I love credit cards so much!

[DisneyMandC]

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/chase-no-longer-offering-3-on-the-chase-freedom-unlimited/

Well that didn't last long.

 

[speedyfishy]

I’d like to get a new card before my vacation. We are probably going to have at least $1,000 in room charges when we go to Atlantis soon. I was planning on a CIC for me and the Delta Biz for SO but those don’t seem like good cards to put $1,000 travel purchase on and I have a MS plan for those. Maybe I’ll just take my CIP? Or the SPG Biz? Also, I’m assuming even though it’s in the Bahamas being at a resort I won’t have any foreign transaction fees?

 

[speedyfishy]

I am tempted to try swolphin, but it is just so easy to walk down to DME. I hate the thought of dealing with a rental or finding a large enough uber for all of us. I'm not a city girl, no

This is exactly why I’m hesitant to try the Swolphin. I love the DME and not getting my luggage. Getting a Uber is easy, but it’s not as magical. we are pretty crazy that we would rather stay at an All Star than at the Swolphin. Along with no DME you don’t get magic bands, no room charging, no dining plan and we really love those benefits. I may try it though because I am running low on URs and have a lot of SPG points.

 

[Gwmw1210]

Just saw an interesting offer on DOC regarding a Visa gift card promotion at Office Max/Depot. "Buy $300 in select Visa gift cards and get $15 off." Says Metabank . I generally don't do MS(because I spend too much organically! lol) but this might be interesting to a lot of people.

This may be helpful to others with the 5%cb at office supply stores: This week staples has the no fee Visa gift cards.
It says 1 per customer but I was able to get multiple in one transaction. YMMV

 

[hsmamato2]

@hsmamato2

So If I'm understanding this correctly...

• You are looking at a Sheraton, 5 nights, that is 20,000 SPG points per night?
• So the total for 5 nights is 20,000 x 4 + 5th night free = 80,000 SPG points (AKA 240,000 Marriott points)
• You are also looking at a Marriott property that is a Cat 8 property which requires 40,000 Marriott points per night?
• So the total for 5 nights there is 40,000 x 4 + 5th night free = 160,000 Marriott points
• You now are debating a nights and flights package for 7 nights + 120,000 SW RR points and you're just going to not worry about the last 2 nights (i.e. only stay 5 nights)? The nights and flights will cost 360,000 Marriott points
• Apparently you have 315,000 Marriott points right now

My conclusions:

1. If all of that is true - you are actually attempting to use 200,000 additional Marriott points (360k minus 160k) to get 120,000 Southwest RR Points.
   - As 200,000 Marriott points those could be worth $2,000 or more in hotel stays if you value Marriott points at $0.01 each. As Southwest points they will be worth ~ $1,800 in flights
2. If all of that is true...With your current points total you could book a Nights and Flights + 70,000 southwest points package right now (that costs 310k)
   - In this scenario you would be using 150,000 Marriott points to get 70,000 SW points. Using my earlier example this is potentially taking $1,500 worth of hotels and trading it for ~ $1,050 in flights.
3. You could purchase 15k SPG points as you stated for $341 and for that you'd get 50,000 additional SW RR points which are worth roughly $740 - so you would be buying those extra 50k SW points at 54% off essentially
4. You could transfer the 45k URs to get the 50,000 additional SW RR points...BUT KEEP IN MIND you could transfer those 45k URs AT ANY TIME and get 45k SW RR points...so you are only getting 5k extra points theoretically for doing this and locking yourself into SW RRs where right now they are flexible URs

I'm not telling you this is a good or bad idea - just understand the tradeoffs and what you are getting for your points

Ok @SouthFayetteFan here's where I tax your infinite patience with more questions. Last week I was so sure that redeeming Marriott at just 160k was right for me,and saving those extra spg50k was a good idea. My big problem is just not knowing what to do with the current info I have,both family wise and merger wise. So in my scenario, I have the 5 nites Maui, was gonna do either 80k Sheraton,or 160k Marriott. Or I could do 310k Marriott,and get those nights plus 70kswa to top up my sagging points there. NOW I'm thinking this thru. My HI trip is 3 of us right now,as ds1 NEVER tells me if he can come till much closer to date. So 3 of us flying from Bos- LAX on JetBlue points. That 4th (ds1) I was rethinking,and gonna book on swa from Bdl-Lax the same day,simply bc I can easily cancel his flight for no penalty if needed. See what I mean...I had thought I wasn't gonna use the swa right away,but now find myself in need of some points. (I only have about 17k left right now) so........ to sum it up, is it smarter $ wise to take some ur- swa for the flights I'll need,or use the nightsqndflighs option,(which uses up my last spg points too) ? I was 'saving' the spg for a future swolphin trip which isn't even planned yet.... I know you're not me,and don the have a crystal ball, but wwyd? You have the math down way better than I do
********* big question here..... if I got a cat 5 cert now, and called in 10 minutes wanting to book cat 8 hotel do I need to pay on phone using cash,or do I need extra points to do this? This has a big bearing on what to choose..... since they allow you to book on points before you have full amount, how does this apply to the nights cert.? Or should I only buy the pacakage at the cat level I know I need?

 

[gottalovepluto]

DP on United clawing back digital club passes after cc downgrade. Sooo miss their paper passes!
https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/8hmdpv/comment/dyl1d8o

 

[Lain]

I don’t want to freak anyone out, but a reddit post is citing a DP on FT that Plastiq earned only 1x on their CIP: https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/8hej7o/comment/dykd2f8?st=JGVU2T6Z&sh=63b0c994

The reddit poster makes a good point that OP could have maxed out the 3x category, which is capped at $150k in spend, if he was running payroll through Plastiq. OP’s handle is SFO777, and even a “small” payroll in the Bay Area will run through $150k in no time.

I made a utility payment through Plastiq this morning, but it hasn’t shown up in my UR activity yet. As soon as it does, I’ll update.

My Plastiq payment from 5/6/18 is now showing on my UR portal and earned 3x.

 

[amalone1013]

Nov 4 is Dapper Day if you’re there then, mid-Nov or later you’ll see Christmas!!

Last year we did WDW Christmas, maybe this year we should do Disneyland....

This is exactly why I’m hesitant to try the Swolphin. I love the DME and not getting my luggage. Getting a Uber is easy, but it’s not as magical. we are pretty crazy that we would rather stay at an All Star than at the Swolphin. Along with no DME you don’t get magic bands, no room charging, no dining plan and we really love those benefits. I may try it though because I am running low on URs and have a lot of SPG points.

We really love Swolphin, but we've normally been carry-on only, pay everything in parks with gift cards, and haven't tried a dining plan...

 

[Lain]

Last year we did WDW Christmas, maybe this year we should do Disneyland....

We’ve done Christmastime at both WDW and DL. WDW has the Christmas party, Illuminations holiday, Candlelight Processional, and all the hotel lobbies decked out in holiday decorations, but DL has Haunted Mansion Nightmare Before Christmas and Small World Holiday overlays!

 

[speedyfishy]

Last year we did WDW Christmas, maybe this year we should do Disneyland....


We really love Swolphin, but we've normally been carry-on only, pay everything in parks with gift cards, and haven't tried a dining plan...

I’m definitely in the minority. The Swolphin has better beds and the location can’t be beat. I stayed at the Beach Club once and it was so perfect walking and having the boats to two parks.

 

[platamama]

*

so just checked and DH is 5/24 because of 2 AU cards that I added him too. I’m terrified to recon because we don’t have a real business. I think I’ll just let this go and go the discounted gift card route. I’ll be under 5/24 in January 2019.

Why not start removing DH as AUs now, and reapply in a month or two?

As a data point, I removed myself as an AU from DH's CFU on 4/4 and as of my 5/3 Experian report, that card has vanished into the ether. It's not even showing up as a closed account, it's just gone. I was overly excited and thought that I was at 4/24, but alas I forgot about a card that I'd closed because that shows up in a separate section of the Experian report.

 

[hsmamato2]

At worst it’s a month or two. If he violated 5/24 it would be a denial within an hour. They’ll have to contact Chase and remove him as an au give it a month or two, check to make sure he’s gone & try again.

There are no DPs to suggest AUs invalidate sign up bonuses, everyone just prefers to extra cautious.

Hate to say it but sounds like DSIL is gonna have to learn some of this hard way eventually, hope you don’t get burned when that happens. If a person won’t follow a personalized write up that’s... bad.

Can you remove an au at chase via sm?

 

[HappyHappy]

You have to make the transfer within 30 days of booking, if you made the reservation in Dec you can no longer transfer it to Chase without rebooking. If you don't intend to use points to pay for it then no need to move it to Chase anyway.

Glad I wasn't using points as I forgot the 30 day rule also. Thank you.

 

[Albort]

@calypso726 whenever you arrive this morning, can I get a quick rundown from you on what miles/points you're planning to use to fly to Japan for your ABD trip? Any specific credit cards you used? I'm beginning to look at what I need to do for a Japan 2020 trip and am wondering what my best way to get there from the east coast is.

The sweet spot for for US-->Japan is Virgin Atlantic with 95k RT J class ANA metal pr 120k F class ANA metal.
i think @calypso726 is flying SQ F class but shes coming from Singapore, i think.

 

[wendow]

Once you can use swolphin for nights/flights packages you might think that is the best use again.

I am tempted to try swolphin, but it is just so easy to walk down to DME. I hate the thought of dealing with a rental or finding a large enough uber for all of us. I'm not a city girl, no clue how to hail a taxi.

No, I wasn’t clear! I’d like to use them for nights and flights at Swolphin. I don’t think the best use is straight out Swolphin use (no night/flights package). We go when Swolphin is pretty cheap so hate to use valuable points.

We have never stayed offsite and always used DME. However we rented a car when dh & I were in Orlando last month. Super easy!! I found it much easier than other airports. I actually think I could do it for the right offsite deal.

And also had never used Uber or Lyft but had to when we were at WDW in sept. I had to get my dd17 to urgent care. The app makes it a cinch. Seriously so easy. I was shocked and kind of proud of myself. Felt like a big city girl

 

[platamama]

Ok I had this dilemma last week.... I saw marriott waileabforv160k for my 5 night stay, and @SouthFayetteFan laid out the numbers nicely for my cat. 8 hotel plus air options. I think I decided to hedge my bets the other way,and see what happens with the announcement by booking hotel alone using spg-Marriott points now,and saving the other chunk in spg for a hotel booking at swan before the big change. Is this foolish? I have no idea what will happen next month,and I don't need the rr points as much I would like an extra stay at swolphin next spring.... in my case,with my 5 night timeline it made more sense to do this( I think)
@platamama can you give more detail as to bumping up the cert.?iwas unclear on that part,since if I did this now I know I want a cat 8 cert. I'm still tempted to do nights plus flights and hang the swolphin idea...... I wish I knew what the changes would be.

Ok @SouthFayetteFan here's where I tax your infinite patience with more questions. Last week I was so sure that redeeming Marriott at just 160k was right for me,and saving those extra spg50k was a good idea. My big problem is just not knowing what to do with the current info I have,both family wise and merger wise. So in my scenario, I have the 5 nites Maui, was gonna do either 80k Sheraton,or 160k Marriott. Or I could do 310k Marriott,and get those nights plus 70kswa to top up my sagging points there. NOW I'm thinking this thru. My HI trip is 3 of us right now,as ds1 NEVER tells me if he can come till much closer to date. So 3 of us flying from Bos- LAX on JetBlue points. That 4th (ds1) I was rethinking,and gonna book on swa from Bdl-Lax the same day,simply bc I can easily cancel his flight for no penalty if needed. See what I mean...I had thought I wasn't gonna use the swa right away,but now find myself in need of some points. (I only have about 17k left right now) so........ to sum it up, is it smarter $ wise to take some ur- swa for the flights I'll need,or use the nightsqndflighs option,(which uses up my last spg points too) ? I was 'saving' the spg for a future swolphin trip which isn't even planned yet.... I know you're not me,and don the have a crystal ball, but wwyd? You have the math down way better than I do
********* big question here..... if I got a cat 5 cert now, and called in 10 minutes wanting to book cat 8 hotel do I need to pay on phone using cash,or do I need extra points to do this? This has a big bearing on what to choose..... since they allow you to book on points before you have full amount, how does this apply to the nights cert.? Or should I only buy the pacakage at the cat level I know I need?

I wish I knew what the changes would be too!!!

So, to upgrade your certificate to a Cat 8, you call into the Marriott Rewards number. Tell them you want to attach your certificate to your reservation. If you're short, they'll tell you you don't have enough points. But you can transfer SPG points to Marriott right then and there (you log into your Starwood account and do the transfer online), it is instant, and then they will upgrade your award to a Cat 8. If you're short on points, you just need to have the points in your Marriott account 10 days prior to check-in, so that's your true deadline: 10 days prior to check-in.**


For my situation, I'm going with the Cat 1-5 travel package redemptions. Once Marriott has its act together and comes out with the hotel category list, I can make decisions. If my Cat 8 hotel is going to cost me more after 8/1 than compared to now, then I'll upgrade that package before 8/1 so that I'm locked in at the current point cost. There are some downsides to my plan though. One of my resort reservations has a 30 day cancellation policy (seems that each hotel sets its own policy on this and while most are the same, there are some oddballs) so I could potentially lose all those points if I don't go to that resort after all. And travel insurance doesn't reimburse you for FMV of points like it would if you made a cash booking AFAIK.

** ETA: To be more clear, your hotel reservation needs the points in your account 10 days prior to check in. But you need all the points in your account at that moment to redeem a Cat 1-5 package.

 

[Nimbus]

I’ve been following it too and trying to figure out what the excitement is. Seems like an awful “deal” to me! Now back when DD18 was in 2nd grade we did it and it was amazing! Those were the days!



As an example, I cashed out for a wdw pofq stay last year. The point cost for the room thru UR was more even with the increased redemption than the room cost on cash thru Hotwire. So I booked Hotwire and reimbursed myself with cashed out URs.
It appears I may do the same for aulani...rent points, pay cash, reimburse thru cashing out UR. That is cheaper than booking with URs for the dates I looked at.

Are there any DVC rental point websites that code as travel? It would be nice to be able to use Cap One Venture's erase travel feature (maybe some other cards have that as well), for the transaction. I thought the points stretched a little bit further than the cash back option, but maybe I'm mistaken.

 

[JC0712]

I think I'd like to be somewhere in between. Using my go-to cards to maximize points and occasionally getting a new card for an awesome signup bonus. I probably don't want to handle dealing with more than 1 MS at a time.

That was my plan as well. But, I've signed up for 5 new cards since September 2017 and my husband has signed up for 3. Once you get started, it's hard to stop.

 

[platamama]

Can you remove an au at chase via sm?

Yes.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Can you remove an au at chase via sm?

I've removed DH as an AU on two cards now via SM with no issues. Someone last week said they SMed and then Chase told them they had to call. Worth trying SM though.

The sweet spot for for US-->Japan is Virgin Atlantic with 95k RT J class ANA metal pr 120k F class ANA metal.
i think @calypso726 is flying SQ F class but shes coming from Singapore, i think.

I don't even know what all those words and letters mean! I guess I need to read up some more.