I love credit cards so much! v5.0 - 2022 (see first page for add'l details)

[elgerber]

My sister lives in St. Pete but I have never been. We have done jet skis and a dolphin cruise in Clearwater and there are other activities besides just beach lounging. The dolphin cruise was awesome. Jan may be less crowded since I doubt besides sitting on the beach, I don’t think it is warm enough to swim.

I would love a dolphin cruise, but I get seasick :-(

 

[wweazel]

We are heading to the Tampa area in January, we have plans at the fairgrounds the 2nd half of the week, but looking for a place to stay away from there Sat/Sun/Mon, before we head that way. We are not sit on the beach people, but I need to at least walk on a beach. Not sure of what else there is to do in the area. Like cute shops to browse etc. Was thinking of staying in Clearwater or St Pete for that time. I saw talk of the Hyatt Clearwater above, but I have heard that area is crazy crowded and St. Pete is better?
I have no status (not even an account at the moment) with Hyatt, but I do have UR's. I have points at many other chains also.
Any thoughts on those areas, things to do, places to stay would be very welcome.

Do you have a CSP? Air BnB is PYB at least until September 30. We are going in December, and I am super excited about this Air BnB:


We have not stayed in this specific place, but we do go to the area every few years, the trolley runs down through all the beach towns, cool sunset festival in Clearwater is easy to get to. We also drive an hour south to Venice Beach to collect sharks teeth. We are from Michigan so we can generally swim - but we're definitely the only ones
The aquarium is on our list this year too.

 

[platamama]

I didn’t mention, but the upgrade offer is a 100K MR bonus after 6K in 6 months. Also 5X restaurants and supermarkets for 6 months.

That is a very nice upgrade offer. I think @wanderlust7 has this all covered for you, and I would agree that applying for the Plat first is how I would go too. I didn't know about the pop-up for support link vs no support link situation, so if that 150K offer thru FrequentMiler still gets you a pop-up, then try the Resy offer. If you got all of that to stack together you'd have 225K-250K MRs (plus 12K MRs from spend) which is more than enough to get you two roundtrip award business flights on ANA to Japan from the US. Note that in the US, award tix have to be out of cities that ANA services: Chicago, Houston, LA, NYC, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, Honolulu, or Wash DC. This link gives more detail about the routes and type of planes. Depending where you live you may need a positioning flight too.

 

[AndreaDM]

That is a very nice upgrade offer. I think @wanderlust7 has this all covered for you, and I would agree that applying for the Plat first is how I would go too. I didn't know about the pop-up for support link vs no support link situation, so if that 150K offer thru FrequentMiler still gets you a pop-up, then try the Resy offer. If you got all of that to stack together you'd have 225K-250K MRs (plus 12K MRs from spend) which is more than enough to get you two roundtrip award business flights on ANA to Japan from the US. Note that in the US, award tix have to be out of cities that ANA services: Chicago, Houston, LA, NYC, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, Honolulu, or Wash DC. This link gives more detail about the routes and type of planes. Depending where you live you may need a positioning flight too.

One more question lol, if I do what you suggest, I’ll end up with 2 platinums right? I will be paying 2 plat annual fees?

 

[GlamMistress]

Goodness the last three weeks or so have been bonkers fo me between work and sick family members and friends.

Things seem to be leveling off again. I need to book all my excursions for my Med cruise in October still. I did grab a Cap One Savor just so I could have a MasterCard. I have to say I love their app. It's my favorite amongst Chase/Amex/Citi apps. My local credit union app is terrible, lol.

The best part? There's a Viator coupon through CapOne AND I have a Viator PayPal coupon!

 

[chattadisser]

We are heading to the Tampa area in January, we have plans at the fairgrounds the 2nd half of the week, but looking for a place to stay away from there Sat/Sun/Mon, before we head that way. We are not sit on the beach people, but I need to at least walk on a beach. Not sure of what else there is to do in the area. Like cute shops to browse etc. Was thinking of staying in Clearwater or St Pete for that time. I saw talk of the Hyatt Clearwater above, but I have heard that area is crazy crowded and St. Pete is better?
I have no status (not even an account at the moment) with Hyatt, but I do have UR's. I have points at many other chains also.
Any thoughts on those areas, things to do, places to stay would be very welcome.

I would suggest downtown St. Pete on the bay. Shops to walk to, there is a walkway around the water (so not beach but a place to walk). Maybe check out the Don Cesar, not sure how expensive it is to stay there anymore.

 

[elgerber]

I would suggest downtown St. Pete on the bay. Shops to walk to, there is a walkway around the water (so not beach but a place to walk). Maybe check out the Don Cesar, not sure how expensive it is to stay there anymore.

Thank you, that is one area I was thinking of looking at, bay view if I could get one, would be nice.

 

[platamama]

One more question lol, if I do what you suggest, I’ll end up with 2 platinums right? I will be paying 2 plat annual fees?

Yes, you'll be paying 2 plat annual fees, that's true. You'll definitely want to try to make sure you're maxing out the benefits on both - each would have the $200 airline incidental reimbursement, Saks credits, entertainment credits, $200 hotel credit for FHR hotels, $200 Uber/Uber Eats, and all the other benefits. You can also try for retention offers when it gets close to the next AF posting. It is more to keep track of, that's for sure. Between P2 and me, we have a mix of 7 Plats (personal and biz) so I do understand the eye-watering AFs. I've been able to get some of them mitigated (Schwab relationship bonus, corporate Amex discount off annual fees) and I always try for a retention offer before dropping a card. And DoC usually posts when Amazon is running promotions to use 1MR to get a % discount off an Amazon order and that can help save some too. And watch for bonuses for enrolling in Pay Over Time. Without SUBs it's hard to accumulate enough MRs to use for awards though, everyday spend at 1x would take a long time (for me anyway).

 

[elgerber]

I would suggest downtown St. Pete on the bay. Shops to walk to, there is a walkway around the water (so not beach but a place to walk). Maybe check out the Don Cesar, not sure how expensive it is to stay there anymore.

Just to clarify, I looked that one up and it appears to be on the beach, not in downtown?

 

[tchk]

Thank you, that is one area I was thinking of looking at, bay view if I could get one, would be nice.

The area from The Pier to the Dali Museum is full of restaurants and shopping and is a great area for walking and window shopping. Lots to see.

 

[IFlossU]

I don't remember calling Barclay's to close my last AA Biz cards. Now they won't close via secure message and I and DH have to call. Uggh. Mine not so bad.

Really!? I’ve closed 3 AA cards via SM. That’s disappointing news.

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

I have never referred a family member for a Chase card because I wasn't sure how the bonus worked. If you follow a referral link, do you still get the points bonus that is in effect at the time in addition to the referral points bonus going to the person who referred you?

I've probably given up thousands and thousands of points because of this.

Don't kick yourself. Whenever you receive a support link, always make sure the SUB is the very best offer out there. On some cards, the support offer isn't as good as the best publicly available offer. And sometimes it is and in some cases, can even be better. Always check, but don't beat yourself up over lost points.

 

[atxbound]

Really!? I’ve closed 3 AA cards via SM. That’s disappointing

Was able to close a card with the automated system when I called last month

 

[Minnie368]

Was able to close a card with the automated system when I called last month

Just last week I was able to cancel a Citi AA biz via SM but had to call for Barclay AA biz

 

[Judique]

Saw a couple of 20% off Best Buy up to $20 on some of my Chase cards this morning. Too bad I have all the Disney cards I need for an upcoming trip. (Plus the Best Buy closest to me closed.)

And question- is there any problem with me booking an ADA accessible room if I don’t actually need it? I’m looking for two beds in NYC on points, which is not always easy to find. One of the ones I did find with two queens has a roll in shower. I didn’t see any restrictions listed, so I assume it’s ok for me to book it?

Interesting question. I look at this as first come first served.

A lot of hotels have no problem assigning a HC room, when you book a regular room.

 

[chattadisser]

Just to clarify, I looked that one up and it appears to be on the beach, not in downtown?

Correct, so you'd have to chose in that case - being downtown and close to shops, restaurants or be at the beach. Whichever is more important to you.

The area from The Pier to the Dali Museum is full of restaurants and shopping and is a great area for walking and window shopping. Lots to see.

I love going to the Dali - highly recommend it to anyone that goes. I'm not a huge art person as I feel like I rarely "get it" but this museum is so well done and the self-guided audio tour is excellent!

 

[570traveler]

Is there anyway you can n the chase app to see both personal and biz cards?

Also a DP, DH applied and was approved for CIU 8/5. Called to expedite card. Arrived 8/9.

 

[Arcades]

Is there anyway you can n the chase app to see both personal and biz cards?

Also a DP, DH applied and was approved for CIU 8/5. Called to expedite card. Arrived 8/9.

I would just call in and ask that they merge your profiles for personal and biz. It's highly convenient to have one login for everything and the main reasons not to do it in the past (Biz UI being antiquated and it messing with Chase Pay) are no longer issues.

 

[newski_mom]

Question on using the $200 FHR credit - I'm looking at a place that is $452 at checkout. It is offering an option to pay part of it with points and the rest charged on your card. If I do that and pay say 20,000 points and then charge $252, I'm thinking that would still work to trigger the credit? Does that sound right?

I never pay this much for a hotel, so I'm really not sure I'm going to do it, but it's the first time I've found an option that might work to use up one of our FHR credits, so I'm considering it.

 

[georgina]

Saw a couple of 20% off Best Buy up to $20 on some of my Chase cards this morning. Too bad I have all the Disney cards I need for an upcoming trip. (Plus the Best Buy closest to me closed.)

Thanks. Just checked my Chase accounts. SO MANY offers - the Best Buy box is actually blank, no store name in it, but I also have Home Depot and Staples on several cards, all different amounts - 20%, 10% off, $10 max back, $20 max back. I'm going to have to plot out which are the best, I can't use them all!

Was planning to hit Office Depot today to use those offers, now I think I will skip it entirely.