I love credit cards so much!

[WVMomof3]

When I call the Chase tours department to get tickets, does it matter that all our points are currently on DH CSR and I am not a AU on that card? In other words, does he need to call?

 

[Gwmw1210]

Just did my CIP application using DH's referral link! 30 days, as usual for me. Time to start obsessively calling... hoping I'll have an answer by the end of this week.

Right there with ya! Just did DH (second) CIP application. Messed up the first one with the LLC thing. I waited 31 days so I hope all goes well. Hoping your approval comes soon also.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

When I call the Chase tours department to get tickets, does it matter that all our points are currently on DH CSR and I am not a AU on that card? In other words, does he need to call?

How low can your voice go? Lol...I’d say to actually use the points, yes he will need to call.

 

[DisneyMandC]

When I call the Chase tours department to get tickets, does it matter that all our points are currently on DH CSR and I am not a AU on that card? In other words, does he need to call?

How low can your voice go? Lol...I’d say to actually use the points, yes he will need to call.

While I didn't use points to book mine, I called and booked our WDW trip through Cruise and Tour on DH's CIP using cash. The agent mentioned to me that she saw that I did not currently have any available URs but that I could always use those in the future to book other WDW trips if I was interested. Perhaps she would have said something different if I actually had URs I wanted to use right then, but she never seemed to question that I wasn't DH booking the trip.

 

[hsmamato2]

Oh cool. I thought for a moment you had 12 Chase hahaha.



I’m not sure you’re looking at the card I was referencing. Look at the Bank of America Premium Rewards (which has a 50,000 point bonus).

That's the one! I think I'm gonna go for this one today- I think with my upcoming airline plans I can finally use that $100 reimbursement, on AA for baggage. ALso...how many chase cards is a no no? I admit I haven't been totally following all the shutdown details.... I'm currently at 7 open (way more that I've closed) and DH has 4 open (he's going to be 3/24 by end of year and I'm saving those slots)

 

[jhoannam]

We officially started this credit card game last June 2017 when I double dipped the SW cards thanks to this thread. Before that we had gotten a SW card and CSP, but that was before I knew about this awesome world - had I known about it DH would have applied for the CSR instead of CSP.

Since then we have redeemed a total of $5,720 in free travel - net of $5,068 after deducting CC fees.
We have received $200 in bank bonuses and should get $400 next week.

We still have:
203,000 UR
80,000 MR
122,000 Marriott
76,000 United
6,000 RR
Pending: 33,000 SPG

This is AMAZING!

 

[3 DD love princesses]

When I call the Chase tours department to get tickets, does it matter that all our points are currently on DH CSR and I am not a AU on that card? In other words, does he need to call?

you could try to have DH say he’s giving you permission to talk on his behalf we have done that many times.

 

[schmass]

OK, I found the post I was referring to earlier. Are you sure it won't count?

"That is why a HELOC is listed as a revolving account and looks like a credit card account on your credit report. The credit report will show the HELOC’s balance, credit line and payment history.

A second mortgage — in the traditional sense — is a home equity loan. This is an installment loan secured by your home equity and requires fixed monthly payments over the life of the loan. A home equity loan would be reported as either a mortgage or an installment loan on your credit report."

We have a HELOC, and yes, it looks like a credit card on DH and my credit reports. Sorry, this probably isn't the answer you wanted to hear!

 

[disneymagicgirl]

If it would help, I put a template of my basic Gift Card Tracker out on Google Sheets to download, if it helps anyone get started. Just a couple simple formulas for discounts and GC use you can copy or re-purpose. If you want to use the Used For totals, just change the text in the formula within the quotes to match the label you used in the column. Link: Gift Card Tracker

awesome! thank you!

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

We have a HELOC, and yes, it looks like a credit card on DH and my credit reports. Sorry, this probably isn't the answer you wanted to hear!

The account type will list as Home Equity Line of Credit vs. Credit Card so it should be easy for the bank (or bank’s computer system) to differentiate. Both will list in the revolving accounts section though. Unless somebody can cite a personal DP that a HELOC counted towards 5/24 I will maintain that it shouldn’t count.

 

[schmass]

The account type will list as Home Equity Line of Credit vs. Credit Card so it should be easy for the bank (or bank’s computer system) to differentiate. Both will list in the revolving accounts section though. Unless somebody can cite a personal DP that a HELOC counted towards 5/24 I will maintain that it shouldn’t count.

Ohhhh, thanks for the explanation! That is great to know!

@WVMomof3 sorry for the misinformation!

 

[disneymagicgirl]

I know some of you picked up Hilton cards and some are planning for Hawaii. There is an Amex offer for Hilton in Hawaii that may also stack with the new Hilton Amex offer released today for 3,500 MR on $300 for US Hiltons. DH and I each had it on 2 cards.

I love when we get free stuff for DH's work travel.
Aside from Hilton, there was also a $40/$200 (or something like that) for enterprise/national/alamo. More free money from work travel.

Unfortunately they were both only avail on 1 of our cards.

 

[hsmamato2]

for those maxing the Fr categories at paypal by sending $ to spouse.... does spouse need their own paypal acct to do this? or can I just send to various family members randomly?

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

OK, I found the post I was referring to earlier. Are you sure it won't count?

"That is why a HELOC is listed as a revolving account and looks like a credit card account on your credit report. The credit report will show the HELOC’s balance, credit line and payment history.

A second mortgage — in the traditional sense — is a home equity loan. This is an installment loan secured by your home equity and requires fixed monthly payments over the life of the loan. A home equity loan would be reported as either a mortgage or an installment loan on your credit report."

Ohhhh, thanks for the explanation! That is great to know!

@WVMomof3 sorry for the misinformation!

I did find a DP on reddit from Sept 2017 that somebody at 4/24 + a HELOC was able to get approved for a CIP.

 

[wendow]

for those maxing the Fr categories at paypal by sending $ to spouse.... does spouse need their own paypal acct to do this? or can I just send to various family members randomly?

I'm wondering too. About to dip my toes in here cause I've put very little on my CF this Q due to meeting Amex MSR's. I did the Apple Pay thing to my dh but for some reason, the PP thing is scaring me more.

 

[miztressuz]

Can't remember if it was mentioned before, if so, sorry for the dupe. AmEx offer for $40 back on $200 at Universal Studios Hollywood online purchase. Expires 7/31/2018.

It can be one or more transactions to reach the threshold, but there's a bunch of exclusions:
Excludes Halloween Horror Night tickets, group tickets, vacation packages, hotel bookings and ground transportation, and all other Universal theme parks and properties.

 

[calypso726]

I love it!!! Every once in a while I total my numbers too..... if this 'game' stops right here and right now.....we still got AMAZING value from playing the past few years! on average we 'spend' points for travel that average 10-20k,and that's just the simple stuff (4 people) I can't even imagine what it would look like if we got 'fancy' like @calypso726 heck, just this past trip we 'spent' almost 9,000 on hotel and flights alone (would never have happened without the points!)

Ok, so I just looked up what it would cost to book my flight on Singapore Suites later this month in US dollars if I were using real money. $18,751 per person!!! That’s over $37,500 for the 2 of us. DH and I used about 380,000 SPG points to book those flights. Granted, we would never pay that kind of money for airfare but it’s super cool we get to experience it! Antarctica this year would be $8,000 RT for both of us.

 

[eeyoreland]

Now that I have a few (actually MANY) pages under my belt LOL, I have some specific questions I’d like to ask. And I do apologize if you’ve maybe already answered these whether for someone else or me directly. I don’t think I’m quite ready to venture into this “hobby” full on. I think for now I’ll stick to what I can do with my and DH’s Southwest cards. This is the situation: DH opened SW Premier card and received the bonus on statement ending 6/3/16. Due to the annual fee, we recently closed this account. I opened a SW Plus and received the bonus on statement ending 7/17/17. I opened the SW Premier on 4/3/18 and am currently working on my $2000 in purchases to earn the bonus. I’m not a fan of paying an annual fee so I’d like to cancel the Plus before I’d be hit with the fee. If it’s anything like when we canceled DH’s Premier, they’ll offer to waive the fee, which I’m thinking would be good because I’d earn the 3,000 bonus points. But…I’d like to open another Plus for the points when the 50,000 bonus comes along. Do I have to close one Plus to get another Plus? Is that how this works? And what do I do with DH? I’d really like to play the game with the two cards and keep earning the bonus. Is that do-able? I’m aware of the 5/24 rule and know to keep an eye out for where we’re at with that. Thanks for the help!

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Now that I have a few (actually MANY) pages under my belt LOL, I have some specific questions I’d like to ask. And I do apologize if you’ve maybe already answered these whether for someone else or me directly. I don’t think I’m quite ready to venture into this “hobby” full on. I think for now I’ll stick to what I can do with my and DH’s Southwest cards. This is the situation: DH opened SW Premier card and received the bonus on statement ending 6/3/16. Due to the annual fee, we recently closed this account. I opened a SW Plus and received the bonus on statement ending 7/17/17. I opened the SW Premier on 4/3/18 and am currently working on my $2000 in purchases to earn the bonus. I’m not a fan of paying an annual fee so I’d like to cancel the Plus before I’d be hit with the fee. If it’s anything like when we canceled DH’s Premier, they’ll offer to waive the fee, which I’m thinking would be good because I’d earn the 3,000 bonus points. But…I’d like to open another Plus for the points when the 50,000 bonus comes along. Do I have to close one Plus to get another Plus? Is that how this works? And what do I do with DH? I’d really like to play the game with the two cards and keep earning the bonus. Is that do-able? I’m aware of the 5/24 rule and know to keep an eye out for where we’re at with that. Thanks for the help!

So I just want to mention - you may not want to jump in full force here. But I’d strongly suggest you consider branching out from just SW cards. If you open yourself up to a few other cards you could take advantage of the Chase Ultimate Rewards Program and generate a lot of free travel

 

[GusGus16]

Now that I have a few (actually MANY) pages under my belt LOL, I have some specific questions I’d like to ask. And I do apologize if you’ve maybe already answered these whether for someone else or me directly. I don’t think I’m quite ready to venture into this “hobby” full on. I think for now I’ll stick to what I can do with my and DH’s Southwest cards. This is the situation: DH opened SW Premier card and received the bonus on statement ending 6/3/16. Due to the annual fee, we recently closed this account. I opened a SW Plus and received the bonus on statement ending 7/17/17. I opened the SW Premier on 4/3/18 and am currently working on my $2000 in purchases to earn the bonus. I’m not a fan of paying an annual fee so I’d like to cancel the Plus before I’d be hit with the fee. If it’s anything like when we canceled DH’s Premier, they’ll offer to waive the fee, which I’m thinking would be good because I’d earn the 3,000 bonus points. But…I’d like to open another Plus for the points when the 50,000 bonus comes along. Do I have to close one Plus to get another Plus? Is that how this works? And what do I do with DH? I’d really like to play the game with the two cards and keep earning the bonus. Is that do-able? I’m aware of the 5/24 rule and know to keep an eye out for where we’re at with that. Thanks for the help!

So a couple things:

-recent change makes you only eligible for 1 bonus on either the plus and premier every 24 months, we expect you will be able to double dip to get around the restriction but I have not seen this confirmed (double dipping is applying the same day like you can do with the 2 sapphire rule)
-reviewing above your DH will be eligible for either card in 6/2018, and should be able to double dip if you can meet the minimum spend
-you will not be eligible for another bonus for at least 24 months given your recent premier, but it is yet to be seen if you may be eligible for the new premium SW card

Agree with above branching out could give you additional travel rewards,like a chase sapphire

 

[amalone1013]

So why, the day after I get back from Vegas, do I log in and see every AMEX card has a Vegas.com offer for $30 off $150? We could have used three of those, most likely.


On the bright side, I came home with $15 more than I put in the slot machines.