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

[calypso726]

Drive by off topic post. Already loving this ABD!!! Bamboo forest on a rickshaw.

 

[calypso726]

My question is how do you guys have time to read books and keep up with this hobby!?! The last two years I read 50 books a year. This year....11.

My job leaves me no time for reading anymore. So I listen to books now. I do a fair amount of driving for work. I have a Platinum subscription to Audible but wind up renewing it more than once a year.

Not sure if you’re open to audio books but the narrator for Outlander is top notch (and I only reserve that phrase when I get stellar customer service from an airline via Twitter ). Davina Porter is awesome and does different voices (complete with Scottish and English accents) for all of the main characters.

Davina Porter is da bomb!!!

 

[Alice Sr.]

RT from Venice (we've never been) - I am thinking I will fly into Athens first, tour there and then fly on to Venice to start the cruise and then just fly home from Venice as well. Of course, that is all dependent on what flights I can get on miles. I'll reverse the plan if I have to and do Athens on the back end. It doesn't really matter to me.
View attachment 439915

This sounds fabulous, who is this through? My BFF and I were contemplating a river cruise but I have wanted to do Greece and Croatia for a long time. Greece has been pushed up the list a little since according to 23 and Me I have a small amount of Greek DNA. Kind of shocking but very interesting.

 

[tink1970]

I feel like I shouldn’t mention how many books I’ve read this year...

Although I’ve been reading the outlander series and that’s seriously slowed down my track for the year

I can’t even begin to count...my kindle is always with me and I freak out when I leave it in the laundry room or bathroom or on the elliptical...I’m sort of like the absent minded professor walking around reading all of the time

 

[smallsy]

Not sure if you’re open to audio books but the narrator for Outlander is top notch (and I only reserve that phrase when I get stellar customer service from an airline via Twitter ). Davina Porter is awesome and does different voices (complete with Scottish and English accents) for all of the main characters.

Yes! Love Davina Porter! That reminds me, I still haven’t finished books 7 and 8. I also do a lot of audiobooks, since work and mom life take up most of my reading time. I’m also the weirdo who prefers running and working out to podcasts and audiobooks instead of music.

 

[amcc]

Denied. Hmmmm instant denial at 2/24?! Whatever Barclays. App’d P2 and its pending.

Was it instant during the application process? I was denied almost immediately after on the status line, then I received an email (or a letter, can’t remember) asking for identity verification. Sent it in and approved. What a convoluted and annoying process!

 

[trenty]

My biggest struggle with not eating out is deciding what (and when) to cook. I’m terrible at meal planning.

I really need to cut back. I spend so much money eating out, mainly out of not planning ahead.

This was me. I just started using a meal planning app and it helps tremendously. I use emeals. It was free for two weeks, but I decided to pay and keep it. It is 4.99/month for 12 months or 9.99/month for 3 months. But you have to pay for the entire subscription at once. The recipes are good (some better than others) and it is saving me a lot on the "food" budget - much less take-out.

ETA: I also used to get the meal kit (Blue Apron, Hello Fresh, etc) once a week (two meals). I just cancelled all that. I pick my recipes for the week (usually 5 meals) from the emeals app and either order the ingredients I need online or go to the grocery store with the list. When I order online it feels like I am getting a meal kit - I just organized it myself.

 

[GlamMistress]

This sounds fabulous, who is this through? My BFF and I were contemplating a river cruise but I have wanted to do Greece and Croatia for a long time. Greece has been pushed up the list a little since according to 23 and Me I have a small amount of Greek DNA. Kind of shocking but very interesting.

NCL. Never used them. Working my way through all the lines lol.

 

[disfanforlife]

My question is how do you guys have time to read books and keep up with this hobby!?! The last two years I read 50 books a year. This year....11.

I read a lot, but I don’t keep track. I should probably start doing that....

 

[disfanforlife]

I am not really getting anything from them besides support clicks. And I will let them support each other, so I will only get 1 from them for any card. And I practically had to force DD(P3) again to sign up for the new card today. I feel bad pushing it on her, but she could use the money/points, so I think it is a win/win for her. I wish this was around when I was a poor starving college student!

I got both of my DDs to sign up for SW cards went they had the 60,000 offer. I helped them both meet the MSR. Neither wants any other cards.

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

Had those in February at the Nomad, thought they were really good! Everyone's different I guess.

That's where I had them first, last July

Apparently this hobby is impacting my reading habit too. I thought I was on a similar pace as last year, but according to my GoodReads entries I’m actually a few books behind. I’ll blame it on trip research! Rick Steves’ travel books take way longer to read when you’re cross referencing the Chase travel site.

All the various travel books have cut into my reading time this year as well!

I can’t even begin to count...my kindle is always with me and I freak out when I leave it in the laundry room or bathroom or on the elliptical...I’m sort of like the absent minded professor walking around reading all of the time

same

 

[Limes96]

.

 

[happ]

Denied. Hmmmm instant denial at 2/24?! Whatever Barclays. App’d P2 and its pending.

It might be worth a phone call. I was initially denied for both JetBlue Biz and Aviator Biz, but ended up getting approved. I had to call retention, answer some basic questions, and then send in identity verification.

 

[disfanforlife]

Not Sunday anymore but here is where we are with MSR.
P1 CIP $800 left
P2 Citi Aa biz just got card so $5000
P1 citi AA biz on its way 7-10 days.
Planning to hit MSR on both citi biz cards with college tuition in December, but will work on them slowly until then with organic spend. Or I might try for a new account at GSB and fund with card. I don’t have any of the other chase cards that get good quarterly bonuses, only discover card and occasional offer on my cash back Amex so I usually use my very old personal citi card that gets me 1 1/2 percent back unless I am trying to accumulate miles on my SW.

 

[miztressuz]

Barging in without reading any of the 200+ pages I've missed yet and interrupting whatever the best dressed pop-tart is wearing this season -
but I saw this at Target over the weekend and thought of the good CC folks here:


Still not ready to put together our recap post from the Alaska trip, so this is just a drive by for now to say Howdy and it's coming. Offhand I think we are close to 90% of the trip paid for from CC points and bank bonuses. I'm still awestruck by that so I want to nail down the last bits of the expenses and post it up for posterity Took some work and planning to do that but totally worth it!

 

[WVMomof3]

Barging in without reading any of the 200+ pages I've missed yet and interrupting whatever the best dressed pop-tart is wearing this season -
but I saw this at Target over the weekend and thought of the good CC folks here:
View attachment 440148

Still not ready to put together our recap post from the Alaska trip, so this is just a drive by for now to say Howdy and it's coming. Offhand I think we are close to 90% of the trip paid for from CC points and bank bonuses. I'm still awestruck by that so I want to nail down the last bits of the expenses and post it up for posterity Took some work and planning to do that but totally worth it!

I saw that the other day too. lol I have been wondering where you were, haven't seen you post in awhile! Hope your trip was great.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

A little good news for my Monday morning...approved for CIP that I applied for last night! I’d been going back and forth between that and the AA Barclay biz offer but just the thought of dealing with that card, it’s website, and possible business verification process was stressing me out. So CIP it was.

Congrats

 

[Haley R]

Yes! Love Davina Porter! That reminds me, I still haven’t finished books 7 and 8. I also do a lot of audiobooks, since work and mom life take up most of my reading time. I’m also the weirdo who prefers running and working out to podcasts and audiobooks instead of music.

DH likes to run to podcasts too!

 

[havaneselover]

DH likes to run to podcasts too!

I do as well. No music--always Podcasts. Usually something inspirational (I need it!).

 

[castormom4]

Its been crazy busy over here in mom of 4 kid land (why did I think working 16 hours of basketball tryouts would be a good idea?) BUT Spring Break has still been on my mind non stop. Looked at SW flights when they came out and the week of Mar 14th, there just isn't any great options for somewhere warm....Cancun, Aruba, Jamaica......so I'm pretty dead set on a Royal Caribbean Cruise. They had a kids sale free promo this weekend, those dates were blacked out and even the week before was more $$$. Soooo I'm coming to the conclusion this may be the answer.

So Royal Caribbean Symphony of the Seas 7 day 2 balcony connecting rooms is $7200. SW flights to accommodate that were going to be 220,000 pts (which I just about have and no companion pass till Feb). So my thought process is to upgrade my Freedom Unlimited to a Chase Sapphire Reserve, use the 210k points I have now toward the cruise so $3,150 off. Book flights now through Frontier for $1200. Then use points on a hotel in Miami before and after the cruise. Do some bank bonuses to cover the cost of gratuities and some excursions (Roatan and Cozumel). Is that a really stupid use of points? Does it help that we'll have 100+ SW points + companion pass after Feb/Mar and at that time DH will finally be under 5/24 and can go down the Chase Biz gauntlet?