I love credit cards so much!

[amalone1013]

$115 PRICE IS BACK

Super big thanks to @palhockeymomof2 for $10.83 on a LUV voucher

If I even attempted to explain to a normal person (i.e. non-SW expert) what I just did they'd think I'm crazy...

• Booked a dummy flight for Daughter 1 to combine $10.83 LUV voucher) and $33 flight credit (+ small CC payment)
• Changed the dummy flight for Daughter 1 to combine that flight ($45) with $47 flight credit (+ small CC payment)
• Cancelled current points flight and got $5.60 as a travel credit
• Changed the dummy flight again for Daughter 1 to our desired flight combined with $5.60 travel credit (+ final CC payment)
• Then I repeated these steps for Daughter 2 (except I didn't have to do the first step since no LUV voucher)
• Then I repeated these steps for me (with the added complication of cancelling and rebooking the companion fare for my wife)
• So yes...I just booked, changed, and cancelled flights 12 times I believe in the matter of 20 minutes and now have 7 pending charges on my CC from SW for amounts from $1.15 to $21.97...

BUT for doing all of this I save my 21,918 SW points and will earn 1,686 SW points from flying for paying $77.28 cash out of my pocket.

My one mistake...I put the charges on my SW CC instead of my CSR. So I'll earn 154 SW RRs vs. 231 URs. I guess I'll just have to get over wasting $1.19 on that move LOL!!!

This made me go look up my $49 flights... and they're back! Even though they are literally 53.5 hours from now! But I'm pretty sure I left DHs priority card at home today I'm pretty sure I could dig up the $50 gift card in my email though.

Personally I think it's worth it. Compared to the cost of the cruise, the insurance is very little money. One of the people I was worried about health-wise was my BIL and he passed away 6 weeks after we returned from our cruise. If that had happened right before the cruise and we didn't have insurance, we would have been out a lot of money.

It's really something I probably should have thought of before, as my grandma passed while my family was in FL over New Year's... but just didn't. It doesn't seem like a bad price either.

 

[GlamMistress]

I bought another DVC contract to get under the wire before this next round of restrictions. I don't know if that makes me savvy or a sucker.

It's going to be interesting to see how this all plays out, that's for sure.

 

[wendow]

I would PC, but I don't know that most of the Biz cards have 0 fee options do they?

Same. I will be cancelling my BGR here very soon. I am pretty sure there is no free card there to PC to...then both dh and my SPG's (both pers and biz) and then the Green biz. I don't think any of those have free versions. Last will be the Plat (personal). I'm on the fence about the SPG's so I guess if I were going to keep any, it would be those.

 

[Albort]

Oh sorry about that. I feel like I've spent a ton with them, $5000 in 4 months is a lot of spend for us. I just ordered $200 worth of Disney GCs from Staples on my SPG Biz with the 10% offer. I guess I'll go ahead and apply for a Citi AA Biz for DH so I have an MSR to work on somewhere...

MSR? I think Amex specifically target ppl who stop spending after MSR. The reddit post seems to support this argument.
Amex will hand u cards like candy if u spend... a friend of mine who has close to 90% utilization a month with a score of 680, they gave him a Biz Plat. lol.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

But they were barely even alive to me I've only ever had two Amex cards in my life, and never even personal ones!

I'm feeling extremely aggrieved.

You could try spending on cards to lift the pop up. My concern with that is that there are DPs our there that even when the pop-up went away people were still denied the bonus. I honestly don’t know how I’d proceed with AMEX now if I were in your shoes. I guess I feel fortunate that I’ve gotten most of the cards I wanted from them. sorry again - that is just CRAZY to me after just a couple cards.

 

[wendow]

But they were barely even alive to me I've only ever had two Amex cards in my life, and never even personal ones!

I'm feeling extremely aggrieved.

I'm sorry. That really makes no sense! I don't understand how this is happening to some and not others. Did you apply through a self-referral? Sorry, you might have said. We are back to homeschooling today so I'm popping in and out and not following well.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

MSR? I think Amex specifically target ppl who stop spending after MSR. The reddit post seems to support this argument.
Amex will hand u cards like candy if u spend... a friend of mine who has close to 90% utilization a month with a score of 680, they gave him a Biz Plat. lol.

Unfortunately, once you’ve seen a pop up with AMEX you’re now playing with fire. You could spend and never lift the pop up...you could spend, lift the pop up and still be denied the bonus with no recourse. I’m not necessarily advising people to just walk away from AMEX but once you’ve seen a pop up people really need to know the risks as they proceed. It’s a very difficult situation.

 

[wendow]

MSR? I think Amex specifically target ppl who stop spending after MSR. The reddit post seems to support this argument.
Amex will hand u cards like candy if u spend... a friend of mine who has close to 90% utilization a month with a score of 680, they gave him a Biz Plat. lol.

This makes sense. I've never gotten the pop-up and I put spend on almost all my Amex every month. I have 8 cards (between pers and biz) and dh has 5...All but 1 are within the last year. I hate having that many payments each month to keep track of (since there is also Chase, barclays and citi) but I want to make sure I spend on my Amex to keep them happy.

 

[DisneyMandC]

MSR? I think Amex specifically target ppl who stop spending after MSR. The reddit post seems to support this argument.
Amex will hand u cards like candy if u spend... a friend of mine who has close to 90% utilization a month with a score of 680, they gave him a Biz Plat. lol.

It really hasn't been just MSR though. I mean, my last MSR day was like 11/26 on SPG Biz, and then I spent another $600 on the card after that. I spent $2000 on the Hilton Biz over MSR.

You could try spending on cards to lift the pop up. My concern with that is that there are DPs our there that even when the pop-up went away people were still denied the bonus. I honestly don’t know how I’d proceed with AMEX now if I were in your shoes. I guess I feel fortunate that I’ve gotten most of the cards I wanted from them. sorry again - that is just CRAZY to me after just a couple cards.

I probably won't do anything with them for a while now. I'll get an SPG Biz for DH at some point, and we need more Hilton points. He's had his Delta card since 2012, so I guess that's good. I put intermittent spend on that, I guess I'll amp that up. Just very frustrating, I don't even have any MR cards!

I'm sorry. That really makes no sense! I don't understand how this is happening to some and not others. Did you apply through a self-referral? Sorry, you might have said. We are back to homeschooling today so I'm popping in and out and not following well.

No self-referral, I was using someone else's link.

 

[miztressuz]

It really hasn't been just MSR though. I mean, my last MSR day was like 11/26 on SPG Biz, and then I spent another $600 on the card after that. I spent $2000 on the Hilton Biz over MSR.



I probably won't do anything with them for a while now. I'll get an SPG Biz for DH at some point, and we need more Hilton points. He's had his Delta card since 2012, so I guess that's good. I put intermittent spend on that, I guess I'll amp that up. Just very frustrating, I don't even have any MR cards!



No self-referral, I was using someone else's link.

Again, I should really keep numbers on this, but anecdotally I think the Gold card is harder to get past the pop up. I swear I've seen people get the pop up on the Gold/Rose Gold but then don't get it on others cards and get the bonus. Then go back for the Gold and still get the pop up. Personally I'm in the camp who thinks the pop up algorithm is tweaked for certain cards. So I don't know that I'd feel hopeless right now. Since you're new to AmEx which a short history they may have just set the Gold card bar high and are waiting to see what you continue to do. But for a BBP card, or maybe even the Plat where they're going to get a decent fee in return, maybe that bar is lowered. I don't know, outside of that theory you'd seem like a good charge card candidate to me, so what do I know?

 

[palhockeymomof2]

Oh sorry about that. I feel like I've spent a ton with them, $5000 in 4 months is a lot of spend for us. I just ordered $200 worth of Disney GCs from Staples on my SPG Biz with the 10% offer. I guess I'll go ahead and apply for a Citi AA Biz for DH so I have an MSR to work on somewhere...

That does seem like it should satisfy them...I only have 2 Amex cards as well business green opened a few months ago and SPG business 12/1....still working on that MSR...

With your pop up...decided to apply for the BBP now since it’s a no fee business and I wanted it keep the small amount MR points I have on a no fee card .....self referred from the green and was approved....

The strange thing to me is Amex lists me as a member since 1982....my husband had a card back then with me as an authorized user...but Its been closed at least 10 years

 

[DisneyMandC]

Again, I should really keep numbers on this, but anecdotally I think the Gold card is harder to get past the pop up. I swear I've seen people get the pop up on the Gold/Rose Gold but then don't get it on others cards and get the bonus. Then go back for the Gold and still get the pop up. Personally I'm in the camp who thinks the pop up algorithm is tweaked for certain cards. So I don't know that I'd feel hopeless right now. Since you're new to AmEx which a short history they may have just set the Gold card bar high and are waiting to see what you continue to do. But for a BBP card, or maybe even the Plat where they're going to get a decent fee in return, maybe that bar is lowered. I don't know, outside of that theory you'd seem like a good charge card candidate to me, so what do I know?

It's a shame I can't try for it for DH, but he's still well under 5/24 and I want to get him a 3rd Chase business card in March. And, unfortunately, I'll definitely be canceling my Hilton Biz come May, so that's not going to help me any. Maybe I'll try for a different card before then just to see if I get any sort of pop up.

 

[AmyAnne]

I bought another DVC contract to get under the wire before this next round of restrictions. I don't know if that makes me savvy or a sucker.

It's going to be interesting to see how this all plays out, that's for sure.

So you bought direct? (I'm guessing because resales take a while to get approved.) I thought the restrictions were going to apply to resale contracts.

All this chatter about DVC and new restrictions is causing me to experience a serious case of FOMO.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

I am so with you. Disney's greed is really bothering me. My dd18 is hoping to do DCP later this year. If she gets in, yep, we will be there. Probably a lot. If she doesn't, I have still promised one trip this year to wdw but I really want to branch out from Disney. I have no Disney plans for 2020, and I think I am actually very okay with that.

I have a feeling we will be doing alot this year (just bought my AP today!) while DD is down there and then lay off for awhile too. Maybe head back in 2021 when all the new stuff is open.

 

[3 DD love princesses]

We're back from our trip to DLR and San Diego and I haven't even started to get caught up yet, but I'm starting to work on dining reservations for our June trip to WDW (lost track of time with the holidays and missed the boat on the six month mark), and I'm totally overwhelmed with trying to decide which park to go to which days this far in advance! How do you guys make those decisions? Do you use a crowd calendar? TIA!

I use touring plans and Kenny’s to figure out what park I want to go to. I don’t go to a park that has emh.

 

[3 DD love princesses]

Ok off topic. Anyone do the Hp instant ink? Trying to decide if I should try it out.

 

[PolyRob]

So you bought direct? (I'm guessing because resales take a while to get approved.) I thought the restrictions were going to apply to resale contracts.

All this chatter about DVC and new restrictions is causing me to experience a serious case of FOMO.

Direct would not really matter with this change unless @GlamMistress wants to avoid a price hike which is probably coming.

I assume it was resale to submit to ROFR prior to 1/19/19. Thats that day the new limitation starts. People have about 11 days to decide if they want to get in under the latest grandfathered resale restrictions.

 

[Albort]

It really hasn't been just MSR though. I mean, my last MSR day was like 11/26 on SPG Biz, and then I spent another $600 on the card after that. I spent $2000 on the Hilton Biz over MSR.

this seems to fit perfectly with the majority of the ppl who get the popups. Im not sure where Amex draws the line. great time to learn to MS?
The majority of my amex spendings are MS.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

I've definitely waited weeks before for a refund. I don't know if it's because this was the magical booking or what, but the refund says it's from Disney.

My magical rates refunded super fast too...I want to say 24 hours...onto gift cards.

 

[mmmears]

Parts of the CSR coverage includes parents as "immediate family". You're right, the medical part does not though. Do you happen to know if the emergency evacuation does? That section doesn't seem to define immediate family.

Do people think 100K is enough for medical evacuation? I have no idea how much these things cost. When I buy coverage, I like the ones that cover up to 1 million, because in my head, it can't possibly cost more than that?

This sentence in the CSR coverage worries me "The evacuation must be pre-approved by the Benefit Administrator in consultation with a legally licensed Physician". In an emergency, am I really going to have the presence of mind to get it pre-approved?

We have bought outside extra insurance for Alaska (DM especially) and Europe (just in case). I didn’t want to have to fight to get what we needed. Luckily we didn’t use it.

Do you each have AMEX cards and are you able to cross-refer instead of self-refer? That would be a strategy to play it safer.

We do that. I hope that doesn’t put us on the naughty list.

But in that case you would need insurance that covered a pre-existing condition. Which usually means you have to buy it almost immediately upon booking the cruise. Just something else to be aware of.

You can also get it covered later but you have to be careful when choosing plans and it does cost more. I did this for our Norway Iceland trip since we don’t ever know one year out if we are really going or not and the insurance isn’t refundable if we cancel.

OMG I JUST GOT THE AMEX POP UP



2 business cards in the last 8 months, how is this happening to me?!?!

Oh no! I’m so sorry.