I love credit cards so much!

[wendow]

HUUUUGE Drew Brees fan here too. My fantasy team is named after him and he is my QB every year. It's a man crush...and I won't deny it!

Why am I NOT surprised that one of my fav players is also one of yours

 

[Judique]

My brother has his winging either in April or May when he will find out where they go next. I think they are mainly just happy to leave meridian

Naval Aviator? Good for him! They go through a lot to get those wings!

 

[Lain]

Remember how I was having so much trouble trying to pay with my CIP through gyft and I gave up? Well apparently the secret was to have a CIC. I stopped at Sam's on the way home and thought dang it, if only I could make that work I could get 5x pts now! And then I figured why not give it a shot? So I added it to Paypal, opened up gyft... and it worked! No issues!

Glad you got it to work! Meanwhile PayPal has declined my last two Gyft transactions. Grrr...

 

[Judique]

Anyways, I'm focusing on me. I'm purging my house. Getting my finances in order and starting to move on. It hurts to go from planning a future together to being blind-sided. I know people say you can never know what is going on in a LDR, but we literally talked 24/7, facetimed for hours, etc. I have no idea when this happened. He passed it off as that it literally just happened. I don't know how you go from, "let's get married" to "oh, I ran into this chick and she's makes me so happy". I'm thinking cold feet. Whatever. This will make be better

And what they all said below----->>>

Wow, what a loser. Liking because thankfully you avoided ending up with this guy, and you're ready to move on and live your best life.

aven't caught all the way up, but just wanted to say that sucks But he sounds a little crazy so while it sucks to have wasted so much time and miles on him, better to find out now rather than after the wedding. Sorry he wasn't right but sounds like time to churn P2 for a better offer

Love this - keeps things right on topic.

It'll be ok...we'll get through this!! We are all here for you! Hug that spreadsheet tight tonight.

except this one - it was for @Lain but it works for you also

Not sure what to say on this one other than your attitude is phenomenal!! It's amazing to have the outlook you have despite that "blow" as you put it!

My son went through something like this not that long ago, but it was the best thing she could have done for him. He's now dating someone else and couldn't be happier. Loads of fish in the sea.

 

[brownhaired_girl]

Not sure if we have talked about it on here before but I am so far pretty impressed with Touring Plans room finder. With all our stays I have been too cheap to sign up for a subscription but I finally did on our October trip. (Motivation also came because desperately trying to meet 10k Amex MSR). On October trip at CBR we had 2 rooms that needed to be connecting and then wanted either connecting or adjoining for my parents and their room. The person who does scheduling/room assigning actually emailed me a couple days before to clarify what I wanted. Got my second choice building/section. For this AKV/Kidani trip no contact from Disney but again got my request (can’t remember but 2nd or 3rd choice room). After years of making requests to Disney and having them ignore it the subscription was definitely worth the $15.

I've used the room finder a couple times. I paired it with google earth to check views and sight lines for fireworks. I sent a list of 4 choices and got one of the my choices both times. This was definitely worth the subscription.

 

[WVMomof3]

Saints and Steelers fan here. Love Drew Brees but can’t stand Ben R. Also add me too the long list of can’t stand the Patriots and especially Tom Brady. Please lose this weekend. Lol Also can’t stand the cowboys, but do love Dak Prescott.

 

[WVMomof3]

Does amazon sell your grocery store giftcards? That’s what I am doing.

No grocery store gift cards on there for me.

 

[afan]

@DisneyMandC The end was funny. And as always, they make me want a mustang more whenever they have one on. I'm glad they cut the celebrity part, it was never as good as Top Gear.

 

[GlamMistress]

DH called Chase and we are officially holding the CSP again. Decided against the CSR at the last minute because I currently hold the Amex plat. We'll upgrade to CSR after I cancel the plat in September.

This significantly reduces my annual fees because my militant slash and burn plan continues plus the CSP is cheap at $95.

It feels weird being back in the UR game after this lapse of time.


@LilSweetPeaPhoto - I saw your post earlier and I am sorry. You will get through this! And it is okay to grieve the loss of this relationship - while also moving ahead. Good luck on your travel plans. Take your kiddos somewhere fun!

 

[vanjust14]

Another positive experience with TP room finder and faxing room request. I've used it twice and gotten first and second choice room. Definitely worth the subscription!

 

[Haley R]

Naval Aviator? Good for him! They go through a lot to get those wings!

Yep he flies jets! He’s worked VERY hard to get where he is. He went through a 4-year college for finance, got a job, decided a desk job was not for him at all, and joined the navy. He studies really hard and his two little boys are amazing.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

I'm the opposite of all you room requesters...I just leave it up to faith, trust, and pixie dust and see where I land. Never been disappointed yet.

 

[Haley R]

I'm the opposite of all you room requesters...I just leave it up to faith, trust, and pixie dust and see where I land. Never been disappointed yet.

We’re the same as you, although our first bc room was quite terrible. I usually find Disney is very willing to work with you though to get a new room

 

[magickingdomprincess]

I love football!! Watch it every weekend and really looking forward to the games this weekend. KC is in our division so normally cannot root for them but I actually like KC if they are not playing the Broncos, and I do not like the Pats. No way, no how, so I'm all about KC for that game.

Just to show how despised Tom Brady is here in Denver, if you go to a Nuggets basketball game, they show his picture on the screen when they want the crowd to boo

Then for the NFC, I'm rooting for the Saints. I'm a huge Drew Brees fan plus I grew up down by the TX Gulf coast, just across the LA border and we were/are Saints fans so hoping they win that one. One of my ds's is a big Rams fan though so there will be lots of hollaring either way lol!

Haha, that's hilarious about the Nuggets games! I was a little surprised you were routing for KC, I figured you were a Broncos fan and therefore disliked KC. Glad you'll be rooting for us! I am super excited for the games but am always a little sad for the playoffs because it means football season is almost over! At least I have college basketball to keep me occupied!

HUUUUGE Drew Brees fan here too. My fantasy team is named after him and he is my QB every year. It's a man crush...and I won't deny it!

Haha, I think anyone that doesn't like Drew Brees is borderline unAmerican. How can anyone dislike that guy?!?

 

[wendow]

I'm the opposite of all you room requesters...I just leave it up to faith, trust, and pixie dust and see where I land. Never been disappointed yet.

I rarely request either. I did at CS b/c I wanted a refurbed room (I read the old ones had mold and with a Lyme kiddo that is a huge deal) and we did get the refurbed room. Otherwise, we never get the room requests we make so I don't bother anymore. I get what I get and I don't throw a fit

 

[wendow]

No grocery store gift cards on there for me.

Me either. I would love to get grocery store cards at a discount but I don't shop Whole Foods or Safeway.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Why am I NOT surprised that one of my fav players is also one of yours

I knew you’d say something like that! I loved Drew since he went to the Saints and helped that city recover after Hurricane Katrina.

 

[amalone1013]

Glad you got it to work! Meanwhile PayPal has declined my last two Gyft transactions. Grrr...

I stole your mojo...

 

[calypso726]

The fastest way to earn the points is through the sign up bonuses. Some will cancel and churn their cards if they have no use for them beyond the sign up bonus. Some will keep the cards if the value of benefits and points earning negate the fee. Earning points beyond the sign up bonus of a new card involves maximizing spending categories. This is where you can earn more points by spending in a specific category depending on the card. For example, your CSP card earns 2 UR points per $ on dining and travel. You should always use that card when paying for anything in those categories. I have the Chase Sapphire Reserve which earns 3 UR points in the same categories and those UR points are worth .015 in the Chase UR portal. One of my strategies is to also use my Chase Freedom no fee card which has rotating quarterly spending categories that earn 5x UR points up to $1500 in spending. On their own, those Freedom point cannot be transferred to airlines and hotels and they are only worth .01 for a statement credit. So, I transfer those 7500 UR points that I earned on my Freedom card to my CSR account and they are worth more and I can use them to transfer directly to airlines.

This hobby has allowed me to mitigate my travel expenses and I definitely travel a lot more now. Of the regular posters here, I'm in the "use miles to get lie flat seats in first class on international flights" camp. There is absolutely no way I could possibly travel as much as I do and in first class flights if I did not use multiple cards and maximize spending categories and utilize shopping portals. DH and I go through a lot of points every year. I'll give you a list of our vacations over 2017 and how many miles or points we needed to secure our flights:

January - Adventures by Disney Winter in Wyoming trip (United first class 200,000 miles)
February - London for the weekend to see Harry Potter & the Cursed Child play (British Airways first class 400,000 miles, 100,000 Club Carlson points for hotel stay)
March - Aulani in Hawaii in first class (American Airlines 74k miles, 90k Citi Thank You points)
June/July - Scotland for a long weekend to see the Fairy Pools "slumming" it in business (British Airways 250,000 miles)
July - San Francisco to see Hamilton first class (American Airlines gift cards from purchases that triggered annual airline credit on credit cards and 35,000 Amex membership rewards points, 24k SPG points to stay at Westin)
August - Adventure by Disney Italy trip (British Airways 200,000 miles and earned travel together ticket with credit card)
November - flew to Iceland in first class (Delta paid with 380,000 UR points, stayed at Hilton forgot how many points but got a point free night too due to length of stay)

So that is over 1.7 million points and miles that DH and I blew through just this past year. We are in 2 player mode when it comes to applications and bonus category earnings but it takes multiple cards to maximize the bonus categories, give us options and maintain 2 - 3 million points and miles. Hope this helps @1GoldenSun

CONVERSATION STARTER:

Sort of inspired by a new post from Lucky on One Mile At A Time. He posted about the zillion cards he uses each month. The question is this:

Are we spreading ourselves thin and actually hurting our earning potential by fanning out over many cards and currencies? Would it be better to give up, say, a 1 or 2 point premium per dollar and just focus on one thing, like MR or UR? In the long run, if all our spend is in one bucket, do we come out with more for less fees?

The best way to earn is by getting outsized bonuses. But what happens when there are no good bonuses left or every card issuer has made it so hard to get a good pot of miles on initial signup? Does a simple 1 (or 2) card strategy work best?

Lucky's post - https://onemileatatime.com/credit-card-bonus-categories/

Ok, I'm back to give my thoughts and perspective on this conversation starter which I think discussing would provide value and perspective to those of us who've been at this game a long time and to the newer folks for consideration down the line. I'm quoting my post from 2017 that was in response to another person who didn't see the value of holding multiple cards beyond meeting the spending bonus. While that post is over a year old, it still holds true. For me, having options is still the name of the game. I've always been an advocate of diversifying my portfolio. I think it was just a few weeks ago that I was on here kicking and screaming in my head over Chase's craptastic Expedia platform that would not display flights to book with URs in first or business. So, I went ahead and booked them with Amex MRs on their glitchy but less frustrating travel platform. Then, when I decided to come in early for the Japan ABD and go to Tokyo to check out the robot restaurant, I thought I'd like to stay at the Park Hyatt that I've heard so much about. Little did I know it's over $1500 per night! Fortunately, the same room and nights were available on points so I used 60,000 UR points that instantly transferred to Hyatt and booked my stay.

The airline transfer partners that Chase and Amex have both hold value for me. Therefore, I am happy to earn in both currencies. There is no way I could accumulate the number of points I do with just one card. In 2017 we blew through 1.7 million points and miles. Below are our 2018 points and miles spending we did and we blew through another million. For 2019 travel I will very likely surpass 2 million.

2018
March - DC to see cherry blossoms (2 nights at The Willard free IHG night certs)(AA first - 58,842 Amex MR after 50% rebate with Amex biz Plat)
April - Dapper Days at DLR (Delta first class 153,000 Sky Pesos)
May/June - Adventures by Disney China (Singapore Suites - 250,000 KrisFlyer miles transferred from 200,000 SPG points)
July - New York to see Harry Potter Play (2 nights at Hilton Times Square with free night certs from Aspire) (AA first class paid with various AA GCs from airline credits on various cards)
September - Hawaii (AA first class 89,812 MR after 50% rebate with Amex biz Plat)
September - DC to see Hamilton (2 nights at The Wilard free IHG night certs)(AA first paid with various AA GCs from airline credits on various cards)
December/Jan - Antarctica (AA business/first - 505,000 AA miles)

2019
January - NYC for Mickey True Original Exhibition (2 nights at Residence Inn Central Park with Marriott free night certs)(AA economy 24,362 Amex MR after 35% rebate with Amex biz Plat)

March - Dubai and Maldives (4 nights at Al Maha Desert Resort & Spa 240k Marriott points)(3 nights Conrad Rangali over-water bungalows 285k Hilton points and hopefully replacing 95k with a free night cert)(1 night Dubai Int'l airport hotel 12,888 UR points)(Emirates first class 300k Alaska miles via Marriott Flight/Night packages)(AA first flight to position for Emirates flight 68,775 Amex MR after 35% rebate with Amex biz Plat)(United flights in first to get back home from Emirates flight 72,696 Amex MR after 35% rebate with Amex biz Plat)

May - New Orleans (7 nights, but only staying 4 from Marriott nights and flights package 270,000 Marriott points)(AA flights in first paid with various AA GCs from airline credits on various cards)

June/July - Scotland (BA first class 125,000 Avios and Travel Together ticket)(2 nights Radisson Blu 140,000 Club Carlson points)(1 night at Holiday Inn Inverness 30,000 IHG points)(1 night at Hilton free night cert)

August - NYC Hamilton (haven't booked flight or hotel since I don;t know if we are going for 2 or 3 nights yet)

September/October - Adventures by Disney Japan (ANA first class with 240k Virgin Atlantic miles from Amex MR w/30% bonus transfer so 185k Amex MR)(AA first to position at IAD for ANA flight 60,347 Amex MR after 35% rebate with Amex biz Plat)(1 night at Westin Dulles using free night cert from Marriott)(JAL business using 110K AA miles with 10% back benefit in case my return ANA dates don;t come through)(2 nights Park Hyatt Tokyo 60,000 UR points transferred to Hyatt)


Writing this has caused me to mourn the 50% back we used to get with the Amex business Platinum card again But, I think it does illustrate how one or two cards will never be able to earn and replace the number of points we go through each year. The bonus categories boost the earning potential. I also have cards that bring me value that surpass the AF even though they may not necessarily be cards that I use for spend. I'd say my two main currencies are UR and MR with regards to spend. It does take some card shuffling to maximize each spending category but for me it is worth it.

 

[Albort]

Me either. I would love to get grocery store cards at a discount but I don't shop Whole Foods or Safeway.

Albertsons, Vons, Jewels, Lucky, Haggen Food, Bristol Farms, Super Saver Food?