I love credit cards so much! v2.0 (see first page for add'l details)

[PolyRob]

Newbie Amex question. I know I have read that Amex can see what you're actually purchasing like a gift card. Is that only relevant for things like offers that exclude gift cards? Or can you not purchase a Disney gift card and have it count towards your MSR?

 

[AmyAnne]

A question about putting spend on Barclay cards in the hopes of being approved for another card -- does anyone have a sense of for how long and how much spend Barclay might be looking for?

I got both the Arrival+ and the AA card (I can't recall what the name is -- the one with the fee) and downgraded them both to no-fee cards after a year. I just cancelled the downgraded Arrival with a possible plan of applying for another Arrival+ early next year. (I will be 4/24 in November and 2/24 next February, so getting some Chase cards first, hopefully).

Anyway, I'm thinking about what to do with the downgraded AA card. My understanding is that it might help my application to keep it and put some spend on it between now and applying for a second Arrival+. I could put some small recurring charges on the card, but would that be enough to even matter? Most of my spending goes to AmEx because there are a few biz cards I still hope to get this year.

 

[AmyAnne]

Newbie Amex question. I know I have read that Amex can see what you're actually purchasing like a gift card. Is that only relevant for things like offers that exclude gift cards? Or can you not purchase a Disney gift card and have it count towards your MSR?

This is only a possible concern with certain stores that provide "Level 3" data to AmEx. Office Depot (and I think Staples, and maybe some others) provide level 3 data, so AmEx can see that you purchased a gift card. (If you go to the "statements and activity" tab and click on an entry, it should tell you what AmEx can see -- I know when I've purchased gift cards at Office Depot, the entry definitely says "gift card.")

I'm pretty sure it's advised to stay away from the Visa/MC gift cards while meeting an MSR; I'm not sure about Disney GCs and whether they might trigger some ire from AmEx.

 

[mom2elal]

Would love to hear about the Valley of Fire after you do it. I am thinking about a trip next spring to Valley of Fire, Death Valley and Joshua tree. We weren't able to get to Valley of Fire when we went to Vegas/Grand Canyon/Zion/Bryce 2 years ago. I loved the Hoover Dam tour, the one where you get to see more of the dam. You get to go back areas and peer out one of the holes in the side of the dam. It was really good.

We went to Death Valley this spring break. It was AMAZING!

 

[mom2elal]

@mom2elal and @Lain - I forgot to post about this earlier, but I just want to say that I'm so happy you were able to get Hamilton tickets!!! DH and I saw it in SF 2 years ago and really, really enjoyed it. Yes, I'm tempted to go again.

 

[wendow]

DD talked me into taking her to see Alladin today. I really enjoyed it. I haven’t seen any of the other Live action remakes and was worried I would not like it, but I thought it worked. Honestly can not remember last time I was at the movie theater. Thought maybe it was Magic Mike, lol. But DD says I took her and other DD to see Imitation Game, so maybe 5 years ago. Really bad that I can not remember that! Lol. I do remember seeing the movie, but thought I saw it at home. Just as I suspected, our theater is still the same. No recliners, no reserved seats.

We went to see it today too! I loved, loved, loved it! I thought the music and costumes were beautiful and it very much felt like a stage production to me.

 

[miztressuz]

Newbie Amex question. I know I have read that Amex can see what you're actually purchasing like a gift card. Is that only relevant for things like offers that exclude gift cards? Or can you not purchase a Disney gift card and have it count towards your MSR?

Concur with @AmyAnne . As a personal opinion I feel closed loop gift cards like Disney shouldn't be counted against you, but it's harder to explain away open loop cards like V/MC when the terms of the bonus specifically call out no gift cards (for which technically they could count Disney as, but it's stupid, but it's AmEx so I'd just be careful).

Since we've been talking about L3 data lately I made myself actually pull up some examples like I planned to and here's some screenshots to give you an idea of what to look for.

This was a Staples .com transaction from last July where I bought a $100 Lowe's GC on sale.

You can see it clearly states it was a $100 Lowes eGC - no hiding that

That is in the "old" interface. If you view that same exact transaction in the new version, that L3 detail with the Reference # below it is missing:

Sneaky

Now, I just did a online pickup order from Staples .com but I'm not seeing L3 data from that. I'm not sure what to make of that yet.


I can see that all the main info is the same, except it's listed as Staples .com instead of that Staples store in CT for the eGC. So maybe it's just in-store type orders send the data but online don't? Something quirky for just store pickup orders? Or AmEx being sneaky all over? (except it does show the Ref # still so why hide only one bit of data in an interface designed to show it? IDK, sometimes the tinfoil hat is on too tight)

That's the only store we've shopped at on AmEx that I know sends L3 data so I don't have anything else to compare it to recently. Maybe others can chime in with more recent DPs. But this is the type of stuff you'd want to avoid during MSR. And if you do buy GC's probably vary it a bit so it's not obvious to a casual observer looking for that stuff. Like a charge ending in 3.95/4.95/5.95

 

[Lain]

Newbie Amex question. I know I have read that Amex can see what you're actually purchasing like a gift card. Is that only relevant for things like offers that exclude gift cards? Or can you not purchase a Disney gift card and have it count towards your MSR?

This is only a possible concern with certain stores that provide "Level 3" data to AmEx. Office Depot (and I think Staples, and maybe some others) provide level 3 data, so AmEx can see that you purchased a gift card. (If you go to the "statements and activity" tab and click on an entry, it should tell you what AmEx can see -- I know when I've purchased gift cards at Office Depot, the entry definitely says "gift card.")

I'm pretty sure it's advised to stay away from the Visa/MC gift cards while meeting an MSR; I'm not sure about Disney GCs and whether they might trigger some ire from AmEx.

Amex can see what is actually purchased only if a store shares Level 3 ("L3") data with Amex.

@Albort has a great post with pics of what no data, Level 2 data, and Level 3 data looks like on your online statement: https://www.disboards.com/threads/i-love-credit-cards-so-much.3528202/post-59106025

L2 will give a general category on what was purchased
L3 is basically information of exactly what you purchased

Generally, office supply stores like Office Depot/Office Max and Staples report L3 data. @Albort and one of his other groups think the following other stores report as follows:

Lowe's - Not Safe
Best Buy - Safe
Marriott - Not Safe
Home Depot - Probably Safe

Don't buy prepaid and gift cards from OD/OM/Staples.

If you're going to buy prepaid and gift cards, stick to supermarkets, which generally don't report L3 data, and where you can throw the cards in with your regular groceries so that your purchase amount doesn't end in a telltale round number (xxx.00) or (xx5.95, the usual price of an activation fee). I've mixed in prepaid and gift cards with my groceries during Amex MSRs, and it's never caused my SUB not to post. In my experience, Target should be fine too.

 

[PolyRob]

This is only a possible concern with certain stores that provide "Level 3" data to AmEx. Office Depot (and I think Staples, and maybe some others) provide level 3 data, so AmEx can see that you purchased a gift card. (If you go to the "statements and activity" tab and click on an entry, it should tell you what AmEx can see -- I know when I've purchased gift cards at Office Depot, the entry definitely says "gift card.")

I'm pretty sure it's advised to stay away from the Visa/MC gift cards while meeting an MSR; I'm not sure about Disney GCs and whether they might trigger some ire from AmEx.

Thank you! From my quick Googling I saw the office supply stores as offenders like you mentioned. It seems like some/most grocery stores tend to be safe?

Concur with @AmyAnne . As a personal opinion I feel closed loop gift cards like Disney shouldn't be counted against you, but it's harder to explain away open loop cards like V/MC when the terms of the bonus specifically call out no gift cards (for which technically they could count Disney as, but it's stupid, but it's AmEx so I'd just be careful).

Since we've been talking about L3 data lately I made myself actually pull up some examples like I planned to and here's some screenshots to give you an idea of what to look for.

This was a Staples .com transaction from last July where I bought a $100 Lowe's GC on sale.
View attachment 406436
You can see it clearly states it was a $100 Lowes eGC - no hiding that

That is in the "old" interface. If you view that same exact transaction in the new version, that L3 detail with the Reference # below it is missing:
View attachment 406437
Sneaky

Now, I just did a online pickup order from Staples .com but I'm not seeing L3 data from that. I'm not sure what to make of that yet.
View attachment 406438

I can see that all the main info is the same, except it's listed as Staples .com instead of that Staples store in CT for the eGC. So maybe it's just in-store type orders send the data but online don't? Something quirky for just store pickup orders? Or AmEx being sneaky all over? (except it does show the Ref # still so why hide only one bit of data in an interface designed to show it? IDK, sometimes the tinfoil hat is on too tight)

That's the only store we've shopped at on AmEx that I know sends L3 data so I don't have anything else to compare it to recently. Maybe others can chime in with more recent DPs. But this is the type of stuff you'd want to avoid during MSR. And if you do buy GC's probably vary it a bit so it's not obvious to a casual observer looking for that stuff. Like a charge ending in 3.95/4.95/5.95

Thank you for the explanation and the screenshots! It seems Amex is always watching. I was considering purchasing some Disney gift cards online at BJs and using them towards a WDW AP renewal. I could just put the entire renewal on my card, but I figured I could possibly save around $30 in the process while also meeting the MSR. I even wondered if checking out with PayPal would somehow make it harder to determine what I purchased?

 

[Lain]

@miztressuz - are you ... me?!

For the past week or two, I'll read a question and start formulating a reply in my head, and then I'll see you've already posted exactly what I was planning to write!

Not that I mind. You're giving fantastic advice!

 

[PolyRob]

Amex can see what is actually purchased only if a store shares Level 3 ("L3") data with Amex.

@Albort has a great post with pics of what no data, Level 2 data, and Level 3 data looks like on your online statement: https://www.disboards.com/threads/i-love-credit-cards-so-much.3528202/post-59106025

L2 will give a general category on what was purchased
L3 is basically information of exactly what you purchased

Generally, office supply stores like Office Depot/Office Max and Staples report L3 data. @Albort and one of his other groups think the following other stores report as follows:

Lowe's - Not Safe
Best Buy - Safe
Marriott - Not Safe
Home Depot - Probably Safe

Don't buy prepaid and gift cards from OD/OM/Staples.

If you're going to buy prepaid and gift cards, stick to supermarkets, which generally don't report L3 data, and where you can throw the cards in with your regular groceries so that your purchase amount doesn't end in a telltale round number (xxx.00) or (xx5.95, the usual price of an activation fee). I've mixed in prepaid and gift cards with my groceries during Amex MSRs, and it's never caused my SUB not to post. In my experience, Target should be fine too.

Thank you! I definitely won't go to any office supply stores any buy gift cards with this Amex. I was primarily looking for Disney gift cards, but I guess I will forgo the $30 on the renewal and just throw the payment on the card itself. BJs would have been a mix of $479.99 and $287.97 and I thought I was going to be slick checking out with PayPal, but I guess the RAT wins!

 

[Lain]

Thank you! I definitely won't go to any office supply stores any buy gift cards with this Amex. I was primarily looking for Disney gift cards, but I guess I will forgo the $30 on the renewal and just throw the payment on the card itself. BJs would have been a mix of $479.99 and $287.97 and I thought I was going to be slick checking out with PayPal, but I guess the RAT wins!

Don’t give up so fast.

https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/abs3ay/_/ed3o0xr

 

[miztressuz]

@miztressuz - are you ... me?!

For the past week or two, I'll read a question and start formulating a reply in my head, and then I'll see you've already posted exactly what I was planning to write!

Not that I mind. You're giving fantastic advice!

I'll just refer back to my previous post -

OMG it's like you were in my head... get out, get out!!



I actually was just coming to this conclusion as we confirmed the BBP is back to only 10k referral so I'd rather have 20k Marriott (where I know I can get at least 1 night out of it) over that. But yer still scary

Perhaps we know where my fantastic advice is coming from. (if we do say so ourselves!)

 

[afan]

Went to trivia night at a local wine bar and you guy's bust out 4 pages. We didn't come in last and enjoyed our time.

I also don't like lion king or nemo. I don't like that you can see the people doing the puppets, it's distracting. I also have issues with parts of little mermaid but love they have people in the dog. I much prefer cop, country bears which is can't miss, tikie birds, philharmagic, american adventure and eventually presidents again. I also like the muppets. Unfortunately tiki and muppets are my most common places to fall asleep which causes a 2nd trip earlier in the day on a different day. AA is a great way to end the night but I want to actually are voices of liberty this time and I'm not planning any evenings in epcot ao hopefully I won't fall asleep. Also need to catch thr canada movie one more time since there's going to be a new one sometime in the next couple of years. I also enjoy it's tough to be a bug, it's cute and I like the 4d effects. Plus they have the best 3d glasses on property.

 

[miztressuz]

Thank you! I definitely won't go to any office supply stores any buy gift cards with this Amex. I was primarily looking for Disney gift cards, but I guess I will forgo the $30 on the renewal and just throw the payment on the card itself. BJs would have been a mix of $479.99 and $287.97 and I thought I was going to be slick checking out with PayPal, but I guess the RAT wins!

Funnily enough about that, I wouldn't do the PayPal route but I'd feel ok going straight through BJ's.

I recall some reports of people having problems even with legit PayPal transactions because of their crackdown on P2P payments. Now I'm a little fuzzy on if this was after a human viewed the transactions because of a question they had about the bonus or legit bonus didn't post because those transactions didn't automatically get counted. But I just decided to avoid PayPal if I had a AmEx MSR if I could.

 

[PolyRob]

Don’t give up so fast.

https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/abs3ay/_/ed3o0xr

Woooo! Thank you!! Every little bit saved helps. I will place an order there in a few days.

Funnily enough about that, I wouldn't do the PayPal route but I'd feel ok going straight through BJ's.

I recall some reports of people having problems even with legit PayPal transactions because of their crackdown on P2P payments. Now I'm a little fuzzy on if this was after a human viewed the transactions because of a question they had about the bonus or legit bonus didn't post because those transactions didn't automatically get counted. But I just decided to avoid PayPal if I had a AmEx MSR if I could.

Thank you! I am learning so much about Amex I will just go the normal route then and no PayPal since it seems safer. I will report back on what it posts like. I think I will do the $287.97 first. It seems like a weird/non-GC amount to me.

 

[miztressuz]

It seems like a weird/non-GC amount to me.

My thoughts exactly.

 

[ten6mom]

So I am reading on the other thread that Kroger (Fry's, in my area) is offering the 4x fuel points on gift card purchases.

I currently have the Chase Freedom (groceries not a current bonus category) and the CIP, which is brand new and I need to "get the spend". I am going to DL for one day on Saturday, so will have food and merchandise to buy. Just making sure it makes the most sense to purchase Disney gift cards that I can use this weekend, as opposed to buying some other type of gift card? Am I missing anything?

 

[pinkxray]

I lowered my credit limits with Chase yesterday. Do I have to wait to apply for the CIP or am I clear since they already lowered my credit lines?

 

[Ngwira]

Hello, been reading but not posting much. Memorial Day trip to the world using our annual passes for the last time went great but there was one hitch. American Airlines canceled our flights to MCO from Philly the day of, so I had to scramble and buy 4 same day tickets on United leaving from Newark. Super expensive but we did it and I received a full refund from American so only an additional $400 out of pocket after all was said and done. Stayed at the Hyatt MCO which was super convenient for our late night arrival and Grand Floridian Resort and Spa at WDW. Enjoyed Flower and Garden immensely.

We are headed to Toronto and Niagara Falls Ont in two weeks. Staying at the Intercontinental Toronto Center and Hyatt Regency Toronto on points and free night certs. Staying at Sheraton on the Falls in Niagara.

In terms of points and miles, I have finished the spend on my Barclays JetBlue biz and looking forward to seeing those 60,000 true blue points posting.

I have booked flights and Airbnb’s for our Italy trip for spring break. I am now booking next years summer vacation in California. The plan is to hit Vegas for a night, then head to Anaheim, San Diego and finally San Francisco. I plan to use a mix of AA miles, gift cards, Hyatt points and Amtrak points. This should make the trip relatively inexpensive. I have the Hyatt Place Anaheim booked for our dates as soon as the window opened. I used 30,000 Hyatt points plus my free night. Rates are hovering at $800 a night so super good deal. I know they will come down eventually but nice to not have to worry about it.

Can anyone recommend a park ticket strategy? 3 park one day or 2 day park hopper? Maxpass essential or optional?