I love credit cards so much! v2.0 (see first page for add'l details)

[Haley R]

I figured a new year and thread were a good time to change it up! Its been almost 3 years with the old.
I do enjoy 'Ohana, but I have to make sure I go there hungry in order to justify it Even with TiW I am pretty shocked by the bill (The Lapu Lapus also make a nice dent). I tend to do Cali Grill if I am celebrating something and want a cake. The CR pastry team is pretty easy to work with and I have always been very impressed with the final results!


All the WL dining changes make me sad I haven't had a meal there since the shenanigans have decreased. Hoping its good for an October meal!

I plan to change my picture after our trip when I can hopefully get some good pictures!

 

[wendow]

I plan to change my picture after our trip when I can hopefully get some good pictures!

I LOVE seeing new pics and avatars. Looking forward to your new one!

 

[Haley R]

I LOVE seeing new pics and avatars. Looking forward to your new one!

I haven’t quite decided what it’ll be of. I try not to do a picture of myself so we’ll see what I come up with lol

 

[wendow]

I haven’t quite decided what it’ll be of. I try not to do a picture of myself so we’ll see what I come up with lol

Whatever it is, I will love

 

[Haley R]

Whatever it is, I will love

Haha well thank you

 

[palhockeymomof2]

Jets still above them though

Lol ...I was just looking at their division...everyone had the Islanders in last place at the beginning of the season

 

[palhockeymomof2]

Next December get the schwab Plat and cash out. You can triple dip the airline credits to off set the fee and this year build your stash. I have over $9,000 worth of MRs if I decide to cash out. Either that or take the family to an international Disney park lol JFK isn’t that bad lol

I only have 20,000MRs...with another 10,000 coming when I finish the MSR on the BBP......

I’m keeping us both under 5/24...want the CP again for 2020/2021...as of now I’ll go for it again but if Chase changes the rules to 48 months on the SW cards I’m prepared to have DH go for it
also not willing to pay a lot of high annual fees to get more points from other cards and we don’t MS...so for me it’s not worth opening the Schwab to cash out....we wouldn’t use the airline credits....since only fly SW on points

In 2020 we will do our one international trip with friends to celebrate their 60th birthdays...probably a river cruise in Europe...but the flights will be in economy, unless there will be a way to upgrade with points lol

We are older..got into trouble with cc debit after 9/11....my DH went YOLO...after so many here on LI lost their lives..and 2 kids playing travel ice hockey added a lot of expenses so we ran up CCs...finally got them paid off 3 years ago...which is why I’m super careful using my cards and paying them off weekly

 

[miztressuz]

No, not at all! It is sound advice, for sure! I'll take the $200 bonus over $100 bonus any day, AND I still get all the theme park discounts I wanted.

If you are only interested in the discounts and not the 0% interest for certain charges, then I'd try for the Chase bank bonus and get the debit card. You can try for the $300 checking bonus, but if it doesn't work there are $200 offers out there I think. Here's a post with a write up of the offer with a link for it: www.doctorofcredit.com/chase-600-checking-savings-bonus/

It says $600 bonus for checking and savings but if you don't have 15k to park in the savings for 3 months then you can just open the checking by itself. (The interest rate sucks so I wouldn't park money there unless I can get the bonus) I don't want to overwhelm you right off the bat, but if you are interested after reading about it just let us know and we can walk through it. There's a good amount of us that have done it, and a couple doing it right now, to answer any questions

The $200 after $500 in spend you can get from a support link for the no fee Disney card is pretty good - 40% discount essentially - and it's just about the same as the Premier card since the $49 annual fee eats up part of that $250 statement credit. But if I'd only use the card for a discount and not use it again, then I'd rather get paid money for getting it vs spending money to get it.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Oof, I didn’t think the RMN offers could get much worse... $2 back on $100
Home Depot purchase? No thanks...

 

[striker1064]

...speaking of shows, since ya'll got me watching them with your talk of Maisel...I need a new one to start.

I did maisel, call the midwife, the crown, and just caught up the new season of this is us.

I loved all those. I don't do scary or violent, or anything resembling the local 6pm news crimes....any suggestions?

At least for tonight....NY Islanders First Place....who would of thought

And they beat the Caps last night... good stuff!

 

[hsmamato2]

The Feb flight is 2/21. I wonder if they will just somehow let her keep it? She has $34k of her own miles in my account, so she'd be short $51k. So frustrating. I wonder how she even knew my miles were there to begin with? I am still signing in with my password, which I have changed twice, so she doesn't have online access.

Id go the public twitter or Fb route and I'd headline it with something like "AA when are you going to get those stolen points back in my acct? Still waiting..." that usually gets their attention

 

[GlamMistress]

...but on topic for @Haley R trip!

Major Lunch and Dinner Menu Changes Made at Kona Cafe, Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort

https://wdwnt.com/2019/01/photos-lu...disneys-polynesian-village-resorts-kona-cafe/

This made my heart stop! Kona is my favorite WDW breakfast spot I see that menu didn't change at all.

Also, why is one steak $94? Good grief. Who pays these prices?! [also I'm a vegetarian ]

 

[hsmamato2]

Do you need to call or SM for a retention offer? My 1 yr SW card anniversary is coming up and I had been planning on cancelling.

I got no such luck on my swa card this past month,2nd year got a great offer to negate the AF, this year, a quick "sure we can cancel that no problem!" (I don't use it much tho)

 

[hsmamato2]

Just put in a $300 payment on my car via Plastiq, finishing the last of my CIP spend

I'm curious about plastiq....is there a writeup on this somewhere like reddit I can read?

 

[palhockeymomof2]

I got no such luck on my swa card this past month,2nd year got a great offer to negate the AF, this year, a quick "sure we can cancel that no problem!" (I don't use it much tho)

In August the retention offer on my SW Plus was a $35 statement credit...then in October a $100 sttememt credit on the SW business...not sure how they decide who gets the offers since I pretty much stopped spending on them after the MSR....

 

[tink1970]

So how bad of an idea is it to use amex MRs thru the portal for disney? We keep getting hit over the head with one financial thing after another lately, so I wondering if free is best, even if it isn't necessarily the best redemption.

CBR 27k/night for 5 nights for 108k plus 3 night BC/YC on discount GCs.

Or top off Marriott for 5th night free at S/D (transfer 80k amex MRs). Do BC/YC for 3 nights prior on discounted gift cards.

Or book S/D thru amex portal for 4 nights at 120k MRs. Do 4 nights prior on discounted GCs.

I guess I'm not going to do any of it until DD goes through traditions and can check the portal for me a CM rate. Just looking at my options while I have some. There is always a DS hilton property too.


ETA: I don't really know anything about the value of amex MRs....so I appreciate the guidance. Some google post told me 0.5-1 CPP value.

I agree with others who say the value is what you place on them. I have a number in my head that they are worth (and I have several hundred thousand) but IF I needed them to make a trip happen and it could, using them, then I would not math it out and utilize them. You never know when this game is going to change and points will devalue. Even if it's not the most lucrative redemption, a bird in the hand and all that.

My MRs will probably just get transferred to Delta. I don’t want to pay an AF and I love to have a big stockpile for Delta since we are a hub.

Just remember there's a tiny fee involved in transferring. Not a deal breaker ideally, but why many of us use them in international redemptions and/or to top things off. That said, the limit on the fee is $99, so anything more than a transfer of 165,000 will be gratis. Just a PSA this am

Yay, partner in crime, @PolyRob, you changed your avatar too! Now I am not the only one

We did have an Ohanas ressie until a couple of days ago but I kept reading such poor reviews that I just could not justify spending $100+ for two people. I kept our Kona ressie. I will probably keep it but I still don't like change. I cancelled our CA grill too. Just didn't feel the cost was worth it.

@afan did too!

I LOVE seeing new pics and avatars. Looking forward to your new one!

LOL! I can't remember how I did my first one (what, 7 years ago?) so unless I'm struck by lightening and become adept at the computer no change here. I do appreciate everyone who does change theirs, though.

 

[Judique]

For all of you who upgraded their Marriott Personal card last year, whose fee was originally $85 and the upgrade took it to $95:

When did you actually pay your first $95?

I applied for this card on Xmas Day 2017. No annual fee has been charged yet. Not the $85 nor the $95.

This morning I have a $95 credit for 'annual fee refund' in my account.

I'm guessing a 'new' annual fee will hit soon. But if it does then I have their refund to take care of it?

If this is correct, that means 2 years of the card without me paying an annual fee. Plus my free night is in my account. Plus the extra 50K points.

Best upgrade ever!

 

[Judique]

I felt the same way when I bought my VGC's. I got carded at the checkout (which has never happened before) and I walked out feeling like I stole them just because I knew I was only supposed to get one! I could never do MO's, I'd be a big sweaty mess standing at the checkout for MO's.

I hope my Staples has a couple left. I'm going there when they open at 10.

 

[spacerangerqueen]

Oh no, I went on a cruise and came back to a new thread! Going to try and catch up now!

 

[Judique]

I think this is a good point. We always talk about maximizing points and annual free nights but if something comes up and you need to use that free night for you to save cash or to help someone out and it's only a cat 1 it's still a good redemption if it fills the current need of free or if it'd go unused otherwise.

I just booked a points night for my son for this past week in Ohio at a Category 1 for 7500 points. Cash price was $107, plus tax. They stuck my night on the reservation as the first payment option but of course I changed it out. But - wait! I haven't even had to pay an annual fee yet on the account that produced that free night!