I love credit cards so much!

[AmyAnne]

Who here is knowledgeable about Barclays? I have the Aviator personal card and the AF is due this month. I'm thinking I will have to cancel since looking at the Barclays website, there does not seem to be a downgrade possibility. Am I missing something?

I do see that there is a business Aviator card, though -- I'm wondering if I should apply for that before cancelling the personal card? Does Barclays have rules like Chase and AmEx about how many of which cards you can have in a certain timeframe?

 

[GZanta77]

Who here is knowledgeable about Barclays? I have the Aviator personal card and the AF is due this month. I'm thinking I will have to cancel since looking at the Barclays website, there does not seem to be a downgrade possibility. Am I missing something?

I do see that there is a business Aviator card, though -- I'm wondering if I should apply for that before cancelling the personal card? Does Barclays have rules like Chase and AmEx about how many of which cards you can have in a certain timeframe?

There used to be an unadvertised no-fee AAviator - you have to call in to downgrade to it. It is sometimes offered as a retention method when you call to cancel.

I am not sure how sensitive Barclays is to closed accounts, but if you were thinking of applying for the Biz card imminently, I would think better to do so before you cancel the personal.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Yes career prosecutor from the start...18 years in January. As I explained to the loan officer when I got the home equity loan this summer I am the poor type of attorney that needs to get a loan to fix our backyard etc. BUT I worked off student loans through the programs and since I have state retirement credit from government job in high school and college I can actually retire with a full pension in 9 years. And a lot of vacation time which for most part can take whenever I want.

I've only got two years in so far but I'm hoping to be here long term! I love the work, even if I am also the poor type of attorney. I've also got three and a half years in PSLF and am maxing that state retirement for sure!

 

[jen7233]

I see mostly hotel rewards being used here for booking free nights or discounts largely associated with Hilton, SPG, IHG, for example. Does anyone here book hotels not in the usual credit card reward system offers and if so what's your best strategy to minimize the cost? I'm trying to find a good way to easily word this to make my question more clear, but I can't come up with one. I'm looking at Great Wolf Lodge in particular.

My cards are SW Plus, CF, CFU, USAA preferred, and Amex EveryDay. I am booking after Christmas but during the two week school holiday so the prices are crazy, however, this is when DH has off and also aligns with one of the kid's birthdays. I would definitely be way over 5/24 because I also had JCPenney, Kohls, and Macys in the last year or two and have since closed, and the others were all within two years minus my CF that I've had since 2007. Anyway, is there a good strategy for minimizing cost on a hotel like GWL?

*I'll add that I've debated on opening a card with a cash back bonus offering $100-$200, and using the lodge to meet the MS. Or, alternately to somehow use this as building up airline miles (for next year Disney trip). These are my target areas, reduce the cost if possible, and if not then maximize the airmiles on SW. Thanks!

 

[striker1064]

Who here is knowledgeable about Barclays? I have the Aviator personal card and the AF is due this month. I'm thinking I will have to cancel since looking at the Barclays website, there does not seem to be a downgrade possibility. Am I missing something?

I do see that there is a business Aviator card, though -- I'm wondering if I should apply for that before cancelling the personal card? Does Barclays have rules like Chase and AmEx about how many of which cards you can have in a certain timeframe?

If you want to apply for the Biz card, put some spend on the personal one in the next few days. Barclays likes to see usage with current cards.

There is also a no-fee AA card. Generally, the recommend course of action is AF posts, call to downgrade, leave open for ~6 months, close, then churn the card in another 6 months. The Biz AA card is independent of this, and you can still do that.

No one knows exactly how many Barclays cards you can have at once.

 

[Albort]

I see mostly hotel rewards being used here for booking free nights or discounts largely associated with Hilton, SPG, IHG, for example. Does anyone here book hotels not in the usual credit card reward system offers and if so what's your best strategy to minimize the cost? I'm trying to find a good way to easily word this to make my question more clear, but I can't come up with one. I'm looking at Great Wolf Lodge in particular

Groupon

edit: also stack with groupon GCs+portal. should save u a load of money.

 

[platamama]

I see mostly hotel rewards being used here for booking free nights or discounts largely associated with Hilton, SPG, IHG, for example. Does anyone here book hotels not in the usual credit card reward system offers and if so what's your best strategy to minimize the cost? I'm trying to find a good way to easily word this to make my question more clear, but I can't come up with one. I'm looking at Great Wolf Lodge in particular.

My cards are SW Plus, CF, CFU, USAA preferred, and Amex EveryDay. I am booking after Christmas but during the two week school holiday so the prices are crazy, however, this is when DH has off and also aligns with one of the kid's birthdays. I would definitely be way over 5/24 because I also had JCPenney, Kohls, and Macys in the last year or two and have since closed, and the others were all within two years minus my CF that I've had since 2007. Anyway, is there a good strategy for minimizing cost on a hotel like GWL?

*I'll add that I've debated on opening a card with a cash back bonus offering $100-$200, and using the lodge to meet the MS. Or, alternately to somehow use this as building up airline miles (for next year Disney trip). These are my target areas, reduce the cost if possible, and if not then maximize the airmiles on SW. Thanks!

I like hotels .com for booking hotels that aren't part of one of the big chains. You get 1 free night after 10 nights. Book thru a portal offering the highest cash back for hotels .com. (Go to cashbackmonitor to see what portal gives you the most back) Use a hotels .com gift card purchased at one of the category bonus stores to pay for your booking. For example, look at Walgreens for them and use your CF to buy it at 5xUR til end of September. Maybe the Q4 bonus categories will include a store that you can use the 5xUR CF to buy a gc.

Your free night is an average of what you paid for those 10 nights. And I don't know what happens if you book 10+ nights for one stay up front, i.e. I don't know if you get the free night applied to that stay or if you have to wait for a future stay.

Or, as you say, open up a new credit card!

 

[striker1064]

There's a new US Bank Biz cash back card with a $200 bonus after $1,000 spend, and has some very interesting language. Relevant DoC post.

Here's the link.

The language in question:

4 $200 cash back will be credited to your account when you are approved for the U.S. Bank Business Edge Cash Rewards card and after net purchases totaling $1,000 or more are made to your account in the first 90 days of account opening. Please allow 8-10 weeks after you have met the spend requirement for your cash back to be credited to your Account. Cash Rewards may be redeemed as a statement credit, U.S. Bank Rewards Card, or deposit to another U.S. Bank account. Offer may not be combined with any other offer. Each card meeting the spend requirements will earn cash back. Spend on multiple cards may not be combined to meet the requirement.

That implies every employee card that you add and spend $1,000 will earn the $200 bonus. I have a feeling USB didn't actually mean that, but I've never seen that language in any T&Cs.

I'm tempted to try this but I know USB is uber-sensitive and I have a lot of other MSR at the moment.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

I see mostly hotel rewards being used here for booking free nights or discounts largely associated with Hilton, SPG, IHG, for example. Does anyone here book hotels not in the usual credit card reward system offers and if so what's your best strategy to minimize the cost? I'm trying to find a good way to easily word this to make my question more clear, but I can't come up with one. I'm looking at Great Wolf Lodge in particular.

My cards are SW Plus, CF, CFU, USAA preferred, and Amex EveryDay. I am booking after Christmas but during the two week school holiday so the prices are crazy, however, this is when DH has off and also aligns with one of the kid's birthdays. I would definitely be way over 5/24 because I also had JCPenney, Kohls, and Macys in the last year or two and have since closed, and the others were all within two years minus my CF that I've had since 2007. Anyway, is there a good strategy for minimizing cost on a hotel like GWL?

*I'll add that I've debated on opening a card with a cash back bonus offering $100-$200, and using the lodge to meet the MS. Or, alternately to somehow use this as building up airline miles (for next year Disney trip). These are my target areas, reduce the cost if possible, and if not then maximize the airmiles on SW. Thanks!

Is your husband also over 5/24 ? If he isn’t you could open Chase cards in his name.

I tried to look and see if Great Wolf Lodge is listed in the Chase travel portal but didn’t have any luck..not sure if I’d looking correctly or it can’t be booked there.

 

[Alexle2007]

I am so very confused by how Marriott calculates their points from a stay. I stayed at the Courtyard Marriott in VA Beach for 2 nights and this was the points they credited:
703 Points

(362 Base + 91 Elite + 250 Extra)

I stayed at the Courtyard near BWI in July for 1 night for 1/3 the cost of 1 night in VA Beach and earned:
+1,128 Points

(940 Base + 188 Elite + 0 Extra)

That makes it seem like a paid $36 for 2 nights at VA Beach which isn't close.

I used my Amex SPG Biz for all of the stays. And for the VA Beach stay was actually Gold instead of Silver. Not looking forward to contacting them since there is no way that is correct.

 

[StephPlum]

While I do try to get a good value for my points, I don’t let the idea of what a point is worth bog me down. I tend to do whatever is convenient at the moment. What is convenient is subject to how easy is it to replenish the points I’m about to use, what do I have coming up next and what type of points will that require, do I want to spend real money on whatever it is I’m about to do and is that money in the vacation budget. So if a point redemption is worth far less than the bloggers say it is but it’s convenient for me at the moment, I will do it.

good advice. Just getting started with this, but I started agonizing if I was getting a good deal or not. It lead to analysis paralysis vs just using points to make it free and easy.

 

[KPK02090]

I'm too scared to SM Chase about when I have to meet the MSR on my double dipped CSR and CSP. I don't want anyone looking at my account to notice I have both Sapphires. I was approved for both on August 22. Should I just assume November 22 for the deadline to meet MSR?

 

[palhockeymomof2]

There's a new US Bank Biz cash back card with a $200 bonus after $1,000 spend, and has some very interesting language. Relevant DoC post.

Here's the link.

The language in question:



That implies every employee card that you add and spend $1,000 will earn the $200 bonus. I have a feeling USB didn't actually mean that, but I've never seen that language in any T&Cs.

I'm tempted to try this but I know USB is uber-sensitive and I have a lot of other MSR at the moment.

Think I’m going to look into this offer..since the MSR is low and I think US Bank does not report business cards....applied for the CSR 8/15...is it too soon to apply for this ?

 

[palhockeymomof2]

I'm too scared to SM Chase about when I have to meet the MSR on my double dipped CSR and CSP. I don't want anyone looking at my account to notice I have both Sapphires. I was approved for both on August 22. Should I just assume November 22 for the deadline to meet MSR?

It’s usually a little bit longer than 90 days...but to be safe I’d try for 11/22

 

[MrPTato]

$35 into my Lux spend. Went to HD to get a toilet flusher system rebuild kit to fix the leaking toilet that broke the other day. I'm not a a plumbing expert but also not a fan of being so close and personal to the toilet. Eww. So this one the filler tube broke off and now one of the other toilets isn't sealing so gonna tackle that one next week. I have had enough "gross" for the day but the repaired one is working like a charm.

 

[Alexle2007]

My stay at the Courtyard at 25th for three nights at the beginning of August earned me 11,244 points. Plus another 5,500 Marriott Biz points.

Thanks! I knew that ridiculously low amount couldn't be correct since the room was $273 a night without taxes and fees. I emailed the front office supervisor who emailed asking me how my stay was.

 

[Lain]

OK- in spite of the excellent case for the Amex Hilton cards made by @hulagirl, I think I'm going to go for the Chase United cards next. No reason I can't get the lower tier version first, then get the snazzy $450 AF version later, right? No restriction on getting both cards? I'm not going to be actually flying United for a while, so I think I'll do the Explorer card first, then get the Club card later. Do both cards get you access to more United awards flights, or just the snazzy one?

I have the Explorer card and have the access to more United awards when I’m logged in to my United account.

Thanks - app is done. PMed you.

ETA- Instant approval

Congratulations!

Chase vs. Amex Hilton cards -- You may only be under 5/24 once or twice, so get those Chase cards! Amex welcome bonus offers are cyclical; they go up, go down, go back up again. This is the third time this year we're seeing the Hilton Biz at 125k HH, and it's not even as good as the previous 125k HH/$3k MSR offer. I think it's the first time the Aspire's gone up to 150k HH, and I fully expect it to go down and come back at 150k again. I want the Aspire, as well as the two other personal cards, but they don’t fit into my spend right now or my plans to get back under 5/24 to get another biz and personal card from Chase early next year. Now that I know Amex offers up to 150k HH on the Aspire, I'll wait for this offer to come around again and hopefully be in a better position to go for that card.

United card -- Congratulations again! As @calypso726 already noted, the Explorer card will get you increased award availability. But so will the no fee United MileagePlus [rewards] credit card. The Explorer has $0 AF first year, then $95 AF afterwards. When the AF hits in the second year, call Chase to PC it to the no fee MileagePlus card. I PCed my legacy MileagePlus Select card to the no fee card, and still see increased award availability and get the +25% cardmember bonus on MPX.

 

[Alexle2007]

Counting down until we pick DS11 up from school, go to his favorite restaurant and place for the evening, PF Chang's and Dave and Buster's, spend the night at the Courtyard BWI and take our 6:05 am flight to the World and YC tomorrow!!

 

[striker1064]

Think I’m going to look into this offer..since the MSR is low and I think US Bank does not report business cards....applied for the CSR 8/15...is it too soon to apply for this ?

I went for it and was auto-denied. Called recon and they mentioned my 4 new accounts in the last 6 months were too many, and there wasn't anything they could do to overturn it. Oh well. I don't think August is too close as a qualifier, but if you have a few new personal cards in the last 6 months it's probably not worth the trouble.

I'm actually not sure where they got 4 for me, cause I have 7 in the last 6 months, heh... guess I should see what's not reporting yet.

 

[MrPTato]

Counting down until we pick DS11 up from school, go to his favorite restaurant and place for the evening, PF Chang's and Dave and Buster's, spend the night at the Courtyard BWI and take our 6:05 am flight to World and YC tomorrow!!

Does he know where he i going tomorrow or is it a surprise?