I love credit cards so much!

[disneymagicgirl]

No I'm not! I read it on Miles to the Magic. I honestly didn't even know it was a possibility. The post said you had to call to get it done. I was curious about it.

oh wow! Will need to follow up on this.

 

[amalone1013]

You can Google Chase Freedom department stores, and a list will pop up of all department stores that will trigger the 4x. I know for sure that Nordstrom and Kohl’s do, having already made purchases there with my CF this quarter and seeing the 5x in my online Chase account. BTW, I know the offer ends today but in case there is another one...I never shop at Kohl’s but I happened to be at the mall and saw a Kohl’s and knew there was an RMN offer for $5 off $40. Since this is more than 10% off, once I confirmed that Kohl’s counts as a department store for CF (by Googling as mentioned above), I bought a 4-pack of $10 Starbucks gift cards for exactly $40. I didn’t add any filler since I don’t usually shop at Kohl’s. The $5 hit my RMN wallet this morning and has been transferred to PayPal. The reason I was at the mall was to return my duplicate Macy’s order. Both of my $15 Macy’s RMN rewards also hit my wallet this morning and have also been transferred to PayPal. I’m really curious about what will happen with the reward attached to the return in terms of if and how RMN will claw that back. Guess I’ll find out in due course.

Thought I'd bounce off this.. not quite as good, but JCPenney is 10%back on Dosh. I haven6 paid attention to my store, but I think some peoples sell GCs...10% cashback plus 7.5%+ in URs

 

[amalone1013]

Good news: I scrounged up enough packaging for everything that is paid for that needs shipped.
Bad news: I ran out of packing tap midway through.

 

[amalone1013]

@disneymagicgirl How fast do your Sam's orders show up?

 

[Lain]

Thanks again, for both your advice and your patience. I have my P2 here with me, reading it all. It's been hard to get P2 ready to deal with it all, and I don't have a P2 who just does whatever I tell him to do so having it all written out really helps. It sounds like (not today, but soonish before the AMEX get reported) he'll look into a CIP or a CIC. I'm guessing we will go for the larger bonus than the extra points earning since now with all these cards it's getting a bit complicated. And then it will be a few months for a card to drop off, which is fine really. We don't want to move too quickly here.

Oh, and he said that thanks to your input on the Apple wallet if I keep adding cards he will "need" to get a new iPhone (which, I added, will then help with the MSR of some new card). We decided not to upgrade at this point and now this!

Among Chase’s business cards, people go for the Ink cards primarily for their signup bonuses of 50k-80k UR; the SW Biz because it’s now an essential part of getting the CP; the Marriott Biz primarily for the Marriott points; the United Biz primarily for the miles, and all because these cards don’t show up on your personal credit reports and don’t add to your */24 count.

I don’t think you folks fly SW much. Between Chase Marriott cards and Amex SPG cards, I’ve previously written about how I think anyone starting out with the Starriott cards should focus on the Amex cards first (after passing 5/24). I’m not as familiar with the United Biz, but I think the highest offers on this card may be targeted.

Between the Chase Ink cards, the CIP has the highest signup bonus of 80k UR and the ability to refer (P2, especially) for another 20k UR, but it’s 3x UR earning category was severely neutered two months ago when Chase killed Plastiq from earning 3x UR on the CIP. The CIP does still earn 3x UR on a number of useful niche things like Venmo, Gyft and Swych eGift card apps with PayPal checkout, giftcardmall, eBay seller’s fees, eBay Shipping through PayPal, USPS/UPS/FedEx/Stamps .com, cable/internet/cell phone bills (including Netflix and Hulu), and if you pay your cell phone bill with the CIP then the phone qualifies for the CIP’s cell phone insurance. The CIP is just not as useful or a UR earning machine like it used to be. The AF is $95.

The CIC has a lower 50k UR signup bonus, no ability to refer, but probably has the most useful ongoing earning categories with 5x UR earned at office supply stores, where you can buy gift cards to dozens of third-party merchants and there are frequently deals for VGC and MCGC prepaid cards that you can use to shift that 5x UR earning rate to other categories of merchants. The CIC also earns 5x UR on Gyft and Swych through PayPal checkout. The CIC also earns 5x UR in the cable/internet/cellphone category (including Netflix and Hulu) but doesn’t have cell phone insurance. The 5x UR categories are capped at $25k in purchases a year (then just 1x), but that’s still 125k UR in potential earning power. And there’s no AF!

So most people like the CIP for the big signup bonus and will find a way to make the bonus categories work for them. A lot of people like the CIC primarily for the bonus categories, and the 50k UR signup bonus is a steal on a $0 AF card.

Chase introduced the CIU recently, which is the business version of the CFU: 1.5x UR on everything, which makes it a good “everything else” card. It’s another $0 AF card, but comes with a 50k UR signup bonus!

If DH goes for the CIP first, do it for the 80k UR bonus and ability to refer you later. And if you don’t find yourself putting much spend on the CIP over the next year, you can (1) downgrade the CIP to the CIC or CIU after a year to avoid the second year AF, but this won’t get you the CIC or CIU’s 50k UR bonuses, so (2) sign up for the CIC or CIU separately if/when DH is under 5/24 again (in a few months?) so you can pocket the 50k UR signup bonus when getting a more useful card, and simply sockdrawer the CIP and close it when a year is up.

 

[miztressuz]

Well, yes you will eventually need one to cash out in your name. Have you looked to see if they still have the $100 bonus out there? We opened a brokerage+checking and got $100 for doing it I think.

OMG world ended, this was the first post I see where you changed your avatar. Not sure what's up or down now

 

[Lain]

Thanks for the reply. I had to pay by midnight last night so I was forced to make my own decision.
I put it on the amex plat. I do have another card on the way for MSR, so that is why. Plus I was thinking if I can hit the amex msr quickly I can use the points to buy those delta tix I am eyeing.

Good thing about Amex bonuses is they usually post within a few days of hitting MSR, no need to wait for them to go pending or close of statement to post. However, if this is your first MR earning card, the welcome bonus can take up to two statement periods to post.

 

[Lain]

Disneyland is crazy packed this weekend! Gay Days has descended on the parks and the crowds are a sea of red t-shirts and rainbow ears. And Deluxe passes aren’t blocked out.

 

[Albort]

I have the Samsung S8 and I have Samsung Pay and Chase Pay on the phone. I just need to know that it works for the 5X at Walgreens. I guess I can do a test purchase.

yes, it should work as long as u go through chase pay with spay

 

[kmc8826]

@Albort and @CyndiLouWho I have an October 4th Costco purchase that has posted at the 5 times.

@mmmears if you are taking it slow business card wise I would go against the conventional wisdom and just get the CIC or even Business Unlimited. I know the CIP makes sense because of the larger sign up bonus but it also has an AF. Especially since it no longer works for Plastiq it is not attractive. The other 2 will net you more points spend wise long term. Just something to think about.

 

[mmmears]

Disneyland is crazy packed this weekend! Gay Days has descended on the parks and the crowds are a sea of red t-shirts and rainbow ears. And Deluxe passes aren’t blocked out.

Yikes I hate a packed park. And we are thinking we'll be there this time next year... Hmmm... I have nothing against large groups (we've been there during Gay Days before but APs were blocked out luckily) but I really don't think it's fun when it's too crowded. I hope it gets better.

And thanks for the last post about the cards. We definitely have to figure out which makes sense. P2 isn't into the whole gift card thing so I have to figure out how we can maximize points while not making things too complex.

 

[miztressuz]

Gah!! I almost didn't recognize you since you changed your picture!!

I was reading through your DISchurners write up. Looks like the $100 bonus is still there. We will just open in my name so we are ready to cash out those MR's in a year or so

Since most times my only use in life is to serve as a cautionary tale to others, I'll put this out there for opening Schwab in case it helps someone. When you pick what to open, go for the Checking option Add On. This is confusing to some ( ), but really this is opening both a brokerage and linked checking at the same time - like we all did for the Fidelity bonus. And now that I'm looking at the page for a screenshot I see they changed the wording and the footnote to probably clear up some confusion for new accounts


Linking the checking account waives any minimum balance needed for the brokerage account, so you can even leave that empty if you wanted too, and only need to fund with a little bit to get the bonus. I too just did $100 and no fees. And if you do two individual accounts instead of a joint, two bonuses After the year I'm sure you could probably make one joint and then close the other.

 

[miztressuz]

I get 4% cash back at Costco between my executive card and my Citi card.

So, I don't want to use the Freedom there.

I'd prefer to do the $1500 spend using Chase Pay or at a department store that sells gift cards or other stuff I might want.

So, any idea which department stores will credit?

And can I do Chase Pay at Walgreen's if I just want to do $500 on a Disney card? Will that work?

(It's my first year with a Chase Freedom. I paid no attention until I got one!)

Can't remember if you got the link or not for the Freedom merchants, but this is the list for Q4 - https://creditcards.chase.com/freedom/merchants

They usually have the link for each quarter in the FAQ page if that's easier to find.

 

[amalone1013]

And another Ebay item sold! I'm doing much better than the first few items I listed.

 

[wendow]

My dh is in the process of opening the brokerage account for Schwab. It offers 'gambling/lottery' as a way to fund but not cc lol!

 

[wendow]

Since most times my only use in life is to serve as a cautionary tale to others, I'll put this out there for opening Schwab in case it helps someone. When you pick what to open, go for the Checking option Add On. This is confusing to some ( ), but really this is opening both a brokerage and linked checking at the same time - like we all did for the Fidelity bonus. And now that I'm looking at the page for a screenshot I see they changed the wording and the footnote to probably clear up some confusion for new accounts
View attachment 356388

Linking the checking account waives any minimum balance needed for the brokerage account, so you can even leave that empty if you wanted too, and only need to fund with a little bit to get the bonus. I too just did $100 and no fees. And if you do two individual accounts instead of a joint, two bonuses After the year I'm sure you could probably make one joint and then close the other.

He's almost done with the brokerage account...not doing joint...so we can go back for another bonus later

 

[mmmears]

@Albort and @CyndiLouWho I have an October 4th Costco purchase that has posted at the 5 times.

@mmmears if you are taking it slow business card wise I would go against the conventional wisdom and just get the CIC or even Business Unlimited. I know the CIP makes sense because of the larger sign up bonus but it also has an AF. Especially since it no longer works for CIP it is not attractive. The other 2 will net you more points spend wise long term. Just something to think about.

Thanks for the advice. Somehow I didn't see your post before, even though it's above my own. Weird. Anyway, yeah, I think it's definitely something to consider since DH doesn't want to get all the cards. We'll take a look at our spending and what bonuses we have on the other cards and try to figure out the best way to proceed.

 

[amalone1013]

We charged most things to the room at the Dolphin, but we did get something from Picabu just before leaving for the airport and DH used his SPG Lux - it earned 6x points. I saw some debate on if it would because the old cards/program specifically stated they would earn bonus points at hotel restaurants, but the new terms don't specifically call it out.

ETA: Also noticed that the one F&W booth we charged on the card coded as a restaurant (3x), and also upgrading to SW A1-A15 boarding at the gated coded as direct with airlines (3x)

 

[DisneyMandC]

Very frustrating morning with Chase. Since I was able to pull up Universal tickets yesterday, I decided to just go ahead and book our tickets for November. Well, I can get the tickets to pull up on the updated UR website on my CSP, but not on the CIP website (which does not appear to be updated for me). I tried multiple times to book on the website and every time it said I couldn't proceed with my booking. I decided to call the UR number and used my CIP number and the agent couldn't even see Universal on the website. He got a supervisor on the line and as soon as he went to transfer me to just the supervisor he hung up on me. I called back and gave them my CSP number and the agent was able to see Universal on the website and got everything entered for me to buy the tickets and then got the same message I got "we are unable to proceed with your booking at this time."



She told me they had been having some issues with the website this morning and she was going to let her supervisor know about the problem. She said to try back in about an hour. I find it hard to believe that they would move Universal tickets to the new website and then get rid of them as an option, so I'm holding on to hope that it will work. Although, with my luck, they will have removed them as an option because now I want to buy them.

I also expressed my displeasure at Disney being taken away as an option to book. She said she was also upset by that and that she hoped it was a temporary change, but had no other information about it.

 

[amalone1013]

Taking a swagbucks survey. How many times did I use my debit card to access cash in the last 30 days? To make a purchase?

ZERO