I love credit cards so much!

[Lain]

I"m conflicted on which cards to use for what. Not working on a min spend currently, and I like racking up SPG points and think I'd like to explore Delta as an airline to fly to Europe next summer. However, part of me thinks I may change my mind on the airline, and I should use the card that gives me the most points for each category. For example,

Restaurants = CSR = URs
Groceries = AMEX ED Pref = 3 Membership Rewards points per dollar
Gas = CSR = URs
SPG Amex = other category

Is this the way I should go, using the above cards for those categories?

Looks good, except the CSR doesn't have any bonus categories for gas -- you get only 1 UR per $1. I'd actually put gas on the SPG until 8/1/18, because gas will earn you 1 Starpoint per $1, which like I mentioned yesterday, 1 Starpoint = 3 Marriott points. By comparison 1 UR = 1 Marriott point. Effective 8/1/18, the everyday spend on the SPG cards get devalued to only 2 Marriott points per $1.

 

[Natgridenergy]

For my RI peeps and fellow New England peeps, there is a Cambridge Savings Bank checking bonus of $175 with NO REQUIREMENTS. Plus, you can fund up to $1000 with a Visa, Mastercard or Discover. Just thought I'd pass this along. I found the info on DOC.

Thanks!

 

[calypso726]

I've been lurking on this thread for a couple weeks now and am ready to ask some (pretty basic, I'm afraid) questions.

Our future travel is split:

• Youngest dd will be flying SW to/from school (BWI-IND) multiple times a year. She will also be flying internationally multiple times during the next four years. Some flights will be to Morocco (those may be booked as group flights so we may not have control over choice/payment options) and others will be to China (Beijing and Shanghai are the most likely).
• Dh and I are ready to do some serious traveling, beginning with Australia in fall 2019. Business class is preferred. Other future travel destinations include Africa (safari primarily), Greece/Southern Europe (cruise?), Scandanavia/Northern Europe, and Great Britain. The easiest airports for us are BWI and PHL, though getting to EWR/JFK and IAD/DCA isn't burdensome.

(I'm going to start with the first international trip for dh and I. Dd's international travel will be figured out later--she's not sure yet where she'll be studying next summer. I know that at least one of us will get a SW card to start covering some of her future trips back-and-forth to school.)

Before I get to the card-choosing stage, I need to figure out which airlines fly to where we want to go, which alliances they are in, and how many miles would be required for each. Is this correct?

Is it easiest to start with google flights?

Do flights "cost" the same number of miles to an international destination such as Sydney regardless of where in the US you begin?

Thanks for any help!

<----me

Generally, you want to give yourself 2 years. At least one year to get all of your points in place and so that they are available about a year before the trip to book flights. This is especially true if you are booking business or first. If you are in 2 player mode and can easily make the MSRs then you might be able to go at a faster clip. Unfortunately, the Chase 5/24 wrinkle can put you behind since you want to get Chase cards first if you are going to play this game long term. Doing that may also limit your flight options.

Google flights is helpful as is Momondo. The FF miles required for a given flight depends on the airline. Some airlines are distance based and best when used for a short haul flight. For example, I recently used miles to book some flights on JAL. I used BA Avios to book a business class flight from China to Japan and it was 15,000 Avios per person. BA is distance based and this was a short haul flight. If I had used AA miles it would have been 60,000 AA miles per person. I did use AA miles to book JAL in first class from Japan back to the USA. It was 80,000 per person so 160K for the 2 of us. Since I have the AA credit card I got 10,000 of my miles put back into my account so it really only cost me 75k per person. If I had used BA Avios to book that flight it would have cost me 200,00 Avios per person!

Thanks @Albort So in the first instance with 100K JL miles----since JL is in Oneworld with AA, would one transfer AA miles to JL (in addition to being able to use SPG points)? And in the second instance with 120K ANA miles, would one use UA miles because of the Star Alliance (plus amex MR and SPG)? Or do I have it wrong?

Variable points from SPG, UR, MR and TYP can be transferred directly to an airline. Flying a partner airline requires finding partner award availability aka saver award availability. You can book JAL using AA miles but you would have to confirm that JAL has partner space available. AA's website won't show the partner space so you search for it on British airways or Quantas. BA's site is easier but you have to search by segment. I just got back on a flight on JAL from this week and I used AA miles to book. I searched on BA found the flight and wrote the info down. Then, I called AA and booked the flight.

Is anyone else going to Food and Wine? (I know @calypso726 is ) Bookings open June 14 for seminars, event, demos, etc!!! Official calendars are up on the website. (Sorry if someone already posted this but I'm in total shock, super excited and really stressed out with a million other things I should be doing but wanted to make sure everyone knows!)

Thank you for that notification! I want to book some wine and cheese seminars.

... I took a few days off work (and life honestly) at the end of last week and beginning of this week to be with my son and DH. We're all stressed out and just plain emotionally and physically exhausted. I'm honestly not sure if I can handle any more bad news. Bringing my son to his dr today for a follow-up on the healing of his burns. Praying it's all looking good.

@mhartman09 - just wanted to send

 

[mom2elal]

Thanks so much to you all for the thoughts and hugs. It's definitely been rough, but I know it could have been so much worse so that keeps me going. Keep moving forward.....right??


Our little guy is healing up wonderfully well considering. The burns are on the back of both legs, his right arm and his hands. I won't post pics of the actual burns as the ones on his hands are pretty bad. I'm not sure exactly how to post pics here, but I'll try. Here's a pic of him at the ER once they gave him pain meds and he was able to calm down a bit and catch his breathe.

He's really blowing me away with how he's handling this, which is way better than I think I would be in his position. He was supposed to start his first year of summer camp on Monday, but obviously he wasn't able to go. We're not sure if he'll be able to go at all. Just have to keep going to follow-ups for a couple of weeks and his doc will let us know if he gets to a point where his hands are healed up enough that he might be able to attend a week or two. He hasn't fussed at all about not being able to go, even though I know he was really sad to find out. He's still smiling through it all, which is keeping a smile on this momma's face too!

Aww, poor little guy!

 

[mom2elal]

Heads up for Chase double dippers:

I've seen two reports on /r/churning today of successful double dips followed by a call from Chase a few days later -- one report called it a "credit review." It seems the Chase rep in one of the reports asked why they applied for two cards, and in the other asked questions about income, income sources, and past use of credit. In both cases, the cardholders were allowed to keep both cards but had their credit lines on the cards lowered.

https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/8piooe/daily_discussion_thread_june_08_2018/e0civlb

https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/c...s_central_thread_week_of_june_07_2018/e0c9y94

Yikes, scary! I guess I'm safe though, since my dd was a month ago?

 

[Lain]

Yikes, scary! I guess I'm safe though, since my dd was a month ago?

These two reports are the first I’ve ever read about Chase calling after a double dip. Two reports in one day is a little too coincidental for comfort so I thought it was worth mentioning here. Again, neither report resulted in the closure of a card or a shutdown (yet?), just credit line decreases. I don’t know if this is a new practice going forward, but it’s something we should probably be aware of in evaluating risk, and have a story ready if Chase comes calling. I’m very interested to see if there are more of these DPs as people continue to double dip. Will keep a lookout.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

I'm excited over 6,400 points and that's only $64 lol

We'll definitely be making the MSR. We are already past $3000 and we have until August 13.

And that’s how this game becomes addictive

 

[miztressuz]

Yikes, scary! I guess I'm safe though, since my dd was a month ago?

Maybe? Too little data but both were calls within a few days of the application. Only based on these two seems like more a credit extended through automated approval process was higher than Chase would like. Like maybe something's off on the algorithm and it's not seeing the credit extended on the first app to factor into the second? IDK, just pure speculation on my part. But it's not something I want eyes on given the one Sapphire language.

I'm hoping I'm ok since I'm close to cutting a second statement, but I haven't gotten either bonus yet, so sweating a little

Thanks @Lain for pointing them out! I guess I'll keep a closer eye on reddit the next few weeks.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

I've never seen McDonald's gift cards. But Target, for me, is usually on the side with the Visa/MC Gift cards at Lowe's. I have variable load ones too.

McDs has GCs. I think I bought physical cards on Raise maybe. They are covered in pics of fries. Lol

I've been trying to catch up for a couple of weeks. This morning I finally finished up trying to at least skim through all the posts I missed. The last few weeks have literally felt like a nightmare I couldn't wake up from. I'll just summarize so I don't end up with a post that takes up an entire page.

Saturday May 26th - Attended my uncle's funeral services. He passed away suddenly due to a ruptured stomach aneurysm. My dad was rushed to the ER (as we were coming out of the funeral services) for signs of stroke and transferred to stroke unit at a New Orleans hospital.
Monday May 28th - We found out my dad had a mini stroke and they found 2 small aneurysms in his brain.
Wednesday May 30th - Our son fell backwards into a fire ring while camping. This resulted in 2nd degree burns to his legs, arms and hands.
Friday June 1st - We found out FIL has non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Saturday June 2nd - My step sister had to deliver her twin baby girls at 25 weeks due to her blood pressure. Babies are in NICU and we're hoping for a miracle.
Sunday June 3rd - My mom's uncle passed away suddenly in the early morning.

I took a few days off work (and life honestly) at the end of last week and beginning of this week to be with my son and DH. We're all stressed out and just plain emotionally and physically exhausted. I'm honestly not sure if I can handle any more bad news. Bringing my son to his dr today for a follow-up on the healing of his burns. Praying it's all looking good.



Now back to the topic at hand. I'm trying to figure out if there's a way I can use URs to offset the cost of WDW AP. My original plan was to use UR to purchase WDW tickets through Chase, then upgrade those tickets to APs when we arrive for our Labor Day weekend trip. However, we also booked a trip for October for my sons' fall break, so that route wouldn't allow me to make FPs for the October trip at the 60 day mark.

I was thinking I could just renew our APs, which just expired on June 3rd, but I can't figure out a way to use URs to directly offset that cost, besides cashing out as a statement credit which I'd rather not do. It's my understanding the value of a ticket cannot be used toward an AP renewal, so I wouldn't be able to try that either. Any insight or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I may be missing something because at this point my brain is almost mush.

I’m so sorry for all your troubles. I’d be taking a time out too

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Heads up for Chase double dippers:

I've seen two reports on /r/churning today of successful double dips followed by a call from Chase a few days later -- one report called it a "credit review." It seems the Chase rep in one of the reports asked why they applied for two cards, and in the other asked questions about income, income sources, and past use of credit. In both cases, the cardholders were allowed to keep both cards but had their credit lines on the cards lowered.

https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/8piooe/daily_discussion_thread_june_08_2018/e0civlb

https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/c...s_central_thread_week_of_june_07_2018/e0c9y94

ut-oh...

Back to an area with internet and trying to catch up here. Was 15 pages behind, now only 8. If you all can stop posting while I catch up, I’d appreciate it

Enjoying the last day of our nearly free Grand Canyon/Flagstaff vacation. used miles for 3 RT ORD to FLG. We had free hotel 3 nights in Flagstaff (paid for one) at a brand New Hampton which is quite lovely. Night at Grand Canyon Railway Hotel and train tix RT to Canyon (used CSR travel credit x2 and paid $27 total) Used CSP for 2 nights in Canyon, all food and rental car so will be earning URs. (Also hope to use CSP rental car insurance as DH locked rental keys in trunk and cost us $135 to get them out. Will try to get that covered)

Trip sounds great! Can you post reviews to the hotel thread when you have time? I'd love to have it to refer back to in the future.

 

[Artygal90]

@Artygal90 If the CP is most important, then leave the CIC out at his point. Three Chase biz cards in that short of time is not a good idea. Have you considered mixing in some Amex Biz cards to spread Chase out?

Also - keep in mind that CIP, CIC and SW biz do not count as part of the “5”. Do you have other cards you’ve gotten recently (in the last 15 months)? If not your 5/24 status would only be 3/24 after all of those cards.

If you’re looking for something to preoccupy your time between the CIP and SW cards, perhaps consider an AMEX Biz card since that won’t hurt your 5/24 or shutdown risk.

I'm happy to hear the consensus is overwhelmingly that three biz cards that close together is a Bad Idea. That's what I was thinking, but I was worried I would be missing out on a great bonus by holding off on the CIC. I definitely want the CP and the CSR long-term, and don't want to do anything to jeopardize that by chasing too many sign-up bonuses in the short term!

No recent credit cards. So in theory, if I wait a nice loooong time after the CSR/CSP double-dip (and ignoring concerns about running up against the total CL guidelines for Chase cards), I could sign up to 2 more personal or business cards with Chase?

I had originally thought I wouldn't want to mess with Amex yet, if at all, but then I ran an Amex Business Platinum for a customer at work today and Oh. My. Goodness. It was so beautiful!!! So, yeah, I'm rethinking that stance a bit. Do AMEX points work roughly the same as UR?

And it’s okay player 2 got scared, maybe you can get to 5/24 and then he’ll be ready and you can take a brake and get back under 5/24.

So a lot of people have already given you good advice. I'll add my 2¢....

4. I'm a proponent of making your "plan" more of a "roadmap." You'd like to get to those cards (destinations) in a certain order and by a certain time, but prepare for detours. Offers change constantly, sometimes offers come with expiration dates; new cards come out; and rules and restrictions change. By September, the CIC may no longer offer a 50k UR signup bonus. The SW cards may not have enough points on two cards to get you to 110k RR points for a companion pass by December, but they could see higher offers in that expire in October. You have to be somewhat flexible and jump when offers are good.

6. DH is probably looking for some catch, like it'll tank your credit scores or leave you in heavy credit card debt. ...Once you take that first trip all on points, your DH's might understand better.

Good luck!

Thanks for the detailed answer! Thank you for the perspective on the "plan" being more of a "roadmap." I'm definitely the type to plan everything out to a T based on existing circumstances and then have to scrap it all when things inevitably change. Which, if following along in this thread has taught me anything, it's that the rules of this game change all the time! So thank you for reminding me that everything needs to be flexible!

Yes, DH doesn't totally get rewards points and is extremely nervous about getting into CC debt. I'm hoping he'll change his tune once we take that first trip and don't have to pay a big bill at the end of it




Thanks everyone! I really appreciate all the feedback!

 

[caribbeandream]

Restaurants = CSR = URs
Groceries = AMEX ED Pref = 3 Membership Rewards points per dollar
Gas = CSR = URs
SPG Amex = other category

I'm new around here. Could you please translate your acronyms for me?

 

[calypso726]

I'm excited over 6,400 points and that's only $64 lol

We'll definitely be making the MSR. We are already past $3000 and we have until August 13.

Congrats! It's very exciting to see the point balances go up. It's even more exciting to go on the trip and realize you paid practically nothing for the experience.

And that’s how this game becomes addictive

Yup! We started with the idea of travel hacking one RT flight to Scotland. I quickly realized how easy it was (easier back then) to accumulate the points. It was about that time that it dawned on me we might be able to even get enough points to fly in first class. The, when DH and I topped our first million points and miles before a year was out, there was no turning back.

 

[calypso726]

Restaurants = CSR = URs
Groceries = AMEX ED Pref = 3 Membership Rewards points per dollar
Gas = CSR = URs
SPG Amex = other category

I'm new around here. Could you please translate your acronyms for me?

CSR = Chase Sapphire Reserve
UR = Ultimate Rewards
AMEX ED Pref = American Express Everyday Preferred
SPG = Starwood Preferred Guest

 

[brownhaired_girl]

These two reports are the first I’ve ever read about Chase calling after a double dip. Two reports in one day is a little too coincidental for comfort so I thought it was worth mentioning here. Again, neither report resulted in the closure of a card or a shutdown (yet?), just credit line decreases. I don’t know if this is a new practice going forward, but it’s something we should probably be aware of in evaluating risk, and have a story ready if Chase comes calling. I’m very interested to see if there are more of these DPs as people continue to double dip. Will keep a lookout.

I’ve been trying to do a longer range plan. My first card was the CSR when it was still 100,000 points. I will go below 5/24 around Dec/Jan and had been hoping to do a double dip. And then late 2019 work towards CP for 2020 and 2021. This now has me a little worried about my current plan. I’ll be interested in if we here any more.

 

[pillow]

I've been trying to catch up for a couple of weeks. This morning I finally finished up trying to at least skim through all the posts I missed. The last few weeks have literally felt like a nightmare I couldn't wake up from. I'll just summarize so I don't end up with a post that takes up an entire page.

Saturday May 26th - Attended my uncle's funeral services. He passed away suddenly due to a ruptured stomach aneurysm. My dad was rushed to the ER (as we were coming out of the funeral services) for signs of stroke and transferred to stroke unit at a New Orleans hospital.
Monday May 28th - We found out my dad had a mini stroke and they found 2 small aneurysms in his brain.
Wednesday May 30th - Our son fell backwards into a fire ring while camping. This resulted in 2nd degree burns to his legs, arms and hands.
Friday June 1st - We found out FIL has non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Saturday June 2nd - My step sister had to deliver her twin baby girls at 25 weeks due to her blood pressure. Babies are in NICU and we're hoping for a miracle.
Sunday June 3rd - My mom's uncle passed away suddenly in the early morning.

I took a few days off work (and life honestly) at the end of last week and beginning of this week to be with my son and DH. We're all stressed out and just plain emotionally and physically exhausted. I'm honestly not sure if I can handle any more bad news. Bringing my son to his dr today for a follow-up on the healing of his burns. Praying it's all looking good.



Now back to the topic at hand. I'm trying to figure out if there's a way I can use URs to offset the cost of WDW AP. My original plan was to use UR to purchase WDW tickets through Chase, then upgrade those tickets to APs when we arrive for our Labor Day weekend trip. However, we also booked a trip for October for my sons' fall break, so that route wouldn't allow me to make FPs for the October trip at the 60 day mark.

I was thinking I could just renew our APs, which just expired on June 3rd, but I can't figure out a way to use URs to directly offset that cost, besides cashing out as a statement credit which I'd rather not do. It's my understanding the value of a ticket cannot be used toward an AP renewal, so I wouldn't be able to try that either. Any insight or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I may be missing something because at this point my brain is almost mush.

Wow! Sending happy thoughts your way. Thats one heck of a week!

 

[pillow]

You say that like you have a trench coat and hat on.

This made me laugh so hard, I cried.

 

[Lain]

Yes it does, but if you would like, we could help you get more lucrative cards than disney...cards that will get you to disney for free.

@disneymagicgirl to @caribbeandream: “This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill - the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill - you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.”

 

[caribbeandream]

@disneymagicgirl to @caribbeandream: “This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill - the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill - you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.”

I'm pretty sure that everyone on this board has taken the red pill and gone down the rabbit hole never to be seen again! hahahahaha

 

[bernina]

I'm pretty sure that everyone on this board has taken the red pill and gone down the rabbit hole never to be seen again! hahahahaha

“But I don’t want to go among mad people," Alice remarked.
"Oh, you can’t help that," said the Cat: "we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad."
"How do you know I’m mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn’t have come here.”