I love credit cards so much! v6.0 - 2023 (see first page for add'l details)

[Crazed4DisneyinSC]

Not yet, but we have 5 days at the Zilara end of Jan next year - fortunately booked before the rates increased last March.

Also interested in any suggestions for things to do in the area.

Please do a trip report after. That's one of the ones we're looking at!

 

[AndreaDM]

Has anyone been to any of the Hyatt all inclusives in punta cana on points? Which, and would you recommend? Thinking of using our last 3 PTO days for 2024 on a short Wed-Sun DR trip.

For bonus points, what are some must-see places/things to do in DR, preferably close to Punta Cana side.

Not Punta Cana, but we stayed at the Hyatt Zilara in Cancun and LOVED it, wouldn't hesitate to go back.

 

[Crazed4DisneyinSC]

Not Punta Cana, but we stayed at the Hyatt Zilara in Cancun and LOVED it, wouldn't hesitate to go back.

Ohh, this may be a great idea, actually! Now that my dad has retired to Mexico (3 hours west of Cancun), us daughters (2) have talked about going to visit in the future. Cancun is likely the airport we have to fly into anyways, so we might be able to do half vacation/half visit with my dad. I'll have to look into it to see if it could fit us all, but this sounds like a really great option. Thanks for mentioning!

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

I read that OMAAT article because the traveling with "parents" confused me since his parents are divorced. I thought exactly the same thing about that dated Lufthansa first class.

We are flying first for the first time on Qatar's leased Cathay Pacific 777, I guess called Qathay, lol. It's for a short 4-5 hour flight. We talked about downgrading to even economy if it would get us to our destination sooner. F was the same price as J, so it made sense. I'll lyk my take after the flight, but I've found biz class to be more than I need.

You are going to love Qatar first class. When I flew from Male to Doha there were only 2 other passengers in first class. Service was amazing and the food was good. They have a special limo bus that meets you at the plane to take you to the terminal (for first class passengers only) and you have access to the Al Safwa lounge in Doha (it is very nice, but was a bit busy when I was there -- around 11pm!).

What hotel in the Maldives are you staying at (sorry if I missed your post)?

That OMAAT article made me wonder if Ben is on the take from Lufthansa. I would certainly not gush about that cabin. I find that Lufthansa keeps their cabins too warm and without air nozzles at the seats it's not comfortable for me, so I won't fly in them again until the updated planes come in 2024. The food is okay, the first class lounges are nice enough. But I'd rather fly in a biz class seat with air nozzles for each seat.

 

[Judique]

Not sure when this happened but the Chase Disney Visa cards have an increased sign up bonus for a limited time.

Until 12/04/23 -
Premier Visa ($49 AF) $400 statement credit after 1k in 3 months. Increased from the usual $300.

Visa ($0) $250 statement credit after $500 in 3 months. Increased from the current $150.

Offers are available at Chase directly or support links. The Disney Rewards and shopDisney sites are showing other offers. (Side note, don't let anyone sign up for a card through shopDisney. That always seems to be the worst offer.)

Just FYI if you know people who have been interested.

I'm ready to have my DD apply! Thanks for posting!

Just tried to check T&C's. Is there a 'you can get the bonus if you haven't had the card in the last 24 months requirement' on this card? I didn't see it but a second opinion always helps.

 

[hsmamato2]

Do I have to call Hilton to use my FNC? I'd prefer booking on the site

 

[hsmamato2]

Gulp.... so I booked some nights for my dates in Feb at Hilton Palace.... 60k/nite. I just checked the website to see if I could possibly adjust, it now starts at 120k/nite!!! WTH happened? How could the prices change so fast

 

[wanderlust7]

Do I have to call Hilton to use my FNC? I'd prefer booking on the site

Unfortunately, you can't book it yourself. You can chat to book though if you don't want to call.

Gulp.... so I booked some nights for my dates in Feb at Hilton Palace.... 60k/nite. I just checked the website to see if I could possibly adjust, it now starts at 120k/nite!!! WTH happened? How could the prices change so fast

Sounds like standard awards are gone and only premium is left.

 

[magickingdomprincess]

I cancelled a Chase biz card to hopefully help improve my chances of being approved for a new CIU. How long should I wait to apply so that the cancelled card will be taken into account? Thanks!

 

[miztressuz]

I'm ready to have my DD apply! Thanks for posting!

Just tried to check T&C's. Is there a 'you can get the bonus if you haven't had the card in the last 24 months requirement' on this card? I didn't see it but a second opinion always helps.

Yes, both have the language. But it's not a card family language so the Premier and regular Visa bonus schedule is separate.

They actually moved it out in front on the application page. But if you "Learn more" the "Offer Details" link on that page has the bonus T&C.

 

[happ]

Gulp.... so I booked some nights for my dates in Feb at Hilton Palace.... 60k/nite. I just checked the website to see if I could possibly adjust, it now starts at 120k/nite!!! WTH happened? How could the prices change so fast

Something similar happened with the hotel I wanted in CA. It was 80k for weeks and when my FNC posted it had jumped to 181k with no standard awards. However, I am happy to report that setting up alerts worked. OpenHotelAlert, MaxMyPoint, and StayWithPoints let me know this week that the price went back down, and I was able to book my free night. Hopefully you will have similar luck.

 

[Limes96]

Has anyone loaded serve at Walmart using staples vgc lately? I hadn’t had any trouble recently until this morning. It looked like the cashier ran the transaction correctly but the transaction automatically reversed itself and didn’t go through properly. I looked it up online when I got home and it shows the $200 being charged then reversed immediately. So the balance is still on my card fortunately but not sure what happened. I checked Reddit and FT and don’t see anything similar at the moment.

 

[miztressuz]

Didn't realize this was new until now, thought I was just behind the times (again!)

Chase Freedom Flex and Unlimited have updated the bonus to include 5% back on Gas and Groceries for 12 months, capped at 60,000 UR in addition to the standard 20k UR after spending $500 in 3 months for support links.

Looking at the public offer on the Chase site, I'm not seeing the extra 5% yet.

These are not usually popular cards to use 5/24 spots on but I recall some folks taking increased interest for the extra category offers. Again FYI if you know anyone interested in the cards anyway.

 

[Best Aunt]

Things that I learned from this thread:
I should read Doctor of Credit every day.

Things that I learned from Doctor of Credit yesterday:
If you have hotel points (particularly points that will expire before you can use them for a hotel stay), United is doing a bonus if you convert the hotel points to United miles.

Things that I learned elsewhere on the Dis:
If you try do do something online, such as going to a hotel website to convert points to miles, and it doesn't work: try a different web browser.

 

[leeniewdw]

Has anyone rec'd this message when trying to "pay bills" with Paypal? I wanted to use DH's FF to pay property taxes (5% bonus this qtr) but I'm getting this message. I was able to pay my Duke Energy bill fine, so the CC setup is correct. I tried a smaller amount first for our County Property Tax since it's the first attempt but then I wondered if they only processed full amounts due so I tried that and got same message. I'm wondering if the Rev Dept decided not to accept PP, I can find people on reddit that successfully did this for my county, but it's 10 months ago.

 

[DogCat]

I am stressed because I'm up against the deadline to meet MSR on my Hilton Biz. I see the tracker for spending towards the FNC after $15K ( cannot tie to that number for some reason but I am close). And, I don't know the exact date of my deadline. Is there any reason I should not do an online chat to inquire what is the last day to meet the MSR?

 

[newski_mom]

There has been some talk the last couple of days about tracking everything and covering annual fees with offers, etc.

I track everything in mint.com and feel that I do a pretty decent job, but was just curious how everyone tracks things like the offers from chase, amex, etc.

I go back and forth if it should be a discount on my credit card fees or if it should be a discount on what I'm buying. So for example, with the instacart offer - do you track it as a discount on your annual fee or as a discount on your groceries.

OR, if the card that the offer is on does not have an annual fee, does that change how you track it?

Thanks!

 

[leeniewdw]

There has been some talk the last couple of days about tracking everything and covering annual fees with offers, etc.

I track everything in mint.com and feel that I do a pretty decent job, but was just curious how everyone tracks things like the offers from chase, amex, etc.

I go back and forth if it should be a discount on my credit card fees or if it should be a discount on what I'm buying. So for example, with the instacart offer - do you track it as a discount on your annual fee or as a discount on your groceries.

OR, if the card that the offer is on does not have an annual fee, does that change how you track it?

Thanks!

I'm curious too. Admittedly I don't really track much. For my hotel cards I know the AF covers 1 night (that's more than the fee) so anything else is gravy and I don't bother. For my Venture X, I know I get $300 back in travel credit and anything else is gravy (used the Global Entry/TSA in my first year) since I get 2x pts on every purchase. I'm most picky about Amex Plat -- their trackers make it easy on the some things (digital credit, Uber credit, airline credit) and I typically use one of their bigger offers each year (this year got $125 back from a Dell purchase). That mostly leaves the Chase cards, we've both got CSP and I probably come close to on their offers I add to the card.

I do probably need to take a full audit and an ongoing spreadsheet would make very easy, so curious about how people do it.

 

[newski_mom]

I'm curious too. Admittedly I don't really track much. For my hotel cards I know the AF covers 1 night (that's more than the fee) so anything else is gravy and I don't bother. For my Venture X, I know I get $300 back in travel credit and anything else is gravy (used the Global Entry/TSA in my first year) since I get 2x pts on every purchase. I'm most picky about Amex Plat -- their trackers make it easy on the some things (digital credit, Uber credit, airline credit) and I typically use one of their bigger offers each year (this year got $125 back from a Dell purchase). That mostly leaves the Chase cards, we've both got CSP and I probably come close to on their offers I add to the card.

I do probably need to take a full audit and an ongoing spreadsheet would make very easy, so curious about how people do it.

Thanks! Admittedly I track for more than just CC tracking too - DH and I are probably about 3 years from retirement and tracking what we spend makes me feel much better about retiring earlier. When you know how much you spend, it's easy to be able to see if your retirement income will support your lifestyle or not!

I tend to get caught up with things like this though!

 

[IFlossU]

I cancelled a Chase biz card to hopefully help improve my chances of being approved for a new CIU. How long should I wait to apply so that the cancelled card will be taken into account? Thanks!

You can apply immediately, but if it makes you feel more comfortable then you can wait a few days, or longer.

Has anyone loaded serve at Walmart using staples vgc lately? I hadn’t had any trouble recently until this morning. It looked like the cashier ran the transaction correctly but the transaction automatically reversed itself and didn’t go through properly. I looked it up online when I got home and it shows the $200 being charged then reversed immediately. So the balance is still on my card fortunately but not sure what happened. I checked Reddit and FT and don’t see anything similar at the moment.

I’m assuming you were loading at an actual check out lane, and not customer service. If that’s the case, I haven’t seen anything about it not working anymore. I would give it a couple of days and try again. May have been a system issue. Worse case scenario, that store isn’t accepting those cards anymore, or it’s restricted to the $99 swipe.

I am stressed because I'm up against the deadline to meet MSR on my Hilton Biz. I see the tracker for spending towards the FNC after $15K ( cannot tie to that number for some reason but I am close). And, I don't know the exact date of my deadline. Is there any reason I should not do an online chat to inquire what is the last day to meet the MSR?

As long as you’re ok with eyes on your account I don’t see any harm in asking.