I love credit cards so much! v4.0 - 2021 (see first page for add'l details)

[Judique]

This came in an email for my Amex Gold. I was perfectly happy using it as a charge card, but feel like I should take their "limited time offer" so I don't get charged for the option later (if I should decide to use it). Thoughts?
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Are you planning on charging something before May 31 that you want to pay for over a few months?

I would take the time to read your cardmember agreement.

They've been offering this option and I've been ignoring it so I really don't know what the real cost is, but nothing's ever free.

 

[Hoosier John]

Are you planning on charging something before May 31 that you want to pay for over a few months?

I would take the time to read your cardmember agreement.

They've been offering this option and I've been ignoring it so I really don't know what the real cost is, but nothing's ever free.

Nope, no plans to charge anything that I want to pay over time, and certainly not in the near future.

I've been putting it off to, because Lain (I think it was) touted being offered some MRs to subscribe to this service (even though he never used it ... I think that's how it went)

 

[Albort]

This came in an email for my Amex Gold. I was perfectly happy using it as a charge card, but feel like I should take their "limited time offer" so I don't get charged for the option later (if I should decide to use it). Thoughts?
View attachment 566659

i got a POT offer for 20k MR on my gold in the amex offer section.
not sure if thats the same thing though.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Sadly, I'm back from Maui as of last night. But there was positive news waiting for me ... I was approved for the 100k Amex Platinum card that I posted about a few days ago! Yay! I'm so glad I sat on it and didn't call. I'm super excited as I've had the card before and didn't get the pop up. I'm going to wait until I get the card and then do a chat just to make sure it's all good. Those 10x points will be nice, too.

I will also have to find a creative way to use the Airline credits. Southwest is really wearing on me. It's not one particular thing, but I'm just not feeling the "luv" anymore. They will still be the airline of choice for short routes, but the 4.5 to 5 hours in those seats to Hawaii was tough. Inevitably the shortest woman on the plane had to lean her seat back on 6'5 DH. His knees were crushed the whole time. This habit has definitely made us seat snobs--we were definitely missing the Hawaiian airlines first class seats we had last time

 

[Hoosier John]

i got a POT offer for 20k MR on my gold in the amex offer section.
not sure if thats the same thing though.

Maybe it was you I'm remembering? I checked Offers, just in case ... no luck

 

[MrPTato]

Since a few of you were interested in my "slow churn/no churn" approach, I thought I would outline a little more about my CC rewards journey.

Prior to 2016 I had more than a few CC, but primarily had the Amex Everyday (my oldest card- 1980's) and Disney Chase (acquired in 2009). I used neither regularly. In 2016 I decided to explore the CC "rewards for travel game." Here is how I evolved to the five/six cards I use now:

-Had Amex Everyday
-Had Chase Disney (usually in sock drawer these days unless planning a trip or have a promo)
-3/2016 - CSP - this is the only AF card I currently hold; pay the AF with Discover IT cash back
-7/2016 - CF - recently PC'd to CFF
-1/2018 - Discover IT
-8/2018 P2 gets Chase United - since PC'd to the no fee version and now in sock drawer. Keeping it only for the expanded choices for reward travel should we eventually use United for international travel. I use this card once or twice a year just so it won't get closed.
-7/2019 - P2 gets CFU.
-Somewhere in there I also had a Chase SW and a SW Premier - both since closed.
-Somewhere in there P2 had the CSP for a year - since closed.

Out of all of this, the cards I use regularly are the Amex Everyday, CFU, CFF, CSP, and Discover IT. I use whatever card gets me the most back for each individual purchase.

I only use the rewards for travel related expenses (so no PYB unless I am buying a travel-related gift card.)

I do not MS or buy stuff just for the points. I put just about everything on CC (DH not so much) and pay off weekly or more than weekly, so they essentially act as debit cards.

I do not pay anything with a CC that has a fee associated with it. I do not pay anything with a CC that cannot be directly paid with a CC (so no Plastiq, MOs, or buying GCs for future spend).

We travel roughly once or twice a year. I have paid very little to no OOP since earning the subs on my first few cards. I also am able to fly my college child home and back several times a year using points.

We have all said it before: There are many ways to play the game. Don't be afraid to get your feet wet and try it out, slowly. You can always speed things up if you find this hobby is for you. And if you find it is not for you, all cards can be cancelled whenever you like.

ETA: If (when?) I burn through the points I have, I am not opposed to churning the CSP or adding another card with a good SUB. But until that happens, I am happy with the cards I have. I don't feel I need to keep accumulating points by getting more cards. For me this is easier than always having an MSR for a SUB and keeping track of multiple cards.

I love your simplistic ways...I have gone similar to that was well over the last 18 months, but with a few modifications. I only use 1 of 2 cards and my wife uses her own. I do have a couple that I pull out and just use them to reap the quick reward like Discover IT categories or my current Disney Visa promo. Otherwise, my Amex BCP or the BoA Cash Rewards gets most of the spend and no fumbling with what card to use where.

I am hoping to go the CSP route in the next couple months if that bonus is still around...or maybe the Southwest card. We fly them as they go direct to Orlando and always have the best price.

 

[Judique]

Nope, no plans to charge anything that I want to pay over time, and certainly not in the near future.

I've been putting it off to, because Lain (I think it was) touted being offered some MRs to subscribe to this service (even though he never used it ... I think that's how it went)

The problem with that is you may already have been automatically signed up for the plan if you got your gold card in the last year and a half. They were offering MR's for people who had not signed up who had the card before the plan came out. Mine was auto enrolled when I got it. That didn't mean you had to use it, just that it was already listed as a possible benefit on your card. If I understood correctly at the time, I could have unenrolled and tried to wait for it to be offered or something like that.

If I remember correctly, when I went to enroll, I got a popup that said 'you are already enrolled'.

 

[Judique]

I love your simplistic ways...I have gone similar to that was well over the last 18 months, but with a few modifications. I only use 1 of 2 cards and my wife uses her own. I do have a couple that I pull out and just use them to reap the quick reward like Discover IT categories or my current Disney Visa promo. Otherwise, my Amex BCP or the BoA Cash Rewards gets most of the spend and no fumbling with what card to use where.

I am hoping to go the CSP route in the next couple months if that bonus is still around...or maybe the Southwest card. We fly them as they go direct to Orlando and always have the best price.

I'm somewhat like you and @trenty. I have no immediate or foreseeable need for a lot of points other than some UR's for transfer purposes and I can generate more than enough and do what I need to do with my current card stash. I rec'd the 5% offer on my Hyatt and Disney card and I planned out $3k in spend for those to get my 7500 points respectively. That was fairly easy with utility pay up fronts, insurance, and a little spend at Costco. I tend to like to get it done fairly fast rather than string it along.

After that I may flip the Disney card to pick up some credit to pay a few hundred on my DVC dues which I do pay with gift cards. I've been 'all set' for Disney tickets for myself for years to come. My needs are fairly simple.

Actually trying to make a decision on my Bonvoy cards. Later this year I will decide whether I will close a couple. More than likely the first one will be the Chase personal one as I can always get it back with the sub if needed.

Also have my eye on a replacement Amex for my gold: there is a no fee Amex in the Navy Federal card lineup with a small bonus and 3x on gas, supermarkets and restaurants plus travel. The 'no fee' makes the 3x just fine and I have 4x on gas in a few places. I have a no fee Amex that gives and holds MR's, so the few I have are safe and I can earn more if needed. Probably don't need many.

And, I'm at 1/24 since getting the CSP.........

 

[Judique]

And in other news, the son and girlfriend are out looking at venues for a 'micro' wedding later this year. Yesterday they toured historic houses and wineries. Today it's more houses and wineries.

So much less stress than when my daughter got married!! There is one venue they are excited about but would have to choose August which is coming maybe too fast for the plan. I actually hope they pick this house as it still has rooms available on that date and I could grab one as soon as they decide. It's a couple of hours away and I don't wish to drive 4-5 hours return on the wedding day. Would like to drive up, check in, go to the event and relax, knowing my room was right there if needed and then get up to breakfast on the porch the next morning.

 

[havaneselover]

Made it to Atlanta. This has been interesting.

at Richmond we got to the ticket counter to check my bag and pay for the dog’s ticket at 5:15. Not easy getting teens out the door at 4:30 am. Cutoff for checked luggage was 5:20. The woman took forever, finally got my bag taken care of exactly at 5:20 after taking payment for the pup then told me my luggage might not make it. Maybe she should have checked my luggage first.

and we got row 2. Flight attendant asked the people in row one if they would give up their seat for a nauseous passenger. Um, gross. Please no. No one would and the flight attendant was irritated.

 

[punkin]

My FIL's AF on his Delta Amex just hit. Given his medical situation, he's barely using it but he's got 500k points on his Delta account which his sons want to use, I'd like to keep it if possible, but not for $250. Has anyone had luck calling in for a retention offer? Or is there a card we can downgrade to?

 

[Limes96]

Looking over my PYB page on my CSR and I notice that for my eligible purchases in March it still says I only have until end of April to use PYB. So I’m wondering if March and April purchases will “fall” off the ledger on May 1 or will the number of days I have to redeem be extended at that time? I forget how they did it last fall.

 

[Alexle2007]

I was applying for a Chase card and as it was doing verification and the end I got this message. I know my credit was pulled because I got the alerts for it but when I call the status line it says I have no applications on file in the last 30 days. I have no new card in my account. Trying to decide if I need to reapply or whether it went through and I need to be patient. Thoughts?

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Just did SW check in. I had early bird check in and DS got B1???

I've done it in the past couple years and gotten B in 30's. Was not happy to pay for that. It's not a new phenomena.

I bought one at Disney a few years ago and couldn't agree more. It is the perfect size. Mine is the "snack pattern" all of the fun disney snacks in the print.

OMG, I wanted that so bad. I love that pattern but can't see me using a mini backpack. A crossbody yes, backpack no.

So, I helped feed someone dinner that night. I may have been scammed but I prefer to think I gave from my heart and that this person needed food. Usually I have no problem averting my eyes, ignoring and keeping walking when asked for change, as I equate that with 'not food' items.

I doubt you were scammed. The scammers want cash, will usually refuse or walk away if you offer actual food. It's so sad. Our school district has enough low income that everyone gets free breakfast/lunch which now resulted in everyone getting a card with funds to purchase food. I'm currently trying to figure out how to get the money or food to a food bank since we don't need it.

Sorry but they don't need to be sitting on $5k in my escrow account, it's time I get to earn 1% on that

If you have T-Mobile phone, they have a savings account which pays 4% on first $3000 and 1% on everything above that. If you don't have their service, I think you can still get 1% on everything.

 

[Alexle2007]

If you have T-Mobile phone, they have a savings account which pays 4% on first $3000 and 1% on everything above that. If you don't have their service, I think you can still get 1% on everything.

Thank you! I need to look into this since we just moved over to T-Mobile service.

 

[atxbound]

My FIL's AF on his Delta Amex just hit. Given his medical situation, he's barely using it but he's got 500k points on his Delta account which his sons want to use, I'd like to keep it if possible, but not for $250. Has anyone had luck calling in for a retention offer? Or is there a card we can downgrade to?

If you have access to his online account, you can use chat to check for a retention offer or even downgrade to a no fee card. Even if he cancels the delta card, he will still keep the miles.

 

[atxbound]

I was applying for a Chase card and as it was doing verification and the end I got this message. I know my credit was pulled because I got the alerts for it but when I call the status line it says I have no applications on file in the last 30 days. I have no new card in my account. Trying to decide if I need to reapply or whether it went through and I need to be patient. Thoughts?

This has been happening a lot with chase cards. I would assume it's gone through if your credit was pulled. We had the same issues with my DH app in January. About 3/4 of the time when I checked the status line, his application details wouldn't show up. Same have reported luck with getting an update on the status of they input the social security number slowly when asked.

 

[disfanforlife]

OMG, I wanted that so bad. I love that pattern but can't see me using a mini backpack. A crossbody yes, backpack no.

I wasn’t sure how it would be for me either. But it surprised me how much I could pack in it!

 

[becauseimnew]

Can I change the SW companion via Twitter?

 

[gottalovepluto]

Made it to Atlanta. This has been interesting.

at Richmond we got to the ticket counter to check my bag and pay for the dog’s ticket at 5:15. Not easy getting teens out the door at 4:30 am. Cutoff for checked luggage was 5:20. The woman took forever, finally got my bag taken care of exactly at 5:20 after taking payment for the pup then told me my luggage might not make it. Maybe she should have checked my luggage first.

and we got row 2. Flight attendant asked the people in row one if they would give up their seat for a nauseous passenger. Um, gross. Please no. No one would and the flight attendant was irritated.

Give up their row 1 seat for a nauseous passenger? Unfortunately I've been sick of my fair share of planes and that was never a suggestion they threw at me or that I've heard regarding anyone else either. In a car sure, but it's not like you can look straight ahead in a plane and see where the road is going.