I love credit cards so much!

[gottalovepluto]

Wait a minute- Chase is moving their portal IT search to Exepedia’s platform and opening up Expedia deals to UR bookings, ok. BUT- does this mean any change for Cruise & Tours? Isn’t that also being run by Connexions? The article doesn’t mention the other aspects of Chase Travel UR program, so hopefully it’s JUST the portal?
ETA: I thought it was long ago said the backend they used for portal bookings was Expedia? I’m so confused...

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

Flights in/out of London can have very high taxes/surcharges depending on the airline, so be aware of that when considering if its better to use miles, flexible points like UR/MR, or cash to pay for those flights. British Airways especially imposes very high fuel surcharges. I'm planning a trip to London for next August, and am going to use UR points to pay for our flights. I can get flights from JFK->LHR for ~$700/ticket in economy. AA Saver awards are 30K miles each way for economy so I'd need 240K miles, plus I'd have to pay ~$800 in taxes out of pocket. Paying ~$2,800 through the Chase Travel Portal will only cost me ~187K UR points using my Sapphire Reserve card, and that price includes all the taxes/fees so I'll pay nothing additional out of pocket. In this scenario, for me it's better to use UR points even if I had enough AA miles available.

This is really good advice. I'll have to look at all angles.

 

[amalone1013]

ETA: I thought it was long ago said the backend they used for portal bookings was Expedia? I’m so confused...

Thats what I thought!

 

[disneybirds]

I believe there are only 3 instances where you'd want to double dip with Chase (somebody correct me if I'm missing something)...

• CSR/CSP - the most common double dip. You can only do this once every 24+ months (typically every 26-27 months since it's when you earned the bonus, not when you applied)
• 2 SW personal cards - a recent addition to this list due to the 1 SW personal card rule. This is done to earn a CP. The CP can also be earned w/ 1 biz and 1 personal which DOES NOT require a double dip.
• Double Dipping ANY 2 cards at 4/24 - you do this because if you applied for just one card you're now 5/24 and locked out of the other card. IF you are 4/24 BUT have a card dropping off fairly soon, it may make more sense to apply for 1 card. Go to 5/24, have the other drop off and THEN do the double dip.

You would never want to double dip unless it's necessary. There would never really be an occasion where you'd want to double dip a biz card and a personal card OR 2 biz cards...it just doesn't make sense.

It also is worth noting that in preparing for a double dip you likely want to sit dormant for at least 3 months prior. Hitting a Chase card one month and then coming back for a double dip the next month or 2 could be asking for trouble (in the best case a denial, worst case a shutdown).

EDIT: I will admit I'm not 100% up on all the new Marriott card rules as it's a not a concern of mine right now. Perhaps that's also an occasion for a strange double dip not described above...but I'd defer to somebody who can render a more expert opinion on that.

Thank you for the detailed info. I really appreciate it. Now, I need to develop a long range plan!!

 

[palhockeymomof2]

So, I am over half way to my MSR on the CSP and am thinking about my next move. In the past I hadn't really considered the CP because we have 5 in our family, but am now considering doing it for both myself and DH. Other than that I am focusing on UR cards. Hard to believe when I found this thread a few months ago I said I wasn't interested in business cards, and now I think I've convinced DH to do a SW business. My question with that would be the 'business'. He does ref some basketball games and earns about $1000/year. I know about applying sole proprietor, name as business, and SSN as EIN. Any advice as to what categories would work for this 'business'? The only thing that seemed to fit was Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation, Spectator Sports, and Sports Teams and Clubs.

Myself: 1/24
CSP: 6/18
Disney: over 2 years old

DH: 1/24
SW Plus: 4/18
CF and Disney: Over 2 years old

Here is my rough plan for the next 6 months or so
Myself:
CSP: 6/18
SW Biz: 10/18
SW Plus: 11/18
CIP: 4/19

DH:
SW Plus: 4/18
SW Biz: 8/18
CIP: 1/19

Of course this is assuming getting approved for business cards. I am also undecided on the double Sapphire dip for DH. Our normal spend is probably around $1500/month so am not sure about the $8000 MSR. But maybe I could time it and pay our taxes in December with it. I know there is a fee, but maybe would be worth it.

Thank you for all your help so far, any advice is appreciated!

I have a hard time with the business categories also..I sell on eBay and nothing seems to fit exactly either ....I looked through the categories and what you listed above seems to fit.
The CP is great...I hope you are both able to get it.

 

[Calfan]

I thought I'd share some interesting observations while booking flights this morning for the return of our trip from Scotland next summer. The last flight I needed was a one way JFK-MIA on July 7th. I'd been hoping I'd find saver awards on AA. No dice. AA anytime awards were 75K in business/first which made me laugh hysterically because I have booked international first for less AA miles. Obviously, I'm not doing that. Economy doesn't have saver awards either and booking that would not go over well with the Plane Princess anyhow

So, I check the cash price on AA for our flights in business/first and they are $409 per person. The AA gift card stash is low after booking flights to DC the other day to go see Hamilton next month. So, I decide to check the UR portal via the CSR account. I know the flights through there should cost roughly 27,267 UR each. I don't know if there is a glitch in the system or if this could have been rectified by calling but here is what I found. For the life of me I cannot comprehend why the flights would not be bookable until 270 days out when most airlines release flights at 330 ~ days. I know for a fact that this was not the case when I booked our flights to Iceland. I decide to check the Ink+ UR portal to see what happens. For the newbies: With and Ink or CSP the flights should be 32,720 UR. I get the same message.

View attachment 343224


Then, out of curiosity and boredom I decide to see what happens via the Freedom UR portal which of course should be 40,900 UR points. To my shock and horror this is what comes up:

View attachment 343225


All the flights available are JFK-LAX-MIA. That is insane! Again, I didn't bother to call UR travel to see if what I wanted to do was bookable over the phone with the flights I want. At the moment, I was just doing points comparison shopping.

So, next stop is Amex MR to check and see if there are discounted Insider Fares. I logged into DH's account because he currently has the Amex business Platinum and we'd get 35% of the points back if we book using MR points. Lo and behold there are insider fares for my flight! $373.80 is better than $409! No Amex imposed fees since they are waived for Platinum card holders. So we used 37,380 points per person at .01 cpp but we will get back 35% of those points for having the Amex business Platinum card which makes the points .0154 cpp. It is an even better return when you calculate the additional 8.6% difference with the Amex insider fare. That brings it up to .0168 cpp.

View attachment 343227

Sometimes people ask how to figure out what the better value will when using points. I know a lot of the travel hackers will spout CPP as the end all and be all. Not me. I strictly go by what do I have at the moment, what are the future needs and ease of replenishment. My options per person were:

$409 out of pocket
75,000 AA points
27,267 UR via CSR account assuming I could call in and book the flight over the phone
24,297 MR once the 35% in MR points are returned back to the account

Normally, I would have actually gone for using the UR points since I earn them faster than I do MR, despite the MR getting me 1.54 cpp over UR 1.5 cpp. However, this time the Insider fare and the fact that we are not low on MR and don't have an immediate planned use for them made the difference.

I think this snapshot of my travel hacking morning also illustrates why I find it important to have points in a various currencies. I know others only want to stick with one points currency or mileage program. That is cool if it works best for you. No judgement from me It just doesn't work for us. Plan A doesn't always work and I have found myself going to Plan B and Plan C a number of times. Another travel hacking philosophy often spouted is "earn and burn." Also doesn't work for me. I don't plan trips based on what points I have recently earned so I can burn them. I tend to plan a trip and then figure out what points I will need. Opportunistic hoarding is what works best for me.

@calypso726 ...excellent real life real time example. I do have to ask, since the flight is 3 hr 3 min (per AA) are y'all in business/first? I know how your DH is

PS I just discovered Amex "insider fares" which makes me value my MRs and Biz Plat even more (if possible?). Can one love a charge card??



LOL...sorry, should have made that clear-all 3 cards had MSR earned months ago. That's the first thing I do with a new card and "fortunately" we seem to always have quarterly taxes/insurance/property taxes hit just as I have a new MSR

Amex Biz Plat newbie here. Can you explain what the “insder fares” are and how to access them? Thanks!

 

[PolyRob]

I looked and found the same Disney room category is bookable at the same price for one of my future trips. Am I crazy to consider booking it on my CSR for the 3x points and $300 travel credit? If I cancel the original reservation, I will get a refund of about $385 on my Disney Visa. I am not sure if it is worth having the credit on the Disney Visa while I work towards the two Sapphire MSRs or if I am just overthinking it.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

I looked and found the same Disney room category is bookable at the same price for one of my future trips. Am I crazy to consider booking it on my CSR for the 3x points and $300 travel credit? If I cancel the original reservation, I will get a refund of about $385 on my Disney Visa. I am not sure if it is worth having the credit on the Disney Visa while I work towards the two Sapphire MSRs or if I am just overthinking it.

You won’t get points on the travel credit, and if your credit is available it will automatically be applied. Personally I’d probably put it on CSR, and use it towards MSR.

 

[WVMomof3]

Guess who finally agreed to get a business card?!?!?! Yay!!! Got him the SPG biz since he will be locked out at the end of this month. I am not sure he totally agreed, but he said just do whatever you want. lol OK. DONE!

 

[afan]

I looked and found the same Disney room category is bookable at the same price for one of my future trips. Am I crazy to consider booking it on my CSR for the 3x points and $300 travel credit? If I cancel the original reservation, I will get a refund of about $385 on my Disney Visa. I am not sure if it is worth having the credit on the Disney Visa while I work towards the two Sapphire MSRs or if I am just overthinking it.

I don't understand. Would you be rebooking it because it's cheaper? Or because you want what you've put down back so you can use the credit etc?

If it's the 2nd, then just make a payment on what you already have, Disney codes as 3x when booked through them. I think you're over thinking it. I wouldn't rebook it if it'll end up as a credit on your other card, just make a payment.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

I looked and found the same Disney room category is bookable at the same price for one of my future trips. Am I crazy to consider booking it on my CSR for the 3x points and $300 travel credit? If I cancel the original reservation, I will get a refund of about $385 on my Disney Visa. I am not sure if it is worth having the credit on the Disney Visa while I work towards the two Sapphire MSRs or if I am just overthinking it.

If it were me I’d cancel and rebook to work towards the MSR and also get the 3xUR. As far as the credit on your Disney visa you can ask them to mail you a check for the $385

 

[amalone1013]

I looked and found the same Disney room category is bookable at the same price for one of my future trips. Am I crazy to consider booking it on my CSR for the 3x points and $300 travel credit? If I cancel the original reservation, I will get a refund of about $385 on my Disney Visa. I am not sure if it is worth having the credit on the Disney Visa while I work towards the two Sapphire MSRs or if I am just overthinking it.

I was told last week by Chase that they could transfer that credit to another card. I haven't tried myself, but it was mentioned via SM when I requested a check for my SW annual fee credit. That's an option too

 

[DaveL]

https://www.southwest.com/html/travel-tools/index.html

I pull that info from here. They will release thru Apr 7th in August 16th (probably between 6:30 and 8:30am that morning).

Doh! They changed it to Aug 30th now.


So I just skipped like 100+ pages. Got busy with life, parents came and the big laser arrived and I have been lasering all sorts of stuff. Once I get some pictures together I will post a link to them some where as not to off-rail this thread too much.

 

[Albort]

ETA: I thought it was long ago said the backend they used for portal bookings was Expedia? I’m so confused...

Thats what I thought!

i asked flyertalk this question. this is the reply i got.

That's because Connexions used Expedia to fulfill many of their hotel bookings. The large online travel agencies, Expedia and Priceline, own blocks of prepaid nights purchased at a substantial discount. Placing your reservation through Expedia saved Connexions money.

However, this change makes Expedia (or one of their many other brands) the operator of the portal, which will affect airfare, car rentals, etc as well as hotels.

 

[calypso726]

I need to look into Plastique, which was mentioned by so many posters. I just entered this game when I was looking for ways to trim the budget for our London/South Africa trip next July. I have a paltry 3600 Delta skymikes and 1675 AA miles. One points chart I saw shows a ticket to South Africa with AA miles in economy is 80,000 rt/240,000 in first class. I need 4 tickets! Those point #s are not even considering the 3 day stop over in London. I read that some airlines have fuel surcharges on top of the points. The AA card offer DH just got has a 60,000 miles bonus. Hmmmm. I may not be able to get all 4 tickets free but I could maybe get 1 or 2.

Flights in/out of London can have very high taxes/surcharges depending on the airline, so be aware of that when considering if its better to use miles, flexible points like UR/MR, or cash to pay for those flights. British Airways especially imposes very high fuel surcharges. I'm planning a trip to London for next August, and am going to use UR points to pay for our flights. I can get flights from JFK->LHR for ~$700/ticket in economy. AA Saver awards are 30K miles each way for economy so I'd need 240K miles, plus I'd have to pay ~$800 in taxes out of pocket. Paying ~$2,800 through the Chase Travel Portal will only cost me ~187K UR points using my Sapphire Reserve card, and that price includes all the taxes/fees so I'll pay nothing additional out of pocket. In this scenario, for me it's better to use UR points even if I had enough AA miles available.

@Ava makes an excellent point. Some airlines do impose very high taxes and fees. If you are traveling in economy it may not be worth it to book with miles when the taxes and fees are so high. British Airways is definitely one of those with flights that arrive or connect in London having super high taxes and fees. We have flown BA numerous times to or via London on points and miles and all in first class except for one time. We always view these flights as paying around the price of an economy ticket or less and using the miles to upgrade to first class. If we use a companion voucher then that sweetens the bitter pill a bit. Our flights to/from Scotland next summer are in first on BA. The miles required were around 148,000 per person as BA is distance based. However only one of us needed to use miles because we have the companion voucher and the other person travels for the taxes and fees but no miles. The fees came up to a little over $1,000 per person. The same exact flights in economy would have cost slightly more than my taxes and fees, but not by much. They get paid with the CSR and will code at 3x so that is helpful.

I would urge you to make dummy bookings on the various airlines to see what you'd be looking at with each program in taxes and fees and what the miles may run you as those can vary too. Flights to/from SCL that we booked for our Antarctica trip have dates where business class is 57.5k miles one way on a given day and 195k miles one way on another day. We planned worst case scenario and made sure to have over 780k AA miles ready to go when it was time to book. The departure wound up being 150k pp and the return 195k pp. We got lucky and were able to re-book the departure for 57.5k pp some months later but had to pay $150 for the change and redepositing of miles. It was worth it to get 185K miles back. So far the return is still 195k but if drops down, I will re-book the flight. Hope this helps

 

[miztressuz]

You won’t get points on the travel credit, and if your credit is available it will automatically be applied. Personally I’d probably put it on CSR, and use it towards MSR.

That CSR change isn't in effect just yet, if it posts before 8/26 you will still get the UR.

 

[miztressuz]

So, I am over half way to my MSR on the CSP and am thinking about my next move. In the past I hadn't really considered the CP because we have 5 in our family, but am now considering doing it for both myself and DH. Other than that I am focusing on UR cards. Hard to believe when I found this thread a few months ago I said I wasn't interested in business cards, and now I think I've convinced DH to do a SW business. My question with that would be the 'business'. He does ref some basketball games and earns about $1000/year. I know about applying sole proprietor, name as business, and SSN as EIN. Any advice as to what categories would work for this 'business'? The only thing that seemed to fit was Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation, Spectator Sports, and Sports Teams and Clubs.

Myself: 1/24
CSP: 6/18
Disney: over 2 years old

DH: 1/24
SW Plus: 4/18
CF and Disney: Over 2 years old

Here is my rough plan for the next 6 months or so
Myself:
CSP: 6/18
SW Biz: 10/18
SW Plus: 11/18
CIP: 4/19

DH:
SW Plus: 4/18
SW Biz: 8/18
CIP: 1/19

Of course this is assuming getting approved for business cards. I am also undecided on the double Sapphire dip for DH. Our normal spend is probably around $1500/month so am not sure about the $8000 MSR. But maybe I could time it and pay our taxes in December with it. I know there is a fee, but maybe would be worth it.

Thank you for all your help so far, any advice is appreciated!

Seems like a reasonable category to me for the business

 

[calypso726]

Amex Biz Plat newbie here. Can you explain what the “insder fares” are and how to access them? Thanks!

Ok for the other newbies too ...

If you have an Amex business platinum you will get 35% of our points back when you pay with points on all first or business class flights, regardless of airline. In order to get 35% back on coach tickets they must be on your preferred airline that you select to get your airline credit with Amex.

Insider fares are available via the Amex travel portal. They are available to all MR card holders. They appear when you search for flights as long as you have enough points to cover the flight. I believe there is a fee for some card holders but it is waived for Platinum card holders.

 

[PolyRob]

You won’t get points on the travel credit, and if your credit is available it will automatically be applied. Personally I’d probably put it on CSR, and use it towards MSR.

That is what I am leaning towards. Glad it doesn't sound crazy!

I don't understand. Would you be rebooking it because it's cheaper? Or because you want what you've put down back so you can use the credit etc?

If it's the 2nd, then just make a payment on what you already have, Disney codes as 3x when booked through them. I think you're over thinking it. I wouldn't rebook it if it'll end up as a credit on your other card, just make a payment.

It is the same exact price and I do not really want the credit back to the Disney Visa, I just want to maximize the new card. I figured I could throw groceries and gas (anything not 3x on the CSR) on the Disney Visa for the 1% once I hit the MSRs.

If it were me I’d cancel and rebook to work towards the MSR and also get the 3xUR. As far as the credit on your Disney visa you can ask them to mail you a check for the $385

Ah, I never knew this was an option! I have had some cards/banks just send me a check and other times I have just had a negative balance I have slowly used up. Thank you!

I was told last week by Chase that they could transfer that credit to another card. I haven't tried myself, but it was mentioned via SM when I requested a check for my SW annual fee credit. That's an option too

Thanks, this is great to know! I can rebook, cancel, and just have the payment moved. The additional $300 can help cover everything else I've charged this weekend!

 

[mhartman09]

From DoC Chase changing travel portal to Expedia. Said it's only rolled out to Freedom right now but I wonder if that's part of the issues today.

Wait a minute- Chase is moving their portal IT search to Exepedia’s platform and opening up Expedia deals to UR bookings, ok. BUT- does this mean any change for Cruise & Tours? Isn’t that also being run by Connexions? The article doesn’t mention the other aspects of Chase Travel UR program, so hopefully it’s JUST the portal?
ETA: I thought it was long ago said the backend they used for portal bookings was Expedia? I’m so confused...

My last WDW room stay booked through the portal was through expedia. Found that out when I called to get the Disney confirmation number to link and the rep from the wholesale line mentioned expedia. Will be interesting to see what changes come to the portal due to this. I'e been trying to search for a room for March.