I love credit cards so much!

[Haley R]

3% @ 20k = $600/yr /12 = $50 a month. 15 transaction x $10 = $150 a month. Your losing $100 a month.
Have you considered other solutions?
i got a Consumer Credit union. 3% @ 10k = $300 /12 = $25 a month. 12 transaction x $.50 = $6, profit of $19 a month.



look up expedia... Chase UR portal is basically expedia. if u have a CSR, then its 33% off expedia rates.

We aren't doing the transactions just to get the 3%. We already spend that money so we just make sure to use our debit cards so we get the 15 transactions.

 

[wendow]

Did everyone finish up those SPG spends early? Leave you people alone for Mother's Day and you go application crazy! I love it!!

Still plugging along on my spg spends...$2200 more on biz and $1900 more on personal...And we appear to be the odd duck who didn't get approved for the CIC so I'm anxiously awaiting my letter to see if there is any way I can sweet talk my dh into a recon phone call...But yes, kind of funny what happened here on Mother's Day!!

 

[Haley R]

I’d just ask the grocery store if they can split the payment. I know ours will allow it you just have to ask. Put $10 on your checking account and then put the rest on credit.

That's smart, too. I'm sure we will mix a couple of these ideas to meet the 15 transactions.

 

[Haley R]

Yes. You can pay directly through UR portal or book via Korean Sky Pass which is much more complex. We had picked up 2 Delta cards each when they were at a historic 70k per card. No real use for them at the time but Delta Sky Pesos don't expire and we knew that Delta had a lie flat seat option to Iceland at that time. We had plans to go last Thanksgiving and we were in the planning stages in 2016. When we went to book the Iceland flights, Delta wanted 700,000 Sky pesos for a award flights. We could have swung it between SPG transfers and MR transfers on top of the Sky Pesos we had in the account. I couldn't do it on principle. I'll shell out a bunch of points for a double bed in the sky. There's no way I'm doing it for a lie flat business/first class seat with no real bells and whistles on a 2 cabin aircraft! Yes, we've become plane snobs But I digress. There were no saver awards on Delta and our dates were not flexible to just choose dates that had saver awards which I couldn't find a month out in either direction anyhow. Therefore, using Korean Sky Pass or any other partner airline was not an option either. So we booked and paid with Ultimate Rewards.

If there is saver availability on Delta then you can use a partner airline's miles to book. This is true for all airlines. Korean requires you to set up accounts in advance and register family members and provide proof of familial relationship. We had to send in our marriage license. I am going to link a few different blog posts that can explain the process.

https://www.travelcodex.com/book-award-travel-korean-air-skypass

https://thepointsguy.com/guide/how-to-book-skypass-awards

https://millionmilesecrets.com/2017...art-2-how-to-book-award-flights-on-korean-air

https://millionmilesecrets.com/2017...how-to-book-award-flights-on-partner-airlines

https://upgradedpoints.com/best-ways-to-book-korean-air-first-class

We have only ever flown economy (I guess is what you would call it?). We typically choose the seats near the back and I always have to have window seat. DH usually gets his middle seat free and I end up paying to have the window.

 

[Haley R]

I know @calypso726 has a lot of different ways to do it, but I am in a Delta hub and for us to fly anywhere just straight Delta skymiles is the way to go. Right now for example there is a flash sale to Europe and I could fly to London for 40,000 miles direct. If you are seeing lots of Delta flights you might want to think about getting the Delta Amex cards. The public bonus is not as high right now but the referral bonuses are really good (but expire I think tomorrow). If you both got the business delta cards that would be a lot of skymiles. If you aren't quite ready to get them now as in today or tomorrow gou could wait as I think the bonuses will go up again in June (that has been the pattern at least). I know a lot about Delta so let me know if questions.

Oh and @Haley R I remember you from the Disney After Hours thread.

Normally, I wouldn't fly with Delta, but their flights seem to be much shorter by about 2-4 hours. I would rather pay a little more to save some time and sanity.

And yes I was on that thread a lot!

 

[miztressuz]

So I'm looking at my USPS informed delivery and I've got something from IHG rewards coming. On the front it shows the new Premier rewards card with the tag line "Earn 5,000 bonus points. Details inside"
Am I supposed to be impressed? If that's all I'd get with the 'upgrade' that's almost insulting.

 

[Lain]

Normally, I wouldn't fly with Delta, but their flights seem to be much shorter by about 2-4 hours. I would rather pay a little more to save some time and sanity.

Comparing UA and Delta: Delta's shortest flight from DSM to HND (Haneda) is 15h 45m with a layover in MSP. United's shortest flight from DSM to NRT seems to be 15h 25m with a layover in ORD. I also see a 16h 15m flight from DSM to NRT with a 2 1/2 hrs. layover in DEN. (I have not looked up the return flights.)

If you decide to get one of the premium travel cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve (CSR), one of the nicest perks is complimentary access for you and up to two guests to the Priority Pass (PP) network of airport lounges. The PP "lounge" in Denver is a favorite here because it's actually a restaurant, Timberline Steaks & Grille, where you and your guests will receive a $28 per person credit off the bill to cover your meals and drinks. It's a nice way to spend 2 hours during a layover.

Note: ORD has two lounges in the International Terminal, but not restaurants. NRT has several PP lounges, but HND does not have any.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Wow, I wish my parents helped me set up a Roth when I was a teen. I’m 23 now. I hope to max it this year. I am a year behind though. It’s hard when you are young.

My dad did the same for me when I was a teen. I started working when I was 16 and anything that I put into my Roth IRA, he matched 100%. I think I put a couple thousand dollars in, so I had about $6k when I started college. It was nice to already have my account set up when I graduated law school. I make sure to max my Roth every year now.

 

[havaneselover]

I applied for CIC Friday. I'm still getting the 2-week message. But once last night and once this morning I've gotten a call from a Chase number in Wilmington, DE. It rings twice then they hang up???

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Love that was his friend. I’m just starting out, but I have hated every internship. I’m hoping I can find something though.

Where have you interned? What kind of law have you been doing?

 

[1st*toright]

OMG! I can't believe it is almost 2 years that we've all been together on this thread!

How time flies. I was looking at my #/24 stats, and realizing I got my CSR last summer - so almost a year ago. That was really when y'all reeled me in (before that I'd just lurked occasionally).

All this talk of investing in your 20s - I got married young, and we were SO BROKE for the first few years, then we were saving for a house, then we had a kid... We did contribute to get whatever our employer's 401k match was, but really didn't have any extra cash for savings until we were in our 30s. We are doing ok now, but it would have been nice to have had time on our side like that! My teen is going to be working this summer, and I'm definitely going to talk to her about sticking some of her earnings in a Roth.

 

[speedyfishy]

Where have you interned? What kind of law have you been doing?

I’ll DM you on Reddit.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

I started a Google Sheet to help us keep track. It just gives me peace of mind if I do it after every transaction. I also want to keep track of things we get 3x on.

All of this was SO overwhelming at first, but it is so awesome that there are ways to save so much money on traveling. We really don't travel very often and usually it's to Orlando. This will probably be our last "big" trip before starting a family.

You can always send a secure message (SM) to Chase and ask how much you have earned towards your minimum spend. I always message right when I get a card asking for the date by which I need to have met the spend. That way you have a concrete date.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Our most proud couponing moment was 96 boxes of cereal that we were paid $0.25 each to carry out of the store LOL.

That is a pretty great story of how you made $24.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Where have you interned? What kind of law have you been doing?

I’ll DM you on Reddit.

Also happy to chat with you about your experiences and going forward. If you had told me in law school that I'd be doing what I'm doing right now, I never would have believed you!

 

[havaneselover]

So my CIC was approved. Anyone have the number to call to see if I can get it expedited? Having tile work done Saturday and the dog is getting her teeth cleaned and a rectal growth removed a week from today.

 

[DisneyMandC]

800-945-2028. I just go through the prompt to replace a card, or whatever will get me to an agent the fastest, and then ask them if they can expedite it.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

We got a great deal on a last minute cruise a few years back that we couldn't pass up. So we booked it and then realized it was during the many weeks of spring break so airfare from PHL-FLL was more than cruise. We went into it with the backup plan of driving, and when flights didn't budge for a week we decided to take an extra day off from work and do the drive. We met so many retired folks on the same ship that did the same thing BUT they booked even later than us after stalking flights and found a couple days before the cruise a fare war had started for the last bunch of seats on flights those weekends.
I was so jealous, I couldn't wait to retire or be otherwise flexible in scheduling to do that. The one lady had just got back from a cruise when she got the email for that one and when she told me what she paid she had two weeks of cruising in different itineraries for less than what someone would pay for a single trip! One day in the distant future I hope that's me

DH's first cruise was a NYE trip to Central America. I stalked airfare forever, but the prices never dropped. It would have cost more than the cruise to get to Tampa, so we drove from Michigan. The roundtrip gas and two nights hotel was about 1/10th the cost of airfare.

But DH got really sick the last night of our trip, so I ended up doing the entire drive home and by the time we got home, I was terribly sick too. At least we had a great time on our vacation, but it self a little terrible that I had to call in sick on my first day back from winter break.

 

[speedyfishy]

Also happy to chat with you about your experiences and going forward. If you had told me in law school that I'd be doing what I'm doing right now, I never would have believed you!

Thank you! I sent you a message on Reddit.

 

[Lvsdisney]

Will my electric bill code at 5x UR on the CIC?