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

[Lain]

I should mention we will most likely fly with United since they offered us each a $150 travel voucher to use on our next flight due to the 3 day trip delay. Do UR transfer to United? Hmmm, maybe I should be looking into a United card? Could I pay for some of the airfare with the CSR and some with a United card?

Yes, UR transfer to United. I'm not familiar with them, though, so I don't know if you'd be able to use the travel voucher in conjunction with a points booking. I think @Lain might have a write up on the pros and cons of the United cards versus UR cards. I know the United cards get access to more award space but if you're buying cash fares that probably won't make much of a difference.

I'm not aware of any way you can use a United voucher with a points or miles booking.

Vouchers can only be used on United flight cash fares. If you book an award flight with United using United miles, I don't believe you'll even see the option to apply the voucher.

If you want to book United flights through the Chase travel portal, you'd be using UR points as cash (at either a 1 cpp, 1.25 cpp, or 1.5 cpp redemption rate depending on whether you have a no fee card, CSP/CIP, or CSP, respectively). If you don't have enough UR points to cover the full fare, or if you'd just like to put some balance on your card, you can apply points to a portion and charge the balance to your Chase card. But since this is Chase's system, in which they are acting as an online travel agent, I don't see any where you can apply a United voucher.

Note that you can use only one voucher per passenger, so think of it as $150 off per ticket. You can't combine the vouchers to get one ticket entirely on vouchers and the rest on awards.

If you decide to use the vouchers to book cash fares directly with United, but they don't cover the entire fare, I would charge the balance on a CSP, or even better on a CSR. The United Explorer card earns only 2x United miles/$ for flights booked with United (and only has a 40k United miles public signup offer or a 50k miles in-flight offer), compared to the CSP which earns 2x UR/$ for travel (and has 50k/60k UR signup offers, or the CSR which earns 3x UR/$ for travel (and has a 50k UR signup offer, a $300 travel credit that can be applied against the balance of your United fares, and better trip delay/interruption insurance than the CSP or Explorer cards). [ETA: UR transfers to United miles 1:1, so you’re getting at least equal value; but very likely greater value with UR because UR is a more flexible currency than United miles.]

While the Explorer card does let you see more award availability, that doesn’t seem like it’ll do you much good if you plan to use vouchers and have to book a cash fare.

Hope this helps.

 

[Natgridenergy]

Lots of us have tried this and to my knowledge only 1 person here has gotten biz mailers. Nobody seems to know what the “secret sauce” is for getting biz mailers so at this point, if you’re jumping on the biz train you basically need to factor in mailer cost.

I’ve setup aa accounts for tons of “people” and none of us I’ve even gotten a personal mailer.

 

[DisVegas]

We have a newborn (3/14/19 DOB) and I sympathize with everyone who had difficulty getting their infant to sleep. On the plus side paternity leave has given me a chance to read more on this thread.

Velcro swaddlers and a sound machine are the only tools I have. There’s a program called takingcarababies.com which is helpful but it’s a lot like Dr. Harvey Karp’s Happiest Baby On The Block.

 

[miztressuz]

We have a newborn (3/14/19 DOB) and I sympathize with everyone who had difficulty getting their infant to sleep. On the plus side paternity leave has given me a chance to read more on this thread.

Velcro swaddlers and a sound machine are the only tools I have. There’s a program called takingcarababies.com which is helpful but it’s a lot like Dr. Harvey Karp’s Happiest Baby On The Block.

Congratulations on the new mouseketeer!

 

[Disneyonmymind]

I have been able to get good redemptions...to me anyway, booking with my CSR. We book 2 br villas when visiting our son in Orlando,so he can stay with us and I book refundable rates since both of our Moms are 91


So far used approximately 85,000 URs 12/19-12/24 for a 2 br at Wyndham Bonnet Creek..I think with cash it would of cost about $1,300

3/9-3/14 for a 2br at Marriott Royal Palms ...103,110 URs ....cash would cost $1,545

Currently have booked
5/25-6/2 2br Wyndham Bonnet Creek 133,200 URs ...cash would cost $1,998

9/18-9/22. 2 br Marriott Lakeshore Reserve 82,488 URs....Cash would cost.$1,237.32
Debating keeping this booked with URs or using 180,000Marriott points

We could never pay cash for these stays...so I am always trying to accumulate more URS

These are good deals. I love this post - the numbers say it all, lol!

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Asking for some quick help from my friends that are both here and on Reddit...Could you upvote these comments for me?

https://www.reddit.com/r/churningre...eferral_problem_reporting_megathread/ej9z5g1/

https://www.reddit.com/r/churningreferrals/comments/b4kqdz/referrals_chase_ihg_premier/ej79sab/

https://www.reddit.com/r/churningre...ferrals_capital_one_360_bank_account/ej9u1wg/

Rankt-bot has negative comment karma overall and so our comments in r/churning are getting removed (by reddit, not the mods). I'm a moderator of r/churningreferrals so perhaps my band of friends here could help us fix the issue by tossing some upvotes our way?

 

[Lain]

We have a newborn (3/14/19 DOB) and I sympathize with everyone who had difficulty getting their infant to sleep. On the plus side paternity leave has given me a chance to read more on this thread.

Velcro swaddlers and a sound machine are the only tools I have. There’s a program called takingcarababies.com which is helpful but it’s a lot like Dr. Harvey Karp’s Happiest Baby On The Block.

Congratulations on the new mouseketeer!

Congratulations!

Looks like we have a WINNER of the first DISchurner baby competition!​

 

[amalone1013]

Asking for some quick help from my friends that are both here and on Reddit...Could you upvote these comments for me?

https://www.reddit.com/r/churningre...eferral_problem_reporting_megathread/ej9z5g1/

https://www.reddit.com/r/churningreferrals/comments/b4kqdz/referrals_chase_ihg_premier/ej79sab/

https://www.reddit.com/r/churningre...ferrals_capital_one_360_bank_account/ej9u1wg/

Rankt-bot has negative comment karma overall and so our comments in r/churning are getting removed (by reddit, not the mods). I'm a moderator of r/churningreferrals so perhaps my band of friends here could help us fix the issue by tossing some upvotes our way?

 

[have2getaway]

I'm not aware of any way you can use a United voucher with a points or miles booking.

Vouchers can only be used on United flight cash fares. If you book an award flight with United using United miles, I don't believe you'll even see the option to apply the voucher.

If you want to book United flights through the Chase travel portal, you'd be using UR points as cash (at either a 1 cpp, 1.25 cpp, or 1.5 cpp redemption rate depending on whether you have a no fee card, CSP/CIP, or CSP, respectively). If you don't have enough UR points to cover the full fare, or if you'd just like to put some balance on your card, you can apply points to a portion and charge the balance to your Chase card. But since this is Chase's system, in which they are acting as an online travel agent, I don't see any where you can apply a United voucher.

Note that you can use only one voucher per passenger, so think of it as $150 off per ticket. You can't combine the vouchers to get one ticket entirely on vouchers and the rest on awards.

If you decide to use the vouchers to book cash fares directly with United, but they don't cover the entire fare, I would charge the balance on a CSP, or even better on a CSR. The United Explorer card earns only 2x United miles/$ for flights booked with United (and only has a 40k United miles public signup offer or a 50k miles in-flight offer), compared to the CSP which earns 2x UR/$ for travel (and has 50k/60k UR signup offers, or the CSR which earns 3x UR/$ for travel (and has a 50k UR signup offer, a $300 travel credit that can be applied against the balance of your United fares, and better trip delay/interruption insurance than the CSP or Explorer cards). [ETA: UR transfers to United miles 1:1, so you’re getting at least equal value; but very likely greater value with UR because UR is a more flexible currency than United miles.]

While the Explorer card does let you see more award availability, that doesn’t seem like it’ll do you much good if you plan to use vouchers and have to book a cash fare.

Hope this helps.

Thank you! I am aware that the vouchers are lee ticket. For some reason, we only received 4 even though 5 of us were traveling and delayed. I wasn’t aware that we couldn’t combine the voucher with points, so thank you for that information. It looks like I will rule out getting a United card and will stick with either the CSP or CSR.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Congratulations!

Looks like we have a WINNER of the first DISchurner baby competition!​

WOAH - yeah totally forgot about that...

To all those tags originally in this: @Haley R, @amalone1013, @speedyfishy, @DisneyMandC - sorry, I'm sure you've all been trying hard but it's over...

...UNLESS - did this baby have to be conceived AFTER you found our group? We're going to have to check the T&Cs on that...

Also for those that aren't sure how to enter...let me just put this here for you:

First DISchurner Baby competition added to the News thread...
For more details on how to enter...well gosh kids, when a mommy churner loves a daddy churner...I can't do this...

 

[Alexle2007]

Congratulations!

Looks like we have a WINNER of the first DISchurner baby competition!​

I am thinking they had already started before the baby competition game began.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

I am thinking they had already started pre-baby competition.

Thank you! It seems that the T&Cs have been clarified....

 

[have2getaway]

I picked random dates in Feb 2020 and came up with Royal Pacific for 224.25 per night (2 queens), for 5 nights, as the best value for the Premier hotels to use for a comparison. This is the same nightly rate as the Universal site shows but for some reason Chase is actually a little lower as they don't have as many taxes showing. Hopefully some other Universal goers can chime in on how that works, if they got hit with any other fees from the hotel.

But anyway, I could pay $1240.40 for the trip, or 82,694 UR from the CSR. From my CSP it would be 99,232. The savings would be 16,538 using my CSR, or the equivalent of $165.38. You'd come out ahead of the AF by $15.38, if I did all my math correctly. Depending on where you're actually staying it could be higher or lower but most likely you'd get at least equivalent value out of it, if not more.

Also, as @WVMomof3 pointed out, you can use the $300 credit from the next year before downgrading to the CSP (or CF/CFU depending on where your plan is then). That would definitely cover the AF on the CSR for this trip. The travel credit works on most things travel related, including parking and tolls, so if you have any regular spend in those areas it's pretty easy to use up. We used ours on our daily commute tolls that were already in the budget.

"Merchants in the travel category include airlines, hotels, motels, timeshares, car rental agencies, cruise lines, travel agencies, discount travel sites, campgrounds and operators of passenger trains, buses, taxis, limousines, ferries, toll bridges and highways, and parking lots and garages."​

Perhaps you could prepay some of those expenses when the credit resets before downgrading.

We are most likely going during February break week and so will definitely be spending even more points than average. Thanks so much for the detailed analysis. It helps for me to see that I will definitely make up the difference in fee cost with the reserve.

Quick question, what is the point to cash conversion formula for CSP and CSR? Also, how to we use the credit for the next year before we incur the next annual fee?

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

I'm with @Lain on this one.

But, I wouldn't call the hotel right away. I would call Hilton reservations and discuss the matter with them. If the rate was on the Hilton website, it should be honored with you getting all the benefits of points from the hotel plus from your card.

I am guessing that if you use the link you won't get points from the hotel.

It could also be a situation where the hotel is in the process of leaving the Hilton network and your reservation is on the other side of their contract ending and they are trying to pull in all their reservations. In any event, Hilton itself was your booking agent so I would stick with that.

After 45 minutes on the phone with Hilton (and forwarding the CS agent the e-mail), they are saying it looks like a scam. They have sent an e-mail to the GM at the property just to make sure that the booking is intact and I don't need to send them a payment directly.

Scary as they had all my info -- dates, reservation number, name and e-mail address. What they didn't have was the fact that I booked 2 rooms and they were only trying to collect payment for 1 -- that was a red flag for me. That and why would I need to pay the hotel directly when I already input my cc info into the Hilton website. I have to call them back on Thursday to see what the GM of the property said (he has 3 business days to respond).

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

After 45 minutes on the phone with Hilton (and forwarding the CS agent the e-mail), they are saying it looks like a scam. They have sent an e-mail to the GM at the property just to make sure that the booking is intact and I don't need to send them a payment directly.

Scary as they had all my info -- dates, reservation number, name and e-mail address. What they didn't have was the fact that I booked 2 rooms and they were only trying to collect payment for 1 -- that was a red flag for me. That and why would I need to pay the hotel directly when I already input my cc info into the Hilton website. I have to call them back on Thursday to see what the GM of the property said (he has 3 business days to respond).

WOW - thanks for sharing this here as a warning to our group!! That is creepy and scary!

 

[Disneyonmymind]

I am spending time looking at all my bills to move spend in order to meet MSRs on the new CIP and Hilton biz. Three issues I have so far.

• I previously charged my Comcast bill on SPG biz thinking it was a bonus category (like the CIP, CIC). I just realized it's ONLY wireless phone service, NOT internet or cable, for AMEX. So I got nothing extra on that spend.
• I switched my Wireless bill from DH's CIP to my new CIP. I have been using the CIP in order to take advantage of the included cell phone insurance. (I think Lain does that too???) Does anyone know if it's a problem that I switched from DH's CIP to mine?
• I have auto insurance currently on EZ pay with a substantial discount. (I know, this is not helping my MSRs LOL.) Do I give up the discount and pay with CC? Gosh, I'm so conflicted on this.

 

[Disneyonmymind]

Asking for some quick help from my friends that are both here and on Reddit...Could you upvote these comments for me?

https://www.reddit.com/r/churningre...eferral_problem_reporting_megathread/ej9z5g1/

https://www.reddit.com/r/churningreferrals/comments/b4kqdz/referrals_chase_ihg_premier/ej79sab/

https://www.reddit.com/r/churningre...ferrals_capital_one_360_bank_account/ej9u1wg/

Rankt-bot has negative comment karma overall and so our comments in r/churning are getting removed (by reddit, not the mods). I'm a moderator of r/churningreferrals so perhaps my band of friends here could help us fix the issue by tossing some upvotes our way?

I would love to do this but I need reddit for dummies. How exactly do I upvote? Do I just click on the up arrow?

 

[Alexle2007]

Thank you! It seems that the T&Cs have been clarified....

Yeah, I am pretty sure DisVegas had an unfair advantage since I don’t think the contest has been running more than 9 months...carry on contestants!

 

[gottalovepluto]

-

 

[WVMomof3]

WOAH - yeah totally forgot about that...

To all those tags originally in this: @Haley R, @amalone1013, @speedyfishy, @DisneyMandC - sorry, I'm sure you've all been trying hard but it's over...

...UNLESS - did this baby have to be conceived AFTER you found our group? We're going to have to check the T&Cs on that...

Also for those that aren't sure how to enter...let me just put this here for you:

Haha I was just about to post this baby does not count. He started posting after the baby was born. Carry on the rest of you!

But congrats to @DisVegas!