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

[jujubiee4]

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.

Which port?

 

[Explore]

Can someone confirm if this is how AirBnb works? This is my first time booking through them. I have a rental in mind that's around $2000, and I have $1000 in gift cards loaded to my account. However when I go to book, it takes the $1000 as a credit and asks for the remaining $1000 balance to either be paid in full or half, so another $500 needs to be paid with credit card. I was hoping the gift cards covered half the cost of the rental already and I'd have time to collect another $1k before the rest of the payment is due but looks like I have to have the full amount ready if I only want to use gift cards.

Something similar happened to me 2 weeks ago. I had enough in gift cards to cover the deposit but when I went to pay they still wanted some from a credit card. From now on I will just have the full amount in gift cards ready to go.

 

[platamama]

I feel I should know the answer to this question. Does a Chase offer stack with the current 5% PayPal category on the Freedom? Meaning I can get both the 5xUR and the Chase offer for a particular merchant like Best Buy where I can pay via PayPal?

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

Thanks for the info, I did a search on r/awardtravel and didn’t see it mentioned but didn’t check r/churning.

I did see it as an issue for others in r/churning over the past few days. By calling in they were able to complete the transfers, so it's an online issue.

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

Hey guys, be careful out there. I clicked through this link that purported to be American Airlines (first sponsored ad*), aa.com and it was a scam site. But I do feel like some people would be tricked by "our website is undergoing maintenance. Call us to book or change your flight." In fact I do feel like I've read reports of people who have called these phone numbers and were forced to pay change or cancel fees, and of course, nothing was ever actually changed with the airline. The scammers have to be paying a ton for this sponsored ad, you'd think they'd get the formatting of a phone number correct.







*It's very common for businesses to sponsor ads of their own keywords now, because legit competitors will pull potential traffic if they don't.

 

[NewbieMom]

I'm confused. We used 3 different Airbnbs in the summer for our trip to Ireland and I don't recall this happening and I did use GCs for some of the cost. Hmm, maybe I made the deposit in CC and used GCs for the balance? I recall being worried because there was a different issue having to pay the balance using the same method of payment as the deposit (that's not what happened for me, so that has changed). But, boy I thought I'd used GCs for deposits too.

@NewbieMom , maybe you could pay the deposit via CC and then the balance with the GCs?

In my situation, it doesn't make sense to pay the deposit (50% of rental) via cc. It would be the full half of the rental that I don't have gift cards for yet. $2k rental, 50% deposit = $1k on cc versus I already have $1k in gc, if I pay 50% on cc at booking, it would be $500.

But I'll definitely make sure I have the full amount in gc upfront from now on.

 

[NewbieMom]

Hey guys, be careful out there. I clicked through this link that purported to be American Airlines (first sponsored ad*), aa.com and it was a scam site. But I do feel like some people would be tricked by "our website is undergoing maintenance. Call us to book or change your flight." In fact I do feel like I've read reports of people who have called these phone numbers and were forced to pay change or cancel fees, and of course, nothing was ever actually changed with the airline. The scammers have to be paying a ton for this sponsored ad, you'd think they'd get the formatting of a phone number correct.

View attachment 812475



View attachment 812477

*It's very common for businesses to sponsor ads of their own keywords now, because legit competitors will pull potential traffic if they don't.

Please report this to the search engine! I remember something similar happened with the visa gift card registration site. Some scammer made a sponsored ad at the top, and probably got a lot of vgc #s from those not aware.

 

[LadyBeBop]

Having a problem registering a Visa Gift Card.
It’s a $200 Blackhawk MC, bought at Staples a couple of weeks ago when they had a no-activation-fee special. I immediately put about $82 in spend in it.

I went online to try to register it, and I get an error message: “unable to process your request at this time,” and tells me to call the number on the card. I called the number in the card, and it just told me to register the card online. With no way to speak to a live person. Tried registering online with no success; tried calling with no success.

Since I already spent on the card, is it impossible to register it? I’m doing this on a smartphone. Should I try a computer instead?

I want to use the remaining balance for online shopping, but I can’t right now.

Having a problem registering a Visa Gift Card.
It’s a $200 Blackhawk MC, bought at Staples a couple of weeks ago when they had a no-activation-fee special. I immediately put about $82 in spend in it.

I went online to try to register it, and I get an error message: “unable to process your request at this time,” and tells me to call the number on the card. I called the number in the card, and it just told me to register the card online. With no way to speak to a live person. Tried registering online with no success; tried calling with no success.

Since I already spent on the card, is it impossible to register it? I’m doing this on a smartphone. Should I try a computer instead?

I want to use the remaining balance for online shopping, but I can’t right now.

Replying to my own post. I was able to register using a computer.

 

[becauseimnew]

Hey guys, be careful out there. I clicked through this link that purported to be American Airlines (first sponsored ad*), aa.com and it was a scam site. But I do feel like some people would be tricked by "our website is undergoing maintenance. Call us to book or change your flight." In fact I do feel like I've read reports of people who have called these phone numbers and were forced to pay change or cancel fees, and of course, nothing was ever actually changed with the airline. The scammers have to be paying a ton for this sponsored ad, you'd think they'd get the formatting of a phone number correct.

View attachment 812475



View attachment 812477

*It's very common for businesses to sponsor ads of their own keywords now, because legit competitors will pull potential traffic if they don't.

another note is not to use google for phone numbers, always go to the official website or even better the app.

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

Please report this to the search engine! I remember something similar happened with the visa gift card registration site. Some scammer made a sponsored ad at the top, and probably got a lot of vgc #s from those not aware.

Yes, I did report it to the search engine immediately. I also tried to report it to AA, but they did not make it easy, so I gave up on that and since it was the middle of the night, I felt I'd already done my part.

another note is not to use google for phone numbers, always go to the official website or even better the app.

That is a good reminder as well.

 

[afan]

DoC reporting the IRS thing for $600 is delayed until at least 2025. Hoping it's been discussed enough to know what this us, they explain it way better.

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

Allbirds, which has some of my favorite travel shoes, is having an up to 70% off sale on specific colors and styles. I would use the sale dropdown to find them. Be sure to use a shopping portal as well.

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

Having a problem registering a Visa Gift Card.
It’s a $200 Blackhawk MC, bought at Staples a couple of weeks ago when they had a no-activation-fee special. I immediately put about $82 in spend in it.

I went online to try to register it, and I get an error message: “unable to process your request at this time,” and tells me to call the number on the card. I called the number in the card, and it just told me to register the card online. With no way to speak to a live person. Tried registering online with no success; tried calling with no success.

Since I already spent on the card, is it impossible to register it? I’m doing this on a smartphone. Should I try a computer instead?

I want to use the remaining balance for online shopping, but I can’t right now.

I see that you got it to work on your computer, so, yay!

For future reference, I'll have this happen and usually switching to incognito mode solves it.

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

@palhockeymomof2 @miztressuz @platamama @wanderlust7

I have a new SW rapid rewards plus personal card with the first due date of Dec 26. I think from what you've previously posted, I should expect the first statement closing date to be Dec 1? I actually want these points to post in 2023, so it's important I get this right. P2 just needs this one card to have CP for next year, so this makes the most sense for us. Thanks for any confirmation you can provide.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

@palhockeymomof2 @miztressuz @platamama @wanderlust7

I have a new SW rapid rewards plus personal card with the first due date of Dec 26. I think from what you've previously posted, I should expect the first statement closing date to be Dec 1? I actually want these points to post in 2023, so it's important I get this right. P2 just needs this one card to have CP for next year, so this makes the most sense for us. Thanks for any confirmation you can provide.

Yes that looks right 12/1 it should close

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

1- Loading $99 worked at WM MC! So I guess I just have 4 more trips to WM in the next few days, LOL.

2- How fast do the Marriott FNC post? Chase confirmed I hit the spend. I think my statement closes today. We're trying to possibly plan a quick trip somewhere next week for a few nights. While we don't really want to go to Cancun for trip #4 this year (LOL) it might be our only warm weather option.

 

[Princess Michele]

Not LynnTH, but we also went on a cruise there this summer, so I thought I'd chime in in case you want more opinions. We went with DCL and had stops at Kefalonia, Athens (Piraeus), and Santorini.

DCL would be a great choice but they are rather pricey. I guess when their 2025 European itineraries come out we could take a look to see if they have something we like better. We have gotten spoiled by the DCL cruises we have been on.

We were on RCCL Enchantment of the Seas. Just not much to do on the ship and not much variety in different eating places. (I'm used to the bigger ships with more variety) Here was our itinerary:
Rome - Stayed here a few days prior
Amalfi Coast
Sicily
Santorini
Ephesus
Mykonos
Athens - Stayed here a few days after cruise.

The Gyros are amazing. I don't eat them here because they are mostly lamb. Over there they are chicken and beef and they have French fries in them. So good and less than $4 - crazy!!

We are looking at the Celebrity Infinity. It is an older, smaller ship and does not have a lot of dining options. As long as the food is good in either the main dining room or the buffet we will be fine. I am also making my selection based on the itinerary rather than the ship. I am having a hard time deciding on which ports would be the best to visit. Santorini, Ephesus, and Mykonos are on both itineraries we are considering. One adds Hydra and Rhodes and the other one adds Volos and Thessaloniki. We will spend some days after the cruise in Greece and maybe Rome and I need to try not to plan too much. I am asuming that we will spend most of our time on port days ashore so we do not need a lot of things to do on the ship itself.

Thanks for the information on the Gyros. My DD is planning on eating many on the trip.

 

[platamama]

@palhockeymomof2 @miztressuz @platamama @wanderlust7

I have a new SW rapid rewards plus personal card with the first due date of Dec 26. I think from what you've previously posted, I should expect the first statement closing date to be Dec 1? I actually want these points to post in 2023, so it's important I get this right. P2 just needs this one card to have CP for next year, so this makes the most sense for us. Thanks for any confirmation you can provide.

That looks right to me. On my personal SW card, it has a due date on the 28th, and the closing date is the 3rd. So if yours has a due date of the 26th (2 days earlier than mine) then I'd expect the closing date to be the 1st (2 days earlier than mine). Glad to see @palhockeymomof2 concurs.

 

[kmc8826]

Does anyone have/done a Barclay card with a signup bonus? I spent the 1k on the Jetblue card I didn't get the bonus Im assuming it's after I make the payment?

I think under the terms of the offer the bonus posts on payment of AF.

To do the Delta match to Mosaic I considered the personal card but ended up getting the business.

 

[miztressuz]

@palhockeymomof2 @miztressuz @platamama @wanderlust7

I have a new SW rapid rewards plus personal card with the first due date of Dec 26. I think from what you've previously posted, I should expect the first statement closing date to be Dec 1? I actually want these points to post in 2023, so it's important I get this right. P2 just needs this one card to have CP for next year, so this makes the most sense for us. Thanks for any confirmation you can provide.

I see shopping in your future this weekend

I concur, that seems right to me. I'd just be sure your purchases post a couple days before statement since you only have one shot to get it right. Chase has been really good recently with quickly pending the points for the statement, usually by the next day. But I'd be worried if my over the top transaction posted the day before statement close.