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

[Alexle2007]

Ok, it’s that time to look for new homeowner’s insurance. We’ve only ever had State Farm and Homesite through Geico. Any recommendations of insurers to try?

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Did he product change a CSP or Freedom to the CSR? Because the CSR didn't come out until August 2016. Just wanted to make sure you didn't get your dates wrong.

yes, now that you mention it, he did PC a CSP to a CSR after I joined this thread. Does that change the date?

 

[disneymagicgirl]

I wish the UR portal had never switched to Expedia.

Don't we all?!

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Ok, it’s that time to look for new homeowner’s insurance. We’ve only ever had State Farm and Homesite through Geico. Any recommendations of insurers to try?

Costco member? Ameriprise through Costco is who we have and the price knocked State Farm out of the park. They were great during a claim too.

 

[WVMomof3]

yes, now that you mention it, he did PC a CSP to a CSR after I joined this thread. Does that change the date?

I don't think so. It should be 48 months after bonus of either Sapphire product, I believe. I just wanted to make sure you didn't get the CSR in 2017 and accidentally have the wrong year on spreadsheet.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Friendly Reminder: CHECK your point balances regularly!

One of the sheets on my churning tracking spreadsheet is devoted to monitoring my point balances. Know how many points you have - the only way you'll know some go missing is if you know what the number should be.

There are numerous instances I can cite where this comes in handy:

• @Albort just today saying somebody drained his URs (now it's pretty easy to see if everything goes missing) BUT checking regularly means you'll catch this quickly!
• @elgerber (I believe it was her) had somebody fraudulently use AA miles I think. It took awhile to resolve but she was on top of it.
• @wendow had an issue with Southwest pulling the wrong amount of SW RR points when she made a flight change. At the time she was unsure of the exact correct amount and expressed that she wished she had an accurate spreadsheet at the time.

There's likely other instances that I'm totally forgetting. The key here is to have some mechanism to keep track!

I keep track of the number of points I have and the date I last updated that figure (so I can isolate when something changed). Additionally, I also track last activity and expiration in this sheet as well for programs that have expiration policies. I try to check this at a minimum once a month but it's not unheard of for me to check this weekly, because I'm kinda crazy with my points.

If you have 300,000 UR laying around that's $3,000+ in value. If you have 100,000+ SW RR points that's almost $1,500 in value. Just giving an example here to show that these points are worth something - verify the accuracy of your accounts and treat them like you would treat cash in your bank account. It's sad but points fraud is out there, make sure you are protecting yourself!

I have a spreadsheet on my iPad that I update weekly or biweekly. About had a heart attack yesterday when I was playing around looking for flights on AA app while waiting for DSs soccer game to start. My balance went from 265,000 miles to 63,000 miles. Then the app said I needed a newer version to continue. Couldn’t download the new version until I got home and then I could see my balance was intact. Phew!

I think it is the *best* transfer option to be honest. I've felt that way for years and years now, too. The ability to do a points and cash booking makes Hyatt points the best - can really stretch your currency (real and otherwise) this way.

I just look forward to getting past November so I can get myself some Chase and Hyatt points again.

I have only stayed at Hyatt on points a few times, but was treated very well. In Vancouver, we were upgraded to a lovely room and sent a fruit and chocolates basket. I kept wondering if they thought I was someone else. Lol. They did contact us beforehand by email to see if we had any special requests.

Ok, it’s that time to look for new homeowner’s insurance. We’ve only ever had State Farm and Homesite through Geico. Any recommendations of insurers to try?

MetLife. After our previous house flooded twice, we moved and were denied insurance by at least 6 companies. MetLife insured us, plus gave us a better rate (still) than we had on our previous house pre-flood. We also now have an additional discount through my employer.
We also had good service from Mercury until they dumped us. I also always have auto and home through the same company as there is aalways additional discount for that.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

IMPORTANT DISchurners ANNOUNCEMENT

The State of the DISchurners Community
On behalf of the 6 moderators of r/DISchurners, I’d like to address our little community here on a handful of topics. DISchurners is approaching its 2nd anniversary and I never could have envisioned it growing into 300+ members. Coupled with the growth on our thread here on the DISboards, we have truly become a large community of friends and churners, brought together by our shared love of credit card rewards points. In addition to our most vocal members, it’s also clear that we have hundreds of others looking to US for information about churning, and that is so awesome! BUT with this growth comes additional exposure and potential risks and the mod group of DISchurners feels that it’s time we address this.

Just to clear, what we aren’t doing is suggesting to take our entire community off of the DISboards. The DIS is how we found each other and it’s how we continue to find new folks to help on this quest. We DO NOT want to squash the enthusiasm here for helping new folks find their way in this hobby. However, our thread can easily be found via google with churning related search terms and we are perhaps too nonchalant in our open discussion of advanced strategies and loopholes.

Advanced Strategies & Loophole Discussion:
I love the enthusiasm around some of the more lucrative strategies and loopholes. However, certain loopholes are starting to be mentioned very frequently and as we’ve discussed before, the more widespread they become, the greater the risk for them to get shutdown. I think it’s time for us to self-police as a community and move these discussions a bit more towards DISchurners. It is the responsible thing to do – we aren’t looking to “hide” the information. We just want to protect it as best we can.

You are certainly encouraged to say things on the DIS thread like “Hey guys, I just posted a neat DP on the Chase Ink Preferred thread on DISchurners”. But coming right out and citing that you got card #5 is perhaps something we want to avoid. As a community, we should WANT people to see important information and be well informed of the advanced strategies that exist. BUT we temper that desire with also wanting those strategies to exist 3 months from now, hence why we’re suggesting this approach. We will be setting up threads on DISchurners for a few of the major discussion items that we expect.

Manufactured Spend Discussion:
Similar to my comment on loopholes, manufactured spend (MS) has slowly crept more into our everyday discussion here. Many folks are new to MS and are eager to learn as much about it as possible. Those that have more experience in this arena will be quick to tell you that locations can get burned and strategies destroyed by folks who are irresponsibly conducting their MS activities. There are also a lot of risks around MS and I’m not sure our entire user base grasps the fact that you can’t get stuck with more than you can float. I would also suggest that we self-police in this arena and gently nudge folks to take more specific MS discussions to DISchurners.

What Card Advice and Strategy Discussion:
Handing out advice and helping with strategy is the activity that the community is built upon! Helping people find their way is great and the fact that people are willing to give back to the community is wonderful. Recently, we’ve noticed a more casual approach to dishing out this advice. This is a reminder that for somebody stumbling on to our thread, it’s important that we balance the advice with proper cautions.

By moving discussions of loopholes and MS off the DIS thread, that will certainly help, as newbies won’t be drawn immediately to advanced strategies that could place them in trouble or cause harm to the long-term viability of these strategies. Additionally, I feel that we should try to balance our advice with cautions about spending beyond your means, incurring interest, and just provide a general care around advocating for business cards. It can be hard to remember what it was like as a new churner, but think for a minute about how “crazy” business cards sounded the first time somebody told you to go for one.

If we adjust our approach a little, people who were just “driving by” will still be able to get a card or 2 and be happy. For those that WANT to dive deeper, all the resources necessary will be provided to them on DISchurners. Let’s encourage new folks to display a willingness to research and learn BEFORE we “spoon feed” the best information we have out in the open. And don’t hesitate to recommend joining DISchurners to all new folks. Our DISchurners group is open to ANYBODY who finds us via the DISboards. We have never denied entrance to anybody.

I heard Reddit is scary and people are mean there:
DISchurners will continue to function as a safe place for all to visit. As a private group, we will maintain complete control over who has access and the only way in will remain to find us on our thread here. While some of the advice there may become more advanced, the community will keep the respectful and welcoming tone found on the DIS vs the aggressiveness of r/churning (for example we won't tolerate disrespect of new folks or asking questions, etc.)

Why Is this being said now?
It’s important to note that this comment is NOT directed at anybody in particular. This is a proactive action before something happens, NOT a reaction to something that has happened. It is the culmination of seeing a group more than quadruple in size over the course of a couple of years. We have assembled a great group of 6 moderators for DISchurners and the consensus was that we need to address things. Our group will likely continue to grow, and it was important for us to set a tone of how we want operate now vs. when we have 1,000+ people frequenting the thread daily.

We also acknowledge that we have no authority whatsoever on the DIS. Anybody can say or do whatever they please so we’re asking the community as a whole to exercise caution and responsibility and help to protect the valuable information that we have. I would suggest that the best way for us to conduct this would be to simply reply to anybody who is sharing “sensitive info” and say something like “Do you think that this information would be better shared on DISchurners”. I’d also probably edit the quote on that reply to exclude any information that you feel needs protected. Hopefully then that user will comply and edit their comment accordingly as well.

In closing, please help us protect the valuable information that this community has to offer. Pay it forward to future churners by being responsible with your approach! The DIS has been and will remain a great home for our general chatter. We welcome any feedback from the community to this suggested shift in approach.

FYI: I will likely post this again as an announcement on a couple of occasions throughout the next week.

 

[ten6mom]

I heard Reddit is scary and people are mean there:
DISchurners will continue to function as a safe place for all to visit. As a private group, we will maintain complete control over who has access and the only way in will remain to find us on our thread here. While some of the advice there may become more advanced, the community will keep the respectful and welcoming tone found on the DIS vs the aggressiveness of r/churning (for example we won't tolerate disrespect of new folks or asking questions, etc.)

 

[ten6mom]

But but but

Reddit doesn't have all the cute smilies!

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

But but but

Reddit doesn't have all the cute smilies!

If we're able to execute this change properly, 95% of the existing discussion will remain here - where all the smilies are

 

[afan]

If we're able to execute this change properly, 95% of the existing discussion will remain here - where all the smilies are

@ten6mom just avoiding This has been a long ongoing discussion since the first thread, not just with the mods but here in both threads. Google doesn't care how much OT we have or how many pages we go through in a day

 

[ten6mom]

I do love the DISboards smilies. It makes me sad that I can't use them on FB...

Anyone have any insider news (or even a prediction) on what the 4Q CF bonus categories will be? I know we should be finding out in about a week but I am trying to PLAN!!!

Although I hope it's not "travel" because I gotta meet the MSR on another CIP still!

 

[Albort]

Anyone have any insider news (or even a prediction) on what the 4Q CF bonus categories will be? I know we should be finding out in about a week but I am trying to PLAN!!!

something silly probably... like walmart...

 

[ten6mom]

The easiest way to END your Amex relationship is to get a card and only hit the MSR. You need to ask yourself if you are planning to spend regularly on this card. If the answer is no...then you probably want to avoid it. When we speak about Amex Pop-ups, that pop-up is a result of somebody not putting regular spend on their Amex card (and we aren't talking $20 a month here either unfortunately). Usually we advise people to look at Blue Cash Everyday, Blue Cash Preferred or Blue Business Plus (or perhaps the Gold Card) as starter cards with Amex because they have good everyday uses and points that have a solid value.

The other consideration is that this card WILL use a 5/24 slot. Amex also offers a Hilton Biz card that has a 130k bonus PLUS free weekend night but with a larger $5k MSR. That would not use one of your slots. Only you can decide if that lower bonus/lower MSR personal card is worth a 5/24 slot. For what it's worth, I would not use one of my 5/24 slots for just 100k Hilton points.

Lots to consider here and it's not an easy answer. I know this comment largely sounds negative, but I'm not saying you should NOT do this, I'm just pointing out some of the things to consider before you do it.

I agree with @SouthFayetteFan largely, but did want to point out the potential benefit of the free weekend night for you. Those offers are only around until 8/28 and depending on how you’re able to arrange your stay at Hilton Tokyo Bay, it could be beneficial for you. I made the decision to burn a 5/24 slot to get DH the Hilton Surpass recently because it has a 130k offer and a free weekend night after 4K. This was worth it for us because we plan to use the weekend night at the Conrad Osaka (rooms run between $500-$700 a night) and the 130k points will go towards our stay at Hilton Tokyo Bay. I also felt comfortable using a 5/24 slot because I’ve gotten DH 3 CIPs, a CSP, and a CIC over the last 18 months. I think it’s probably wise for us to cool it with Chase for a few as a result.

I just realized I never thanked either of you for sharing these thoughts with me a few weeks ago.

Thank you all for being patient with me as I continue to mull this over.

I am reasonably certain I don't want to deal with AMEX but I am still mulling it over, so I have some more AMEX questions and some specifics about the Hilton Honors program that I am hoping someone can answer. Right now I am still looking ONLY at accumulating enough points to stay for free at the Hilton Tokyo Bay; no other Hilton plans.

I know I can book that hotel through Chase UR also but I am trying to see what the best use of my MSRs (and subsequent spending) will be.

1. I know that once you get an AMEX you have to keep spending on it (more than $20 a month for example) or risk the RAT. I see I cannot pay my mortgage with them thru Plastiq (that is a total bummer, BTW), but I can pay my HOA fee. That's about $104 a month. Anyone think that is or is not sufficient? Maybe throw in a fast food meal here or there? I can't divert too much of my spending to it while I am still meeting MSRs elsewhere... just don't have the income to do so.
2. Specific to the HHonors program: Of course there are different tiers/levels, and I see the various cards give you different status depending on which you get. How much, if anything, is Diamond Status (that comes with the HHonors Aspire) worth for just this one trip? I see there is an annual free weekend night reward, which would be nice to have in Japan, and a $250 resort credit. But if I am paying for the hotel stay on points... will I have any need of a resort credit? I do know that we got food from the little bakery and convenience stores on site several times during our last stay, but we always paid cash. I don't even know if those charges could have been billed to the room. If they can be billed to the room, would that be a handy way to make use of that resort credit? Even so, the AF of the card is $450 so even if I could use the resort credit that way I'd still be paying $200 for that particular card.
3. Redemptions of MRs for hotel stays... I can click on the box that says "use points," but then it shows me the rates in dollars (or yen) only. Maybe it's because I don't HAVE any points right now? I would like to be able to say "oh, I expect to need xxxxx number of MRs to get my stay at the Hilton Tokyo Bay for free."

I think that's all the questions I have... for now. I'm sorry to be indecisive about this.

We haven't applied my husband for a CIP (the timing won't be right for another month or so) yet but he is not optimistic about his chances (he actually does have a bankruptcy from before I met him... not really sure how those work) so worst case scenario I am working in 1P mode. I have to assume that bonuses from support links (see, @SouthFayetteFan , I can be taught... eventually!) are not going to be an option for me.

 

[wendow]

Isn't there an app to pull your Landry's card up on? I just bought mine but wonder if it will get here before we leave on 9/21. I thought I remembered someone saying they showed it on their phone.

I’m way behind so maybe you’ve already gotten your answer but yes, there is an app and I used that to show my card when we were there in August. We hadn’t gotten ours in the mail before we left.

 

[Alexle2007]

Costco member? Ameriprise through Costco is who we have and the price knocked State Farm out of the park. They were great during a claim too.

Thanks. I’ll look into them.

 

[Alexle2007]

MetLife. After our previous house flooded twice, we moved and were denied insurance by at least 6 companies. MetLife insured us, plus gave us a better rate (still) than we had on our previous house pre-flood. We also now have an additional discount through my employer.
We also had good service from Mercury until they dumped us. I also always have auto and home through the same company as there is aalways additional discount for that.

Thanks. I’ll look into them.

 

[orangecuse]

@Alexle2007 I would also look at local brokerage options. We have a local insurance adgent who is not tied to any company and she just shops the best rates for us. The policy is paid out by a large company (progressive for example) but the smaller local people do the investigations and such. This was huge when our house was hit by hail and people were waiting weeks to get insurance to come out and we got reviewed right away because our tiny company could send someone and wasn’t backlogged. Their adjuster approved all of the damages too so it was over 30k in damages covered.

 

[orangecuse]

Want to just confirm before I do something to mess up the bigger picture here:

CIP - 8/17
Bext Chase Biz- planned 11/17

In between (like today) can I do a Citi AA buis? Dont want the hard pull to mess up that next chase app. We actually will use the AA miles to hopefully be paying for MIL to visit so I do need them soonish.

 

[speedyfishy]

Ok, I give, I have to give them a try. Kind of embarrassed to admit but I currently use jumbo ziplocks. Is there a set or size that I should start out with? I'm on the road every other week, it's a grind. I welcome anything that can bring amazing into my life. Thanks

I have the packing cubes by Away. I only got that specific set because it matchs my luggage. I wouldn’t pay for the Away branded set though.