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

[LynnTH]

I see US Bank Biz had a bonus going on and multiple people have stated you can fund up to $3000 on a credit card. Well, so I opened up another INK Card (referring from DH) and hope to SM for the extra 15,000 point ...

Only to look and see that I opened up a US Bank Biz Account a year ago and has to be 24 months of not having an account. So, if I open one for DH instead - can I fund with my CC? Or should I get a AU Card for him and use that?

That would really help in knocking off half of the SUB.

 

[trenty]

Probably too late since you are already using a TA. We cruise quite frequently. So, I know what I want in a room when cruising. Just booked a Carnival Cruise for February. Had the CSP which I upgraded to CSR for this, as it made sense. The cruise with tips was $4300 (4 of us in a Havana Balcony Cabin). But I called Chase Cruise Dept and booked the room I wanted using only 286,000 points. So, saved about $1440.

I know many say not to book with Chase Travel - but I always buy Trip Insurance for cruises anyway.

Thank you. I am looking at a specific RC Cruise. But i will keep this in mind for the future if I go with Carnival at any time.

 

[LynnTH]

Thank you. I am looking at a specific RC Cruise. But i will keep this in mind for the future if I go with Carnival at any time.

You can book any cruise through Chase Travel - not just Carnival. It really saves if you have the CSR though.

 

[hsmamato2]

New Hyatt promotion just dropped:

From fabulous vacations around the world to weekend getaways near or far, when you register for Bonus Journeys, you can earn 3,000 Bonus Points for every three qualifying nights, up to 21 nights, at 1,250+ hotels worldwide across 25+ brands—including participating Andaz, Dream Hotels, JdV by Hyatt, Park Hyatt, Thompson Hotels and more. Plus, as a World of Hyatt Credit Cardmember, you can earn an additional 1,000 Bonus Points when those nights are at 550+ participating hotels worldwide.Register by November 10, 2023, and complete your qualifying nights between October 6 and November 30, 2023, to start earning.

If you can find Cat 1 at 3.5K points, you could earn 3 nights for 7,500 points. You could do this for 21 nights, it would cost you 52,500 net points. Less if you have a Hyatt Card and stay at the participating hotels for the extra 1,000.

ETA: If P2 has AA elite status you can earn Globalist with 20 nights. https://milestalk.com/hyatt-status-...vnAlP9Qh_u1AQJhB2qtylA8nexoHqyrmXKRb-7uqB9imE

you get the bonus points if you stay on points?

 

[KPK02090]

I'm trying to figure out a plan for April vacation 2024. I'm in MA and my three kids (15, 14, 12) have the week of April 14 off. I have URs, MRs,, Marriott points and Hilton. But can't figure out a plan. I'd like to stay in the US for this vacation, but don't know where to go. We've done a lot of Disney so want to do a non-theme park vacation this time. Any suggestions for a week long vacation leaving from BOS in April? Maybe a really cool hotel with good pools that you'd recommend?

 

[mfly]

It has been so long since I've kept up with this thread (actually - last kept up 2 versions ago!), but I've just been scrolling through and it's great to see all the familiar "faces."

Quick question - I'm helping a family member who has a student loan they're trying to pay off (they have the cash). Loan is held by Firstmark. Does anyone know of a way to pay that off via credit card? The total is ~10k. Just looking to find a way to actually make this payoff worth something!

 

[trenty]

You can book any cruise through Chase Travel - not just Carnival. It really saves if you have the CSR though.

Thank you. I only have the CSP but will keep this in mind for next time.

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

I'm slowly finishing up the Biz IHG MSR, and I have no idea what I'm going to do with the points haha. It was totally a FOMO app.

I need to decide if I'm going for Hyatt Globalist for P2 again, we're only at 32 nights so far. I just am not sure where we're going to travel next year

I still think the Kimpton Seafire in Grand Cayman is a phenomenal use of IHG points (70k/nt, 4th nt free with qualifying cc). Yes, there is an $80/nt resort fee and some people want completely free award travel, so the Seafire isn't for them. IHG is opening a Hotel Indigo next door to the Seafire mid 2024 and I'm concerned the points will go up on the Seafire. So, if the Seafire has been on anyone's list, I'd get it booked in. It would be nice to stay at the Seafire once the Indigo has opened to have more restaurant options.

Hyatt. I've never had Globablist, but I do know whenever I fail to sign up for a "fast track" or promo because I don't have any plans to stay at X brand, I end up staying at that brand and missed out on the promo.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

It has been so long since I've kept up with this thread (actually - last kept up 2 versions ago!), but I've just been scrolling through and it's great to see all the familiar "faces."

Quick question - I'm helping a family member who has a student loan they're trying to pay off (they have the cash). Loan is held by Firstmark. Does anyone know of a way to pay that off via credit card? The total is ~10k. Just looking to find a way to actually make this payoff worth something!

Welcome back….my sons was with a different lender and unfortunately didn’t allow payment with a cc…hopefully your family member will be able to

 

[CyndiLouWho]

I'm not sure I've seen this reported here, but the Dolphin and Swan are now available to book via the UR portal (at least through the CSR, not sure if the CSP is still using a different portal). In spot checking, they aren't an awesome deal, but it is a way to use UR to stay somewhere with many on-property Disney benefits.

OMG thank you so much for this! My plan is to go for the Marriott 5 night offer but it's a risk because I have been getting Chase Biz cards every 3 months, my velocity might be an issue, and because the Swolphin is often over the 65k max those nights are worth. I booked Swan for Spring Break next year and will wait and see if I can get Marriott points or FNC.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

For Instacart peeps, I have a bunch of offers on various personal Chase cards for 10-20% off a subscription purchase. The wording seemed different as it specified "online purchase only" which is weird for an online service you can only purchase...online. So on a whim I added it to all my cards that had an offer, then used my CSR with a 10% offer for my weekly Instacart order (not a subscription). It credited $10.32 plus triggered the monthly CSR Instacart credit. Score!

 

[amcc]

HOW DID YOU FIND AN AGENCY THRU cc THAT PARTICIPATED? DIDN'T HAVE TO GO THRU AMEX TRAVEL? WOULD YOU MIND SENDING ME HER NAME? GETTING READY TO BOOK
THANKS

OOPS SORRY ABOUT ALL CAPS, DIDN'T RALIZE IT WAS ON

We ended up canceling our cruise but we had booked using a TA through cruise compete (recommended here) that worked with the Amex program. Not all of them do so be sure to ask. We got all the cruise offers, the TA specials, and the Amex offers. Note, in a post on cruise critic, I was told that Amex could remove? charge me? for the Amex offers since I didn't use the Amex Plat to pay for my cruise in full and only used it for the deposit and to fulfill a bunch of Amex offers. When we cancelled 46 days before departure, all the offers were still intact.

 

[wanderlust7]

We ended up canceling our cruise but we had booked using a TA through cruise compete (recommended here) that worked with the Amex program. Not all of them do so be sure to ask. We got all the cruise offers, the TA specials, and the Amex offers. Note, in a post on cruise critic, I was told that Amex could remove? charge me? for the Amex offers since I didn't use the Amex Plat to pay for my cruise in full and only used it for the deposit and to fulfill a bunch of Amex offers. When we cancelled 46 days before departure, all the offers were still intact.

Relevant terms:
"CPP benefits are valid only for eligible U.S. Consumer and Business Platinum and Centurion® Card Members (Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Card Members are not eligible). CPP bookings must be made using the eligible Card."

"the total cost of the CPP booking must be paid using an American Express® Card in the eligible Card Member's name"

So deposit needs to be on the plat, but the rest can be any Amex. Similar to the FHR program. I paid the balance with various Amex for Amex Offers and MSR, plus $300 on the CSR for the travel insurance. I prepaid gratuities (to lock the price in due to an increase), which was more than $300, so in my mind I still fulfilled the requirements lol. It seems hard to enforce. In any case, I got the benefits with no issue.

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

It has been so long since I've kept up with this thread (actually - last kept up 2 versions ago!), but I've just been scrolling through and it's great to see all the familiar "faces."

Quick question - I'm helping a family member who has a student loan they're trying to pay off (they have the cash). Loan is held by Firstmark. Does anyone know of a way to pay that off via credit card? The total is ~10k. Just looking to find a way to actually make this payoff worth something!

Look into Gift of College and if Firstmark accepts GoC. A quick google search indicates yes. I believe you have a couple options with GoC.
1. You can make payments directly to GoC using a cc for up to $500 per transaction, 3% fee. Rinse repeat. This option was recently mentioned on reddit, though I have no experience with it.
2. Kroger.com periodically sells GoC gcs through their gift card mall (I don't see them on there today). There's a similar fee, $5.95/$200 gc. I buy them during a fuel points sale, so essentially earn 14% back/off less the 3% fee. But I'm funding 529 plans and am not purchasing $10k in gcs in a short period of time.

So if your family member doesn't mind the 3% fee and making lots of $500 payments, perhaps option 1 is the way to go? Again, I don't have any experience with that option, so I don't know if there are any limitations. Just wanted to mention it.

 

[NewbieMom]

OMG thank you so much for this! My plan is to go for the Marriott 5 night offer but it's a risk because I have been getting Chase Biz cards every 3 months, my velocity might be an issue, and because the Swolphin is often over the 65k max those nights are worth. I booked Swan for Spring Break next year and will wait and see if I can get Marriott points or FNC.

I'm in the same situation. I wish Amex would do a 5 night offer! Between Ink and going for CP towards the end of the year, it's probably really risky to also go for this Marriott card..,

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

Real fast....does Chase pull back? I've used paypal bill pay to pay my taxes in the past. I was using my shiny new Bonvoy card on my taxes. The payment went through on 9/2. It's showing it's posted w/ chase too. My township has no record of this. They are saying they don't use paypal, etc. But again, I've used this to pay my taxes prior AND my water bill.

So I have $2900 tied up. I can't go ahead and pay the taxes again using that card, as it's has a $5k limit. Paypal has said if the township legit has no clue, they can do an investigation and get my money back. But my taxes are due tomorrow.

So will chase count the -$2900 against me....or do I get credit for that spend? I opened this card knowing I was going to use it on my taxes!

I guess the other option, can I normally increase a CL on a new card by moving money over? Will it happen instantly? It just sucks because I'll get hit w/ the 4% fee if I have to use their processing system! So if it's likely that Chase will "credit" the $2900 towards the spend, even if it's refunded, then I'll avoid paying w/ a CC this time around.

 

[NewbieMom]

Did anyone use the recent Doc Hilton FNC link and not get their FNC? I met my spend around 9/1 and the 150k posted but not the certificate. I called Hilton and they can't see it and asked me to call Amex. Since this is my 2nd Hilton, I'm hesitant to call...

 

[mfly]

Look into Gift of College and if Firstmark accepts GoC. A quick google search indicates yes. I believe you have a couple options with GoC.
1. You can make payments directly to GoC using a cc for up to $500 per transaction, 3% fee. Rinse repeat. This option was recently mentioned on reddit, though I have no experience with it.
2. Kroger.com periodically sells GoC gcs through their gift card mall (I don't see them on there today). There's a similar fee, $5.95/$200 gc. I buy them during a fuel points sale, so essentially earn 14% back/off less the 3% fee. But I'm funding 529 plans and am not purchasing $10k in gcs in a short period of time.

So if your family member doesn't mind the 3% fee and making lots of $500 payments, perhaps option 1 is the way to go? Again, I don't have any experience with that option, so I don't know if there are any limitations. Just wanted to mention it.

Thanks! After doing more research, it looks like Gift of College is the best (only) option.

Does anyone have a recommendation on a current sign up bonus for a 10k+ minimum spend that would make the ~$300 fee worth it?

We could supplement with other charges it if there was something in the 12-15k minimum spend range that was worth pursuing.

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

Thanks for that! I will go check it out. I wish there were Cat 1s available near me, the best I can do is Cat 2 at 6500/nt but maybe it will work anyway. I'm going to math it out.

I have a Cat 1 if you want me to do the run for you, LOL. Literally at the end of my street, LOL.

 

[Crazed4DisneyinSC]

Does anyone use the auto insurance from Costco? I think it's through "Connect/ American Family Insurance"? I just got my 6 month renewal through Allstate - $1190. Just priced it out through Costco's provider and their 6mo quote is $827. So that's a big savings - $363 per 6 month policy period! Just wondering if anyone uses them, what their experience has been, are you happy, etc?