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

[miztressuz]

It could be known already, I get my statements snail mail, but for the people who enrolled in the Corporate MR earning programs, they are making changes to the enrollment fees and earnings.

Good news is the fees are being lowered. If you have a Corporate Gold card the fee will be $0 and Corporate Green card will be $55 starting March 6, 2020. If you are lucky enough to have a Corp Gold then it'll be automatically enrolled into the MR earning program.

For ever upside there's a down. Your company will have a choice on how many points you can earn, either 1 pt per $1 or 1 pt per $2. So your earn rate might be halved.

About the Program

We are changing the terms that concern the annual enrollment fee for certain Corporate Card Members to participate in the program. Effective March 6, 2020, the Membership Rewards annual enrollment fee for American Express Corporate Gold Cards will be $0. If an American Express Corporate Gold Card is enabled by your company to participate in the Membership Rewards® program it will be automatically enrolled in the program. Effective March 6, 2020, the Membership Rewards annual enrollment fee for American Express Corporate Green Cards will be reduced from $90 to $55. If an American Express Corporate Green Card has been enabled by your company to participate in the Membership Rewards® program, you may choose to enroll in the Program and the annual fee will be charged to your Card. Effective March 6, 2020, the Membership Rewards annual enrollment fee for Global Dollar Card - American Express ® Corporate Executive Gold Card will be $0. If a Global Dollar Card - American Express ® Corporate Executive Gold Card is enabled by your company to participate in the Membership Rewards® program it will be automatically enrolled in the program. Effective March 6, 2020, the Membership Rewards annual enrollment fee for Global Dollar Card - American Express® Corporate Card will be reduced from $75 to $55. If a Global Dollar Card - American Express® Corporate Card has been enabled by your company to participate in the Membership Rewards® program, you may choose to enroll in the Program and the annual fee will be charged to your Card.

Getting Points

We are changing the terms that concern the number of points that a Corporate Card Member earns per dollar of eligible spend (referred to in this paragraph as the "earn rate"). If you are a Corporate Card Member, effective March 6, 2020, your company will have the choice to determine if you earn one Membership Reward® point per dollar or one Membership Reward point per two dollars of eligible spend on your enrolled Card. Initially, your company will be able to select the earn rate until March 31, 2020, which earn rate would be activated for you on May 1, 2020. Beginning in the fall of 2020, your company will be able to select the earn rate annually during the earn rate enrollment period in October and November of each year, which would be activated for you on January 1 of the following year. If your company does not make a selection during the annual enrollment period, then the earn rate will remain unchanged. If you are enrolled in the Membership Rewards Program you will be notified by American Express if your company decides to change the earn rate for its Corporate Card Program.

 

[Haley R]

I think this would be an instance where I'd save points. It doesn't sound like you're spending a lot of time at this hotel so would the idea of closer proximity or a fireworks view mean anything to you? I'd imagine you'll be at the part until late in the night. Just an alternate viewpoint. I'd use less points and go for whatever is cheapest. Are you hanging around on Friday at WDW?

I’m still trying to decide this. If we move my MRs over we would have 72k total Hilton points. The cheapest Hilton around there is 32k/night. I was thinking about maybe staying Friday too and going to Epcot during the day and HS at night. We wouldn’t have enough for both nights but we would be close.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Chase Shutdowns...are still a thing!
I am NOT posting this to sound alarm bells or worry anybody. But Chase shutdowns are still a thing:

Dr-Toad is a a respected member of the r/churning community with a karma score of over 2,000 in the past 3 months. I do NOT think he would post this as a troll... He did NOT apply for one of those "manipulated links" the other day but did apply for a pre-approved targeted offer (I assume a black or green star offer, or whatever they're called these days) and it sounds like he was denied for the card and subsequently all accounts were shutdown.

And wow...this person was also recently shutdown by Amex. That is crazy...like basically taken out of the game in less than a month's time...

He professes to be lol/24 in prior comments, I have no idea what level he means by that (hence why I hate that term) but I'd assume he's 20+/24, maybe even more...

https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/dz0lgh/_/f86m16v

 

[shairpdrh]

And thank you... I should have totally shared this on the December planning thread as well! Your avatar reminded me!

Glad you posted it here and there!

What does it say about me that I have not even considered a December planning thread! I made FP's and have an ADR for the CP but that is it. And it is my first time going in December! Anything I need to know that I am missing?!?

Not the chattiest group, but people have posted some good info over time. I'm sure you have it all covered!

 

[Mopedmom1]

I’ve been really congested lately and I’m not sure if it’s the pregnancy or allergies. Today I woke up and couldn’t get myself out of bed. I had aches all over and didn’t eat much

With aches all over I would think it's a bug you've picked up. Feel better soon!

 

[punkin]

Chase Shutdowns...are still a thing!
I am NOT posting this to sound alarm bells or worry anybody. But Chase shutdowns are still a thing:

Dr-Toad is a a respected member of the r/churning community with a karma score of over 2,000 in the past 3 months. I do NOT think he would post this as a troll... He did NOT apply for one of those "manipulated links" the other day but did apply for a pre-approved targeted offer (I assume a black or green star offer, or whatever they're called these days) and it sounds like he was denied for the card and subsequently all accounts were shutdown.

And wow...this person was also recently shutdown by Amex. That is crazy...like basically taken out of the game in less than a month's time...

He professes to be lol/24 in prior comments, I have no idea what level he means by that (hence why I hate that term) but I'd assume he's 20+/24, maybe even more...

https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/dz0lgh/_/f86m16v

Scary

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Scary

The early indicator here is if you see a green/black star offer (seriously, what color are they these days???) that you might want to think twice if you are WELL over 5/24. I've always thought that would be a tough call due to the shutdown risk. However, if you're well over 5/24 you might not even care about Chase anyways...

Believe it or not, It's really not that scary to me.

• If you're under 5/24 follow the pacing recommendations, don't cycle CLs, you'll be safe.
• If you're over 5/24, only go for a pre-approved card if you don't care if you get shutdown. And if you're well over 5/24 with no intentions of getting under 5/24 then you probably don't care if you get shutdown. (Perhaps the outlier to this is people who are heavily MSing on a CIC or something like that)...

 

[smallsy]

Wait what does cycle CL mean?

 

[jhoannam]

The early indicator here is if you see a green/black star offer (seriously, what color are they these days???) that you might want to think twice if you are WELL over 5/24. I've always thought that would be a tough call due to the shutdown risk. However, if you're well over 5/24 you might not even care about Chase anyways...

Believe it or not, It's really not that scary to me.

• If you're under 5/24 follow the pacing recommendations, don't cycle CLs, you'll be safe.
• If you're over 5/24, only go for a pre-approved card if you don't care if you get shutdown. And if you're well over 5/24 with no intentions of getting under 5/24 then you probably don't care if you get shutdown. (Perhaps the outlier to this is people who are heavily MSing on a CIC or something like that)...

What does cycle CL mean?

 

[smallsy]

Wait what does cycle CL mean?

NM, I googled. It’s not what I thought it was so I’m safe, whew!

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Wait what does cycle CL mean?

What does cycle CL mean?

Cycling your credit limit means borrowing up to your max credit limit and then paying it down within the same month (typically multiple times). Thus you end up spending way more in the month than the issuer intended as indicated by your established credit limit. It’s seen as potentially risky behavior.

 

[Haley R]

With aches all over I would think it's a bug you've picked up. Feel better soon!

The aches were just today so hopefully they go away tomorrow. I’ve been waking up every morning with a stuffed nose and sore throat for about two weeks now. We put a humidifier in our room tonight so I’m hoping that helps. My throat has been killing me

 

[monkeydawn]

Do you have an unlocked phone, or have you had your phone long enough that you can unlock it? If so, you would be *much* better off using a European sim and data plan. Most of Europe is a 'free to roam' zone, so you can use one data plan across multiple countries. We have a 3 sim (three.co.uk) that we have had for dog's years, and we can top it up any time using vouchers that we purchase online even if we don't plan to be in the UK for a particular trip. A £10 add-on gives us 2 GB of data for 30 days, and unlimited texts and minutes anywhere in their free-to-roam zone. It's more complicated to do it that way, but it will ultimately make your life easier.

If you don't care about all of that, and all you want to do is have easier payments, we found that apple pay and contactless were both ubiquitous. If you have a contactless card without foreign transaction fees, you could just use that instead....

I do believe my phone is unlocked or unlockable, Ive had it over two years and it is mine. I fairly lost in the whole swapping SIMs in other countries zone so it looks like I have some reading to do. I have bookmarked the recommended site in case I go this route.

We do have two Contactless cards and they happen to be the cards with NFTF. Its good to know that these are pretty common in Europe as they are still pretty hit or miss for me locally. I am a little concerned about the whole needing a PIN enabled CC in most of Europe after the new year will mean. Its a discussion on CC right now. Hopefully its a big to do about nothing, at least for Americans using the typical non PIN CCs.

I can't really speak to the VZW TravelPass, but I can weigh in on the Apple Watch! lol

Series 2 and newer are the most "water resistant" and can be used for swimming. They are not good for scuba diving or greater depths. You just have to put it in a certain mode that protects the mic and speaker. It is very easy to enable. Once you are done with the water activity, you disable it and it spits out any water that collected. I used it during my latest downpour in Epcot in fear I would ruin my Series 4 (overprotective, but why not?!).

I have owned an original (before Series 1 branding) and Series 4. Series 4 and newer went through a re-design where the faces are curved more and are slightly larger. If you want a Series 3, $170 is a very nice deal right now. The lowest I have seen on Thanksgiving is a 6pm doorbuster at Walmart which is probably going to be insanity. I don't think a Series 4 will come in under $300 so it is a significant jump for the newer shape.

Thank you. I think I am taking a ride over to Costco tomorrow. I should have a month to return if I find I dont like it, provided they have any in stock locally.

 

[Mopedmom1]

The aches were just today so hopefully they go away tomorrow. I’ve been waking up every morning with a stuffed nose and sore throat for about two weeks now. We put a humidifier in our room tonight so I’m hoping that helps. My throat has been killing me

Uuhhhhh.......not to be a pessimist, but sore throat and body aches (plus a RAGING headache) is how mine started. But you live in sunny Florida now, so hopefully there is no winter crud there!

 

[miztressuz]

Chase Shutdowns...are still a thing!
I am NOT posting this to sound alarm bells or worry anybody. But Chase shutdowns are still a thing:

Dr-Toad is a a respected member of the r/churning community with a karma score of over 2,000 in the past 3 months. I do NOT think he would post this as a troll... He did NOT apply for one of those "manipulated links" the other day but did apply for a pre-approved targeted offer (I assume a black or green star offer, or whatever they're called these days) and it sounds like he was denied for the card and subsequently all accounts were shutdown.

And wow...this person was also recently shutdown by Amex. That is crazy...like basically taken out of the game in less than a month's time...

He professes to be lol/24 in prior comments, I have no idea what level he means by that (hence why I hate that term) but I'd assume he's 20+/24, maybe even more...

https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/dz0lgh/_/f86m16v

I'm not surprised, actually. Dr-Toad played it risky and while nothing I can pinpoint right now, I felt his comments were kinda cavalier about certain aspects of the game.

This is the guy that not long ago broke out of 5/24 with a crazy app-o-rama ("Operation jailbreak" he dubbed it) and then had to wait a few months before getting approvals again. While he played hard, I don't think he has played long. I'm guessing that set off bust-out alarms.
https://www.disboards.com/threads/i-love-credit-cards-so-much.3528202/post-59992531
And now I can't find the follow up later where he started getting denials and he had to cool off a bit. But this was his 2018 wrap up post:

https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/aby3s5/_/ed5wkwp

He did go so fast that AmEx actually denied him post apporama:

https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/ae5tkl/_/edp1fcz

I'm not saying it's not still alarming when a shutdown happens, especially with a preapproved offer. That's unnerving. But IMO, have an upvote Pizzy

https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/dz0lgh/_/f86ow0k

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

I'm not surprised, actually. Dr-Toad played it risky and while nothing I can pinpoint right now, I felt his comments were kinda cavalier about certain aspects of the game.

This is the guy that not long ago broke out of 5/24 with a crazy app-o-rama ("Operation jailbreak" he dubbed it) and then had to wait a few months before getting approvals again. While he played hard, I don't think he has played long. I'm guessing that set off bust-out alarms.
https://www.disboards.com/threads/i-love-credit-cards-so-much.3528202/post-59992531
And now I can't find the follow up later where he started getting denials and he had to cool off a bit. But this was his 2018 wrap up post:

https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/aby3s5/_/ed5wkwp

He did go so fast that AmEx actually denied him post apporama:

https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/ae5tkl/_/edp1fcz

I'm not saying it's not still alarming when a shutdown happens, especially with a preapproved offer. That's unnerving. But IMO, have an upvote Pizzy

https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/dz0lgh/_/f86ow0k

Thanks for the thorough response with so much info! I think each shutdown serves as a vital reminder of why we adhere strictly to pacing guidelines here.

 

[punkin]

The early indicator here is if you see a green/black star offer (seriously, what color are they these days???) that you might want to think twice if you are WELL over 5/24. I've always thought that would be a tough call due to the shutdown risk. However, if you're well over 5/24 you might not even care about Chase anyways...

Believe it or not, It's really not that scary to me.

• If you're under 5/24 follow the pacing recommendations, don't cycle CLs, you'll be safe.
• If you're over 5/24, only go for a pre-approved card if you don't care if you get shutdown. And if you're well over 5/24 with no intentions of getting under 5/24 then you probably don't care if you get shutdown. (Perhaps the outlier to this is people who are heavily MSing on a CIC or something like that)...

Personally, I am only 1/24 and I really have been trying to pace myself on the business cards.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Personally, I am only 1/24 and I really have been trying to pace myself on the business cards.

I think you should feel good in that decision and soldier on

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Chase Shutdowns...are still a thing!
I am NOT posting this to sound alarm bells or worry anybody. But Chase shutdowns are still a thing:

Dr-Toad is a a respected member of the r/churning community with a karma score of over 2,000 in the past 3 months. I do NOT think he would post this as a troll... He did NOT apply for one of those "manipulated links" the other day but did apply for a pre-approved targeted offer (I assume a black or green star offer, or whatever they're called these days) and it sounds like he was denied for the card and subsequently all accounts were shutdown.

And wow...this person was also recently shutdown by Amex. That is crazy...like basically taken out of the game in less than a month's time...

He professes to be lol/24 in prior comments, I have no idea what level he means by that (hence why I hate that term) but I'd assume he's 20+/24, maybe even more...

https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/dz0lgh/_/f86m16v

Another report - used both a targeted link and a manipulated link for 2 recent cards:

Adding text since his comment doesn’t appear here since it was edited:

I got shutdown as well by chase. Only had 4 cards with them in total, 3 personal and 1 business. I applied for the CIU targeted link and CIP generated link. I expect no sympathy for my situation as I know I brought this onto myself. Still sucks nonetheless. ​

​

Very small balance on my CSR and none on the other cards. You can see my stats if you scroll down to my citi shutdown post!​

https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/dz0lgh/_/f86r2ki

 

[Haley R]

Uuhhhhh.......not to be a pessimist, but sore throat and body aches (plus a RAGING headache) is how mine started. But you live in sunny Florida now, so hopefully there is no winter crud there!

I’m pretty sure my sore throat is from congestion. I only get it when I wake up and that’s because my nose is stuffed which makes me breathe through my mouth at night.