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

[sinnika]

this looks absolutely amazing!!! I would love to see a place like this some day.

We took a train from Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris. Under 2 hours to Strasbourg. Left our luggage in lockers at the train station and Uber’ed to the first market. Very easy to do. Walked back to the train station after dinner. A 30 minute train ride landed us in Colmar and another short Uber to close to the hotel. Roads around markets are closed to traffic. Colmar is even more enchanting than Strasbourg! The markets closed at 7pm in Colmar so can’t wait to see it tomorrow! Here’s a view from our hotel room and some pics of this charming old town!

 

[wanderlust7]

Which cc issuers really don't care about the number of recent cards? I am at 5/24, actually like 5/9, but will be past my mandatory spend on my last bonus by February or early March. I would like some more sign up bonus opportunities, but I feel like I have opened too many recently.

Stick with business cards or are there some issuers for personal cards that are still reasonable?

Amex doesn't really care. Though they have the 1/5 and 2/90 rules for their credit cards (doesn't apply to charge cards). Also most people are limited to 5 open Amex cc's and 10 charge cards.

Business cards if you want to get under 5/24. If you're blowing past and not looking back, then I guess it doesn't matter. Personal cards will bring down your average age of accounts though.

 

[snugglebug]

NFCU card holders- is there a way to combine points from 2 or more cards? I have a card with just under the 5K min to cash out and I hadn't planned to put any spend on it, but wanted to cash those points.

 

[happ]

Were you able to pull up a 1 night stay at the Swan? It's always been Hotel Collection when I've looked, which has a 2 night minimum.

Yes. I was able to pull up both Swan and Dolphin for the one night. Dolphin was more expensive.

 

[wanderlust7]

Yes. I was able to pull up both Swan and Dolphin for the one night. Dolphin was more expensive.

Does it come up as Fine Hotels and Resorts or Hotel Collection? If FHR, you're good to go. If Hotel Collection, the terms for the credit say you need 2 night minimum.

 

[wanderlust7]

Canceled the hotel I booked in Seoul using Amex hotel credits. Decided it was too risky having to cancel and not being able to reuse the credit.

Booked the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe instead for $366/night. It's FHR, so booked 2 nights separately to use 2 credits. $45 resort fee payable at the hotel, but should be waived since DH is Globalist. $166 OOP is not bad. Even less if I factor in the $100 property credit, which we'll probably use at the restaurant.

I added in DH's Hyatt number when making the reservations and they showed up immediately in his account. Pleasantly surprised that it's so streamlined.

 

[havaneselover]

In good news it seems like Omicron is fading fast in South Africa so maybe international travel will be feasible next year. I'm just going to give it some time before I make any decisions on my cruise but I'm holding off on London theater tickets and rebooking my plane tickets from Barcelona to London. Surely this has to end some time!

 

[Judique]

NFCU card holders- is there a way to combine points from 2 or more cards? I have a card with just under the 5K min to cash out and I hadn't planned to put any spend on it, but wanted to cash those points.

Not that I'm aware of. I have some orphan points and every so often I throw a few dollars on the cards. The Go Rewards cards have 3% on restaurants, which isn't too bad.

 

[Alexle2007]

Canceled the hotel I booked in Seoul using Amex hotel credits. Decided it was too risky having to cancel and not being able to reuse the credit.

Booked the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe instead for $366/night. It's FHR, so booked 2 nights separately to use 2 credits. $45 resort fee payable at the hotel, but should be waived since DH is Globalist. $166 OOP is not bad. Even less if I factor in the $100 property credit, which we'll probably use at the restaurant.

I added in DH's Hyatt number when making the reservations and they showed up immediately in his account. Pleasantly surprised that it's so streamlined.

Canceled the hotel I booked in Seoul using Amex hotel credits. Decided it was too risky having to cancel and not being able to reuse the credit.

Booked the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe instead for $366/night. It's FHR, so booked 2 nights separately to use 2 credits. $45 resort fee payable at the hotel, but should be waived since DH is Globalist. $166 OOP is not bad. Even less if I factor in the $100 property credit, which we'll probably use at the restaurant.

I added in DH's Hyatt number when making the reservations and they showed up immediately in his account. Pleasantly surprised that it's so streamlined.

I thought Hyatt only waived the resort fee on award/point stays?

 

[wanderlust7]

I thought Hyatt only waived the resort fee on award/point stays?

Everyone gets waived resort fee on award stays. Globalist also get it for paid stays on eligible rates. As far as I can tell, FHR should be an eligible rate.

 

[snugglebug]

Not that I'm aware of. I have some orphan points and every so often I throw a few dollars on the cards. The Go Rewards cards have 3% on restaurants, which isn't too bad.

I kind of thought so. The earn rates aren't bad. These cards held old debt until recently so I haven't used them in quite some time other than a random charge here and there. I have 2 GoRewards (Visa and MC) and a Flagship. I'll have to figure out what to put on there to round these out. My plan was to redeem toward part of our USO passes, I didn't plan very well lol

 

[Laurawill]

Booked the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe instead for $366/night. It's FHR, so booked 2 nights separately to use 2 credits. $45 resort fee payable at the hotel, but should be waived since DH is Globalist. $166 OOP is not bad. Even less if I factor in the $100 property credit, which we'll probably use at the restaurant.

I added in DH's Hyatt number when making the reservations and they showed up immediately in his account. Pleasantly surprised that it's so streamlined.

I booked one night there for a few months from now. I might add a second day after the new year to take advantage of a second credit. I don’t have globalist but I also got a lower rate than you (we aren’t going during peak ski season) so the $45 won’t hurt as bad.

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

Canceled the hotel I booked in Seoul using Amex hotel credits. Decided it was too risky having to cancel and not being able to reuse the credit.

Booked the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe instead for $366/night. It's FHR, so booked 2 nights separately to use 2 credits. $45 resort fee payable at the hotel, but should be waived since DH is Globalist. $166 OOP is not bad. Even less if I factor in the $100 property credit, which we'll probably use at the restaurant.

I added in DH's Hyatt number when making the reservations and they showed up immediately in his account. Pleasantly surprised that it's so streamlined.

I want to cancel and rebook something else as well, but I was worried Amex would clawback the credit from the original booking and not reapply it to the new booking. Anyone have any DPs on this?

Unfortunately the clock is really winding down here…

 

[wanderlust7]

I want to cancel and rebook something else as well, but I was worried Amex would clawback the credit from the original booking and not reapply it to the new booking. Anyone have any DPs on this?

Unfortunately the clock is really winding down here…

I hesitated if I should wait for the credit to be clawed back before I do the new reservation. But the reservation is a little last minute, so I didn't really want to wait. I scrolled through the Flyertalk thread and didn't see anything that suggested it might be an issue. One person said sometimes they get a claw back and the credit reapplied, sometimes no claw back.

 

[ElizaDoesDisney]

I needed to change the date on a 1 night stay at Conrad Las Vegas I was using the FHR credit for last month. Because of timing, I cancelled and rebooked before the original credit was clawed back. Everything worked out fine and the credit was clawed back from the original booking and then reapplied to the new booking with no problem. YMMV.

 

[sinnika]

I want to thank everyone on this site for helping me to understand how to use credit card points for travel. Just over 2 years ago, I only used SW for free flights. Now I’ve had the opportunity to book tickets to Germany for 3 of us, and more flights next year to the UK for a DCL cruise. The chase UR points and United cc points are what I have mostly used. I prefer staying at small boutique hotels and the Hotel Saint-Martin in Colmar fits the bill! It oozes old world charm, though it does have modern conveniences like a heated towel rack and a mirror with a digital clock built in. Had an amazing buffet breakfast and ready to hit the Christmas markets! The market photos were taken from our hotel room window.

 

[sinnika]

Double post - sorry slow internet!

 

[Judique]

I kind of thought so. The earn rates aren't bad. These cards held old debt until recently so I haven't used them in quite some time other than a random charge here and there. I have 2 GoRewards (Visa and MC) and a Flagship. I'll have to figure out what to put on there to round these out. My plan was to redeem toward part of our USO passes, I didn't plan very well lol

Sounds like me. I have the same cards and the GoRewards had most of my debt years ago, until I paid it off. They had the lowest interest rate back then and if you had to have any debt, were the best avenue out there. I also had debt on an Amex. It had a below 10% rate and I was paying it down. Bang and they put it up to 13 something %. Called them and they said 'everybody's rate was raised'. Okay, balance transfer here we come.

It was such a relief to become debt free. Most of it was divorce related, but still, to this day, I'm very selective about credit and although I'm a wannabee churner, I just won't take any chances on letting it get to where it's costing me to charge because I've been there.

 

[chattadisser]

In good news it seems like Omicron is fading fast in South Africa so maybe international travel will be feasible next year. I'm just going to give it some time before I make any decisions on my cruise but I'm holding off on London theater tickets and rebooking my plane tickets from Barcelona to London. Surely this has to end some time!

I'm hoping the situation in South Africa is a good sign too. My oldest DD had a trip to Europe through school planned for 2020 and they've rescheduled it to this summer. I will be so disappointed if they have to cancel it again. Plus, I'm hoping that we can maybe get over there as a family later in the summer. The unknown has made me hesitant to book anything but as long it refundable, I might see what I can book.

 

[happ]

Does it come up as Fine Hotels and Resorts or Hotel Collection? If FHR, you're good to go. If Hotel Collection, the terms for the credit say you need 2 night minimum.

I think I was misunderstanding the site. When I search, there's a green checkmark next to FHR in the sidebar. I assumed the small list of hotels shown met that criteria. However, when I add another day, a box appears on the hotel listing indicating the FHR credit. So I guess it's not going to work for the one night. Thanks for questioning. I would have been disappointed not to get the credit.