I love credit cards so much!

[SBWB48]

Ok, bouncing some ideas off you all.

Amex cards have high MSRs that can be tough to meet. You can't pay mortgages, car or student loans with Amex via Plastiq. But you can buy $500 MCGCs with a 1.19% fee at grocery stores along with your usual shopping.

Plastiq has the Masterpass promo for fee free payments up to $250 each until 9/30/18.

Can't you load $500 MCGCs into Masterpass and make $250 payments towards your mortgage, car or student loans? Rinse and repeat until the promo is over?

I’d so be willing to try this and be a DP if I could only find way to have my just newly approved Amex Biz Plat in hand!

That was almost too easy got a super nice rep named Beverly who cruised through the LONG disclosures and 16min later, she congratulated me and gave me her direct line in case any other businesses I own had other credit card needs Should have tried to ask for the BGR offer to keep in my back pocket...

 

[3 DD love princesses]

I have never posted on this thread so excuse me for my ignorance. I’ve tried reading up quite a bit but it’s all pretty overwhelming to me. So here’s my story. I do have the Southwest credit cards, both the personal which I opened this past October, and the business which I opened in April and I was able to earn a companion pass this in May. I’ve already taken advantage of several flights for this year with a companion and plan to do so next year as well. Now I’m ready to apply for another Chase credit card. My husband has his own business and I am his office manager so I was thinking the Chase ink business preferred card perhaps? We usually fly Southwest but we are planning an overseas trip to Europe next August for a Disney cruise out of Dover, England. I don’t have any other Chase cards. So I need suggestions on what Chase credit cards to apply for and what order to do them in. Thanks for your patience with this credit card rewards newbie.

Depending on your 5/24 I would do the CIP, CSR/CSP double dip. This would give you 85k ur, 113k including spend and au on the csp. If you are comfortable applying for the CIP I would do it and then refer dh or let dh apply and refer you. As long as you are under 5/24 and 0/30 you can apply for the CIP.
ETA you can also join the dischurners reddit group and use a referral when applying.

 

[platamama]

I just tried adding my Citibiz AA to Masterpass and it says “not available for your card”.

That's odd. Do you have another card associated with Masterpass already?

 

[mmmears]

I'm back with a few questions on acronyms. Can someone please tell me what MSing is and what MPX stands for?

 

[kayteekt]

I've made my Citibiz AA (9 mos old) the card on my Masterpass account, linked it to Plastiq. I've made 3 Plastiq payments so far and all of them have coded as a purchase. One of them is a partial mortgage payment, but I won't know until the payment is processed by my mortgage company how they will end up processing it.

#1 - I think it's fine to use for MSR. Well timed for the Masterpass promotion.
#2 - I would be too, and since my partial payment is pending I don't have any advice on this other than it will depend on your mortgage company.
#3 - To send ACH, you need the routing number and account number of your mortgage company which I can't imagine they would give to you.
#4 - See above, I think check is your only option.
#5 - That might be close, especially since you can only send $250 max each time. I submitted my first partial payment on 7/24, and it won't be delivered until 8/2 (because I made a manual entry for the mortgage company since I would like to make payments on my new CIP and wanted to check if this will work first*).

You are probably going to need to call your mortgage company to see how they handle partial payments and do they limit the number of partial payments. I haven't called myself; I decided to make a small payment, in the memo field I put "partial payment" and when it gets delivered I'll log into my mortgage account and see what they did with the money.

* I realize MC allows mortgage payments thru Plastiq and this might not mean that my CIP will work, but it was a fee free way to get my doctored mortgage company name into Plastiq to start.

Thank you! I think I'll call my mortgage company Monday.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

That's odd. Do you have another card associated with Masterpass already?

I was able to go thru Masterpass website, set up a new account and add my Citibiz card. But now when I try to add Masterpass to Plastiq it goes directly to Citi Masterpass and tells me my card won’t work. It doesn’t recognize my log in as valid. I’ll have to try an incognito browser when I’m home. Maybe it’s the cookies.

 

[schmass]

I just tried adding my Citibiz AA to Masterpass and it says “not available for your card”.

I had this issue when I first set up Masterpass. Derek from Plastiq had been emailing me, so I replied asking about the error I was getting. He told me to clear my browser cache or open an incognito browser, and that worked for me. Good luck!

 

[Lain]

I’d so be willing to try this and be a DP if I could only find way to have my just newly approved Amex Biz Plat in hand!

That was almost too easy got a super nice rep named Beverly who cruised through the LONG disclosures and 16min later, she congratulated me and gave me her direct line in case any other businesses I own had other credit card needs Should have tried to ask for the BGR offer to keep in my back pocket...

That’s so awesome! Congratulations!



It really was a lot easier than I expected going in. I thought I’d have to fight for the offer; instead, he was like, sure we have 100k points for you. Have shipping needs? Can I offer you the BGR that’ll be perfect for that? It comes with another 75k points too!

I think going the Masterpass route, if your recipient can apply $250 at a time, is cheaper than paying with an Amex directly (even if you could use Amex to pay restricted categories). Your fees buying MCGCs at a grocery store are 1.19% and the Masterpass promo is Plastiq fee free; whereas paying with an Amex directly on Plastiq would incur a 2.5% fee without any special coding to offset that cost. Definitely let us know how it works for you. I’ll probably be trying it out too.

 

[platamama]

Thank you! I think I'll call my mortgage company Monday.

I did an online chat with mine today, and I was warned to not do partial payments as it could lead to my account not being properly credited and all. Gah! I'll call them after 8/2 and see if I can get it applied to the principal. I did go ahead and make a regular full payment (getting 1% on my Discover debit minus WM BP fee) and that has been applied to my account already, so it should be pretty obvious (I hope!) when my partial payment shows up.

 

[mmmears]

@Lain - thanks for all the AMEX info. We like the card, and with a Centurion Lounge at our home airport(s) it's extra nice to have right now. Am I reading right that there is a 100K offer on a personal one? Am I eligible if I'm an AU on DH's card? TIA

 

[anita46]

@anita46 - I didn't use points/miles (since this was a few years ago) but we took my Mom (who was in her 70s but has back issues and can't walk much) to Alaska a few years ago. She really enjoyed it but had been there before and chose to stay on the ship when we docked. The scenery is lovely, even when the ship is "at sea" since the inside passage cruise we took from Vancouver was in such a narrow channel that we could see mountains, waterfalls, etc. pretty much the entire time. Best cruise ever. We did go DCL, booked a room right near the elevator, and went on a smaller ship so that meant a bit less walking for her. We chose a balcony cabin and it was great since she didn't need to jockey for a spot up top and could see a lot even while resting in our cabin. I think it's really nice you want to do this. I wish my Mom would come on our upcoming cruise but her back is worse and the flights (even lie flat) are just too long for her. Also, get wheelchair/cart help in the airports - it's so much standing and walking and this was really helpful. Hope this helps.

Thanks @mmmears
I'm definitely leaning towards DCL...my Mom may resist since it sounds like a lot of kids...but I've cruised with DCL before and should be able to allay those fears.
Good advise about close to the elevator and getting a balcony suite...
Getting around the airport will be interesting but I will pre-arrange for a cart and try for a direct flight from Chicago to Vancouver.
She's a pretty good sport...actually went alone to a dude ranch in Idaho when she turned 80...spent a week riding and camping.
Bit discouraged about the lay-flat seats....hmm
My best wishes that your Mom finds relief for her back issues and can once again travel with you...
Thanks again

 

[Lain]

I'm back with a few questions on acronyms. Can someone please tell me what MSing is and what MPX stands for?

MPX = MileagePlus X

It’s an eGift card app (not a shopping portal, that’s MileagePlus Shopping), similar to Gyft and Swych, but you earn United miles on gift card purchases that vary between 0.5-5 miles (up to 10 miles during promos) depending on merchant, plus whatever points or miles you earn on your credit card. Unlike Gyft and Swych, which sells gift cards in fixed denominations, MPX allows you to buy the exact amount down to the penny for many retailers, so you’re not left with less or more gift card balance than you need (some merchants still sell only fixed amounts).

When you purchase an eGift card on the MPX app using Chase’s Visa cards, MPX passes through how that purchase codes to the category of the merchant for which you were buying the gift card.

So if you bought a gift card for Panera Bread or Starbucks, MPX would pass the coding on that transaction to these restaurants' "Dining" category, and you'd earn the dining category bonus if you were paying with the CSP and CSR (2x and 3x UR respectively).

If you bought Uber or AirBnB gift cards, MPX would code that purchase as “travel” and earn you 2x on the CSP and 3x on the CSR/CIP.

"Office supply" gift cards like OD/OM/Staples trigger the 5x UR category bonus on the CIC.

(By contrast, Gyft and Swych never distinguished the merchant category coding for each gift card they sold; these two apps code as platforms and I believe trigger something in the internet/cable/phone category so earn 3x UR on the CIP, 5x UR on the CIC/Ink+ for every merchant’s gift card purchased on the platform.)

So just an example of how this might work: if I’m out for lunch at Panera Bread and my cashier rings me up for $9.80, instead of pulling out my CSR and earning only 3x UR, or paying with a Panera Bread gift card I bought at an office supply store for 5x UR on the CIC/Ink+ (and then having an odd balance left over), I pull up the MPX app see that it earns me 5 United miles/$1, buy an exactly $9.80 eGift card using my linked CSR for 3x UR — and because I have a United MileagePlus credit card linked to my MPX account (but don’t have to pay with it), I get a 25% bonus in miles — then show the eGift card on my phone to the cashier to pay. So in all, I’d earn about 61 United miles and 29.4 UR from lunch.

Maybe I’m shopping online at Macys .com, and I’m about to check out with a total of, say, $64.65. I can pull up the MPX app, buy a Macy’s gift card for that exact amount, earn 3 United miles on the gift card purchase + a 25% miles bonus because I have a United MileagePlus credit card + whatever points or miles I’d get on the credit card used to pay. Then, use that gift card to pay for the order. But even more, since I’m shopping online, I’ll have gone to cashbackmonitor .com beforehand and gone through a shopping portal that gives me cash back, points, or miles on what I spend on this shopping trip, even if I pay with a gift card that I got extra miles and points buying.

This is called stacking.

 

[calypso726]

I'm back with a few questions on acronyms. Can someone please tell me what MSing is and what MPX stands for?

MS is manufactured spending. It’s a method of earning points through purchasing and liquidation of cash equivalents. An example would be using your credit card and buying Visa gift cards that work like a debit card (pin enabled) and then use them to get a money order and then deposit the money order to pay your credit card. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

MPX is the MileagePlus X app. You can purchase 3 party merchant gift cards via the app and earn however many extra United points each merchant is offering, plus the points for the credit card you use. If you hold a United card you also get a 25% bonus.

Hope that helps.

 

[SBWB48]

That’s so awesome! Congratulations!



It really was a lot easier than I expected going in. I thought I’d have to fight for the offer; instead, he was like, sure we have 100k points for you. Have shipping needs? Can I offer you the BGR that’ll be perfect for that? It comes with another 75k points too!

I think going the Masterpass route, if your recipient can apply $250 at a time, is cheaper than paying with an Amex directly (even if you could use Amex to pay restricted categories). Your fees buying MCGCs at a grocery store are 1.19% and the Masterpass promo is Plastiq fee free; whereas paying with an Amex directly on Plastiq would incur a 2.5% fee without any special coding to offset that cost. Definitely let us know how it works for you. I’ll probably be trying it out too.

I'll report back once I try this. According to Beverly, I should have the card by next Thursday at the latest since they probably wouldn't ship it in time given that I was approved Friday evening. Now the wait for cards to arrive continues (Biz Plat and Citi AA Biz...still) .

Oh and how about this. After pulling the trigger on those two Biz cards, I got my first ever Barclays personal mailer today...Arrival+ card with a 60K miles offer (structured like this: 30K after $3K in the first 90 days and another 30K after another $3K in the first 180 days). Will need to give it some thought as to whether the extra 90 days to meet the second half of the MSR for the other half of the bonus is better than the public offer of a straight 60K/$5K/3mths. Heck, will need to give it some thought as to whether or not I can even manage any more MSRs after the Biz Plat, Citi AA Biz, and likely the Hilton Biz before it expires. OI!

 

[Lain]

@Lain - thanks for all the AMEX info. We like the card, and with a Centurion Lounge at our home airport(s) it's extra nice to have right now. Am I reading right that there is a 100K offer on a personal one? Am I eligible if I'm an AU on DH's card? TIA

There is an offer for 100k MR points after you spend $10k in 3 months on the Amex Business Platinum, but you have to be comfortable applying as a business owner and you need to call in for this offer.

You are eligible for the bonus on any Amex card you have never held as a primary cardmember. So if a good offer on the personal Platinum ever comes along for you, you’re eligible because you’re only an AU on DH’s card.

(Note Amex has introduced additional anti-churning criteria, but we’ve yet to see it have any widespread effect.)

 

[kidsfirsttrip]

So this SPG change throws a wrench in my plans. I was hoping to dip my toes in AMEX business cards. I am currently 5/24 going to 4/24 in the fall. Once that happens I plan to try for CIP.

My plan was to wait for the SPG biz offer end of the month but both DH and I have recent Marriott Premiers. I also have a HELOC that just closed so I think I should give up on SPG and concentrate on something else. We have SW CPs. I’m thinking either BGR or Hilton. I’m not blown away with Hilton’s redemption but we are in Boston area and travel to NYC often so I’m sure I’d find something to use. I’d prob use MRs for JetBlue, what else do people find them useful for?

 

[DisneyMandC]

Phew, just caught up after 10 pages behind! Long day at my horse show. Looks like I missed the DoC article in Starriott. I’ll have to read up. I have the Marriott biz so sounds like I’ll be ok for everything but the luxury card, which I wasn’t planning on anyways.

We get to check in for our LAX flight in the morning! Can’t wait to get out there!!

 

[jhoannam]

Well, DH was just approved for the SPG Biz, since he won’t be eligible for any Marriott bonuses for the next 23 months I figured this would be his last chance. At least he’ll get a free night at a Cat 5 hotel.

 

[MrsAlexis]

MPX = MileagePlus X

It’s an eGift card app (not a shopping portal, that’s MileagePlus Shopping), similar to Gyft and Swych, but you earn United miles on gift card purchases that vary between 0.5-5 miles (up to 10 miles during promos) depending on merchant, plus whatever points or miles you earn on your credit card. Unlike Gyft and Swych, which sells gift cards in fixed denominations, MPX allows you to buy the exact amount down to the penny for many retailers, so you’re not left with less or more gift card balance than you need (some merchants still sell only fixed amounts).

When you purchase an eGift card on the MPX app using Chase’s Visa cards, MPX passes through how that purchase codes to the category of the merchant for which you were buying the gift card.

So if you bought a gift card for Panera Bread or Starbucks, MPX would pass the coding on that transaction to these restaurants' "Dining" category, and you'd earn the dining category bonus if you were paying with the CSP and CSR (2x and 3x UR respectively).

If you bought Uber or AirBnB gift cards, MPX would code that purchase as “travel” and earn you 2x on the CSP and 3x on the CSR/CIP.

"Office supply" gift cards like OD/OM/Staples trigger the 5x UR category bonus on the CIC.

(By contrast, Gyft and Swych never distinguished the merchant category coding for each gift card they sold; these two apps code as platforms and I believe trigger something in the internet/cable/phone category so earn 3x UR on the CIP, 5x UR on the CIC/Ink+ for every merchant’s gift card purchased on the platform.)

So just an example of how this might work: if I’m out for lunch at Panera Bread and my cashier rings me up for $9.80, instead of pulling out my CSR and earning only 3x UR, or paying with a Panera Bread gift card I bought at an office supply store for 5x UR on the CIC/Ink+ (and then having an odd balance left over), I pull up the MPX app see that it earns me 5 United miles/$1, buy an exactly $9.80 eGift card using my linked CSR for 3x UR — and because I have a United MileagePlus credit card linked to my MPX account (but don’t have to pay with it), I get a 25% bonus in miles — then show the eGift card on my phone to the cashier to pay. So in all, I’d earn about 61 United miles and 29.4 UR from lunch.

Maybe I’m shopping online at Macys .com, and I’m about to check out with a total of, say, $64.65. I can pull up the MPX app, buy a Macy’s gift card for that exact amount, earn 3 United miles on the gift card purchase + a 25% miles bonus because I have a United MileagePlus credit card + whatever points or miles I’d get on the credit card used to pay. Then, use that gift card to pay for the order. But even more, since I’m shopping online, I’ll have gone to cashbackmonitor .com beforehand and gone through a shopping portal that gives me cash back, points, or miles on what I spend on this shopping trip, even if I pay with a gift card that I got extra miles and points buying.

This is called stacking.

MS is manufactured spending. It’s a method of earning points through purchasing and liquidation of cash equivalents. An example would be using your credit card and buying Visa gift cards that work like a debit card (pin enabled) and then use them to get a money order and then deposit the money order to pay your credit card. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

MPX is the MileagePlus X app. You can purchase 3 party merchant gift cards via the app and earn however many extra United points each merchant is offering, plus the points for the credit card you use. If you hold a United card you also get a 25% bonus.

Hope that helps.

I'm not the original one to ask but the MPX explanation was very helpful for me! And something I am very interested in doing. A few questions:

1. Does MPX ever offer discounted gift cards like Raise? Or is the United miles bonus the usual promotion?

2. We don't fly a lot and when we do it's only domestic. Our home airport is Pensacola and we'll occasionally fly New Orleans since cash price is usually half. I book based mostly on price with some influence based on flight times. AA and Delta seem to be primary airlines we would use from Pcola and occasionally Southwest. What is my best route to build flexible stash for airlines? URs? (Which is my primary focus right now after just getting both CSP and CSR) Not sure holding United card for MPX is my best bet as I don't see United as viable airline to fly to our most probable destinations.

3. Off topic - I added my DH as AU on my CSP then later got him a CSR. We got AU bonus for him already. Can I ask that he be removed as AU? We haven't even had the CSP for a month yet.

FWIW I'm 4/24 and DH is 4/24 because I added him as AU to CSP like a dummy.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Getting around the airport will be interesting but I will pre-arrange for a cart and try for a direct flight from Chicago to Vancouver.

We’ll be cruising Alaska with DCL next May. There is one nonstop Chicago to Vancouver daily on AA. Right now it is 7 am, arrives 9:40. One YVR to ORD daily, 10:35 to 4:50
I think UA has a couple non stops and everything else has multiple stops and seemed pretty inconvenient.