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

[alryan]

Oh weird, is anyone else seeing 4%?

I have 4 too. I tried reading the terms but didn't find an answer. I know you can only use four times but is there a limit for the amount of cash back you can earn?

 

[speedyfishy]

I have 4 too. I tried reading the terms but didn't find an answer. I know you can only use four times but is there a limit for the amount of cash back you can earn?

No limit but apparently they are shutting down people who buy GCs

 

[alryan]

I am at 2% as well. Just looked and it does say 4% in store, was 2%. I made 2 trips to staples this week, got the email saying I used an offer. The first cashback showed up today - about 4 days later. $0.23. I am not sure VGCs are tracking. I did buy the $200 VGC and a charging cable. I think I only got the 2% on the charging cable. Would love to hear other DPs on this.

Well that's not good! I purchased on Monday and Tuesday, got the emails, no $ yet for me. I was looking at it as a bonus if it does work.

 

[amalone1013]

My wife has a southwest priority card. AF is due soon. If we can actually use the $75 travel credit I was thinking we would keep it. Are there any practical ways to receive the travel credit. We have had some surprise expenses come up and will probably not do any travelling this year. But I was thinking of getting a gift card and using it later next year possibly to pay for early bird, but I read that you can't use those gift cards toward actual flights. thoughts? thank you so much.

You can use a GC for flights but not early bird. I just bought a gift card with my Priority yesterday for the credit, it's still pending so I cant confirm it will work for the credit but I read that it has recently so I took the gamble. We dont do early bird usually, especially since the priority has the 4 upgraded boarding credits. My husband also has A list from work travel and usually gets A20s for his boarding position so we only need to use one credit. But we are just 2 people and that works for us, not sure of your family size. You could skip early board and try the upgrades instead when you travel next year.

But the best thing by far? I've been battling cancer the last couple of years but finished chemo late last year. And now my most recent tests (9 months post chemo) came back clean, and all is looking good right now!! It was really touch and go in 2018 (heck, I applied for ZERO cards in 2018, that's how bad it was), so every time I get a clean test back it's an unbelievably great feeling.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!

That is wonderful wonderful news

 

[snugglebug]

Failed attempt #2 at loading my Serve at Walmart. Yesterday the lady didn't know what she was doing and wanted to tell me I was swiping my card the wrong way, then said "well it didn't work earlier for another man".

Fine, I try again today.
"What is that? A credit card?"
"Well, it's a prepaid card that I can load cash on from my debit card."
"I don't think we can put money on a credit card. There's an ATM over there."


Maybe it's a good thing I didn't make it to Staples. I guess I better drive to a WM farther away.

 

[punkin]

Our 30th anniversary is labor day weekend next year

Ours too! I'm planning something in Europe

 

[amalone1013]

On the bright side, since DH is going the day before his boss to see his brother, that means the trip to Cali will put him into A List Preferred status by 200 points and he will then earn 100% bonus on his flight home plus our flights for the AP previews

Sooo by the time we get back he will have earned another 15k RRs That will put him at 88k RRs earned for the year, everything but 3900 are from work flights

 

[CyndiLouWho]

My bank changed my name on my credit cards and debit card AND checks, but never changed my name on my actual bank account. I didn’t realize it until a year ago when I had to do ID verification for Barclays and realized I didn’t have a bank statement or utility bill in my married name!

This is why after 30 years of marriage, my DL has first name, maiden name, married name. Then any CC with either last name has an ID that has that name. Never had anyone not accept it.

Whats the deal with these hockey teams?! It is like they don't understand travel...AT ALL. We have a tourney in December in S Florida. That is an expensive time to fly to S Florida. They won't tell us what weekend or anything. It is making me nuts. Do they not realize this is August already!?

Ugh. I get it. DS starts soccer Monday. There is a tournament, run by his club, next weekend. We have no schedule of games yet, 7 days away. The parents have to volunteer at the tournament now, without knowing their kid’s schedule. So we could very well be volunteering to work at a different game at the same time our kid is playing.

Okay, y'all this made me almost want to fly SW ( and possibly got me a wee bit verklempt).

https://onemileatatime.com/southwest-airlines-video-cry/

I saw that on Twitter. Awesome and touching.

first swipe on serve success. Waiting in line for next one. Note to self don’t come on Friday afternoon! Lines are crazy.

I try to go weekdays and wait until no one is in line. Lol

OK, here's a summary of a solid day in the churning (and real) world:

1) For those who read my earlier post about the United Club card, I called the status line this afternoon and... Approved!! Glad that saga is over with.
2) Had appointments today for the family (5 of us) to finally get TSA Precheck. Used a different card for each application, and should get reimbursed for each one. That's a cool $425 worth of value right there.
3) Met my MSR on the Amex Hilton biz.
4) Received my Amex Gold Biz in the mail, ready start in on that guy.
5) DW's CIP bonus posted, 90k URs!
6) Used both Dosh and Rakuten for cash back.

So all really good stuff in the churning world. But the best thing by far? I've been battling cancer the last couple of years but finished chemo late last year. And now my most recent tests (9 months post chemo) came back clean, and all is looking good right now!! It was really touch and go in 2018 (heck, I applied for ZERO cards in 2018, that's how bad it was), so every time I get a clean test back it's an unbelievably great feeling.

Due to my experiences lately I do have this urgency to do stuff NOW, and that unfortunately carries over to this game and I can be a bit too reckless. My United Club saga actually had me worried about something bad Chase might do. But I really liked the post by @SouthFayetteFan and am definitely going to learn from that. I've had a flurry of activity lately and now need to lie back, meet the two MSRs I have right now, and cool it for a bit. As I've posted about a bit lately, I'm really interested in the ANA around the world ticket, and am going to be working towards that.

Thanks as always to everyone for the insight and support that is provided in this forum. It is truly one of a kind. I'm off to celebrate!

Congrats on beating cancer so far! You made me realize my churning may be in response to my dad’s passing in 2013. We had a trip to WDW planned for 2013 when he was diagnosed terminal. After he passed I pushed my family to make the WDW trip with my mom, just in case something happened to her. After that, I wanted to take DS more places and stumbled on churning which I quickly discovered was a way to travel when I couldn’t otherwise afford it. Now we have been to WDW every year, plus DLR, Grand Canyon, Alaska...

 

[Albort]

Failed attempt #2 at loading my Serve at Walmart. Yesterday the lady didn't know what she was doing and wanted to tell me I was swiping my card the wrong way, then said "well it didn't work earlier for another man".

Fine, I try again today.
"What is that? A credit card?"
"Well, it's a prepaid card that I can load cash on from my debit card."
"I don't think we can put money on a credit card. There's an ATM over there."


Maybe it's a good thing I didn't make it to Staples. I guess I better drive to a WM farther away.

white lie...
"Well, it's a prepaid debit card that I can load cash on from my debit card."

 

[amalone1013]

Okay, y'all this made me almost want to fly SW ( and possibly got me a wee bit verklempt).

https://onemileatatime.com/southwest-airlines-video-cry/

I'm not crying, you're crying

 

[Haley R]

First serve attempt at Walmart was a success. I went to the customer service desk because there was no line. The lady knew exactly what to do and didn’t even ask what I was using to load the card. I covered up the gift card part anyway just in case. We probably won’t buy anymore until I get a CIC in September but I’m glad it worked!

 

[elgerber]

So all really good stuff in the churning world. But the best thing by far? I've been battling cancer the last couple of years but finished chemo late last year. And now my most recent tests (9 months post chemo) came back clean, and all is looking good right now!! It was really touch and go in 2018 (heck, I applied for ZERO cards in 2018, that's how bad it was), so every time I get a clean test back it's an unbelievably great feeling.

Congratulations!!!! Wonderful news!!!

Ours too! I'm planning something in Europe

Wow, really? Which day?

 

[punkin]

Is the chase 800 number to find out approval not working? Or am I dialing the wrong number?

 

[disneymagicgirl]

That looks like fun. Beautiful family!!

Was there A/C? It’s going to be a scorching hot week in FL!

Thank you!
Yes, indoors with A/C!

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Unpopular opinion: Movies is my favorite value.

I think my kids would love the values as far as decor. I also worry they'd be totally let down as far as the pools. I am probably going to do one on a short trip, and maybe in winter when they likely won't swim anyways.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

On the bright side, since DH is going the day before his boss to see his brother, that means the trip to Cali will put him into A List Preferred status by 200 points and he will then earn 100% bonus on his flight home plus our flights for the AP previews

Sooo by the time we get back he will have earned another 15k RRs That will put him at 88k RRs earned for the year, everything but 3900 are from work flights

His SWRR are way more exciting than my DH's HH points.

 

[afan]

part of my fear of not flying with my feet up for so long is swelling. My feet and legs swell sooooooooooo bad, flying home from MCO on Tuesday, I looked awful. It's finally better I think, but Wednesday it was so bad I could barely walk and could not even bend my toes.

I'd had a similar issue the last few times I flew but for some reason I was ok when I got off the plane wed. I could still use the normal hole on my sandal strap. But I noticed last night my ankles are a biy swollen so either that and I missed it or it's water retention Just wish I knew why not this time so I could do the same.

France was fun, they swelled on thr plane and then all the walking and I only brought heels to wear with my skirt to the burlesque show we saw our last night. So hard to get them on, it was just bad. Plus I hadn't worn heels in about 6 months, no reason to and prefer not to. Thankfully we had a hyatt car that drove us there and a cab back so not much walking.

 

[shairpdrh]

I do recommend getting a Rick Steve's walking tour podcast or someone/something like him, if you don't want to be tied down to a tour. It does help to have someone contextualize some sites rather than just reading the plaques. The ones I used from Rick Steve had chapters so you didn't need to listen through the whole tour, you could just pick out the parts you're interested in.

I second the Rick Steve's audio tour recommendation. They were great for our travels in Italy and Greece. Easy to use and much better than trying to figure things out.

 

[bernina]

part of my fear of not flying with my feet up for so long is swelling. My feet and legs swell sooooooooooo bad, flying home from MCO on Tuesday, I looked awful. It's finally better I think, but Wednesday it was so bad I could barely walk and could not even bend my toes.

I'd had a similar issue the last few times I flew but for some reason I was ok when I got off the plane wed. I could still use the normal hole on my sandal strap. But I noticed last night my ankles are a biy swollen so either that and I missed it or it's water retention Just wish I knew why not this time so I could do the same.

I’m ok on domestic flights (even cross country) but flights to Europe make my feet swell. I’ve found if I wear the lightweight compression stockings I wore at the end of pregnancy then I have 0 swelling. It’s awesome. They’re breathable so don’t make my feet sweat and I just wash out in the sink at our hotel and they’re ready for the flight home. I put them on right before we board and just wear slip on shoes with them (tennis shoes would work too). Game changer for me.

 

[snugglebug]

@Lain or anyone else with San Francisco knowledge, my boy is home from Korea and looking for "real Korean BBQ", not Americanized. He was wondering if there might be something there we can up on vacation?