I love credit cards so much!

[Ngwira]

Anyone have any amazing beachfront hotels in Florida (preferably gulf side) they've stayed at/dream of staying at with points? Looking for our 15 yr anniversary...

The Wyndham Clearwater is an amazing value on points. It's very new, clean and family friendly.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

And finally caught up! Between crazy busy at work and getting ready to go to WDW I had not read for a couple days.

I vote for a new thread if this one is locked. Because this thread is a monster. A good monster. But still.

I posted earlier how I had a weird call upgrading DH's Freedom back to a CSR. Rep would not say if she would do it and call ended with "you will get a letter." BUT then yesterday I get on his account and it is a CSR. So go figure. @GlamMistress @palhockeymomof2 if you call and then just have DH on speaker phone while you do most of the talking it works. Even if you are following DH around in your attempt to get them to talk.

And the sad news whole reason if I have time to catch up and post is that we just got notice our flight to MCO is delayed 2.5 hours. So now we will be getting in at 2 am. I guess it is the snow you all are talking about on the east coast?

I am hoping this is not a sign of a not great trip. Girls have all been fighting off being sick, work and school is so busy, my husband's knee has been bad. And this is our first DVC trip. Split stay at AKV Kidani and BLT one bedrooms. I really hope I don't find out that I dumped all this money into DVC and do not even like it. Starting everyone off completely exhausted is not good.

And credit card news...applied for Hyatt card for DH and still pending. No calls at all. It has been 4 days. Geez.

Thanks for the update..

Ugh on the delays....we’ve stayed in both of those DVCs...love ...love the extra bathroom..makes it so much easier to get ready in the morning If you can work it into your trip..try to go up to the DVC lounge at the top of Bay Lake to see the fireworks

 

[Lain]

In light of recent Amex troubles, I'm really considering getting the Marriott personal card for myself with Chase. I'm 3/24, will be 2/24 in June. I'd like to bump up our Marriott points for our trip to Japan next year, so why not? Anyone see any issues? I currently have Marriott biz (will cancel in a couple weeks) and have the SPG biz, which I will keep long-term.

Yes, 75k right now. That's not a bad idea on doing the Hyatt for both of us. I need to pull up that DoC page that tells you which combination of SPG/Marriott cards you can get so I can figure out a plan for DH. Really only need Hilton points for our (hopefully) Hilton Tokyo Bay stay for Tokyo Disney!

So many points to get, so little time... and DH's Citi AA biz still isn't here!! I don't know what's taking so long, I got the benefits mailer, but still haven't received the card. I was hoping to use it at the vet's office tomorrow morning for my dog's annual checkup.

Just note that your SPG Biz may preclude you from getting the Marriott Premier Plus. See Navigating Marriott’s Byzantine Credit Card Rules.

 

[AmyAnne]

So I read and read and read and google and research and I still don't "get" the whole AMEX thing. I look at the cards (gold, lux, blue, green, etc) and they don't seem that lucrative. No big sign up bonuses. Is there a write up somewhere where I could learn WHY people love them so much?

*DH just got approved for the AMEX Hilton Ascend for 150,000 Hilton points so I'm wondering if I should be ready to *do* something with this and his next card should be another AMEX.....I want to be prepared.

You really should read @calypso's reports about her redemptions. Just search this thread for her posts.

 

[wendow]

Hmmm, maybe the Patriots will get stuck and have to forfeit to the Chiefs on Sunday?

I'd like this 100x if I could!!

 

[DisneyMandC]

Just note that your SPG Biz may preclude you from getting the Marriott Premier Plus. See Navigating Marriott’s Byzantine Credit Card Rules.

Ah, I thought personal cards only affected other personal. Didn't realize business cards could affect the bonus too. So looks like I'm out on Chase Marriott.

So looking at this list- https://www.doctorofcredit.com/specifics-of-chase-american-express-limiting-spg-marriott-bonuses/ does this mean I could get DH the Amex SPG Luxe, and then get him the SPG Biz? I'm not seeing the Luxe included on the exclusions list for SPG Biz.

Just figured that out I though it was business cards only affected other biz cards, personal only affected other personal. So looks like I'll just need to accrue more Marriott points through DH.

ETA: That chart is super helpful... bookmarking that!

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

but it is a lesson to make sure you have a use for points before just blindly going for them because everyone else has a good use and therefore, thinks they are great. Each of us travel differently, have different family sizes, are in different seasons of life that may limit our traveling, etc.

This! I keep coming up with different scenarios for getting cards, then I realize I just need to Stick With The Plan

 

[palhockeymomof2]

Trying to figure out my longterm strategy for airline points and had a question. Is the SW bonus restrictions separated by personal/business cards? Trying to decide when I can apply again (churn!) these cards. Here are my card dates:

SW Biz applied 12/04/17, bonus rec’d 02/11/18

SW Premier applied 01/10/18, bonus rec’d 03/01/18

If I’d like try for the CP in 2020, assuming the rules don’t change by then, I could apply for SW biz on 02/12/20 (or a few days after) and Premier/Plus 03/02/20. Do I have that correct? Or would I need to wait for 24 months after receiving either bonus?

Side note- it was really hard to put in the extra zeros to format the dates in MM/DD/YY format but I did it just for @SouthFayetteFan

Lol I’m on the same CP schedule you are...

You have it right...you can apply for the business after 02/12/20and the personal after03/02/20....also make sure to cancel your current cards 30 days before applying for the new ones...

 

[havaneselover]

Okay, so I called in yesterday to cancel BCP and they offered me a $50 statement credit if I spent $2,000 in three months. I choked and accepted it. Can I still call back and cancel? My annual fee just posted. I'd rather hope for an upgrade offer on my BCE plus I want to apply for SW Biz and was really looking forward to getting rid of a card.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

So I read and read and read and google and research and I still don't "get" the whole AMEX thing. I look at the cards (gold, lux, blue, green, etc) and they don't seem that lucrative. No big sign up bonuses. Is there a write up somewhere where I could learn WHY people love them so much?

*DH just got approved for the AMEX Hilton Ascend for 150,000 Hilton points so I'm wondering if I should be ready to *do* something with this and his next card should be another AMEX.....I want to be prepared.

I’ve done the same as you...looked at Amex MRs and tried to figure out how we could use them....we don’t travel overseas or first class and from what I can tell those are the best way to redeem....

 

[kidsfirsttrip]

I'd like this 100x if I could!!

HEY!! We New Englanders are hearty folk, they’ll get there!! Too bad it wasn’t a home game...

 

[ski_mom]

@wendow I got notice today that my Staples RMN went pending! Woohoo, didn’t think it would track. Fingers crossed it goes final. Did yours ever go pending?

I got an email this morning also that mine is pending!! I definitely didn't expect it to work but yay! Now hoping my Chase offer worked too

I tried this deal and mine posted as well! I"m hoping that the Chase offer I had on my CF also posts. Thanks to all for the idea of trying this!

 

[Haley R]

This made me laugh out loud. It was just awkward cause he doesn't move or anything. I booped him in the stomach and nothing so I wasn't really sure what to do so I just stood there for the picture and moved on. Had I known I would have watched some people before I got in line since the set up there you can't see the interaction. It also didn't help that I'd just had the best time crying with Sadness while Joy watched, so to get no interaction was a bummer. I almost prefer not to meet face characters because it's easier to chat with the one's that can't talk. Mickey's during MVMCP was the best and I don't know that it can be topped by him but the pics bring it all back so it's good.

The cm told me to back up a little so baymax could reinflate himself lol. I’ll always remember it. Another time we met him and I had my pin lanyard on. The cm asked me to take them off and all I could think about was the part in the movie where he tapes himself lol.

I completely agree about meeting face characters. I feel super awkward meeting face characters but the ones in costumes are amazing! I love the gestures they make and they get really into it if you have a stuffed animal

 

[DaveL]

If I ever disappear from the face of the earth somebody else could start "3.0" and then they'd manage the stickies, lol!

If you do happen to go missing, Should not be too hard to guess at your password. All we need is right there in your sig, so F@yette, Fay3tt3, SFayette...

 

[wendow]

HEY!! We New Englanders are hearty folk, they’ll get there!! Too bad it wasn’t a home game...

So glad the game is in KC!! I hope it's a real ordeal for the Pats to get there and they are exhausted and not focused. Go Chiefs

PS I like New Englanders and y'all are great people just could do without the Pats!

 

[pinkxray]

That was me who had to talk to the fraud dept. Sound like a much more frustrating call than I had! Were you able to get through verification in the end?

Yes, after about a 15min call. The rep seemed to get hung up on my old email. I haven’t used it in maybe 15 years. She also didn’t like the answers I gave about when we moved into our current house. I started getting irritated after that. She kept asking me question about our house but they didn’t make sense.

This makes me a little nervous! I was planning on doing this bank bonus in the next week or two as well with my Barclay card. I feel like my security questions are always the same but I'm sure they'll have screwy info. Ugh!

It was bizarre that she was giving me such a hard time. I had just opened the PNC acct this morning and had almost the same security questions.
Old email, an address you lived at previously, mortgage company, mortgage amount Pnc went through fine. When she asked it was like none of my answers were correct when I know for sure they are. After around 10 minutes she put me on hold for a few minutes bc apparently my answers weren’t matching up.
When she came back on the line she asked me about my Upromise acct I’ve had for like 15 years. I had all the info correct until we got to my mother’s maiden name to where she told me on my upromise acct it was different. I think she might have been confusing my maiden name and my mother’s?

 

[Lain]

I honestly think your problem was going for the Gold and Amex wanting more history for that card. I think if you went for a lesser card (say BBP) you’d be ok....

I agree that I have seen DPs of folks getting the pop up for “higher end” cards like the Gold, then applying right afterwards for a lesser (no fee or co-branded) card, and getting approved without a pop up. Whether or not they get their bonus on the second card despite not getting the pop up is a new wrinkle.

 

[vanjust14]

This is me now. I have 19 cc's with payments due this month. If my dh knew, he would croak. And I do feel like I am spending more to keep Amex happy and use offers that are, many times for me, something I would not have purchased if not for the offer and my desire to use the offer plus put spend on the card. I need to back off a bit on my spend and I will be in a cancelling frenzy for the next 8 mos with Amex cards, with the exception of the couple I will keep. So, I may never get another Amex again after that as they will put me on their naughty list.

I also realize that, for us, the spg cards were maybe not the smartest move. I got caught up in the FOMO here (no one's fault but my own!) thinking I *needed* those cards. In the end, there aren't really too many properties that I think we will use the points at. I was able to redeem a boatload of points and get the N&F package. The 7-night cert isn't too valuable but I love getting the 120k SW RR's. So not a total loss at all!

I'll find somewhere to use the points (and the cert hopefully) but it is a lesson to make sure you have a use for points before just blindly going for them because everyone else has a good use and therefore, thinks they are great. Each of us travel differently, have different family sizes, are in different seasons of life that may limit our traveling, etc. I get a bit mad at myself for using up so much Amex 'grace' (??) getting all those spg cards but I learned a valuable lesson so I'm glad for that.

Wow, I have eight due this month and actually forgot one that was due yesterday. Just called and it's all set no fees but that was close. I can't imagine doing 19!

 

[platamama]

I was initially planning on canceling DH's BGR, but I really want the Schwab Plat for him (and me too eventually). No pop ups yet for either of us, but neither of us have canceled an Amex to date and his BGR is the first up with a high fee. I think I will suck up the $175 AF for a year, get him the Schwab Plat (fingers crossed), and then when his Biz Plat and Green come up for renewal in a few months I will cancel those. That will leave him with the BBP, personal Gold, Biz Gold, and Schwab Plat as MR cards and next year when the Biz Gold comes up for renewal I'll cancel it (since the AF will be $295 then). That keeps the option of 25% rebate on flights paid with points open for another year from the BGR, and since I've saved $295 in Amex offers on that card by itself + 165K MRs on it, I can completely talk myself into thinking this is a good plan.

 

[DisneyMandC]

I agree that I have seen DPs of folks getting the pop up for “higher end” cards like the Gold, then applying right afterwards for a lesser (no fee or co-branded) card, and getting approved without a pop up. Whether or not they get their bonus on the second card despite not getting the pop up is a new wrinkle.

I've been putting some more spend on my cards and may try to find something with a low MSR/bonus to try in about a month or two and see what happens.

Either that or I'll lose my head and apply for the BBP soon.