I love credit cards so much!

[hsmamato2]

Ok I need advice on two specific cards.... I want both the Barclays AAdvantage aviator AND the arrival+....is that an impossible dream? I already have the Barclays JB card (one year) I think I've read they're stingy with their approvals? which one is more valuable overall? the AA has 1 purchase/50k miles + $99 companion cert- the arrival has 5k/60k offer waived af...... I like them both, wondering which is a better bonus deal? and If I got the AA now, what are my odds of getting the arrival in a few months?

 

[miztressuz]

So Chase IT continues to move towards matching Citi's - not really a competition you want to win there. Got a notice of a new SM in my PERSONAL accounts about BUSINESS card changes There is somewhere in the bowels of their IT systems that has my personal email/account still associated with the CIC but it's nothing I can see to change.

I'm not even sure what new about the enhancements, I thought I saw all or most of this on the site already so I guess it's just some minor changes (or I'm confusing sites again).

Starting in December, your business card account delivers new online and in-app features.

• View pending transaction status.
• Clearly see purchases associated with specific cards on your account (last 4 digits of card shown on each transaction).
• Use expense categories that are more aligned to businesses.
• Add a longer memo to your transaction details (up to 200 characters).
• Filter and view transactions for the last 24 months of statements.
• Download Quarterly Reports with the new expense categories.
• Use the new Spend Report that features year-end summary and year-to-date filters with expense categories.

NOTE: If you need to retain any memos or expense categories, you must download them before the changes listed above take effect on December 9, 2018.
​

So nothing very useful for us "businesses" and seems only slightly more useful for an actual business, or an account with actual employees.

Side note - am I completely missing the SM center in the Chase app or does it not exist there? I thought I saw it there before but couldn't find it when I tried to read the message.

 

[schmass]

@miztressuz Same thing happened to me! I got the email and saw that it was about Business card changes, so I logged into my Chase business account. I was confused when there were no SMs,so I logged into my personal account, and there it was!

 

[platamama]

I ended up booking on AA. I was using UR points through the Chase portal, and price/number of points needed was the same.

Now I'm not sure about the seat assignment though. It appears that you have to pay to choose seats in advance on BA, even when you book a Main Cabin (not Basic) Economy fare. That wasn't really clear from the Chase Portal, and there was no way to add on a pre-paid seat assignment anyway. I can pull up my reservation on AA's website using the confirmation # from Chase, but when I click to choose seats it redirects me to BA's site & the BA site can't find my reservation. I'll try it again tomorrow.

DW isn't going to be happy if we can't all sit together. It does say on BA's site that if you are traveling with children age 2-11 (which we are), they will allocate you seats a few days prior to departure. It also says that they try to keep your whole group together but in the event this is not possible, each child will be seated with at least one adult from their party.

Does anyone have experience with this type of thing with transatlantic flights? We're spoiled by Jet Blue where you get to choose your seat in advance for free. I don't really think I have a choice here though, unless I cancel the booking through Chase, book direct & pay for seat assignments, and have to cash out way more points to cover it. The flights were $2,300 but I only had to use 153,000 UR points through the CSR.

I remember worrying about the same problem with BA when we flew in 2015. I booked Business class with Avios, paid over $450pp in taxes/fees (one-way) because it was BA, and even that did not come with seat assignments. I ended up deciding as long as one of us was with DD it was ok with me, so I did not pay for seat assignments for DH, DD(10 at the time), and me - as it turned out we ended up all seated together anyway. We might have just been lucky, since if other passengers paid for a specific seat then they would obviously get it. We ended up in the last row of J class, middle section, those must have been the least desirable.

Do you have a credit card with an airline incidental credit that you could use to pay for seat selection (Amex Plat, Biz Plat, Gold, CSR, BoAPR, several others)?

As for earning in-flight miles in OneWorld, between BA and AA I prefer AA for a couple reasons.

1. I can easily transfer URs and MRs to BA, but not to AA. Thus I can access Avios easily, but not AA miles (I've gotten AA credit cards but I haven't done the graavy train).
2. I can book BA flights with sAAver miles (but pay the exorbitant taxes and fees - really only "worth" it for award tickets in J or F). I can only book AA flights with Avios if sAAver fares are available. I don't live near an AA hub, so that function is of limited use to me, since I would have to pay for 2+ legs and since BA is distance-based per leg, that might be more costly with Avios.

 

[Jax1023]

Refresh my memory- if I apply for a sw biz today how soon can I get the regular sw card?

I’m hoping for a companion pass next year. While the new offers don’t really help and as I’ll likely qualify by spending 6k in addition to the biz bonus and ms before 4K a mid year infusions of 20k rr points would be nice.

 

[Psychodisney]

Refresh my memory- if I apply for a sw biz today how soon can I get the regular sw card?

I’m hoping for a companion pass next year. While the new offers don’t really help and as I’ll likely qualify by spending 6k in addition to the biz bonus and ms before 4K a mid year infusions of 20k rr points would be nice.

I applied approx 30 days apart.

 

[Albort]

Refresh my memory- if I apply for a sw biz today how soon can I get the regular sw card?

I’m hoping for a companion pass next year. While the new offers don’t really help and as I’ll likely qualify by spending 6k in addition to the biz bonus and ms before 4K a mid year infusions of 20k rr points would be nice.

there's not much special instructions when applying to business cards and personal card for SW. if u want to double dip the 2 personal SW card, then there are specific instructions.

other than that, the advice is to meet msr in 2019 and not 2018.

 

[wanderlust7]

Yeah, my kids will be 6 and 10. When we fly domestic we usually sit 1 adult with the 2 kids and the other adult across the aisle or in the row behind, so I’m fine sitting with both kids. It’s an overnight flight so hopefully they will sleep for most of it anyway.

Are you flying to London? The taxes/fees on those flights are so ridiculous. I’m glad I had enough UR points to cover all 4 of ours.

We're flying from Aberdeen, Scotland, connecting through London Heathrow. I think the departure taxes from Heathrow are especially high. The BA because-we-can fee was $100 each. They're the exact flights that work best with our itinerary though, so I had to bite the bullet. When I booked I thought, well, at least I don't have to pay for meals or seats. HA!

 

[GlamMistress]

Wait, did you guys see the massive new Spark cash bonus? You can get 200,000 miles ($2k) but you need to be able to push $50k in 6 months. Way above my limit but I know a couple of you here can do it. Eye popping.

https://onemileatatime.com/best-bonus-spark-business/

 

[hsmamato2]

Congrats on hanging tough! This is the year I'm making DH call and pc his CSR, I swear. My DH is a lovely and intelligent man but spontaneous verbal communications are not his thing...he cannot order through a drive through without making an error so I cannot imagine how a PC call is going to go

My Dh likes to talk too much I always provide a script that he's supposed to stick to and then the whole call is me waving furiously to get him to stop providing information like...."no, please read me all the terms and exclusions" and " well, I have a card that has a better bonus that my wife says we should be using" or " No, I wasn't aware of tall the resaons why I should be keeping this card after all,please do go on" and things like that......and then telling me about all the reasons the rep said he should keep/drop a card or whatever like it's new info to me

 

[hsmamato2]

I only know the answer to this one. The answer is, they literally just need to be deposited. There is no holding requirement. If you move the entire $25k in one shot, you will likely see the bonus pending within a couple business days. Discover is super easy and pays fast. If you're moving the same funds in and out to get to a cumulative $25k, you can initiate the transfer back out as soon as the funds post to Discover.

am I reading this right? I could move 1k in and out of discover 25x to hit that 25k and get a bonus???

 

[vanjust14]

Just want to thank @MrPTato for the info on getting MO at Stop and Shop! SO MUCH easier than Walmart. 3 swipes and the amount just auto deducts and no interaction with cashier needed. She didn't bat an eye. This is great!

 

[hsmamato2]

SW cards got their higher sign up offer but as I think we feared it's a tiered offer like the Priority card launch. Slightly better spend though, only need 12k in the first year for the extra 20k RR points.

Same offer for all 3 cards, 40k after 1k in 3months; 20k after 12k in 1 yr. Has a 1/9/19 expiration date showing. Can find it right on the SW site. Hopefully the 50k inflight offer sticks around.

so the offer is essentially the same,except you can get more if you spend more? unless you get the inflight deal

 

[Alexle2007]

am I reading this right? I could move 1k in and out of discover 25x to hit that 25k and get a bonus???

I don’t think that will work since I believe you are limited to 6 transactions/transfers a month and there is barely a month to make the deposits. You would need to do at least 5k.

ETA: Here’s the language:
You have made 0 of 6 limited transactions this month. Learn more about Transaction Limitations.Tooltip opens a modal dialog


Transaction Limitations

• There are no limits on the number of ATM withdrawals or Official Checks requested and mailed to you.
• Money Market and Savings accounts are limited by Federal Law to a combined total of 6 of certain types of withdrawals or transfers per calendar month per account.
• If you exceed these limitations in any calendar month, an Excessive Withdrawal fee may be assessed or we may choose to not process or pay your withdrawal or transfer request.
• If you exceed these limitations on more than an occasional basis, your account may be closed. See your Account Agreement for more details.

 

[wendow]

SW cards got their higher sign up offer but as I think we feared it's a tiered offer like the Priority card launch. Slightly better spend though, only need 12k in the first year for the extra 20k RR points.

Same offer for all 3 cards, 40k after 1k in 3months; 20k after 12k in 1 yr. Has a 1/9/19 expiration date showing. Can find it right on the SW site. Hopefully the 50k inflight offer sticks around.

I am so hoping we still have the in-flight 50k offers Been waiting for months to go for this and I fly in two days! Why, southwest, why!?!?!?

 

[striker1064]

am I reading this right? I could move 1k in and out of discover 25x to hit that 25k and get a bonus???

Nope. It's a savings account, so you're limited to 6 withdrawals per month. Discover also has a time limit on when the $25k must be received, and given the time ACH processing takes, you wouldn't even be close to meeting the time requirement if you did $1k at a time.

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

I am so hoping we still have the in-flight 50k offers Been waiting for months to go for this and I fly in two days! Why, southwest, why!?!?!?

same

 

[amalone1013]

I am so hoping we still have the in-flight 50k offers Been waiting for months to go for this and I fly in two days! Why, southwest, why!?!?!?

Me too, we fly the 30th...

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

These new SW card offers are very interesting...

• The 40k for $1,000 is a really good return on the MSR. I value SW RR pts at 1.48cpp so it’s 41,000 SW RRs worth $607 (less $69 AF) = net $538 for $1,000 MSR @ a 54% return.
• The addition 20k pts requires another $11,000 in MSR. So on that portion alone it’s 31,000 SW RRs worth $459 for $11,000 MSR @ a 4% return.
• Combined it’s 72k SW RRs @ a net return of 8.3% on $12k spend.

Obviously the 50k in flight is a FAR superior return. Just figured I’d put some numbers to these new offers...

 

[elgerber]

These new SW card offers are very interesting...

• The 40k for $1,000 is a really good return on the MSR. I value SW RR pts at 1.48cpp so it’s 41,000 SW RRs worth $607 (less $69 AF) = net $538 for $1,000 MSR @ a 54% return.
• The addition 20k pts requires another $11,000 in MSR. So on that portion alone it’s 31,000 SW RRs worth $459 for $11,000 MSR @ a 4% return.
• Combined it’s 72k SW RRs @ a net return of 8.3% on $12k spend.

Obviously the 50k in flight is a FAR superior return. Just figured I’d put some numbers to these new offers...

For those of us that can't fly to get the offer, at least this offers some additional incentive. We have to spend another 6k after our MSR in order to reach 110, so I guess using it every day for a few months would be worth it to get the additional miles?