I love credit cards so much! v6.0 - 2023 (see first page for add'l details)

[leeniewdw]

If you purchased a round trip, there is insurance.
Hoping you're not impacted!!!

Your trip delay is $500 toward hotel, food, maybe transit to hotel don’t recall specifically. Kicks in at 6 hr delay or overnight. Used it a couple years ago when I stuck in Orlando an extra day. Pretty easy process, just keep your receipts.

Thanks for the info! It *was* a RT ticket (cash price was decent for a semi last minute trip). Good to know about the benefits for future reference (that I hope I never need).

I did get home to RDU today...came close to being re-routed to CLT to wait out some wind conditions. We got down to 3000 ft and then he suddenly hit the gas and we were back up to 12000 feet in a few minutes. Said the 3 planes in front of him reported conditions that made him unable to land. So we headed to CLT to get fuel and "try again". About 10 minutes later he made a U Turn as we headed back to RDU to have "one try" to land before giving up. We landed. Bumpy, but glad we didn't take a CLT detour. (Was funny to get a text from Delta saying my CLT to RDU flight had been canceled and they couldn't find a suitable alternative. So we'd gotten far enough that they'd already changed everyone's itinerary). Glad to be home, dealing with aging parents is no fun. Didn't redeem any travel pts this time, but got the 5x Amex for the flight. Rental car was still high, but didn't want to use points for that. I rented the SMALLEST car I could and ended up with a Tahoe, so that was kind of fun (I've never had a car that big!)

Thanks again everyone!

 

[Haley R]

I’ve been doing a lot of planning for our Japan trip and it’s sad how many things have closed. I keep finding something cool only to see that it’s permanently closed We loved the Pablo cheese tarts and I can’t find any location in Tokyo that’s still open

 

[jujubiee4]

Hi everyone! I was wondering if anyone could give any advice for an airfare purchase for next summer.
One of my kids will be graduating and I would like to send her and my mother n law to Europe for a
cruise. Only thing is it departs from Barcelona and comes back to Rome. How do people do this? Isn't
one way tickets real expensive? I have MR points and Chase points and 1300 Cap1credit. Am willing to open
another card if needed as i have opened 2 cards last 5 years. Flying from So Calif. Is flying to Heathrow or NY
first then Barcelona smart or no? Any tips appreciated. thank you.


This is the final grad Europe trip and thank goodness as we are going broke .lol Thank you

 

[orangecuse]

Hi everyone! I was wondering if anyone could give any advice for an airfare purchase for next summer.
One of my kids will be graduating and I would like to send her and my mother n law to Europe for a
cruise. Only thing is it departs from Barcelona and comes back to Rome. How do people do this? Isn't
one way tickets real expensive? I have MR points and Chase points and 1300 Cap1credit. Am willing to open
another card if needed as i have opened 2 cards last 5 years. Flying from So Calif. Any tips appreciated.


This is the final grad europe trip and thank goodness as we are going broke .lol Thank you

I will leave the exact Europe tips to others because some people here do that often but in general when booking with points the point-cost is no different when booking 2 one ways vs a round trip. Most airlines make it so a one way is for example 12.5k points and a round trip would be 25k points, so 2 one ways is just as good!

 

[Haley R]

We have an AA card that gives us free checked bags. We’re planning on booking a flight for next May and then closing the card this December. Will we still get the free bags or does the card need to be active when flying?

 

[afan]

We have an AA card that gives us free checked bags. We’re planning on booking a flight for next May and then closing the card this December. Will we still get the free bags or does the card need to be active when flying?

It's a benefit of holding the card so it must be open at travel.

 

[snugglebug]

Good to hear! BTW, check to see if your HOA is available for PayPal Billpay. I was able to find mine and now I can pay my HOA on a CC without any fees, whereas if I pay with a CC through the HOA portal the charge is $15 per transaction. I've read other people are able to pay their property taxes that way, but my county doesn't appear on the PPB list to my disappointment.

As soon as I started using PPBP I checked for my HOA, but they are not there unfortunately. I do keep checking though since that would save me a little bit. Plastiq is still cheaper than paying them directly via CC and keeping checks/stamps on hand to avoid their extra fee is just not worth it.

 

[snugglebug]

My husband is planning to go see his younger son graduate from Navy Basic Training.
We have no status on any airlines and would be paying cash to be as economical as possible, so currently looking at a combo flight on Expedia (outbound on American and return on... wait for it... Spirit).

He'd be flying into O'Hare and getting a rental car.

Is there anything specific he needs to know about flying into O'Hare with regard to picking up and returning a rental car? He would arrive around noonish, pick up the car, drive to the area of the hotel (probably budget motel somewhere), stay overnight, see the graduation the next morning, and then drive right back to the airport late afternoon/early evening to come home.

Congrats to the new sailor! You might consider 2 nights if you want to spend time with him. I know both AF and Army had to stay on base day of graduation, but had town privileges the next day. I don't remember exactly because it's been several years, but I'm certain my Navy husband had the same at graduation, I know we took him off base at some point.

 

[djmeredith]

Hi everyone! I was wondering if anyone could give any advice for an airfare purchase for next summer.
One of my kids will be graduating and I would like to send her and my mother n law to Europe for a
cruise. Only thing is it departs from Barcelona and comes back to Rome. How do people do this? Isn't
one way tickets real expensive? I have MR points and Chase points and 1300 Cap1credit. Am willing to open
another card if needed as i have opened 2 cards last 5 years. Flying from So Calif. Is flying to Heathrow or NY
first then Barcelona smart or no? Any tips appreciated. thank you.


This is the final grad Europe trip and thank goodness as we are going broke .lol Thank you

I've been to Europe the past 2 years and both times I did not buy roundtrip tickets. This year I flew a different airline each way, which is not uncommon for those of using points. I was able to get a good deal on United biz on the way over and then flew KLM premium economy on the way home. I recommend checking a few different airlines regularly for a few weeks (or longer) and determine what the lowest pts rate is. They usually go up and down regularly. I've booked my Europe airfare in Nov/Dec the last two years. I had been watching the rates for a couple of months before that while I amassed enough pts. As soon as I had the pts, I jumped on the good rate the next time I saw it.

ETA: Flying Blue (KLM and Air France) has been 3/4 of my flights to/from Europe. However, their current rates are more than double what I saw last year around this time. So I have no idea what a good rate is going to be for them next spring/summer.

 

[jujubiee4]

I've been to Europe the past 2 years and both times I did not buy roundtrip tickets. This year I flew a different airline each way, which is not uncommon for those of using points. I was able to get a good deal on United biz on the way over and then flew KLM premium economy on the way home. I recommend checking a few different airlines regularly for a few weeks (or longer) and determine what the lowest pts rate is. They usually go up and down regularly. I've booked my Europe airfare in Nov/Dec the last two years. I had been watching the rates for a couple of months before that while I amassed enough pts. As soon as I had the pts, I jumped on the good rate the next time I saw it.

ETA: Flying Blue (KLM and Air France) has been 3/4 of my flights to/from Europe. However, their current rates are more than double what I saw last year around this time. So I have no idea what a good rate is going to be for them next spring/summer.

Im seeing very high rates for points. Prob because it is summer. Then again cash rates are high also.
Cant believe several years ago I paid 600 roundtrip each one summer and 60k roundtrip another summer to
Europe. Times sure have changed. I hope these rates come down. I would love to get biz or at least
premium economy (or seats that are 2x2). No matter what combination or different airports I use it is
HIGH. I hope this is not the new normal but Im going to keep checking since it is 10-11 months out.

 

[afan]

Im seeing very high rates for points. Prob because it is summer. Then again cash rates are high also.
Cant believe several years ago I paid 600 roundtrip each one summer and 60k roundtrip another summer to
Europe. Times sure have changed. I hope these rates come down. I would love to get biz or at least
premium economy (or seats that are 2x2). No matter what combination or different airports I use it is
HIGH. I hope this is not the new normal but Im going to keep checking since it is 10-11 months out.

Not sure what month you are looking at but with the olympics in Paris in july/aug that may be part of it. People have booked for it to more than just flying into Paris and then people probably going before it to be able to still be able to go next summer.

 

[Judique]

Did he meet the spend before he got the match?

I sent my message also but I'm short of the spend by about 1K. Got a weird (to me) message back. It basically said I'd get the 90k in about 8 weeks after meeting the spend.

The kicker was the message mentioned getting the bonus if I hadn't received a bonus for the product in the last 24 months. Serves me right for sending the message on a weekend! Has anyone else had that wording in their reply?

In any case I'm waiting til after the first of the month to finish my spend as I decided not to cycle payment. It's less than a week.

 

[Judique]

I’ve got a player I’m helping who got a ditz of a rep who said they need to hit $6k to get 75k and then “another $6k” to get 90k and nothing about messaging back when they hit the spend- like lol, doesn’t my player wish 165k URs are just waiting for them. Think I’m just gonna have them do a clean SM & hopefully get the usual reply that you got.

yikes. I was thinking of also sending another message after I hit spend.

 

[Judique]

So he was denied a CIP and then approved for a different biz card? How long between apps?

A few years ago (2019 - I went and looked it up) I was denied a CIP and approved for a CIU on the same day.

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

We have an AA card that gives us free checked bags. We’re planning on booking a flight for next May and then closing the card this December. Will we still get the free bags or does the card need to be active when flying?

It's a benefit of holding the card so it must be open at travel.

Piggy back question, not sure if anyone knows. Hubby has AA status this year but definitely won't earn it next year. (Tons of 2022 business travel but then life got in the way)

When we booked our summer 2024 flights, it let us pick Main Cabin Extra seats for free as that benefit is currently available to him. Is the system going to realize at some point between now and July that he doesn't have that benefit for 2024 and either move us or try to charge us?

 

[happ]

I sent my message also but I'm short of the spend by about 1K. Got a weird (to me) message back. It basically said I'd get the 90k in about 8 weeks after meeting the spend.

The kicker was the message mentioned getting the bonus if I hadn't received a bonus for the product in the last 24 months. Serves me right for sending the message on a weekend! Has anyone else had that wording in their reply?

In any case I'm waiting til after the first of the month to finish my spend as I decided not to cycle payment. It's less than a week.

I didn't get that wording. Hopefully it was just an odd rep.

 

[hsmamato2]

So my DP with venmo (I hope to never do this again) Last saturday the 16, I paid close to 5k in increments- Then they cut me off for the last >$300.....even after calling them, I got nowhere- tried again a couple of times this week, no dice. Finally this morning the 24th (8 days later) they allowed me to send the final little bit thru. I guess I hit some kind of limit.

 

[miztressuz]

Piggy back question, not sure if anyone knows. Hubby has AA status this year but definitely won't earn it next year. (Tons of 2022 business travel but then life got in the way)

When we booked our summer 2024 flights, it let us pick Main Cabin Extra seats for free as that benefit is currently available to him. Is the system going to realize at some point between now and July that he doesn't have that benefit for 2024 and either move us or try to charge us?

No, the benefits go by time of selection. Now if you have to change the flight or change seats, it may ask for a charge then if you don't have status. But it's not going to do a reconciliation later and kick you out, the benefits apply to time of booking/selection.

What I'm not sure about in the new program are things like the upgrade list that happen at later points. Like I book a flight now and it says that it added me to the complimentary upgrade list to be processed X days before flight. Well at day X I don't have that status any more will I be removed from processing? I'd think so but I recall something about AA in the previous program your status carrying through on the booking. I'd have to do more research on it, but I'm going on the assumption when they process the upgrade list I'll no longer be eligible (or demoted to whatever level I am currently) If I have to change seats or flights later maybe that seat selection bene will carry through? I dunno but I'm working on the assumption that it won't and I'd have to pay. (Like we did on United when we changed flights after losing status and lost our preferred seats. My fault for not changing the flight while we still had status!) But I haven't started that research yet, I'm hoping to still have some level of status for our flight next year. But I have to get my butt in gear, I see lots of shopping portal purchases forthcoming

 

[miztressuz]

I sent my message also but I'm short of the spend by about 1K. Got a weird (to me) message back. It basically said I'd get the 90k in about 8 weeks after meeting the spend.

The kicker was the message mentioned getting the bonus if I hadn't received a bonus for the product in the last 24 months. Serves me right for sending the message on a weekend! Has anyone else had that wording in their reply?

In any case I'm waiting til after the first of the month to finish my spend as I decided not to cycle payment. It's less than a week.

I wonder if the rep didn't understand and thought you applied for the current 90k bonus. I'd probably just SM again after meeting the spend to ask for the match. Pretend like this message didn't exist.

I have gotten responses that included the 24 month bonus language. Didn't change a thing; has the same effect as the language in the application

 

[djmeredith]

Im seeing very high rates for points. Prob because it is summer. Then again cash rates are high also.
Cant believe several years ago I paid 600 roundtrip each one summer and 60k roundtrip another summer to
Europe. Times sure have changed. I hope these rates come down. I would love to get biz or at least
premium economy (or seats that are 2x2). No matter what combination or different airports I use it is
HIGH. I hope this is not the new normal but Im going to keep checking since it is 10-11 months out.

Your strategy about preference of seats is the same as mine. I did see a decent rate from EWR to CDG in May next year on a United partner last night. Hopefully that is a sign there are more good rates to come like it was in the past. Not sure when you are looking, but afan mentioned the Olympics and I had completely forgotten about how that is going to affect Europe travel next summer.

Not sure what month you are looking at but with the olympics in Paris in july/aug that may be part of it. People have booked for it to more than just flying into Paris and then people probably going before it to be able to still be able to go next summer.

Very true. I forgot all about the Olympics. Luckily, I am looking in May and June. Maybe the influx in July/Aug will lead to better deals in May and June (I an wish any way).