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

[djmeredith]

Can I pull this off? My husband has 80k SW points earned this year. I already have a companion pass but we’re going to Hawaii and another would be really nice. If he applies for a SW business credit card today, the statement close date should be before 12/31, and as long as we hit the minimum spend on that window, he should get the SUB in time right? Should I try to pull this off? Thoughts? I know I need to act fast.

I am not sure about the closing timing you predict, but that sounds right. It seems like worst case scenario is you get the card and you see that it will not close before Dec 31. In that case, you could postpone meeting the SUB until Jan and get a second card in Jan/Feb to have the pass the rest of '24-'25. Or worst worst case scenario if you don't want the second card, you would still have a good chunk of SW pts for future use. If I were to go for this, I would definitely apply for the biz since it wouldn't count against 5/24.

ETA: One of the biz cards comes with TSA Precheck/Global Entry credit, so that is another benefit you would have even if you don't need/get the second card.

 

[platamama]

I went to the new Capital One Lounge in DEN (near A34 on the mezzanine level) yesterday and it’s really nice. I like it better than the Centurion Lounge (near C47 on the mezzanine level) even though C is more convenient for me since that’s the one SW uses. OTOH I can walk to A gates and go thru security there, rather than go to the usual North or South security lines. Still have to take the train to get to B & C though.

I really appreciated the grab and go area to get some food for the rest of the travel day.

This was one of the perks of the Venture X card I was really looking forward to, and I’m so glad it’s finally here. If you have a long layover in DEN I highly recommend it. Since it’s airside you don’t need to deal with security if you’re in a different concourse. It took me 20 min to get from the lounge to my C gate just to give an idea of how much time to allow.

 

[ten6mom]

I went to the new Capital One Lounge in DEN (near A34 on the mezzanine level) yesterday and it’s really nice. I like it better than the Centurion Lounge (near C47 on the mezzanine level) even though C is more convenient for me since that’s the one SW uses. OTOH I can walk to A gates and go thru security there, rather than go to the usual North or South security lines. Still have to take the train to get to B & C though.

I really appreciated the grab and go area to get some food for the rest of the travel day.

This was one of the perks of the Venture X card I was really looking forward to, and I’m so glad it’s finally here. If you have a long layover in DEN I highly recommend it. Since it’s airside you don’t need to deal with security if you’re in a different concourse. It took me 20 min to get from the lounge to my C gate just to give an idea of how much time to allow.

Well of course I just canceled my Venture X recently AND I have a flight with a layover in Denver coming up! Probably not enough of a layover to take advantage tho.

 

[disneybirds]

yeah the only bummers I've noticed so far are no screen on the back and ridiculously expensive wifi (because delta is free) the food has been way better on AA but I have a tablet the 20$ for wifi still doesn't make up the price being 2x for the flight we took.

Hopefully our 9 hour flight on United will have screens! That will be a long flight without it.

 

[sinnika]

I finally applied for the Chase Freedom Flex today! Earlier this week, I decreased my credit limit on 2 personal Chase cards and canceled an Ink cash totaling about $23,000 in credit on the 3 cards. I got instant approval with a credit limit of $21,500. I was thinking they would give me $5000 or so. I feel like I have way too much credit still! By the way, some of the support links I tried on Reddit for the CFF card did not work. I was able to use one though. My goal is to steadily purchase Disney gift cards at grocery stores along with groceries when the 4x fuel points for gift cards is promoted at Kroger. I’ve got 2 DCL cruises coming up over the next 18 months.

 

[reliev]

Hopefully our 9 hour flight on United will have screens! That will be a long flight without it.

with AA I brought my tablet and was able to stream just like it was a seatback screen.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

Can I pull this off? My husband has 80k SW points earned this year. I already have a companion pass but we’re going to Hawaii and another would be really nice. If he applies for a SW business credit card today, the statement close date should be before 12/31, and as long as we hit the minimum spend on that window, he should get the SUB in time right? Should I try to pull this off? Thoughts? I know I need to act fast.

I would go for it….no guarantees but odds are the first statement will close in December…remember to use your support link

 

[Sheree]

Great Hilton points redemption!

I've been stalking the site to grab the Hilton Garden Inn Patriot Place for next summer's Kenny Chesney concert. Nothing was available from June on.

Last night snagged 2 rooms, 70k points each (standard), $ were over $1500! each. for those that have never been to an event at Gillette, it's a nightmare getting in or out. The hotel is at the end of the parking lot near a walking area with restaurants. usually get back in room and watch cars trying to leave for hours.

On a not so good note, drive thru checkers guy forgot to give me back my Ink . (dogs, food, crazy)
i have $300 to go to hit MSR by 12/15. hopefully I can use it for amazon without knowing my 3 digit code to hit it before reporting it lost and getting a new one.

still stalking FB for Oct ewr-cdg!

 

[afan]

After reading the reviews on the shark cordless vac I'd planned to get, I ended up spending a bit more than I had originally planned, used a gc and target rewards, to get the dyson cordless Target has on bf sale starting today for $250. Very happy with it so far.

 

[ten6mom]

For those of you who fly into Florida to get on a cruise ship... do you have a recommendation between ports?

I know to fly in the day before the cruise is supposed to leave, but I am thinking in terms of ease and cost of transportation from the airport to the hotel and from the hotel to the cruise terminal, and then from the cruise terminal to the airport.

I don't know the first thing about flying for a cruise; all the ones I've done are out of Southern California and we have always just driven from AZ.

 

[wannabee]

For those of you who fly into Florida to get on a cruise ship... do you have a recommendation between ports?

I know to fly in the day before the cruise is supposed to leave, but I am thinking in terms of ease and cost of transportation from the airport to the hotel and from the hotel to the cruise terminal, and then from the cruise terminal to the airport.

I don't know the first thing about flying for a cruise; all the ones I've done are out of Southern California and we have always just driven from AZ.

I love cruising out of Fort Lauderdale. The airport and cruise ports are very close and their are lots of great hotels with restaurants in walking distance.

 

[Crazed4DisneyinSC]

For those of you who fly into Florida to get on a cruise ship... do you have a recommendation between ports?

I know to fly in the day before the cruise is supposed to leave, but I am thinking in terms of ease and cost of transportation from the airport to the hotel and from the hotel to the cruise terminal, and then from the cruise terminal to the airport.

I don't know the first thing about flying for a cruise; all the ones I've done are out of Southern California and we have always just driven from AZ.

+1 for Fort Lauderdale if you are flying and won’t have a car. We cruised out of there in December last year. Stayed in a hotel less than 10 minutes from the port, (got their free shuttle from the airport), and there were lots of food options nearby we could walk to. Ubered to the port for less than $15. Our return flight was out of MIA airport, but we were able to take the rail in Fort Lauderdale straight to MIA airport easily.

We also like cruising from Cape Canaveral, although it’s much farther from the airport. We’ve mainly cruise out of Canaveral when we’re driving, as it’s closer to us than south Florida. We’ve stayed in the Holiday Inn resort cape canaveral on points, which is less than 5 minutes from the port. Although you need a car to get to restaurants and such (there’s nothing within walking distance), we loved staying at the hotel for a day prior to our cruise. They had a couple pools, lazy river, hot tub, and beach access. We were even able to view a rocket launch the morning we left!

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

I've gotta go back 100 pages I'm sure and catch up. But is anyone having issues w/ VGC at WM MC? I was loading $200 transaction. First one worked, second one errored out. I tried a different card, same thing. I thought maybe it was just a weird situation that day. I tried again yesterday same issue. Is the MC only working for $99 and below again? I have a few more VGC I need to cycle through. So I'm hoping I can do that this week!

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

Okay I made it through everything. I feel, like I'm just floating around these days lost, LOL. Sat (11/11) I flew to Vegas for my conference. Normally I get out, get around. But w/ F1, I didn't want to do too much. Sunday night we did the Magicians Secret which was awesome! Totally would spring for the front next time. Monday we did the Sphere show. It was pretty sweet. We sat in the 300 section just off center ($49/tickets). I'd say it was the perfect spot. Tuesday I presented at the conference. And then Tuesday night celebrated a bit too much! I ended up having to call a mobile IV nurse. As I handed him my credit card for the $350 charge I said, well at least I'm working on a credit card spend, LOL. I got back on Thursday night. Then Friday my BF had an overnight in Nashville, so I hopped on his flight to join him. I think I'll stay home this week. Delta actually will give family members high priority passes to join their pilot on the holidays. But he has a lot of flights, early mornings and long days. LOL. He hates I only go on the "fun" trips, LOL.

He's off the beginning of December, so I need to pick somewhere to go. I'm upset there aren't a lot of direct flights from DTW to warm places. So we'll likely end up back in Cancun. Will only be my 4th time this year. Either that or Vegas, which would be my 6th trip, LOL.

I got a flyer in the mail for the Hilton Surpass (i've only ever had the no fee Hilton Biz) for 170K points after spending $3K. Underneath it says "that's up to 4 free nights..."

Is this a particularly good offer, or just average/run of the mill? Any thoughts on how easy it is to find properties to be had for only 42.5K points a night?

I don't have any specific need for Hilton points but as I am learning, it's nice to have "currencies" here and there to make my little one- and two- night weekend trips less money out of pocket.

Personally, I wait for the FNC. We use them at hotels that are 90k/nt. So to me getting 130/150k + FNC is worth WAY more!

When I first upgraded a very old Everyday a couple years ago, it was the 40k offer. Kept it over a year, downgraded, and got the 40k offer again 2 weeks later. This time it's been 2 months since I downgraded. Hopefully I'll get the 40k offer again, but who knows.

I downgraded a year ago and haven't gotten an offer to upgrade again that's decent

People have asked about a good first card for college students, so I will share my nephew's experience this week. He turned 18 2 weeks ago and decided on a whim to stop by Chase and apply for a credit card (his checking acct is with Chase). He is technically still in HS, but attends a local Univ full time through a dual credit program. He knows my churning activities allow us to travel a lot, so he wanted to establish his credit and start earning pts. After I "fussed at him" (not really) because he didn't consult me first, he explained that the guy had him apply for a Freedom Rise card. The guy told him he would probably be denied because he doesn't have a credit score yet (he's currently got a score of 4 lol). So I added him as an AU on my Freedom Unlimited. Then he got the notice that he was approved for the Rise with a $500 limit. I looked it up and it's actually a decent first card. He got a $25 credit on his account, and it earns 1.5 UR on all purchases. The info page for the card says having a Chase checking acct with a balance of at least $250 helps with approval, and he did have that. I hadn't heard of the Rise, so hope this info is helpful to others with young adults in their family.

ETA: he also works part-time, so that may have helped him get the approval.

Thank you for mentioning this! I am in the process of looking for a card for my oldest DD. She's in her first year of college, has been an auth user on our amex cards for several years and has had a PT job of varying degrees for several years. I was considering adding her as an auth user on my freedom unlimited just so she could have a visa for the times that she is places that don't take amex. How long was your nephew an auth on your chase card before he applied? I'd like for her to have a card of her own, so that she can start building her own credit and in looking at this card it seems like its a good starter card.

I had my daughter do the Discover IT card. I had a referral that was $100 free for her and me! I think the offer is still out there We'll venture into Chase at some point. She has like an 817 credit score, LOL.

Congrats, that sounds awesome. I missed the signup for the Dublin dates by 1 day. Have friends that were able to get DUB tickets, so don’t know if it was easier or they got lucky. Was hoping to go with DS and fiancé (by then wife).

I think we’ve decided to postpone our 2024 Europe trip (I was waffling on itinerary/countries) and are going to focus on 2025.

I think your long range planning advice is good, I had been focused on our Ireland trip for years and everything was easy as windows opened for my planned itinerary. I was not at that stage for 2024.

That being said, we’re going to be opportunistic if something fun pops up next year and works for points. We have a Zion/Bryce/Vegas (U2 at The Sphere) soon and a Jan trip to Key West, but will sit tight until something actually makes sense.

Congrats again!

Try and catch the regular show during the day there if you can!

 

[leeniewdw]

Monday we did the Sphere show. It was pretty sweet. We sat in the 300 section just off center ($49/tickets). I'd say it was the perfect spot. Tuesday I presented at the conference. Either that or Vegas, which would be my 6th trip, LOL.

[snip]



Try and catch the regular show during the day there if you can!

We've thought about doing the regular sphere show our 2nd day, after the U2 show the night before. We've decided to just wing that day. We've thought about trying to get tickets to the NBA "in season" tournament that has semifinals that day, we've thought about Barry Manilow because it seems like a nice vegas thing to do, lol, or a Cirque show, but we're just going to see how we feel and go with that. This is our first time ever in Vegas, so we'll see how it unfolds!

Our tickets for the U2 show is the lower part of the 300s. I've read that the 200/300 level is "best" for the experience so I'm hoping that's true.

We're doing 3 nights in Zion before the Vegas segment, with a day trip to Bryce. First time for either for DH and first time since I was about 8 for me.

 

[Crazed4DisneyinSC]

Does Chase ever run Black Friday deals on their travel portal? Like to book activities or rental cars with URs, have they ever ran discounts during BF/Cyber Monday? I need to book our Costa Rica activities, but wondering if I should wait to see if any special promos happen, or if the UR prices typically remain the same...

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

We've thought about doing the regular sphere show our 2nd day, after the U2 show the night before. We've decided to just wing that day. We've thought about trying to get tickets to the NBA "in season" tournament that has semifinals that day, we've thought about Barry Manilow because it seems like a nice vegas thing to do, lol, or a Cirque show, but we're just going to see how we feel and go with that. This is our first time ever in Vegas, so we'll see how it unfolds!

Our tickets for the U2 show is the lower part of the 300s. I've read that the 200/300 level is "best" for the experience so I'm hoping that's true.

We're doing 3 nights in Zion before the Vegas segment, with a day trip to Bryce. First time for either for DH and first time since I was about 8 for me.

Like I said, this was my 5th trip this year, LOL. And I used to live there. I'll bleed Maize and Blue till I die (and I am an alum) but my undergrad is actually from UNLV, LOL.

Not sure how soon you're going, but I'm going to guess it's still be a mess post F1. If you like the Beatles, LOVE is amazing at Hard Rock (Mirage). Also not sure how old you are, since that will change what I would suggest. I know my BF is sad he hasn't had a trip to Vegas since April. And the plane he flies now doesn't go to Vegas. So maybe I'll be making trip #6 sooner than later, LOL.

 

[leeniewdw]

Question about Vegas and Bellagio/FHR stay. We're staying at the Bellagio using the Amex Plat FHR. On departure day, our flight is very early (no good routes back to RDU for whatever reason and we decided not to deal with the red eye). I think we're supposed to get a free breakfast as part of FHR. I understand it's pretty loose on what constitutes "breakfast", but I'm presuming the credit need to be applied each day. Is there some sort of grab/go place we could use at the Bellagio before leaving for airport (around 5am I'm guessing)?

 

[leeniewdw]

Like I said, this was my 5th trip this year, LOL. And I used to live there. I'll bleed Maize and Blue till I die (and I am an alum) but my undergrad is actually from UNLV, LOL.

Not sure how soon you're going, but I'm going to guess it's still be a mess post F1. If you like the Beatles, LOVE is amazing at Hard Rock (Mirage). Also not sure how old you are, since that will change what I would suggest. I know my BF is sad he hasn't had a trip to Vegas since April. And the plane he flies now doesn't go to Vegas. So maybe I'll be making trip #6 sooner than later, LOL.

We're old. I like to say "late 50s" but we both rolled over to a new decade in the last month. I have read that LOVE is great.

We will arrive back in Vegas on 12/6. So I'm hoping there's some progress on getting things cleaned up, but guessing it's not back to normal at all.

 

[Princess Michele]

@LynnTH We are looking into a Greece cruise for 2025 and I know you did one earlier this year. I looked back at your posts all I couuld find was that you liked your itinerary but not the ship. What ship did you sail on and what Greek ports did you go to? Thanks.