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

[Limes96]

Even if this theory works, I realize it’s not perfect because most of us consider our next cards carefully and to have a pop up lock us out of that card or it’s entire family of cards when we’re ready to apply is incredibly frustrating, even if we have another Amex card potentially available to us pop up free. And if we’re locked out of a limited time elevated offer that we really want by a pop up, it looks like our only hope is to spend our way out of that pop up, which may or may not work.

This is me right now. My plan was the Aspire for my last personal card for the next YEAR because I want to stay at 4/24 to keep getting Chase cards every 3 months or so. I don’t want a Gold, my P2 will be PCing his plat to gold in October. I have since put more spend on my HHBiz but I was already spending 300-500 on it every month. It’s true that’s not as much as during my MSR period, but I’ve never had a $0 balance statement. I just wish we knew the algorithm because I don’t even know if trying to apply multiple times a month to see if the pop up is still there will hurt my future chances. And I don’t want to apply for an Amex biz card because I don’t know if that will make a difference with the pop up either.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

So I was waffling on the Plat because while the 100k offer is nice and I had the mailer, the AF and juggling the credits while on mat leave was stressing me out. On a whim decided it was finally time to try Chase and well- approved for the CIP!

Congrats

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

Looking forward to all the SWGE AP preview reviews today!!!

I've seen lots of pictures and video on twitter so far

 

[Judique]

Oh no - I’m glad you mentioned it here too . Otherwise I wouldn’t have been reminded to rag on KtP...

Thanks to @Haley R for mentioning it here as I'm not on the other outlet. (Not that I intend to spend 1 minute going to these parties -btdt.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

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[Livelovedance]

I know there are some DVC members here. Anyone have experience renewing from a Gold Pass to a Platinum Pass? Should the price be the Platinum Renewal price or a Platinum New Purchase price? I was trying to figure out prices and the WDW website isn't helping. If I use the renewal link and renew to a Platinum it says it will cost $1,012.82. If I go in to purchase a new Platinum it costs $957.44. I'm going to call MS when I'm ready to renew but I just want an idea what the price would be first.

Then I have to figure out how to pay:
CIP (MSR spend at 1x)? Leaning towards this one!
CSP (I don't think it codes as travel, but does anyone know for sure?)?
DV (if it's 1x no matter what card maybe I should just use this and add to my Disney rewards)?

 

[disneybirds]

Ok thanks for the info. I plan on calling a little later this afternoon. I hope the mortgage company doesn’t charge me a fee for insufficient funds if the check gets cancelled. Do you know if any of the checks ever made it after you cancelled?

I have cancelled 3 checks. The one for state taxes was processed 6 weeks after it was delivered and they charged me an insufficient check charge, but I was able to get it waived. The federal check was processed about 3 weeks after it was delivered and they didn't charge an insufficient check charge. The one to our HOA has never been received to my knowledge, but I know the treasurer and she is planning to return to me if it ever shows up. I just send them well before the due date to avoid any issues.

 

[Judique]

Did you get your confirmation printed? I printed mine at work and... left it at home. Think I may risk going without it...

Too late now but I'm pretty sure the Dolphin has a business center and you can get it printed.

 

[kmc8826]

Just wanted to share my experience since I did get out of "popup jail" recently. I received a popup at least 6 months ago when applying for my 3rd Amex (had SPG Biz and Hilton biz). I had put quite a bit of spend on the SPG, but not much on the Hilton since meeting the MSR. After I got the popup, I made sure to never let a statement close with a zero balance (even just putting a few small vending machine purchases on it) every month. The SPG I seemed to get better Amex offers on, so it did get more spend on it, but still not a huge amount (a few hundred a month I'd estimate). I did pay the SPG biz AF when it came due (I think in Feb or Mar) this year, which I think helped me. I was approved for the Hilton Surpass a few months ago, and have since closed the Hilton biz. I did receive my Hilton SUB this month.

So, for anyone that might be trying to get out of jail but isn't willing to put a large amount of spend on the card each month, you might at least try to not allow the statement to close with a $0 balance, and if there are any cards that seem somewhat worth the AF, go ahead and keep it for a year. Oh, and also I always waited to pay the amount due after the statement closed, so that it didn't show a $0 statement balance.

For my ongoing spend, I'm trying to keep at least some spend on the cards, and have considered using the Hilton at grocery stores to buy VGC's to use with Serve, but haven't actually made the effort to do that so far. I might next month when I don't actually have any organic spend on it since working on my CIP MSR.

Anyways, hope this helps!

I have avoided the pop up too with not huge spend but something on every card every month and just like above never having a card have a 0 balance. Sometimes it is hardly any spend (especially ones that are more than a year old) but it is something.

I think this is a great analogy. I've (knock on wood) done a lot of the things on @SouthFayetteFan 's Do Not Do list and they still like me, so I suspect the RAT bouncer likes me for now. As a Delta hostage to keep status I have to spend a certain amount on their Delta branded cards so I think that keeps me near the front of the line, maybe?

I think what has saved me is that I have had the personal Delta Plat since 2009. That is a lot of annual fees that I have paid without fail. But I feel the same way the ongoing spend and length of being customer is saving me for now and it could obviously change and probably will once I start closing cards in next couple months.

 

[wendow]

They were really long for my mid-July trip too. Space was backed up to astro orbiter and I waited in SDMT wrapped around to the check in area for BOG more than once. The outdoor rides I think would close for storms and reopen and that cycle all day just caused backup. Not sure what the excuse for things like buzz and space were. Buzz was so long we just got out of line and went to TTA. Of course, it had a line too.

I hate reading about the bugs and rude people. First of all, as we have discussed, I am petrified of those palmetto bugs. I grew up around them and have a huge fear. I literally have anxiety about them in the days prior to my trips and am constantly looking for them. Ugh.
The rude people are out of control. It is a societal thing. Just read social media. I don't think it is going to get any better. At least it gives us things to point out to our kids....how NOT to act. Trips would be so much more pleasant if everyone would be considerate and kind though.

I love reading about the 3 resorts you reviewed. I have been considering them all for upcoming trips. Pop is priced so cheap sometimes, it is hard to pass it up and pay 3-4x as much at a deluxe, even though I love the deluxe ones. I think we will be staying there soon enough too. And I saw movies rooms are done like pop's now, so that is on my possibility list too.
I really love the grounds at riverside, but those internal bus stops...ugghh. It sleeps 5 though, so sometimes I will have to be chosen when all 4 kids come with me. We were in a royal room last time and I wasn't impressed with the bathroom and how dark it was.
I am excited to try swolphin. I am trying to time it for when WDW resorts are priced too high. And since the gravy train is possibly derailing, I am trying to be very methodical about when I use those points. I wish it would show up on the UR portal. That would be a game changer. Did you kids like the pool area? I have never seen it. My boys always want y/b for the pool.

So APs!?!?! When is the next trip??

We also saw the SDMT fp line back to BOG. Once it was fairly early and hadn’t rained yet but I also was thinking it was weather and then I’d see indoor attractions with the same so who knows. It was a mess though!

My boys did like the dolphin pool but the slide is dinky compared to b/y. They never complained though and seemed happy to swim.

Not sure on our next trip! A lot depends on my dh’s new job and if dd19 gets into the dcp

 

[gottalovepluto]

US Bank has a $300 online checking bonus. I’m highlighting it here because this can be a way to establish a relationship with US Bank that can open the door to an Altitude Reserve. Things to know
-there have been some issues making the link work, DoC has the fix
-US Bank’s geographical footprint is a bit unknown. People have opened accounts only to have them shut down by the branch in charge of their account because it’s determined they live too far away. Those shutdowns are within the first couple weeks of account opening I think. I got the call my home being 40 miles away from the closest branch but talked my way through it since I often travel to a place with a branch.
-If you have a credit card with them you might be able to get around the geographical footprint issue

 

[smmco]

This is me right now. My plan was the Aspire for my last personal card for the next YEAR because I want to stay at 4/24 to keep getting Chase cards every 3 months or so. I don’t want a Gold, my P2 will be PCing his plat to gold in October. I have since put more spend on my HHBiz but I was already spending 300-500 on it every month. It’s true that’s not as much as during my MSR period, but I’ve never had a $0 balance statement. I just wish we knew the algorithm because I don’t even know if trying to apply multiple times a month to see if the pop up is still there will hurt my future chances. And I don’t want to apply for an Amex biz card because I don’t know if that will make a difference with the pop up either.

Some people put a lot of spend on Amex cards and still get the pop-up. Are you getting pop-ups when you apply directly through your account? I was getting pop-ups through third party sites. When I applied through my account with my pre-qualified offers I was able to get the bonus. I've gotten 3 amex bonus's since June 1.

 

[RoyalJay]

I'm at 41 cards currently open right now and my wife is at 36.

77 total between the two of us. That's after closing 28 this year alone.


Nope. 2/90 for Credit Cards. No velocity for Charge Cards.

For super advanced churners: You can get the same charge card once every 90 days unless NLL, which bypasses the 90 day velocity. I've tried 60 days and it works but too scared to go quicker. And at roughly $30k/MSR I have to hit per month, I have about all I can chew currently.

When you say no velocity for charge cards, do you mean they truly don’t care how many you apply for or is it just a separate calculation from the credit cards? Could you theoretically get the Plat, Plat Biz, Gold and Gold Biz all in one month?

And are you MSing for $30k a month? How do you do that with AMEX and the no gift card rule?

 

[Judique]

Yeah so I took 2 years of Japanese in hs and a semester in college...

Older daughter took 2 years of Japanese - in 4th and 5th grade. For those 2 years she attended Francis Scott Key Elementary on Dana Place in Northwest DC, just off MacArthur Blvd. I'm being very specific about this location because this is a public DC school and this is a gem of a school, and worth considering if you were moving into the Palisades area. This school only goes to 5th grade.

First weekend in December is the xmas tree sale, in the event you want a live tree.

 

[needsomesun]

How long does it take for the Aspire resort credit to post? I was expecting soon after the charge posts, but 6 days later still nothing. I used it at the HGVC Craigendarroch in Scotland. Anyone use the resort credit in Europe or a HGVC?

The resort list actually says HGVC Craigendarroch Suites, but we were in the Lodges. It's the same check-in desk...hopefully it still works.

I just used mine a few weeks ago. It only took a few days, but it was at a US resort.

 

[kiminal]

Luv SW!
A high school classmate of mine is an eye surgeon at Johns Hopkins. I wonder if she’s your surgeon!

Dr Kraus?

 

[Judique]

Yeah idk what is going on. I think that seating area is going away?

Oh no! Not more seats being removed!

That's the thing I miss the most in the MK - being able to sit on a bench and smell the scents.
All the nice spots have slowly disappeared. I know some spots would be impossible to keep now, such as the seats that used to be in front of Main Street Bakery. But I still miss them.

 

[mamathompson]

@wendow Sounds like overall a great trip, even if it wasn't one of the best trips. I agree you should talk to someone about your experience at POR. Our last trip was much like yours. Crowds we expected to be a 5 or 6 were 9s and even 10. I really didn't enjoy that, but I tell my husband that we now know we can navigate those crowds when necessary.

Excitedly waiting to hear about SWGE today!

 

[Judique]

Which is the opposite I had at Pop. I stopped in before I headed to the bus to MK so I could opt out of housekeeping and aside from the fact the older lady thought my CoP ears were from UP because CoP is only for naps, she was great. Got me the buttons I wanted and was cheerfull the whole time. The other two times the people I had were pleasant but not like her but I was also only paying off my room balance and had waited in line both times so it was more of a let's get this done and move on without making it feel rushed.

Now the CM at Tower was another story. I got to the 2nd tap and you always just tap, we know how fp's work I don't need permission to tap. As I was taping he started to tell me not to and then I got a LOUD sigh of annoyance that had followed the annoyed don't tap. First off, if you're having a bad day not my problem, 2nd is my tapping really that huge of a deal and I"m sure it's not the first time it's happened that day. And he basically put me in line for the next elevator so it was all unnecessary. But when we got to the taps the next day I told Kate not to tap and explained what had happened the day before. So we waited to be told to tap. Ridiculous really. But he was the only bad apple, most were fine to a few that were really great.

Good that you were treated pleasantly except for the tapping. Sometimes you get control freaks. I got yelled at in Animal Kingdom a few years ago by a CM. I talked back at him and he then felt he had to justify what he had done.
My crime was putting the rope back up that my youngster had unbuckled while standing waiting - I'm sure at least some of you know how little kids will behave when having to wait - some (ok mine at the time) will swing the rope and try to play with all parts of it. I'd said no, leave that alone about 40 times but she unclicked it and I quickly reached and fixed it back. I was severely chastised for endangering the whole of Disney by touching the rope, lol.

 

[punkin]

What should I make sure I do before I apply for CIP2? DH will refer me from his brand new CIP. My last chase card was at the begining of May. Should I use the same "business" as CIP1?