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

[punkin]

DH and I have no MSRs. It's so sad. I need to wait until after January 15th to apply for a SW card with chase. I was going to get DH a Citi AA card, but given what's going on with that, I don't think I can justify the risk. I guess, we'll just have to maximize spend categories for a while.

 

[tink1970]

Ok sorry I'm replying to myself here.... I didn't 'qualify' for the Biz blue...(got the popup,not surprised) so I just got the Blue basic.... any Amex experts out there,can you confirm that my MR will be 'saved' automatically now if I close the other biz green card? or do I need to do something?

Amex combines all of your MRs from every MR earning account so yes once the Blue card is confirmed and you see your MRs on that log in, you should be good to cancel your biz green. I would make sure I saw it on the blue log in first, though.

Oof, I just realized our February trip to Orlando falls over Disney half marathon weekend. Is there a noticeable uptick in crowds for that? We were planning on doing HS on either that Thursday or Friday, the 20-21. Half marathon starts the 20th.

Crowds tend to be higher during the RunDisney weekends-that's why RunDisney started-to boost attendance during low periods. Of course now there aren't any low periods. That said, if this is the Princess Half in Feb, the most popular runs are on Sat and Sun and often people don't arrive until Friday so you shouldn't be too affected going Thursday.

 

[Judique]

So here is my first goal. We are planning a trip for next fall to Lancaster/DC for 2 weeks. My 1st goal is to start the process to earn points or cash for airfair for the 6 of us, then for 3 or 4 night to stay in DC. We are staying with family and friends in Lancaster and York for most of the time and are working on borrowing a friends minivan but have not ruled out that a rental might be part of the trip as well as some train/public transportation. I am looking at these two cards, the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card and the Capital One Venture Rewards Card. As we are just getting started, I know how we join is just as important as which ones. So can anyone walk me through which is a better jumping off point, Chase or Capital One? I will just be putting our normal spend on the card of gas and groceries but have to tackle the living international part of the equation that is a bit more sketching at this point for me. I will be paying the card off each month from my US bank account. Thanks!

Forgive me if I'm wrong but I think you mentioned that you have no cards in your name right now? And you are living out of country? That might make it a little difficult to get either a Chase or a Capital One. They will run a credit report and your credit history will be a big factor in determining your approval. By any chance do you maintain a home in the US? As in a mortgage which would contribute to credit history?

Since we are not privy to your other past credit history, it's difficult to assess your situation. You may have to find a starter card and build up to the more lucrative cards. Hopefully I'm wrong as I haven't gone back to read your prior post over again.

In any case I hope you are successful, but I would hate to see you suffer through multiple credit pulls and not get your first choice. There are certainly ways and cards to build some good history, but that is another topic.

 

[kidsfirsttrip]

I am leaving in one week on our trip to Aruba. Airfare all on AA reward points for our family and brothers. I think I have a pretty low risk of being locked or shutdown but it is still nerve wracking. I check my account every day and do the receipt trick too. So far everything is fine. Crossing fingers it stays that way.

Good luck!!! That is def nerve wracking I hope it goes smoothly. Love Aruba!! We head there in February!!!!

 

[DisneyMandC]

Busy morning on the phone with Hilton today but I got everything straight for our Japan stays now! I earned my second free weekend night the other day and called this morning to have that applied to our second night at the Hilton Osaka, which meant a refund of 70k points. I didn't go online to check on hotel availability beforehand, just called and rebooked it with the weekend night. Of course, after I hung up and went online to check my reservation, I realized that there was now standard room availability at the Conrad Osaka!! Previously there had only been premium room availability, which I couldn't use my weekend night certs for. So, of course, now I had to call back to rebook there with my certs for a better value (95k points per night)! After getting one very rude Hilton rep and hanging up on here, I called back and got someone super nice who moved my reservations and certs to the Conrad Osaka for two nights! That's a 190k point value!

While I was on the Hilton website, I also noticed that the Hilton Tokyo Bay had dropped the points amount for the nights I was there by 4k points each night. I rebooked that and canceled my current reservation and saved 12k points!

So now my reservations are:

June 13-15: Conrad Osaka for 95k/night, both nights booked on weekend night certificates.
June 15-18: Hilton Tokyo Bay for 65k/night, down from 69k/night, in a King Park View room.

Best part is that DH still has 222k Hilton points!

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Oof, I just realized our February trip to Orlando falls over Disney half marathon weekend. Is there a noticeable uptick in crowds for that? We were planning on doing HS on either that Thursday or Friday, the 20-21. Half marathon starts the 20th.

What are your trip dates? You’re also coming off President’s day the weekend prior so you’re in a tough spot there. There might be lingering crowds who extend that weekend into a full week trip. Not trying to be negative, just realistic.

So, just curious, what card does everyone keep on file for their Disney vacation? We still have a Disney Visa, but I’m thinking of paying off our trip with our Chase Ink Preferred, since it will yield more rewards and we are trying to meet our MSR on it. Just didn’t know if there was any reasons I am not thinking of that warrant leaving the Disney Visa on file versus a Chase Reserve or CIP?

Count me in the gift card payoff camp as well. I couldn’t even tell you what card I have tied to my hotel

 

[MommyinHonduras]

You’ll be in my neck of the woods as I am 30 min from York and 1 hr from Lancaster Just on the MD side.

Do you have any type of business? EBay sales, Facebook sales, bake cookies, tutoring, etc. If so, the CIP (Chase Ink Preferred) is a great starter since it comes with largest bonus at 80k ($800 you could cash out or use their travel portal for a better redemption.)

If not, the CSR (Chase Sapphire Reserve) is a great personal card. It has a high AF but you get $300 travel credit and global entry (if that’s of any use to you). It has a 50k bonus that you get 1.5x when using the travel portal instead of 1.25 with the CIP or CSP.

There is also the ability to join Dischurners where’s lots of good info and the ability to support other Dis’ers.

Have a great time in PA and DC!

Nice, it is a beautiful part of the country and I look forward to my kids first time getting to see it.

We do have a business and are eligible for business cards that way but looking in fine print a lot of the perks do not apply to when you use it for personal travel and not directly for business so going to stick with personal cards at first. Perks like primary car insurance that both the CIP and the CSR both have are very valuable to us, as we do not have US car insurance that we can lean on when renting cars.

I just signed up for reddit to join you all over there too. One of the perks and downsides of living abroad is being out of the loop of keeping up with all the new things that come up to join and do. I have been abroad since March 2011.

 

[wendow]

I have heard good things about that too. Will look into that too. Read it was more for younger kids though. Did you think that?

There is a pool that has a pirate ship and kid's water play area and then there is another pool in a different area that is more for adults. We only spent about 2 hours one day at the pool and we spent all the rest of our time in the parks. We don't tend to hang out at the hotel much so we didn't explore everywhere there but I'm not sure how the HoJo could be more for younger kids. Most of the hotels around DLR are very basic sort of hotels. It was newly renovated in 2018 when we were there and we found the room really nice.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Crowds tend to be higher during the RunDisney weekends-that's why RunDisney started-to boost attendance during low periods. Of course now there aren't any low periods. That said, if this is the Princess Half in Feb, the most popular runs are on Sat and Sun and often people don't arrive until Friday so you shouldn't be too affected going Thursday.

Thanks!

What are your trip dates? You’re also coming off President’s day the weekend prior so you’re in a tough spot there. There might be lingering crowds who extend that weekend into a full week trip. Not trying to be negative, just realistic.

Arriving the 18th, flying out the 23rd. I'm only doing HS and could go the 19th, 20th, or 21st. Ideally the 20th or 21st. I need to catch up on the news of RotR and figure out what I need to do to ride that now too lol.

 

[wendow]

DH and I have no MSRs. It's so sad. I need to wait until after January 15th to apply for a SW card with chase. I was going to get DH a Citi AA card, but given what's going on with that, I don't think I can justify the risk. I guess, we'll just have to maximize spend categories for a while.

We're in the same boat. No MSR for the last 3 weeks or so. We're remodeling our master bath and we've spent about $4k in the last couple weeks with another $4k coming up here soon. It's killing me not to have a MSR to meet but we need to wait on Chase for now, staying away from Citi AA and I keep trying to talk myself into applying for an Amex but then I talk myself out of it. I'm trying to maximize spend categories too and buy discounted GC's for the purchases I need to make.

 

[MommyinHonduras]

Forgive me if I'm wrong but I think you mentioned that you have no cards in your name right now? And you are living out of country? That might make it a little difficult to get either a Chase or a Capital One. They will run a credit report and your credit history will be a big factor in determining your approval. By any chance do you maintain a home in the US? As in a mortgage which would contribute to credit history?

Since we are not privy to your other past credit history, it's difficult to assess your situation. You may have to find a starter card and build up to the more lucrative cards. Hopefully I'm wrong as I haven't gone back to read your prior post over again.

In any case I hope you are successful, but I would hate to see you suffer through multiple credit pulls and not get your first choice. There are certainly ways and cards to build some good history, but that is another topic.

That is correct, Our credit history is pretty sparce. We have a LOC with our US bank and that is the only thing showing other that old school loans that are paid off. My Credit score is about 740 but no debt and no we do not own anything stateside, no house so no mortgage. We maintain our mailing address to a friend's house but we have never lived there. Times were tough for us and we have a stain for a credit card that was left not paid during a really hard time during the 2008 time frame. But by the time things were going ok, that debt had been sold and passed on so many times we could not even figure out who owned it and who to pay. Several places still claimed it at the same time so just gave up. Not sure what the right decision should have been but here it is 2020 in a few days and trying to gage how to proceed. Thanks for asking. It is definitly part of the learning process that is hard to do online, the part of about being not in the US.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Leaving this here. Hope someone can make a trip to Hawaii happen!

https://www.sfgate.com/travel/article/Hawaii-deals-cheap-fares-winter-spring-break-14932554.php
https://frequentmiler.boardingarea....-amex-offer-basic-economy-hawaiian-or-alaska/

I was able to take advantage a few weeks ago when the deals were announced for last minute $258 RT trip in early Feb to Maui with my mom, sister and possibly brother. That is my cheapest RT in about 5 years. Hawaiian had $258 RTs fairly frequently in the winter when my mom first bought her place in 2014ish. It's such an awesome deal. I'm flying SWA this time. The $258 rates were available on Hawaiian and Alaska when I was looking, but those were basic fares. I'll have luggage so the two free bags with SWA matters.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Arriving the 18th, flying out the 23rd. I'm only doing HS and could go the 19th, 20th, or 21st. Ideally the 20th or 21st. I need to catch up on the news of RotR and figure out what I need to do to ride that now too lol.

• VQ (Virtual Queue) and BGs (Boarding Groups) should still be in effect then.
• The big unknown will be what time the park opens. Currently it shows 9am BUT I'd say a change to 8am or 7am is most likely.
• You're going to want to be at the park 30-45 minutes before it opens (so if 8am then you want to get to the gate by 7:15 most likely). Then IMMEDIATELY at Park Opening you will be refreshing your app to snag a BG. The quicker you are the better BG you'll get.
• BGs might be gone within 15-30 minutes of park opening - at that point they move to "backup BGs" which have a lesser chance of actually getting on the ride.
• If you're also trying to ride MFSR at rope drop you may want to show up 75 minutes before park opening and be near the front of the pack heading that way.

There's more nuanced information out there than this but I wouldn't worry about any of it until a couple weeks from your trip. Everything I'm telling you now could change tomorrow.

As far as what day to go to the park...I don't think it really matters. I guess I'd say Thursday since it is not Fri/Sat and it's further away from Pres Day...

 

[punkin]

We're in the same boat. No MSR for the last 3 weeks or so. We're remodeling our master bath and we've spent about $4k in the last couple weeks with another $4k coming up here soon. It's killing me not to have a MSR to meet but we need to wait on Chase for now, staying away from Citi AA and I keep trying to talk myself into applying for an Amex but then I talk myself out of it. I'm trying to maximize spend categories too and buy discounted GC's for the purchases I need to make.

Horrible! I'm actually also about to call contractors for a master bath remodel. I must have msr before I spend all that money. I would seriously consider trying for an amex platinum If I could only figure out what to do with the airline credits.

 

[DisneyMandC]

• VQ (Virtual Queue) and BGs (Boarding Groups) should still be in effect then.
• The big unknown will be what time the park opens. Currently it shows 9am BUT I'd say a change to 8am or 7am is most likely.
• You're going to want to be at the park 30-45 minutes before it opens (so if 8am then you want to get to the gate by 7:15 most likely). Then IMMEDIATELY at Park Opening you will be refreshing your app to snag a BG. The quicker you are the better BG you'll get.
• BGs might be gone within 15-30 minutes of park opening - at that point they move to "backup BGs" which have a lesser chance of actually getting on the ride.
• If you're also trying to ride MFSR at rope drop you may want to show up 75 minutes before park opening and be near the front of the pack heading that way.

There's more nuanced information out there than this but I wouldn't worry about any of it until a couple weeks from your trip. Everything I'm telling you now could change tomorrow.

As far as what day to go to the park...I don't think it really matters. I guess I'd say Thursday since it is not Fri/Sat and it's further away from Pres Day...

Thanks! Really appreciate it! We will definitely plan to be at the park well before open. Not super worried about MFSR since we’ve already ridden it twice before, and we’re also fine with doing single rider for it anyways. All I really want to do is build a droid and ride RotR. Which reminds me that I guess I better look at droid reservations if they’re still doing that.

 

[Alexle2007]

Hmmm...is it typical for someone from Brighton England to call you about a Sam’s Club order? I did order DGCs that I need for dinner tonight but I didn’t answer because I had no idea who it was and I am not calling Englan.

 

[wendow]

Horrible! I'm actually also about to call contractors for a master bath remodel. I must have msr before I spend all that money. I would seriously consider trying for an amex platinum If I could only figure out what to do with the airline credits.

We are doing all the work ourselves except we are going to hire someone for the drywall repair once we are at that stage, my dh took everything down to the studs and removed walls so there will be extensive drywall work needed. And we decided to put in a jetted tub so we might hire a plumber for that. Otherwise, thankfully, my dh is handy. But the materials are so expensive. I considered a biz plat or a schwab plat but couldn't pull the trigger. The airline credits are hard to use now and the AF just kills me to think about paying.

 

[Haley R]

We’re heading to our gender reveal. The actual reveal is at 3!

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Nice, it is a beautiful part of the country and I look forward to my kids first time getting to see it.

We do have a business and are eligible for business cards that way but looking in fine print a lot of the perks do not apply to when you use it for personal travel and not directly for business so going to stick with personal cards at first. Perks like primary car insurance that both the CIP and the CSR both have are very valuable to us, as we do not have US car insurance that we can lean on when renting cars.

I just signed up for reddit to join you all over there too. One of the perks and downsides of living abroad is being out of the loop of keeping up with all the new things that come up to join and do. I have been abroad since March 2011.

Airfare for 6 will likely need more points than you can earn from 1 card. Is your DH on board? Maybe CSR or CSP for one of you, CIP for the other. Then the person with CIP can refer the other to a CIP. Not sure if your credit history is sufficient for these cards though.

ETA. I now see your post re:credit history. If your DH (P2) is on board, I would consider having one of you apply for CSP although it seems somewhat likely you’ll be denied. If denied, have the other person then apply for Chase Freedom (CF)or Freedom unlimited (CFU) as those are more “starter” cards. If those are denied, you’ll likely have to start with Discover or similar.

 

[Alexle2007]

We’re heading to our gender reveal. The actual reveal is at 3!

Have fun! I am guessing a boy if it mostly like a ball in the front or a girl if more spread out. If that makes any sense