I love credit cards so much!

[hsmamato2]

Ha yeah, I looked at Exxon for a moment and was sad because I still have 3 of the $10 back on $20 offers to use... and then I remembered that at best Exxon matched the other stations after discounts and points earned, but most of the time was still significantly more than the other gas stations. And it definitely couldn't compete whenever I hit 20 cents or more discount from Kroger fuel points. I'm going to just stop 3 times when I know I can fit $20 of gas in my car this month... Or fill DHs truck over 3 days in a row.

I thought my exxon offer expired 12/26....I have to go check now ETA just reread this DUH..... well that's good b/c I have two more stops to make to max it out

 

[platamama]

I purchased a gift card to get the Lux credit. The first Courtyard I asked didn’t have them. Our next stay was at a Towne Place suites. They had gift cards but didn’t know how to sell them! Once we purchased one, it was not easy to redeem it! The staff doesn’t know how to process the transaction. I think gift cards must be pretty rare at Marriott properties!

No kidding, I agree the properties don't know what they're doing in selling them. I bought 4 at a local Marriott, and each time the employees had to refer to a laminated page in their binder of instructions. One time, I ended up with a free card worth $300 which I'm sure was because they don't know how to process them (I checked the balance online and the gift card was active but the charge never showed up on my cc). However, I was able to redeem a $300 Marriott GC with no problem at the AC hotel I stayed in Costa Rica last week. And earlier this year I redeemed one at a Springhill Suites in NYC. I hope to not run into problems using them because I plan to accumulate more with these AMEX offers!

 

[MrsAlexis]

I see the Walmart Online Grocery AmEx Offer is back with Spend $25 or more, get $5 back, Expires 12/31/2018

Unfortunately AmEx Offers has decided it's unavailable now so I have no idea if there's anything else fun out there ​

I had received a Chase offer of 5% off Walmart Grocery on DH's CSR, just FYI. Can't remember the max discount

 

[platamama]

O/T to your subject but I'll be there this month!!! (very soon) so excited and I get to post a hotel review after!

Great! I look forward to reading it.

 

[Judique]

I purchased a gift card to get the Lux credit. The first Courtyard I asked didn’t have them. Our next stay was at a Towne Place suites. They had gift cards but didn’t know how to sell them! Once we purchased one, it was not easy to redeem it! The staff doesn’t know how to process the transaction. I think gift cards must be pretty rare at Marriott properties!

I've currently got $500 worth of them so come hell or high water I will redeem them, lol! I've actually redeemed (years ago) a Marriott gift certificate for a room that I earned through a program. Actually 4-5 of them. They were all for $100 and at that time you had to use the whole thing - no change back. Laws have changed since then. And of course when they took them they looked at it as if it had horns.

The girl I first encountered this past week didn't know they had them and didn't know how to sell them. Her manager educated her and it was fairly simple.

And, the cards were right in front of her at the desk/podium she was working at. Probably a new employee.

I think I'm going to do a combo or should I say split payment when I do my redemption. I've been giving this some thought. The room will be over $200. I'll use the gold card for the first $200 to redeem my next $40 and then do the balance on my gift card.

 

[Judique]

I always got clothes for Christmas growing up. I still do

I want clothes for xmas but I doubt anyone will try to buy me any.

My 26 year old asked for socks and will take anything so long as the size and brand and color is correct. Last year I picked up a couple of North Face jackets in an outlet for her and she was happy.

 

[Judique]

No kidding, I agree the properties don't know what they're doing in selling them. I bought 4 at a local Marriott, and each time the employees had to refer to a laminated page in their binder of instructions. One time, I ended up with a free card worth $300 which I'm sure was because they don't know how to process them (I checked the balance online and the gift card was active but the charge never showed up on my cc). However, I was able to redeem a $300 Marriott GC with no problem at the AC hotel I stayed in Costa Rica last week. And earlier this year I redeemed one at a Springhill Suites in NYC. I hope to not run into problems using them because I plan to accumulate more with these AMEX offers!

There's our data point! Did you use it on room rate?

 

[AmyAnne]

Can someone here educate me about "smart" luggage tracking tags? I see that I can buy either GPS or bluetooth, and can pay $10 or $50. Anyone know which ones I want? Of course I'd prefer the $10 ones but only if they are actually going to work.

 

[platamama]

There's our data point! Did you use it on room rate?

Yes, in both cases I was staying at the property, and applied the gift card while I was staying there - and before the last night for sure since it seems hotels like to do express check-out and charge everything on the morning of check-out on the original card used for the reservation.

Speaking of original card used for reservations, you can always give reception a different card to use when you check-in. I happened to catch that I put my SPG Biz card on a recent reservation, and was able to change it to the SPG Lux that I'm still working on MSR for.

 

[Alexle2007]

soooo...any word on if one of these 'basic marriott' gc's can be used at swolphin? (as noted earlier I'm having a hard time letting go lol)

I don't think they can yet since Swolphin was part of SPG and not Marriott. I think they are only currently working with the former Marriott brands.

 

[afan]

I've looked all over my CSR acct online amd can't remember where to find if the travel credit has reset. Can someone please let me know? Pretty sure it should tomorrow so I want to get the payment done and posted so I can cancel since the af should also hit tomorrow or with the next statement on the 6thish.

 

[GZanta77]

Can someone here educate me about "smart" luggage tracking tags? I see that I can buy either GPS or bluetooth, and can pay $10 or $50. Anyone know which ones I want? Of course I'd prefer the $10 ones but only if they are actually going to work.

I considered getting one of these a few months back - from what I recall the trackers that utilized the cellphone towers were considered the best options - then GPS - then bluetooth. I'm pretty sure in the case of bluetooth you needed to be within 30ft or so of your luggage to get the signal, though some products, like tile, utilize others on their network to help locate your luggage - but even then you are dependent on other tile users being close to your luggage.

ETA: think a lot of these come with 'tracking' fees too, so don't forget to factor that in.

 

[MrsAlexis]

For those who are interested: Amazon's Deal of the Day is Up to 30% off Disney Clothing, Toys, Bedding, and More

 

[wanderlust7]

I've looked all over my CSR acct online amd can't remember where to find if the travel credit has reset. Can someone please let me know? Pretty sure it should tomorrow so I want to get the payment done and posted so I can cancel since the af should also hit tomorrow or with the next statement on the 6thish.

It's under Ultimate Rewards. So if you go to redeem points you should see it.

 

[WVMomof3]

I'm wondering, is Chase starting to tighten up even more?

A friend of mine is 2/24, both Chase cards, and also has 2 Chase biz cards (+1 Amex biz). Said he has about $13k credit limit across his Chase biz cards. Applied today for the CIC, went immediately to 7-10 days. He called recon and the rep refused to approve, asking him things like "You already have 2 personal and 2 business cards, why do you need more?" He said the rep was actually borderline rude.

The thing is, this guy should be the perfect person to issue a new card. He's borderline obsessed with Chase and URs, and is heavily invested in the ecosystem. He uses his CSR for everything and spends thousands per month on it regularly. I told him to HUCA if he wanted, but it was likely not going to change. But he's afraid of being shut down if he probes too much - that's how much he uses their cards!

It was a very surprising denial to me. We know every card is under 5/24 (I was denied for the Disney Premier, by the way). Are they even more stringent on their own UR cards? Has anyone seen increased difficulty in getting them?

I am still way behind today. Someone on the TPG lounge FB page (sorry for looking at such things haha) posted the other day they were denied a SW card and they claimed to be under 5/24. I just chalked it up to they probably did not count right. Not sure if they ever came back and posted more about it.

 

[Albort]

Can someone here educate me about "smart" luggage tracking tags? I see that I can buy either GPS or bluetooth, and can pay $10 or $50. Anyone know which ones I want? Of course I'd prefer the $10 ones but only if they are actually going to work.

i used tile for awhile, i bought it pretty cheaply when it went on promo, i think its 4 for $40. They work like bluetooth, they dont track too well as u need to be within a certain amount of feet to have them ping you.
Not sure of your purpose but they work great when ur waiting for your baggage coming out. u set them so that they will alert u so u can start looking rather than looking for it.

tile, if u dont have a techie in the house requires u to buy one every other year as the batteries arent replaceable. If you want someone pernament and willing to fork over money, go for the keysmart version which is the same thing with rechargeable battery in it. I think kMart has them on sale a few times...

 

[kidsfirsttrip]

@MrPTato got any other bjs gc today no fee rang up

@platamama CR looks awesome. Was it busy at the resort over thanksgiving (like did you get shut out of some activities) and did you email them to upgrade you? Thinking of next thanksgiving or Xmas

 

[WVMomof3]

OT but today I learned how expendive ADHD meds can be. DS was just prescribed vyvanse and it’s $294/month at Costco Luckily we got one month free.

Holy Toledo, I complained when I paid $50 for it! All the other meds we tried were just $10/month. And just wait till it is not the right dose, we had to buy several 30 day supplies before we got the correct dosage for him. Ughhh There is a $30 coupon out there for it. Try this link, I think that is it. It is supposed to work for 12 months I believe. We are on month 3 I think, but didn't know about for the first 2 fills.

 

[MrPTato]

@MrPTato got any other bjs gc today no fee rang up

@platamama CR looks awesome. Was it busy at the resort over thanksgiving (like did you get shut out of some activities) and did you email them to upgrade you? Thinking of next thanksgiving or Xmas

No fee today either? Sweet. I am heading there tonight I think.

 

[MrPTato]

Approved for the Amex BBP!

Bad news....generated link from the wrong account. I had my Cash Magnet selected when I generated the link instead of the Gold card. $75 credit instead of the 10,000MR