I love credit cards so much!

[GusGus16]

I really don’t think I can handle the cancelling/product change calls. After going back and forth for probably over a year I decide to product change DH’s CSR to a Freedom. No reason for us both to have one blah blah blah. Since we both had today off I call. Figure no reason to wait as he will put zero spend on it as a CSR between now and the end of the year, we don’t have any travel planned to book that could use the credit, if we get another Freedom now and use this quarter it will be easily maxed out. We are just focusing on Amex for everything now other than Costco. Calling was actually not painful at all as it was on speaker and he got on and said “I’m here...just trying to cook dinner.” You know how Chase has that super annoying music? We were also not on hold long so that was kept at a minimum.

Maybe the customer service representative sensed our exasperation and just asked if he gave permission for me to handle it. No retention offer “it is a card that pays for itself.” Of course despite my certainty in cancelling I start to waffle. Then “the Freedom has foreign transaction fees.” I waffle some more. “You can’t get a sign up bonus on the Freedom now.” I about cave. I held strong though. Of course at the end she says “no you might have to pay your annual fee and then it should be refunded later.” If it hadn’t already been a done deal I probably would have totally said “never mind we will just keep it.” At any rate hoping I didn’t make a mistake!

Of course I just said all this to my sweet P2 and he is like “whatever tell me what to use” and I trust you as you no more about credit cards than anyone I know. His only caveat is he only wants one visa and one Amex. I can work with that for now...except when I get him an Amex personal gold that seems like such a keeper and replacement for the CSR and dining out he might need to have 3. We will deal with that later though...

Must be the night for cancellations, I finally called to cancel my SW premier...oh how I did not want to cancel it, but had to keep telling myself it is for the CP early next year...at least the phone call was not painful. Now to get a 50,000 point offer on my flight early next month.

 

[Lain]

Regarding the AMEX "preferred airline" thing, I know it can be reset in January, but is there a date by which we have to decide? Or can I wait until I know which airline I'll likely be flying in 2019?

Technically, you have between January 1-31 of each year to pick an airline on which to use your airline fee credit (or at any time of the year after you get a new card), or else your selection will remain the same as the previous year. However, I've had success asking an Amex chat rep to change my airline of choice after 1/31 as long as I haven't used any of the credit for that year.

Note now that you have a Biz Plat, your airline of choice isn't just where you want to use your airline fee credits (e.g., for gift cards), it also matters for your 35% rebate on MR points used when you book a flight with Pay with Points. The 35% rebate works out to an effective 1.54 cents per point when booking flights with MR points, but is limited to business or first-class seats on any airline, or economy seats booked on your airline of choice.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Congrats on hanging tough! This is the year I'm making DH call and pc his CSR, I swear. My DH is a lovely and intelligent man but spontaneous verbal communications are not his thing...he cannot order through a drive through without making an error so I cannot imagine how a PC call is going to go

OMG this is my DH. And he does sales for a living. I sometimes wonder how he does it but apparently he has a whole different work persona.

 

[Ava]

You can usually earn AA miles in one world flights but if it’s the same flight I would just book it directly through American if the price is the same.

I ended up booking on AA. I was using UR points through the Chase portal, and price/number of points needed was the same.

Now I'm not sure about the seat assignment though. It appears that you have to pay to choose seats in advance on BA, even when you book a Main Cabin (not Basic) Economy fare. That wasn't really clear from the Chase Portal, and there was no way to add on a pre-paid seat assignment anyway. I can pull up my reservation on AA's website using the confirmation # from Chase, but when I click to choose seats it redirects me to BA's site & the BA site can't find my reservation. I'll try it again tomorrow.

DW isn't going to be happy if we can't all sit together. It does say on BA's site that if you are traveling with children age 2-11 (which we are), they will allocate you seats a few days prior to departure. It also says that they try to keep your whole group together but in the event this is not possible, each child will be seated with at least one adult from their party.

Does anyone have experience with this type of thing with transatlantic flights? We're spoiled by Jet Blue where you get to choose your seat in advance for free. I don't really think I have a choice here though, unless I cancel the booking through Chase, book direct & pay for seat assignments, and have to cash out way more points to cover it. The flights were $2,300 but I only had to use 153,000 UR points through the CSR.

 

[mmmears]

I ended up booking on AA. I was using UR points through the Chase portal, and price/number of points needed was the same.

Now I'm not sure about the seat assignment though. It appears that you have to pay to choose seats in advance on BA, even when you book a Main Cabin (not Basic) Economy fare. That wasn't really clear from the Chase Portal, and there was no way to add on a pre-paid seat assignment anyway. I can pull up my reservation on AA's website using the confirmation # from Chase, but when I click to choose seats it redirects me to BA's site & the BA site can't find my reservation. I'll try it again tomorrow.

DW isn't going to be happy if we can't all sit together. It does say on BA's site that if you are traveling with children age 2-11 (which we are), they will allocate you seats a few days prior to departure. It also says that they try to keep your whole group together but in the event this is not possible, each child will be seated with at least one adult from their party.

Does anyone have experience with this type of thing with transatlantic flights? We're spoiled by Jet Blue where you get to choose your seat in advance for free. I don't really think I have a choice here though, unless I cancel the booking through Chase, book direct & pay for seat assignments, and have to cash out way more points to cover it. The flights were $2,300 but I only had to use 153,000 UR points through the CSR.

It's a quirk of BA - we even had to pay in Business class if we wanted a seat assignment. I booked using MRs transferred to Avios, so we were able to go through the BA website to do this. We debated whether or not to pay (since it just seems ridiculous IMHO) and decided that since there were 3 separate B class sections on 2 different floors of the plane and we wanted to be together we would just pay for it. In the end, half of our cabin/section was empty, so I'm guessing that even if we hadn't chosen our seats they would have been together, although most likely not where we wanted them.

 

[Ava]

It's a quirk of BA - we even had to pay in Business class if we wanted a seat assignment. I booked using MRs transferred to Avios, so we were able to go through the BA website to do this. We debated whether or not to pay (since it just seems ridiculous IMHO) and decided that since there were 3 separate B class sections on 2 different floors of the plane and we wanted to be together we would just pay for it. In the end, half of our cabin/section was empty, so I'm guessing that even if we hadn't chosen our seats they would have been together, although most likely not where we wanted them.

I'm hoping to be able to pull up my reservation on BA's site tomorrow, then I can at least see exactly how much it would cost to pay for seats. I don't really care where we sit, an economy seat is an economy seat as far as I'm concerned. The only seats I'd particularly NOT want are ones right near the bathroom; anything else is fine. We're a party of 4 (2 adults & 2 kids) so my guess is we'll get put in one of the center rows that are 4 seats across, which is probably the last seats a smaller party would choose since you don't get a window there. Maybe I can convince DW it will be fine if we don't pay for seats...

 

[Tikitoi]

I live pretty close to NYC so I am going. If anyone else is and has the Disney Visa, you get free prints in the gift shop:

View attachment 364730

Good to know. We will be there next month for this.

 

[miztressuz]

Quick n00b question about airline miles: If I book a flight on a OneWorld airline, can I choose to earn miles in any OneWorld program on that flight? Or can I only earn miles in that specific airline's program? I'm debating whether to book my flight to London on BA or AA. It's the same flight, so I don't think it matters as far as in-flight experience, but I'd rather earn AA miles since I will already have a stash of those from the Barclay's CC bonus.

Yes you should but depending on the class of ticket you may earn different rates. But I'd take the currency you want to use even at a potentially lower rate.

 

[wendow]

Congrats on hanging tough! This is the year I'm making DH call and pc his CSR, I swear. My DH is a lovely and intelligent man but spontaneous verbal communications are not his thing...he cannot order through a drive through without making an error so I cannot imagine how a PC call is going to go

Okay. Just have to LOL at this! My dh is the same. We go to a drive-thru window and he starts ordering (cause he is driving...and the man always drives his woman) and I start getting annoyed cause he is not ordering correctly so I lean over and start talking over him and answering the drive-thru person's questions. He, now, gets so annoyed with me that he just sits back with this *not good* look on his face But seriously, I just do better ordering at the drive-thru. I'm a good verbal communicator...and he's not...He has fabulous written skills though ( and I don't!).

 

[tink1970]

Okay. Just have to LOL at this! My dh is the same. We go to a drive-thru window and he starts ordering (cause he is driving...and the man always drives his woman) and I start getting annoyed cause he is not ordering correctly so I lean over and start talking over him and answering the drive-thru person's questions. He, now, gets so annoyed with me that he just sits back with this *not good* look on his face But seriously, I just do better ordering at the drive-thru. I'm a good verbal communicator...and he's not...He has fabulous written verbal skills though ( and I don't!).

I know-it’s like he has stage fright or something. For Pete’s sake a number one with a diet coke is NOT rocket science!!! To keep my sanity I just send him with a dog and resign myself to be happy with whatever he manages to order

 

[wendow]

I know-it’s like he has stage fright or something. For Pete’s sake a number one with a diet coke is NOT rocket science!!! To keep my sanity I just send him with a dog and resign myself to be happy with whatever he manages to order

So true! If I actually send him alone, and honestly, that is rare, I never know what he will come home with but I make peace with it before he ever gets back home. Just whatever he gets me is fine lol.

 

[wanderlust7]

I ended up booking on AA. I was using UR points through the Chase portal, and price/number of points needed was the same.

Now I'm not sure about the seat assignment though. It appears that you have to pay to choose seats in advance on BA, even when you book a Main Cabin (not Basic) Economy fare. That wasn't really clear from the Chase Portal, and there was no way to add on a pre-paid seat assignment anyway. I can pull up my reservation on AA's website using the confirmation # from Chase, but when I click to choose seats it redirects me to BA's site & the BA site can't find my reservation. I'll try it again tomorrow.

DW isn't going to be happy if we can't all sit together. It does say on BA's site that if you are traveling with children age 2-11 (which we are), they will allocate you seats a few days prior to departure. It also says that they try to keep your whole group together but in the event this is not possible, each child will be seated with at least one adult from their party.

Does anyone have experience with this type of thing with transatlantic flights? We're spoiled by Jet Blue where you get to choose your seat in advance for free. I don't really think I have a choice here though, unless I cancel the booking through Chase, book direct & pay for seat assignments, and have to cash out way more points to cover it. The flights were $2,300 but I only had to use 153,000 UR points through the CSR.

I ran into this too booking BA transatlantic using AA miles. On my flight, the seats range from 25 GBP (center rows towards the back) to 62 GBP exit row, with a bunch of other prices in between. We're a family of 4 as well (kids will be 7 and 10). I think I'm going to chance it and not pay for seats since the website says they will keep kids with an adult. I would be fine with just me sitting with both kids, that's the way it often works out anyways.

The flight was not a great use of miles (30,000 miles one-way PLUS $300 taxes/fees for the adults, $200 for the kids). So I am loathe to spend more money, lol.

 

[wendow]

Y'all!!! I leave for TX in two days So excited to see if I can pull up the inflight offer on SW. This will be the first time we've ever gone for CP. Crazy since we have churned the SW cards for years. So, hoping for the higher personal offer inflight and then go for the biz in Jan. I forgot to lower dh's CL's but hopefully he is ok. The personal SW only needs 2k, iirc, so he should be good there. I closed his CIP but that was just last week.

I still cannot decide if I should app for the Priority or plus if the 50k offer is for both. We don't use the EB since we are such a large group but I think dh is going to be presenting at a couple of conferences in 2019 so it may just be the two of us for a few trips.

 

[Artygal90]

Y'all!!! I leave for TX in two days So excited to see if I can pull up the inflight offer on SW. This will be the first time we've ever gone for CP. Crazy since we have churned the SW cards for years. So, hoping for the higher personal offer inflight and then go for the biz in Jan. I forgot to lower dh's CL's but hopefully he is ok. The personal SW only needs 2k, iirc, so he should be good there. I closed his CIP but that was just last week.

I still cannot decide if I should app for the Priority or plus if the 50k offer is for both. We don't use the EB since we are such a large group but I think dh is going to be presenting at a couple of conferences in 2019 so it may just be the two of us for a few trips.

Pack some warm clothes! It's cold here! Please do report back on the in-flight offers and any offers you might see at kiosks at HOU. I'm applying on 12/26 for the SW Priority and really counting on an elevated offer.

 

[wendow]

Pack some warm clothes! It's cold here! Please do report back on the in-flight offers and any offers you might see at kiosks at HOU. I'm applying on 12/26 for the SW Priority and really counting on an elevated offer.

Oh no!! My aunt told me today it was cold. I need warmth! Badly! I will definitely report back on the offers I see. I just flew SW to HOU in Sept and I didn't see any kiosks in Denver or Hobby and nothing in flight. However, the chatter here has been that the offers are out there now. Keeping my fingers crossed!

 

[Alexle2007]

Technically, you have between January 1-31 of each year to pick an airline on which to use your airline fee credit (or at any time of the year after you get a new card), or else your selection will remain the same as the previous year. However, I've had success asking an Amex chat rep to change my airline of choice after 1/31 as long as I haven't used any of the credit for that year.

Note now that you have a Biz Plat, your airline of choice isn't just where you want to use your airline fee credits (e.g., for gift cards), it also matters for your 35% rebate on MR points used when you book a flight with Pay with Points. The 35% rebate works out to an effective 1.54 cents per point when booking flights with MR points, but is limited to business or first-class seats on any airline, or economy seats booked on your airline of choice.

So when I get the biz plat, I’ll want to select an airline other than SW then since I am guessing you can’t book SW via Amex?

 

[Alexle2007]

Sorry, bank newbie questions. Are the bank bonuses similar to the CCs and you don’t want to DH? Everything we have has been joint up to this point.

For Discover, I have set-up my account. When I move the funds, how long do they need to be deposited to count?

For PNC, has anyone done the walk-in offer for the increased bonus? Can I still fund via CC in-house?

For Chase, I couldn’t get the $600 offer to work but one for $400 came up which only needs $10k instead of $15k. It looked like I could fund with a pre-paid MC or Visa but when I went to add the funding it errored out after 3 attempts. Does anyone know if you can fund via pre-paid MC? I don’t have a debit card for my current account so that was not an option.

 

[havaneselover]

Congrats on hanging tough! This is the year I'm making DH call and pc his CSR, I swear. My DH is a lovely and intelligent man but spontaneous verbal communications are not his thing...he cannot order through a drive through without making an error so I cannot imagine how a PC call is going to go

Lol! This reminds me of my dad. PhD in Economics from the Unicersity of Chicago but cannot place a fast food order for more than himself to save his life

 

[Lain]

So when I get the biz plat, I’ll want to select an airline other than SW then since I am guessing you can’t book SW via Amex?

You can book SW via Amex Travel, but you have to call in. See Amex’s FAQ. I would definitely call ahead to be sure because the standard point redemption for charges on your statement is only 0.6 cpp, and you want to make sure you’re getting 1 cpp for flights book through Amex Travel (or directly with SW as suggested) and the 35% points rebate from your Biz Plat.

Here’s a MMS article on how to use American Express Points for Southwest Flights.

 

[GlamMistress]

Technically, you have between January 1-31 of each year to pick an airline on which to use your airline fee credit (or at any time of the year after you get a new card), or else your selection will remain the same as the previous year. However, I've had success asking an Amex chat rep to change my airline of choice after 1/31 as long as I haven't used any of the credit for that year.

Note now that you have a Biz Plat, your airline of choice isn't just where you want to use your airline fee credits (e.g., for gift cards), it also matters for your 35% rebate on MR points used when you book a flight with Pay with Points. The 35% rebate works out to an effective 1.54 cents per point when booking flights with MR points, but is limited to business or first-class seats on any airline, or economy seats booked on your airline of choice.

Amex has always changed the airline for me whenever as long as I haven't used the credit. I use the little website they have to make the switch (it looks fake and janky to me) but one time I chatted and they changed for me immediately. I wish they would make the credits like the CSR and just usable on anything travel.