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

[mmmears]

I've been thinking about this too. Many of the maximum value ones are so far to get to (Bora Bora, Maldives, etc). Check out the locations for Waldorf and Conrad hotels - see if any would work for you. Some of the rates I saw for the Waldorf Orlando aren't that high though, so that might not be a good one. The Waldorf Beverly Hills, if you have interest in going there, those rates are like $1000/nt.

Haven't been there so I can't say what it's like, but I have a friend who is going to the WA in Cabo since it's so much easier to get to and they have lots of Hilton points at the moment.

 

[wanderlust7]

Disneyland peeps, help me out here. Our next CC move is to get points for our Disneyland hotel. Originally I was thinking a Marriott since those seem to be most recommended and closest to the park. We’d each grab the Marriott Biz via Amex in order to have enough points and not mess up 5/24. It doesn’t look like Hilton has any good very close DL properties- is that correct? Also Hyatt same thing. I am also not sure how many nights we’d want.

Option 1:
P1 and P2 pick up Marriott Biz Amex. Probably use both SUBs fully to book 5 nights near DL.

Option 2:
P1 and P2 pick up a Chase Biz card and cash out to cover 3 nights on site at DL.

Option 3:
Better hotel chain offsite via Hyatt or Hilton?

If we do option 2 we can’t comfortably touch Chase until Feb/March so I’d probably pick up MR biz cards as our next move.

The high for the Bonvoy Biz is 100k. I think that's gone now. So I would be hesitant to get it until it goes back up.

You can get any offsite hotel with URs. The Best Western Plus Park Place Inn would be the closest (literally right at the crosswalk to get to DLR). But it is very motel-y, even more so than the Fairfield Inn.

 

[Haley R]

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/offi...t-cards-save-15-when-you-buy-300-11-17-11-23/

Since I did this wrong last time, what’s the best way to utilize this offer?

 

[orangecuse]

@wanderlust7 that plus the possible diminished value of the points by May 2021 are what make me hesitant! I’m leaning MR cards for now and UR in the spring.

Would you say 3 days or 4 or 5 at Disneyland with a almost 4 and almost 2 year old?

 

[Haley R]

Silver lining to not using up all my CL at Staples last week.

We’re still waiting for our $600 to show up in our bank account from serve. It’s been awhile

 

[platamama]

We’re still waiting for our $600 to show up in our bank account from serve. It’s been awhile

Oh wow. I think that when I used Serve for both DH's and my BoA checking accounts, the trial deposit showed up next day and the real deposit within 2 business days.

But DH's last transfer from Serve to his BoA took about a week. How long has it been for you?

 

[Alexle2007]

Silver lining to not using up all my CL at Staples last week.

I am going to have to pay DH and my CICs down quickly.

 

[wanderlust7]

@wanderlust7 that plus the possible diminished value of the points by May 2021 are what make me hesitant! I’m leaning MR cards for now and UR in the spring.

Would you say 3 days or 4 or 5 at Disneyland with a almost 4 and almost 2 year old?

First time? If you want a slower pace, I'd say 5. If you stay at the closer hotels, it would be pretty easy to go back for a nap in the afternoon. While collecting FPs if you have Maxpass.

 

[Alexle2007]

Since I did this wrong last time, what’s the best way to utilize this offer?

Purchase 2 $200 VGCs or variable loads for $200 (I don’t think they have the higher variable loads there.)

 

[Alexle2007]

We’re still waiting for our $600 to show up in our bank account from serve. It’s been awhile

It’s consistently taking 5-7 days for the funds to show up in my account. It’s painfully slow.

 

[platamama]

Since I did this wrong last time, what’s the best way to utilize this offer?

I've found the $200 grocery everywhere cards have a lower purchase fee, and work fine for serve at WM. Buy 2 of them.

 

[platamama]

I am going to have to pay DH and my CICs down quickly.

I try to not cycle my CL.

 

[1st*toright]

Long before I came here and figured out how to get enough to cover both hotels and flights, I booked quite a few stays through FHR. I love the perks, but I'd say the upgrades were very hit and miss. A few times it was fantastic, a couple times they claimed they upgraded up but if they did I couldn't tell the difference, and probably 60% of the time we got no upgrade at all. I hope that this trip of yours will be one of those fantastic upgrades, but it sounds like you're going stay in a nice room no matter what.

I kinda feel like FHR rates and Titanium status are a good combination - we've gotten nice suites the 2 times that we've used both together. Or maybe it has been total coincidence, and we've just hit good weekends when the hotels haven't been too full (hence good deals using FHR). I'll be happy with what we are in, anything else would totally be gravy.

 

[disfanforlife]

Are the citizens still there???? I loved watching them

I think for awhile Disney was cutting back on some of them and their hours ( at least I remember reading that). But they were there yesterday when we went, very entertaining!

 

[mmmears]

I kinda feel like FHR rates and Titanium status are a good combination - we've gotten nice suites the 2 times that we've used both together. Or maybe it has been total coincidence, and we've just hit good weekends when the hotels haven't been too full (hence good deals using FHR). I'll be happy with what we are in, anything else would totally be gravy.

I would think it would be a great combination. We had no status on all of those trips since we didn't have any hotel cards and didn't stick with any particular brand of hotel, so you should have better luck than we did (although, as I said, we also did really well a few times).

 

[tink1970]

Hi all! I have been reading and absorbing as much info as I can on this forum for a few weeks and have learned a lot! This has been so helpful! Also realized a couple of mistakes I made just before I found you all - live and learn! My head is spinning with all of this and I'm still unsure of how to move forward from what I've done so far. So, a little about me:

I've been fairly successful in the past using Amex BCP, maxing out the $6k/year grocery 6% cash back and getting a $450-$600 cash reward each year through Citi Costco & Exec membership rebate. This year I decided to try Chase United Mileage Explorer, got the $250 SUB and miles for one free ticket for our February Disney trip; didn't occur to me to have DW apply separately so missed that boat. She has been removed as AU on mine and I plan to have her apply for a card of her own later. We each also just got the Chase Disney Preferred with the $200 SUB (minus $49 AF), but don't have much use for those other than possibly financing the balance of our trip at 0% for 6 mo.

I have delved into the cash back rebate sites and Raise.com. Managed to score a $500 DGC for $470 during last weekend's sale with my extra $10 off.

At this point, I'm not sure how much more I can do to save $$ on our Feb trip; the Costco and Amex cash back will pay for some of it (we'll bank the Costco $$ and use the Amex on the trip for dining & earn the 3% then apply the past few month's accumulated rewards as a statement credit when we return). I'm thinking we'll use the available $150 credit on each Chase Disney for DGC for souvenirs, etc. Then I have to weigh financing the balance vs purchasing the DGC from BJs at the 6% BF deal and pulling the $$ from savings.... so much to think about :-O

We are not huge travelers, but would like to do some more, but also need to be more cautious with the budget now. In 2020, my first priority will be saving $$, then maybe banking some cash/points/miles for a 2021 trip (Disney Alaskan Cruise??).

Here's our stats:
Me:
02/19 Catherine's - Comenity Bank
08/19 Chase United MPE
10/19 Chase Disney Premier

P2:
08/19 AU on Chase United - removed 11/19
10/19 Chase Disney Premier

-MONTHLY SPEND:
Gas $60
Groc $900
Cell $80
Internet/landline $100
Dining/Ent $300
Pet food/supplies $250
Other $2300

-CC's are paid off every month
-DEN airport
-No preference, but have started with United
-SW does service DEN, but not our fav
-No Hotel rewards pref
-No travel points
-M + DW

Thanks for any input!!

From my calculations if you've relayed all credit cards obtained over the past 24 months, it appears you are 4/24 and your P2 is 2/24 which puts you in a great position since Chase has this rule and they have some of the most lucrative cards.

If you don't have a side hustle such as tutoring, selling on ebay, yard work, baking, etc and are not interested in business cards then I'll make the following suggestions, with 2 options either points/miles or cash back.

Points/miles (but can also receive cash back)

P2 applies for a Chase Sapphire Preferred (CSP) for a 60,000 Ultimate Rewards sign up bonus (SUB) after $4,000 spend in 3 months. Then P2 would send a support link to P1 for the same card as P2 is finishing up the Minimal Spend Requirement. If P1 is approved then P2 will earn 15,000 URs AND if y'all live in the same house, you can pool your Ultimate Rewards. This represents a potential of 143,000 (bonus+bonus+"support"+spend) Ultimate Rewards which could be used in the travel portal for a redemption rate of 1.25 cent/point OR straight cash back/statement credit of $1430.00 ***Please note, the CSP has an annual fee of $95 which IS NOT WAIVED.***

Pros-this is a good chunk of money as cash or miles that can be used in the travel portal (some of our members have used URs through the travel portal to book expeditions in Alaska) or transferred to a United Miles Plus account.

Cons-the $95 AF (per card) and knowing how URs will work best for you

Now, if you don't want to mess with points/miles and just want straight cash back, the above strategy could still be good, since you can receive either a statement credit OR cash back to your bank account. But, if you don't want to deal with all of that OR don't want a card with an annual fee then Chase has 2 no Annual Fee, cash back cards-Chase Freedom (CF) and Chase Freedom Unlimited (CFU).

The CF has rotating categories, per quarter, where you can earn 5% cash back up to $75/quarter. The current quarter categories are Chase Pay, Paypal and department stores, and prior quarters have included gas stations, drug stores and tolls (Q1), grocery and home improvement stores (Q2) and gas and streaming services (Q3). Maxing out equals $75 which is pretty good.

The Chase Freedom Unlimited (CFU) has a flat redemption of 1.5% on everything.

Both of these cards are offering $150 bonus on $500 spend in the first month as well as a "support" bonus so P1 could get the Freedom Unlimited and "support" P2 for this and receive a $100 bonus, or vice versa. The Chase Freedom referral bonus is currently $50.

Other non chase cards for cash back are the Citi Double Cash Back card which awards 1% on every purchase and another 1% when the statement is paid. No muss, no fuss BUT Citi has horrible IT and that can cause a headache. Also, I don't believe it has a sign up bonus so taking up a x/24 spot for a card that doesn't have a sign up bonus isn't the first thing I'd recommend.

Finally, the Discover It has rotating 5% cash back categories as well-current Q4 category is: Target, amazon.com, and walmart.com. In 2020, Q1 includes grocery stores, walgreens and CVS, Q2 is gas station, uber/lyft and wholesale clubs, Q3 is restaurants and paypal, Q4 is amazon.com, target.com and walmart.com. The Discover it card is awesome because they will match your first year's cash back at the end of the year, effectively resulting in a 10% cash back on the quarterly categories (up to $75/quarter).
There is also a "support" link so P2 could "support" P1 and earn more cash back. I feel like the Discover It doesn't receive a lot of love here but it's a great card, especially in the first year, for cash back, especially if you can max out the categories.

A personal note-I maxed out my Discover categories from Feb 2018-Feb 2019 and the money I earned (about $700 from 5% cash back plus other 1% purchases) I used to convert to foreign currency for my DD's high school graduation trip to Europe.

PROs- cash back, no AF for any of these cards

CONS-Discover and CF are rotating 5% categories and some quarters you might not be able to max out the categories, or forget to register your card, or it's just too much of a hassle.

I hope this has given you some options to consider. Please feel free to PM me if you have any other questions and if you want to join our dischurners reddit thread (where you can ask more questions and utilize a "support link" to help out a fellow dis-er please let @SouthFayetteFan know!

 

[disfanforlife]

Are the citizens still there???? I loved watching them

I think for awhile Disney was cutting back on some of them and their hours ( at least I remember reading that). But they were there yesterday when we went, very entertaining!

Are the citizens still there???? I loved watching them

 

[Haley R]

Oh wow. I think that when I used Serve for both DH's and my BoA checking accounts, the trial deposit showed up next day and the real deposit within 2 business days.

But DH's last transfer from Serve to his BoA took about a week. How long has it been for you?

I did it last Tuesday but serve is showing it going through on Friday. I’m not sure if it was just processing or what. I guess it should show up tomorrow or Tuesday

 

[Haley R]

Purchase 2 $200 VGCs or variable loads for $200 (I don’t think they have the higher variable loads there.)

Thank you!

It’s consistently taking 5-7 days for the funds to show up in my account. It’s painfully slow.

I’ll keep looking out for it

 

[Haley R]

I've found the $200 grocery everywhere cards have a lower purchase fee, and work fine for serve at WM. Buy 2 of them.

What are grocery everywhere cards