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

[jujubiee4]

Update on my flight change that required me to fly in a day early and find a hotel. I have points with IHG, Hilton and Bonvoy. IHG wanted 60k points which was too high for a bed to crash for a few hours in New York. Hilton wanted 80k points for a $300 something per night room. I know they are generally low value but when I know I can get a $1300 a night over water bungalow in the Maldives for just 95k points there was no way i was pulling the trigger. Imagine my surprise when I found a Residence Inn for 35k points post category changes in NYC! I snagged that and when I get my next FN very, I will see if I can switch for the very and get the points back.

Which Bonvoy do you have?

 

[Lain]

Is the free breakfast only available on the Hilton business card?

Free breakfast is a benefit of Hilton Honors Gold or Diamond Elite status.

Amex Platinum and Business Platinum cards come with complimentary Gold status.
The Amex Hilton Business card comes with complimentary Gold status.
The Amex Hilton Ascend card comes with complimentary Gold status.
The Amex Hilton Aspire card comes with complimentary Diamond status.

 

[striker1064]

About to hop on an Amtrak Acela to NYC, staying at the Kimpton Ink48 courtesy of the IHG unrestricted free night. Always wanted to stay here, looking forward to it! I'm just glad IHG added Kimpton to the rewards program before nerfing the free night.

 

[punkin]

The last I read, the new Bonvoy designs will be going out to new applicants later this month. Current cardholders will get replacement cards with the updated designs later (I read as late as May?) It's the same card. All the pertinent info is in the chip or the magstripe. And you'll get whatever bonus you applied for, provided you meet the terms.

Personally, I plan to use my purple cards until they expire in 2022-24.

Thanks for the reassurance. DH has a ton of business travel coming up (all at Marriott and all reimbursable). It's a painless way to meet spend.

 

[Lain]

Which Bonvoy do you have?

Pretty sure @calypso726 has all of them.

Relatedly, the Bonvoy Amex (the legacy Amex SPG that's no longer available to new applications), the Bonvoy Business Amex (formerly the SPG Biz), and Chase's Bonvoy Boundless (formerly the Marriott Premier Plus) and legacy Marriott Business card (also no longer available to new applications) all come with a free night certificate upon your cardmember anniversary that's redeemable at Marriott properties up to 35k/night. Amex's Bonvoy Brilliant (formerly the SPG Luxury) and Chase's Ritz-Carlton cards come with a 50k/night free night anniversary certificate.

 

[MrPTato]

Escape Lounges are free to Amex Platinum cardholders +2 guests ages 2 and up. I believe the Lounges admit children who are under 2 in your party for free. Otherwise, entry is $40/person if you make an advance reservation, or $45/person at the door.

I'm really excited for you guys up Providence-way. I've heard and read great reviews of the Escape Lounge in OAK.

You can always come visit when it opens....you will luck out though...the pot holes are wonderful this time of year!

 

[tink1970]

Personally, I plan to use my purple cards until they expire in 2022-24.

Me, too! That's probably when I'll finally cancel them, when they expire and I must use the ugly gray and orange

 

[amalone1013]

Me, too! That's probably when I'll finally cancel them, when they expire and I must use the ugly gray and orange

It made me glad AMEX was the only card I changed my name on in a decent amount of time so I have new SPG cards with my married name

 

[WVMomof3]

The last I read, the new Bonvoy designs will be going out to new applicants later this month. Current cardholders will get replacement cards with the updated designs later (I read as late as May?) It's the same card. All the pertinent info is in the chip or the magstripe. And you'll get whatever bonus you applied for, provided you meet the terms.

Personally, I plan to use my purple cards until they expire in 2022-24.

I contacted Chase when the new designs came out to make sure I would NOT be getting a new card soon. They told me I would not get one until my current card expired. DD is currently using this card while she is away and I was worried they would issue a new one and make hers not work. So not sure if it is true, but that is what i was told. I can't even find the SM message they sent me, I must have deleted it.

 

[DisneyMandC]

The last I read, the new Bonvoy designs will be going out to new applicants later this month. Current cardholders will get replacement cards with the updated designs later (I read as late as May?) It's the same card. All the pertinent info is in the chip or the magstripe. And you'll get whatever bonus you applied for, provided you meet the terms.

I got an email that said I'll be sent the new card in June.

 

[amalone1013]

New Sam's AMEX offers:
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/amex...embership-stack-with-10-acorns-and-much-more/

ETA: For a membership, I got excited

 

[Haley R]

Sometimes I like to just grab a muffin or granola bar or something to tide me over, that way when we get to the park we can do a few things then stop for breakfast. Especially if there's a few minutes' walk or something, I eat it while we walk. I'm not familiar with Tokyo so I don't know what kind of 'travel' to the park that Hilton has.

The Hilton is on the monorail loop. We plan to get some bakery stuff in the park but I think we might get fruit at the hotel before we leave

 

[Albort]

I contacted Chase when the new designs came out to make sure I would NOT be getting a new card soon. They told me I would not get one until my current card expired. DD is currently using this card while she is away and I was worried they would issue a new one and make hers not work. So not sure if it is true, but that is what i was told. I can't even find the SM message they sent me, I must have deleted it.

if they issue a new card, it requires u to activate it on their website before the old one stop working and the new one works...
i did something similar with the Amex SPG Lux card, i continued to use my old Spg Personal card until the very last day when my email was demanding me to switch to the new one lol.

 

[Haley R]

Is the free breakfast only available on the Hilton business card?

You just need to be at least gold status

 

[GZanta77]

I got an email that said I'll be sent the new card in June.

Yep - received same email. I am hoping the purple card will continue to work thereafter.

 

[amalone1013]

Ok guys... do I buy between $1500 and $2000 in MCGCs on a $5k AMEX MSR, at the grocery store or somewhere with no level 3 data, spread out over the MSR period? DH got another commission today and is expecting pretty good ones every month for several months here, which mostly means big chunks towards a car loan. I could even do $300 and $400 GCs instead of $500 to help stay under the radar and pay a tad more in fees. I hate missing using it for MSRs...

 

[Disneyonmymind]

I think you're doing it right, you want to get far enough into the booking so that the offer shows up on the payment page. That's after you put in name and address. It says $100 statement credit and 75000 points for me (for the Hilton no fee card). Click on the Learn More button and a pop up will open, at the top there you can switch to the "Business" tab to see the business card offer for $100 and 125,000 points.

That worked! YAY!! I just got instant approval for the Hilton Biz 125K points plus $100 statement credit. Thanks to everyone for the help!

 

[Albort]

Ok guys... do I buy between $1500 and $2000 in MCGCs on a $5k AMEX MSR, at the grocery store or somewhere with no level 3 data, spread out over the MSR period? DH got another commission today and is expecting pretty good ones every month for several months here, which mostly means big chunks towards a car loan. I could even do $300 and $400 GCs instead of $500 to help stay under the radar and pay a tad more in fees. I hate missing using it for MSRs...

yes, u want to spread out your spendings over the 3 month period... after that, u want to continue spending similar amounts for the next few months... this should prevent you from not getting the amex popup of death.

 

[Alexle2007]

Free breakfast is a benefit of Hilton Honors Gold or Diamond Elite status.

Amex Platinum and Business Platinum cards come with complimentary Gold status.
The Amex Hilton Business card comes with complimentary Gold status.
The Amex Hilton Ascend card comes with complimentary Gold status.
The Amex Hilton Aspire card comes with complimentary Diamond status.

Do I need to do anything special to get the status added from the Plat?

 

[vanjust14]

yes, u want to spread out your spendings over the 3 month period... after that, u want to continue spending similar amounts for the next few months... this should prevent you from not getting the amex popup of death.