I love credit cards so much!

[jhoannam]

Does anyone know how EMM code? I put it on our CIP but we only got 1pt/$.

 

[Judique]

Thanks! Hoping it drops off too. Unfortunately, there are only about four hotels in this area. One has multiple reviews that frequently mention the word "bugs" so that's a no go. The other two are double what I paid this weekend... sigh.

Can you share what chain this is? Sometimes on my many road trips down south I want to wing it and try some of the less expensive brands just for that one night on the road. I'm often in late and up and gone at 6am, but, I don't really want bugs, see through sheets, paper thin towels (although I could just use the ones I keep in my vehicle), moldy tub surrounds, scruffy looking carpets. Older and not really updated doesn't bother me but scruffy does. So its hard not to judge the book by its cover.

For safety I always try to get hotels where the hallways are interior also.

 

[hsmamato2]

ok I have a couple of specific questions..... Say I wanted to book a cruise (one way) from Barcelona- FL..... and I had Avios to use to get us to Spain to start the cruise.what is the smartest way to go about this? Also- as far as Chase UR, is this type of cruise something I can call and ask about to their travel dept? So far I've seen lots of chatter about booking Disney thru them, wondering if an actual cruise is doable? (Royal Carribean) How do I start- look for the cruise I want on another site, then call Chase? Thanks for any help...

 

[Judique]

Help SPG pro...please...

We are both new and got welcome promos for the program. I also just got the biz card and DH is going to get it closer to 3/28 to buy me time on the MSR.

Here is my promo:
1st stay= 5 qualifying nights + 2nd stay=5 qualifying nights= 10 qual nights.
I have the biz nights credited too.
complete by 4/30.

Here is his promo:
1st stay=2500 bonus points + 2nd stay=5000 pts = 7500 bonus points
complete by 5/30

So which should I prioritize. I lean towards his since he is a biz traveler. He needs 13 more stays to retain diamond at Hilton for next year, which shouldn't take more than 8wks. I was planning to have him complete those and then start working on SPG/marriott points. So him getting status is more impt than me since I only travel for kid sports and vacations.

Another idea is use my promo for our 1 night stay near airport in Palm Springs next week and Memphis soccer tourney in April.
Have him use his before it expires in May even if not done with hilton status renewal by then.

Are these both worthwhile or should I just stick with racking up hilton for now and then hit his promo after that? I'm not familiar enough with SPG/Marriott to know.

ETA: I am thinking I should skip my promo. The biz card gave me 5 nights, then the promo would give me 10 more...so I'd be at 15...still 10 nights away from gold. Any future stays would be in DHs name since he is the frequent traveler and will get to gold pretty quickly.

His promo has the most value to me. I don't find that gold really got me that much more than I got without it as SPG hotels are very good about upgrading if they can. And usually you are going to be on the SPG floor anyway.

 

[speedyfishy]

The only new card opened w/in 24 mo is my southwest card. DH is not an AU.
Looking to maximize points for free tix and/or hotel stays...we have a big family so looking to make it cheaper (not move to front of plane).
We travel often so I’m thinking we can build points and use them when they work out. Next vacay is Cancun, but that’s booked/paid. I’m thinking of booking a late summer vacay to London/Paris and wouldn’t mind being able to use points for a couple hotel nights. Next year we are looking at the Disney med cruise, so we could focus on that for airfare since it’s further out.
Our airports are SFO/SJC/OAK, United is heavy at SFO but that’s probably my least favorite airline. I haven’t focused on a particular airline since we have so much variety serving these airports that I hop around to whoever has the best flight.

I would start with Chase Ultimate Rewards Cards. For some Chase cards you need to be under 5/24 to get approved.

Do you have a business? It can be a “Business” The CIP will give you 80,000 UR points after you spend 5k in three months.

You can transfer Ultimate Rewards points to 9 airline programs (British Airways, Flying Blue, Korean Air, Singapore Airlines, Southwest, United, Virgin Atlantic and Aer Lingus and Iberia) and four hotel programs (Hyatt, IHG, Marriott and Ritz-Carlton). All transfer ratios are 1:1. You can also book flights and hotels on the chase travel portal. You can also call the chase cruise department to use points to book a cruise and Disney packages.

You can also double dip with the CSP/CSR. The CSR has a high annual fee of $450 dollars but you get Global entry or TSA precheck fees reimbursed and a $300 travel reimbursement every year. If you can spend 8k in three months, you have to apply for both on the same day. Preferably, a business day incase you get the 30 day message. If you can’t spend 8k I’d pick which one you think is a better value. Some people think the CSR with the $450 annual fee is worth it. others would rather the CSP where the annual fee is waived the first year. They are both definitely worth it in the first year if you can get both bonuses. After your first year one of those cards you should downgrade. You may even want to downgrade both to a no fee version.

You can also look into Amex Delta Business and the Amex Starwood Business. Delta maybe helpful for your flights. And Starwood can be used for Starwood and Marriott properties.

 

[jhoannam]

Don’t wait until you meet the minimum spend to apply for your next card... unexpected car repairs and no minimum spend to put it towards I just applied for the CIP this morning, since we met the Marriott MSR last week.

 

[Lain]

Don’t wait until you meet the minimum spend to apply for your next card... unexpected car repairs and no minimum spend to put it towards I just applied for the CIP this morning, since we met the Marriott MSR last week.

Let me commiserate. I had $1800 in unexpected car repairs last week, but that put me over the top on the Marriott Biz. We now have the $7k MSR to meet on DW’s SPG Biz and I guess the $5k spend on a Amex MBZ Plat after that. I hate making spends on Amex for fear of the RATs!

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Don’t wait until you meet the minimum spend to apply for your next card... unexpected car repairs and no minimum spend to put it towards I just applied for the CIP this morning, since we met the Marriott MSR last week.

This really is great advice! I always get antsy when I get under $1,000 remaining on a MSR knowing that anything unexpected could mess up my plans. BUT you also hate to apply for the next card too soon as it cuts down on the time you have to hit that MSR...it's such a delicate balancing act

 

[wendow]

We now have the $7k MSR to meet on DW’s SPG Biz and I guess the $5k spend on a Amex MBZ Plat after that. I hate making spends on Amex for fear of the RATs!

I am $1400 away from meeting the rest of the 8k combined I had to do for the Amex BGR and personal SPG. I'll finish this week. I'm so thrilled to be done with Amex spends but of course, I'm contemplating either the SPG biz or the Delta Gold biz so back to Amex I go. I can do the Delta easily since only 2k but if I bite off that SPG biz, I'm gonna have to get creative and then I'm nervous of the RATs.

 

[wendow]

This really is great advise! I always get antsy when I get under $1,000 remaining on a MSR knowing that anything unexpected could mess up my plans. BUT you also hate to apply for the next card too soon as it cuts down on the time you have to hit that MSR...it's such a delicate balancing act

And this is good thinking for me too. Since I'll be done with my MSR this week, I need to figure out my next card.

 

[mefordis]

This really is great advise! I always get antsy when I get under $1,000 remaining on a MSR knowing that anything unexpected could mess up my plans. BUT you also hate to apply for the next card too soon as it cuts down on the time you have to hit that MSR...it's such a delicate balancing act

We are waiting for my husband's AMEX SPG biz card to come in the mail. That's a 7k min spend. My daughter just had 2 ER visits, an ambulance ride, and 4 nights in the hospital w/MRI and other expenses. I expect about $12,500 out of pocket, but just a guess based on our insurance cap. However, I am wondering when the final bill will come. I know they go back and forth with the insurance company first. I really hope I can use this toward min spend.

 

[amalone1013]

DH's AMEX app still says in progress... It's making me anxious.

I've been trying to catch up from last Thursday or so, so I'm just going to go with:

@wendow aww your daughters are too pretty and what a wonderful story about the one's first dance. Also, I had started reading your FL thread because it's something we've been talking about doing.

Don’t wait until you meet the minimum spend to apply for your next card... unexpected car repairs and no minimum spend to put it towards I just applied for the CIP this morning, since we met the Marriott MSR last week.

I feel for you! I took my car in to get some hail damage fixed and also the bumper from being rear ended, so I had two different insurance checks. I got the Marriott personal because the hail check alone was $3000 plus my $500 deductible, so I was well over the min spend. I put the $700 from the bumper on my SPG card... then within a week or so I got them to match me to the $5k/100k offer, plus I had applied for SPG biz... Now I'm hoping DH's SPG biz app is approved, but I met my spend on the last day of Feb and we had a trip this past weekend we could have used a new card on, plus one this coming weekend!

 

[amalone1013]

We are waiting for my husband's AMEX SPG biz card to come in the mail. That's a 7k min spend. My daughter just had 2 ER visits, an ambulance ride, and 4 nights in the hospital w/MRI and other expenses. I expect about $12,500 out of pocket, but just a guess based on our insurance cap. However, I am wondering when the final bill will come. I know they go back and forth with the insurance company first. I really hope I can use this toward min spend.

If not this one, the next one... I'm an addict Hope everything was okay with your daughter!

 

[jhoannam]

DH's AMEX app still says in progress... It's making me anxious.

I've been trying to catch up from last Thursday or so, so I'm just going to go with:

@wendow aww your daughters are too pretty and what a wonderful story about the one's first dance. Also, I had started reading your FL thread because it's something we've been talking about doing.


I feel for you! I took my car in to get some hail damage fixed and also the bumper from being rear ended, so I had two different insurance checks. I got the Marriott personal because the hail check alone was $3000 plus my $500 deductible, so I was well over the min spend. I put the $700 from the bumper on my SPG card... then within a week or so I got them to match me to the $5k/100k offer, plus I had applied for SPG biz... Now I'm hoping DH's SPG biz app is approved, but I met my spend on the last day of Feb and we had a trip this past weekend we could have used a new card on, plus one this coming weekend!

I was seriously thinking about applying for an Amex card for the off chance it provides me with the card number instantly, but I can’t remember who that happened too and which card.

 

[amalone1013]

I was seriously thinking about applying for an Amex card for the off chance it provides me with the card number instantly, but I can’t remember who that happened too and which card.

I feel like that happened with my original personal SPG card, and then DH's and my MILs... but that was in 2016. If only everyone did that every time, it would be so handy! My SPG biz card had 10 days from application to first purchase with waiting for it to come.

 

[wendow]

We are waiting for my husband's AMEX SPG biz card to come in the mail. That's a 7k min spend. My daughter just had 2 ER visits, an ambulance ride, and 4 nights in the hospital w/MRI and other expenses. I expect about $12,500 out of pocket, but just a guess based on our insurance cap. However, I am wondering when the final bill will come. I know they go back and forth with the insurance company first. I really hope I can use this toward min spend.

I hate 'liking' this post cause I'm sorry for your dd. Hope she is ok! As long as the hospital takes Amex, you should be good to put that on the biz card. We've had pretty good luck with all the medical places we frequent taking Amex (other than optometrist).

 

[jhoannam]

I feel like that happened with my original personal SPG card, and then DH's and my MILs... but that was in 2016. If only everyone did that every time, it would be so handy! My SPG biz card had 10 days from application to first purchase with waiting for it to come.

From what I've been reading, everyone says it happens on personal cards.

 

[wendow]

@wendow aww your daughters are too pretty and what a wonderful story about the one's first dance. Also, I had started reading your FL thread because it's something we've been talking about doing.

THank you! I have a friend who lives in FL and her new neighbors are from CO. She says they are loving FL and not missing the cold at all!

 

[Albort]

The cash price for SPG fluctuates. The points I think are standard, that’s what I paid for Dolphin.

yeah, i thought the points+cash would be closer to the $285 a night price, but its only $75. i think this is the best way to go for me, hopefully this also triggers all the promotions in the back.

 

[GlamMistress]

Do I book the whole thing first, then call and apply free night? Or book 1 day less than I need, then call and add a free night?

Book the whole thing then call to apply the free cert when you have it.