I love credit cards so much!

[miztressuz]

Just for the Staples GC tslk, I happened to take a photo Thursday night for my own reference, before we knew about these offers Obviously your store may be different, but here is the main gift card rack at mine

View attachment 326634

jealous of your rack there...
last staples I went in had downsized, I almost missed it, it had a good selection still but literally only one slot for most cards (so if you wanted Disney it was $25, if you wanted amazon $50 only) guess i'll check around for other stores.

Whoa, my email from discover just came this morning but the bonus posted yesterday!

I have noticed that from discover, everything for me CC wise comes the day after something happens. It's like it waits until the next day to check activity that happened the day before and then let you know about it. I get that all the time with my payment notifications. I guess technically they didn't say instant notification I don't think. And probably the general populous is not fanatically checking their CC/bank accounts like we do

 

[Albort]

jealous of your rack there...
last staples I went in had downsized, I almost missed it, it had a good selection still but literally only one slot for most cards (so if you wanted Disney it was $25, if you wanted amazon $50 only) guess i'll check around for other stores

def YMMV, i have an Office Depot here that has 0 gift cards... but theres another one farther away that has everything.

 

[amalone1013]

For Marriots Points plus cash bookings, do you pay the cash part in advance or when you check in?

 

[amalone1013]

jealous of your rack there...
last staples I went in had downsized, I almost missed it, it had a good selection still but literally only one slot for most cards (so if you wanted Disney it was $25, if you wanted amazon $50 only) guess i'll check around for other stores.

I have noticed that from discover, everything for me CC wise comes the day after something happens. It's like it waits until the next day to check activity that happened the day before and then let you know about it. I get that all the time with my payment notifications. I guess technically they didn't say instant notification I don't think. And probably the general populous is not fanatically checking their CC/bank accounts like we do

A couple months back I couldn't find any gift cards at that location, so I was pretty surprised by that. They put it up as part of a new set up to direct the check out line. They've got a little spinner one too. A fluke I took a photo the other night!

Silly Discover... Ha if more people obsessively checked their stuff like us, CC fraud might get caught earlier...

 

[jujubiee4]

Hi everyone! I'm back from my Hawaii stay and said i would give a summary.
I did Westin Maui invite someone else mentioned in the thread. We received it in mail
and i trashed it before someone mentioned doing it before (calypso maybe?) so i dug
it out. 800 paid upfront for 6 days 5 nights at Westin studio villa with full size car and 75 resort credit.

I'm soooo glad we did this. We were upgraded to a premium corner ocean view 1 bedroom.
It was gorgeous and huge. Everything looked brand new with a huge balcony. That being said
this was a timeshare spill. When i booked it was stated i DID NOT have to attend (i got that
in writing) but if we did they would give an additional 100 gift card. Well im happy to say there
was no pressure. I checked into concierge when we arrived she gave the $75 certificate 2 boxes
of macadamia nuts and a beach bag as gift. She asked if we could go to their "seminar". I said
let me talk to my husband and get back to you. That was it. Beautiful property and the full
kitchen came in so helpful as food in Hawaii is expensive.

That being said then we flew to Kauai and used our 4 free nights (2 each from Chase Hyatt) for
the Grand Hyatt. Oh my goodness this property was beautiful. When you walk in the lobby you
see the ocean. The saltwater lagoon was a hit and my younger daughter had to be dragged out
of it every day. The pools are opened 24 hours which surprised me. One night coming back late
after a luau my girls wanted to go swimming and I wouldn't dare let them go alone so my husband
went with them and they got back to the room about 3 am. Kauai is such a stunning beautiful
island.

For anyone planning Hawaii take advantage of any Westin offers you get. I felt guilty leaving feeling
like i should have paid more. We also got several breakfast buffet vouchers. Also Please please try to
go to Grand HYatt and Kauai. Service and hotel were wonderful and we will be back.

I got the Barclay Hawaiian card when it had 50k offer then transferred my membership rewards and booked
flights at 35k round trip and 7500 inter island. See my next post about Hawaiian Airlines.

 

[jujubiee4]

Ok about Hawaiian Airlines. I will preface to say I have been to Hawaii several times and flown
Hawaiian. Last time was in 2015 for the last Disney Wonder cruise for Hawaii. That flight was
wonderful. One of the best and most relaxing (for a plane). Full meal and rum punch etc.

Fast forward to this 2018 trip. We booked a flight departing 935am from Lax. We live over an hour from
there without traffic. The morning we arrived to airport they moved the departure time up 40 minutes.
I didn't get an email or alert. By the time we got past security they were boarding. I did get an email
for our return flight stating it would leave hour later arriving to Lax midnight. UGH! I tried to change
it and nothing was open. Well turns out we arrived even later because we boarded then sat for over 2 HOURS
waiting for fuel. During this we all got half cup water to drink. We arrived going on 2 am and by the time
we got bags and home it was 330 am.
They sent a follow up survey which I usually ignore but i filled out it stating they need better communication
and about flight times. The next day i got a call from Consumer affairs apologizing. She said they will strive
for better and although they are not REQUIRED to do anything as a goodwill gesture she will issue a 250
travel credit for each of us. I was not expecting that so was pleasantly surprised. I will give them an A for
that. The flights?

 

[jujubiee4]

Hawaiian Air also had inflight 60k offer for the card. I took down the code in case anyone here wanted to use it.
Just Pm me. We can't use it and im closing the card.

 

[jhoannam]

Hi everyone! I'm back from my Hawaii stay and said i would give a summary.
I did Westin Maui invite someone else mentioned in the thread. We received it in mail
and i trashed it before someone mentioned doing it before (calypso maybe?) so i dug
it out. 800 paid upfront for 6 days 5 nights at Westin studio with full size car and 75 resort credit.

I'm soooo glad we did this. We were upgraded to a premium corner ocean view 1 bedroom.
It was gorgeous and huge. Everything looked brand new with a huge balcony. That being said
this was a timeshare spill. When i booked it was stated i DID NOT have to attend (i got that
in writing) but if we did they would give an additional 100 gift card. Well im happy to say there
was no pressure. I checked into concierge when we arrived she gave the $75 certificate 2 boxes
of macadamia nuts and a beach bag as gift. She asked if we could go to their "seminar". I said
let me talk to my husband and get back to you. That was it. Beautiful property and the full
kitchen came in so helpful as food in Hawaii is expensive.

That being said then we flew to Kauai and used our 4 free nights (2 each from Chase Hyatt) for
the Grand Hyatt. Oh my goodness this property was beautiful. When you walk in the lobby you
see the ocean. The saltwater lagoon was a hit and my younger daughter had to be dragged out
of it every day. The pools are opened 24 hours which surprised me. One night coming back late
after a luau my girls wanted to go swimming and I wouldn't dare let them go alone so my husband
went with them and they got back to the room about 3 am. Kauai is such a stunning beautiful
island.

For anyone planning Hawaii take advantage of any Westin offers you get. I felt guilty leaving feeling
like i should have paid more. We also got several breakfast buffet vouchers. Also Please please try to
go to Grand HYatt and Kauai. Service and hotel were wonderful and we will be back.

I got the Barclay Hawaiian card when it had 50k offer then transferred my membership rewards and booked
flights at 35k round trip and 7500 inter island. See my next post about Hawaiian Airlines.

Do you know why you were targeted for that offer?

 

[kmc8826]

Do you know why you were targeted for that offer?

Not OP of it but I got the offer related to my spg personal. It came through email. They actually sent it 3 different times trying to get me to sign up. No idea why targeted but definitely hot deal. Not doing it though.

 

[jujubiee4]

No...I don't even have an SPG card or stayed in a Westin before. Amex sent me the offer.

 

[spacerangerqueen]

We are going to Disneyland in October. I just hit my MSR on my SPG personal and received the 30k points. I was thinking of booking the Four Points by Sheraton with them, but then everyone started talking about the Hyatt locations near Disneyland. So now I'm thinking of using the 50k UR I will get from my CIC to book Hyatt. Is this a better plan? Should I book the Sheraton now just in case? I can get the points back if I change my mind right?

 

[brewcrew]

Hi everyone! I'm back from my Hawaii stay and said i would give a summary.
I did Westin Maui invite someone else mentioned in the thread. We received it in mail
and i trashed it before someone mentioned doing it before (calypso maybe?) so i dug
it out. 800 paid upfront for 6 days 5 nights at Westin studio with full size car and 75 resort credit.

I'm soooo glad we did this. We were upgraded to a premium corner ocean view 1 bedroom.
It was gorgeous and huge. Everything looked brand new with a huge balcony. That being said
this was a timeshare spill. When i booked it was stated i DID NOT have to attend (i got that
in writing) but if we did they would give an additional 100 gift card. Well im happy to say there
was no pressure. I checked into concierge when we arrived she gave the $75 certificate 2 boxes
of macadamia nuts and a beach bag as gift. She asked if we could go to their "seminar". I said
let me talk to my husband and get back to you. That was it. Beautiful property and the full
kitchen came in so helpful as food in Hawaii is expensive.

That being said then we flew to Kauai and used our 4 free nights (2 each from Chase Hyatt) for
the Grand Hyatt. Oh my goodness this property was beautiful. When you walk in the lobby you
see the ocean. The saltwater lagoon was a hit and my younger daughter had to be dragged out
of it every day. The pools are opened 24 hours which surprised me. One night coming back late
after a luau my girls wanted to go swimming and I wouldn't dare let them go alone so my husband
went with them and they got back to the room about 3 am. Kauai is such a stunning beautiful
island.

For anyone planning Hawaii take advantage of any Westin offers you get. I felt guilty leaving feeling
like i should have paid more. We also got several breakfast buffet vouchers. Also Please please try to
go to Grand HYatt and Kauai. Service and hotel and wonderful and we will be back.

I got the Barclay Hawaiian card when it had 50k offer then transferred my membership rewards and booked
flights at 35k round trip and 7500 inter island. See my next post about Hawaiian Airlines.

Love these type of reports! Seeing how all of the points and tips and tricks payoff!

 

[pillow]

I received those offers as well. So who has a plan? I usually save Staples for earning URs on my Chase Ink Plus. The card we received the offers on is a Delta Biz. Still, 10% is 10%. I’ve never resold gift cards so if anyone has tips I’m all (Mickey) ears

This is a very boring plan . . . but I noticed our Lowe's sells Kroger gift cards. So, thats 10% off groceries/gas, which is better than the 5% Freedom/Discover current deals. If I could still do MO's at my Walmart, I'd probably look for Visa cards. Oh well. Still mulling this one over . . .

 

[miztressuz]

For Marriots Points plus cash bookings, do you pay the cash part in advance or when you check in?

You pay when you book the reservation. You're essentially buying the points needed for an award booking. If you cancel the reservation you'll be refunded in all points and it doesn't count for promotions (at least none for us).

A couple months back I couldn't find any gift cards at that location, so I was pretty surprised by that. They put it up as part of a new set up to direct the check out line. They've got a little spinner one too. A fluke I took a photo the other night!

Silly Discover... Ha if more people obsessively checked their stuff like us, CC fraud might get caught earlier...

Yes! The little spinner is what I had in the check out line. Maybe they just didn't have the other rack filled in yet. They used to have a boat like best buy that floated the same way outside the registers. It had been quite some time since I bought a GC from Staples so when I didn't see that I almost walked out and then noticed the spinner as I was getting in line (decided I couldn't pass up a 90% off clearance iPhone case. i'd just use a different cc )

 

[Artygal90]

You could ask Chase to close the current application and try for the 120k UR offer after 30 days since submitting your first application.

After talking with my friend today, and checking the mailer expiration date (July, so I'm good), I've decided to try this plan! I applied for the 80k CIP on 5/19, so I'll cancel that app Monday and open a new one for the 120k offer on 6/20. That will also give me time to fix my addresses on my credit report so hopefully there won't be any hangups with verification. I can always refer my player 2 for an 80k offer later to get those points since he also has a few legitimate businesses. Thanks for your help! I'll report back how it goes!

 

[miztressuz]

Do you know why you were targeted for that offer?

Also not OP, but I got a similar offer in April and have no idea how. At first I assumed it was related to the SPG account I had opened the month before but then I realized 1. It came to an email address not associated in any way with my SPG accounts and 2. They had the wrong name
It's a variation of my name, so it was close, but one that usually gets guessed/remembered in speech and not from anything in writing (like a contest form or something I might have filled out)
So I have no idea how they got my info but it wasn't a bad package... just that the hard sell started in the email when they only gave me 6 days to respond

My offer:
6 DAYS & 5 NIGHTS
at the exhilarating
Sheraton Kauai Resort,
a Travel + Leisure
World’s Best Award Winner
_________________________

6-DAY RENTAL CAR
Avis credit for sightseeing and island travel
_________________________

+ BONUS GIFT OF
5,000 Starpoints® from the Starwood Preferred Guest® OR
$75 Resort Certificate for spa services, dining or shopping

All for $698

It says in the fine print that it's an offer for the purpose of selling a timeshare, but it doesn't say anywhere in writing that I'd have to attend a seminar. After @jujubiee4 experience I might seriously consider it the next time I get spammed

 

[amalone1013]

You pay when you book the reservation. You're essentially buying the points needed for an award booking. If you cancel the reservation you'll be refunded in all points and it doesn't count for promotions (at least none for us).

Thanks for replying.

I think I phrased my question wrong though. It gives the option of paying cash or points for each night. So it's not one that is $100 + 10k points per night kind of thing. Kicking around an idea...

 

[miztressuz]

Thanks for replying.

I think I phrased my question wrong though. It gives the option of paying cash or points for each night. So it's not one that is $100 + 10k points per night kind of thing. Kicking around an idea...

View attachment 326801

Hm, I know I looked at those a couple times but I can't remember if we actually pulled the trigger on one. Now I'm curious, I may go back and check the account because I'm pretty sure every cash + points was paid in advance, BUT can't remember if we actually did one of the combos that we looked at.

 

[amalone1013]

Hm, I know I looked at those a couple times but I can't remember if we actually pulled the trigger on one. Now I'm curious, I may go back and check the account because I'm pretty sure every cash + points was paid in advance, BUT can't remember if we actually did one of the combos that we looked at.

I'm looking for my grandpa. He's looking at coming my way for the last weekend of June, but the Saturday night rate is really high for whatever reason... I don't know of any events right off. I'd just book it with points for him and call it a day but he's so darn stubborn... I was going to book one reservation all points, and one paying cash Sunday night so if I can't convince him to let me use points I would just tell him it was $156 for the two nights

ETA: If it's pay in advance maybe I'll just tell him that it was a special rate only I could get...

 

[pillow]

I'm looking for my grandpa. He's looking at coming my way for the last weekend of June, but the Saturday night rate is really high for whatever reason... I don't know of any events right off. I'd just book it with points for him and call it a day but he's so darn stubborn... I was going to book one reservation all points, and one paying cash Sunday night so if I can't convince him to let me use points I would just tell him it was $156 for the two nights

ETA: If it's pay in advance maybe I'll just tell him that it was a special rate only I could get...

Did you price out the 2nd night separately? Maybe there is a senior rate less than the $156 you could get for him.