlanta; checked out on Sunday. I don't see my points for my paid stay or the extra "green stay" points yet. Probably being impatient but I crave instant gratification!!! I have to wait on my SPG points on the CC, I don't want to wait on my reward points as well.

 

[Judique]

Theres some speculations on how to get SPG customers happy, someone mentioned an offer to get SPGers to transfer to Marriott. (1:4 Ratio). They also think its probably best to split your SPG/Marriott points in half, keeping half on one side, half in another just in case.

I haven't linked my accounts nor have I transferred any points between programs.

I wonder if there are a lot of SPG members who haven't linked?

It's not that I consider the 1:3 conversion a bad deal. Just not ready to commit. I've had a Marriott account almost as long as I've had a Starwood account, but rarely stayed in Marriotts. I just liked Westin a lot.

Anyway, I'm not rushing into anything. And if something actually comes down, I like @Albort's idea of a better transfer ratio.

The way I see it, the bloggers need something to talk about to bring attention to their blogging businesses so this is the biggie right now. And, Marriott is going to do what is best for their company, and a good reward program is part of that so long as they have viable competition.

 

[mom2elal]

Bummer...we had to drop $800 on work on the car today. And the worst part? They don't take American Express and that's the only card we're working on MSR for until DH's SW card comes in the mail.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Well, I am feeling very fortunate this afternoon. Found out today that DH is getting a fantastic bonus from work that will pay off my student loan completely! I am so excited that we now have this opportunity to knock off a student loan payment and get $100 back in our budget every month!

That being said... I of course need everyone's help to figure out the best way to pay it

So it's a "private" student loan (a Perkins loan to be exact) not through anyone like Sallie Mae or Great Lakes or Fed Loan Servicing. I haven't used Plastiq yet, but I'm thinking my best option will be to use CIP to pay the loan with a check sent to the company through Plastiq for a 2.5% fee and 3x UR, correct? I will, of course, use a referral link when I do.

DH has a CIP that we just finished our CIP on and I'm planning to apply for my own CIP next month. Assuming I'm approved (only other business card is Marriott Biz back in January, so hopefully ok), I think I'm going to do a test payment through Plastiq just to make sure everything works out with this student loan processor like it should. As long as it does, I'll go ahead and pay everything else off through Plastiq.

Am I missing anything?

That’s AWESOME!!

The only caution I have is to calculate out how much the fee would ultimately cost you if it coded 1x. Odds of that happening? Low, but not zero, so know your risk going into the transaction. (And I did a $25 test the first time I paid Mohela on Plastiq- very happy I did because it took over a week to show on Mohela’s website & any more than $25 I would have been so nervous about it. Whole thing worked fine!)

 

[Lain]

Well, I am feeling very fortunate this afternoon. Found out today that DH is getting a fantastic bonus from work that will pay off my student loan completely! I am so excited that we now have this opportunity to knock off a student loan payment and get $100 back in our budget every month!

That being said... I of course need everyone's help to figure out the best way to pay it

So it's a "private" student loan (a Perkins loan to be exact) not through anyone like Sallie Mae or Great Lakes or Fed Loan Servicing. I haven't used Plastiq yet, but I'm thinking my best option will be to use CIP to pay the loan with a check sent to the company through Plastiq for a 2.5% fee and 3x UR, correct? I will, of course, use a referral link when I do.

DH has a CIP that we just finished our CIP on and I'm planning to apply for my own CIP next month. Assuming I'm approved (only other business card is Marriott Biz back in January, so hopefully ok), I think I'm going to do a test payment through Plastiq just to make sure everything works out with this student loan processor like it should. As long as it does, I'll go ahead and pay everything else off through Plastiq.

Am I missing anything?

If you have a CIP, the best and easiest way to pay a student loan is by using Plastiq.

Plastiq charges a 2.5% fee, but still earning 3x UR back on the payment and fee on the CIP, which is worth 1.5x more when transferred to the CSR. This -- like everything else in CC world -- could change at any time, so you should not delay.

Student loan payments are fine on Plastiq with Visas; but don't play well with Amex. We pay ours with CIP.

The other popular option was $500 Gift of College gift cards, which carried a $5.95 activation fee (1.19%). This is no longer an option for a lot of people because they're no longer sold at Toys R Us/Babies R Us and can now only be bought at HEB in Texas. Lower denominations (e.g. $300) are still available online but the fee makes the percentage cost uneconomical. If you have a CIP and use Plastiq, it's a slight money maker so GoC cards never really made sense even with the lower fee, unless you're trying to work on MSR for a card that doesn't earn 2.5%+ back on Plastiq or doesn't pay well with student loans on Plastiq.

 

[Mopedmom1]

Funny, I read a blog post about this a month ago on FrequentMiler. I'm copying what one of the commenters ("Al Proudfoot") said about buying cars with a credit card:

>>I bought 2 cars in the last 5 months and used a CC on both of them. I used an AMEX on both, but could have used a Visa or MC if I wanted to. I negotiated a rock bottom deal and when asked if I wanted to finance, I said no but I will be paying with a CC. Their policy was to allow for $5k max so i told them that I am ready to buy now with my CC or happy to go to a competing dealer across town. I told the salesman that if the floor manager or finance manager comes out of the back, I would leave immediately. “You are my salesman so you get the deal done for me or I will leave”. <<

Sounds like the guy was willing to be hard-nosed about it and it worked for him. Don't know that I would have the endurance (I hate buying cars) to go through all that myself...

I am not afraid of being hard-nosed with a car salesman. My husband just cringes every time we go through the process. I walked on a deal because the salesman wouldn't throw in wheel locks. (Idiot!) Surprised him! But he caved in the end.

So far every place we have stopped takes AMEX ranging from 1k to 20%. May have to push this one HARD.

 

[wendow]

Just got to enjoy the PP lounge at Denver airport. Really good with big portions. Server says they are not closing. The smoking lounge next door closed and word got out the whole place was closing. He says that is not true.

 

[DisneyMandC]

That’s AWESOME!!

The only caution I have is to calculate out how much the fee would ultimately cost you if it coded 1x. Odds of that happening? Low, but not zero, so know your risk going into the transaction. (And I did a $25 test the first time I paid Mohela on Plastiq- very happy I did because it took over a week to show on Mohela’s website & any more than $25 I would have been so nervous about it. Whole thing worked fine!)

Thanks! Yeah, I'm definitely going to do a test payment first of a couple hundred and make sure it works our like it should before I do anything drastic. Maybe even break the payment up into a couple plastiq payments in case something suddenly changes.

If you have a CIP, the best and easiest way to pay a student loan is by using Plastiq.

Plastiq charges a 2.5% fee, but still earning 3x UR back on the payment and fee on the CIP, which is worth 1.5x more when transferred to the CSR. This -- like everything else in CC world -- could change at any time, so you should not delay.

Student loan payments are fine on Plastiq with Visas; but don't play well with Amex. We pay ours with CIP.

The other popular option was $500 Gift of College gift cards, which carried a $5.95 activation fee (1.19%). This is no longer an option for a lot of people because they're no longer sold at Toys R Us/Babies R Us and can now only be bought at HEB in Texas. Lower denominations (e.g. $300) are still available online but the fee makes the percentage cost uneconomical. If you have a CIP and use Plastiq, it's a slight money maker so GoC cards never really made sense even with the lower fee, unless you're trying to work on MSR for a card that doesn't earn 2.5%+ back on Plastiq or doesn't pay well with student loans on Plastiq.

Definitely will be using CIP! And even if I don't get approved for some reason, I will just use DH's CIP. We won't have this money until mid-May so I'll be keeping an eye on things and make sure nothing changes before then.

I'm not going to use the GoC option, but could those be used for student loans? I thought they could only be used to pay for actual tuition or fund 529s.

 

[Lain]

Definitely will be using CIP! And even if I don't get approved for some reason, I will just use DH's CIP. We won't have this money until mid-May so I'll be keeping an eye on things and make sure nothing changes before then.

I'm not going to use the GoC option, but could those be used for student loans? I thought they could only be used to pay for actual tuition or fund 529s.

Guide to Paying Student Loans with Credit Cards

 

[DisneyMandC]

Guide to Paying Student Loans with Credit Cards

Learn something new everyday!

 

[Albort]

I haven't linked my accounts nor have I transferred any points between programs.

I wonder if there are a lot of SPG members who haven't linked?

i dont think so. The one thing your missing from not linking is a status match between SPG and MAR. Other than that, the only way to transfers from MAR-->SO MAR for free would be to go from MAR-->SPG --> SO SPG --> SO MAR.
other than that, i dont see anything helpful to link them haha.

 

[Judique]

i dont think so. The one thing your missing from not linking is a status match between SPG and MAR. Other than that, the only way to transfers from MAR-->SO MAR for free would be to go from MAR-->SPG --> SO SPG --> SO MAR.
other than that, i dont see anything helpful to link them haha.

If I had status it might matter! At one point I was gold but I was doing about 50 nights a year in hotels back then. Doesn't look like gold is even worth having.

 

[gottalovepluto]

If I had status it might matter! At one point I was gold but I was doing about 50 nights a year in hotels back then. Doesn't look like gold is even worth having.

That puts it in perspective for me actually. If I was committed enough to do 50 nights in one specific program I would want more than free breakfast...

 

[DaveL]

They’re wrong. Currently helping family with two CIPs who transfer to the same CSR each month. All 3 accounts even have different logins. If it doesn’t work for you tomorrow I would either call Chase or try removing the card and re-entering it if that is possible.

I've had this happen to me before too. I removed the card I didn't want anymore, waited 24 hours, then linked the card I wanted. Then it worked fine.

After removing the card and trying today it worked just fine. I linked that card over a year ago and have made several transfers, I guess you can only have it linked to one account now-a-days.

 

[3 DD love princesses]

Well, I am feeling very fortunate this afternoon. Found out today that DH is getting a fantastic bonus from work that will pay off my student loan completely! I am so excited that we now have this opportunity to knock off a student loan payment and get $100 back in our budget every month!

That being said... I of course need everyone's help to figure out the best way to pay it

So it's a "private" student loan (a Perkins loan to be exact) not through anyone like Sallie Mae or Great Lakes or Fed Loan Servicing. I haven't used Plastiq yet, but I'm thinking my best option will be to use CIP to pay the loan with a check sent to the company through Plastiq for a 2.5% fee and 3x UR, correct? I will, of course, use a referral link when I do.

DH has a CIP that we just finished our CIP on and I'm planning to apply for my own CIP next month. Assuming I'm approved (only other business card is Marriott Biz back in January, so hopefully ok), I think I'm going to do a test payment through Plastiq just to make sure everything works out with this student loan processor like it should. As long as it does, I'll go ahead and pay everything else off through Plastiq.

Am I missing anything?

Think the others summed it up. I’ll add that I’ve been paying dhs student loan. It’s been going through for months.
I would go ahead and do a test payment now of $20 or more. This way you have time to see how it codes on your dhs CIP. Then once you apply and get yours I’d do less than half of what your credit limit is to start.

 

[GlamMistress]

I will be paying my state taxes tomorrow with a Delta Biz, I will let you know how that goes.

I paid my taxes via Official Payments with my Delta Amex. Got the points.

 

[Angrose]

Yup, I see the counter-DP already.

And then we're left to wonder who to believe? Or are both telling the truth but we're missing some other details?? And of course there's always the thought of why do I care since I don't use pay1040 myself...but I do care dagnabbit!! Churning is life! hahaha!

I used pay1040.com a few weeks ago to help meet MSR on AMEX Biz Gold and it worked just fine. Bonus MRs posted a few days later!

 

[DisneyMandC]

Think the others summed it up. I’ll add that I’ve been paying dhs student loan. It’s been going through for months.
I would go ahead and do a test payment now of $20 or more. This way you have time to see how it codes on your dhs CIP. Then once you apply and get yours I’d do less than half of what your credit limit is to start.

Great idea. I’ll get signed up tomorrow and do a payment to make sure I’m in the clear!