I love credit cards so much!

[gottalovepluto]

Don't think this was already mentioned- I got a $5 off $5 Hulu purchase on both my Hilton and SPG Biz cards this morning. Can be used up to 4x. Of course, I just changed my Hulu account to be billed through Spotify for a special offer they sent me

Dangnabit! Just picked up enough Hulu through the Happy Guy gc churn to cover us until Mar and already loaded it to the account. And you can’t pre-pay the account OR purchase gift cards or gift subscriptions directly from Hulu. This one hurts.

 

[Lain]

New Stariott brands AmEx offer: The Luxury Collection, $75 off $375+

Get a one-time $75 statement credit by using your enrolled Card to spend a minimum of $375+ on room rate and room charges, when you pay for your stay at The Luxury Collection Hotels & Resorts from 10/22/2018 to 1/31/2019.

Also for all the show/Broadway buffs the Telecharge $15 off $75 is back around again. (this is the offer that got me using my AmEx card again. we were buying Phantom tickets and I thought I saw some offer about it, had to find the card and dust it off to use it. I wish I had been only spending $75 though...)

Ugh. I could’ve used the Luxury Collection offer, but it’s not on any of my cards.

 

[MrPTato]

I am amazed how much a room at POR can change day-by-day. I booked 9 days ago, looked two days later and was able to save $10, then it shot up $50 a day later and not back down to the adjusted amount I had paid.

 

[calypso726]

PINK...

DH must have been lurking on the thread again. When we got back from WDW yesterday he informed me that his Rose Gold card came in and smirked.

Okay, y'all once again I went a little nutty with the points/miles last night.

In my defense, I was taken off guard by DD...last year we discussed NOT planning anything for the holidays d/t her homework schedule (she was up until 2-3 AM on the Danube River Cruise working on one assignment; since she has multiples of them this year I didn't want to pay out the nose for her to do the same). Color me surprised when her father texted me about their trip to Ohio over Christmas. What? She's worried her step grandfather will die soon and to be honest, I'm surprised he didn't after his wife (DD's grandmother) passed away this spring.

So...the only reason I had not made plans for Christmas just went up in the air...enter crazy uber planning. Called the kennel, they have an opening for our 2 dogs that board there; the dog sitter can watch the other two. Check. Delta advertised First Class Sale to Europe over the holidays but nothing was working for our (the kennel's) dates. Dove deeper into Delta and 2 EDI-ATL Delta One redemptions for 100,000 skymiles/pp. Please note these were pricing 25,000 Skymiles LESS than Comfort Plus!!!

Reserved my favorite hotel in Edinburgh, played around with United v. BA for the flight over the pond and knowing that while I enjoy circuitous routes (IAH-YYZ-DUB-EDI) DH would not. So, BA from ATL, 200,000 Avios (transferred 143,000 MR with the 40% bonus currently) and we have Transatlantic done!

Booked a NYE stay in ATL, hopefully after I get my RC credit I can apply it (we'll see).

Today clarified the kennel opening time and booked PNS-ATL, round trip and was automatically bumped up from Main to Comfort Plus. I looked at all the flights for the least crowded 1st Class so hopefully we'll get up there, but it's only a 45 min trip so no worries.

Taxes for the redemptions were high-can't lie. For BA First $1500 and for Delta One 720 GBP (so ...$935). DH shrugged, called it our Christmas present and done!

And..we're set to go back to Edinburgh for the holidays! So excited and this...this is why I love credit cards

Whoa!! All that on short notice and over holidays! Well done! Bucket list item is celebrating Hogmanay in Scotland!

Nicely done!!

What's your favorite hotel in Edinburgh?

I was going to ask the same thing LOL

The Sheraton Grand Hotel and Spa- the spa is nice, it’s well located and staying on Club level means free entry into their special spa area (I call the Rainforest Room since it’s similar to that on DCL).
It’s awesome for me!

We’ve stayed there once and only for one night back in 2013. Maybe next time we go for a longer trip we will give it another go. We did not check out the spa so I am glad you shared that info. Thanks!

 

[gottalovepluto]

ok so I'm sure @Lain has all my cards listed on the spreadsheet but I know most of us can't remember at least I know I can't remember who has what card

I have the following
SW business 2/17/17 closed now
CIP 9/11/17 closed now
CSR 11/7/17
CSP 11/7/17
CIC 8/20/18

DH has
CIP 2/14/18
SW business 7/27/18

My original plan was refer DH for the CSR/CSP and after approved cancel my cards well things changed so looking for recommendations. Thinking to have DH use referral link for CSP. Would it be safe to apply today for this? He has some travel coming up that could meet the spend quickly.

I'd like to do the freedom today if you think its safe to go ahead to apply. It's been two months since I applied with chase. Have a big BJs trip I need to do before the end of the month so my thinking is apply today and have them overnight my card.

Also, DH goes to LAX once a month. Are there any lounges for SWA? What cards give you access to priority lounge at MCO.

Haven't had a spend in almost two months and had saved a lot of bills up for the DD. Now need to figure out the best way to get the most out of the apps.

Saving UR for USO and to visit Gibraltar. Originally was saving for another Disney trip but hopefully they will become available again.
thanks for your suggestions

I’m thinking you’re safe to try for the Freedom, just make sure your total credit limits with Chase are below that 60-70k mark. And it looks safe for him to go for the CSP.

Are you sure you don’t want DH to have CSR? If you need another precheck/global entry credit the price knocks down to $55. If he travels without you to places with PP lounges it might cover that- although I don’t see any PP lounges in T1 at LAX and T1 seems entirely unconnected to all other LAX terminals so if he only flies LAX via SW PP is useless to him.

 

[MrsAlexis]

Don't think this was already mentioned- I got a $5 off $5 Hulu purchase on both my Hilton and SPG Biz cards this morning. Can be used up to 4x. Of course, I just changed my Hulu account to be billed through Spotify for a special offer they sent me

There also appears to be 2500 SB bonus for signing up with Hulu on Swagbucks. I think I'll be stacking this for at least one month subscription!

 

[tink1970]

Whoa!! All that on short notice and over holidays! Well done! Bucket list item is celebrating Hogmanay in Scotland!

We probably should have stayed for Hogmanay but the unicorn DL award swayed me. It's starting to become how I plan trips...weird but effective I suppose. I was pretty proud that it took me about 2 hours or so-definitely a great use of my time .

We’ve stayed there once and only for one night back in 2013. Maybe next time we go for a longer trip we will give it another go. We did not check out the spa so I am glad you shared that info. Thanks!

The spa is nice...not quite my favorite (for me that would be at the Vancouver Fairmont Pacific Rim, probably) but very nice. It's always fun to chat with the local ladies who make it a day trip and get an even better feel for the city. Escape at One is what I affectionately call the Rainforest Room. It has an outdoor (large) hot tub so even when it's cold and drizzly I can be toasty and warm. There are steam rooms, heated loungers, saunas, etc. No view of the Caribbean but lots of people with lovely accents AND the last time I was there a large bearded redhead (Jamie's offspring?) in the hot tub to make up for that. Please note #3 in an article that was published on my birthday last year: https://thepointsguy.com/2017/07/amazing-pools-around-the-world/

I'm a total lazy person (other then making myself go to the gym and walk dogs) so a comfy bed, fair to decent lounge, spa, and British game shows (Countdown is my favorite- more than Jeopardy! even) and I am completely happy

 

[miztressuz]

Dangnabit! Just picked up enough Hulu through the Happy Guy gc churn to cover us until Mar and already loaded it to the account. And you can’t pre-pay the account OR purchase gift cards or gift subscriptions directly from Hulu. This one hurts.

Is the HBO offer over? That was 4.99/month for a set time, you'd get HBO for just tax. Or perhaps someone you know may need a Hulu subscription while it's $5.99 for a SB offer (or something).

I do hate that you can't prepay anything. We had this trouble using up the last $50/$50 (first world problem I know) AmEx offer. We were going to be short by the deadline so we thought we'd throw on HBO for a month to get us there when they came out with the 4.99 offer so were still short (although pretty awesome as we binged all the HBO shows for the last 6 months). That's when SB had a big sign up offer so we put one month on the card to get both

 

[palhockeymomof2]

ok so I'm sure @Lain has all my cards listed on the spreadsheet but I know most of us can't remember at least I know I can't remember who has what card

I have the following
SW business 2/17/17 closed now
CIP 9/11/17 closed now
CSR 11/7/17
CSP 11/7/17
CIC 8/20/18

DH has
CIP 2/14/18
SW business 7/27/18

My original plan was refer DH for the CSR/CSP and after approved cancel my cards well things changed so looking for recommendations. Thinking to have DH use referral link for CSP. Would it be safe to apply today for this? He has some travel coming up that could meet the spend quickly.

I'd like to do the freedom today if you think its safe to go ahead to apply. It's been two months since I applied with chase. Have a big BJs trip I need to do before the end of the month so my thinking is apply today and have them overnight my card.

Also, DH goes to LAX once a month. Are there any lounges for SWA? What cards give you access to priority lounge at MCO.

Haven't had a spend in almost two months and had saved a lot of bills up for the DD. Now need to figure out the best way to get the most out of the apps.

Saving UR for USO and to visit Gibraltar. Originally was saving for another Disney trip but hopefully they will become available again.
thanks for your suggestions

I think your both fine with the time between applications...just make sure your credit limits on existing cards aren’t too high

 

[miztressuz]

ok so I'm sure @Lain has all my cards listed on the spreadsheet but I know most of us can't remember at least I know I can't remember who has what card

I have the following
SW business 2/17/17 closed now
CIP 9/11/17 closed now
CSR 11/7/17
CSP 11/7/17
CIC 8/20/18

DH has
CIP 2/14/18
SW business 7/27/18

My original plan was refer DH for the CSR/CSP and after approved cancel my cards well things changed so looking for recommendations. Thinking to have DH use referral link for CSP. Would it be safe to apply today for this? He has some travel coming up that could meet the spend quickly.

I'd like to do the freedom today if you think its safe to go ahead to apply. It's been two months since I applied with chase. Have a big BJs trip I need to do before the end of the month so my thinking is apply today and have them overnight my card.

Also, DH goes to LAX once a month. Are there any lounges for SWA? What cards give you access to priority lounge at MCO.

Haven't had a spend in almost two months and had saved a lot of bills up for the DD. Now need to figure out the best way to get the most out of the apps.

Saving UR for USO and to visit Gibraltar. Originally was saving for another Disney trip but hopefully they will become available again.
thanks for your suggestions

I think you're both good for your plan. Since you're applying for the CF, are you keeping your CSR and downgrading the CSP to a CFU?

 

[3 DD love princesses]

thanks yes figure the CSP at least I could refer since the CSR is not working for referrals. Plus We dont use the PP enough to justify the extra cost. Just was thinking he would enjoy a lounge since he flies every month and I only fly to disney lately. next year we will be flying to mco twice so figured if we could make use of the lounge the kids would enjoy it again.

 

[3 DD love princesses]

I think you're both good for your plan. Since you're applying for the CF, are you keeping your CSR and downgrading the CSP to a CFU?

was thinking I would apply for the freedom and then downgrade the CSP to a freedom. would that work?

 

[miztressuz]

Which credit cards do u have?

Well that's a loooong answer for a lot of folks here. Although some could probably shorten it and just say "all of them!"

Some like to collect airline miles, others hotels points, some like cash back and most like flexible programs like UR, MR or TY points. It's an eclectic mix I would think, all depends on the goals one is reaching for. Any one(s) in particular you are looking for? Or ones that you use that you like?

I'm mostly a Chase, Discover, and bit of AmEx myself. I find them easy to figure out (well, maybe not AmEx, one day I'll get there) and they have most of the hotel/airlines I'm interested in. I have 14 or 15 open cards at the moment, but I only use a handful at a time. Some are a specific purpose (like the NCL card I opened just for OBC on our cruise next year) and others are just general rewards/cashback like the Discovers. I do have a Disney card that I use at Disney for the perks, but lately it makes more sense to use other cards to discount our Disney trips since there's not many offers for more cash back on it (I can make 1% back or better on most other cards and it's not held hostage for a Disney only redemption). I don't think I'm typical, I probably have way less than most but way more than others. I'm also definitely on the low end of the scale if you're counting lifetime credit cards either opened or closed

 

[miztressuz]

was thinking I would apply for the freedom and then downgrade the CSP to a freedom. would that work?

oh yes, that would totally work too I never think of doubling up because I can't max out even one card!

 

[DisneyMandC]

So I don't even know if anyone here can answer it because I bet no one has done this before...

I was thinking that when I get DH's CSP, I will put the whole charge for one of our 2019 Disney reservations on it. A few more small charges and we'll have the MSR met. I will then use my URs to pay off that Disney trip, as it appears unlikely Disney will return to URs (though if it does, you can bet it will be about three days after I do this).

Is there any issue with using URs to pay my balance while trying to meet MSR? I don't see why it would be since it's a "cash" payment.

 

[miztressuz]

So I don't even know if anyone here can answer it because I bet no one has done this before...

I was thinking that when I get DH's CSP, I will put the whole charge for one of our 2019 Disney reservations on it. A few more small charges and we'll have the MSR met. I will then use my URs to pay off that Disney trip, as it appears unlikely Disney will return to URs (though if it does, you can bet it will be about three days after I do this).

Is there any issue with using URs to pay my balance while trying to meet MSR? I don't see why it would be since it's a "cash" payment.

I haven't done it myself, but I see no issue with it. Like you said it's a payment, not a return or anything. Since the bonus is based just on net purchases how you pay for it shouldn't really matter. And actually, now that I'm looking at it again, they really should be better with their wording on the website because they don't actually say "net" purchases. It's probably in the T&C somewhere but how they have it listed on the Offer Details page it's just straight 4k in purchases (minus fees, interest, and the restricted purchase categories like gambling and traveler's checks etc etc) with no language about returns reducing anything. So you purchased it, that should be good enough

 

[mmmears]

Aside from the delay in bonus points showing up in August, Chase usually posts all points earned in that statement at statement closing; including bonus points if you made the cutoff on time. In the majority of cases, if you met the spend on the first statement, you'd get the points when that statement closed, which would be before any payment at all is due. So for Chase it's not necessary to make payment to actually get the points (but you do have to be in good standing by making payments to keep them). Hope that made sense.

I'm not sure if we are the rare exception or if they changed something, but the CSR points that just posted to the account this week (so mid-October) were from a card opened on a DD at the beginning of July. MSR was met when we were overseas in August. They didn't post when we met MSR and they didn't post when the statement closed showing we met MSR. They showed up as pending at that point (which is where my AMEX MRs are at the moment). They only posted when the check itself was cashed (and of course, we paid on time). Maybe I'm misunderstanding things, or maybe Chase just doesn't like us.

Don't think this was already mentioned- I got a $5 off $5 Hulu purchase on both my Hilton and SPG Biz cards this morning. Can be used up to 4x. Of course, I just changed my Hulu account to be billed through Spotify for a special offer they sent me

I got that offer on both of my (plain) AMEX Platinum cards this morning, so I guess it's on a bunch of their cards. Now to decide whether to use it or not...

 

[mmmears]

The Sheraton Grand Hotel and Spa- the spa is nice, it’s well located and staying on Club level means free entry into their special spa area (I call the Rainforest Room since it’s similar to that on DCL).
It’s awesome for me!

I've been wanting to go back to Scotland ever since our one day there in August. Clearly one day just isn't enough. You're definitely adding to the desire to return with this info. It sounds wonderful.

 

[Albort]

Prestige card future...

*drools*

 

[tink1970]

I've been wanting to go back to Scotland ever since our one day there in August. Clearly one day just isn't enough. You're definitely adding to the desire to return with this info. It sounds wonderful.

I it there...can't lie, have been 5 years in a row and was sad I didn't have a trip there planned for 2019 so this should make up for it! I hope you make it back some day (soon!)