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

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How much more is the Reserve worth on 180k points? I don’t completely get if it’s a straight percentage when converting to points or if I take the 180k and multiply it by 1.25 for CSP and 1.5 for CSR? I may just be overthinking it.

So the points themselves don't change, but the value you get from them if redeemed from the portal does. I've reached back to a breakdown I did a while back as an example -

As a purely hypothetical example of this, say there's a room at a Hyatt for $200 on the Chase travel portal.
Buying that with UR from a CF/CFU would cost you 20,000 UR points.
Buying that with the CSP would cost you 16,000 UR points.
Buying that with the CSR would cost you 13,334 UR points.
Looking at the same room on the Hyatt site shows 12,000 Hyatt points needed. Chase UR transfers to Hyatt 1:1 so transferring 12,000 UR to Hyatt would be the best value.
So if you could find what you want on the Chase portal, then the 180k would buy you $2,700 worth of travel with the CSR. The CSP would buy $2,250 worth, so $450 less. You would just straight multiply by the 1.5 or 1.25 then convert points to dollars. (or divide by .015 or .0125 to remove a step and go straight to dollars)
 
So the points themselves don't change, but the value you get from them if redeemed from the portal does. I've reached back to a breakdown I did a while back as an example -

As a purely hypothetical example of this, say there's a room at a Hyatt for $200 on the Chase travel portal.
Buying that with UR from a CF/CFU would cost you 20,000 UR points.
Buying that with the CSP would cost you 16,000 UR points.
Buying that with the CSR would cost you 13,334 UR points.
Looking at the same room on the Hyatt site shows 12,000 Hyatt points needed. Chase UR transfers to Hyatt 1:1 so transferring 12,000 UR to Hyatt would be the best value.
So if you could find what you want on the Chase portal, then the 180k would buy you $2,700 worth of travel with the CSR. The CSP would buy $2,250 worth, so $450 less. You would just straight multiply by the 1.5 or 1.25 then convert points to dollars. (or divide by .015 or .0125 to remove a step and go straight to dollars)

Thank you! This is very helpful! So, using your example, I would meet the remaining $150 annual fee if I earned at least 10,000 in UR from the CSR excluding the $300 travel credit? I think that’s possible, but not as likely if I’m simultaneously meeting a minimum spend on another card.
 
Question for anyone in the know....

Earlier today I booked a prepaid room at a Doubletree property on the Hilton website using my Hilton Aspire (which I never do as a rule, but the rate was too good to pass up). A few hours later I received an e-mail from the property saying that I have to pay them directly; they sent me a link (for Commercia Global Payments) which does not look like it's a Hilton link. While ordinarily I wouldn't have an issue using such a link, I need to ensure that I receive my 14x points on the Hilton property using my Aspire. Does anyone know if I use the link if it will code properly? The non-prepaid rate is $75.00 / night more expensive so I'd really like to stick to the prepaid rate if at all possible (but not at the risk of losing the 14x points on the Aspire and $45.00 cash back offer on the Aspire).
 
@wendow I believe you have your mortgage with Provident also. We have ours set to auto withdraw on it due date. How were you handling the payment using Plastiq?
I cancelled the auto pay and I have it set to send from Plastiq to arrive by the 5th of the month. I change the card every month so I just go in to plastiq at mid-month and set it up. If you are planning to pay April's payment through plastiq, you would want to get it sent ASAP.
 


Question for anyone in the know....

Earlier today I booked a prepaid room at a Doubletree property on the Hilton website using my Hilton Aspire (which I never do as a rule, but the rate was too good to pass up). A few hours later I received an e-mail from the property saying that I have to pay them directly; they sent me a link (for Commercia Global Payments) which does not look like it's a Hilton link. While ordinarily I wouldn't have an issue using such a link, I need to ensure that I receive my 14x points on the Hilton property using my Aspire. Does anyone know if I use the link if it will code properly? The non-prepaid rate is $75.00 / night more expensive so I'd really like to stick to the prepaid rate if at all possible (but not at the risk of losing the 14x points on the Aspire and $45.00 cash back offer on the Aspire).

I wouldn’t chance using the link. If the hotel wants you to pay them directly, I’d suggest calling the hotel, referencing your reservation number, and ask about making a payment over the phone.
 
All UR points within your household can be moved into one pile. They should all be moved into DHs CSP as that is currently your best card for redemptions and can also be moved to travel partners from that card. I don’t think you gave us a complete list with timeline of your cards, so it is hard to say, but I would do one of 2 things.
1-Get a CIP card if you can spend $5000 in 3 months. This card will return the most UR points especially if you later on refer DH for the same card. Or
2-Have DH refer you to the CSP and try to match for the 60k point offer. After his card is one year old I would PC it up to a CSR if you think it will benefit you or downgrade to one of the no fee Freedoms. I don’t think you both need a CSP at the same time.
I will say I know the $450 fee is scary, but I had the card for a year and actually got $600 in travel credits back before I PCd it to a Freedom. So I made money from it. I wouldn’t outright apply for it yourself, because you will get more points from the CSP referral and then have him PC it. You could repeat for yourself after a year, but I wouldn’t have you both keep it beyond the year, just one of you keep it if it benefits you, or both PC it down after a year if it does not.


Thank you! This makes sense. The 5,000 minimum spend on the CIP scares me a little. We are heading into the summer and have more costs with some child care that I can’t pay with a credit card. We could probably still meet it, but the idea of the CIU in the summer seems more appealing. I like your suggestion for the CSP referral, and then have DH pc his to a CSR. We are anticipating buying airfare over the summer, so it’s possible we could meet a $5,000 minimum spend with that, but I like the idea of buying the airfare with a CSR or CSP. Is CIP 0% as well? It doesn’t really matter, because we always pay them in full, but just curious.

Timeline of our cards: Last summer, I took out a CIC with 5% categories. Three months later, DH took out a CSP, and in Feb., DH took out a CIU. That’s all we have done so far, and yes! They have all been transferred to DH’s CSP portal. I haven’t taken any other chase card out in 2 years and DH maybe has 1 Disney visa. We do have some 10 year+ Amazon and Marriott cards with Chase as well that we still frequently use.
 
Not even just a personal banker, but a BRM or business relationship manager. Not all branches have them, and a BRM can float between several branches so scheduling a meeting could be difficult. In addition, it’s been reported that depending on your market, some BRMs will only work with you if you have some minimum threshold like $500k, and in some cases $1M or more in revenue. It was always very YMMV.

In any case, the 100k UR in-branch offer has been gone since last summer, and I also don’t expect it to return. Chase didn’t do anything special during last year’s small business week, so I doubt they’ll add anything to their business card products this year, and that’s when you’d expect an increased offer if at all. If anything, I doubt the CIP offer will go back up. Chase lowered the CSR offer from 100k UR to 50k UR over two years ago and hasn’t increased the offer since. These big signup bonuses are too popular. The CIP is the biggest one that’s left in Chase’s card lineup. It’s the first and only card you always recommend. And with a 20k UR referral bonus there’s a very big incentive to push it; and if you’re in a 2-player game, then it makes referring a partner to get another one even more lucrative. Chase is well aware of customers hitting them up for the signup bonuses, which is why we’ve seen a trend towards more restrictions (and effectively more reductions) on bonuses, including the one card per family rules on the Sapphires and Southwest cards; the restrictions on the Marriott cards; the 48-month restrictions on Sapphire bonuses that increased from 24-months; reductions in card benefits like changing the CSR travel credit from calendar year to cardmember year, removal of UR earning on credited travel spend, and elimination price protection; and the increasing(ly targeted) merchants and services that no longer earn 3x and 5x UR. The recent increase in the CSP offer came at the cost of a waived AF. The recent change to the CFU’s first-year earning rate came with a cap and the elimination of the signup bonus altogether. Another trend has been towards tiered signup bonuses that require you to spend more over a longer period to get the full bonus amount. But in general, we’ve seen a tightening in the bonuses and benefits of Chase’s card product lineup. Given what’s been happening with CIP approvals recently, I fully expect Chase to put restrictions on CIP applications, decrease its signup bonus, or even place restrictions on the entire Ink family of cards sooner than later.

But it’s probably best not to spend too much time prognosticating about the future because this game changes fast, and not always for the better. New offers and cards come out, but so do new rules and restrictions. Don’t make plans; make road maps and expect detours. Work with what you know now with the realization that everything you know can be upended at anytime by the banks. It’s their court and their rules, which they can change at any time; we just take our shots when and where we can.

Also tagging @kandb.

Sorry, guess I was getting a little greedy:rotfl:
 


First week of April! Can't wait to go :)

I originally had magical rates booked. The GF was available as soon as AP rates came out. I went from a standard garden view room to outer building CL room for $19.80 total. The BC was just about 2 weeks ago. I had been stalking availability thinking YC would come up, but I saw BC CL for $169.23 more.
Thats awesome! I was just there last weekend and go again late may, so I guess I can't swing early April. Boo. I will make sure to pay attn in the future though!
 
I’m so cheap when it doesn’t involve Disney too. I got frustrated SO didn’t use Chase pay when ordering his lunch the other day because they had the promo code. I coupon and I will take pictures of my receipts for .10 on Ibotta lol.

Well, it was myself and a 3 year old, so long meals just weren't happening. And I've gotten to the point at Disney that I just don't have much interest in more than 1 or 2 table service per trip. They are time consuming, and if we have the whole family there, it is easy to drop $400 on one meal. No thanks. The less I spend on food, the more money I have to squeeze in alot of trip on my AP this year.
There was a time, before I had all these children, where I did enjoy nice meals every night at WDW. That ship sailed...at least for the next several years.
 
I’m not sure if you guys remember but I ordered that Harry Potter backpack through the chase portal. Well we realized today we never got an email about the order. So today we looked back through our transactions and were never charged for it. We decided it was no big deal and went through the portal again today to reorder it. I see the charge pending but I still have not received an email from pottery barn kids. Are we doing something wrong?

I really hope we don’t have two backpacks showing up but I have no idea since there’s no history showing we ordered the first one. I’m confused why I didn’t get an email about the backpack this time either
 
Question for anyone in the know....

Earlier today I booked a prepaid room at a Doubletree property on the Hilton website using my Hilton Aspire (which I never do as a rule, but the rate was too good to pass up). A few hours later I received an e-mail from the property saying that I have to pay them directly; they sent me a link (for Commercia Global Payments) which does not look like it's a Hilton link. While ordinarily I wouldn't have an issue using such a link, I need to ensure that I receive my 14x points on the Hilton property using my Aspire. Does anyone know if I use the link if it will code properly? The non-prepaid rate is $75.00 / night more expensive so I'd really like to stick to the prepaid rate if at all possible (but not at the risk of losing the 14x points on the Aspire and $45.00 cash back offer on the Aspire).
Thats really weird...
 
I don't suppose anyone on here is knowledgeable about travel hacking in Australia, are they ? I have been doing a whole bunch of reading.. the cards with good points offers all have quite high annual fees ($4-500) , and with the devaluing of amex I'm not sure if its worth it... TIA
 
Thank you! This is very helpful! So, using your example, I would meet the remaining $150 annual fee if I earned at least 10,000 in UR from the CSR excluding the $300 travel credit? I think that’s possible, but not as likely if I’m simultaneously meeting a minimum spend on another card.

If using portal redemptions to justify the CSR vs CSP AF - the break even point for a difference of $150 in AF (CSR effective AF of $150 compared to first year waived CSP), is $1125. $1125 in portal redemptions would cost 75000 URs with the CSR and 90000 URs with the CSP. Difference of 15000 URs, which has a cash value of $150. Similarly, if comparing CSR effective $150 AF with the usual CSP AF of $95 (difference of $55), the break even point would be $423 in portal redemptions.

False alarm. Baby is asleep! Post on the DIS and ye shall receive!

Still taking recommendations for a magic baby-rocker that will make my life as babysitter to a fuss-budget easier :)

Edited to add: not four minutes after writing this updated post, the baby wakes up again. I jinxed myself.

Send help!

I'd say sleep training, but that's something the parents would need to decide they want to do....
 
I don't suppose anyone on here is knowledgeable about travel hacking in Australia, are they ? I have been doing a whole bunch of reading.. the cards with good points offers all have quite high annual fees ($4-500) , and with the devaluing of amex I'm not sure if its worth it... TIA
I’d be highly surprised if we have any expertise there. Outside of the US these card programs are so different and I think all of us on this thread are US based. I’d look for an Australian specific CC blog or discussion board (if such a thing exists).

pointhacks.com.au Is the one I see mentioned often.

There has been some discussion about this on r/churning in the past:
https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/5nbl5i/churning_in_australia/
 
I’d be highly surprised if we have any expertise there. Outside of the US these card programs are so different and I think all of us on this thread are US based. I’d look for an Australian specific CC blog or discussion board (if such a thing exists).

pointhacks.com.au Is the one I see mentioned often.

There has been some discussion about this on r/churning in the past:
https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/5nbl5i/churning_in_australia/

Thank you for your quick reply! Yes have been reading pointhack +++. Will check out your other link. Thanks :)
 
Unfortunately, Chase’s Ink cards are not supported on Apple Pay, so you won’t even be able to add the CIP to Apple Pay. You could hand the card to DD to use and in most cases she won’t be questioned or asked to show ID; or you could get an “employee card” (basically an AU on a biz card) with DD’s name on it for her to use, which will contribute to your CIP’s MSR.
Thanks for your reply. I did order her an employee card but it didn’t arrive yet and she is home from school for the weekend. I think I may give her my card to take with her for now. Her card will probably come on Monday and I will start using hers. We can switch them back when she comes home on Easter.

I am still curious though regarding Apple Pay. Does using it with say a CSR count the same as using the CSR directly for purposes of MSR or bonus categories?
 
I am still curious though regarding Apple Pay. Does using it with say a CSR count the same as using the CSR directly for purposes of MSR or bonus categories?
Yes! Dining and travel still code 3x when using your CSR via Apple Pay.

Chase has even done promotions in the past where you earn extra points for using Apple Pay so you could get 3x for dining/travel + 1x for Apple Pay.
 
I don't suppose anyone on here is knowledgeable about travel hacking in Australia, are they ? I have been doing a whole bunch of reading.. the cards with good points offers all have quite high annual fees ($4-500) , and with the devaluing of amex I'm not sure if its worth it... TIA

EDITED: Just realized the post was asking about travel hacking in Australia not to Australia.
 
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