I love credit cards so much!

[LuckyMamaInDE]

I don't think I'm ever going to get caught up but I just had to tell you all I booked my flight for next spring/summer to South Africa- And by that I mean I decided I AM freaking going to the Seychelles first! Because points guys! I've got them I might was well spend them before the next rule changes on me! And while I'm gonna be solo in the Seychelles I love a beautiful beach so I'm super excited!!

I gave up on getting a q-suite flight when I found space on LAX-DOH with Qatar, a positioning flight to LAX will be easy for me to get pretty cheap, and I have about 8 hours in DOH before I connect to a flight to SEZ. All in business class!! First call to AA in the US got me booked, the guy knew what he was doing and 75k AA miles and $15 later I've got my flight to the Seychelles in QR business class! Even though it's not q-suite the biz class is supposed to be nice even in the old 2-2-2 layout. Now to book my SEZ-JNB flight once I get hold of my ThankYou Premier points and pick a hotel!! I plan on transferring TY to Etihad for booking air seychelles direct. No availability in biz right now but I can handle 5 hours in economy if I have to. It'll make my biz/first Cathay flights from JNB-HKG-LAX all the better

How awesome! I can't wait to see pictures of your entire trip! We had a woman from the Seychelles stay with us for a short period this summer (on a State Dept exchange thingy with the university here)---she showed us pictures of her islands and they are just so beautiful I hope you have a lovely trip!

 

[Haley R]

I was out all day and when I came home my fancy box and wooden phone holder and card were here waiting for me. DH doesn't remember what came with his AMEX platinum card (it's been 7 years since he received his - shun us if you want) and looked a bit jealous. Now I just have to make sure this card pays for itself.



Nice! Another trip! I am very jealous of your airfare. We are lucky if it's under $600 from here, per person. Maybe it's better though since the price and the long flights keep me from booking return trips to WDW too often? Have a magical trip! I booked those surfing lessons for my DD years ago - so much fun!



I see many people answered already, but I'll throw my 2 cents in anyway. I wasn't willing to settle for 60K. 75K not likely. It takes around 120K MR or more to book the kind of flights we like (overseas, business or first class), and 60K isn't close enough to that for me. Plus it kills me when there is a great offer out there and I'm settling for half of it. But really it depends on how soon you need those points, how many you need, and what you want to do with them. If I only needed 70 or so and I needed them soon I might take a lesser offer.



Back when my DD was little we use to buy her pins as souvenirs of our WDW trips. Usually one from each park and one from the resorts (we usually do split stays) we stayed at. She didn't trade them, and doesn't want any now that she is older, but they are still on display in her room. Happy memories.



So our MSRs were done in August, and DH went ahead and pushed payment on both accounts so that they are paid up at this point. Last he checked the bonuses weren't even showing up as pending, just the points from the spend. Another DP for you. I'll update if anything changes.

And that’s exactly why we haven’t gone to DL yet lol. It’s always so much cheaper to fly to Orlando. We really shouldn’t be taking this many trips with our Japan trip coming up but we almost can’t help ourselves! It seems backwards but we want to take a lot of these trips before having kids because it’ll be awhile before we can take them with after having them.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

And that’s exactly why we haven’t gone to DL yet lol. It’s always so much cheaper to fly to Orlando. We really shouldn’t be taking this many trips with our Japan trip coming up but we almost can’t help ourselves! It seems backwards but we want to take a lot of these trips before having kids because it’ll be awhile before we can take them with after having them.

It’s much less expensive for us to fly to Orlando as well since we are on the east coast...but I had never been to WDW until we had kids..my son now 30..went for the first time when he was 3 months old....I haven’t kept track but he’s been at least once a year since and now lives in Orlando

 

[miztressuz]

I don't know how to link to individual comments, but I got a kick out of one of the questions on the r/churning Daily Question Thread. Not that infertility is ever a laughing matter, but someone said they were about to spend 20k on fertility treatments and asked for a recommendation on what card to get. Someone asked what their goals were and another person responded "children."



Sorry, I don't know why that made me laugh.

...and /u/boughtathinkpad just made their /r/churningreferrals karma quota for the quarter...

 

[miztressuz]

And that’s exactly why we haven’t gone to DL yet lol. It’s always so much cheaper to fly to Orlando. We really shouldn’t be taking this many trips with our Japan trip coming up but we almost can’t help ourselves! It seems backwards but we want to take a lot of these trips before having kids because it’ll be awhile before we can take them with after having them.

kids under 3 are practically free at Disney, probably the cheapest time to take them... just sayin'

 

[Albort]

Is it really 7 years? Didn't know that.

@Albort - is that 7 years from when you close the card or 7 years after opening the card?

card closed... ymmv.
"There are some reports out there that American Express considers a lifetime 7 years. If you haven’t had the card in over 7 years you may be able to get it again."
Source: https://milestomemories.boardingare...s-difference-between-credit-and-charge-cards/

 

[tink1970]

Hi Tink or anyone else who might be able to clarify the statement bolded and underlined above. This was from waaayyyy back in 2017. Is that still a thing? I'm thinking not as I haven't seen it mentioned recently, but just checking - thanks

If you are a Platinum or Diamond Medallion member with Delta then yes, you can redeposit/cancel award tickets with no fee. I'm nothing if not consistent, I think I mentioned that perk (and my savings with it) a couple of days ago. Unfortunately with Delta/Platinum/Amex there are a lot of "Platinum" titles floating around...this is for Skymiles members with status not cards (although the cards can help earn status!).

Are MQM's based on mileage or legs or dollars? Is there a specific ration like 1 MQM per flight mile?

MQMs are medallion (status) qualification miles and are based on fare bucket and distance, basically. Every segment has a min of 500 mqms (so PNS to ATL is 500 if you're in economy/ecomfort) and there is a 50% bonus for business/first. So if I needed 1500 mqms to make plat I'd just fly to ATL and back in first. I estimate 10,000 or so MQMs when I fly to Europe in economy comfort, although Ireland is a little less and Central/Eastern Europe is a little more. Flying first to Australia should earn around 22,000 round trip.

The credit card earn is 10,000 MQM with a amex dl plat for $25,000, then an additional 10,000 mqms for $50,000; reserve is 15,000 mqms for $30,000 spend with another 15,000 with $60,000 spend (calendar year).

I think this has been mentioned but I don't recall the answer, do you just have the year to use the companion cert?

I think it's about 13 months or so...I earned one in May or June 2018 and it expires 7/31/2019. There's a place on the website once you log in that has a list of them even if they are used or expired.

It seems backwards but we want to take a lot of these trips before having kids because it’ll be awhile before we can take them with after having them.

Not backwards...smart

 

[miztressuz]

PSA for folks with Citi cards. It seems like they're trying a support links program. People can see options to generate links, but in true Citi IT fashion, the actual link doesn't happen. Noticed mentions the last couple days on reddit and DoC posted it today with some details: https://www.doctorofcredit.com/ymmv...le-cash-thankyou-and-american-airlines-cards/

The first comment on the post took the words right out of my mouth. But who knows they may surprise everyone and get it running in time for the holiday rush.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Okay frontier is taunting us...$39 flights one way to Orlando?! How could we not take that? I think it’s safe to say we will most likely be going back to wdw in December. I’m seriously kicking myself for not getting APs this year but we thought we would be going once this year and now we are up to four...

They are still taunting me for our pre-cruise flights too. And I found out if I go buy them at the airport I can save $19 per ticket for some crazy fee they have. I am trying to patiently wait for SW to come down, but am about to give up hope and take Frontier there and Delta home.

 

[kmc8826]

I think this has been mentioned but I don't recall the answer, do you just have the year to use the companion cert?

It is actually a little more than a year. I.e. annual fee posts in June (and that’s when certificate is deposited) and I have until end of August to make flight. You don’t get a certificate until the end of the first year though. You can see it in your Delta Wallet and book your ticket through there. Even the cheapest cash prices of most flights I can get are at least $200 so I look at the $195 AF as paying for itself.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

I think it's the AMEX deal that end Monday (9/17)

Guess I can go Sat, Sun, Mon. $100 day.

 

[SBWB48]

Shoot, the Swagbucks deal ends Monday? I was going to do some on the Chase Pay deal...

I think it's the AMEX deal that end Monday (9/17)

Sorry I made that confusing...it's the Amex offer I was referring to that expires 9/17. The SB offer seems like it's here to stay, especially with the devaluation.

Just finished my amex lux spend by paying my water bill and overpaying my electric bill. I already had a credit on my electric of about $28 and I added another $600 to that so I won't owe electric until after Xmas. Total fees for both transactions 1.75 and 1.95 so 3.70 to get it finished. Obviously I could have made the spend without any fees, but I just wanted it out of my hair! August 23rd apply to September 14 finish. I did have to snail mail the one payment with my credit card details, so that may hold things up until it posts. So, I'll keep using this card as well as 2 others for the next few weeks until things shake out.

Edit: checked and CMS has my Medicare payment pending on my Amex! That was fast! Spend is secured!!!!!!

Should get my points next week sometime.

This is me. I could in theory stretch it out to the full 3 months, but somehow I always feel like it's a sprint with MSRs...and it's not like I need the points right this second either...but it's like I'm conditioned to want it done within the first month or two Generally, my fees aren't anything crazy, if any; either VGC/MCGC fees (even better when they are a wash with grocery store fuel points or discount deals) or small convenience fees like yours for prepaying utilities. Part of it is because I think I want to maximize category bonus and as @Lain put it previously oh so well, I want to minimize my opportunity costs, so I rather MS the MSRs if I can, apart from prepaying normal household expenses (insurance, HOA, utilities, etc.).

@SBWB48 - or anyone else that may be interested: I was in my Lux account so much today that I noticed I had gotten 3095 points posted. So I hopped on over to look at my Marriott account. For SPG Lux hotel spend I got 960 points. Of course I only spent $300 on the gift card. So I'm not getting the math here. Any ideas? I also had base spend and dining/travel points, but the hotel spend number is making me wonder if somehow the $60 credit generated points?

I wish I could give you a DP, but my statement hasn't closed yet, so no points haven posted. But that math does sound off because hotel spend should be 6x and even discounting the $60 credit, $240 should translate to 1440 Marriott points...will report back once I see points in my account.

 

[mmmears]

And that’s exactly why we haven’t gone to DL yet lol. It’s always so much cheaper to fly to Orlando. We really shouldn’t be taking this many trips with our Japan trip coming up but we almost can’t help ourselves! It seems backwards but we want to take a lot of these trips before having kids because it’ll be awhile before we can take them with after having them.

Not to be a Disney enabler, but we all know when you should go to Disneyland. Don't you have a trip to LA coming up?

 

[Lain]

And that’s exactly why we haven’t gone to DL yet lol. It’s always so much cheaper to fly to Orlando. We really shouldn’t be taking this many trips with our Japan trip coming up but we almost can’t help ourselves! It seems backwards but we want to take a lot of these trips before having kids because it’ll be awhile before we can take them with after having them.

We took DD on her first trip to Disneyland at 3 months. She’s probably been back 20 times since. Traveling with a newborn is way easier than traveling with a toddler! (But newborns also tend to need more “stuff.”)

 

[wendow]

Took 3 days for Barclays to send an email for the AABiz DH got. I didn’t tell him until after the email came since I was like, hmm maybe not approved

Maybe I only think I remember Amex sending an email immediately upon approval. I still haven't received one.

 

[wendow]

And that’s exactly why we haven’t gone to DL yet lol. It’s always so much cheaper to fly to Orlando. We really shouldn’t be taking this many trips with our Japan trip coming up but we almost can’t help ourselves! It seems backwards but we want to take a lot of these trips before having kids because it’ll be awhile before we can take them with after having them.

We traveled to Disney with babies. It's actually really easy and they are free Nothing like baby and character pics!

 

[Judique]

Maybe I only think I remember Amex sending an email immediately upon approval. I still haven't received one.

I've had 2 amex apps since July 31 and neither generated an email on the immediate approval. Everything was pretty much spelled out when they said 'you are approved'! (Plus the rest of the jibberjabber)

 

[wendow]

@Alice Sr. Just waving hi Nice to see you back, my friend!

 

[wendow]

I've had 2 amex apps since July 31 and neither generated an email on the immediate approval. Everything was pretty much spelled out when they said 'you are approved'! (Plus the rest of the jibberjabber)

I must be remembering wrong then. I just felt so odd not receiving an email. Either way, I'm so excited to get my new card

 

[CyndiLouWho]

They're gonna need all the points they can get for that extra plane seat. If it "takes" more successfully than expected, they may need more seats and even a suite at hotels.

Well, they generally limit you, but my sister did get twins so went from 1kid to 3 under 3