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

[Tikitoi]

MSR Sunday

P1: Hilton Biz $4,400
Schwab Plat $2,637
CIP $1000

P2: Hilton Biz $1,928
Schwab Plat $5,000

Amex MSRs are so hard, but the offers were so good I couldn't pass them up. At least our home and auto insurance will come due in Dec and that will help with one of those MSRs.

Both of us are at 4/24 right now but will fall to 3/24 in Nov. One of us will get the SW CP for 21-22 but I haven't decided which of us yet, so I don't have big plans going forward except maybe P2 going for a Hyatt card.

Also working on Hilton biz. Will probably book our next stay with it to help with the MSR. And also wanting to stay at 3/24 for now.

 

[magickingdomprincess]

Between the kiddos, work, and trip planning/ keeping up with this thread I don't have much time for reading. But on vacation I really look forward to reading! In fact I read two books on our 5 day vacation last week! My favorite author is Harlan Coben. Running out of books by him though!

 

[mmmears]

Ah, my shiny new CIP showed up today, 2 days too late to put all that car maintenance spend on it. Oh well, it's not like there aren't more bills on the way.

 

[PolyRob]

@PolyRob -(or anyone else who did BoA checking bonus) Did you close the account yet? I opened mine in June and got the bonus 8/22. I want to close it and was wondering if anyone had any DPs on closing right after getting the bonus. Also can you close online or do you have to call? Thanks!

I have not closed mine yet! The money is just sitting there taunting me. I haven't done it yet because I am going to do something painful and just go in person and close and get my check all in one shot. I know you can transfer and then call to close, but I don't want to pay the transfer fee initiating from BoA and pulling larger sums into Chase from Chase locked my Chase account months ago so I figured I would just deal and go in person to get my account closed and money moved all in the same day.

 

[amalone1013]

I have not closed mine yet! The money is just sitting there taunting me. I haven't done it yet because I am going to do something painful and just go in person and close and get my check all in one shot. I know you can transfer and then SM to close, but I don't want to pay the transfer fee initiating from BoA and pulling larger sums into Chase from Chase locked my Chase account months ago so I figured I would just deal and go in person to get my account closed and money moved all in the same day.

I didn't think you could SM, I thought you had to call... which is why ours are both open still...

 

[amcc]

That’s awesome that’s what I’m hoping for! I’ll try to remember to report back after my trip in November.

Off topic, but does anyone have recommendations for WDW restaurants that have a bar where you can eat? I’ve done a few but would love to hear others’ thoughts.

We really liked the bar/restaurant in the middle of the lake at Coronado Springs. It was one of the best and best value meals we’ve eaten onsite and the drinks were great. I love the location of Geyser Point? Grill? But the food is seriously lacking. The bar inside Wilderness Lodge Territory Lounge was really nice with good small plates. Love the outdoor patio at Trader Sams if we are eating and the food is pretty good.

 

[orangecuse]

Asked in our what card thread on reddit if anyone has time to help! Trying to follow the rules hahaha

 

[afan]

@CyndiLouWho I didn't quote because I figured someone would have answered about books read in a year. Goodreads does a challenge each year, not that anyone gets anything out of it. But it tracks # of books and total pages.

I do it the first time to see how many books I normally read since I'd never kept track. Now I do it as a reminder to log my books, knowing I have the goal to meet keeps me from forgetting or putting it off.

My library system always does a 10 to read challenge and I actually did it this year because the topics, except for poetry, are things I read anyway and it got me to read books I wouldn't have. I'm on book 8 and then only have the poetry book and a children's book to go. Going to go with a chapter book for the kids book. Not sure on poetry, I'm more of a shell silverstein gal than any of that other stuff.

 

[NewbieMom]

Barclays seems to have a 6/24 rule but sometimes people magically get around that (never if they currently hold 2 cards). They also don’t like it if you have one card but haven’t been putting spend on it. At the end of the day Barclays doesn’t like churners so imho apply for any Barclays Card with the mindset it could be your last.

Huh, I seem to be the anomaly here then. 7/24 when I app'ed (and approved) for the JetBlue Biz while holding Arrival+ and Aviator Biz. All 3 are sock-drawered after MSR. Plan to start canceling at 1 year anniv.

 

[NewbieMom]

First I think you will get a one-time discount from the Post Office when you do the address change.

Then you could look for grocery deals on Happy Guy gift card (the ones that have Home Depot as an option). Giant Foods around the middle eastern states had 10x fuel rewards recently on Happy Guy GCs.

Congratulation on the NEW HOME!!!

Thanks for the tip! I was planning on changing my address anyway, but didn't realize that they give a discount. Is this in-person only or also valid online?

 

[StephPlum]

Stopped at Staples after work. Same one that let me get $1000 in VGC yesterday. Today had a sign up 1 per customer and they were enforcing it. Bummer - picked up just one card.

 

[Hoosier John]

Any tips for favorite rewards business card currently? Business currently has two cards that I've held for years - one is a BofA Cash-back MC, standard 1% cashback card, the other is an AmEx Platinum Delta Reserve that gives back Delta miles. I'm not flying nearly as much anymore and they're jacking up the annual fee on that. I've got enough Delta miles to fly the whole family anywhere we want for the next several years probably, andw e're not loyal to any one hotel chain but I could be for the right price so I'm thinking a general good cash-back card is the best way to go for some cost-savings.

Looking at Chase Ink or Capital One Spark but I see Discover mentioned a lot here too, any others I may have missed? We have a high spend monthly (over $50k) but nearly all of our dollars are spent at retail vendors that don't qualify for any of the special categories like grocery, dining, office supply, or gas stations so those seem like the ones that cover the most general categories.

Discover Business might be your best bet at 1.5% cash back, DOUBLED for the 1st year. Unfortunately the card does show up on your personal credit report according to various websites I've checked. But 50K/mo x 12 mo x .03 = $18,000. I interpreted your post as 50K/mo not 50K/year. If I misinterpreted that then obviously the numbers are different.

I read that as over $50k spend per month, too, and immediately thought the simplest thing to do is a card with maximum base reward. Which other than the Discover (and maybe others with an initial bonus period) is Citi Double Cash (1% + 1% a month later) or Pentagon Federal Power Cash (2%, if eligible). That's $1k per month in cash. Then if you wanted to dabble in some of the other churning here, you still have plenty of spend for what we consider typical churning cards.

 

[DisneyMandC]

The next message had Dis inappropriate words

So... he was talking about the Hilton Surpass?

For those of you that call in for your spouse, have you ever not faked your voice and just sound confident when you say your name and verify the info they ask for to see if that works? I call in for my husband all the time and I use my regular voice, and they just call me Ms. <last name>. They have never questioned if I am actually him or not. In this day an age with female/male names being used on both genders and so many gender politics going on now I think the sound of a voice is not a big blip on the radar anymore. I talk to people every day on the phone all day and there are times I may think it is one gender and I am dead wrong. Just some food for thought. I may also have just been getting lucky with my phone calls.

I think Amex is the only one who has ever point blank asked if I was DH (we both have clearly gender-specific names). I said no and they asked to speak to him to verify and then DH just put me back on the phone. A Chase rep sounded super suspicious one time when I called to have DH’s CIP expedited. She asked me a bunch of different identity questions but I kept answering them all right and finally she was just like “well, okay...”

 

[Hoosier John]

Thanks for the tip! I was planning on changing my address anyway, but didn't realize that they give a discount. Is this in-person only or also valid online?

I can confirm the address change discount. Dh and I each changed our addresses when we moved so we got two discounts for Home Depot and two for Lowe’s.

I'm not exactly sure, as my wife handled most of that. I'm guessing that even if you do it online, they will mail it to one of the addresses (since it's kinda their business), but maybe Haley can help out to be sure?

 

[jhoannam]

I went to OD to get VGC, they didn’t have a single $200 but had stacks of the $100, there wasn’t even a spot for the $200. Thankfully they had a few variable loads so I grabbed 2 - $200. I’m going to try to hit up the other OD to see if they have $200 cards. Easy way to make $1.10!

 

[PolyRob]

I didn't think you could SM, I thought you had to call... which is why ours are both open still...

You're absolutely correct. IDK what I was thinking... I was/am still intimated by the moving of the money so I will make a trip to the branch. Editing my original comment...

 

[Haley R]

I'm not exactly sure, as my wife handled most of that. I'm guessing that even if you do it online, they will mail it to one of the addresses (since it's kinda their business), but maybe Haley can help out to be sure?

@NewbieMom I believe Dh filled it all out online and they mailed the discounts to our new house that we moved into.

 

[WVMomof3]

Longest post ever -
My day today - Drop DD21 off at school because DS needs their car to go take his driving test finally. Pick DS up, go to DMV and they tell me I need Birth Certificate and SS card. We were just there last week (Don't ask why we were there last week and this week, lol) and I brought all of that stuff and no one looked at it so I didn't think I needed it. I am like are you sure you need that, we were just here last week and no one looked at it. Yep, you need it every time. Are you absolutely positive, goes to ask someone else, yep, you need to come back with those papers. Drive all the way home, get papers, come all the way back and check in again and this person does NOT ask to see Birth cert and SS card. I am like here, don't you need to see these? Nope, we don't need those since he has is permit with him. (Imagine that is not a computer but maybe a person. ) OMG, I was not a happy camper, but tried not to go DMV crazy on them. The second guy was very nice and apologetic that the other people sent me home. So wait forever, DS takes his driving test and passes. Meanwhile I get a text from strange number. This is DD, I can't find my phone can you locate it with Find my Friends. The phone shows last place she was but wouldn't update to say now. Everyone else on my list was current, hers said it was the location an hour ago. I try calling her phone, I try texting her phone. Location stayed the same for about 30 minutes, but never updated to current status. And then it went to location unavailable. She was really hoping she left in her adviser's office, but I think I would still be able to "see" it if it was there. It seems weird that it is ringing, not going straight to voicemail, but location is not working. She tried Find my Iphone and for some reason, that is only showing her macbook and not her phone. She is sure that was set up before, but she did have to get a new Sim card after Africa and she says she has not used the find my iphone since then, so not sure if that somehow messed it up. But this relates to the DMV because her DL is in the phone pocket! Along with her CIP. She did put a hold on the CC. As I was checking out with DS I asked about getting a replacement for DD's license if it is truly lost. I see all these signs for Don't stand in line, renew online. Can she just get a replacement online? Nope, the guy that sent me home says looks like I will be seeing you again tomorrow. NOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Go pick up DD (how did people find each other before phones?) and decide that she should retrace her steps and take my phone. While she has my phone, something that says Apple Computer calls my phone. She said it was a foreign sounding person and they say something about fraud activity on my account. She hangs up thinking it is a scam number, which I would too, but seems weird that they call as we are looking for her phone. She retraced her steps - no phone, went to lost and found - no phone. There are 2 main campuses and usually she is on one or the other, of course today she was on both. Calls other lost and found - no phone. Calls campus police - no phone, they connect her with city police - no phone. Stop at ATT store, they are confused about why we can't see on Find friends or Find my Iphone and the phone still rings. They advise waiting to report it lost until she double checks adviser's office that was closed when she went back. Go home and look at the Apple number that called me. It looks legit. I think maybe our phones are linked somehow and they called me about her phone. Which doesn't seem right, but super weird about the timing if not. So I go to Apple support on my computer and you put in your phone number and they say they will call you right back. Less than a minute later, the same number that called earlier calls back. But this lady swears that apple would never just call someone like that without us requesting the call first. SOOOO weird! Anyway, she tried to help us with the find my Iphone thing too. But she could not figure out why we couldn't see anything either. So the longest story ever is we have no idea where phone is. It is a 4 year old 6S, I can't imagine if someone stole it they would get anything for it. DD is super sad to lose it because it is Rose Gold and they don't make them anymore. I will be super sad if I have to go back to the dang dmv with her! And also super sad to pay for a new phone.
I
To make is somewhat CC related, I think I will hit a good size chunk of my MSR when I call to add DS to insurance. And I had my phone bill set to CIC for the last year, but switched it to CIP to be paid auto paid tomorrow! I don't think I would have tried to get the insurance to pay anyway, but also super weird timing.

 

[mmmears]

I didn't think you could SM, I thought you had to call... which is why ours are both open still...

Anyone else see this and think Ross & Chandler screaming, "I wanna quit the bank!!!?"

 

[WVMomof3]

And DH out of town again and for the 3rd time in 3 weeks work CC is declined. Yay!!!!!! lol I think they are going to have to get that fixed soon, but I am enjoying it while it lasts.