I love credit cards so much!

[disneymagicgirl]

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.

oh fiddle sticks

eta: wait, he has another really old mr earning card, so not his first

 

[disneymagicgirl]

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

I have sooooo much stuff in a pile in the spare room I need to sell. Some FB some EBay. I need to set aside a whole day for it.

 

[GlamMistress]

Some people get really weirdly upset when there is any price increase or when a new upcharge event is introduced.

I am a big fan of upcharge events in general, but for those that aren't, it's not like Mickey is coming up to you in the middle of Main Street and holding out his gloved hand for more money. It costs nothing for those that don't want to go, but people get NASTY about it! If it's not right for your family, just don't go to the event

Don't get me wrong. It's ridiculous that soda prices will reach $5 by 2020 when I'm pretty sure Disney gets the soda for free from Coca-Cola. However... that's the price. Pay it & get one, or don't pay it & don't get one.

I'm not as upset about the new ticket pricing system. They have to manage crowd control for Star Wars Land somehow. Management figured, well, why not make some extra money doing it? It's a sound business decision, and at the end of the day, that's what Disney is... a business, not a public service.

I hate the semi-dynamic ticket pricing more than anything I think. I don't see how changing prices month to month will really control crowds. A lot of people can only go to Disney during summer or school breaks. DH and I can travel absolutely whenever (and we'd never do Disney in summer) so we're rare I guess.

A mickey bar is optional. Gate price isn't - either you pay or you don't go. At least they still give away free cups of water (for now!)

This is why we churn - to make these trips more affordable!

 

[Psychodisney]

I have sooooo much stuff in a pile in the spare room I need to sell. Some FB some EBay. I need to set aside a whole day for it.

I need to figure out how to start selling some stuff on ebay. Any recommendations on where to start? Tutorial?

 

[amalone1013]

I have sooooo much stuff in a pile in the spare room I need to sell. Some FB some EBay. I need to set aside a whole day for it.

I had a pile going too. I had listed most of the pile on FB but had zero luck. Even when people would respond that they were interested, or wanted more info/made an offer, I would message them and they wouldn't respond. I even would go comment on the post and tag them letting them know I'd messaged them. I could see that most of them had read my message too

I finally listed some stuff on Ebay last week - like I have 2 Victoria's Secret Pink Hoodies that were worn maybe twice... I probably could have done Buy It Now and maybe got a little more, but I put them as auctions starting at $5. They both sold for $14 each plus shipping... So will I get a lot, no, but they're gone and a few bucks is more than goodwill would have gotten me. At least it will pay for the packing tape for the rest of the packages I need to send...

ETA: Now I'm kind of tempted to sell another hoodie I have, I actually wore it more but it's still in very good shape. But on the other hand, it was my very first purchase on my very first credit card, which was a VS store card

 

[amalone1013]

Has anyone recently done an online Staples order with gift cards for Retail Me Not lately and had it credit?

I had some credit before but but it was in August and I haven't done any online since then.

 

[platamama]

So I have a card opened 1/1, would you close 12/1?

I opened a BoAPR on 9/17 - my statement shows 2018 AF posted on 9/29/18 (and my 2017 AF posted on 9/30/17). So I would guess yours would post by 1/31.

 

[afan]

I need to figure out how to start selling some stuff on ebay. Any recommendations on where to start? Tutorial?

I find pricing and whether to do an auction or buy it now the hardest to figure out.

I have a car racing book that is numbered out of 999, so rare. The book has its own box that it's meant to be kept in ans the whole things prob weighs 5 lb. Fits in a large priority box. Not a main racing league but the book is also done by the car manufacturer. It's a niche fandom but they pay. No idea if I should try my luck and hope for a bidding war and start at 9.99 or pick a price for buy it now, but what? You couldn't buy they book so someone selling it is the only way to obtain it but it's also from like 2008 or 2009.

 

[MKTokyo]

Standing in line for Peter Pan’s Flight right now, and they’ve temporarily suspended boarding because a family in front of us had a toddler who dropped a mushy poop in line then proceeded to board the attraction anyway. Seriously, Disney warps prople’s priorities sometimes.

I pushed "like" but I really meant "ewwwww"

I hate the semi-dynamic ticket pricing more than anything I think. I don't see how changing prices month to month will really control crowds. A lot of people can only go to Disney during summer or school breaks. DH and I can travel absolutely whenever (and we'd never do Disney in summer) so we're rare I guess.

A mickey bar is optional. Gate price isn't - either you pay or you don't go. At least they still give away free cups of water (for now!)

This is why we churn - to make these trips more affordable!

I think that's what they are banking on. People who can only go at those times will still pay those prices. People who have the luxury of switching to a cheaper date will do so. In that way, they get the crowd spread they're looking for.

I can't imagine what Star Wars Land previews & opening months will look like. If they charged $299 for an advance ticket to Pixar Pier, what will they charge for SWL? I'm expecting $499 or higher. We already know the hotel is going to be about $1K per night. I'm also anticipating that the new dynamic pricing model is going to get even crazier, with HS blockout dates. That should be communicated well in advance, but Disney's communication... isn't always the best.

Disney can ostensibly charge whatever the market will bear, and for all the complaints, it seems like the market can bear a lot.

Churners will just have to bear less (& they better keep giving away that water!)

 

[AmyAnne]

I filled in the application for Global entry on Thursday (I can see the charge and reimbursement already on my CSR), but I haven’t heard anything back about my application.
Anyone who’s done this have an idea of how long it usually takes to hear back from them about setting up an appointment?

It's been about a year since anyone in my family applied for GE, but I'm thinking it was about 3-4 business days usually.

 

[snugglebug]

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!

Several of my legit business expenses are 3x on CIP, is there a way to know if they would get 5x on CIC? I'll probably write off part of the annual fee since the only non-business spend is cell and part of internet, but if I could switch to no AF, that'd be even better overall.

Google Domains (in the process of moving from NameCheap because NC does not 3x)
Amazon Web Services
Adobe Creative Cloud
then various hosting

 

[miztressuz]

I filled in the application for Global entry on Thursday (I can see the charge and reimbursement already on my CSR), but I haven’t heard anything back about my application.
Anyone who’s done this have an idea of how long it usually takes to hear back from them about setting up an appointment?

May take a week or two (or more). When I did it last year I think it was 7-10 days, I just checked back every day. In theory this is the background and research into whether they offer it to you. Based on my "interview" and many other reports, the in person is kind of a formality. As long as you don't look or sound sketchy when they ask their 3-4 questions, most of the interview is just scanning your fingerprints and passport and explaining how it works and next steps. I was only there for 10-15 minutes because my passport wouldn't scan. It was one of the "new" ones and apparently not thick enough or something for the scanner. My agent spent most of the time complaining about how the new stuff isn't better and they should get different scanners that works with them (or something, I was mostly wondering what happens if she never gets it to scan after a solid 5 minutes of trying every trick in the book)

Oh and they take your picture for your GE ID card. I totally forgot about that and the lady was nice and tried to help me tame my hair so I didn't look crazy in the photo - it's not a high res image from what I recall so she was telling me about odd bumps that would make it look like I didn't own a brush. But at first she didn't tell me that's what she was doing she just said "can you smooth that curl there? oh and there, run your fingers through that" it was feeling a little weird until the camera came out

 

[disneymagicgirl]

You are fine...I just edited my post anyway as it didn’t make sense. I meant with the CIP not working for Plastiq it is not as good of as a value. My husband has all three of the Ink cards now and I have the CIP. Right now I am just waiting until it has been a year so I can close it out. I have no reason to put spend on it. (I put cell phone bill, Netflix, and our internet on his CIP).

Amex business cards are a lot easier and less stressful to get. So you might want to look hard at those.

@DisneyMandC I am so sorry. I have this pool of UR points right now that I don’t even know what to do with. Thanks for putting in the word on Disney.

I agree. I don't use mine at all anymore except cell. We will get rid of mine or DH's, or more likely both and pick up a CIC.

 

[Lain]

Eww!!! What is wrong with people!?!

Sure, they probably paid a lot of money to be here, woke up really early to make rope drop, and still waited 30 minutes to right Peter Pan first thing today. But when your 3 year old has to poop, you take him to go poop! They can’t hold it in yet. But no, their kid ends up pooping a huge one in line (and they had another turn and maybe two dozen people ahead of them before they could board), the kid steps in it, but they don’t mention it to anyone, and gets on the ride anyway. A family ahead of us saw the kid was covered in poop and left poop on the ride seat. Eventually other people in line (and the poop itself) made enough of a stink that the CMs realized what happened, and stopped boarding to sanitize the ride. That family just had to get theirs and shut down the ride for everyone else. SMH.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Some people get really weirdly upset when there is any price increase or when a new upcharge event is introduced.

I am a big fan of upcharge events in general, but for those that aren't, it's not like Mickey is coming up to you in the middle of Main Street and holding out his gloved hand for more money. It costs nothing for those that don't want to go, but people get NASTY about it! If it's not right for your family, just don't go to the event

Don't get me wrong. It's ridiculous that soda prices will reach $5 by 2020 when I'm pretty sure Disney gets the soda for free from Coca-Cola. However... that's the price. Pay it & get one, or don't pay it & don't get one.

I'm not as upset about the new ticket pricing system. They have to manage crowd control for Star Wars Land somehow. Management figured, well, why not make some extra money doing it? It's a sound business decision, and at the end of the day, that's what Disney is... a business, not a public service.

I like being able to pay more for less crowds, so the uncharge events don't bother me in that sense. However, alot of what they are adding for an uncharge is replacing or decreasing things that used to be free. Just look at how EMH have changed drastically. So for me it is a catch 22.

 

[NewbieMom]

I think I saw on here that some cards code Venmo at a higher % bonus category? Does anyone know which one gives at least 3%? We are planning on renting DVC points for a family trip, and it's a sizable expense. It'll probably be over the next month before I rent, so I should have time to apply for a new card. It'll be the 1st time we rent points so I'd like to charge it to Venmo 1) for the cc bonus and 2) for the cc protection since I've read some pretty horrible scam stories.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

I need to figure out how to start selling some stuff on ebay. Any recommendations on where to start? Tutorial?

I wish I could help. I sell on FB alot. I didn't sell on ebay for years and years but recently sold my son's Nintendo switch on there. I always try FB groups first. If it doesn't sell there and it isn't too big/heavy to reasonably ship, will list on Ebay. Hopefully things will sell ok on there. If not, to the donation pile it will go.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Has anyone recently done an online Staples order with gift cards for Retail Me Not lately and had it credit?

I had some credit before but but it was in August and I haven't done any online since then.

I ordered once in Sept and it didn't credit. Didn't try again after that.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Sure, they probably paid a lot of money to be here, woke up really early to make rope drop, and still waited 30 minutes to right Peter Pan first thing today. But when your 3 year old has to poop, you take him to go poop! They can’t hold it in yet. But no, their kid ends up pooping a huge one in line (and they had another turn and maybe two dozen people ahead of them before they could board), the kid steps in it, but they don’t mention it to anyone, and gets on the ride anyway. A family ahead of us saw the kid was covered in poop and left poop on the ride seat. Eventually other people in line (and the poop itself) made enough of a stink that the CMs realized what happened, and stopped boarding to sanitize the ride. That family just had to get theirs and shut down the ride for everyone else. SMH.

ridiculous

 

[disneymagicgirl]

I think I saw on here that some cards code Venmo at a higher % bonus category? Does anyone know which one gives at least 3%? We are planning on renting DVC points for a family trip, and it's a sizable expense. It'll probably be over the next month before I rent, so I should have time to apply for a new card. It'll be the 1st time we rent points so I'd like to charge it to Venmo 1) for the cc bonus and 2) for the cc protection since I've read some pretty horrible scam stories.

The CIP codes 3x on Venmo....but don't forget venmo has a fee that basically wipes it out. Good for MSR though.